Oh the Baby Weight

I'm starting to love Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursday nights.  Selfishly those are the nights I drop NannyLu off at school and don't have to take her all the way home.  Meaning I get more quality time at home with the baby girl before bed time and hopefully meaning that once we are out of the 100s baby and I will be going for walks again as they have been put on hold during these temps. 

With a black stroller and 113 at 6PM it is not really conducive for long walks with a baby, but this momma is ready to get back to her wedding shape bliss and I'm doing it before the holidays and my 27th birthday in December.  I want to take family photos and I want to look my best in them. I was beyond thrilled when I opened my Weather Channel app to see that this Thursday seems to be our last day in the 100s for awhile and by next Thursday the high is only 94! No more heat excuse!

Everyone says it takes 9 months to put it on and should take 9 months to take it off.  Well we are approaching the 6 month mark so time to hit the ground running- pun in intended. Oh I crack myself up.  Luckily M loves her stroller and has been riding around in it since she was only a few days old.

Only a week old.

Almost a month old.

Weekend Fun

We had a wonderful weekend- Saturday M and I ran a couple of errands but mostly hung around the house until Brent got home. 

We did some grilling both nights and last night we went to the Keith Urban concert with friends and family and had a great time. I felt guilty (see there is some more guilt) leaving M at home with Nanny Lu but I try to remember that it is just as important for Brent and I to get out and do things on our own as well.  Luckily, it was a late concert so I only missed an hour of her day and of course she decided to wake up at 1 and 4 AM to say hello.  Needless to say Brent and I are both exhausted today.

Some really fun and exciting things did happen this weekend.  M officially rolls everywhere she goes and will not stay put.  We had to baby proof the house!  She things she is pretty big stuff.

 I finally got to make some baby food and decided to start her on sweet potatoes!  I think she is really liking it.  I am however mixing it with formula and not breast milk since supply is limited these days, but I feel okay about it so far.  I'm also giving her some water out of a sippy cup with her solids and she is doing really well with it, so I'll be purchasing more sippy cups this weekend!

And tonight a really fun thing happened.  I was giving her some sips of water out of her bottle and she just reached up and grabbed the bottle with both hands and took over!  I was so happy to have been the one who got to witness this first!

So much has changed in this first 6 months I can't even imagine how much more it will change before her 1st birthday.

The Roles We Play

This whole working mom thing is hard in the most non-obvious ways. I officially have so many roles in my life: Wife, Mom, House keeper, Friend, Account Executive, Sister, Daughter, Coach's Wife (a role way beyond wife) and I pretty much live in guilt, really. 

My role at work is work and when I'm in the office I am 100% there.  Even when I'm not in the office I still work- I'm known for responding to client emails on days off and at all hours of the night when they come in on my phone.  I've said for the past year now, if I can't stay home with my baby then I will be the best AE I can because I'm working for her. 

As for the other roles- I try to remember I can't be everything to everyone and the funny thing is I feel more pressure now then I ever did before adding Mom to my life description, I always tried but never felt pressure. Maybe because it was easier to handle the other roles without a 5 month old taking up 90% of my non-work time.

I leave the house feeling guilty I'm not there to snuggle her while she watches Micky Mouse Clubhouse. 
If I'm 5 minutes late to work, because M was screaming and I couldn't leave her like that, I feel guilty.  I come home at night feeling guilty I only get to spend a few hours with her before I have to put her to bed. 
I feel guilty when I find out she has learned something new, example rolling over, and I wasn't the one there to see it and celebrate with her. 

I live in guilt.  I feel really guilty when my amazing husband comes home at night and I have no energy left for him or if he showers and then realizes he has no clean britches to wear to bed, because I forgot to rotate the laundry.

I forget where I read this, but they suggested giving yourself one day to feel guilty about all of those things and then on the other 6 days of the week try to not let it get to you and eventually it will not be as strong- I'm not sure about that one, but I can try.  Until then I will continue to not go to bed before midnight so that I can accomplish all the things I need to do to feel better about it all.

How could you not want to give this little bitty everything and more!

She look so big in this picture especially in her footless jammies!!

Rocking the: "What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's" onesie.

And of course I had to make homemade sugar cookies for the very first game of the Season!

Go longhorns!! We are cheering from home tomorrow night as it is still 110 at game time and too hot for baby girl, but we are there in spirit and cookies all the way!

