Tomorrow

Tomorrow my baby turns 6 months old! Updates & pictures to come... including my current weight, Baby Bear's new favorite things, and what it's really like to be a working mom.

There's so much going on and I wish I had a spare minute to write it all down... but I have 867 photos from the month of April, so at least we have some photographic evidence of our life! I'm also waiting on some new pages from Edna Mae for the baby book, so as soon as those come in I can consolidate my lists into a coherent paragraph about Baby Bear's past few weeks. The past few weeks include sitting up, starting solids, and generally being a big girl. It is SO FUN to see her face light up... but I'm supposed to be doing work right now, so you'll just have to wait.

More this week; I promise.

Green and Jeans week

There has been a sign at daycare for the past 2 weeks: "The week of March 14-18, wear a GREEN shirt and jeans!"

Like a good mother, I went through Baby Bear's clothes and she has 2 green St. Patrick's Day shirts. She will be at daycare 3 days this week, so I went to Target and for $4, bought another green onesie so that she can wear green shirts (and her jeans) all 3 days. Did I need to? No, she could have worn the same shirt 2 days. But it was $4 and it's cute. And it doesn't specifically say "St. Patrick's Day", so really, my Irish baby can wear it any time. And wow, does she look cute in green.

So today she wore an adorable green and white striped onesie that says "This is my lucky shirt". She is also wearing jeans and her St. Patrick's Day bib (for Christmas she was gifted sweet personalized bibs for Valentine's Day, St. Patty's Day, and Easter). I will wash jeans and bib this evening with her other items so they are clean for tomorrow. I will repeat this act tomorrow night so they are clean for Thursday.

This morning I did drop-off.

The sign is still up by the check-in computer. None of the kids I see are in their green shirts and jeans. I get to the infant room. Baby Bear immediately smiles when she see her teacher and her teacher says "Hi Baby Bear! I knew you'd get dressed up this week!" The 2 other children in the room were wearing regular (non-green) outfits.

Now, here is what I am wondering.... are other parents lazy? Do they not care? Or am I just a first time mom?

Working Mom Stuff

Little Bean has been going to school (daycare) for a full month and it's pretty safe to say she loves it. She always has a huge smile for her teacher and she loves to watch what the other little girls in her class are doing. It's basically the cutest thing ever.

Today when I got there for pick up, she was in the swing (we don't have one at home, so it's a special "school" thing for her) kind of zoned out. She must have just finished a bottle because the look on her face was just bliss. So I watched her through the class window for a minute while I put on my shoe covers, and then went into the room. I said "Hiiiiii Little Bean" and she looked at me and just broke into the hugest smile. I could have died. It was unreal... just the sweetest smile for her mama.

Which I totally needed, because work is less than cool. The Working Mom bit is tiring, yo.

But such is life.

I actually feel sort of badass about the whole thing. I work 40+ hours a week, take care of my baby, dog, & husband, and keep the house semi-presentable. I feel..... accomplished. Tired, clearly, but at the end of the day.... I really, honestly feel great.

And at 6am when I hear little sounds from the nursery? That is my favorite part of the day because I know when I go in there, I will see all smiles and then I bring her into our bed for 30 minutes of snuggles.

6-6:30am is a huge snugglefest in The Big Bed. It is very hard to get out of bed at 6:30. Very hard, indeed.

I've been meaning to compile a list of stuff that helps me get through the day in one piece... clearly I'm not the expert, seeing as I've been doing this Working Mom gig for only a month now, but here's what's helped me so far:

Medela Pump In Style Tote: It's easy to use, you don't have to take the pump out of the bag (it's attached, which means less to assemble when you're at work and short on time), and you can buy wipes that clean the suction part between uses. That means from set up to clean up, it takes 20 minutes... and you don't need to wash the parts in the kitchen. That makes for zero awkward run-ins with co-workers who really do not want to see you cleaning out your pump stuff...

GlamourMom nursing tanks: I wear these under everything... easy boob access means quicker pumping, which means less awkward "someone's knocking on your office door and can clearly hear the pump and you have to say you're busy and then it's awkward when you talk to them later because they know you had your boob out at work". I'm just saying. I have 5 of these and wear them every single day.... but they are heinously expensive, so I got mine in the Private Sale section and on eBay. Just search for GlamourMom and then click new with tags. They are a little cheaper, and some have free shipping. GlamourMom charges like $7 in shipping.... so I get mine on eBay. And they are awesome. The bra part is for real. I swear. There is enough support for huge bewbs. Trust me.

Initial bracelet: I bought this right around Christmas and haven't taken it off yet. My daughter's name is 4 letters long, so I got her name on mine, but it would be equally adorable (and meaningful) with her initials. It's thin and looks quite delicate, but I'm pretty rough on my jewelry and it's still in perfect shape after being worn for 2 solid months. I love wearing her name on my wrist... it helps me feel closer to her when I'm at work.

