Happy Meal

My friends and co-workers KH and JK let me in on a little secret this week. On occasional Fridays they take turns bringing in McDonalds for breakfast. Today is a McDonalds day and they let me into their circle because they knew I was having a "big" week. I walked into my office this morning and a bacon, egg and cheese biscut, hashbrown and coffee greeted me. It's amazing how happy a value meal can make me. Oprah would say this is emotional eating. I would say it's just a darn good start to a Friday!

Pants On Fire

Liar, liar, pants on fire. I've noticed that whenever I make a statement about Evy's behavior she disproves that statement within 24 hours. Some examples: "Evy never falls asleep on her own." The picture to the left disproves that. "Evy never finishes her last bottle of the day." She took the entire thing last night. "Evy sleeps through the night" Hasn't done that in a few weeks.

Let's try some reverse psychology. Evy cries all the time, never sleeps and fights me durings feedings. Go ahead child, prove me wrong!

School Daze

Here's a picture of Evy ready to head off to "school" this morning. Dawn--thanks for the outfit!

If you click on the picture to enlarge you will see that she got in a fight with herself and her left eye is just now healing from the brawl. It was really bloody on Sunday.

Recipe Exchange: Blog Style

I need easy recipes. The kind that don't require a bunch of weird ingredients. I don't want to have to cut up a bunch of vegetables and I don't want something that has to cook forever. I thought I'd try a little give and take. I'll give you a recipe and you leave me your favorite no hassle recipe. Just click on the comments link below to leave your recipe. If several readers participate we will all have some new easy recipes to try. Please play along at home. And, I already know how to call for take out so please don't make that your contribution!

Aunt Teresa's BBQ Beef

Cook 2 large beef roasts (chuck or arm) in crock pot on low all day. I just cook 1 roast and then halve the ingredients below.

Shred beef, then mix the following to cooked beef:

2.5 Cups ketchup

2.5 T Worcestershire Sauce

3/4 tsp pepper

1 T Chili Powder

1/4 Cup vinegar

1/2 Cup sugar

Chopped Onion

Saline City

Evy has had a cold for a few weeks now. It seems to have gotten worse this week (thank you daycare!!) because she is really stuffed up. Several times a day we are using saline drops and the nasal syringe to help clear her out. She HATES it. Scott and I both dread doing it because she ends up crying and getting very mad. We've also purchased a cool mist vaporizer to help. Hmmmm, I think that adds up to about $1.5 million that we've spent on baby stuff.

Working Girl

My first day back in action went a little like this:

6:00 Jump In the Shower

6:15 Evy Starts Fussing

6:17 Ding! Oatmeal is ready

6:18 Sit down to eat (ha!)

6:20 Evy is ready to eat

6:24 Evy is eating, I'm eating my oatmeal with my left hand at the same time

6:50 Change Evy's diaper and get her dressed

6:55 Evy is on her playmat, mom is drying her hair

7:30 Put a roast in the crock pot with an attitude that is a little less perky than Rachael Ray

7:35 Nursing supplies? Check. Banana? Check. Sanity? Eh.

7:40 Out the door. Scott is taking Evy to daycare

7:54 Ugh. I forgot how backed up Dubuque Street is in the morning.

8:00 Pull into the parking lot. Not bad.

8:03 Computer is booted up, email out of office assistant turned off, voice mail changed.

8:07 The "Oh, you're back" comments start

Bring it on...

Parenting Perfection

We have a Baby Einstein DVD that is recomended for ages 3 months and older. Scott has been eagerly anticipating Evy's 3 month birthday so he could use the DVD as a form of entertainment. To waste no time he broke the DVD out last night on the exact date of her 3 month birthday and put her in front of the TV. From the picture here you can see her eyes are glued to the TV. Just prior to the DVD starting she was pretty mad. The DVD seemed to provide just the entertainment dad was looking for. I think I'm going to have to start supervising both of them to ensure that she's not spending hours in front of the TV.

