Today I Took 1/2 Hour to Pamper Myself! -No I Do NOT Feel Guilty

I took a vacation day today.  We aren’t taking a “real” vacation this year because my husband’s work schedule and mine do not line up.

This is my mini stay-cation with a 4 day weekend!

Day 1 my husband got up and went to work.  My little guy and I slept in (hey, 7am is sleeping in for me!)  We got up and had breakfast.  We played. 

While he took his morning nap (cat nap) I decided to get my shower in. 

I took my Snarky bar (yes, I’m addicted to Perfectly Posh!)  And exfoliated my legs and my feet.  Finally got to take my time shaving my legs!!! And then I lathered up with one of my Posh soaps.  I ended my short pampering session with slathering on my Posh body butter (told you I was addicted to it!!)

My legs haven’t felt this soft in ages!!! 

Win for Mom and Baby today!

Yes, I do sell Perfectly Posh.  No,  this was not a post to get anyone to buy it.  Just simply celebrating the start of my weekend 🙂

10 Clues Becoming A Parent Has Turned You Into A Superhero

Perfect article!

Hold Me, Don't Hold ME

1. You spawned a life. Not to take away from the male, um, contribution, but growing a baby in your stomach, and then surviving their transition to the outside world, seems like pretty convincing street cred supporting your new Superhero status.

2. You can see seconds into the future. You know before anyone else does that your kid is about test the gravitational pull of the earth with their forehead. You are aware of their next move before they are aware of their next move. If you had more time on your hands, you could open up a 1-800 hotline and tell people their (immediate) futures, but let’s be honest. If you had more time on your hands, you’d take a shower and maybe, just maybe, brush your teeth.

I am “knows who Miss Cleo is” years old.

3. You have superhuman reflexes that, when coupled with Superhero power…

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Stop Making it Seem Like Working Moms Have it Easy

My social media has been flooded the past few days with Stay at Home Mom posts.  Blog articles stating the disadvantages to being a SAHM.  Facebook posts about how hard they have it.

First, before I even go on, I would like to say I do FULLY agree that staying home all day everyday would be very rough.  And no, not everyone is cut out for it.

Many of the articles I read made very valid points.

• Most, if not all, recognized that being able to stay home with the little ones is a privilege.  This is so true, not everyone can afford to only have one income.  Or, in the case of the single mom, not have an income.
• Having very little adult interaction.  This too is very true.  When I was on maternity leave, I did find that I would sometimes crave an adult conversation after being home straight for an entire week.
• Not having a reason to wear “real/cute clothes.”  Another thing I also noticed while I was home for 3 months.  Most days, I would be lucky to wear something other than pj/yoga pants.  I would feel accomplished the days that I showered and put on jeans!
• Worrying about getting back into the work force.  This was one thing I was worried about when making the choice whether or not to stay home or go back to work.  If I took time off, do I have to start over at an entry level position when I go back?  Will employers be understanding as to why I took time off from working?

Points that the articles made that are true, but not just for SAHM:

• Not ever being able to have “me” time.  Agreed, SAHMs probably have little time for themselves, but the same goes for working moms.  It’s unfair to count our time at work as “me” time.  While I’m at work, I actually get very little time to myself.  Now that I’m a mother, I have to eat my lunch at my desk so that I can get out as early as possible to get home to my baby.  Going out to lunch is few and far between.  And even if I do go out to lunch, it’s with work colleagues.  It’s not like I am sitting around a table with my girlfriends having margaritas and gossiping.  Also, I feel that working moms have more guilt when they do take anytime to themselves.  Since I am away from my child 10.5 hrs a day, 5 days a week.  I feel guilty if I am not spending every available second with him.  How can I take a half an hour to an hour for myself to even work out?  That’s just more time I am not spending with him.  People may start to question why I bothered to have a child if I can’t spend an adequate amount of time with him.  The same goes for having a night out with my husband, that is just more time that the  babyis with someone else.  So SAHMs may not have as much time to themselves as they used to, but working moms don’t have time either.  Sometimes, I’m lucky to change out of my work clothes by 10pm.
• Being a SAHM is a 24/7 job.  This is a good point to make if you’re trying to justify why you are staying home to someone who doesn’t have a child.  But to us working moms, we get it.  Yes, we have a 40/50 hours a week job.  That job does end and we do get “off” days, but when we come home we start job #2.  Just because I’m working, it doesn’t magically make my house clean or the laundry done.  There is forever a pile of dishes piling up.  SAHMs may struggle with trying to keep up with all of their chores.  So do we.  The only difference is, SAHMs will probably feel more pressure to have all the chores caught up at any point.  I also feel compelled to keep up with the chores.  Chores take time away from m child.  See point above.  Chores are now my “me” time.  Chores are something that I have to get done while the baby naps/sleeps.

