Over the past two months, I’ve gone on three trips without baby Charlotte (to Seattle with my girlies and to Puerto Rico and New Mexico for weddings). Not to mention, I’ve had a few nights away with the hubs to Chicago for my birthday and for random evenings out with friends.
While I’ve had a blast, my body is suffering a bit.
Before this last trip, I was starting to notice that my milk supply was down, but since I’ve been back, it’s been so low. Charlotte ends each of her four daily nursing sessions in tears because she wants more milk.
It’s so frustrating and upsetting.
I’ve been chugging liquids today and am going to eat a ton of oatmeal in the coming days to help increase my milk supply, but I’m a little worried that this far into the game (10.5 months into nursing), that my body isn’t going to be able to recover and rebuild my supply. So worried that I might also add another daily pump session… and I HATE pumping.
My original plan was to nurse for the first year, but truly, I don’t see Charlotte or I being ready to give up nursing in a month and a half. She’s naturally weaned a bit, drinking closer to 25 ounces compared to the 40+ she was consuming before. But despite the mild wean, she still loves nursing and shows no signs of being done. Not to mention the fact that I’m not ready… at all… either. I love our quiet, sweet time together.
Nursing my little babe is pretty much my favorite part of each day. She’s just so sweet and cuddly during those times.
With that said, I have to apologize to my friend who asked me for my pre-momma opinion of her nursing her babe until 1.5 years old. I shouldn’t have judged… I get it. Love you, J!
After a cancelled flight, an extra night away and a long day of travel, we are finally home. We got back yesterday afternoon at around 2:30.
I was a little nervous about the reunion with Charlie because the last time I left, she seemed pretty pissed off.
Of course, we arrived about 30 minutes past when Charlotte should have been napping, so the odds weren’t in our favor… But truly, it wasn’t so bad!
She gave big hugs and a lot of confused laughter. We brought her home and I put her down for her nap right away. I ended up having to go back in to soothe her a bit, but she finally fell asleep around 4:45… As did I.
Mark got home from his couple hour stint at work, I made dinner, we ate and relaxed. Around 7:15, I put my ear up against the door to see if she was awake (our monitor wasn’t hooked up from the babysitting adventure). Of course, my creeping woke her.
She literally woke in tears, which is not common for Charlotte. It took a bit of distracting in the form of song, dance and pets… But we finally settled her. We fed her dinner, gave her a bath and played a bit.
From dinner on, she was absolutely perfect. So fun to be around, very happy and adorable as ever.
Now, it’s 7:20 am and the pumpkin is still sleeping. Hopefully today we’ll be back to our regular routine.
This morning when I woke up, I was feeling excited. I ignored any exhaustion I was feeling. I got up, packed my bag, and we headed out for our farewell brunch and hang time.
It was another great day. And I was so pumped to be heading home to my sweet bunny girl.
As we made the drive from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, the nerves began… We were driving right into a storm.
When we arrived at the airport, our flight was showing slight delays. So we waited in line for at least an hour when they made the announcement: our flight was cancelled.
So here we are at 915 pm, bunking up 5 people deep at the Hawthorne Suites.
Our new flight leaves tomorrow at 630 am for a 110 pm arrival.
I just want to go home. I’m ready to give my babes so many smooches. It has been way too long.
With that said, I have to mention that prior to this mishap, we’ve literally had the best time. Santa Fe is gorgeous, the wedding was perfect… It was a great trip.
My new mommy friend sent me this link to a video offering advice to expectant parents. It is literally the sweetest and most accurate thing ever. I may have teared up a bit.
Today I met my future son-in-law and let me just say, he’s absolute perfection. I love him already.
My childhood bestie had her new little baby boy, Avi David, on Sunday night. He was born 6 lb 10 oz, but currently only weighs 6 lbs. He’s tiny!!!
Remember, Charlie was born 8 lbs 9 ounces. She was born a toddler 🙂
I went to spend a couple hours with my lovey friend and her soft and furry little baby boop. I was in absolute heaven. He’s so dang sweet and kissable.
I love him. A lot.
I’m ready to go back and give him more smoochies.
I will say, I definitely forgot how overwhelming those first days/weeks are. I forgot about how scared I was by Charlotte or I guess scared at the idea of taking care of an infant. Everything is just so new and overwhelming and Oy. Add in the exhaustion. Those first weeks were tough.
But thankfully it doesn’t take too long to get your bearings. Although, I barely left the house with Charlotte alone during those first three months.
It will be interesting to see what happens when we have a second. Will it be less overwhelming? More overwhelming? Will it bring a whole new level of chaos? That’s such a scary thought.
Friday was my thirtieth birthday. This monumental birthday has been on my mind for a couple of years now. I know, I know… 30 isn’t THAT old… but it’s the end of a decade that brought a lot of lessons, laughter and love into my life. A decade that brought me my husband and our sweet baby. My twenties were pretty amazing.
With that said, if this past weekend is any indication of how my thirties are going to go, I’m in for a pretty amazing ride.
The big birthday began with our little Charlie sleeping in… aka: the big birthday began with me being able to sleep in. We went to work like any normal day, BUT, after work I had a little dinner party with my fam at this delicious Mexican restaurant. The weather was perfect and we were able to eat outside. It was seriously such a fun night. My parents, sister and her fam and my Gramps were all there… in addition to hubs and Charlie pie, of course.
Saturday was my big celebration with my sweet husband. He’s been diligently planning for awhile now and man did it pay off.
In the morning, I went to get a mani/pedi with my mom and sister while Mark tied up some loose ends. By 12:15, we were on our way to Chicago, where Mark had planned a series of activities off my bucket list. That in itself was just so perfectly thoughtful and wonderful.
