Sleepless Week

This week was like a trip to Cedar Point...a roller coaster with many highs and lows.

1. Today definitely began the wrong way. Little Charlie fussed and fussed all night, and then I had to dropped off my new car at the shop for tires, a squeak, and running loud, like a humvee.



2. This week I memorialized my sleepless nights with a comic and a poem! Although it didn't make me more rested, at least it made me laugh.

3. Charlie likes to talk now, which is really fun. He squeaks and shouts... he is actually remarkably loud.

4. I got a coupon for a free book off of Shutterfly. Two years ago we spent about $70 buying a really nice wedding photo book from them... but since that they have given me coupons for 5 free photo books! I really love them.






5. We went shopping for Little Charlie's Easter Basket... Yes he is barley 4 months, but I am super excited about his first Easter.

Sizes and Self Esteem

A moment of revelation came while discussing my son at work today. I was bragging about what a big boy he is... wearing 6 month clothes while he is not yet 4 months. A woman commented that baby sizes never quite made sense to her. Then it hit me... As a mom the pediatrician is constantly asking if my baby is gaining enough weight... this is incredibly stressful because I start feeling belittled and incompetent, especially with nursing. I always want my boy to gain weight and get chubby. (He was born at 9.35 lbs and dropped to 7.11 lbs so we had some scary times).

I truly think they make baby clothes so you will feel good about yourself when you get your baby dressed. If your baby isn’t gaining weight quickly the last thing you need is the tag on his clothes telling you that you are failing! You already have a pediatrician, and many others to give you that opinion.  

Babies’ clothes are the exact opposite of adult’s. More expensive adult clothes can be great because the sizes run bigger... you feel skinnier just by looking at the tag. In turn you feel like supermom when you little tike is wearing clothes that are a whole size bigger.

And then there’s bridesmaid dresses... they are made EXTRA EXTRA small so your self esteem goes down no matter what size you are. My bridesmaid dress just came in the mail, and I must say three months postpartum is a bad time for bridesmaid dresses. However even though it is an 18W it doesn’t look as bad as I imagined it. Yes, I’d love to be skinnier and not have that size. But considering the situation its not that bad. (ok... the lil guy was up all night so I didn't get to take a pic in the dress... I will post that soon)

Maternity pants and blouse :)

Bottom line it's not about the tag... For you or your baby. I know I try my absolute best to keep my little guy healthy and growing. Now (finally!) He is gaining weight like a little bear. But I have friends doing the same things and their babies aren't growing nearly as fast... but they are INCREDIBLE moms!!!

Just like... I'd like to believe I'm a great mom even though I'm still rocking maternity pants and my girlfriend was back to normal after a week.

How had your journey been? With you or your baby? I would love to hear from you.

A Mother's Lullaby

Twas the night before Tuesday

While I lay in bed

DIY crafts danced in my head

Knitting, sewing, and painting too

So little time and so much to do

I knew it was late and I needed to sleep

Yet my two little babies made MORE than a peep

My hubbie was snoring a great big haaa shooo

The baby was squeaking to join the noise too

I looked at the ceiling and let out a cry

Without some quiet, I surely would die

Down the stairs I tip-toed in grief

Maybe here I could find some relief

A mother’s lullaby comic I drew

It was at that moment I finally knew

Sleep would come in 10 or 20 years

Until then I’ll get plugs for my ears

Coffee… espresso… we’ll be best friends

The adventures of motherhood never do end

Going green a nursing miracle

Finding the perfect bra is always a challenge but I never thought I'd find the perfect one in the grocery aisle!! I grew up around nursing mom's so I always just assumed that you grew up got married popped out a baby and nursed. 

I swiftly discovers that nothing was further from the truth. We struggled with nursing from the start, but my efforts were further complicated by a nagging breast infection, yeast infection, general iteration... call it what you like. I saw a Lactation consultant, two midwives, my primary care doctor, none of whom could find a solution :-)  but don't worry, I got lots of creams and antibiotics which were promised to help but didn't. 

