Career Strong

So I'm obviously abandoning my attempt to try to capture every Saturday in Stella's life. I now realize that's impossible. Plus, not everything in the world happens on a Saturday. It's the fun/sad/crazy moments that are the ones you want to remember right? (by sad I mean "my baby's growing up" sniff sniff)  And those usually happen on a random Tuesday or something. So I'm going to attempt in this last post of the year (and some of you may be saying "your only post this year", no I had like 7 okay...ha ha) to remember the BEST moments of my life in 2012. You may want to go pee, eat something and bring a drink back, this sucker's going to be long. Our House January 1st we moved into our house. I love our house. It is seriously a fairytale house and neighborhood where I want my babies to grow up. I have a nightmare once a month that involves us moving, I usually wake up very sad. Odd, yes. Apparently you know you're old when you...

Saturday 17 You have decided to take 1 good nap a day on the weekends. I'm pretty sure you do this at daycare too but I'm not there to worry about it like I do on the weekends. My birthday was the following Monday so you're Daddy took me out to dinner and to listen to some live music. We had the best time.  You stayed at home with Nana and Pappa Chicho and slept until 4AM! Saturday 18 Today you turned 4 months old. I took your monthly picture like I always do. I have to remember to shut the blinds, it's a little weird on the lighting side but it counts and you were super happy! We went to the grocery store to buy food for Nana's birthday lunch. You did really well in the cart, you even carried the ice cream cake (okay I put it on you but you didn't seem to mind) On Sunday we put you in this little dog outfit because Nana has a dog just like it. Nana was making you laugh Saturday 19 For our anniversary your Daddy got me a video camera. I too...

Yeah, I'm really behind on blogging BUT I have been keeping up with this on my phone. I wish there was a way to blog from my phone because I would blog probably 100 times a day.  I have soo much to say. Gosh, thanks for reading this if you anyone is anymore. :-) I'm uploading videos and getting my Saturday posts in order.  Thanks for baring with a very busy working Mom.

I love this  song. It's called quiet your mind by Zac Brown Band and it really sums up my life right now. "wishin I wouldn't get any older".  I actually downloaded this song to listen to while I was in labor (and thought for about 1 second I may do the natural labor thing....what was I thinking?). I downloaded it just based on the title. I actually started listening to the CDs I made for the hospital while nursing Stella and this song instantly became my theme song.  Any time anything in my life is stressful or crazy I just start humming this song (If I'm in public I just think about the words). It helps me stay present in the moment. Sometimes I want to rush in the morning while feeding Stella but then I remember this moment is fleeting. Am I really going to not savor this second so that I can get to work faster and work on a spreadsheet? In 5 years what will I remember, the spreadsheet or the sweet sigh my daughter makes in the middle of nursing? I do love a g...

The last time I posted about my weight was in May and I had 26.6lbs to lose. Well friends I am happy to report that as of this morning I have 9.6lbs to go! I'm so proud of myself. I have to admit, it hasn't been a walk in the park. I went back to work which I thought would be tough for my workouts but I started the 30 day shred, just like I promised back in May.  It was only 20 minutes and very easy to fit into my day. I just got up early and did it. But then I started to get bored. There are 3 levels and by the time I made it to level 3 it just got monotonous. So, my solution, infomercials. I have to admit I'm slightly obsessed with all things infomercial. I don't actually buy into most of them but I love a before and after shot. I happen to love all the kitchen gadgets too but haven't bought any of those.  There were 3 workout DVDs that I was debating about buying. P90X, I decided against this one only because several people had told me that some workouts ca...

This Saturday was your Daddy's 40th birthday party. You stayed up until 6:45 and then fell asleep for about an hour. Then Nana (Darren's Mom) came to get you up and take you to her house. But she isn't in a house yet. She and Papa Chicho moved here from California and decided to find a house once they arrived so they are living in their RV.  That's right, for your 16th Saturday you went camping! They set up your pack and play in the back bedroom (this is a crazy nice camper by the way) and you slept like you always do  (12 hours). Daddy and I stayed up until 4AM! I decided it would be fun to plan a celebrity style roast for his birthday so all of his friends brought speeches to roast him.  It ended up being a huge success except that we were wiped out on Sunday when we went to pick you up. You must have known because you slept Sunday night without waking up AT ALL! Thank you!

