Oh Hey Friday!

I woke up this morning with such a grateful heart. I can't pinpoint exactly why or what made me feel this way. On any day I am incredibly grateful for the life I have but today I feel overcome.


[one]
Jack slept for 8 hours last night IN HIS CRIB!  Jack woke up in the best mood. Most mornings he will scream his head off when we change his diaper or dress him but today he chattered away and smiled then entire time. It's so good because he's been feeling under the weather this week. Since Jack slept 8 hours I slept a solid 7.5 hours! It feels incredible to be well rested! He has only slept the whole night in his crib 2 times in the last 6 months! Sleep is hard for our family. One good night of sleep is beyond joyous for me!

[two]
My parents! The overwhelming love they have for my son!

[three]
It may seem overwhelming but I have so much going on with in the next several months. A great friend and my cousin are getting married. A great friend is having a baby boy and I have a niece on the way. So many great things going on. Sharing life changing moments with the ones I love just makes my heart so full.

[four]
Lets just say there is something that could possibly be life changing happening for me. I can't really say much about it. I hate to get my hopes up but if this happens it would mean huge things for me and my family. Fingers and toes are crossed over here. Send some good wishes if you would be so kind.

[five]
I'm so grateful for this little blog and all the people I have met through blogging. My dear friend Erin from Happily Obsessed (but doesn't blog anymore, BOO!) donated to Jack's Great Strides Walk. I have never met Erin IRL but she; as well as her adorable son, Maverick are the sweetest 2 people! I feel so blessed to have an outlet for my thoughts but also for the opportunity to meet some really wonderful people.

I hope you wake up with some form of gratitude this morning!

Happy Friday!

A Day In The Life Of (this) Working Mom

Now I admit I have been such a whiner about being a working mom. I'm sure if you've been around this blog for a while you know me well enough to know I can't stand leaving my son each day to go to work. Until I win the lotto or find the perfect stay at home job I just thought I would do a day in the life post. Obviously, if anyone has any at home work ideas please share! (no pyramid/sales type need apply)

(source unknown but if you do I'd love to give credit where credit is due)

7am- I wake up. I sneak out of bed because my boy does not sleep in his crib. Jump in a super fast speed shower and attempt to get ready before Jack wakes up. 

8:30am- I'm usually dressed and ready for work when I get Jack up, change his clothes, feed him a bottle.

(some mornings Brian will bring Jack to my mother in law's house where she sometimes watches him. On these days I get to blog a little and drink a cup of coffee. )

8:45am- My mother in law arrives followed by my sister in law and nephew. I am so incredibly lucky to have her watch my son and for my son to have his 3 year old cousin to spend the day with. 

9am- I give Jack his breakfast usually french toast, waffles, and some fruit. 

9:20am- I head off to work with a banana and head to Dunkin for my coffee. Kiss my boy about 100 times. Tell him I love him a few 100 times and because it's winter I scrape all the snow and ice off the  Jeep.

10am- Get to work, sometimes on times and immedicatly check my calendar and emails. I still love using my paper calendar. I am so much more visual and like to see it each day. I catch up with my staff and my boss. Did I mention I run a day program and after school children with Autism?

1:30pm- I send off my morning program and head to lunch. My parent's live 1 mile from my job so I spend lunch eating with my dad and hanging out with Bogart. My parents usually have delicious left overs for me so I always hit the lunch jack pot. 

2:30pm- Lunch is over and I prep myself and afternoon staff for the arrival of our children's program. We welcome 18-23 children in, provide snacks, work on their goals,  and offer structured recreation and social activities. 

6pm- All the children have departed. Work with staff, finish up emails, paperwork and meetings. 

6:30pm- Head home. 

7:15pm- Get home to catch the tail end of Jack's dinner and hang with him while my husband eats his dinner. This is the most hectic time for me. I try to wash all dishes, load the dishwasher, clean the kitchen and make Jack's food for the next day. I try to catch a bite too while Jack has his dessert. 

8pm- Some extra play time with my boy. I don't get much but I try my hardest to fit in as much fun time together. 

8:30pm- Bath time and story time for Jack. If you checked out this post you'll know why story time takes time during bath time. We extend bath time because Jack really loves it. 

