On My Mind and Around Our House Lately...

Morgan - she needs things to do...Kindermusik?  A play kitchen?  Gymboree classes?  I never understood BEFORE I HAD KIDS why SAHM's sent their kids to MDO or pre-K programs.  I get it now.  Totally.

I feel guilty, like she is really getting the short end of the stick lately, even though we read a million books a day, play, play, play....I just feel bad.

"Oh Hi....I just demolished Nana's Rigatoni and it was GOOOOOOOOD!"

Ironically, we bought her some new toys at Toys R'Us the other day and what does she want to play with?  My jewelry.  She will put on every piece she can get her hands on and toddle around the house talking to herself...it's hysterical!

She is having a little bit of a rough time adjusting.  We are only a week and a half into this new family dynamic and I know she will adjust and feel better soon.  She is great with Joey - very gentle and sweet. I love how after feeding him, I will burp him and she will come up and gently pat his back along with me...so sweet!  But she acts out in other ways, like constant whining.  If there is anything that gets on my nerves most - it's whining.

We are doing our best to spend 1:1 time with her and I even took her on a mama/daughter date yesterday and today.  I want her to always know she is loved and important. 

On our way to a MOMS Club Ice Cream social.  Excuse my bad hair day...mama needs an appointment and soon!  What I love about this pic is that we had both just woken up from naps...hence the sleepy eyes, ha!

Speaking of Morgan, I do believe she has transitioned to 1 nap a day.  I'm not sure how I feel about this yet.  Could make for some very LOOOONG afternoons!

Hubs - returning to work.  I fear for my life.  It's hard when your spouse works 12-14 hours EVERY day (not just "sometimes" or during a "busy season") and then does 12 days STRAIGHT every month.  I will be on my own.  He won't even see Morgan most of that time because he gets home after she's in bed.  And she loves her some Dada!  He's been a rockstar, taking care of Morgan pretty much 100% of the time so I can focus on caring for a newborn again.  Which, IMHO, is so much easier than caring for a toddler!

Note to self:  Next time your husband is going to be off work for 2 weeks, don't order a bunch of stuff online that will show up during that 2 weeks lest you have lots of explaining to do!

Going home to MN for 22 hours for my brother's wedding next weekend.  I still don't know if & how I will be able to leave my babies.  I start to cry everytime I think about it.

Joey - will he always sleep this much?  Because it's awesome.  He's awesome.  He loves to eat, and loves to take his time, but I don't mind.  He's pretty much the handsomest boy I've ever laid eyes on ; )

Wide awake after a middle of the night feeding sesh

Pensive...but calm ; )

Peacefully sleeping after a belly full of milk.

I need Mommy friends.  Bad.  That might just require getting out of the house with 2 kids.  It took us 1.5 hours on Thursday to get going and into the car....and that was with both parents.  Oy.  I hope it gets better!

Breastfeeding:  Something I am truly enjoying this time around.  With Morgan, she wasn't strong enough to suck (although she did it) and she required special preemie formula with extra calories mixed in with the breast milk, so I had to pump.  By the time I tried to nurse her, then fed her a bottle of milk+formula, then pumped, and THEN cleaned up all the pump parts?  It was almost time to start the cycle all over again.  Eventually I gave up trying to nurse her because  it just took too darn long and I realized we would probably never be able to exclusively breastfeed.

I never realized how much EASIER breastfeeding is than pumping...OMG.  I am so thankful it's going well so far.  As of right now, I *hope* to make it to 1 year.

We are pretty much always positioned like this...what can I say, he likes to eat!

Post-Partum-ness.  The hormones can go.  Seriously, Sayonara.  I have burst into tears crying more times in the past week than I have in the last 5 years of my life.  No lie.  Must be all that testosterone leaving my body.

On the other hand, I was down 18 pounds as of yesterday!  Only 7 more to go to get to pre-preggo weight.  (Only after pregnancy is it acceptable - or even possible - to lose that much weight in 9 days, ha!)  My shorts & pants still don't *quite* fit yet.  But I will say my Belly Bandit and ShrinkX Hips have been lifesavers, once again.  I recommend them to all expectant mamas.  My belly has almost disappeared, but is still a pile o'mush.  Ah well...in time I can exercise again and maybe think about toning things up a bit.