Testing Testing

This is a test to see if this thing is still alive and kicking because I have been missing the blog. Missing writing. Missing reflecting. Missing remembering! And darn it, I miss my peeps too. I'm tired of just lurking. I'm ready to participate again.

Happy Holidays from Us!

Just had to share this cuteness!
Happy Holidays everyone!

Mod Ornaments Holiday Card

Create modern holiday cards at Shutterfly

View the entire collection of cards.

Yay me!

Ever step into the elevator on the top floor of a building and see your keys fall from your hand in slow motion, and then be forced to stand there listening for them to hit the ground, But you have to stand there listening for what feels like forever because you are having to wait for them to fall several stories down because you are the lucky winner of the drop your keys right in the crack of the elevator threshold game?

I have. Tonight. Lucky me!

the next day Update - The Elevator repair company came out this morning and retrieved my keys. I really don't want to know how much I just cost the company for a 5 minute service call.
Thankfully people were still in the building so I caught a ride home last night, and I live close enough to work so I enjoyed a lovely stroll into the office this morning.

A SAHD's first venture into preparing dinner

So last night my husband wanted to cook us a yummy dinner as part of his new SAHD responsibilities. He called me at work to find out what time I'd like dinner to be ready ideally. He's still new to the world of multitasking which cooking a multi-dish dinner takes... ok so he's still new to cooking in a timely manner in general but that's not the point I'm trying to make. Takes practice you know. Throw in learning constant new tricks to take care of a quickly growing baby and you've got a good time.

The dinner turned out awesome, even if we did have to reheat it in the microwave since SOMEONE wouldn't stay asleep long enough for us to sit down to eat and we ate around 10:30pm, but again, not the point I wanted to make.

He put his sights on making brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes and lamb chops. The Brussels sprouts were roasty and not at all bitter. They were pan roasted with BACON FAT, bits of crispy bacon and caramelized onions. This was more of a holiday kind of dish and yes I think I'll ask him to make them for Thanksgiving this week. He seared off the lamb chops in the cast iron pan, and they came out a little (very) rare. Practice... he needs more practice. But then comes the mashed potatoes....
We were out of butter, or at least enough to REALLY make mashed potatoes so he substituted cream cheese. I love him.
THAT's THE POINT I'M TRYING TO MAKE.
That is all.

Back to Work

While being back at work doesn't mean I automatically will have time for blogging you know since I'm WORKING, but I would like to start jotting down little bits and pieces more often and I hope being in front of a computer most of the day will give me the opportunity better than when I was on leave and very rarely sat down at all unless there was a baby attached to me boob (Arrrrrg - sometimes the pirate just has to come out).

I've been back at work for a week and a half now and that first week wasn't so bad. It was sort of like a little break from the all day long baby care of the last 6 months. I enjoyed having somewhere to go, a reason to shower and get dressed and to get out of the house. Eric is home with LilMiss so he's getting to learn some new daddy tricks and getting more comfortable with his role as the primary care giver, but I think he misses the freedom he had while I was home.

I have been going home to feed her at noon when my schedule permits, and there were a few days Eric brought her to me after her afternoon nap. Those were nice little breaks but I don't foresee them continuing long term. I also took a day off last week as she had her 6 month appointment (HOW IS SHE ALREADY 6 MONTHS OLD?) so really it felt like I had a short week.

Today though. Today was hard to leave her. I had the total Sunday blues last night where I just wanted to hold and cuddle her as I didn't feel I got enough during the weekend. Plus, I'm really really tired. Between getting shots last week and the time change this weekend, and she's doing this new thing at night where she goes to sleep easy but wakes up frequently for the first four hours wanting to be held and cuddled and really, anything but be put back into her bed. She has been sleeping in our bed more in the last week than ever before. Not really the trend I want to start especially since I am planning on transitioning her to her own room and crib really really soon.

So I guess this is my new life. The life of a working mom, a bread winner, an always tired, never enough time woman who's just going to have to let go of the word "perfect".

tee hee - I just called myself both a mom and a woman. I all growed.

Crying Over Burnt Milk

I just burnt 3 cups of milk because I just HAD to go look at the Internet while I was doing my nightly scalding which I know only takes minutes and I should never even walk away from the stove.

I know I should let it go, but I just can't.

Eric had to throw it out for me as I couldn't bare the thought.

Do you see what my life has become? Milk milk milk, poop, milk.

Oh, and since I must live up to the mommy blogger status that I am trying to maintain, we have had our first turds. I know, you're so glad you know that.

Coming soon... Sleep Training. Why are we doing this again?

Sorry Earth

Back when we were trying to get pregnant I became a little obsessed with researching cloth diapering. I picked out the diapers I wanted to use, it became a factor when we were searching for a house/apt rental, and I convinced my husband that we should give it a try. He's the earth loving type and was willing to do whatever I thought was best, I had done the research!

Then my mom's singing group gifted us a WHOLE YEAR of cloth diapering service. Now, I was a little taken back because it caused me to rethink things because it meant doing cloth diapering a different way than I had planned. I'm not a really quick to accept a change in my expectations, so it took me a while to accept such an awesome gift. You see, I wanted to use pocket diapers ($$$ and fancy as all heck) but the diaper service pretty much forces you to use flat pre-folds and diaper covers. I LOVE the cute diaper covers, so I convinced myself to give it a try since hello! Awesome gift! Plus, one of my good girlfriends used the same service and she raved about it and loaned us her newborn diaper covers while we gave it a try.

Then we had the baby. A teeny tiny baby (well teeny to me) . She came home wearing Pamper Swaddlers Preemie size. So, so tiny. I wish I had thought to keep one. We decided to wait on the cloth because they were HUGE on her and I'd have to buy all new covers so we kept using the glorious Pampers Swaddlers. GLORIOUS I TELL YOU!

When the wee one was big enough, we started using the cloth. She had some fairly caustic poops for her sensitive bum and would end up with horror of all horrors in rashes every day we used cloth. She was getting changed 1-2 times an hour and yet still the rashes were causing my baby to cry each time we walked to the changing pad. So we went back to using disposables whenever there was a rash because they soaked up the Breastmilk poo so well it kept her pretty darn dry. I know this is the opposite of what "they" say, but that's how it worked for us.

It's been a couple of months of cloth when at home and disposables when out for more than an hour and overnight. It's been working well. We've gotten very good at folding the diaper so her monstrous poops stay contained. Most poop leaks have actually been when using disposables. (yes, i'm talking poop on my blog... I'm a mommy now, it comes with the territory, deal). However it's time to move up in diaper sizes, buy new covers and she's getting more and more squirmy, and the big kicker... Eric is going to stay home with her during the day and he favors the convenience of the disposables (and I don't think he liked that I asked him to dunk and swish poopy diapers in the toilet to cut back on the.... smell).

The thing is, we learned the greatness that is the disposable diaper. Yes, landfill bad. Yes, resources to make bad. Yes, awesome gel is questionable to babies health. But also, cloth diapers aren't really all bright and shiny for the environment either and the parent happiness is a factor. In my opinion cloth is still better, but the convenience of the amazing absorption and super dryness of the glorious Swaddlers has won over her daddy and I'm choosing to let this one go.

I'll have to tell my mom today that she'll stop getting the diaper bill soon. I hope she doesn't feel it's turning down the awesome gift, because it's been great. I just think, for us, right now, we're gonna try something different.

(yes, I'm writing this to convince myself of this decision)