Lets train

Oops, I'm super late with this quarterly reminder for a Day in the Life! It's winter and it's time.



The details:

Any time from today until January 22nd you should record your day in detail. That gives you two weeks to decide on a day.

It can be as specific or as general as you want. I personally tend to record these days as a note in my phone, including specific times of day as I'm psychotic with details. Totally not necessary for you to do the same, as simple is probably better and means it's less overwhelming! I try to jot down quotes from the kids, to mention my thoughts as things are happening, and to keep track of the nitty gritty details in a day. I would probably remember enough if I just sat down and tried to type it all a day or two later but I don't trust my mommy brain *that* much. So a note on my phone is a must for me.

Snap pictures as you go along, the easiest method being with your phone but if you are feeling extra energetic, a 'fancy' camera also works for a post like this. Sometimes just taking a screen shot of your phone to remember the time of day, or an email you read, the weather forecast, et cetera is helpful as you write up the posts. I also like the seemingly random pictures of messy houses, meals, receipts, pets, the scenery from your parking lot spot, your house, and so on. Making collages for your pictures is helpful when it's difficult to choose which images to post (always a serious issue for me). Again, get as detailed or as general as you want with the pictures, but I think the mundane details are what makes these posts interesting. Don't forget to get pictures of YOU in this post, either. Get your friends and family involved. Maybe purchase a selfie stick (I just got one and you can bet your butt I'll use it this time!) but step in front of the camera for this post.

My method is that I just email myself the iPhone 'note' from the day, and then I paste it into my blog post as a foundation. I'll go back and clean it up, elaborate on thoughts/events, and make sure it's written in English instead of just abbreviations from my note. Then I will add the pictures after that. Whatever method works for you though, as there are many ways to write about a single day in your life!

It's a lot of fun to read back on my own posts, and it's also quite entertaining to read everyone else's day. If you want to play along this quarter, here is what to do:

1. Record any day from now until Sunday, January 22nd. Type it up and turn it into a blog post. You can do it!

2. Email me the following to mylifeintransitionblog at gmail dot com by January 22nd at midnight:

*your blog title,
*your location (state or country is fine),
*the link to your post,
*attach the file of the photo you want to be featured in the round up post.
*optional: give me your Instagram name, perhaps I will attempt to tag everyone over there if extra energetic.

3. I will post everyone's link and picture by January 26th here on my blog. Get the popcorn and clear your schedule for this one!

I love reading these posts from women all around the world, and encourage you to try it even if you aren't a blogger. And it's definitely not just for mommy bloggers, either! You could turn these posts into a photo book, you could let them live online if you have a blog, or you could just look back on them and reminisce about the glory days once life settles down a bit more (ha!). Laura, the original founder of this Day in the Life link up, also records an entire week during one of these quarterly sessions. That is something I've never tackled before, but maybe someday if I'm feeling particularly adventurous. I know she makes those posts into a photo album book and her family is going to greatly appreciate the time it took to record every day events.

I will do these quarterly: January, April, July, and October. USUALLY, you can expect to record your day and post about it in the first fourteen days, send it to me, and I will continue to post the round up by the twentieth of those months.

So pick your day (or week) and get to it!

Sweet Porter boy is eleven weeks old today! I know, I'm not sure where the time has gone either. I have now been away from work for over twelve weeks, using my first week of maternity leave being very very pregnant and impatient. Monday will be my first day back in the workforce after 12.5 weeks off. Glorious, glorious maternity leave is over. Insert sad face emoticon here.



So many feelings about this, but I'll keep it short: I'm nervous, tired just thinking about it, but also ready to get the show on the road already. It will be the next chapter in life with three and I *know* we can all handle this big transition. I will just assume it will probably suck for awhile and I'll likely feel like I've been hit by a bus. But SOMEDAY we will slide into a new routine and I might even feel like I'm doing more than simply treading water. We shall see. As long as I don't drown we'll call it a win.



Porter is the exact opposite of his sister in one way: Cecelia refused the bottle and was in love with nursing, and I'm afraid that Porter is refusing to nurse and will make out with his daycare bottles. It's quite ironic to me that in my 'end of maternity leave' post with Cecelia, I was stressed out over the transition because she would NOT latch on to a bottle. And Porter? I'm stressed because he seems to only want a bottle. Kids. It's always something. (Except for Mister Perfect Truman who was a dream boat baby with nursing....all 14 pounds of himself at this age).

The backstory: for the past 2-3 weeks I've had this nagging feeling that Porter wasn't nursing well anymore. It was better for awhile and not so great again. He will nurse for literally 5 minutes and usually only on my right (big producer) side. Sometimes he is happy and just done and other times he is angry and just done after that. There are times I can convince him to keep going but many times he just doesn't wanna. Milk is literally still dripping out from my body but he isn't having it. I thought maybe he was just efficient? My official diagnosis is that he gets mad after the first let down and wants the milk to keep spraying out at him, annoyed if it slows to a trickle. But whatever, he has been nursing about every 2-3 hours, isn't fussy, seems mostly satisfied, etc. I figured if something was really wrong with breastfeeding we would know. Wouldn't he be totally inconsolable and obviously angry at life? Because he is usually so happy. Like, disgustingly happy.





