Lets train

aka 'Miscellany'

-Did I forget to tell you that my iPhone 4 catapulted out of my sweater pocket one night, directly into the toilet? I screamed, grabbed my baby phone from that putrid water, and ran to the kitchen to find rice. Since Nate likes to pretend he is in charge of the kitchen, I did not know where he hid the rice. Yelling to him frantically only made him chuckle, which in turn made me dangerously angry. First my beloved phone might have just committed suicide, and now my husband thinks it's funny? Well, we did find the rice. And everything seemed totally fine with my phone. Until I realized that the speaker didn't work for videos I would take of the kids, and Nate couldn't hear us talking when we put him on speaker phone during calls. Not cool. And so? I got an iPhone 5 and it's glorious. Siri is my new best friend. And I'm in love with the camera, of course. Somewhat shocked that Nate didn't upgrade at the same time, since we were both due for a two year contract. But I guess he is holding out for the next model or something--and in the meantime he loves giving me hell about dropping my phone in the toilet. I'm so glad I can entertain him daily.



-I don't even want to post about this, fearing the blog gods will seek their revenge on me with a curse. But Cecelia has slept through the night TWICE this week. Pretty sure that has never happened in the history of her short life. She was averaging a stellar night once every 3-4 weeks and now she has me foaming at the mouth for more of this lovely thing called sleep. We've done nothing different so I have no clue what 'worked'---probably just time. And let's get real: it's not like the sleep woes are over or anything, but maybe we are finally on the road to REAL rest? Please keep it up, darling. Sleep is the most amazing gift in the entire world.



-In a similar vein, Cecelia is still nursing like a champ. In fact, she is nursing for longer sessions and more frequently than she has in many weeks. She seems happy, satisfied, and I can tell she is actually gulping down milk for most of the time she is latched so I'm trying my hardest not to worry about the pump. Which, I've decided to only torture myself with pumping once during a work day now instead of the three times I was doing previously. It makes my work day about a hundred times easier to just pump around lunch time and not deal with it first and last thing of the day on top of that. At first I was getting about six ounces in that one session and now I'm down to about four ounces, but whatever. I have started to add an ounce or two of whole milk to her breastmilk bottles at daycare and I will just use a frozen bag to cover the second bottle she gets there. When we are together she nurses great. When we are apart my pump just doesn't seem to be as effective anymore. And I'm going into this long weekend of travel feeling like she will nurse just fine. Hopefully ;) Very happy that I only work three days per week this time around, so bottles are needed less often than we can nurse.



-I was going to do a whole Easter post but then I didn't really feel like it. So here are a few pictures instead. Easter happened and it was awesome. The End.





















-Half marathon training is coming right along and we are up to 8 miles as our longest. I've been feeling pretty good during each run, but I will admit that I just feel OLD this time around. I turn 32 in a few weeks, folks. This is no joke anymore. But I still love running and therefore being guilt-free when I eat enough to fill a 400 pound man. Seriously, my appetite is ridiculous. And I'm not complaining.

(Me, pounding coffee before our 8 mile run. Because I had a decent amount of wine the night before and I'm almost 32 years old, so I'm feeling it here).


-I started packing for our Missouri trip already. CC and I fly out on Friday night and I'm already picking outfits and putting them in a pile because packing seems to make me more anxious each time I do it. Also, apparently it's actually spring-like in Missouri (in the 70's?!) and it's a balmy 36 degrees here as I type this. How do I even dress us for warmth? I do not know. But also, I hope I can handle my child alone in the airport and on the plane. Other than that minor detail I'm really excited!

(a day when it was above 40 degrees for a change)


-Brandy Old Fashioneds are the best drink ever. I did not know about them until recently and now I'm hooked. It's a classic Wisconsin drink which means I'm officially a local now.



-My baby girl is going to be ONE soon, you guys. Soon enough that I'm planning her first birthday party and beginning some crafts already, stalking Pinterest nightly. I have a theme in my head and a huge list of things I want to make for the party because it's her FIRST birthday party and I kind of want to go all out. Also, I have realized that I truly enjoy crafting projects---they aren't a burden and don't feel like work to me, so when I make a huge list of ideas I want to complete it doesn't feel all that stressful. Trips to Michaels and Home Depot are right up my alley;) We will see if I get everything done but for now I'm enjoying the planning stage. Here is a sneak peek of something I'm painting--spray paint is my new best friend, btw.



And here is her birthday dress I ordered from Etsy seller Charlie & Mills. To say that I'm obsessed is an understatement.


-Things about Cecelia: she is into everything now, like for real this time. No kitchen cupboard is safe, no stair left unturned. I'm not sure this old house has seen baby-proofing in 40 years but it makes me all sentimental to think about how the previous owner raised her kids here (literally 40 years ago) and now here we are, thinking about putting latches on our newly updated cabinets.









And she is all up in Truman's biz, which is both hilarious and exhausting.