After reading some of the comments on these blog posts and on social media, I felt angry.  I know that was not the point of these comments and articles.  SAHMs do have it tough too.  All moms do.  Working moms are not looking down on SAHMs and saying they have it easy.  Some aspects may be easier because they are home, but it does create other obstacles.  I just want it to be known that working moms do not pick going back to work as a way to get out of raising their children.  It is hard working and being a mom.  Your work is never done.  Being a Mom in general is challenging, but it is the most rewarding challenge.

All moms are doing the best they can.  We all deserve some guilt free time to ourselves.

No Rest for the Weary – Working Mom & Full Time Mommy

I’ve been back to work for a solid 3 months now.  So it’s safe to say we have gotten into the swing of a routine during the week.

On a good day, the alarm goes off and I get ready for work.  I get up early enough to leave enough time for a feed before it’s out the door to daycare/work.  A quick stop at daycare and I’m off on my 45 minute commute.  I work through lunch since I can no longer stay late.  I then make my 45 minute commute back to daycare and then home.  We get home and my little guy eats and has his bottle.  I quickly inhale some dinner.  Now it’s playtime! This is the highlight of my day.  We get about an hour and half before it’s time to start our bedtime routine.  After I lay him down for the night, I wash dishes and get everything prepared to do this all again the next day.

The routine is pretty easy to follow.  He wake up more some nights than others.  Everyday, I am exhausted!

I feel like anytime I get a free second I need to be accomplishing one of the many chores that I fail to get to on a regular basis.  Laundry is ALWAYS behind.

The weekends seem to be filled with family visits.  I am not complaining by any means.  I feel very blessed to have family close and family who want to be a part of his life.  It’s funny how before we had our little man, we could go weeks without anyone asking to visit.  Now, we seem to be in high demand. (I see where we rank!!)

I spend the rest of my weekend grocery shopping and cleaning.  I keep promising myself every weekend that I will TRY so much harder this upcoming week to maintain the house better.  This way, I won’t have to spend hours on the weekends cleaning up.  Ahhh, how nice would a few hours on a Sunday be to just relax.  Just have a lazy Sunday.  A lazy Sunday…HA!  I have yet to keep this promise to myself.

My mom keeps telling me, “If your house is spotless, then you’re not spending enough time with the baby.”  According the status of my house. I’m spending ALL of my time with the baby!  Every weekend, if a stranger walked in, I bet they would assume I was robbed and they trashed the place!

I need some organization in my life.  I also need some tips on how other working moms hold it together.  How do I be a good mom, keep up the house, be a good wife, and still find time for myself?  Oh, and sleep.  How does anyone catch up on sleep??

If one more person at work says, “Wow, you look tired today!”  I’m going to punch them!  That’s just a nice way to tell me I look like crap!  I get it!

Someone out there give this tired momma some tips!

How Did Our Parents Manage to Keep Us Alive Back Then

The list of things you should or should not do change as soon as you get pregnant.  You should eat more of this is you want your child to be smart, or you shouldn’t eat this because it could harm the baby.  If you do a quick search on the internet, you will find so many lists of things you cannot eat while pregnant.  For nine months, you place yourself on some sort of ‘diet’ and avoid these foods.  Nine months isn’t so long.  My main foods that I had to limit due to pregnancy was Tuna and Ham Sandwiches.  Oddly enough, I craved ham sandwiches with mayo,  but pre-pregnancy me despised ham.

