(Play) Dating

Posted on September 9, 2014 by playinghousewi

I think I’ve mentioned this, but I’ve been a bit of a homebody since Charlotte’s arrival. I think it stems from my severe desire to control everything. Obviously, control is just nonexistent with a newborn. There is no anticipating when they will cry, need to eat, want to sleep but can’t, fuss, need to be held, scream bloody murder, poop all over everything, etc.

Now, I will say, we have been super lucky with our Charlie. She has SUCH a good temperament, so we have less of the bloody murder cries… But, she is just a baby. So, I’ve been sticking to home… Or places where it’s easy to breastfeed. Or only going places with Mark or my mom.

Anyway, I’ve totally digressed. My point with all this is that I’ve been thinking a lot about my hermit status and that in combination with our girl getting into much more of a routine (which does not include eating for hours on end), has led me to the notion that it’s time to start dating… Play dating.

I mean, I want Charlotte to have friends. It’s not fair for me to keep her locked up inside just because it’s easier for me.

So, with that in mind, I’ve been reaching out to my mommy friends and have four “play dates” planned for this week and am planning to go to a mommy group at the end of the month.

Go big or go home, right?

Note that play dates is in quotes because I recognize that Sweet Charlotte is too little to really interact with others for more than mere minutes at a time. But one day she will and I’ll have already begun developing our mommy/baby network.

Anyway, It’s good for me to force myself out there. And really, two of my four mommy dates are not really out of the box… One with my sister and her fam and today’s with my good friend Jenna. BUT, I’m getting out of my bubble.

So, today was our first play date and it was a lot of fun! Thanks, Jenna and little Jacob for a delicious lunch (and dessert) and for allowing us to hang for the day!

This Little Pumpkin is 5 Weeks Old

Posted on August 21, 2014 by playinghousewi

I can’t believe another week has flown by and our girl continues to change. This past week, she has really needed up… And not just in the chunky way… I think she’s gotten longer, too! In fact, we weighed her today and she is 11.5 lbs! That means she’s up about 3 lbs since birth.

Besides just gaining weight, she’s also gaining new tricks and traits. Her tummy time performance is totally improved. She pretty much keeps her head up the whole time and is still rolling from her belly to her back.

She’s also smiling and laughing and just much more aware. She makes eye contact and follows things with her eyes.

When she’s really hungry, she will let out a huge yawn and top it off with a shriek. It’s actually quite cute and silly.

And, this week I’ve decided that she loves me… And not only because I’ve got the milk. That’s definitely what led her to love me, but now I think she just finds comfort in me and enjoys me. We spend a lot of time during the day chatting and playing and making eyes at each other. I’m definitely the quickest way to make her happy or quiet her down… And I love it. It’s crazy how much I am just totally head over heels for this sweet child. Even on days like today when she fussed her way through everything, boycotted naps, threw up milk barf ALL over the both of us, peed all over herself and outfit, dug her nails into my nipple and pulled (aka baby titty twister), and fussed some more. Even today, sweet girl, I love you to pieces.

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And here are a couple of us when we stopped by the office…

Cloth Diapers: Take 2…

Posted on August 19, 2014 by playinghousewi

So, after our first cloth diapering experience, the hubs and I have been avoiding them like a plague. In fact, I called our diaper service on Monday and asked them to put our service on hold.

With that in mind, Mark and I decided it was time to give them a try… Before we put our service on hold… And never took it off of hold. Anyway, our second run at cloth diapering has been way more successful!

In fact, we used them all evening yesterday (until bedtime when we switched to disposable) and I’ve been using them all day today. Honestly, I don’t mind them. I mean, I don’t like diapering in general… Because really, who does? But the cloth are no more difficult than the disposable.

The main difference I’ve noticed thus far is our sweet girl’s reaction to a dirty diaper. She’s never seemed to really notice or mind a dirty diaper. With cloth, that does not seem to be the case. Today she woke up from her nap in instant hysterics. Poor lovey. But, definitely makes sense why cloth diapered babies are potty trained sooner than disposable diapered babes.

On a somewhat relevant note, Charlotte tried her best to shoot me with poo today. I was tossing a wipe into the trash when I heard a noise and felt a breeze on my arm. It took me a quarter of a second before realizing that her pre-poop fart was a courtesy warning. I instantly grabbed a cloth diaper and tossed it over her tush. Thankfully, my body was protected, but the changing table cover wasn’t as lucky.

Here are some pics of the sweet pea all clothes up…

A Not So Good Night… Err… Morning

Posted on August 7, 2014 by playinghousewi

While our little princess slept 5 hours consecutively again last night, she didn’t follow up with any additional sleep. We woke up at 4 am and since then, missy miss has been quite demanding. She’ll eat for 4 minutes, fall asleep, then I’ll put her down and she’ll be up demanding more milk (aka mommy snuggles) within minutes. This pattern has been nonstop until mommy the sucker finally gave in. Now, we’re here…

If you need me, I’ll be on the couch. Today is going to be a lazy… whatever day it is.

Earlier this morning, I sent daddy this pic of his sweet girl nursing with the caption, “This is where I’ll be today. Don’t bug me or I’ll scream.”

