Oh, hey...

I never thought I'd take such a long break from blogging. But I for sure couldn't let a full year pass!

I'm not going to delve into a recap of what we've been up to this past year. That just sounds overwhelming. It has been both the most amazing and exhausting year combined. Parenting is not for the weak at heart. With J & I both still working full-time, there is a whole lot of scheduling, organizing, prepping, planning, running around. There are late nights and early mornings. There are night showers, days with unwashed hair, more ponytails than ever before, and lots and lots of coffee.

But there are so many laughs, ok and some cries, "mamas" and "dadas," the biggest smile and glittering eyes, curls that are growing by the day lately, toddler gibberish and a vocab that's slowly starting to grow.

The house is turned upside down most weeknights and there's been a load of laundry in the dryer  since Monday but I can't let these things get to me. The short amount of time I get to spend with L each morning and night is far more important. And so isn't the glass of wine that follows her bedtime....that is so important. We survived another day, cheers!

While I typically end my day on the laptop each night, its to get work done, not blog. Wah. I find myself missing blogging more and more as the time passes. I'd say weekly I experience a moment where I'm daydreaming about something, anything and think "oh, that would make a great blog post!" 

So here I am! Not the most exciting post I've ever written, but a quick chance for me to say hi! We're alive and doing excellent. Life as a mom has been so incredibly rewarding I can't even begin to describe it. It pushes you to your limit and challenges you to reach new goals. It puts many aspects of life in perspective - why are we a nation that works to live?!

To end my first post back in nearly 12 months, here are a few of my recent "oh blog post!" thoughts:

1. We are a nation of workaholics - I can't even. Oh, me included. I was on the road by 4:15 am one morning last week to catch a train to NYC. Do you know how many cars were also on the road at that hour? More than I ever expected. It was shocking.

2. Work/life balance is a real stress point for me lately. And I need to figure out how to fix it. What do I need from work? What do I need from home? I've enlisted the help and a few books lately, and kinda wish I had done so sooner.

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up - I am almost done with this book and it hit a home-run with me. When J asked about going out with the guys Saturday night to watch college football I nearly pushed him out the door! It was time to tackle my closet. This book has changed the way I feel about tangible things - it's hard to describe - but it helps put clutter in perspective. Which I desperately needed!

 

From my insta this weekend. 7 bags of trash/donate from the wardrob... next up is the office, and then kitchen!

I am also reading Lean In finally. And enjoying it. It's reassuring to know that many of the traits that I fear hold me back at times are tendencies of most women. And I use the term reassuring in the sense that, oh phew I'm really not that crazy. But it also frustrates me that women think the way we do and do not put ourselves first nearly enough, or ever (and I'm talking workplace, not family). Ya, I'm on a little bit of a woman power kick...but it's helping me figure out what I need and where I want to go in my career. 

3. We're back to day dreaming about the next big house project we'd like to tackle. This happens each fall once the summer madness unwinds. We find ourselves with time on our hands and a few extra $$ in our pockets now that wedding season has ended. We are really, really hoping to update the kitchen a bit in the next 6 months or so.... think cabinet refinishing and an updated backsplash. Yessss.

Goodbye sea of orange-ish cabinets! We've had a taped up sample of SW Grayish for a month....loving it - at 50%.

4. And finally, I am going to be an Auntie again!!!!! My sister is due in early January with her first baby. Guys, she is seriously glowing - I couldn't be happier for her and my brother-in-law. The gender is a surprise which is making the anticipation that much sweeter!

So much for a quick hello! Thanks for the free therapy session. Same time next week? :)

xoxo.

Fact Friday 11/14/13

Oh, hey! I'm back already. :)

L tends to go to bed a little earlier on Thursday nights after a long week of daycare and playing with her grandmas. And I currently have Fridays off, meaning I'm not running around like a mad woman Thursday nights making sure bottles are made, clothes are picked out, alarms are set, etc. It's quite nice actually! And I'm going to miss this terribly come January.

Anyhoo. Here's a little recap of what's been going on lately.

1. L's a little holy baby now. We held her baptism this past Sunday and it went better than I could have ever anticipated. Girlfriend hardly slept all day and was so content. She did so well in the church and I just loved how the ceremony went.

2. Confession: L never put her costume on, on Halloween. BUT, she rocked it the weekend before at a family party, and the day before at my work's Halloween party. Our little spaghetti and meatballs!

And I can't leave out my nephew, JR. How adorable is this family costume?!!

3. We pulled the trigger and ordered new wall-to-wall carpet for our family room. It's overdue. And is a real priority now that L spends so much time in there. We don't even know if there's a pad under the current carpet. It's terrible. We decided to stick with carpet since it's the only room in the house with carpet, and it will be nice and cozy as a certain someone becomes mobile.

Pictures like this make me cringe. Cannot wait for the new plush carpet!

4. I'm also coming to terms with the fact that the family room is becoming just that, a family room. There is no hiding the baby toys! And I don't even mind. :)

5. I finally had the chance to help out in the ravioli making process this year. It's a long day for all involved so I was happy to help this year. There were thousands of raviolis made. My Nona, Mom, and Aunts are nuts!

6. I joined Rent the Runway PRO. It's a year of shipping and insurance for a one-time fee of $30. Next weekend is my company's holiday party and the following weekend is my 10-year high school reunion. I just couldn't muster up the desire to go dress shopping. Crazy, I know. So this was totally worth it. Shipping & insurance is typically $15/rental so $30 for the whole year is a steal. We have 5 weddings already scheduled from May-Sept next year. Looking forward to renting some fun, new dresses over the next year! This dress is making its way to me next week. Hope it fits!