Pictureless Wednesday

Things to remember:

Baby girl finally rolled from her back to her tummy! We can officially roll all over!  I have yet to see this but Nanny Lu has witnessed it twice- I'm so jealous!

MG also started getting oatmeal at lunch time as well as in the evenings today.  My poor sister was running out of steam in the afternoons because MG was just not having it, we finally determined it must be hunger.  I read the book and she is showing all the signs that it is time to add more solids, mostly she was staring at us when we would eat and would even grab for things on our plate, nursing just did not seem to be filling her up like it used to.  This weekend I will make her first baby food! So excited- now just to decide what to make!

Oh and to top it off we had to move into some of the 6-9 month PJs because the others were getting to small.

5 Month Pictures

I have not been able to take month pictures on her actual birthday lately because for some reason something gets us off track.  So, even though we were a couple of weeks late and somebody was beyond cranky this weekend we ventured outside to try.  She doesn't look too happy in these photos, but sadly this is about the happiest she got on Saturday.  This is actually really sad, because my child is a ham.  This girl knows the camera and will automatically start "posing" and smiling.  It's actually pretty hilarious.

I could just eat her up! Oh and someone tried some kiwi today and loved it- and no it wasn't me!

Happy Birthday to Nanny Lu!

It's the B-I-G 21 for my wonderful little sister and Madison's Aunt, Godmother and Nanny!  Happy Birthday LuLu!  We love you so much and not a day goes by that we don't appreciate all you do for us.  You take care of our baby girl every day with so much love and a smile on your face (even on her crankiest of all days)- and for that we will never be able to thank you enough.  She loves you so much and of course we do too (even Bella)!

P.S. This is how I find them every day at lunch- passed out and snuggled up to each other!

It's Friday!

Well it is my Friday! I took tomorrow off of work to help the hubby get his classroom ready for the year and take a much needed 3 day weekend with my baby girl.  This just has me in the best mood ever, of course it helps that M has not woken for a midnight feeding since Monday and that my mom and sister showed up at my door this morning with Starbucks!  Feeling pretty refreshed today!

It's already been a full week so I can only imagine what 3 days with her will bring!

Bella now gives M her own bath after her Oatmeal.  M thinks this is a lot of fun and laughs!

M helped Aunt Liz do some shopping!

We are still loving our bites and now eating from our bumbo seat and not the  chair.

This picture might be the most heartwarming photo.  We have our little routine as a family.  Every night after M gets her bath, we get her into jammies, and I rock her while Brent sits next to us on the floor and reads a goodnight story.  Lately Brent has been working late and not home for this part of the night, and every night M will strain to look backwards looking to find him.  Luckily, tonight Brent was home in time to read her a goodnight story.  The whole time she did not take her eyes off of him and she just had the biggest smiles.  It just warms my  heart to know how much she loves him.

Happy Weekend!

Retiring THE Onesie

The first Arkansas Razorback onesie is being retired and placed into the keepsake box. Insert sad face here. This is the onesie I gave Brent as his "surprise we are pregnant gift".  Funny enough its a 0-3 month but for some reason it fit a lot longer than any of the others!  We had to take one last photo of her in it for comparison.  I can't wait for her to wear her new Razorback outfits and call the Hogs in just a couple of weeks!

1st time supporting the hogs! Just a couple of weeks old!

23 Weeks Old!!

Future U of A graduate right here!

Things That Make Me Smile

It is really the small things in life that make me smile and will put me in the best mood for the remainder of the day and/or evening.

• I love crawling into bed and finding a pacifier under my sheets.
• I love waking up a clean kitchen and my coffee already made and waiting.
• I love hearing M wake up and the smile that always greats me when I go to pick her up.
• I love pulling out the clean laundry and realizing over half of it is teeny tiny outfits.
• I love getting to work only to find diapers and wipes in my Michael Kors handbag.
• I love my new day planner and feel rejuvenated in getting organized.
• I love going home for lunch and seeing baby girl get so excited that she squeels and "hugs" me tight.
• I love taking care of my family and doing things that make their day.

In this crazy big old world we live in- it's really the small things.  It's so funny to me that I can be in a bad mood or cranky and I'll see her smile and nothing else in the whole world matters at that moment. 

I'm trying to live in the moment during this chapter in our lives.

