Is it? Lately I've been feeling as though that is the one thing in my life that I'm lacking. I've been working diligently to daily cross tasks off of my (seemingly never ending) to do list. When I (happily) quit graduate school and work to be a stay at home mom, I was so excited at the thought of having endless amounts of time and energy to devote to things that I have always wanted to do such as learning how to cook, photography, blogging, crafts, reading (I can go on and on). Perhaps the first year of a baby's life is just extra challenging for a mom, but I don't find myself with chunks of extra time to devote to my new found hobbies. I find myself counting down the hours and minutes until Evie takes her next nap or goes down for the night so that I can enjoy supergluing a flower to a headband or spilling flour all over my kitchen. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with Evie, but sometimes you need to accomplish some things scrawled on your to do list to feel like you have been productive. And why have I been so busy with the little one, you ask? Well....she's been quite busy.
Just yesterday Evie began to produce immeasureable amounts of mucus (i.e. she caught a cold). My little snot factory had a pretty miserable night. I slept in the twin bed next to her crib as she tossed, turned, and gasped for breath all night. She seems to be in good spirits throughout the day. She smiles, laughs, and bangs her toys together. Occasionally she will extend her hands out towards me so that I'll pick her up. I follow her cue as she lays her head on my shoulder. Apparently she's just checking in to see that I'm available for her because as soon as I struggle to get up off the floor, she immediately begins to push away from me. I can relate; when I'm sick, I'm pretty indecisive as well. I don't know what I want and nothing feels right. You just feel like garbage. Poor girl. Along with my wide feet, she seems to have inherited my weak immune system. I mean the girl has been sick 4 times now and she's not even 8 months old yet. Isn't this the primary reason I'm feeding her breast milk?
(please skip the next paragraph if the topic of breast feeding and breast milk make you feel ill)
As of last week I had made the tough decision to slowly wean Evie off of breast milk. Bring on the guilt!! My goal was to pump for 6 months, and I told myself that pumping for any more than that was just bonus. Well, it's almost been 8 months, and I can't help but feel guilty at the thought of quitting. There were many reasons that I decided to toil and provide Evie breast milk as opposed to formula. The primary reason being to boost Evie's immune system. I'm not sure if I was successful or not, but the girl has been sick every other month. And I don't think I'm going to be stopping any time in the next week. Her recent malady has got me working overtime! Any mom who breastfeeds/pumps for a whole year deserves an award! It is HARD work, and I'm shocked that I've been able to do it this long.
Let's move on to less serious subjects. I have a book recommendation for everyone out there! Read Tina Fey's Bossypants! I highly recommend it, and I haven't even finished it as of yet. If you like to laugh, this is the book for you. If you like more serious topics, I have recommendations for you as well! If you are feeling particularly serious give, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach a try. If politics is what you fancy, pick up John Heilemann and Mark Halperin's Game Change. Please note that I have not finished any of these novels and that this is the result of lack of time rather than evidence that I meet at least one of the criteria for an ADHD diagnosis.
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| my funny girl |
Speaking (or rather writing) of laughing, Evie has been cracking me up as of late. Today, as opposed to other days when she doesn't have cold germs covering her hands and face, she thought it would be hilarious to put her hand in my mouth (and then remove it, and then put it back in again). I too thought this was funny and I couldn't spoil the fun especially because I knew she was feeling crummy. Anything to make her laugh right now is worth it. I can already tell that I'm going to be a great disciplinarian.
Attention!!! New milestone met!!! Evie can now stand up all by herself. It's been about 3 days and she can now do it with the greatest of ease. I'm thinking she'll be walking in no time. It seems as though she is in a rush to grow up as she seems to be wanting to skip the whole crawling phase.
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| kate and christian |
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| evie's first trip to the lake |
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| cousins |
