Holidays and Toddlers

I am going to start this blog by saying that I have been raised Christian and would still say that I am one. My husband is an atheist. He and I agree that we can raise our children to know Christianity and if they choose as young adults or adults to follow a different path, fine.
I was also raised to believe in Santa and there was no problems between believing in Jesus and Santa, the Easter Bunny etc etc. I plan on doing the same with my children.

My husband and I have considered changing daycares for my son. We love the center he is in but we want to move him closer to home instead of my office. So we went to this one center and everything seemed nice and great. I went to work afterward and began to read the "handbook" to just make sure there wasn't anything weird. I found a section that read that they would teach the children about Christian beliefs (which I was unaware of, never mentioned in the tour) and then it brought up holidays. It specifically states that they will not speak of Santa, Elves, Reindeer, stockings, Easter Bunny and Halloween.

Ok this is where I have a problem. This is a center for kids 2 and up. Kids that ask about Santa etc. I am bothered that they refuse to speak of these things to little kids. What is the problem with imagination for a 2 or 3 year old. You can teach kids about the birth of Jesus and also Santa without saying life is about one or the other.

Needless to say, he will not be going to that center. We spend too much of our time in our current culture taking kids away from imagining things, play time, and fun times. Its all about making them "learn" and focusing on sports and activities. Can't a kid just be a kid again?

Kidism

My son and I were doing our daily drive to Daycare and work this morning. He was looking very cute wearing of Mommy's sunglasses because the sun was in his eyes. We were stopped at a school crossing and I decided I would take a picture of him on my cell phone.
As I turned I hit the horn with my elbow.
My son said to me "Momma are you angry?" I laughed and had to explain that it was just an accident. I guess I must have told him that people honk their horns when they are angry.
He is always asking "What's that noise?" or "What's that?". So I try very hard to engage him and answer his questions honestly and completely. Apparently he remembered atleast one lesson lol.

New Baby Intro

Baby #2 is due in early May 2010. I have had a rough start to this pregnancy compared to my first. As for symptoms, I don't want any kind of food at all. I just don't want it. I force myself to eat. I am also getting joint pain in my hips which my Dr. said was normal even though I didn't get them until much later in my last pregnancy. She said that those kinds of symptoms always show up earlier in subsequent pregnancies so FUN. I am also getting a bit of heartburn and I am so tired. Thankfully the "morning" sickness and nausea are almost gone completely.

I had my 12 week visit yesterday. No weight gain (yay!). We were suppose to hear the heartbeat but because I am a big girl, the nurse couldn't get it so we got another u/s (Hooray!!)

Dr. couldn't get a good read on the heartbeat, guess about 162, because the little thing was moving way too much. Dr said I am not concerned at all because of all the movement. It was really neat to see the baby move so much. Our son never moved that much.

So thinks are moving along, I go to the dr. again on Nov 23rd and then again the first week of Dec for my first Glucose test. I am going to get two because my last OB wrote in my records that I was "Glucose intolerant", although she never mentioned that to me. So we will do one at like 18 weeks and then the standard one at 28 weeks.

My husband and I are divided on whether or not to find out the sex. We found out with my son, but I am thinking I want a surprise. Of course, my husband wants to know. So I told him we aren't HA. I am rethinking it though because I am wondering if knowing the sex will make it easier for my son.

Do you think it makes a difference is the older child knows its a Brother or Sister?

First Post

I decided to start this blog as a way to not only remember things going on in my life but also as a way to reach other moms that feel the same joys and pains.

A little bit about the MadTownMomma. I'm married and work full-time outside of the home. I have one son, that is 2.5 yrs old and another baby on the way, due in the spring. We live several hours from both families which is nice and creates a well needed buffer. Although my mother will be moving in to watch the children as we live in a city with very high child care costs.

A bit about my son: My son is the first grandchild on both sides of our families. This presents its challenges as I am sure some of you can relate. He was a C/S baby, circumcised, breastfeed for a couple weeks and then formula fed. We use disposable diapers and I vaccinated him according to the CDC schedule.