Snow Scenes

Ready to tackle the slopes!

The snowy 'hood.

Annie's first snow. She loves it!

As does Violet!

  And just for fun, here's a look back at Violet's first snow!

Fun with Daddy.

Loving our snow day...

Snow Day!

Snow day!

Notice anything strange about this picture? Yep, it's snowing! As soon as I got to school this morning they called an early release, and school just got cancelled for tomorrow. Violet is so excited it's snowing. "You said it doesn't snow it Georgia! Mom, you were wrong!" Getting called out already. I suspect it won't be the last time she tells me I'm wrong about something!

Gus in the snow.

Our idiot cat tried to make a break for it today. He regretted it rather quickly. Annie-bug got to experience her first snow as well, but since the poor thing has a runny nose already, we didn't stay out too long.

Here's to staying warm and cozy!

4 Months

Happy four months to my little Annie! It's been a big few days. She has started sleeping in her own room upstairs, she got a brand new wardrobe (3-6 month clothes) and the next size diaper. She also tried some cereal today for the first time. (She was unimpressed. We'll try again later.)

Four months. It happened so fast!

She is still loving to suck her fingers, hands, or your knuckles. She is still hating the pacifier. Sigh. Every now and then I pop that thing in just to see what happens, but I'm resigned to the fact that she'll never like it. We don't even send one to daycare anymore. Oh well.

What we do send to daycare now is her swaddling blanket. They are crib training her, but she would spaz out anytime they laid her down. Since she sleeps swaddled at night, I got a doctor's note so she could be swaddled at daycare, and it has done the trick. I'm continuing the trend here at home so we won't undo all the hard work her teachers have done.

First nap in her crib. Only took 4 months!

She is taking to her nursery upstairs great. I think she likes the new colors and patterns she can look at. Last night I laid her down while she was still awake and watched her kick and coo for a few  minutes before she nodded right off. And then I nodded right off. What a difference the second child makes. When we moved Violet upstairs, I slept up in the guest room for a week before I was comfortable having her away from my side. I had no such qualms this time around! To be fair, it helps that Annie is such a rockin' sleeper. (Knock on wood.)

Now how do I get this thing into my mouth?

Thanks to PT, Annie has great head control and I can't see any noticeable signs of torticollis. She still isn't very strong on her tummy, which worries me a little. We'll see what her pediatrician has to say on Friday at the four month well check. She's meeting milestones in all other areas (reaching, grasping, laughing, cooing, supported sitting, responding to voices) so I'm hopeful we're on the right track.

As cliche as it is, I can't believe how quickly time has flown by!

A Personality Portrait

So here we have my two daughters. Violet, my drama queen, characteristically making her happy, loud, over-the-top face. Meanwhile, little Annie is content to just chill and watch the show going on around her. Already slightly bored by the drama. Seems about right!

Back at it

Violet gets a driving lesson. She looks mildly excited. We are in trouble!

We are back in the swing of things around here. I am in full working mode. It's amazing how the memory of those lazy maternity leave days just slips away once the daily grind of first grade starts up again. Now my day starts at 5:30 a.m. and doesn't slow down until I fall into bed (sometimes as early as 8:30, and I'm not even sad about it). It's all I can do to remember to prepare bottles for the next day before I pass out. But speaking of bottles, Annie is rocking it at daycare. She's such a sweet, easy-going girl. She just rolls with our crazy life. She has big smiles for anyone who talks to her and cares for her. What a blessing she is to me!

Just handing out.

 Now that I'm officially back in the real world, our days are busier than ever. This past weekend Matt and I went to a one-day marriage conference hosted by our church, followed by bowling (I bowled the best game of my life followed immediately by the worst game of my life). I start volunteering in the church nursery this weekend. Matt's been playing in the band at least twice a month. I'm going to a baby shower this weekend, planning another one for February, I have Violet's fourth (4!!!) birthday to figure out before too long, Annie has her 4-month well-check at the end of the month (on my birthday, actually!), we have circus tickets in a few weeks... I'm exhausted just thinking about it all.

Introducing Violet to the Lite Brite.

Violet started speech yesterday! I love that her speech teacher Stephanie works at my school - I get all sorts of fun updates from their sessions together. Violet was full of details herself when I picked her up from school. Apparently she played princess puzzles on the iPad, practiced her 'k' sounds, and my favorite quote of the day: "Miss Stephanie says she LOOOVES me!" I think it's the start of a beautiful friendship.

Trying to instill an early love of reading.

So, you know, our life goes on. As busy and crazy as it is!

First Day

I could not have asked for a better first day back into the working world. Thanks to the Great Freeze of 2014, my school was on at 9 a.m. delay, which meant extra time to get everyone ready this morning. And I needed it. I was running about 20 minutes behind, so now I'll know to adjust the alarm clock accordingly.