Daycare: Day 1

Evy was at daycare today from 8 to 3. Mom had a coffee date, a lunch date, ran errands and made chili to stay occupied. The day appears to have been a success. No tears from anyone! Evy's report card shows that she took 4 short naps (30 minutes a piece) which is less than normal, but we're glad she slept some. She's currently laughing at herself as she plays on her playmat which is reassuring. We'll repeat this schedule tomorrow and then it's a full day for everyone on Thursday when mom returns to work. Whew!

Big Girl

I can't believe that Evy is now 3 months old. The jeans she is wearing in this picture make her look older. Jeans on a baby just crack me up!

Funny Faces

Vacation

It's a balmy 28 degrees here today, a 50 degree warm up from yesterday. This heat wave coupled with a massage, Starbucks and child-free trip to Target this morning has me feeling like I'm on vacation. As I browsed the selection of Pampers, sipping my vanilla latte, I felt a sense of relaxation sweep over me. Who needs Mexico?

I Own You

The swaddle owns us. Before it came into our lives no one slept. And now, we're afraid to kick it out of our lives. Life is so much sweeter with a swaddle in it. We've been slowly attempting to wean Evy from her swaddle but it's not going well. Without the swaddle she wakes crying after about 20 minutes.



What do you know about swaddling? Is it a problem to continue to swaddle? Some of the books I've been reading suggest it's ok until even 9 months. I like that answer. It's easier.

Confession

Until now I have not made it public. I have only confessed to a handful of people. I was afriad that a public confession would jinx it. For the last 3 weeks Evy has been sleeping through the night. UNTIL....the last couple of nights. Darn it! It's like winning the lottery only to have it taken away.

What I Know Now...

As my maternity leave ticks away it is funny to look back at how I envisioned my leave would be and contrast it with what really happened. I'll admit, I thought it would be a nice little "vacation" from work. I had visions of Martha Stewart running through my head. Being at home I would surely be able to bake, organize closets and enjoy some time decompressing. Oh, silly little naive first time mom. Here's what I know now...

1. Maternity Leave is Not a Vacation-During the first four weeks I would have rather been at work fielding phone calls from ticked off people, explaining to our board of directors that yes I do have a marketing plan, and teaching KW that eating from the mini-bar is not an appropriate use of an expense report. Compared to taking care of a newborn, work would have been a piece of cake! And, by the way the only cake baked on my leave was one that Scott whipped up from a box last week for his mom.

2. Just Say No-By all means say yes to the drugs...this natural childbirth stuff is for the birds. What I mean is that I have to just say no to visitors when feeling overwhelmed. Or, limit the number of visits each day. Since I was feeding Evy every 3 hours and each feeding took an hour it was difficult to fit in visits and sleeping for those first few weeks. Evy also did not have a predictible sleeping pattern (well, you could predict that she would likely not sleep) and I swear just when I would finally get her to sleep, which means I could sleep too, it would be time for someone to stop by. Next time, I will have to be more selfish with my time for the first few weeks.

3. Have a January Baby-At first I thought I would enjoy being on leave over the holidays. However, the craziness of the holidays just added to the craziness of having a newborn. Getting christmas shopping and wrapping done, christmas cards sent, and decorations up was not fun while trying to care for a newborn. I would have rather just been able to relax and enjoy the time with Evy. If we have a late fall baby again, I'll just be ignoring Christmas that year.

4. Enjoy the Time-It seems as though I was always wishing for the next step: "I can't wait until she can sleep through the night." "Won't it be nice when she can hold her head up." By wishing for the next step I think I missed savoring the moment that we were in. The leave went by in a flash and it's time I will never have back. Next time, I will savor it more.

Well, gotta go get that pie baked and blanket knitted only a few days left of this vacation.

New Tricks

We introduced Evy to her Bumbo seat (purple thing pictured below for all of you non-parents) this weekend. Her neck is getting very strong, but she's still a little too small for the Bumbo. It's funny seeing her sit up. Also, when we visted the daycare I noticed they had a lot of the babies on their tummies in the boppy (bean shaped pillow for all of you non-parents) so we've been trying it out at home. She's doing really well lifting her head.....we've always known she is advanced.