As I went over the list of food that I should avoid or limit, my mom kept saying “I didn’t have to worry about that when I was pregnant.”  So that brought up my question. “How did I manage to make it to the age of 27, when my own mother didn’t have these restrictions when she was pregnant.”  “Could all of these foods really be that bad?”  “Has food changed  in the last 27 years?”

I don’t actually have the answer to these question.  I felt I should warn you, because these questions will not be answered in this post (or any future posts!)

I listened to the doctors and did what was recommended in “this day and age.”  And I managed to give birth to a healthy baby!  Whew!!!…Dodged a bullet there!  Then I realized I was going to try and breastfeed (yes, I realized I failed to lack of self control.)  So for the first few weeks, I again needed to watch what I ate.  It was short lived to a cow’s milk sensitivity in my little guy.

Fast forward- He’s finally at the age to start trying foods!  Of course, I take to the internet to find out how much/how often.  You know, the general questions.  My mom, MIL, and grandmas have been telling me to start off with rice cereal.  Upon researching, I find that we should now forgo the rice cereal.  It’s empty calories and serves no purpose.  It will just make him gain weight.  Hmmm…I know childhood obesity is on the rise, could it be avoided by not giving him rice cereal?!!  That’s silly, he’s a baby.

I decide to not do the rice cereal.  We will go straight onto purees.  I later find out that some are now skipping purees all together!  I’m totally overwhelmed.  I didn’t do enough research before I brought this living being into my world.  Have I failed as a parent already?!?!

I feel like THAT parent who ONLY gives their kid fast food.  *Sigh*  My husband and I both had purees as babies, I’m guessing this isn’t going to be my biggest fail as a parent, right?

Next, the moms and  grandmas are asking about giving him juice.  “Have you tried juice yet?”  “When can he have juice?”

I have not given it to him yet.  I feel he should be able to handle it soon, but I’m going to do my research first.  I can’t make another mistake with his feeding!  Turns out, even baby juice is frowned upon now.  There is too much sugar in it.  *Sigh*  I shouldn’t even water it down, when he is old enough I should opt for fruit infused water.

With all of these  new precautions and dietary recommendations, how on Earth did I manage to make it through my childhood?!?  Who decides on these “new rules,” and how do I know that they won’t change again.

Sorry little guy, Mom let you eat purees.  He likes it and I’m going to continue on with it!

How I Knew My Baby Was Teething

When my normal calm baby turned into an uncontrollable screaming baby, I knew something was brewing.  He turns 5 this month, so teething crossed my mind.  I was hoping it was too soon for teething!  (Please let it be too soon for teething!!!). I love my little toothless guy.

I read all the symptoms of teething.  Drooling, chewing, and seeing a tooth. Yes, most sites do actually list seeing a tooth as a sign of teething.  I find this slightly humorous.  How do you know your baby is getting a tooth?? You see it!  That’s Captain Obvious!!   

Here were the signs that my little guy was teething:

• Less of an appetite.  I have an eater on my hands.  He easily will eat 40-45oz a day PLUS some solids.  So when he started to push his bottle away and barely eat 30oz, I knew something was up.  Although, my first instinct was that his tummy was upset.
• He was running a low grade fever.  I know the jury is out on this one.  Some believe that teething does not cause a fever, but he did have a low grade fever.  He was not sick. 
• He decide sleep was no longer an option.  My baby who was on a good sleep schedule was suddenly waking up multiple times a night (sometimes every hour…yikes!!!) to be comforted.  
• He was drooling. ALOT!  He has been drooling for awhile.  Probably since 2 or 3 month old, but it got worse.  Baby saliva everywhere! 
• He wanted to gnaw on whatever he could get his hands on.  I’m talking his pacifier, blanket, teether, hand, and even my hands.  Whatever he could pick up would go straight to his mouth.
• He started to cry all the time.  And I’m talking SCREAMING!  If he was distracted, he was crying. This is what made night time so stressful. 