Weekend Recap

We had a wonderful weekend! Brent worked Saturday and played golf on Sunday, so it was really a Madison and Mommy weekend.  I love soaking up as much time with her as possible; even in the moments she is not so happy. 

We got to do some shopping and Madison literally shopped til she dropped- she loves a good stroller ride.

 We even got some play house inspiration for daddy.

I got my much anticipated day planner and I'm happy to say it lived up to the hype.  It feels so much better to be organized and to go old school and write everything down.  The layout is perfect, because for every day their is a space for myself, Brent, Madison, Blog, and my Meal Plan.  Perfect!

Madison and I also got our grocery shopping and errands accomplished while Brent was away, this really helped keep Sunday calmer and the whole weekend more relaxed.  This allowed us to really spend time as a family when the three of us were together!

Today, poor Madison woke up not feeling well at all- screaming really.  I think her tummy is bothering her and the doctor gave me some instructions but if they don't work we will be visiting the doctor on Wednesday.  It's days like today I feel so bad handing her over to my sister and heading to work.  I just want to stay home and rock my baby, not to mention I feel bad that Laura gets to take care of an upset baby all day.

I think she was feeling better tonight though, we had some yummy bites and got oatmeal in our hair!  We also successfully took our binky out of our mouth and put it back in multiple times.  I think she finally has the hang of it.  And after 3 weeks of refusing to roll from tummy to back- she broke the hiatus and is a rolling fool once more.  Any day now and she will roll from back to tummy- we are getting very close!

I took this Friday off of work to help Brent prepare his classroom! So happy to have a 4 day work week and 3 whole days with my family!

Late Night Bake Nights

Last night was a little crazy in our house.  As a varsity coach Brent no longer has to attend evening practices.  This was not planned for.  Yeah for us, boo on my meal plans for the week.  When I'm home alone for dinner I do cereal and strawberries.   I am too busy keeping up with Madison to cook anything for just myself.  And with struggling to loose baby weight, lets face it- I don't need much more.  Needless to say, Brent does not want cereal for dinner, so off to the store we went.  I decided to try out the Cooking Cremes by Philadelphia and make some enchiladas.  Delicious! We will definitely be making these again.

However while I'm trying to make dinner and make a dessert for my office's potluck- Madison has a melt down.  I tried letting her cry it out for a bit in her chair, but after 3 minutes and tears puddling on her face everything was placed on hold for her- as it should be.  I'm still learning to balance it all.  I'll get there.

I had to bring in a dessert for our office's potluck today so I decided to whip up some Oreo balls.  One of Brent's favorite desserts.  But with Madison's meltdown I didn't get finished til pretty late.  It had me thinking this will not be the last time I am up late baking.  I can see all of the future school cupcakes, classroom parties, and of course birthday parties! Those thoughts definitely put large smiles on my face!

So glad it is Friday and I get to go home and spend two full days with my baby girl.  Can't wait for 5:30!!

No Longer an Infant

In the past month Madison has really changed.  At her 4 month appointment I remember being a little concerned she wasn't batting at toys and she wasn't really into moving her arms.  Now she is playing with everything, grabbing onto everything and very interactive.  She will laugh when you are being silly and she smiles, "hugs" and gives "kisses".  She is also trying so hard to sit up- any day now!  Last night she even started trying to move her knees under her tummy to get up.  To me this means she is officially no longer a newborn but a baby. Sad face! I'm loving that every day is something new and when she gets excited about something I am just as excited, if not more, but I know those early days are gone.

The other thing that melts my heart is Madison's interest in Bella.  She loves that puppy.  She watches Bella and when Bella comes and sits by her she tugs on her ears and pets her.  Bella is not really sure about all of this.  I'm sure that ear tugging hurts- the girl has a tight grip!  The first time I ever told her NO was the other day as she decided to pull half the hair out of my head. 

All Great Things

Some wonderful things we are up to these days:

The jumperoo!  I don't think it is really called this however I feel the need to refer to it as the jumperoo.  A month ago she was still too small for it and not just ready, but this past weekend we put her in there with a hand towel for extra stabilization and she is loving it!

Oatmeal!  Madison started on oatmeal this past weekend and she loves it.  She will even reach up for the spoon and "help" you bring it to her mouth.  I think it just has a little more flavor than the rice cereal.  I can't believe in only one more month she will be eating baby food.  I have every intention of making my own baby food and can't wait!  Every night at 7PM she gets 2 tablespoons of oatmeal with 1.5 ounces of breast milk.  It is by far the messiest point of the day but also one of the funnest.

