Sometimes ...

It's good to just enjoy the sweet little munchkin for who she is: a curious toddler that never ceases to amaze me. Love this face.

Thoughts on Motherhood ...

Just today, I was talking with a coworker that wants to start a family soon. She is married, and she and her husband are eager to get pregnant. I shared with her this little bit o'wisdom:

 

Whatever lessons you need to learn, your kids will teach them to you.

Lack patience? You have 18+ years to figure it out. And you will definitely improve over time. Bad with money? Unless you have no desire to be a good parent, you learn the basics- QUICKLY. A little too passive? Let someone mistreat your kid, and then behold the lion in you as he/she comes out effortlessly.

I was a lot more of a free-spirit prior to motherhood. Having my daughter made me a much more focused, driven person. I have to be focused to keep her on a schedule, let her know that actions have consequences, to purchase the right things at the grocery store, so I don't have to return every other day ... There is just a lot more intent with my actions now. I exercise forethought like I never have.

Likewise, I know some women who were more rigid, focused personalities, that ended up becoming much more relaxed after parenthood. Certain things cannot be changed, and letting the chips falls where they may is often the best decision a parent can make. Letting go can give a parent more peace than anything else.

Some evenings, after the baby has been put to bed, you realize that your kid is clean, healthy, and sleeping soundly, and no matter how awful the day was, you and Baby survived it. And you relish the fact that nothing else matters, other than you and Baby made it through the day. Other days, you spend the entire day, successfully checking off every item of your to-do list, and even making a dent in the next day's tasks. And you end up relishing that, too. It's a weird, unpredictable life, when you have children.

Parenthood is just random like that.

My One Year Old ...

My sweet little one is no longer a baby. She has officially entered the land of toddler-dom. I can't believe how fast this year has gone! I miss having a little cuddly bundle, but seeing her become more independent has been exciting, and I'm learning to love the process :)

Here are a couple of family photos taken two days before her birthday:

 

 

My munchkin looks SO unenthused...

 

This baby frowns better than anybody I know LOL

 

 

These pics are from the weekend right after her birthday. We went to the French Food Festival then walked around in Carytown, a shopping district near our home.

 

 

Getting a lift from Daddy

 

 

Posing with Mommy before going to the festival

 





 

Smiling with Daddy

 

Cheesing for the camera :D

 

 

I thought she would be afraid of the bunny-but she wasn't!

 

She was completely ignoring me LOL!

In Two Weeks ...

I'll have a one year old. Where has the time gone?

Word of the Day: Pictures

Latest photos of my sweet girl:

 

 

 

 

Motherhood just keeps getting better and better. I love being a mommy ^_^

Word of the Day: Bittersweet

Well, I return to work on September 24th. I'm disappointed that I have to go back. The arrangement that I anticipated did not work out at all, but I am determined to make the most of this situation.

My sweet baby makes me so happy, and I'll miss spending my days with her. But, on the brighter side of things, I will able to enjoy regular adult conversation again :)
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Whatever. That's a crappy consolation prize. I won't be having any more babies until I have the life that I want, that will allow me to stay at home longer than 5 months.

Word of the Day: Bassinet

My little lady is officially 7 weeks old! I can't believe I've had her for almost 2 months. Time is flying! Not only is she getting older, but she's getting longer and heavier. In fact, she's growing so fast that she's about 6 inches away from outgrowing her bassinet! I guess I'll hold on to it, until I know someone who is having a baby that may need it. It was such a cute bassinet, too :( I got it from that awful Walmart, but it was such a good price and easy to assemble. The store no longer carry that model, but it was less than $100 and had both pink and blue accessories so that the bassinet can be customized based on baby's gender.

I was hoping she could use it until she's about 4 months, but I think she'll be out of it before that point. My little baby must be part-weed LOL! She's getting big and changing quickly. Well, here's the latest photo of the munchkin :)

Word of the Day: Adjust

Now that my attempts to keep the munchkin asleep all night are finally paying off, it's time for me to adjust to more normal sleeping patterns. I'm an insomniac anyway, so I have always kept late hours (even when I would go to work at 4 AM, I'd be up until 12 or 1 AM.) However, with the baby, I was staying up until 8 AM sometimes, only to sleep off and on during the day. Now it's time for me to start sleeping at night again. I don't know how I'll like it: I've gotten a great nighttime TV show routine mapped out LOL! Once I'm sleeping through the night again, I will have to learn what's good on TV during the daytime :)

Seriously though, I'm spending many waking hours trying to find a way to stay close to my baby once my maternity leave is over. I used to have a daily 4 hour round-trip commute to work. Now that I'm a mommy, I can't imagine wasting 4 hours a day in traffic (instead of spending time with her.) I also can't bear to think about the fact that if she gets sick while I'm working, it'll take me 2 hours to get back to her :( It's time to make some changes ...