So what’s the good news?  It was short lived?  This I cannot answer!  I’m being told as soon as the teeth cut through he will be a new baby! (Or atleast my old happy baby!). Sadly, his teeth have not cut through yet.

So here’s to more sleepless nights, long days at work, and coffee…lots of coffee!!!



21 Day Fix Starts Tomorrow

I spent the past week tracking my food and trying to fit in ways to be active.  Tomorrow I officially start my 21 Day Fix.

I picked 21 Day fix because each work out is about 30 minutes long.  With a 4 month old, time is my main struggle.  I’m still not 100% sure when I will fit the workouts in.  I already wake up at 5:15 am to get ready for work.  Baby gets dropped off at daycare at 7:15am and I have a 45 minute commute to work.  I get off at 5pm, and get to daycare by 5:45pm.  I then get home (6pm) and feed the baby.  By the time the baby is fed, I have dinner, and the dishes are cleaned up- It is about 7:30pm.  There is only and hour and a half to spend with my baby before it is time to start getting him ready for bed (and this doesn’t count giving him a bath.)  If I could actually lay him down at 9pm and him go straight to sleep.  I would do my work out then.  But he has yet to get into the swing of going to sleep at a set time.  We start bedtime at 9pm, but sometimes I do not get him to go to sleep until 10-10:30pm.  This is then my time to get his things packed for the next day.  Also, if I work out now- I still need to shower after the work out.  This will not cut down on my morning routine, because I am someone who HAS to shower every morning, or I will feel dirty and gross all day.

So, I am thinking I am going to try getting up at 4:45 am and see if I can give a true effort at that time.

Wish me luck!!!

When to Trust your Doctors – Zofran Issue

Most moms can relate that morning sickness is the worst.  We all know, despite it’s name, it can last all day.  Obviously, some women suffer more than others.

(If only I looked that glamorous when I was sick!!)

I suffered from morning sickness myself.  Mine started at exactly 5 weeks and 5 days.  Being naive and a first time mom, I figured it would ease up when the afternoon rolled around.  WRONG!  I was sick most of the day everyday.  By the time I went to my first appointment (6 weeks 2 days), I had already lost over 5lbs.  The doctors told me they could give me a medication to help with the sickness.  Being a full time working woman, I need something that would help get me through the work days.  I was told by my doctors that it was more important to be able to eat, take my vitamins, and stay hydrated.

I immediately filled my prescription and was on my way home.  I had heard of Zofran before.  I had many friends who had to use it during their pregnancies.  Their babies were born healthy, and free of issue.  I still decided to turn to my good friend Google to see what others had to say about the drug.  I read the same stories then that are now popping up in the news everywhere.  Upon my research, it seemed that there was no hard evidence to prove the Zofran caused the birth defects.  There are babies born with defects and their moms did not take Zofran.  I read many forms, and it seemed to me that it help more people then it hurt.

Still, I decided to try the B6 and Unisom cocktail to try and ease my nausea first.  I tried it for a week.  I also tried all of the other home remedies and pressure point.  I bought Sea Bands.  Nothing was working.  As I was heading into week 8, I was still pretty sick.  I decided to give the Zofran a try.  It worked miracles on me.  I was able to take one 4mg tablet in the morning, and I was able to make it through my work day.  I’m not saying it cured my nausea, because it didn’t.  I was, however, able to eat and keep certain foods down.  I continued to take it every morning.  If I would forget one morning, I would get a harsh reality check that I would still get very sick without it.

My morning sickness finally started to taper off around 20 weeks.  I then started to get heartburn so badly that it made me sick.  I ended up in the hospital then due to severe dehydration.  At the hospital, the doctors told me to start taking the Zofran again so that I could keep the heartburn medication down.

I was finally able to stop taking Zofran around 31 weeks.  I am happy to say I have a healthy baby.