Our first stop was SKYDIVING!! Okay, not real skydiving… I mean, come on! I’m not 20-something anymore… and I’m definitely not about to jump from a plane. But, it was indoor skydiving. The gist is that you’re in a wind chamber and you get to fly around and experience the same sensation as skydiving. We both LOVED it.
As a comical side note, I was SO pumped after I finished my first jump. I went back and sat next to Mark and started blabbing about it when he kindly informed me that I had drool all over my face. That’s gotta be a sure sign of having fun, right?
How cute is my hubs???
After skydiving, around 5:30 pm, we picked up some Cuban take out… to say it was fabulous would be an understatement.
We took our delish food and headed to a place called Penguin Pottery for Happy Hour Pottery Class… Bucket List Item #2: Spinning pottery on the wheel. We sipped wine and while I attempted to make really shitty looking pots, my husband created beautiful masterpieces. He was ABSURDLY good… like, way better than anyone in the class.
After we both discovered that I totally sucked at making pots, we started to tag team. Mark would create the pots and then I would add in fun ridges and details. It was great! We made a bunch of really great pots (and cups) that we will glaze and pick up in a couple of weeks.
Our pots!
What it looks like when Mark makes pottery…
What it looks like when I make pottery. See the difference?
After pottery, we headed to the condo we were renting. It was in a totally beautiful building right downtown. The unit was a little silly in terms of decor, but it was all about the location, location, location.
By 11 pm, we were on our way to dinner. Yes, I said 11 pm. A time of night I typically experience through dreams.
Anyway, we headed to Joe’s Stone Crab for the best damn seafood ever. We started with Oysters (my new fave), then had stone crab… which I have to say is just about the best thing I’ve ever eaten. I was in pure heaven. Mmmm. After our tasty stone crab, we moved onto this sample plate with shrimp, crab legs (PHENOM!!), lobster tail and ceviche. Finished off with a brownie sundae.
It was seriously the best meal.
Then, it was time for the scariest of my bucket list items: karaoke. I know this seems stupid, but I am terrified of getting up in front of people and have an absolutely awful voice. Our plan was to consume an excessive amount of alcohol and then sing, but after all that food, we were both pretty tired. We decided that we’d go to the karaoke bar, sing our song and head back.
BUT, when we arrived at the best karaoke bar ever, we decided that a few drinks wouldn’t hurt. So, we took a shot and had a drink. We started discussing our song choice… I had selected Lisa Loeb’s “Stay” the night before, but sitting in the bar, it just didn’t seem right. Literally people were singing anthem after anthem. Total bar hits.
After another drink, Mark signed us up for “Like a Prayer” by Madonna… BUT, there were so many people ahead of us, it wasn’t looking as if it was going to happen.
There was a party of 5 or 6 who had quite a few hilarious songs. I decided to ask them if I could join them for their next song, as I HAD to get up and sing before the night was up and didn’t think my turn was going to happen. They reluctantly agreed and within a few songs, I was up in the limelight – with 3 other women – singing Mando Diao’s “Dance with Somebody.”
I was relieved when the song was over, but didn’t really feel like I was legitimately checking the item off my list. Regardless, I sat back down with the hubs and we enjoyed a few more songs. Then, it happened…
This random dude gets up to sing. The intro music starts and I just about die… it’s LISA LOEB STAY!! I turned to Mark with my jaw dropped and exclaimed, “IT’S. MY. SONG!” and ran to the “stage.” I asked the dude if I could join him and he happily agreed.
I had 3 glorioius minutes in the spotlight and have officially checked karaoke off my list.
It’s not pretty… but here it is…
SUCCESS!
Somehow it was bar close, so we headed back to the condo. Before calling it a night, we went up to check out the rooftop garden and discovered a golf simulator. We played for a bit and then discovered that alcohol + two really crappy golfers = exceptionally bad golfing.
Upon waking up in the morning, I checked my cellphone to discover a text from my sweet little childhood bestie. Our next bday event was to go to her house for brunch, but she had to cancel because her water had broken early that morning and she was in the hospital in LABOR!!
It was amazingly perfect timing. I was able to pick her up flowers and a bunch of food, drop it off, share some tears and give her the biggest hug before her labor really picked up. Then, we were on our way home.
We got back, reunited with our sweet baby, took a famly nap and ate pizza for din. And, when I woke up this morning, I had news that my sweet little “nephew” was born.
Today started in the best possible way… with a nice little family snuggle session. The idea of “family snuggles” is literally how I convinced my husband we should upgrade our queen size bed to a king… and that was before I was even pregnant!
I just love it.
Charlotte happened to wake up early this morning, so we had a little extra time in our morning routine that gave us the opportunity to lay in bed while Charlie climbed all over us, waved to herself (and us) in the mirror, and played around! It was perfection.
By the time we got to work, Charlie was all pooped out and it was time to put her to bed right away… but not before I coaxed her into giving me some smoochies and a few “head bumps.” For some reason, Charlie is super stingy with most little signs of affection, but if you say “BOOP” in a high pitch tone and lean into her, she’ll usually smoosh her head/face against yours. It’s melt-worthy.
Our little Charlie Girl spent the week mastering the art of standing. Anywhere and everywhere. Stand, stand, stand.
This morning while I watched her play, I noticed her standing up, resting her weight on her plastic lego bin, pushing it around… AKA ASSISTED WALKING! Instantly, I grabbed her little push walker thing.
I pointed to the toy and she quickly grabbed the handle, pulled herself up and started pushing it… assisted pushing. I have to put some weight on the opposite side of the walker, otherwise I think she’d fall flat on the ground like a pancake.
Of course, my wheels started turning… how can I catch this on video? So, I set up my camera, moved her back a bit and let her go!
As a warning… there are whiney tears. I swear these are a result of her being ready for a nap… not of her mother forcing her to walk with the walker toy 🙂
Playing House 