Nights Out

"Wish it...Dream it...Do it!"

Thursday night I went on a date with my husband Tom. We had a great time. We won a gift certificate last summer at the Tourette Syndrome picnic. It was for a restaurant downtown called Twin Anchors. They're pretty famous for their ribs. Lots of celebrities eat there or order from there. The movie Return to Me was filmed there and so was the bar scene from The Dark Knight. The food was excellent - and so was the service. Kimmy was our waitress and she was wonderful. When we were done and went outside there was a guy outside having a cigarette. He saw my very pregnant belly and asked if I was pregnant or was that the ribs. Ha ha got to love "drunk humor." I said I was definitely pregnant, but patted my hubby's tummy and said that that was the ribs. He then asked if this was our first child. I always put on a big smile before asnwering that question. I told him no, this is our 7th. His response? Whoa! Irish Catholic? Do you live on a farm and need the extra hands? Ok...I've heard the Irish Catholic question before, but not the farm one. People used to assume I grew up on a farm when they found out I grew up in Iowa, but I hadn't heard it related to the number of children I have. Anyways, he said we were the most modern couple he's met with that many kids. Whatever that means.
Last night Tom and I took our 2 oldest boys to a White Sox game. We are huge White Sox fans -- I used to be a Cubbies fan, but in 2005 while I was pregnant with Leah I watched a lot of the Sox with Tom. I really liked how the players worked / played together and I liked Ozzie. I got to know all the players and could actually name them. The night they won the World Series was the night I went into labor with Leah. It was tough dragging my hubby off of the couch. I waited until the contractions were really strong and close before letting him know what was going on. He thought if I sat down and stopped pacing the floor, the contractions might slow down long enough for the game to be over. Ummm no. It doesn't work like that. We had to listen to the Sox win while in the car on the way to the hospital and I had to listen to my husband and doctor talk about the White Sox's WS win while I was having our 2nd baby girl. She was born soon after midnight so her "birth newspaper" has a great headline and Tom and I spent the day in my hospital room with our new baby girl watching the victory parade on tv. How can I not be a Sox fan? Ok, back to last night...Excellent game! We won 12 - 8 against the Orioles. Thome hit 2 homeruns and Podsednik had a great night. I'm glad Chicago brought him back. I wish I could have worn my "Pod Squad" shirt, but my belly wasn't going to fit into it :o) We ate a bunch of yummy food, watched our team win, then watched a great fireworks show. The show was to music from the 80's "hair bands." We didn't know until we got there, but it was Mullet Night at the game. Lots of workers and fans wore mullets and they had mullets drawn on the players' pictures up on the screen. It was a fun night to be there. The only "difficult" part of the evening was walking all the way to and from the car. Those "practice" contractions were coming a lot last night. I think baby just felt and heard all the excitement.
A couple of weeks ago I was feeling pretty excited when I felt the braxtons, now I'm starting to get a little nervous. I'm starting to remember what labor feels like and why I always end up getting the epidural. I just hope I get to the hospital on time with this one. Believe it or not, it's still a little strange knowing that we're going to have a baby in the next month. I don't think it's going to be real to me until I'm holding this little one, counting all the fingers and toes.
Today Tom and our oldest, Brandon are taking apart a swingset/fort to bring home. There's a family that said we could have it for free if we moved it. Deal. Our set kind of fell apart when we moved it to put in a shed earlier this summer. I'm going to try and get through some of the basement today. Need to find the baby carseat and clean it. I also want to get more organized. I have children's clothes and toys all over the place down there. I think I am to the "nesting" part of my pregnancy. It's nice that Tom is taking the week off to help get things done around our home before our newest family member arrives.
Sarah just fell asleep on my lap. Guess now would be the best time to get some work done - if I can sneak her into her crib. I'm not sure how much Sarah understands about mommy's belly and baby, but she has certainly become my little shadow. She wakes up almost every night screaming until I come get her and bring her back to bed with me and daddy. I think Tommy and I are going to have a very crowded bed (and bedroom - Leah sleeps on our floor) in a few weeks.
With Ethan and Rachel "camping out" in our loft, (Noah and Brandon like their beds) I think our family of 9 will be just fine in our 3-bedroom home. Although a finished basement would make it even better, but we'll get there someday.