School supplies! I like LOVE school supplies. This is absolutely my favorite time of the year and I am so lucky that I married a teacher/coach because I did not have to loose this excitement when I graduated. Every August is always about starting fresh and getting ready for the "year" ahead.  My favorite school staple was always the day planner.  So, in the spirit of the new "year" I have decided I must have the MomAgenda day planner.  It is perfect because it goes from August to August.

Image from: momagenda.com

As hi-tech as everything gets, I am just a traditional girl and I like to write down my lists and thoughts!  As handy as it is to have my outlook and iphone nothing compares to making lists and getting to mark through the item when it is complete!  This should help me loose the many notebooks/lists and calendars and organize it all into one place!  And it doesn't hurt that it comes in fun colors and patterns!  Now do I get the larger desktop version or the smaller version?? Decisions!

5 Months Old

New hard drive installed. Check.  Lightroom. Check. Photos. 1/2 check.  We haven't been able to recover anything off our old hard drive, but at least I can fill Lightroom back up with new photos! 

Baby girl is 5 months old as of yesterday the 8th! I can't believe it, and time is just flying by.  A few stats:

• Weight: 12.2 lbs (according to scale at home)
• Size 2 diapers
• Size 6 clothes still, but I have a feeling this won't last much longer.  Even though your weight is little, you are a long baby.
• Lately you go to bed around 8-9 and wake up around 5AM at which point you get into bed with me and daddy gets ready for work, then you are back out until 7 or 8.  There are still a few nights of waking up randomly.
• You love the toy in the 1st picture and will play with it the longest.  I don't know who gave us this toy at our shower but Thank You!
• You are so much more aware of your surroundings
• You are catching on to when I'm not around or leaving and you get upset.  It makes it that much harder for me to leave you every morning.
• You've started giving "kisses" and "hugs".  You put your mouth on our faces and open wide.  It's one of the sweetest things you are learning.  You will also put your arms around our necks and pull in.
• You are starting to show when you want someone else to hold you or if you want down.  You kind of throw your body in that direction.
• You are pulling hair- Ouch!

On a side note: I discovered something that may change our weekends for the better.  We did our grocery shopping for the week on Saturday afternoon and not on Sunday.  We always do our grocery shopping on Sunday and then I feel like our weekend goes by too fast.  From here on out Madison and I will be doing our shopping on Saturday mornings while the hubby is at football.  That way we don't have to do anything on Sunday besides hang out as a family and gear up for the week ahead.
Really its the small things in life!

T.G.I.F.

I am so grateful this week is over! Monday started off on the wrong foot and we very really got back on track especially with all the computer drama.  Brent does not have evening practice tonight so we get to spend the evening as a family and I can't wait!  I love evenings in just the four of us (can't forget Bella).  I'm going to enojy tonight, because tomorrow is a full day of computer errands, and wine night with neighbors.  Life is so busy right now, but I'm loving every minute of it.

I would love to recap our week in photos, but without the computer I can't watermark my iPhone pictures.  And even though I really doubt anyone would want to take them, I'm to OCD to have them on my blog without it since all other images have it.  Yes, I know that sounds ridiculous. 

TGIF!

Sad Day in Our House

I am so upset.  Yesterday I go to turn on my computer and there is nothing! After running it up to see what our IT guy could do for me.... the dreaded answer: Hard Drive is Broke.  I was so upset he couldn't recover anything.  But the glimmer off hope was that the hard drive still contained my data, but a specialist would have to access it (potentially costing up to $1,200). 

Every photo ever taken of Madison- ultrasounds, hospital, bringing her home, monthly photo shoots and every photo before Madison- Our 1st Christmas, New House, Hawaii all gone.  Thank God our wedding photos are on a disc of their own.  I know it's only 4 1/2 months of her life and there will be so many more photos, but those first months were the months I was home with her.  And I know I will never get that time back, so I really treasured my photos.

I'm sure Brent will do some looking around to see what we can do to recover the hard drive without spending too much money, but its not looking good.  Right now it is with a sweet neighbor who has some computer savvy skills.  I cried yesterday- I think mostly because I'm mad at myself.  We had talked for so long about buying an external hard drive so we could back everything up and we kept putting it off. 
This should be a reminder to everyone: Back up your data!!  We are off to find a new hard drive this weekend and at least get us back up and running.

