Monday, July 18, 2011

Fair Pricing

Tonight I finally locked down a teen-age girl that lives down the street to take care of Humphrey, our dog, Thursday-Sunday while we are having our very mini-vacay. I told her that I would pay her $50. ..Chris said, "Fifty dollars!" I asked how much he would pay. His answer? "Twenty dollars." Um. $5 per day? Yeah, I'm sure we wouldn't find a pet sitter anywhere for that price.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

In the blink of an eye

my baby girl has turned 2 months old. I sincerely don't know where the time has gone. Cliche, but so true. That means I have 3ish weeks before my maternity leave is over. Done. It brings tears to my eyes to even consider. When I had Elliott, I returned to work and found I needed to be a working mom, that in some ways I was a better mom when I had an agenda. Sure, I would love part-time work, but overall I was glad to work. With Brooklyn, I know I would (maybe) give up cable to be a stay-at-home mom. If only giving up my cable tv addiction would make up for the budget short-fall that would occur should I not work. . . alas, this is not the case. What precious time this summer has been!

And on to the cuteness:

Friday, July 15, 2011

Oops.

You know when it's been months since you had your eyebrows waxed/threaded and you think you've kept them up okay until you get into some natural light and find long, dark hairs all over the place because you are a hairy Anglo mixed with the dark hair of a Cherokee? Yeah. That happened to me today.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Things That are Obvious. . .

at least to me:

1. When a baby is screaming for a significant period and she's fed, a diaper change might be helpful.

2. That the answer to the question, "Is it okay if she (a 7 week old baby) is face down on the bed with her face smushed in the mattress?" is self-evident.

3. Announcing the morning after the exact time of the baby waking screaming (2:37am) and not moving an inch is an error of significance with the mom of a newborn. This could lead to a discussion explicitly asking, "if you hear the baby and I'm using the restroom, it would be helpful to get up and change her diaper instead of rolling over and going back to sleep."

4. Continuing to calmly eat a meal while your wife juggles a screaming baby is kind of oblivious.

5. Your wife is not tearing down your weight-loss and fitness goals by being upset that she was alone an extra hour because you stayed late to work out. On a holiday. After being gone the entire evening before.

6. Leaving the house with a two year-old and newborn is an event of monumental effort.

7. Asking parent of said two year-old and newborn to be somewhere at 8am dressed for photographs is only possible in dreams.

8. Traveling as a single parent with both kids, one 2 1/2, the other 6 weeks old, is not going to happen. No matter the guilt trip supplied.

9. Asking if the mother of a newborn, "Are you getting any sleep?" is kind of a ridiculous question. (see below)

10. Sleep deprivation breeds resentment toward others. It's true. Ask any parent of a newborn.

11. Mentioning how "exhausted," "tired," or "pooped" you are in the presence of a parent of a tiny baby or older child with sleeping difficulties is foolhardy. This will lead to being the recipient of the stink-eye. See comment regarding resentment above.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Letting Yourself Go

You know how people talk about couples who divorce because the wife "let herself go?" I think I'm 'that wife.' I realized today, as I prepared for our family portraits, that it was only the second time I had blown my hair dry and not worn it in a pony tail in 7 weeks. Most days I don't even manage a swipe of mascara to go with my pony tail. Truthfully, not wearing pajama pants is progress. These reasons alone may be why I need to go to work. Because even though my husband says he loves me like I am, if it stretched on forever he might change his mind.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Cheers!

I love a good cocktail. Or glass (or two) of wine. Or well-crafted beer. Yep. I love the spirits. I realize this makes me sound like an alcoholic (I'm not), but 10 months with only a single drink at a time (read--no tingly, happy feeling) is a long time. I am a dedicated feeder of the babe, so even now my consumption is limited, but oh how I'm enjoying the sips of forbidden fruit.