(smiling, unknowingly, before his two month shots)





Warning: poop talk ahead. I'm such a mom right now, discussing my baby's diapers on the internet. But his poops have also been greenish for as long as I can remember. I brought this up to the Ped at Porter's one month appointment but the doc thought as long as P was growing, was happy, and was having enough wet/poopy diapers it was fine. Don't change anything because we could just have more problems to deal with, and odd colored poops are not uncommon at one month. Apparently now at two months, it's more of a concern. Could be that he's not getting enough of the fatty hind milk since he prefers to 'snack' most of the day and that's what is making his poop green. Who knows.



But combining the short nursing sessions, the green poops, and now a drop in the weight percentiles? It still could be nothing, or it could be a sign that something isn't working. Mister man is 'only' 11lbs 12oz right now which puts him in the 19th percentile for his weight. I know those charts are sort of wonky and the doctor isn't too concerned. I know he has still gained over 3 pounds and 3 inches in his two months of life. But still! He was in the 80th percentile at birth so it's a pretty big drop. It makes me feel like my son must be starving himself in the name of wanting an immediate, constant flow of milk when he nurses. He is growing but it's really slow, and now my biggest baby at birth is my lightest at two months. Numbers play with my head, can you tell? It makes me question a lot of things. Really hate that growth chart right now.



Maybe he really isn't getting enough milk from me? I truly don't think it's a supply issue and must be more of a 'Porter issue' since I do have the milk when I pump. And I see it coming out of my boob!! But I'm totally doubting myself as a breastfeeding mama right now. Maybe I should totally cut things out of my diet? Maybe I should stop working out? Maybe I should stop stressing about this? ;) Porter is proving to be a challenging eater and I'm lucky enough that I haven't had one of those before. It's really no joke, as many of you probably already know.

So the doctor suggested that we just see how the next few weeks go with Porter getting bottles three days per week while I'm at work. Maybe that will be the key to getting more milk into the boy. Maybe his green poops will turn yellow, since the fatty milk will be in those bottles and he doesn't even have to be patient for it. OMG, so much pumping in my future!!



If nothing really changes with bottles and he still gains weight slowly that might just be 'him' and doesn't mean he is unhealthy. As long as he isn't actually losing weight, isn't super pissed all of the time, and doesn't seem to have anything else going on it's fine. The doc said he is 'incredibly low risk' for this being anything wrong with Porter, like if he can't process my milk correctly or something. Maybe he's destined to be my little peanut after all? He certainly doesn't LOOK malnourished or skinny to me.

(lololz at the privacy patch of his towel here. But needed to show you his rolls---all 19th percentile of them.)


Of course, maybe he will simply stop nursing all together once he gets used to the faster flow of the bottles. Yes, we use slow newborn nipples but it's not the same as mother nature's faster/slower flow. After a few sub-par nursing sessions today, I offered a breast milk bottle and both times he sucked them down. I'm starting to think that our nursing days are severely limited and I better get used to seeing his sweet face drinking from a bottle.

(but I love this view so much!)


It's not the end of the world. Lots of things could still happen. The doctor isn't concerned and Porter is a happy, seemingly healthy dude. But I just don't like the weight (no pun intended) of this whole thing. It's too early, WAY too early for my last baby to stop breastfeeding. And if he was my first baby, I'm sure I'd be totally freaking out even more. So at least I can hang onto a little bit of 'big picture' perspective with Porter as my third?

(also, GoGo flew back to Colorado yesterday so my mental state is SUPERB tonight!!!)


Nursing issues and worries aside....maternity leave has been amazing. Life at home with three kids is more chaotic than I could have ever imagined, but it's more awesome than I could have imagined, too. This maternity leave has been nothing like the peaceful days of Truman's, and even the semi-peaceful days of Cecelia's, but I've enjoyed my time home with Porter. I wish I had 12 more weeks home with him but alas, I do not. And so we will figure out our new normal and focus on the positive. Because there are so many wonderful things about our new normal of me working part time!



Sweet Porter, I love you more than words. I'm sorry our house is so incredibly loud and obnoxious, and that it's difficult to give you 100% of my attention with your big siblings competing for my time. But you still have it pretty good, buddy, because you have two siblings who love you to pieces. You have a mommy and daddy that think you are absolutely perfect and we regularly discuss how adorable you are. Don't let it go to your head just yet. We just want to eat you up while you are still so little and innocent, and before you turn into a toddler or a preschooler with your own set of....challenges;)







We are going to rock this 'working mom' thing, buddy. Lori is going to love having you at her house a few days per week. I hope you don't love those bottles more than my boob but I know we will figure out that whole mess, too. We can do it. We will settle into our new routine, and perhaps we will even surprise ourselves.



