Letting Go

Posted on April 27, 2015 by playinghousewi

One thing I will very openly admit is that Mark and I haven’t been amazing at having people babysit Charlie. Up until a few weeks ago, we were so nervous about it. Now, I must clarify, we were not nervous that totally capable adults wouldn’t be able to take care of a baby. BUT, our worry came into play on Charlotte’s end.

Would she freak out with people other than mommy or daddy? Would she cry the entire time? Would she refuse to sleep? Would she refuse to eat?

The list of “what if’s” were endless.

What we’ve come to realize is:

a) we have a really good little babe who’s way more low key than her high-strung momma. While she might get fussy with non-mommy/daddy folks when mommy or daddy is present, she’s pretty relaxed when we are not around.

b) she’ll never get to that next level of comfort with people unless we let go of the what ifs and just let whatever happens happen.

c) every babysitter we’ve had TOTALLY LOVES Charlie… so… IF she were to cry the entire time, it’d be okay. They love her and they’d find a way to survive the crying without going totally bonkers.

d) It’s so dang healthy for us to get out and be adults (not just a mommy and a daddy). It’s also so good for Charlie to have special bonding time with other adults who adore her.

With all of that said, another giant thank you to my Milly (mother-in-law), my parents, and our most recent babysitter… Mark’s dad! Charlie loves her special one-on-one time with her grandparents. From what we can tell, she has the best time with them and we could not be more grateful!

As a related side note, Mark and I were able to go out with my favorite girlies and their husbands last night for a DELICIOUS dinner… with only adults! Our first non-wedding night out with my friends! It was awesome. We had drinks at the bar, a nice and slow, relaxing dinner, and even a glass of dessert wine and a truffle to top off the night.

I have to say, on our way to dinner, we had to laugh (most likely out of fear) at the fact that we’re just now starting to get a little “freedom” back and will likely start discussing the next mini baby towards the end of summer. AKA goodbye newfound freedom… but for now, we’ll enjoy 🙂

In fact, we’ll be enjoying ourselves all the way to Puerto Rico this weekend for a whirlwind destination wedding vacay sans baby. I can feel the sunshine already!

Shelter From the Storm

Posted on April 6, 2015 by playinghousewi

A couple weeks ago, I received news that a friend of mine from college had passed away from a heroin overdose. We haven’t kept in touch. In fact, I haven’t seen him for probably 8-10 years except for that one time I ran into him while at the mall with my mom about 2 or so years ago.

Supposedly, he had fallen into a bad crowd. He was trying to get help and overdosed at a halfway house.

This isn’t the first friend I’ve had who’s been plagued by drug addiction. Or the first friend whose life drugs had desperately tried to ruin. Or the first friend whose life had been taken by heroin.

I’ve been thinking about Chris a lot over the past few weeks. He was such a caring, kind and seemingly happy person. As I remember him, I can’t help but think of those that Chris has left behind and think of my own little girl.

How will I protect her from such devastating, toxic and life crushing realities? Is it by sheltering her? Or is it by being completely, frighteningly honest with her? I guess I don’t know what the answer is, but my gut says honesty.

So, my sweet baby, please hear my advice. It’s so easy to think that all this bad stuff only happens to other people, but drugs don’t discriminate. They will take anyone foolish enough to fall under their spell. Drugs don’t make you cool or take away pain. In fact, they do the complete opposite. I’ve seen friends who are literally at war with themselves. Friends who so desperately want to be stripped from the shackles of their addiction. Friends who have died trying to quit.

Addiction is a very lonely path and leads to unimaginable pain and struggle.

It’s easy to think that you won’t get addicted… that you’re just going to try it. But let me tell you, sweet girl… no one goes into it hoping to become addicted. Heroin and meth and all of these toxic, horrid drugs will capture a person’s body at first try.

So please, please, please I beg you to make good decisions. Remember that what seems like such a simple and careless decision can change, ruin or destroy your life. Remember that I love you and I’m here for you and you can always come to me… with anything. I won’t be mad, in fact, I’ll be so relieved that you felt comfortable confiding in me.

I love you, sweet girl. Thank you for hearing me.

Xo,

Mommy

Happy Birthday, Hubs!

Posted on April 1, 2015 by playinghousewi

Monday was my sweet husband’s birthday! We spent the weekend celebrating with various dinners with friends and visits with family.