Postpartum Checkup

I went to my obstetrician for my postpartum checkup. She checked my c-section incision and gave me the go-ahead to resume normal activity :) This is the day I've been waiting for! I will be starting my new diet and workout routine on June 1st. I'll be blogging it about it :) I can't wait to get back to my pre-pregnancy, pre-marriage body.

My body goals are as follows:

-overall size 4
-24 inch waist
-weigh less than 130 lbs


Stay tuned for updates!

Changes on the Horizon ...

Today was my first Mother's Day-and the day that my husband moved back to his home state. No worries: we're still together. However, he was offered a job back in Louisiana, and the job is far better than what he could find in the DC/MD/VA area, so he took it. He went back today and will start his job this week. The new job means that I will be able to become a stay-at-home mom, which was what I wanted. However, with the majority of my family located within the DMV area, if I went back with him now, I would be so lonely, not to mention overwhelmed: my mother is helping me (BIG TIME) right now. With that being said, I am staying here for a while longer. I'm not sure when we'll be back under the same roof, but I know I don't want to relocate for at least a year. It'll be tough, but we'll be okay.

I can't quite put my feelings into words: if I didn't have the baby, I would miss my husband sorely, but the little one fills me with so much joy that I find it hard to be happy and sad at the same time. So, I choose happiness: I'm enjoying the baby without dwelling on Hubby's relocation. When we first got married, we were apart for 1.5 months before he moved to my hometown. It seemed like eternity. This time, I think we're both mature enough and focused enough to put our emotions aside and put our energy into making a great life for our family. Building our future will take time, and yes, it means that we won't be in the same home for a while. But while we're apart, we still remember what's important: our love and our family. I stay happy by thinking of our love for each other and for our munchkin. So this Mother's Day, I focus on what matters: the loves of my life, my husband and our daughter.

The Birth Story (Also Known As How I Confirmed the Friday the 13th Jinx)

My anniversary was April 8th. Hubby and I celebrated our first full year of marriage. Our little one was due on April 26th, so we figured that we may have just about a week or so before we could go on the official baby watch. So, on Friday, April 13th, we decided to go out and enjoy ourselves. Around 5 PM, Hubby, my mom, and I went to a Chinese buffet. I ate lots of crawfish, stir fried green beans, and a huge plate of fresh fruit. After we ate, we dropped my mom off at her home and went home to get ready for our night out.

I did my makeup, wrapped my hair with a cute headwrap, and got dressed to go out. Hubby wore a nice dress shirt, slacks and slicked his hair back (one of my favorite looks on him :) We went to a local martini lounge, where one of my favorite live bands was scheduled to perform. Unfortunately, the lounge's website is outdated, so there was another band performing this night. The band at the lounge on this particular night was mediocre, so we ended up watching pro basketball and sipping drinks (he had a gin and tonic, I enjoyed a club soda.) Around halftime, we decided to head back to the house and chill out. I went to the bathroom then came back to the bar while I waited to see a couple of basketball clips before we left. I felt like I needed to check myself again, so I went to the bathroom again, where my water promptly broke LOL!

I washed my hands, tied my jacket around my waist, and left the bathroom, then told my husband that my water broke. The video below picks up after we went back to the house to gather just a couple of things before heading to the hospital.

Word of the Day: Striae

Striae is the fancy medical term for stretch marks. For a long time during the pregnancy, I had no stretch marks. However, in the past 6 weeks, I have quite a few marks across my stomach. I can't lie: I was so sad when I saw how much my skin had changed. I moisturized regularly, but still fell victim to these ugly marks across my abdomen. I try to keep it all in the proper perspective: my body is changing. My body is creating and nourishing a life: if I have a few scars, it's worthwhile. You can't change without a few growing pains and a some battle scars.

Word of the Day: Pediatrician

So cute! (Corbis Images)

I selected a pediatrician today :) At the advisement of several of my good friends, I decided to use a pediatric center: I can use any doctor there, though I prefer to use one doctor in particular. The good thing about this center is that they have several locations in town, so if I decide to move, I can still be close to a center. All I have to do is fill out my little one's paperwork and have it ready for the doctors when I do her first well-care appointment.

Speaking of paperwork, I have to update my insurance as soon as the little one is born. I have to put that on my "in hospital" to do list. I think my in-hospital recovery time will be one of the last times I'll be able to take care of any business :/ So much to do before she gets here ...

Word of the Day: Contractions

I've been having mini-contractions all day today. I've had several since I've been pregnant, but today I had more than normal. I really feel that my little one wiill be here before her due date, but hopefully not too soon.

If you aren't familiar with some of the ins and outs of pregnancy, then you may not know that most pregnant women get "practice" contractions, better known as Braxton Hicks contractions. These contractions prepare your body for childbirth. These get more intense as your due date approaches. I'll be keeping an eye on it-one of these days, the contractions may be true labor, instead of just practice.