-Our neighbor is going to move in the next year because she is retiring. So she is cleaning out her house and we were gifted a set of AMAZING handmade wooden blocks, and a vintage wooden highchair. The blocks are a favorite of the kids right now and I'm totally going to spray paint the highchair hot pink and use it for Cecelia's cake smash at her party. Both gifts are awesome.



-I'm back to watching Breaking Bad with Nate again and have only witnessed about three gruesome murders in the last week. Eesh. But I finished all of Downton Abbey and OMG, I can't even. I knew something bad was going to happen and I had two options in my head. Neither of which were correct and the way it ended? More heartbreaking than I could have imagined! Gah!! Loved it and cannot wait to watch it in real time for season 4. Also, I don't hate Thomas anymore and feel bad that I said that earlier. He was just really annoying and mean and horrible early on and now my heart has warmed up to him. Seriously. That show!

-We've been having some hilarious and amazing bathtimes lately. First there was Cecelia giving Truman tons of open mouthed kisses.


Then we decided to ditch the Bumbo and it only caused me to have two heart attacks, when her big brother knocked her over with his giant waves. It's sort of hard to actually wash them when my hands are hovering around her body the whole time so I think I'm going to get an anti-slip mat. Because they both loved it and she didn't seem to mind getting tossed around. Something about two kids sitting in our tub that gets me every time.






And you know what? How could I not end this post with two of the most adorable butts on earth? I can't help it. Sorry, you two! You can tell me I'm an annoying mom someday but for now I can't stop laughing at these cheeks.

-Super early bedtime for the kids = longer, better sleep for them, including sleeping nearly 13 hours in a row (!). Not always, but at least this one time it worked well, although I feared they would be awake for the day at 4 am ready to go. Nope! On Tuesday, Cecelia only took an hour long nap, which is a lot shorter than her usual 2-3 hour stretch. Truman didn't nap, as always, and by the evening both were whiny and exhausted and I was TOTALLY spent. And so? Bedtime began at 6pm and they were asleep at 6:30. And they didn't wake until 7 am. GLORIOUS for everyone. It hasn't happened since and definitely cannot happen every night, but when those evenings occur they are awesome. I mean, from 6:30-10pm we had peace and quiet and adult time...and lots of Dexter episodes. Yessssss. I love my kids so much but I love it the most when they sleep well.

I also love when they give me unprompted hugs, like this. Truly, I was just taking a picture of Cecelia and her long legs when Truman came over to hug me. Cecelia followed suit. And I frantically flipped the phone's camera around to capture this moment. My babies!




-Carving out time at a coffee shop with my laptop for 1 hour alone = the perfect kind of 'me time' right now. The more I get into this parenting thing, the more I realize that I will burn out and bottle up resentment towards my kids if I don't regularly take time for myself. Who knew, right?

I need that time to recharge, to return emails, to focus on the blog a bit, and to feel energized and ready to tackle more hours at home/my real job. It used to be that going for a run would be my favorite stress reliever but now I enjoy coffee shop/computer time to reset my sanity levels. A nice walk outside is great, too, but there is just something about sitting in Starbucks with my computer and my coffee that feels luxurious.

The only way I'm making this work right now is because Nate will not teach any classes this summer, so he is back to working 'just' 40 hours per week. He will still have his late days on Mondays and Wednesdays, getting home at 7:30pm, but now instead of getting home around 5pm on Tues/Thurs it will be a GLORIOUS 12:30pm. Incredible, right? Fridays will continue to be a 6pm return time, so really Tuesdays and Thursdays are our cherished days as a family.



I love spending time with the four of us but if I take just an hour out to be alone, now that Nate can watch the kids for me, I find that the rest of our time together is *that* much more appreciated. So I plan to keep my dates with myself from now until baby is born and am thankful for my parenting partner on this one.

-These first two bullet points make it seem like I don't love being around my kids and prefer them to be asleep or prefer to be at Starbucks alone. NOT TRUE. But I am realizing how important it is to balance my attention on them and also attention to myself/hobbies/husband/etc. I feel very strongly that this will only amplify when baby #3 arrives but I'm positive that the balance is going to be very skewed away from 'me time' for many, many months. Which is another reason to take advantage of it while I can, I suppose. Maybe I can 'bank' both sleep and me time to last me awhile? Ha.

-Cold and rainy days at home are such downer when it's SUPPOSED to be Spring and nearly summer. We are just totally over any and all indoor activities at this point in the year because (broken record alert) it's been a really long winter. On Thursday, the kids and I just didn't feel like going anywhere at all. Truman even turned down a Target trip! It barely hit 50 degrees that day and was just gross outside, so we came up with a fun way to stay warm inside: daytime baths! I let the kids take a looooong bath that morning, with colored water tablets, and every single bath toy we own. They seriously had a ball----they've always loved their dual baths, and I've been known to take many-a-bath pictures over the years. But that's alright. We just like baths here, I guess.





-Antibiotics are awesome. Truman is back to his old self and we are one week out from the scare of last week. Thank you, God. Cecelia seems fair, although she does have a little cough. I'm watching her like a hawk but so far no fever, no hives, no signs of being sick.

