Friday, Mar. 09, 2012 9:28 p.m.

Las Vegas with a baby

Preface: I'm in Las Vegas. I've had a couple drinks.

Don't worry though; I'm not writing this from out at a bar. I'm in a hotel room, baby C is asleep in a crib next to the bed I'm laying on.

I always wondered what it was really like with a baby. How much of yourself do you lose? How much of you life now becomes restricted? How much do you have to give up?

I've only had a baby for 5.5 months, so I'm by no means an expert on parenthood. But so far, I'm coming to the conclusion that no, your life doesn't end...but you do have to be willing to make a serious effort in order continue to have a personal identity.

I've always enjoyed Las Vegas. Which might be kind of strange if you knew me in real life, as I'm typically rather conservative. But I like Las Vegas because I'm good at separating that there is a "time and a place for everything". Las Vegas is the place to dress classy, drink alcohol, gamble a bit, and just live big (within a financial means). Since we've been married, K and I have gone at least twice a year. I went once while I was pregnant - and now I'm here with a baby.

Yes, nominate me for worst mother of the year for bringing a baby to Vegas. :)

Life has changed a lot since having a kid, but we really try hard to still be our own selves. It's not easy and I can definitely see how new parents slowly lose themselves after they have kids. It's hard to make an effort, but you can. You have to make sacrifices, but it is possible to still feel like a human being after having a kid.

We had to split up the weekend. K is going out with our friends tonight while I'm hanging out in the hotel with Baby C; I get to go to tomorrow night. It kind of sucks that we don't get to go out together, but this is life. I LOVE having a baby - it's a total life adjustment and I do miss somethings, but it IS worth it.

We're staying in a really nice hotel suite. It's awesome. There's a nice tub and K bought me a bath ball that dissolved in the water and made the bath nice and relaxing. He made me a drink and let me relax while he and Baby C went and got sandwiches for dinner. He came back and brought me a chocolate covered strawberry. I was in heaven. :) Yes, there was a baby with us, but we could still be romantic.

It's fun trying to manage this new life in our lives. A challenge, but a fun challenge. It's crazy that I have the love within me for her. When I married K, it was like my ability to feel love doubled for him. When I had Baby C, my love tripled to cover her. I can only wonder if we have another kid how much more my ability to love will grow.

It's a challenge, but it's also doable to still have a life as a couple with a baby. But I do wonder what two kids will be like. One baby can be toted around still, with enough preparation, but two kids seems like a HUGE adjustment from one child. I don't know. I guess we'll see when we get to the point in our lives.
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I know this is just my online diary, so know one reading this really knows me or knows how much of what I type here is accurate truth or exaggeration, but really - I'm a NOT much of a drama queen. If I have opinions, I generally keep them to myself; I try not to stir up trouble. I'm almost boring - when people complain about crap, I usually am that annoying one who makes a comment trying to see things from the other side of the argument.

There's his girl though, that erg, annoyed the crap out of me tonight! I don't usually get really annoyed by people, but seriously, I am AMAZED that some people can be so self-absorbed and feel so self-entitled that they do not realize how normal social behavior goes.

Ok, so K and I were going to Las Vegas this weekend. K's aunt/uncle will be he for a wedding and it worked out well for them to be able to meet Baby C. Coincidentally, it also happens to be out good friends bday, who lives in Vegas. So we planned a trip for both reasons. This other girl that we know and have known for years and years, wanted to come to Vegas for our friend's too. So if asked if she could hitch a ride with us.

Whatever. No big deal. I mean, honestly, I rather had a road trip to have time to talk to K, but really, not a big deal, and it's fine. We oblige and give her a ride.

We get to Vegas and the person she's staying with can't come and pick her up just yet, so she assumes, 'oh no problem, I'll just hang out with realthougts and K in their hotel room all night until everyone goes out later'. So she comes up to our room with us, presumably to hang out and start drinking.

Uh...after you have a baby, a husband and wife really do not get all that much time to focus on each other. Yes, we'd have a baby in the hotel suite with us, but we were also looking forward for a chance to just chill together in a really nice room. We DID NOT want a third wheel hanging out with us. WE paid for this hotel suite; WE paid for the gas out here; we offered her a ride to this city, that's it. K offered to let her borrow our car to drive to the apartment she was staying the night at; she declined. We tried to suggest that she go hang out elsewhere for the time being. She never picked up on the fact that WE WANTED TO BE ALONE, without her.

So, though very unlike me, I decided to say something bluntly. Clearly, she was dense. We're a married couple starved for action in Los Vegas in a nice hotel room. We needed alone time. So what if we had a baby - we have a crib and large suite. We'd make it work. So, while K was in the bathroom, I decided to just go for it and be blunt. I told her "this will probably come out ruder than it's meant, but K and I were really hoping to have some alone time right now and you can either go down and hang out in the hotel bar by yourself for awhile...or if you really want to, you could offer to babysit C while K and I grabbed a drink in the bar.

Her response? "Well, I'm stranded here". Like that was my responsibility! We already gave her a free ride to Vegas; we are not her chaperone! She's 31 yrs. old for crying out loud; she can entertain herself for a couple hours on the Las Vegas strip!

She must have eventually caught on after I was blunt with her, and decided to borrow our car and drive to the place she was staying. Our car was in the valet, because, well, this is Las Vegas, and every place has valet parking. THEN, she asked if shed have ti tip the valet guy (which yes, she would) and she asked us if we had any money for the valet tip!!

Arrrrr - I was going so crazy at this point that I could swear (and I don't normally) - not only did this girl get a free ride to Vegas with us, but she also is getting to borrow a car for free to get to where she is staying (again, for free) and not have to get a taxi - and she asks US to pay for the $2 valet tip! Seriously, it was incredulous. How does a person not realize that there is a give-and-take in a friend relationship? She cannot just take. At that point, I was so annoyed with her that I pulled $2 out of my wallet, gave it to her, and said, somewhat rudely, "whatever; it's still cheaper than a cab fare". I don't think I really said what I meant though, because what I meant was that she should be thankful that she wasn't paying a cab fare...but that I was so annoyed with her that I was willing to give her $2 to make her go away.

Blah.

Then I relaxed in the bath with the bath ball K got me and had a drink and then K put Baby C down to bed and then we partook in our rights as a married couple.

So I feel much better now and happy and relaxed. But still, I don't understand this girl and I'm not looking forward to driving back to L.A. with her in our car. But oh well.

I'm in Las Vegas. And I love Las Vegas. And I'm figuring out if it's possible to do with having a baby now.

And that other girl can suck it.

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