On a very positive note: Today is off to a much better start.  Madison and I both woke up a little earlier and so far the difference it has made is great and the day is already running smoother.  I did not feel rushed, and even though the house wasn't perfectly tidy it didn't bother me because I was able to get us both ready for the day smoothly.

Back to Routine

I live and breathe routine.  I'm a scheduler all the way.  I have a notebook in my purse with my "to do lists"and shopping lists, and my outlook calendar synced to my iPhone at all times.  However, in the past two weeks our routine has gone out the window.  It's hard to work all day, take care of a baby all night and then keep a clean house and be ready for the next day.  Let's not even mention finding time for exercise.  My energy level is gone.  God bless single mothers and those whose husbands are away from the home all year round. 

I love the quote:

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference between them. "

When baby girl entered into this world things changed.  At first I didn't see these changes, but slowly they appear.  I have to rely on others now and that is something I'm not good at.  My sister keeps M at our house every day, but if she is running a little late, that means I'm running a little late to work and I hate to be late.  But I CAN'T change that at this time.  I just have to be ready to run out the door when she arrives.

For some reason our house is always upside down these days.  She is only 21 weeks old! I can't imagine what it will be like when she is a year old, 3 years old, oh my!  What I pick up every night is there again after work the next day.  I think this may be where I gave up for a bit.  When your energy level is so low the last thing you want to do is pick up a mess that will appear again the next day.  BUT...

I hate starting off my day feeling hurried and disorganized and that is the main issue right now.  I CAN change this.  I'm learning that if I wake up to a messy house my whole day is thrown off tracks and its hard to get back on, so I have to try harder.  I have to stay up a little later and wake up a little earlier.  I have to do this to get done the things that are important to me and make me feel good.  Because I'm learning if I feel good then the whole family feels good!  It's just the season of life we are in right now.

Finding Our Toes

Last night was one of those times I really could see Madison growing in front of me.  She has such strength in her arms now and will grab for things- mostly others hands/fingers.  If I put my hand back to her car seat to hand her the pacifier she will grab my hand and hold on tight.  It warms my heart every time.

Madison also found her toes last night!  After her bath she was wrapped up in her towel and next thing I know she put those toes/foot straight into her mouth! She is just adorable!  Technology is so amazing these days- I just picked up my phone caught it on camera and texted it to the daddy so he could be part of this moment even if was at practice.

Ignore my crazy mommy voice! I have the cutest baby in the whole wide world!

I'm always so grateful Madison is home with her aunt, but today is just one of those days I wish I could be at home with her.  I just don't want to miss one moment of her learning and growing!

Last Full Weekend

This was our last full weekend together as a family as this coming weekend starts Saturday meetings for the hubby.  We went into it with no real agenda and no honey do's- just planning to hang out and enjoy time together.  My talk of a coach's schedule may seem a little dramatic but really the break down for this month is Brent leaves by 5AM and gets back around 10PM Monday through Friday.  And of course Saturday meetings.  Once games start I can go from saying goodnight on Wednesday to not seeing him again til Saturday evening.  So yes it is a lot of time away from home.

Every year on the first day of 2 A Days I try and send a breakfast treat since they are all dragging out there at the break of dawn.  This year I was running out of time and with the baby nothing every happens how it is supposed to, but when I mentioned not being able to send something I could see a glimmer of disappointment in Brent's face.  So I busted out the muffin pans and whipped up some blueberry muffins after dinner.  It makes me really happy when Brent is happy. 

He said something last night that really shocked me   I told him I didn't have the time this year and suggested maybe picking up some doughnuts on the way in today.  In summary, he replied: "It's not the same.  That's just me bringing breakfast; when you make muffins it sends a different message.  It means that you represent all of the wives in letting us know you care and will miss us at home during football season.   And yes I really get all of that out of one muffin."

Hmmm you mean he actually got my message all of these years! Of course that is exactly what it means when I make them, but I never really thought he got that message without me saying it.  Guys say they don't read into what we do/ say and that you have to tell them things because they are not mind readers- but they do get it! 

We love you hubby/daddy!  And every day you struggle out of bed at 4AM just remember we are always supporting you.

Most amazing add on ever!  I love the new whisk with the spatula side!

We had some yummy bites.



Wore a new outfit.



Played on our mat.