This lawsuit makes me question things.  Was I just one of the lucky ones?  Was my baby one of the lucky unharmed ones?  Or, is there such a slim chance of the defects happening?  When it’s time for my second child, will I take it again if it is still offered and needed?  Or, should I decline taking it because I know of these studies now?  How will I manage a day to day life if I have severe morning sickness again?  I can honestly say that I would have not been able to continue working without it.

Now, when I try searching about Zofran, all I can find are attorneys trying to get people to join the lawsuit.

Why would doctors prescribe this drug so freely if these studies are out there?  I do not believe that a doctor would give an expecting mom a medication just because they will get a kickback.  We’re talking about trained professionals making decisions that they feel is best for their patience.  I fully believed my doctor when he told me that it would not harm my unborn child.

At what point to you listen to your doctors and ignore the media?

Daycare – Maybe Not Such A Bad Choice

I went back to my full time position as if January 4th. Prior to going back, I was hoping my in-law would be willing to help with the baby when I went back to work. Now don’t get wrong, I was thinking they would be willing to take him 5 days a week. I’m gone a whopping 10.5hrs a day! I knew that was a lot to ask of them. They would basically have to give up their free time (they are retired) 5 days a week. Realistically, I was hoping they would help 2-3 days a week. Obviously, that would help cut down on daycare cost, but that’s not why I wanted them to help. As a new mom, I was sick over leaving my new baby with strangers. I didn’t want to come out and ask if they would want to watch him. I didn’t want them to feel forced into it. I patiently wait my whole leave, and they finally said it was a no go. I looked into daycares and I finally found the one I felt would be the best fit.

Leaving him at daycare for the first day was undoubtably hard. So very hard, and I will not sugarcoat that. I started to get emotional the last week I had off. By Sunday night, I couldn’t help but cry (often!). Monday came and I cried getting ready. My husband thought it was best to come with me for emotional support. I cried the entire care ride there. As we pulled into the parking lot, I knew I needed some time to get myself together. I gave myself a pep talk. I would be able to drop him off and not cry in front of everyone. You can do it! WRONG! I walked in and as soon as I got to the infant room I felt the tears burning my eyes. Crap, get it together mom you can do this. Then I had to hand him over to this lady that I had met a total of two times! Deep down I knew they would treat him well, but that didn’t make it any easier. I cried- and I mean I sobbed. My husband and I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes as I continued to cry. I cried my whole 45 minute drive to work. I managed to not cry at work everytime someone asked me about him. The whole first week was hard, but it got easier everyday.

So ladies who have to take their babies to daycare- you can do it! Getting past the first day is the hardest.

We’re about two months into daycare, and I couldn’t be happier with the facility. He does so well there, and he is definitely thriving. It has been a blessing in disguise that the in-laws decided not to watch him. I feel that if he couldn’t be with me this is the next best thing. The ladies are trained and know how to work with him so he continues to be challenged and learn new things!

And as a first time mom, the teachers are great at answering my questions. They have helped shape so many little minds, and they know what they are doing! They do crafts with him (mostly hand and feet prints.)

I don’t want anyone to think I would rather drop my child off all day everyday. I would love to be able to stay home with him, and take him to a play group when he’s older. I had to make a decision on what was best for our family, and losing my income was not in our best interest at the time. Could we have made it work? Yes. But, we would have had to cut back on future expenses. Paying for college is the big one. I want to be able to provide that for him. We all have to make the decision on what’s best for our family, and do what we think is best!

I’ve been MIA – Babies do take up ALL of your time

It’s been awhile since I have been able to get on here and give my perspective on being a new mom.

The holidays came around quick, and this led to a lot of visits and not so much free time!  My first day back to work was Jan 5th.  And when I say “back to work,” I mean back to my job that actually pays me money!  I still have my other job (Full time Mommy), and between the two it has been rough getting a second to myself!

I survived taking little man to daycare.  I will talk about that another day.  It was stressful beyond belief!

Now that little man is starting to use his hands and play with toys, this as given me a couple minutes a day to “take a break.”