Within seconds, she confirmed my interpretation with this giant, “f you, mommy.” Such a princess 🙂

Three Weeks With My Girl

Posted on August 7, 2014 by playinghousewi

My sweet girl is three weeks today! I can’t believe it! She’s already so different… Much more alert, more responsive to me and my voice, and so strong! Today, we were doing tummy time and she flipped herself over onto her back! Such a tough girl.

The Milk Monster Gives a Gift

Posted on August 6, 2014 by playinghousewi

So, after being chained to the couch all day with the milk monster (I’m talking literally 7 hours of nursing… I tracked it!), and barely getting anything done (I made dinner… And watched a TON of this teeny bopper show), the Milk Monster decided to be VERY nice and give back to her very desperate mommy.

Yes, I’m talking about the greatest gift for a (breastfeeding) new mommy: sleep! Charlotte went down super easily last night and literally slept 5.5 consecutive hours (and then another 4 after that)! I probably slept a little longer than that because for the first time, Mark actually got her down (aka, she didn’t require a boob to go to sleep; although I had just fed her a few minutes before her last changing).

This extended period of sleep was sooo needed, as the prior two nights were not so lovely. LOTS of nursing… Like, 2+ hours at a time nursing throughout the night. Not fun.

So, from the bottom of my heart and the tip of my sore nipples, thanks baby girl for throwing mama a bone. I’m not sure we would have survived another nurse marathon last night.

Hubby’s First Day Back

Posted on August 4, 2014 by playinghousewi

It’s 3:30 pm, just 1.5 hours until the end of the workday and I have to say, Charlotte and I have been doing pretty darn well! We got up at 8 am, had breakfast, put up some soup in the slow cooker, did a bazillion loads of laundry, made lunch for hubby (he came home to eat with us) and… The kicker… We both napped!

Today might just be beginner’s luck, but I’ll take it. Fingers crossed that tomorrow goes just as well.

The cutie pie ready to go… And then not so ready to go 🙂

“My parents went to Fiji and all I got was… my LIFE!”

Posted on October 23, 2013 by playinghousewi

Yes, I will be making a onesie that says exactly that… Because, as far as I’m concerned, our little lentil (yes, today, the baby is the size of a lentil) was conceived on our belated honeymoon. Technically my fertile week fell partly in Fiji and partly in Wisconsin, but I’m sticking with a Fijian conception. Much more romantic than the Cheese State.

The Honeymoon

My husband and I originally planned to get married on August 25, 2013, but due to my impatience and a slew of other reasons, we moved up our wedding to March 17, 2013. Our date adjustment turned wedding planning into wedding planning on drugs. We kicked it into high-gear and had an amazing wedding planned in 3 months. During that time, I also started a new job, and we purchased and moved into our new home. I think the saying is, “go big or go home,” right? We decided to go big and then go to our newly purchased home.

Anyway, I digress. My point is that with all the chaos surrounding our move and wedding, we had decided to delay our honeymoon until we could a) spend more time planning it, b) make sure we had enough (or any) money, and c) breathe. So, after months of online shopping for a honeymoon destination, we finally broke down and went to a travel agent, who led us to Fiji. From what we could see online, there was no way we could go to Fiji on the budget we had set, but with some buy-one-get-one-half-off airline tickets, we were convinced we could fit it into our budget. Of course, the trip was way over budget, but that’s beyond the point. The reality is that it was so darn worth it. We were able to relax and celebrate 6 months of marriage in the happiest and most beautiful place in the world. We also got to explore the underworld on 10 SCUBA dives and check out the air above while parasailing. Did I mention that we hung out with dolphins and saw humpback whales? I miss Fiji.

The happiest place on Earth.

Body Prep

So, some background: about 3 or 4 months before the wedding, I decided to get off of birth control. I had seen my sister and a friend struggle for a year to get pregnant and just knew that I wouldn’t be able to handle that. So I figured, I would cleanse my body of birth control so that when we were ready to try, my body would also be ready. To note, beginning a few months before we started trying to conceive, I also started taking prenatal vitamins. They were gummy, but regardless, I was taking them.

Now fast forward back to the honeymoon… we had decided that it would be just about the coolest souvenir in the world to bring home a baby from our honeymoon, so we decided to officially stop trying not to have a baby in Fiji. Now, don’t get me wrong… we weren’t trying… we were NOT not trying…. I think there is a difference.

So, the moral of the whole story is that we went, we didn’t not try, we had the time of our lives, and along with a beautiful golden Fijian pearl, a hand-carved bowl, tons of random knick-knacks, and an endless amount of photos and videos, my husband and I brought home a baby.

Future parents…

Symptoms

Today I woke up feeling amazing. I was happy, energetic, and ready to take on the day. So far, I’ve only had very mild nausea and I’m just feeling good. Maybe my little baby is celebrating her 6 week birthday and in doing so, has granted me a little break. Or maybe it’s just part of the swing of things.

Speaking of swing of things, last night I had the most absurd meltdown with my husband over a pillow. I’m not going to get into the details, because honestly, it was bizarre and hard to explain without rambling, but it ended with us “playing” tug-of-war with a pillow. By the time we were physically pulling on the pillow, we were both laughing, but the “pillow mishap” did not begin as a joke. So bizarre. Whatever… I’ll write that off as a pregnancy snafu.