9:30pm- Time to relax. Jack usually gets his last bottle and falls asleep with me 

10pm- Jack's nebulizer treatment gets done when he's asleep. It's impossible to wrangle a toddler for 20 minutes of nebulizer treatment and 10-15 minutes of chest PT. As we do this we try and catch an episode of our favorite show. 

10:30pm- We turn in for the night or until Jack gets us up a couple of hours later. We have be sticking to sleep training and he has surprised us most nights with sleeping until about 3am in his crib. There have been a few 12:30 wake up calls. 

So there you have it.

What's upsetting to me when I type this post is that I barely have any time with Jack during the day.
I try to savor all of these moments as much as I can.

What I wouldn't do to find a job where I can work from home and spend more time with Jack. These moments are so precious and he is getting so big. Being away from him 10 hours a day rips me apart.

Are you a SAHM, WAHM or a working mom outside of the home? How do you manage? What type of work do you do? 

Mom Talk Tuesdays- Romancing and Parenting.

I must admit this is not a subject I should be blogging about. I think I'm just linking up for advice from others. I have found the idea of romance has been something I've completely forgotten about since Jack has arrived.

I should be ashamed of saying this BUT we've only been on 2 dates since baby arrived. Yep, just two!  To be honest while we were out on both dates I couldn't wait to get home to my little man. I think there are several factors as to why I don't feel like I can get the parenting and romance act together. In addition to the lack of sleep and enjoying our little man I still don't feel like myself. I have barely lost any weight and I don't always feel good about myself. Who am I kidding? I don't ever feel good about my post baby body. I am proud of what my body has done in nurturing my baby and delivering a perfect little boy drug free but I've lost myself a lot in the process.

I think in order to have romance while parenting it takes a lot of important things. Here are the things I believe are the most important in finding romance again after having a baby:

- Self Love- I know liking myself and my body are a key piece to feeling good in a relationship.

 - Hold hands

- Cuddle- Even if its just before you fall asleep try and hold on to one another.

- Say Please and Thank You- This is a huge one for me. I still think these are the magic words. Being thanked for simple things puts me in such a happy mood.

 - CHILL OUT! This is the thing I need to do most. I am just an anxious person. I'm on edge and have to tell myself to chill quite often.

- Do things together!

- Remember what it was like before marriage, children and stress and how all of it got you to this point! 

- "You don't need to do it all"- Leave the dishes. There will be plenty of time to load the dishwasher later.

- Tell your husband you love him and your glad to see him- I don't dothis often but when I do my husband always thinks something is up my sleeve. I should try to do it more often.

What are the things that help keep the romance alive while parenting? 

Winter "ONE"dreamland 1st Birthday

Jack's 1st birthday was a huge success. Although we had to cancel and reschedule for the next day due to a pretty nasty snowstorm and several friends couldn't attend it was still a great day. I guess that's what happens when you have a baby in January. We held the party at the clubhouse in our development. The theme of Jack's birthday was Winter "ONE" dreamland. (Seemed to be a very popular theme this year) The room was decorated with snowmen, snowflakes, and lots of pictures of our little man.

Our cake was adorable. A friend of my mother's makes all of our cakes and this one did not disappoint. It looked adorable and was so yummy! 

I made polar bear paw print cupcakes and they were a pretty big hit with the kiddos. 

Jack didn't seem like himself on his birthday. He seemed really tired. 

Turns out he was coming down with an ear infection. 

Poor boy. 

All the kids had a great time playing with the penguin beach balls. 

Planning a 1st birthday was a ton of fun. 

It was much harder planning and setting up a party with a toddler running around. 

The snow did hinder a lot of our friends and family from attending but there was plenty of love surrounding Jack. 

Oh Hey Friday

Lately I feel like such an old lady. I've noticed I'm complaining a lot more than usual. I think it could my severe dislike of this winter weather. It is kind of ridiculous! But trust me I have evidence.

[one]
I choose to stay home and do take out on Valentine's Day last week to avoid crowds. To be honest I try to avoid crowds all the time. I have not desire to be at a crowded restaurant, bar, or store! We had Japanese take out in our pajamas, sitting on the couch and watching Parenthood. How do you like that for romance!?!?