It was delicious and wonderful.

On Monday, we had all of Mark’s boys over for a Mexican fiesta. It was really great. Just good friends sitting around the table, eating food, sipping cocktails and having fun.

And, the good news, C was able to go down with all of them over (after 15-20 minutes of objection) and stay sleeping!

All in all, we had a lovely time celebrating the most amazing man I know. Charlie and I are two VERY lucky girls to have such a sweet, loving, and wonderful man to take care of us.

Happy birthday, Lovey.

Two Years of Wedded Bliss

Posted on March 18, 2015 by playinghousewi

Love this man.

As I mentioned the other day, yesterday was my two year anniversary with the hubs. It’s crazy to think it’s already been two years, but when I think back to all the amazing experiences and memories we’ve shared, it feels like it must be longer than that.

When I think of all the heartache – losing three grandparents in less than a year – and all the joy – welcoming the sweetest little angel into this world – we’ve experienced and grown through, I know that getting married was the best decision of our lives. We really complement eachother so well. We work so well together. Our life is ours. Not his or mine.

I’m very, very grateful for my husband.

Cheers to our beautiful wedding, our amazing love and our lifelong friendship.

And now, enjoy our lovely wedding video (we watch it every year on our anniversary… two years running 🙂 )

Charlotte’s 6 Month Professional Photos… Prepare Yourself…

Posted on March 16, 2015 by playinghousewi

In honor of Charlie’s 8 month birthday today, I will be sharing the CUTEST PHOTOS THAT HAVE EVER EXISTED. I’m exploding inside from the ridiculous amount of cute captured in these photos…

Thanks to Pics by Nic for taking such amazing photos of my sweet baby girl and our little fam.

Charlotte’s Second Sleepover & Our Night in Madison

Posted on March 16, 2015 by playinghousewi

With our 2 year anniversary coming up on Tuesday, Mark and I decided to take a little getaway to Wisconsin’s capitol city, Madison. It was our first official post-baby date (excluding weddings and baby-friendly events) and Charlotte’s second time sleeping away from mom and dad.

Of course, the whole thing gave me anxiety.

While I was confident that Charlotte would be in good hands with my parents, I found myself stressing over Charlotte’s behavior. Would she refuse to go down for naps or bedtime easily? Would she wake up screaming in the middle of the night? What if?

Now, these occurances would be totally out of character for Charlotte, but I still felt worried. I didn’t want Charlie to be a bad house guest because, let’s be honest, it’s much more likely my parents will volunteer to take her for more overnights if she isn’t a total terror.

Anyway, in preparation, I typed up instructions and a packing list for my mom. I did the same thing for the first overnight and it seemed to work really well. This time was actually even better, because Charlotte’s on MUCH more of an actual schedule these days.

Here’s what I sent to (and printed for) my mom…

Babysitting Charlotte Packing List – Take 2

Babysitting Charlotte Guide – Take 2

We definitely overpacked milk. The first time we left her, 40 ounces was perfect… this time, now that she’s eating solids, it was just way too much.

In fact, I think she went on a bit of a milk strike, because she really did not drink much… OR poop for that matter. Literally NO poop while we were gone. We dropped her off around noon on Saturday and met her, my parents and grandpa for brunch around 1 on Sunday. No poop that whole time. BUT, once reunited and back home, the little one pooped… twice. And now she’s pooping like normal.

Anway, all in all, the sleepover was a success and Mark and I had a GREAT time.

Here’s what we did…

Saturday

12 pm: Dropped Charlie at Mom & Dad’s

1:45 pm: Stopped at teh gas station for a GIANT diet pepsi and popcorn… we’re on vacay!

Mmmm!

2:45 pm: Arrived at hotel and checked in. We used name your price using priceline and did 3.5 stars and got the hotel for $100 including all fees! We stayed at the Hilton Monona Terrace. Because hubs called and told them it was our anniversary, they upgraded us to a delux room on the top floor facing the lake and gave us two free drinks at the bar and free breakfast. Not a bad deal at all!

As I was freshening up, I noticed I had baby barf on my shirt. Quick clean up time.

3:10 pm: Time to cash in our drink coupons for some vacay martinis.

Dirty martini… extra dirty, extra olives! Mmmm… it’s 5 o’clock somewhere!