It was hard to choose a favorite... There was option #1 which clearly stated do not let this come in contact with mouth... Which is very reassuring to a new mom, I won't eat it but I'm just letting my baby nurse with on it, then we switched to Nystatin which is basically like cough syrup so everything I put it on I had to wash everything because it was so sticky. Oh and all the lovely antibiotic pills.

Then finally on health provider #6 we found our answer! Cabbage leaves! I couldn’t believe it when he told me that. My directions were to go buy a cabbage wash the leaves, cut out a small circle for the nipple then stick them in my bra for about 10 minutes until they wilted 4x a day. Shockingly enough I began to get relief almost immediately. The heat in my breasts went away and the red rash and tenderness began to fade. Cabbage leaves worked the miracle for me. It was like a blast from the past and suddenly I was cabbage patched for my kid.

UPDATE:
My OB recommended cabbage leaves for my situation... As pointed out by Lenetta in the comments cabbage leaves can also decrease supply so check with your OB to see what is best for your situation. Kellymom.com has lots of great information on nursing, cabbage leaves etc

Good luck nursing!

Blog Birthday Blast

Happy Birthday to... My Blog! Today is officially the one month birthday of my blog! I am thrilled and excited to have been blogging successfully for one month! My goal for the first month was 500 pageviews, but I have surpassed that with over 750 pageviews from 10 different countries. (I know that is small potatoes for the super blogs, but I am proud of that for my first month.)

#1 My little sister made an INCREDIBLE cake for St. Patrick's Day!! Even though I couldn't be with her I loved getting to video chat, and see all her cake pictures via Google+

#2 I drew my very first comic! Yes, we were supposed to be cleaning the house... but this was much much more fun.

#3 Skinny... at least the jeans are - I finally got to show off my sweet skinny jeans, that I bought.

#4 Chai Tea frozen latte - I actually branched out and bought something other than my traditional frozen coffee this week. They did a double take at the coffeehouse when I ordered because they were shocked I wasn’t getting my usual Brown Cow Chill - dark chocolate, white chocolate, espresso, ice cream mix, topped with lots of whip cream caramel and chocolate. (A nice healthy start to my day lol)

#5 Lil Charlie slept through the night!! Yes, he was doing that before, but not since he has been cutting teeth. Praise the Lord! It is incredible how much happier I am with 8 small hours of uninterrupted sleep :)

I would love to hear the highlights of your week!

The miracle of nursing

     Today was a crazy day with a lot of unexpected bumps. As I finally sat down, I was simply amazed by the love of my little son. I was holding him nursing, and he kept grabbing my finger with his little hand. I was already snuggled with him nursing, but that wasn’t enough. It was as if he were saying, no mom... don’t look at the computer, or your phone, or your tablet. Just love me. Enjoy the beauty of me for a moment. When I stopped for that moment my heart just overflowed with love. Here was my little son with total trust and love for me. Depending on me for his every need, and so in love. I smiled as we finished nursing his one hand snuggled on my breast, and the other tightly gripping my hand. 

     What a blessing to be a parent! I just hope I can remember to savor every moment I share with him. I would love to hear some moments that just take your breath away as parents?

Skinny... Or at least the jeans are

I've never actually owned a pair of skinny jeans up until now. I guess I always struggled with the idea of clothes looking like they were spray painted on the body. (I know most skinny jeans aren't that bad, but I tend to exaggerate sometimes) But after pregnancy and two and a half months of just wearing nightgowns and sweats I had enough... I had to know that I still had at least some shape. 

So my quest began. I shopped, and shopped and shopped. Until I was ready to give up and cry. I had to find a pair because I had a baby shower to attend and I didn’t want my friend to be depressed thinking that there was no beauty after baby. The trick was that I needed skinny jeans with an elastic waist. My legs were looking fab, but I was still rocking a major baby belly. I’d get the jeans on and then they wouldn’t zip. Finally, I found my jeans at an unlikely place, Walmart. My friend was actually registered there for her baby shower, so I had decided to just go and buy her gift, but while I was there I walked through the clothes. There they were, pair of skinny jeans that fit just right. It wasn’t really an elastic waist, but it didn’t zip so it worked.

