Tuesday, May 28, 2013

It's like this

I am a stay-at-home mom.

Every month, I'm still paying off my student loan.

Every month, I'm a little more okay with that.
More often than not, I look like this^ A far cry from the every day dress up of salon life.

Today I made the bed and did two loads of laundry before 11am and I feel like a rock star.

I change out of my pajamas into clean yoga pants. Getting dressed, like a boss.

Clean is a relative term. (A little spit up never hurt anyone, right?)

My baby screamed at me for almost two hours this morning, and she still looked cute to me.

I'm a stay-at-home mom, my baby is finally napping, but I'm not because this might be the only hour I get to myself all day.

This might be the only hour I get to myself all day, and I just creeped on my baby in her crib because I miss her quite terribly.

I slept maybe 5 hours last night. Considering that my baby gave up sleeping through the night, that's effing awesome.

That last statement was not a sarcastic.

After cleaning out my closet, my wardrobe is almost exclusively tops that I can easily unbutton or lift up at a moment's notice.--Get your mind out of the gutter, I'm feeding my kid.

I'm a stay-at-home mom, my workouts consist of squats and bench pressing my baby. She quite enjoys it.

If you ask what I do all day, I will punch you in the throat...or employ very strong rhetoric.

The amount of stuff I can accomplish with a baby strapped to my chest is mind blowing.

I have full conversations with myself my baby.

I have been known to occasionally spend my daughter's entire nap time straightening my hair, because I may be at home all day, but damn it, I want to look pretty. It's the little things, people.

At this point, I can recite Green Eggs and Ham from memory.

When my nails are painted, I inexplicably feel like I have my shit together.
I am a stay-at-home mom, I narrate my activities and speak through stuffed animals.

I'm pretty sure my baby knows what time Kelly and Michael starts.

If I get out of the house by myself, I don't know whether to skip or panic.

I can hear a baby squeak through a closed door, music, and open windows with a washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher running at the same time. Basically, I'm a superhero.

My Instagram is a parade of baby pictures.

I hate Mondays because it means the maintenance crew outside the bedroom window is going to screw up my baby's morning nap with their lawnmowers and leaf blowers.

My husband makes fun of me because as soon as I put Scarlett down for the night, I immediately open my phone and go through old videos and pictures of her.

Occasionally there are days when I feel like I'm slowly going crazy. Everyday, I am so thankful that my husband works so hard so I can stay home with our girl.

I'm a stay-at-home mom--
It's a love-hate relationship and love wins pretty much every time.
It's kicking my ass. Daily.
I'm happy.
I'm a stay-at-home mom, hear me yawn.









Thursday, May 16, 2013

My girl who loves trees

I have a new favorite thing.
Make that two.
One: We've been calling Scarlett "Shrimp" since...forever. So this shirt was an absolute must have.

Two: Going outside, laying a blanket down under the base of a tree and parking it there to enjoy the view. Baby girl loves looking at trees, which got me to thinking, she would probably love the view looking up at one. Best idea ever. She flipped. In a good way. Lots of happy flailing and faces like this:

Have I mentioned how much I love this kid?
Having a kid makes the smallest things so magical. It was giggles and happy toes for days!
This was actually my trademark move as a babe.
I quite enjoyed the view myself! It was oh so relaxing.

 

Best new activity ever? I think so. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Summer Lists

My favorite list making notebook!
In high school, my best friend and I started a tradition--the summer list!
The last days of school we'd bust out some notebook paper and scribble down a list of summer goodness: restaurants we wanted to try, concerts we'd kill to go to, books to read, places to go--the plan for the perfect summer. Sadly, I skipped out on making a list last summer. I was in my first trimester (read: feeling like crap and constantly looking like I just ate a burrito) and hubby and I were working opposite hours, soooo we didn't really have summer plans beyond my solo trip to Minnesota.

This year though, I am determined to make this the most awesome, fun-tastic summer two people with a baby ever had. Eric and I decided that this would be "The Summer of Activity."
I want to be outdoors as much as possible, get awkward sun tans, take Scarlett to a forest (I think she'd lose it with excitement. Girl loves trees.), and try new things! I made Eric sit down and make a summer list with me and so far, this is what we've got:

Summer 2013
Swim, Hike, Walks--get outdoors! get exercise, get a funky tan, get some air
Cook at least one new recipe a week, be it a whole meal or a dessert (I've been in a cooking rut, so this is a big one and so far I've been rocking it! Gracias, Pinterest!)
Camping
Get to the lake. Often.
Head up north and take Scarlett to see the sequoias
At least one overnight at the beach
Spend some downtime at the library with my little bookworm
Read a book together ( book still TBD. Suggestions??)
Hit some outdoor concerts
Make the perfect mojito
Try a few local restaurants--these days if we go out, it's all about ease and efficiency, so we usually just hit up chains that we already know we like. It's time to expand!
Spend some quality time at the farmer's market and u-pick farms

That's what we've got for now, and hopefully we'll be adding more to it in the coming weeks. I'm loving getting a jump start on summer and I'm pretty sure that this one is going to be bommmbbb-tacular :) Suggestions to add, anyone??

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Take me back to the sea

Ohhh what a week.  My brain is so fried that I don't even know where to start!
Since this week has been the official 12 week shitshow growth spurt (last week was just a "coming soon!" teaser. Not cool.), I'd like to harken back to happier times. Times when my baby was still sleeping and happy. And we went to the beach!

It started out cloudy and gloom-tastic, so we were long-sleeved up for the weather. Buuutttt the sun did not fail us and soon I was busting out the bathing suits. Yes--suits. Not plural as in "mine" and "hers." Her suits. Judge away (Scarlett definitely did). I've been waiting months for this moment and I needed beach pictures of both glorious get-ups. Tell me I was wrong, I dare you:

Middle picture all I can hear is "An outfit change? Seriously, Mom?"


Gotta love that ocean air! Scarlett wasn't too sure about actually having her feet in the water, but she definitely liked the sound of the waves. It made for a nice, cozy nap time once she was good and over the beach, and over it, she was:

"I am sooo over this, guys! Dad, let's get our nap on."
Oh to go back. It's already calling my name. Actually it was calling my name around 1am when baby girl went on a sleep strike. What does she want? Food and play time. When does she want it? Right. Friggin. Now. and every 2 hours from 1am- 10am.
Excuse me while I go hold sea shells over my ears and dream of a happy place.