I've loved every single day of my maternity leave with you, bud. You are the perfect puzzle piece that completes our family. You have brought us even more joy into this already awesome life since the day you were born. These eleven weeks with you in my arms, instead of you being in my body, have been amazing. Hard, of course, but amazing. I'm so excited to see you grow into the Porter you will be someday. So much fun awaits!!

You really are the best little baby I could have asked for. Thank you for being you, Port.

(Fist pound. Let's do this thing).

xoxo
Mommy

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Does it seem like my blog has become one big giveaway lately? Well I have one more up my sleeve and then I will attempt to do an actual update on life and it will likely be extra ramble-y. Just for you, dear readers.

Yes, I know we are supposed to 'respect the turkey' and Thanksgiving hasn't happened yet. But Christmas is going to be here before we know it and it's time to get those cards ordered! This year I achieved my personal dream of our entire family in matching Christmas pajamas from Hanna Andersson. Yep, even Nate. He didn't put up much of a fight, resigning himself to the fact that he married me and therefore matching pajamas were kind of in our vows at the alter. Seriously, I've wanted to do this for years and now that our family is complete it was time to make it happen! And Nate knew this would make me happy, plus I ordered them while he was gone on a four night work trip to San Diego. He really had no choice in the matter while I was caring for his children and he was in sunny California, sleeping through the night and enjoying peaceful silence in the evenings. So there, Nate. Striped leggings are a payback!

Instead of having professional family pictures taken this year, I just set up the tripod and snapped a few shots one Saturday morning. I knew a true photo shoot in a studio or outside would NOT be happening with Nate's skin-tight striped leggings, so a make shift home shoot would do just fine. I was sweating, I really need to get a remote for my camera, and it was fairly painful like most family photo shoots tend to be with three small children. I figured that even if I only got one half-way decent shot, the pajamas would be cute enough to make it Christmas card worthy. And I did get a few acceptable images that morning;)

Three kids at Christmas time!


Love them so.


A winner, right here:


#PorterTheElf


Strategic baby placement throughout these images--we knew we would not get any standing up shots of our family! ;)


LOL at Truman and Cecelia. What in the heck is going on? Why is mom running back and forth and yelling about the camera timer process?


Best we could do. Porter would not smile and I'm glistening in sweat but whatever!


I wanted one with the kids and at this point, everyone was obviously over it.


Then for the cards, I went with Pear Tree Greetings yet again. They have been awesome to work with in the past for Christmas cards, Valentines cards, Cecelia's first birthday, and Porter's birth announcement, so when they contacted me about Christmas cards it was a no-brainer. Their quality is always top notch and I love how our cards turned out this year. I chose a much simpler Christmas card this year compared to the folded card I chose last year, but I really just wanted a flat card with two images and a text box. The Moveable Cheer Vertical card was my winner this year. A picture of the kids is plastered on the front, our family picture is slightly smaller on the back (and Nate's leggings are barely visible), and I wanted to do a little update on our year, similar to how my mom would always send out Christmas letters growing up. If you are dying to know, this is what my mini-letter says:

"Merry Christmas! 2014 was a big year for the (Goolia) family. Truman turned four, Cecelia turned two, we celebrated seven years of marriage, and then Porter was born on 7.11.14. After an awesome maternity leave, Julia returned to work part-time as a PT, Nate switched clinics as a full-time PT, and Truman started Junior Kindergarten. Our first Christmas as a family of five (plus Henry dog!) will surely be memorable and full of incredible, happy noise. We hope this year has been kind to you, too. Cheers!"


The colors on our card really pop, the gold glitter polka dots make me happy, and I love the little foil logo at the bottom, too. Success!

(Spoiler alert for friends and family who will be getting these in their mailboxes shortly!)








Pear Tree Greetings is going to give one lucky reader a $50 off coupon code to use on your favorite card. Take a look around their many options for Holiday photo cards (or no photo, if that is your thing) and enter the Rafflecopter below. I will draw a winner on Saturday, November 29th and will post it on my Facebook page and in the Rafflecopter box below. Best of luck and have fun card shopping!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Clear the calendar for today, you have twenty-one days in their lives to read!

1. Non Sequitur Chica | Illinois


2. New From Alameda | Minnesota


3. Introduced You To It | Chengdu, China


4. Life As I Know It | Minnesota


5. Peanut Butter Sandwich | Wisconsin


6. Sweet Turtle Soup | Florida


7. LunaChick Runs | Wisconsin


8. Climbing Mama | Washington


9. Bach to Reality | Wisconsin


10. Live Inside my Bubble | Minnesota


11. Pep&Zest | Illinois


12. Piece of Our Life | Georgia


13. Cocktails and Carseats | Wisconsin


14. C'est Law Vie | California


15. A Gurley Gurl | Texas


16. The Mama Duck Blog | North Carolina


17. Elefantitas Alegres | Texas


18. Rae and Johnny | Canada


19. Payette Pigtails | Colorado


20. Just Another Day in Paradise | Kansas


21. Growing Up Maine | Maine


22. My Life in Transition | Wisconsin