Sometimes I second guess myself and feel like I have to buy clothes from expensive stores to be fashionable. But after looking all around I found my magical pair of skinny jeans at Walmart!

Cleaning vs Comics

We had a major cleaning weekend... we pulled out the furniture, pine-soled the baseboards, scrubbed the heater vents, washed the windows inside and out, scrubbed down the front door...

Now before you start thinking, "Wow, she's super mom!" You need to understand, we did this for the entryway of the house. Then lil Charlie started fussing. He was indignant that we were not just sitting and worshiping him. My hubbie jumped up to go rescue him, which was great except that he was covered in Pine-sol and DIDN'T wash his hands. I screamed in horror and insisted that he wash his hands before going near our little guy.

At that point he burst out laughing and said he wanted to make a comic caricaturing my reaction… And that was the end of the cleaning. We spend that next 3 hours laughing and drawing up the following comic.

Don’t worry though, the entry way of our house is sparkling clean… just don’t walk beyond that.   

NO, my husband did not give him a bath in pine-sol... it just made a funny comic!

Sound of Music Curtains

In the Sound of Music Maria resourcefully makes the children clothes out of "nothing but some old drapes!" I did just the opposite as I repurposed a household item into my dream curtains. 

So this is a project that had been going on for about a year and a half now. I didn't like the ugly mini blinds we had in the house, but I couldn't find curtains I was in love with, within a reasonable price range. 

Then I went over to my friends house and she has these gorgeous white flowing curtains... I was in love! When she told me her secret I was amazed! She actually bought tablecloths at Crafts 2000, threw them over the curtain rod and walla she has fabulous curtains.

In the spirit of... imitation is the best form of flattery, I promptly went out and bought the same tablecloths. Our houses are pretty different so even though we would have the same curtains I figured that we’d be ok... so, there was just one problem. I don’t really sew, I mean I have a machine and everything and I made my Godson a quilt because that’s what good Godmothers do, and I am ¾ way done on a king size crazy quilt that was supposed to be a wedding gift for my husband. (we were married 2 ½ years ago) But I had been delaying these curtains for well over a year. I just wasn’t quite sure how to sew them.

Finally, I decided it was now or never. I laid them all out on the livingroom floor and began measuring. I decided I would fold them over 11 inches and sew the seam for the curtain rod at 4 inches from top. Shockingly, they turned out really well. Now I have curtains in every room, and I can even open the windows without them blowing down. Life is good! It even inspired me to sew a bunch of adorable bibs for my son... but that’s another story. 

We've got tacos coffee and a Pope!

How is it possible that yet another week has passed? Here are some highlights...

1. Savory slow cooked tacos - I was running late for work, hubbie and I still hadn't eaten lunch so I pulled some slow cooked burger out of the freezer and stumbled upon a new family favorite...

You can adjust the amounts to fit your family. Allow burger to cook overnight in slower cooker. You can either mix it for tacos immediately or freeze for the beef for later use. If you plan to freeze the beef - leave it in the fridge till the fat hardens. Scrape off the fat and discard it leaving only the beef and any beef broth.

Take the slow cooked beef and combine fat free refried beans, about a ½ can of beans per pound of burger. Mix hot sauce and Tony Chachere’s to taste. (Be careful the Tony Chachere’s is VERY salty so you do not want to add too much). Mix about a cup of cheese into the beef and beans.

Heat and serve with chips as a hearty dip/meal or put in taco shells and cook for around 15 minutes.

This is a wonderful meal when in a rush because being that the burger is pre cooked you can take the frozen burger out of the freezer, combine all ingredients in a bowl, microwave for a few minutes and dinner is done. Being that the beef was slow cooked it has the savory flavor as if you spent hours in the kitchen not minutes.


