Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A New Form of Contraception

Oh little Ella Belle...the cutest dog you will ever meet. She has a smooshy face (incidentally, that's her Native American name; Little Smooshy Face), floppy ears, puppy energy and sweet little Precious Moments Eyes. She has been an adventure ever since the first day we brought her home. She is so loving and she wants to be close to us all the time. That makes it hard to keep her off the bed at night since we are trying to teach her to sleep on the floor with her sister, Lexi. She loves us unconditionally and always feels so bad when we get on to her. She doesn't want to disappoint us, but she just can't help but chew the couch pillows, carpet, tissue from the bathroom trash or my shoelaces.

Having said all that, Ella has taught us that we are not ready for kids. Oh dear Lord, we are not ready. I mean I think if I accidentally got prego (Mom, don't you dare pray for that!) we would deal with it, get excited and jump into parenting. But, being that we are both a little bit Type A, we are planning on having kids in a few years after things have settled. Here is a list of things Ella has taught us and the incident that brought about the teaching moment:

Poop in the crate-somehow when Ella would poop in her crate it got everywhere. It wasn't just a little mess in the corner of the crate, it somehow managed to climb the walls and get to the roof. It was like it had a life of its own, and its goal was to make me hurl.
Lesson Learned: We need a few more clean years before we start cleaning up messes from baby bodily functions, or any other weird kid messes.

Lack of Sleep: As I am sure many new mothers experience, Ella didn't come with a functioning internal clock. When she was younger, she had to go potty several times a night. Now, she just thinks it's okay to get up in the middle of the night and play. These are the nights when Jeremy gets up and happily (and by happily, I mean not-so-happily) gets up to put her in the crate hoping she will chill out.
Lesson Learned: I have an amazing husband. He knows I will be grumpy, tired and downright unpleasant if I don't get sleep. Plus, let's be honest, I sleep through the whimpers, jingling collar and that awful noise that Ella makes when she's gnawing on a bone. Also, we learned that we need a few more years of sleeping in (that's 8a.m. for us) and hanging out in bed. I don't think it's appropriate to put a crying baby in a crate in the middle of the night to make it stop. In fact, I am pretty sure Jeremy prosecutes people for crap like that.

Dog Budget: I think it would be an understatement to say our budget for kids would be slightly higher than the one we have going now for the dogs. We buy food about every three months, take them to the vet about twice a year (now that Ella is older) and buy them toys every once in a while. Financially, our dogs are pretty low maintenance.
Lesson Learned: (from Ella and Lexi) Kids are expensive. How do you people afford them? For that matter, how did our parents afford us? You don't even have to spoil them to spend a lot of money. I almost bought a friend diapers for a baby shower once and decided against it when I saw the price. Are you kidding me? Anyway, the point is that even the necessities cost a lot. Our budget needs time to prepare. :)

As I read back through this blog I laughed out loud. I realize that one day when I do have a little bundle of joy, I will read this and laugh. I mean, the truth is no one will ever be fully prepared for kids and that's part of the fun. Jeremy and I will learn together and it will be a wonderful experience. But for now...I would like to thank Ella Belle Sylestine for providing me with a little glimpse of what it will be like. For now, we will wait.

6 comments:

Anonymous

Hahahahahaha!!! I won't describe the mess I had to clean up tonight, but let me say that when Press takes off his diaper we get poop in a playroom...I only wish it had been in a crate, but on that note, maybe I should put him in a cage! I love you, thanks for sharing your blog. Erica

DeDe Kellicker

AND... you could have TWIN BOYS! LOL Molly, my dear, you would do fine with whatever, but the Type A thing would have to be the first to go (or atleast parts of it). Take it from me... some battles just aren't worth the fight. The kitchen floor will always be sticky and there will be juice splattered on most walls... ho hum... but you get over it (or hire a maid! HA!! ) because in the end... it is worth it! (or that's what I keep telling myself... LOL)

Anonymous

Molly, I love this...and that is the cutest picture of Ella! I have to say that Kenzie was a wake-up call for us, too. Somehow, though, she leaves me wanting kids MORE. I don't know, I think I just like taking care of her so much (even when she's trouble) and I feel like she's my baby! I guess I escaped the type A personality thing, too. :) So glad you are blogging about these things! It's hilarious, and I like having this other window into your life. :)

Kristen Butler

YEAH I'm soo glad your blogging!!! Molly Ann you will be a great MOM!! I know that for a fact because I have both a dog and a baby now... the baby is much more fun to clean up after becuase He gives you a big ole smile and melts your heart and you completely forget about the late nights and smelly diapers!! Grayson has alot of power over me with his huge smile and little tears!!! I melt everytime!!! The goal is to make sure he never knows his complete power so he doesn't use it to his advantage when he's older :) Ok I know this is the longest comment.. but your blog reminds me of the poop sheet we started after new york! Sad! I miss molly!!! Your hilarious and I completely get your sense of humor!!!

Unknown

Expensive...we have 5 of them!!!! You are never prepared, but it is a wonderful experience and you will be a great mother. Dane has learned to take off his pull-up in the morning and finger paint with his poop...let me tell you, he is quite the artist!! :)

Anne

i just found your blog from allison (deily) white's. i am cracking up in my office. which is why you're not supposed to read blogs at work. i love you molly. :)
-anne p.