Move Over Oprah

For years I have been an Oprah fan. I even have my DVR set to record the show each day as I'm normally at work when it airs. I've been getting a little bored with Oprah lately...I can't take much more of Dr. Oz, talking about Oprah's thyroid problem or getting another round of her "Best Life" preaching. I know...eat right, exercise and look for balance in life....I get it. The DVR is stacked up with about 30 episodes that I really just need to delete because I've lost interest and Scott has threatened to take away my DVR rights because I'm using up all his precious DVR memory.

Who will replace her? I'm thinking Ellen. Have you watched the Ellen show....it is hilarious!!! Ms. Mayhem introduced me to the show. I'll probably never catch it again once I return to work, but if you're ever home at 9 a.m. during the week you should tune in. Pure entertainment and not once has Ellen told me about her thyroid.

Reality Bites

Lately my thoughts have been consumed by the transition of me going back to work and Evy going to daycare. Eventually, I will get over the emotional side of the transition but today I was hit by reality when I remembered I have a spouse who travels during the week. Hmmm...how's this going to work. Scott found out today that he will be gone all week the first full week that I am back at work. I am exhausted already just thinking about what a nightmare that week is going to be. Full time work, full time mommy, CEO of the household.

*Editor's Note: I realize there are many people in this world who have it a lot worse than I do. I am grateful that I have a husband, a job and a daughter. My sob stories are just that...my stories. After all, that's what a blog is all about.

Trauma

Ok, so I realize there are all kinds of traumatic firsts that you go through as a parent. Please excuse my whining as I work my way through them. Today was a big one: daycare. Evy will start daycare in two weeks. So, today we went to the center to get a lesson on how we navigate the baby farm. What supplies do we bring, what's the code to get in the locked door, how do we set up the direct deposit of one arm and one leg per month? As I was in the infant room (16 infants and 4 adults) I felt myself scanning the room and watching what all the children were doing. Some were being entertained just fine with bouncy seats and boppies. Others were face down on the carpet crying or standing in their cribs. What did they all have in common? No parent to provide full attention and love for 9 hours per day. Oh, stab me in the heart!!! I held back the tears until we got into the car. Yes, you heard me right....I cried! As most of you know I am not an overly emotional person so you can tell this was a big deal. Deep breath.

So Darn Cute!

There's not really anything else to say.

The Ignorance of my Youth

As I reflect on 2008 B.C. (before child) I laugh at the ignorance of my youth. I frequently used phrases such as "I'm Tired," "I'm Stressed," and "I'm so Busy" in the B.C. years. But then, as Emeril Lagasse says "BAM!" I became the parent of a young child. Oh yes, I remember being "tired"... sleeping until 10 a.m. on the weekends and then fitting in an afternoon nap was exhausting. It was so "stressful" getting myself ready for work and then trying to decide if we should meet friends for dinner at 6 or 7. And I was quite "busy" preparing dinner for two and watching an episode of The Hills. To all of you parents of young children; I apologize for muttering these phrases to you. Please forgive my ignorance.

*Editors Note: I stand behind all the times I used the phrases during my 3 years of working full time and going to grad school. That was horrible!

Just Chillin'

When Evy has a bad day I like to look at pictures like this one to remind myself that she can be sweet. We're having a rough day today. Evy has no interest in taking naps during the day. Since 7:30 a.m. she has slept for 1 hour (it's 5:30 p.m. now). We've been through 3 cycles of attempting to get her to nap, followed by excessive crying, followed by more rocking, followed by excessive crying. Just to clarify Evy is the one crying, although after a few more hours of this I might just join her!

Happy New Year!

This toast is to my parents who have logged many hours watching Evy so that Scott and I can maintain some sort of social life. Thank you!!!

Hope you all have a fabulous 2009.