So of course, we’re enjoying a nice adult cocktail, planning our afternoon, when suddenly I notice that my milk machines feel super full. I make a comment to Mark, look down, and realize that I leaked through my shirt. Time to chug my cocktail and return to the room to pump.

You can take the mommy out of the nursery, but… you’re still going to end up with barf on your jacket and a milk-soaked shirt.

4 pm: Time to pump and freshen up again, then it was off to State Street. The weather was gorg, so we walked from our hotel (about 6-10 minutes to the start of state street). It was so fun. We went in and out of little shops, looked around, soaked up the weather.

5:30 pm: Back to the hotel for more pumping and changing for our night activities.

6:15 pm: We headed to Tempest Oyster Bar where we literally had the BEST waiter ever. We are not big oyster people, so he helped us to order appetizers. We got an oyster tower with 6 oysters, 4 gulf shrimp and clams… then we ordered a plate of mussels in the most delicious broth ever. And oy. They had this sourdough bread. Mmmm. Needless to say, I took a break from my Charlotte diet. She’s been doing so well, it was time to test the waters a bit. So after 2.5 hours, seafood galore, a couple glasses of wine for me and a couple of cocktails for hubs… it was off to our next stop!

8:30 pm: We were off to Graze, an awesome locally sourced farm-to-table restaurant. They don’t take reservations and by the time we got there, the wait was 1.5 hours. We put our name in and went to Heritage Tavern, down the street, to get a drink. I had a glass of wine and Mark had some bitters drink with egg whites in it. Weird, but pretty good!

9:20 pm: Our table was ready! We headed back to Graze to get our eat on. Of course, we needed ANOTHER app. We ate a giant pretzel with a cheese dip and three kinds of mustard. Mmm. Then, for dinner, we decided to split two entrees: Artesian Farm Trout with the best coconut curry sauce and the Graze Burger (fresh ground bacon, sirloin, ribeye & short ribs, caramelized onions, Worcestershire-cabernet jus, Swiss Emmental compound butter, SarVecchio sesame brioche, with fries & aioli). We ended up eating the trout and taking the burger to go!

10:25 pm: We scooted off to make it to a local comedy show featuring Robert Kelly. He was definitely not politically correct, but goodness was he funny! We were both in tears. It was so much fun!

SUNDAY

12:30 am: Since we hadn’t eaten enough in the previous 24 hours, we decided to make a stop at the famous Ian’s Pizza for a late-night slice. I ate the most heavenly piece of mac and cheese pizza. Mmm! AND, we ran into my brother-in-law’s brother and his sweet girlfriend there. The four of us had a great time mowing on late night snacks and catching up. Then, it was time to crash.

9:15 am: WAKE UP! I woke up at 7 and was so scared I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep… I mean, I had to sleep in on my morning off. So, I was super pleased when my eyes woke again at 915.

After our Madison adventure, we headed back to Milwaukee for brunch with my parents and Grandpa where Charlie had her first french fries (oy… she enjoyed them too much). Then, it was naptime for the fam and once we woke up, headed to an anniversary dinner with Mark’s dad and stepmom.

All in all, a GREAT weekend!

Who’s going to give me more french fries??

Stay away from my fry.

Mmm! This time with a little ketchup!

PHEW!

Posted on March 11, 2015 by playinghousewi

As of 8:30 this morning, my 48-hour “holy-shit-I-might-be-pregnant” panic was over. On Sunday morning, I woke up feeling really uneasy. Later that afternoon, my nausea was accompanied by a splitting headache… both of which have been desperately trying to ruin my week ever since.

At first, I assumed I had a bug of sorts. Then, on Monday, my mom asked, “You aren’t pregnant.. are you?” Well shit. I don’t know… I mean, probably not. We’re pretty careful, but I’m not on the pill or anything…

As I started to dwell over the idea of being pregnant and panic over the similarities of my current symptoms to those symptoms of early pregnancy, I decided to take a home pregnancy test. The test came back negative, but somehow I felt no relief. That night I literally sat up from around 2:30 until 5 am just freaking out.

Tuesday I was still feeling sick. Super uneasy, headache, sleepy. So, I decided to go to my doctor. “Are you pregnant?” she asked.

My doctor decided to take a blood test to determine whether or not I was with child. The test results would be in Wednesday morning.

