Our Days

Shannon at From Match to Marriage posted today about what her schedule, as a working mother, looks like during the week... I was VERY happy to see that her schedule looked much like mine... and that housework was nowhere in there. lol

This is what the day looks like in our household:

4:30-6:00- Emily wakes up.  However, after feeding her a bottle and putting her back in her crib, she will USUALLY fall back asleep for another couple of hours.

6:15- My alarm goes off.  I hit snooze.

6:25 - Out of bed and into the shower.

6:25-7:10 - Shower, get dressed, put make up on, brush hair and teeth (I do this pretty quick... sleep is more important to me than doing a good job most mornings).

7:10-7:30 - Try to eat breakfast (try being the key word), check my e-mail, read my blogs/Facebook/etc.... if, of course, I'm not already running late.  =)  Get the diaper bag ready.  Ask Jacob if he's planning on getting out of bed.

7:20-7:30 - Get Emily up (if she isn't already).  Generally Jacob will get her dressed while I do last minute prep and make her a bottle.  If Emily wakes up before this time, Jacob will hang out with her while I get ready... usually this includes the two of them taking a shower.  She LOVES the water and playing in her tub!

7:30-7:40 - All three of us leave the house.  Jacob work bound, me daycare and then work bound.

8:00 - Drop Emily off at daycare.

8:00-8:45 (or 9 if traffic sucks) - Make my way to work.  This usually looks like me driving my car to the MAX and then taking the train into downtown.  Some days I drive, but it doesn't save me any time and (if I don't have a parking spot at work that day), costs more to park.

8:45ish-5:00ish - Work.

5:00-6:00 - Make my way home.  Jacob also gets off work at 5, but since his commute is a bit shorter he stops and picks up Emily on his way home (getting her at around 5:30).

6:00-7:00 - Play with baby time.  This is my ONE HOUR of the day that I can focus on my daughter.  =(  I take advantage.

7:00-7:15 - Put Emily to bed.  Jacob gets her changed and in her PJs while I prep a bottle.  Then he passes her off to me and I feed her and put her in her crib.  She either goes right to sleep or...

7:15-7:30 - Listen to Emily chatter while we make dinner.  =)  If she doesn't go right to sleep when I put her in her crib, she'll talk (loudly) to herself for a few minutes before she passes out.  We don't even need the baby monitor to hear her in there... it's kind of hilarious. =)

7:30-8:30ish - Jacob and I eat dinner together while catching up on some TV.  Sometimes, if I put something in the crock pot for dinner and its ready when we get home, we'll have a "family dinner" around the table and give Emily some food to eat/play with.  It all depends on our meal.**

8:30-10:30ish - Me time (sort of).  This usually includes catching up on FB/blogs/news/etc.  Editing photos (if I've had a shoot recently), watching some of "my" shows (those shows that Jacob could care less about) or doing something silly like loading the dishwasher or folding laundry. =)  (Right now, while doing this, I have a load of laundry in the dryer and another load in a basket that just came out of the dryer... I know these won't get folded any time soon... I'm trying to come to peace with that).

10:30ish - Off to bed... cringing at the thought of starting the whole day over again... I really feel like weekends should be longer than the rest of the "week".

Any sort of housework either occurs on the weekends, or "a little here, a little there" throughout the week.  I have been working on putting together a chore "schedule" to see if that will help us keep things on track as I am getting really frustrated with my house always being gross and not being able to find a shirt I want to wear or a clean pair of socks (because laundry rarely gets folded, and even less likely does it get put away in this house).

Exercise... what's that?  I am NOT waking up any earlier to do it, and by the time I get Emily in bed and eat dinner, the last thing I want to do is go to the gym.  I bought a yoga CD that I like... sometimes I do it.  ;)



**For the last 2-3 months I have been using the meal planning website Menu for the Week.  I LOVE it!  Saves me so much time and I enjoy eating a variety of things (before we started doing this, our menu from one night to the next looked pretty similar).  I also love the fact that it puts a grocery list together for me... so I just print it and go!  Love.