I have read several people's blogs where they have mentioned their daily routine with their kids. I love this because this routine will inevitably change, in fact, more than a few times over the course of 18 years. :-) So here goes, this is our daily weekday life right now. Mornings are so special to me right now. They get me centered for the day and they are sometimes the only time I get with Stella so mornings are sacred right now. 5:30AM Wake up, change into workout clothes and do my workout DVD for the day 6:15AM While eating breakfast email my workout buddy (Jen Crandall!!) to tell her about my workout (more on this in another post) Pack the car with my pump, ice pack and cooler. Make Stella's bottles for school.  This usually involves changing lids from my pumped milk to nipples and then making 1 bottle of formula. She is eating about 4 times a day now, only 1 time being formula but I have a feeling this ratio will change a lot over the next few weeks. 6:3...

Saturday 13 We took family photos to document your 3 month birthday. We can't believe you are 3 months old! Funny enough you woke up all smiles, even giggling for us but then I put you down for your 2:30 nap and a very unhappy child woke up at 2.  You just weren't into smiling so unfortanely most of these photos you are just not having a good time. It also happened to be about 100 degrees outside and you sweat like your Daddy even at this age. I'm still losing the baby weight so this isn't the most flattering side view but I love kissing your little head. This picture is the best representation of you! Alert and happy. You're wearing one of my dresses that Grammy made me when I was your age. Seriously, there's never been a prettier baby. You are my sweet doll baby. You started crying so Daddy decided to put your down for a nap but the photographer followed us upstairs (love you Jennifer LeMay!) and snapped this adorable picture. Your fa...

I haven't talked much about my other child. Gypsy. No, I didn't name my other daughter after a stripper, she's a cat.  She's black and white and our first child.  When I met Darren I already had Gypsy. She was, after all, my child from a previous marriage. I got her at the ASPCA in Knoxville when she was 10 weeks old and just fixed. Her mother had her in the wall of a building where she was cut out of the wall and rescued along with her brothers and sisters. I knew when I saw that face that she was my kitty. Although after Stella was born she's kind of gone on the back burner. Poor thing. She is still such a huge part of my life though. Who wakes up with me every feeding, Gypsy. Who was home all day with me during maternity leave, Gypsy. Who took naps with me in the middle of the afternoon when Stella was sleeping, Gypsy. She's kind of been my therapist. The one I could look at when Stella was crying and I didn't know what to do. Funny thing is, she usua...

Saturday 10 You got shots the day before so you were a little fussy. Daddy decided the best option for our Saturday lunch would be Chik-fil-a. Once we got there I realized the magic that is Chik-fil-a. Dare I say our local disney world. The staff was friendly, we love the food, and you fell asleep in your carrier and other children raced around the restaurant screaming. There was a couple the next table over from us, they had a (maybe) 4 year-old little girl. She dropped her toy and it rolled under a booth. I watched the man sitting at the booth, along with the father of the little girl crawl under the booth and retrieve this toy that cost probably 2 cents. The man sitting in the booth handed the toy to the Dad and sat back down. All people involved acted like this was an everyday common occurance by the way.  The father handed the toy back to the daughter then the mother and father told the little girl how nice it was for the man to get her toy for her and that she needed to pers...

Last week we started daycare.  The reason I say we is because Darren and I both had to get used to the new routine and the morning I took Stella really felt like my first day at school. How weird am I? The minute we entered the daycare I felt good though. It smelled like blueberry muffins first of all! I mean, an ax murder's house doesn't smell like blueberry muffins right? When we walked into the infant room the three babies that were there were all smiles and the teacher was very sweet.  Stella on the other hand wasn't so easy. It was actually time for a nap for her and her lower lip started quivering and she gave me this sad little face. I had to keep telling myself it wasn't separation anxiety because she's way too young for that. I picked her up and started rocking her and then gave her to another teacher who was excited to hold her and figured out immediately that Stella loves being propped on a shoulder.  I felt really good about leaving but it still took m...

I'm behind on my posts but it's kind of fitting that these two Saturdays are together because they were each spent with a Godparent.  Saturday Number 8 You got to spend the day with Aunt Cole (your Godmother). This is huge! Godmother Cole is one of the best people God put on this Earth so spending time with her should make you feel muy importante. Aunt Cole and I met Freshman year of college and have pretty much been inseparable ever since.  There are very few people on this planet that just get me, she is one of those people (The other is Aunt Sissa, also one of the best people on Earth). Aunt Cole flew from Winston-Salem, NC to Huntsville to drop her daughter Lily off with her grandparents then drove 6 hours to meet you. Yeah, you are a pretty big deal to her. We gave you a bath and then we took you to lunch.  Daddy walked around with you while Aunt Cole and I chatted about how wonderful you are. She took this picture of your Daddy and me....