2. Roll over...almost - So little Charlie almost rolled over. He is so close he goes from his back to his side and he even flips his legs all the way over, but he just can’t manage to figure out how to get his arms in the right place. I’ll try to help him get all the way to his belly and he’ll just look at look at me puzzled...like how did I get on my belly. Hopefully, by next week he’ll have mastered the roll.

How cute is the little star on his butt?

3. Panera Frozen Caramel - Little Charlie had to nurse on our way back from a doctor’s appointment today, so what better place to stop than Panera with the delicious frozen caramel drink, big comfy chairs, and a warm fireplace. I ordered a large frozen caramel, but instead of giving me that, they served the mega frozen caramel. It looked like a frozen caramel in a Big Gulp cup. I adore coffee and even for me it was a bit overwhelming. It took me over two hours to finish!



4. Flip flops - There was a moment of warmth before it started snowing AGAIN! and I busted out the flip flops, to show off my cute toes. It gave me hope that maybe someday spring will truly come. 

I got this picture from one of the many facebook pages created for him

5. Habemus Papam - We have a Pope!

It was really a beautiful moment of faith and unity for me as we all gathered at work around the computer to watch a live stream from Rome as we waited for his arrival. I was inspired to see how a group of both Catholics and Christians of other denominations all shared the joy as this sacred office was filled.

All in all I would say it has been quite a great week, and now that my infant has been asleep for 3 hours as I worked on my post and designed my new blog logo (let me know what you think?) I should really go to bed!

Linking up with Lauren again for High Five for Friday

Frigid Problems

Sometimes it takes someone else looking into things to point out an obvious and glaring problem. For us it is the fridge... no matter what I do it seems like it is always bursting at the seams and we are wasting and throwing away food.

My sister visited this weekend and gave me a list of fridge rules and pointing on some startlingly facts that made me realize why we have a problem. Below are her discoveries and subsequent rules: 

Drinks:

4 bottles of Kefir
1 Gallon of milk
1 Gallon of ice tea
1 container of Orange Juice
1 Gallon of Apple Cider
1 container of Cranberry Juice

Vegetables:
3 heads of lettuces
3 large cucumbers
2 bags of carrots
1lb of asparagus

Fruits:
24 oranges
1 pineapple
1 canalope
10 kiwi
3 mangos

The condiments were off the charts, and then there’s the leftovers... I love to cook so we make something new every night. And I’m used to cooking at my parents house where there is 7 of us so I cook a lot of food. Basically, that means a lot gets wasted. Our final thought was that I shop like someone who has never seen a grocery store... I feel the need to buy all the fruit and veggies at once as if they won’t be there when I go back. Yes, sometimes there is a good deal on things, but no matter how cheap it is to buy in bulk it is STILL A WASTE OF MONEY IF I THROW IT AWAY! These were the rules my sister implemented... If I actually follow them, I might have a shot at a clean fridge.

Rule #1 You can only have as many condiments that will fit in the door of the fridge. Anything beyond that is excessive
Rule #2 You can only have one special drink at a time.
Rule #3 You can only buy one bag of oranges, head of lettuce etc at a time.
Rule #4 You are feeding TWO PEOPLE! Not an army or family of five. Now shop like it!



How do you organize your fridge?

Back to Work Mommy's First Friday

This was my first week back to work full time as a mom! Wow what a rollercoaster. It could have been an easy transition, but instead both lil Charlie and I got sick. Meaning he went from sleeping through the night, to pulling fussy allnighters all week long and I lost my voice, had a runny nose, sore throat etc I remember being told growing up that mom’s can’t get sick... that’s not true at all mom’s can get sick they just can’t get better because because they never have a chance to rest.

The only advantage to being sick with an infant vs. sick while pregnant is that you can take medicine... I’m not sure which is harder sleep with no medicine or medicine with no sleep... Do any experienced mom’s have ideas?

Linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday
My highlights this week are...

1. It’s my mom’s birthday today and us kids are giving her an ipad mini! She loves showing off videos of little Charlie on her small phone right now. She’s going to go crazy when she see her ipad mini. Plus we’ll be able to video chat all the time. 

2. The photoshoot we did while my sister was visiting with lil Charlie. We did his three month pictures. He is adorable... but I have decided that adding the chalkboard really makes the photos. Especially now that he can hold or eat the chalkboard!  

3. Lil Charlie has decided that he now wants to be big Charlie... although he’s only 3 months only he doesn’t want to be cradled. He wants to be sitting up in your arms looking around. It is amazing to see how much he has already changed in the three short months he has been alive. It definitely reminds me to savor and enjoy every minute and every step along the way. 

4. Frappuccino - Last week was espresso beans this week is a frappuccino, clearly I love coffee. One my first day back in the office there was a ice cold frapp waiting for me from a friend to help me with first day back to work! I love her. 

5. Hot Pink Stilettos - Since my blog post I have gotten numerous comments from people at work gushing over my shoes. I think I might need more stilettos.

Hot Pink Stilettos

I’m back to work full time, and stuck in that fabulous little spot between maternity and normal. This was not a big deal while I was home, I could just chill in my PJs all day. But going into work I have to at least attempt to look fab. My solution has been hot pink stiletto heels. Coming off of pregnancy where I wore the same grey flats everyday, people see these heels and are blown away. 

It is wonderful because it takes the attention away from the fact that I still look 3 months pregnant, and am still wearing maternity pants. They are just super impressed that I am rockin’ the heels 3 months postpartum. It no longer matters that I wore my snow boots into the office, or slip the heels off while at my desk to give my feet a rest. When I am up and about I am strutting the hot pink heels and that’s all the matters. I am linking up with The Pleated Poppy Blog for What I Wore Wednesday. There is a lot of inspiring outfit ideas there!


What is your signature outfit piece that makes you feel incredible?

Meatloaf Misunderstanding to Fabulous Freezer Meatloaf

I grew up eating meatloaf a lot and my mom always used oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs so I always thought that it was big chunks of fat in it. 20 years later I’m realizing that it was actually just oatmeal pieces. I guess the meatloaf wasn’t as gross as I imagined in my head... My husband is always asking for meatloaf so I finally decided to jump over my previous fear and try it. Being that I’m working full time, I often don’t have time to make meatloaf after work... so I tried something crazy the other day. I mixed up a meatloaf with BREADCRUMBS! (not oatmeal) and froze it.

Then I just defrosted it in the morning, and threw in in the crockpot with some potatoes. We came home that night to the incredible smell of meatloaf and potatoes. We were able to eat within in 5 minutes of getting home! This was incredible because with working full time the evening is all I have. And thanks to our fabulous freezer meatloaf we had the entire night to visit with our babe or work on house projects.

Now Meatloaf has gone from the blacklist to a new family fave

Do you have a favorite meatloaf recipe? 

High Five for Friday

This has been an exciting week for me. It has been exactly one week since my first blog post, and I am linking up today with Lauren http://www.frommygreydeskblog.com/ to share five amazing moments.

#1 I wanted to share an adorable video my husband and I made lil Charlie escapes. Our original plan was to catch up on all the things we had fallen behind on since he was born, but instead we created this adorable video... and we hope to have more coming! 

#2 chocolate covered espresso beans are a great way to stay up, but because I am nursing they also tend to keep lil Charlie up as well so its been a long week discovering that. 

#3 lil Charlie actually enjoyed me reading him a story book. He’s just turning three months old and its amazing that he suddenly enjoys when I am reading him books. He seems to really like The Very Hungry Caterpillar and tries to grab the book while I’m reading it to him. 

#4 I finally finished sewing my curtains, which I will be blogging about next week. 

#5 Most importantly my sister Christine is arriving tonight so we’ll be having a weekend filled with lil Charlie photo shoots!