Ode to the Boob

It's been almost a month now since I stopped breastfeeding, and I don't know that I could be much happier about my decision.

When I had Em I wasn't sure if I'd be able to breastfeed.  My mom had problems with it (production issues) and I wasn't sure if that was a genetic thing or not, but I wanted to try and figured I'd do it as long I could... not just for the health related reasons, but also because it a whole LOT cheaper!

Emily was a natural breast-feeder and didn't have much trouble latching on at all.  While I was home on my maternity leave, nursing was great.  It was easy, and available and free.  When we would leave the house, I wouldn't have to worry about bringing a bottle/formula because I was biologically prepared.  And, much to my surprise, it was working.  She was gaining weight.  She was happy and healthy.  And, aside from frustration from time to time that I was the only one who could actually feed her, I was doing ok, too.

And then I went back to work... and had to pump.  Pumping is no fun what-so-ever.  It's especially no fun when you have to find the time to do it... on your breaks and lunch... meaning that I got no breaks or lunch... for almost 4 months.  I locked myself in a single bathroom, with harsh lighting and a loud fan for 20 minutes or so 3 times a day.  I FINALLY figured out how to use rubber bands to attach the cups to my nursing bra so I could read a book while I was stuck in there, but it was still an uncomfortable, unnatural, inconvenient activity... but I did it, for my daughter.

And then, one day, somewhere around the 4 month mark, I got an e-mail from our daycare provider that she had run out of milk... and it was only about noon.  I had a mini-meltdown at my desk.  Thankfully, we had some formula packets in the diaper bag as a "just in case" so there was an option available for her last couple afternoon bottles... but she had never had formula before and I didn't know if she'd take the bottle.  I was angry and frustrated that I wasn't able to provide for my daughter.

I was religiously taking fenugreek to help with my supply (SEVEN pills a day), but, even though I started to smell strongly of maple syrup, it did not appear to be helping and I was still quickly running through my freezer stash..so we started to supplement Emily's bottles with 50/50 milk and formula mix.  At first she was a little annoyed, but she took to it, and I continued to feed her when I was able, and pumped at work... but I was pumping less and less every day.

Then one day I forgot my pump at home and went all day without pumping... I realized that I didn't physically NEED to pump anymore (i.e. there was no "uncomfortable" feelings if I didn't do it), and I was able to take an actual lunch break!  I decided that I would stop pumping at work, and try to do it once at night, and again first thing in the morning.

This went on for a couple of weeks until Emily hit what must have been a 6 month growth spurt.  One days she nursed, and nursed, and nursed and was not getting enough to satisfy her.  I felt horrible.  I felt like I wasn't doing my job... and that something was wrong with me.  Finally I succumbed and gave Emily a bottle of formula... and she guzzled that thing down... which made me feel even worse about my own inabilities.

At that point, out of anger and frustration, I told Jacob that I was done.  I couldn't handle the stress of it anymore... but I still continued to nurse about once a day (always supplemented by a bottle directly afterward).  Until, one day, I didn't nurse... and then two days... and then three.  I didn't intentionally stopped, I just kind of forgot about it.  And I am so relieved.

I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.  No longer am I the sole food provider.  No longer do I have to worry about what I eat (or drink!) and how it will effect the little one.  No longer do I have to worry/feel guilty when she has bad gas because it must have been my fault for eating the bean burrito for lunch.  No longer do I have ti find a comfortable, somewhat private place to sit down and nurse when I'm in public... I can give her a bottle... anywhere!

For the first 6+ months of her life Emily got at least SOME breast milk, and, for that, I am proud of myself, but I am perfectly happy not to go another 6 months. 

My Baby the Model!

Now that Emily has hit the 7-month mark, I guess that I should finally get around to showing off her "official" 6 month photos... yeah... I'm a little behind (I still have posts waiting that I meant to write in September. lol  One of these days I'll catch up!).

