Family planning and the olympics

Now that you've read the touching tributes to my darling daughters, I can now vent a little about the fact that their birthdays are separated by one day.

"Wow! How neat!," I hear often when the girls' birthdays come up and people realize how close they are. "Did you plan it that way?"

Sure, I waited all year long until the appointed day on the calendar that I carefully figured out would produce a baby on February 7th and February 8th, turned to my husband, grabbed him and said, "Come on hot stuff, we have to make a baby NOW, so our kids can have almost the same birthday!!" Not that he would mind me grabbing him at any time for any reason, but there was no plan to have two girls back to back like that (granted, they are separated by 4 years). That matters little when the first full week of February rolls around, though.

The closest thing I had to any kind of plan about child birth was that there was no way I was going to be in the last trimester of pregnancy in the dog days of summer. Being that preggo sucks no matter what time of year it is, but there was no way in hell that I was going to have a bun in the oven while it was 90+ degrees outside. So, when it came to the time where we tossed caution to the wind and said, "Sure, let's have some kids", the caution was only thrown as far as April to August. Naturally, that didn't mean that we couldn't practice during our "down time", but the plan was to hang the "NO WOMB FOR RENT" for 1/2 the year...

Turns out, we didn't need any kind of planning. Apparently, we practiced so much before trying to conceive that we got it right almost the first shot out of the gate (pardon the bad pun, there). All Jon needed to do was look at me, it seemed, and I got pregnant. We did endure the loss of two children, and that's a subject for another post--not because it's too hard to talk about, but I don't like focusing on what I don't have, especially around the girls' birthdays...So, we were incredbily skilled/lucky when it came to getting pregnant. It just seemed that one time of year was better for us than the rest.

I think something my "nephew", Kyle, said when we announced the joyous news of our second pregnancy sums it all up pretty well. When we told his family, who was having dinner with us that evening, that the 2nd baby Rossiter was due at the end of February, Kyle's mom, Sue, was incredulous. "Wow! You guys must really like February! First Cailyn's birthday, and now another one the same month!" As I raised my fork to put the next mouthful of food to my lips, then 14-year-old Kyle says, without missing a beat, "Seems to me that they like May even more..."

Ah, out of the mouths of babes....That was the funniest thing I heard in ages, and although his mom was slightly embarrassed, I think, I could do nothing but agree with the young man. He's always been a smart one.

Must have been something in the May spring air for Jon and me...
Either way, there are times that I think that having the girls' birthdays so close was piss poor planning. The week of their birthdays is hell, and now that both are having parties, well, it isn't going to get any easier as time goes on. But, for now, we lump the girls parties as close together as we can, just so we can get through the insanity a little faster.

This week has been filled with last minute calls from parents (who had two weeks to RSVP, btw), exploding ice cream cone cupcakes and a small fire in my kitchen (the anti-Martha rides again), trips to two classrooms in two days and getting ready for two parties this weekend. Work? Forget it. Sleep? Not much. There's still lots to do before we get through the weekend, but somehow it will happen.

And, in the end, the kids will love it, no matter how it turns out--because, remarkably, it turns out that, for them, it is the thought that counts, even though they can't wait to open presents and stuff their faces with cake. Their excitement is contagious...I just wish I had their energy to maintain that excitement for 7 days, as they have. LOL

Oh, another odd coincidence about Cailyn and Erin's birthdays? They are both winter olympic babies--on the night each of them was born, the winter olympics held their opening ceremonies--Nagano, Japan in 1998 and Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002. While all these people stood out in the freezing cold, getting ready to have their greatest moment...twice I held the product of my physical endurance and labors...Skiing?? HA! I just delivered a baby! And, I'll be damned if I didn't get a medal....what a jip! ;)

But, after two babies, I think we've finally got the family planning thing down now. In two days, as the winter olympics in Torino opens, there will be no deja vu this time...We made our family plan long ago: we officially removed ourselves from the gene pool after Erin was born and that's a plan that we can count on (I HOPE!!). After all, keeping up with two girls should qualify as an olympic sport.

Hell, if curling still counts, shouldn't raising two daughters???