Annie rocked drop off. Violet was a mess (I don't want to go to school! I don't want to wear these pants! My coat is touching my face!) but Annie was wonderful. I nursed her in the morning and she was happy as a clam, hanging out in her car seat in the infant room when I left.

I cried the three minutes to school, but once I set foot in the building, it was non-stop. I didn't even have time to call and check in on either girl. While we were there, they announced that school is cancelled for tomorrow (can't have kids hanging out at the bus stop in 7 degree weather). I left by 4:30 and arrived at daycare just in time to nurse sweet girl and get an update on her day. Apparently it was great! She took all her bottles, she took a two-hour nap (so jealous! Her longest naps for me are barely 45 minutes!) and generally was her usual, sweet self.

Both girls will go to school tomorrow, now that we're in a routine, and I'm planning to swing by my own school (the copy machines were all broken today, so I'm still not prepared for the first day with my students). But it has been a great way to ease back into things. I think we can do this, folks!

Changes

This is a post about my boobs. Just warning you so you can decide to keep reading or not.

My boobs hurt. They hurt because they're full of milk that Annie is not allowed to eat. Milk that I'm not supposed to pump and save. Milk that is slowly drying up because I'm going back to work in a few days and Annie is switching to bottles.

I'm not ready to stop breastfeeding. With my first child, breastfeeding was the hardest thing I had ever done, physically, emotionally. I had to be talked into persevering for three months. But then an amazing thing happened. We figured it out. It got easy and convenient and I loved it.

This second time around, I knew what to expect. And Annie was a natural. We've been rocking the nursing since day one. And ironically, this time no one has to talk me into three months of breastfeeding. Instead, I'm having it give it up at three months.

Remember that picture of supermodel Gisele breastfeeding her one-year-old while her team swarms around her, doing hair, nails, make-up? It caused an outcry around the world - how fabulous! What a great example! She's doing it and so should you! Well, that picture just irritated me. Because there are so many of us mamas who want to keep nursing our babies, but where's my team? Where's my regularly scheduled break from work every three hours? She's lucky, but she's not the norm. (I don't mean for this to turn into a rant against the antiquated and ridiculous maternity leave laws in this country. That's a different post for a different writer.)

My What To Expect book had all sorts of laughable tips for going back to work with a nursing baby. Have your caregiver bring the child to your work so you can nurse. Work half days to start with. Find a quiet place to pump every three hours. Hilarious!

I won't be able to pump once I go back to work. I only get two breaks a day. One is a 30 minute lunch that is actually only 20 minutes once we walk to the lunchroom, I get all my students through the line, seated at the table, milk cartons opened, napkins procured. I'm not sure there would even be time to walk back to my room, lock the door, pump, clean up, walk across the building to the refrigerator, rinse the pump parts, back to the lunchroom to clean up our table, get the kids back in line and out the door before the next class needs our seats. Notice I didn't have time to eat my own lunch in there?

Then there is my planning period. Sure, it's 45 minutes (minus the time is takes to get the kids to specials and pick them up). But once a week we have grade level planning (my team loves me, but I still don't think they want me pumping in front of them) and multiple times a month, other planning periods are taken up with school mandated meetings, professional development sessions, parent conferences, etc. Not to mention the myriad of things my planning period is needed for: checking email, returning parent phone calls, making copies, grading papers, planning for the next day, the next hour... I can't depend on a consistent time to pump.

So this is it. I'm sad. I'll miss the snuggle time, holding her warm body against mine, her little hand grabbing onto my shirt, her drowsy, milk-drunk expression when she come sup for air. The bottle is fine, she takes it well, I make sure to give her plenty of kisses and snuggles while she eats. But it's not the same. My boobs hurt. And my heart hurts.

Trying Something New

Getting big enough to try something new.

Thinking about it.

Eh, still rather unimpressed.

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve family group shot!

Happy New Year, friends!

2013 was good to us. I got pregnant and had a baby, all under the same calendar. Violet started a new school, I soaked up my maternity leave, we took several trips - the beach, Disney World, Colorado - it was a good year.

Here's hoping 2014 is just as wonderful. I think my word of the year will be balance. I'm going to strive to find that middle ground between work and home, both emotionally and mentally. Teaching is hard because it follows you home, not just physically in the papers you have to grade and plans you have to make, but it stays in your head. I've often had trouble falling asleep (or staying asleep) because everything that needs to be remembered and started and wrapped up and stayed on top of. Sometimes it can make it difficult to stay present. And I so want to be present for my girls. There have been many times where I have been pulled in so many directions, it leaves me feeling like I'm doing a bad job with everything. So, balance. I know it's not a novel concept. I know it's something we all strive for. But to me, now that my life is more full and precious than ever, it's more important than ever.

What about you, friends? Anything you're striving for this year?