One lovely October afternoon Jacob helped me get some photos taken before the rain came back... here's a sample...

I have one darn cute kid! =)

Seven Months! (Yesterday.... oops!)

Weight/Length- According to our home scale you are weighing in at 17 lbs., 13 oz!  (It took me about 4 times trying to weigh you... you just wouldn't hold still!)

Eating- No more boob for you!  You made the transition to formula only a couple of weeks ago... and I really think that we're both happier about it.  You are starting to eat a lot more now, too.  Mostly 4 oz bottles through out the day and a 6-8 oz right before bed, but now you've started to have another 8 oz bottle in the middle of the day, too!  And today you drank 12 oz within 1 hour of bedtime! 

Sleep- Dad and I decided to do the dreaded "sleep training" a couple of weeks ago.  Funny thing is, it wasn't that bad at all.  You never really got "mad" at us when you cried in the middle of the night (which made it easier on Mom!), and you "got it" after waking up only twice on the first night.  You're sleeping now from 7 pm to sometime between 5-6:30 am now.  We are quite happy about this! =)

 Clothes-You're wearing 6-9 month stuff right now.  You're "outfits" have gotten much cuter now that you have so many different sets of clothes to choose from! lol

Personality- You are a smart, happy, independent baby... and very active!  You want to be exploring new things constantly, and get really excited when there's something new to check out! =)

Likes/Dislikes-

• You like swim lessons.  You're take it VERY seriously! lol  But you're also have funny in the water.  You are definitely a water baby!
• You like bananas... a lot!  Avacados, potatoes, and strawberries have also been hits!
• You like feeding yourself your bottle... you can do it one-handed, too!
• You like riding on Mom's back in your Ergo!

• You don't like sitting still... even when you're having a bottle you are a mobile, squirmy active baby.  It's gotten a little difficult to change your diaper/get you dressed when you all want to do is roll around!
• Now that you're getting into everything, you don't like it when Mom/Dad move you away from something that you shouldn't be into.
• You don't like that the kitty won't sit still and let you pull his fur.

Milestones-

You can crawl!  ALL over the place!

Not only can you crawl, but you are already pulling yourself up on your feet!  AND you've started to take little steps when Mom or Dad are holding your hands!

You have TWO teeth!  Both on TOP (which apparently is not "normal"... usually the bottom teeth come in first apparently).

You celebrated your first Halloween AND Thanksgiving!

You also went to ZooLights for the first time.  I think Mom had more fun than you did, though. ;)

You have started saying "dadadadada".  Dad swears that this is your first word... I told him that it doesn't count until you use it appropriately! lol

 

Another Wedding!

It's been almost two months since my youngest brother married his high school sweetheart... and I am just now getting around to blogging about it. lol

Every summer for the last three years there as been a wedding in my family.  August 2010 - Jacob and I, October 2011 - my brother Dustin and his wife Brittany, this year we celebrated my brother Scott and his now-wife Jennifer!  The ceremony and reception were held at my parents house (which stressed my mother out to no end!) and it was gorgeous.  My mom, dad and helpers put a lot of work into the hard and the house to transform it for Scott & Jennifer's special day.

(I don't have any photos of the back yard, where the real magic happened, but I took advantage of the landscaping for our family photos earlier in the summer!)

It was a great (busy) day.  I think it was my first day (aside from work) that I was away from Emily for the majority of it.  Between hair/make up, dressing, decorating and photos I didn't have much time.  Jacob did an amazing job keeping her happy and entertained... even took her out to breakfast. =)  We had to leave the reception earlier than I would have liked to get back to our hotel as it was Em's bedtime and she was not sleeping very soundly at my parents place, but we had a great time when we were there... I sure do miss the days of staying out late and dancing!

Front yard, reception area

My nephew, Satori. =)

Emily and Grandma!

My brother Scott, checking out the awesome wedding cake!

The bride and me! Check out my earrings! lol

I love this photo of my little bro singing to his new wife during their first dance. =)

Discovering new things every day!