7. I can't believe L will be 4 months next week! Ah. Here are her 2 & 3 month photos.

 And an extra one I made for fun. Those cheeks! :)

8. And because this girl keeps growing, I've started getting her 6 month wardrobe together. 3 month LS shirts are getting a little too short these days. And we needed a few warm layers. I snagged all this on the Carters site and picked up these 2 (this and this) outfits at Macy's recently. Doing my best to stagger purchases since many 3 month items still fit....but it's a struggle.

9. Before I went back to work we took a trip up to Maine for a long weekend. I really wanted to put a post together with all of the pictures. The leaves were unreal this year! But I'm not holding my breath on that. So, here's a picture I snapped from the Height of Land. Gorgeous, right?

10. I don't know about you, but we woke up to snow here this morning! Yikes. Not ready for that just yet.

What are you up to this weekend?

We'll be relaxing over here! 

Have a fantastic weekend!

She's here!

Sidenote - Sorry for the delay! It happens these days. :)

If you missed Part I, you'll want to read that first (here).

6:00 PM. Mom calls J. It's go time!

J arrives in record time, a bit frazzled for sure, but he's there and he has our hospital bags (Remember when I made asked you to pack a bag and you told me you had plenty of time, you're welcome darling).

7:00 PM. Mom heads home to get some rest (begrudgingly :) ). Who knows how long this will take.

8:00 PM. 6 1/2 cm dilated. And it's epidural time. There's a line-up of 4 emergency c-sections so they give me my epidural now before they're held up for a while and I end up real uncomfortable. Fine by me!

I'm starving but it's clear liquids only. Boo. Italian ice it is! It's been years since I've had one of those and damn it tasted good.

10:00 PM. 8 cm dilated! Omg. They tell us to try to get some sleep, it could still be awhile, but HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SLEEP??! Jay's actually snoring by my side....he's got an awful head cold and I keep asking him if he's ok and how's he's feeling. Pretty sure he wants me to just stop talking but I can't help it. He especially loves how I keep asking him how he's doing when I'm the one IN LABOR. Whoops.

I'm still starving so I test out ginger ale hoping the bubbles will help me feel full. Eh, kinda. And I spend the next couple hours between pinterest, facebook, instagram, etc. A.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. that will distract me.

Sunday, July 20

12:00 AM. 8 cm dilated. Wait, what?! No change. Ughh. Come one Baby C! Mama wants to meet you.

A little motivation!

4:00 AM. 10 cm dilated. Big gulps. Now it's really go time! J texts the moms, they're ready and waiting to meet their new grand baby.

This time goes by in a bit of a blur. I haven't slept in far too long, I'm starving, and I'm just not very strong anymore. J and my nurse are amazing and I don't know what I would have done without them. I keep telling J I'm either going to pass out or puke - labor is no joke.

After an hour or so it's decided I need an episiotomy (fantastic...). J will be doing the honors of announcing Baby's C's gender and cutting the umbilical cord. The delivery team is in place. Ah!!

One last push and the doctor notices that the umbilical cord is wrapped around baby's neck so she makes the quick decision to cut it during delivery.

5:28 AM.  J turns to me, huge grin, and tells me it's a girl. I couldn't believe it (really, I turned to J and asked him if he was serious). I have a daughter! And she's just the most beautiful baby ever.

5:30 AM. (Due to the cord being around her neck she's taken aside for check up almost immediately). No skin to skin as planned. Still waiting for a good lung clearing scream from her....
5:32 AM. And waiting...
5:34 AM. And waiting...She's grunting and doing everything she can to breathe, but she's having a bit of trouble. Baby girl swallowed too much fluid on her way out.

A respiratory team has been called and a NICU doctor is on site. J watches over L while they do everything they can to help her out. I'm exhausted, still need to get cleaned up by the doctor, and my nurse keeps telling me she'll be fine. She just descended too fast and needs a little attention. I feel like I'm in a state of denial and shock. I cannot look at J who's looking at the doctors working on L for nearly 40 minutes.

While we keep being told everything will be fine, we're given less than 5 minutes to meet/hold our girl before they need to cart her off for chest x-rays and further examination in the NICU. Bless my nurse for stealing my camera to snap a few first photos of us.

J goes with the team to the NICU but I cannot get out of bed yet thanks to the epidural. And right now, I need him to be with her. I can't even begin to tell you how strong my husband was during this. I still tear up just thinking about it. He was/is my rock. And I needed that. I needed him to tell me that she'll be fine. 

Apparently it was a bit of a sob fest when he met the moms in the waiting room and told them they had a granddaughter! The fact that he held it together for me is unbelievable. No joke, I'm tearing up typing this. #hormones

7:30 AM. Just me, my incredible husband, and our new baby girl. 

L spent 3 days in the NICU, and 1 night in the Step 2 care nursery before passing her final test and being discharged to come home. While it was definitely not how we imagined her delivery to go, we are beyond thankful to have a healthy, happy baby. We are so grateful for the NICU nurses who cared for our girl, and taught these first-timers a few things. I'm not sure I'll ever forget their names.

We like to think that L just joined the world about 36 hours too soon. For that's how long it took her body to adjust, which was long enough to keep her under the NICU's supervision the whole time and in the hospital a day longer than expected.

Welcome to the world baby girl! We are so blessed to call you ours.