-Hair cuts on little boys = aged 3 more years. SO stinking handsome. Love how shocked he looks here, not sure what I said to get this look from him.





Sorry, Truman, but you are just so beautiful sometimes.



Also, he really HAS grown a ton in the last year. Ignore the maddening typo in this picture. One year of growth. Woah.



-Hair cuts and a brow wax on mom = luxurious, and much needed. I'm honest with myself and my hair dresser when I say I probably won't see her again until after baby. Mind blowing!! Growing out the top and sides a bit to make my cut more of a bob, so hopefully I won't want to yank out the nasty 'mullet' part on my neck when it gets too long again. ;) Still loving shorter hair for the ease of styling, so I'm not growing it out for REAL. I just needed a different shape and really like it again. Note the lack of a rat tail now.



-Html code is still beyond me, but not impossible. I emailed Erin asking her if she had any idea how to update my Moms Make it Work page, because having one giant picture per post is not going to work moving forward. I have now returned over FORTY emails to readers who want in on this series, you guys! So freaking exciting. We are nailing the 'must find' groups of moms like bosses and I cannot wait to share these stories with you. I think I will have to post twice per week through the summer, since otherwise I'll have to schedule them out through the fall or beyond....not sure yet. What a great 'problem' to have!

ANYWAY, Erin helped me figure out a way to make each smaller icon click right to the post, and it looks fabulous. Check it out. I wanted a 'hover title' for each icon and figured out how to make that happen for a better description of each poster without 'labeling' too much. You can only see the roll over title on a real computer, not the mobile site, but I like that you can roll past each icon and search for other SAHM or WM or whatever you feel like reading at the moment. I guess the page is ready for 70+ posters total now. Eeeeek!

Screen shot of said changes if you really don't want to click to see;)



-I am not 'big' compared to other 32 week bellies, but I am 'big' compared to my own previous 32 week bellies. Especially at the end of the day, the bump just feels so STRETCHED and tight. I snapped this picture on Thursday and compared it to my 38 week picture with Cecelia's pregnancy. Not too far off, right? I am not complaining because I freaking love being pregnant still, and feel really good. I just cannot get over the crazy changes pregnancy brings. It never gets old to marvel at the differences between pregnancies of my own, and although most people still say I'm 'so small' I know that FOR ME, I'm very very pregnant. Not sure how this belly is going to stretch even bigger for the next 8ish weeks. Cray Cray.



-I just counted it up and have 7 more weeks of work remaining before maternity leave. OMGOMGOMGOMG. Yes.

-Nate got new surround sound speakers for the TV (such a guy thing, do not care at ALL but he is very adamant about this). When moving the old subwoofer to the basement we heard little rattling sounds inside. And? The kids were hiding the following:



-Cecelia is being trained to be my own personal masseuse. Observe. 



-In summary: It's FRIDAY!!! I crave balance between 'me time' and 'every other responsibility time'. I like random bullet point posts. And we've had a great week so far, iPhone pictures above to prove this statement.

My open letter to Mother Nature did NOT go over well. Apparently she wanted to show me who is boss, and it's not me.

As I stumbled around our place this morning as I got ready for work, and literally stopped in my tracks when I saw this out our window:
I had to blink, rub my sleepy eyes and take another look. Yep, it just snowed enough to cover the whole freaking road and yard. I was completely caught off guard. Why didn't anyone tell me it was supposed to really snow during the night? We've had a few flurries and one rather crappy ice storm so far this year, but a REAL snow? I suppose it's almost December...

The first 'real' snow of the season snuck up on me, alright. And I knew I'd have to scramble around even faster if I wanted to make it to work on time. Yet, I managed to snap many-a-picture for documentation's sake. After all, the first real snow of the season is always the prettiest and least annoying. After about 5 more months of this stuff it's going to get really old, but for now pictures are in order:
If I had my automatic car starter I could have warmed my cave-of-a-car slightly before scraping it off with haste. At least it was really wet and sticky....not so icey and hard. It would have been the perfect snow for a big fat snowball fight, but instead it made for a nice commute to work.
I thought this was pretty, even though the nasty black street slush is already out in full force. I hate that ugly stuff.

Remember the pretty cemetery boasts gorgeous Autumn colored trees? Yeah, check out the trees now. No more stunning oranges and red....just white. Lots of white. It just looks cold, right? But this untouched patch of snow was begging for a snow angel. I resisted, since I was already walking up to work. But still.....it's pretty, right?
Macro shots of snow on trees = my fave.
The berries and snow make me yearn for Christmas. But then I will be completely finished with winter, thanks.
So yeah, we only got about 2 inches of snow which is no biggie compared to some of the mamoth blizzards up here, but it's such a shock to see blankets of white everywhere. It wasn't even THAT cold today, topping out at 36 degrees [the low of 28 is pretty rough, though]. Heck, I even went for a run on Saturday when it was 32 degrees outside! Aren't I such a pimp? Sure, my sweat literally turned to frost on my earwarmers but still--I did it.

You'd think I was adapting to this crazy climate or something. And it only took me 1.5 years:)