Blue painter's tape: This is all you need to label bottles. This is apparently a daycare trade secret that our daycare director shared with us. It seems that the stickers you can buy with your kid's name on them (the waterproof ones that claim to stick through washing) don't hold up at all if you sterilize your bottles (which we do) and they leave sticky crap all over the place. The painter's tape? Comes right off every time. Plus, I need to label our bottles every single day with her name, the date, what it is (milk or formula), and how many ounces. So even if we had the stickers, I'd need to find a way to get the rest of that info on there every day. The painter's tape works perfectly without any sticky residue. Our daycare uses a cup of hot water to heat the bottles, and even after being submerged, the tape is still legible and stuck to the bottle. Don't waste your money with stickers. Just buy a roll of tape at Lowes.

Quick & Easy Dinners: I've gotten into the habit of making dinners ahead when I can and making sure I always have a freezer full of frozen veggies and turkey sausage. That way I can always throw something either right in the oven or put together a quick sausage & veggie dinner. My favorite freeze-ahead recipes are enchiladas, rice ball casserole, mac & cheese, and chili. Those recipes are all WW-friendly AND husband-approved. I always split the recipe into two 8x8 baking pans to make it easy to throw one right into the freezer.

Weight Watchers: At 18 weeks postpartum, I'm just 5 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight.... and I put on 60 lbs during my 38 week pregnancy. It's easy. It works. And you get a crapload of extra points if you're breastfeeding. I heart WW so hard.

And now, a gratuitous pic of my 4 month old baby girl:

My dollars

All of my money goes to:
and


Skinny Hazelnut Latte in the morning and online shopping at Gymboree during lunch. Throw in 2 pumping sessions and a handful of emails/phone calls/meetings and all of a sudden it's time to leave to pick up Little Bean.

But if I had to tell you how much I've spent on coffee and adorable (on sale, I promise) baby clothes for next year, I think we'd both be sick.

A Tip

Last night when I picked up my Little Bean at daycare, I was talking with one of her teachers and I asked about tummy time and how that was going. Would you even believe that Little Bean's teacher said "Great; she loves looking at the other kids."

What?

At home she screams like I laid her down on a bed of hypodermic needles. Needless to say, tummy time is far and between at my house, which possibly isn't so good for her little head (which I check obsessively to ensure no flatness... ) but I'm not talking about some whining when she's face down. I'm talking about bloody-murder "Holy Crap I hope the neighbors don't call Dyfus to come check on me" type screams.

But apparently hanging out on the floor with her little friends makes it more tolerable. So worth the large check I write out weekly.

So back to my Tip of the Week.

Just because daycare isn't the worst thing ever doesn't mean going back to work is awesome... or even a little bit fun. It's just necessary. But know what makes it a little bit better? A card from my mom in the mail that says lots of really nice stuff about me being a bad ass mom & includes a Starbucks gift card... you know, for the early morning drive to work when you're sort of still asleep. And then a call from my sister on Friday night asking how our first week was, and what did Little Bean do at school (we call daycare school... so what) and how was my week back at work and just some general, old fashioned support to let me know that she was thinking about us.

And then know what showed up at my office yesterday, on my first Monday back at work?

A box of happiness from my sister with a note that said she hoped this would help me get through the day a little easier. And you know what? It did.

I know that we made the decision that was right for us, but having that support system is amazing. And the card, phone call, and box of cookies? All came with the general message of "I know work sucks but maybe this will help it suck less". And I felt loved and supported, even though those 3 ladies live 3 hours away from me.

The take away? If you know someone going back to work after however many amazing weeks of maternity leave they had, send a card to their office letting them know you're thinking about them. Bonus points for gift cards for caffeine :-) And do NOT mention daycare sucking, because really? That is probably how you feel... not the parents. The parents probably found a daycare situation they love and feel 100% comfortable with... so keep your negativity to yourself. But bitching and moaning about work? Totally acceptable. I mean, it's called work for a reason.

New Adventures

Today is my last day of maternity leave. It has been an amazing 14 weeks... I mean, I got to hang out with this adorable face all day, every single day:

I am so thankful I had these 14 weeks to spend 100% with my girl. We did lots of snuggling in The Big Bed (yup, morning naps are of the co-sleeping variety), took many trips to Target, and spent lots of time walking around the house... I point stuff out and she laughs.

Tomorrow is my first day back to work and her first day at daycare. I'm not excited to go back to work, but I'm not upset about having to take her to daycare.

I totally thought I'd be more stressed out... you always hear about how hard it is to leave your kid with stangers so you can go to work all day. Obviously I'd rather be home with my girl, no question there. But I like our daycare. I like the director, I like our lead teacher, and I like the room she will be in. And last week we did "practice drop off" (Ryan & I left her there for about 2 hours just to practice) and she was happy when we left and happy when we came back. I could see her looking at the other kids and just taking it all in.... and I immediately felt 100% ok with the situation. I mean, I had to be somewhat ok with it because we can't live the lifestyle we want on just one salary, but I really felt good about our daycare choice and Baby Girl's ability to be happy there.

The whole "working mom" thing... it's a new adventure. And wow, my work days are going to be so much easier to get through knowing I have this to look forward to every day when I leave at 5pm:

In case you couldn't tell, that is a Very Snuggly Baby. And that giraffe? That's Janet, and she is the best. And now you'll have to excuse me.... that Very Snuggly Baby and I have some last day of maternity leave Target shopping to do.