I spent the remainder of the day feeling severely anxious.

Obviously I want more babies, but a few things were really throwing me off…

1) Because of my c-section, my doctor told me to wait at least 18 months between deliveries to avoid complications.

2) I’m not ready for Charlie to share the spotlight. The whole idea makes me feel guilty and I want her to have more time with just us.

3) I’m not ready to be pregnant again. As selfish and childish as this is, this was probably my biggest hang up. I’m enjoying this non-pregnant time. We have a trip to New Mexico planned for May and for some strange reason, I really don’t want to be pregnant when I turn 30 this May. I want to throw back some wine and have a carefree celebration. Not to mention the fact that I’d like to have a non-pregnant summer. I want to camp and drink Sangria and enjoy… without being pregs. Selfish? Duh. I’m okay with that.

Anyway, I was very… VERY relieved to hear that I just have some weird virus of sorts. But with my relief came a level of guilt. I mean, I’m sure that after the shock wore off, I’d be really happy and grateful and excited to be having a little babe.

Future baby, know that whenever you arrive, we will be SO happy to welcome you into our family and I will very happily give up wine and sushi and deli meat. But tonight, I’m drinking wine.

Grandparents Galore!

Posted on February 21, 2015 by playinghousewi

Charlie has had a big weekend already. She saw Grandma & Grandpa (my parents) at work on Friday… Although not too much, as she slept most of the day. Then after work, she got to see Nana (Mark’s mom). This morning she got to play with Nana again and then this afternoon she saw her other grandparents (Mark’s dad and step mom)!!

What a great two days with Charlotte’s absolute favorite people.

Unfortunately, I only took (and Mark’s stepmom took) photos this afternoon. Next time I’ll take more photos!

Charlotte’s First Introduction to Disney

Posted on February 17, 2015 by playinghousewi

Now, before you start judging us for bringing a 7 month old to Disney, let me clarify… Charlotte joined us for a trip to DOWNTOWN Disney. For those who aren’t familiar, this is a “free” Disney tourist trap designed to get you to buy tons of souveniers and random crap. But, it gives you a tiny smidge of the Disney vibe and for a baby who was napping or in need of a nap pretty much the whole day, that’s all she needed.

What I will say is that they must sprinkle those souvenier character stuffed animals with breast milk or fairy dust or something because MAN did that Minnie doll make her squirm. Through the severe exhaustion, her tiny mouth opened wide, her arms stretched out and her feet wiggled as she giggled away. Being that there were grandparents within a 5 mile radius of this adorable and joyful display, Charlotte was given her first Minnie doll.

Unfortunately, I was most excited to get little Charlie Minnie Mouse ears (with her name embroidered on it), only to find out that they don’t come in baby sizes. BOO, Disney… BOO.

Regardless, we had a nice little trip!

These last few pictures were right before she conked out for a little afternoon napski. Can you tell??

Also… THOSE CHEEKS!! I just love how they hang off her face. I am REALLY going to miss those delicious little cheekies.

Making Valentines with Homemade Baby Paint

Posted on February 17, 2015 by playinghousewi

After a week away, we had an awesome Valentine’s Day at home… in our PJ’s. We really wanted to do something fun with Charlie… but didn’t want to leave the house (WI winter in a nutshell). SO, we decided to make Valentines with Charlie. This is our first attempt at art with our tiny lady, and I have to say, it was pretty successful. She had a blast.

Recognizing that Charlotte sticks just about EVERYTHING in her mouth, I decided that making a food-based paint would be best. I didn’t want anything with sugar or chemicals, so here’s what I did…

HOMEMADE BABY PAINT

1 cup corn starch
1/2 cup cold water
1-2 cups hot water
1-3 TBSP red beet

I’m sure there is some sort of science to this, but my first attempt failed miserably. My suggestion is to just go slow adding the water. Just put your cornstarch into a bowl. Add the 1/2 cup of cold water and stir. Then slowly add the hot water until it’s just thicker than you’d like it. Then, put the corn starch mixture in a blender with the beet. I used our Ninja Kitchen System. The beet will add liquid to your mixture, so you might need to add more corn starch. I just played around with it until I got the right texture.

This recipe will give you pink paint. I”m sure you coulkd use spinach for green, carrot for orange, blueberries for purple or blue… Just play around with different foods.

Here are the pics…