[two]
ZERO PATIENCE!!! I've lost all patience for almost everyone and everything. I work with children who have Autism so I need patience on a daily basis but it is not what it used to be. I think I have to have so much patience every day at work that it's hard to have it anywhere else. Example being: I was in the Dunkin Donuts drive thru line last night waiting for a coffee. I waited in line for 15 minutes. It was crazy! I was so pissed I called into the store to complain! At least I wasn't one of the cars honking, right?!>

[three]
I haven't been out for a girls night in soooooo long I can't remember when it actually happened or the last time I had a dirty martini! There aren't many of these pictures in the last few years. I think the girl in this picture with drunk eyes may have been 24 years old.

[four]
My most favorite thing to do on the weekend is hang out with Jack and Brian. Usually it's in the house playing with Jack's toys and watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood in our pajamas!

[five]
Grey Hair. Lots of it! I'll bee doing another root touch up tonight!



How about you?

Do you feel like your acting older than you really are?

Dreaming of Spring

There is no denying it. I HATE winter! The winters in the Northeast are the worst. I feel like they get worse every year. This week we saw temps reach -20. I don't think I've ever witnessed anything that cold. I tend to get down in the winter too. I am in desperate need of some Vitamin D!!! I hate wishing away days but I can not wait for the beautiful spring days. I feel like they are so close; yet so far away. Until the beautiful spring days arrive I'll just dream of the great things waiting for us in April. 

- The smell of hyacinths. 

- Driving with the windows down (maybe turning the music up)

- Pastels

- Birds chirping

- Outside trips to the winery

- Marigold trees blooming

- Sunshine

- Our 3rd Wedding Anniversary

- Longer days

- Hiking the Appalachian Trail

 - Wearing ballet flats. 

- Pretty clothes

- The vibrant colors of tulips and daffodils

- Taking Bogart for long walks (with out freezing)

-Baseball season (go Yankees)

- The occasional bear siting

- Long walks with the family

- Jack's 2nd Easter

- Ditching the winter coat

- Opening the windows at night

- 

What are some of the things you are most looking forward to about Spring? 

Jack's First Snowstorm

Before both Jack and I got sick the Northeast was hit with some pretty rotten winter weather. We got the first round on a Saturday and another round on a Monday into Tuesday. Although it wasn't quite the blizzard the weathermen forecasted it was still enough for daddy to get a day off so our family got an extra family day!

It was Jack's first official time playing in the snow. I wouldn't say any playing actually happened but he was prepared just in case! Jack gave up quickly on walking in the snow until he saw a dog and decided he wanted to follow the dog and bark at him. 

 During the s"NO"wstorm where we didn't get much snow at all we took Bogart and Jack sledding around the neighborhood. 

Jack loved sledding. He made his train sound the whole time. 

Does your little one enjoy playing in the snow? 

Happenings

Lately...

- Jack got his first ear infection. It was rough. Our poor boy's fevers got out of control. We were close to an ER visit. He's finally eating and drinking again. He made it to almost 13 months with out an illness and this was awful. Talk about ripping my heart out. It was stressful especially with his underlying cystic fibrosis diagnosis. Thankfully he is on the mend

(Pathetically sad little boy pictures to follow.)

- My anxiety hit an all time high with Jack's ear infection. It was terrible. It was some what panic attack level. I would call my mom crying my eyes out for no reason other than I was so nervous. I'm so glad I kept myself some what under control but my health took a serious downfall.

- I ended up in the hospital needing tests. I was diagnosed with diverticulitis. It's caused by stress and poor eating habits. I lost over 10 pounds in 4 days. I had been losing weight because I usually don't eat dinner. Plus, with Jack being sick I didn't take care of myself. I'm still on the mend with some heavy duty antibiotics and it sucks. They make me dizzy, sick down right exhausted. This is the second crazy illness I've been diagnosed with. I was diagnosed with shingles in October and now this. I need to start taking care of myself better. I keep saying it but just can't get myself "there" yet.

- I'm finally back on solid foods (was on a liquid diet for several days to give my stomach time to rest) and incorporating some more low fiber foods and than I will move to higher fiber foods.

- I wonder why it seemed so much easier last year with a newborn than it does with a toddler. Am I the only one? I am so much more exhausted this year.

- I've started using some essential oils I picked up in our local health food store. I've heard some really good things through a bunch of moms who have similar issues. I'm hoping they are going to help out a bit.

- This winter is awful. I'm so done with the Northeast and these gray days. I'm over it. I miss the beautiful spring days. I need some nice weather and fast!