Happy Hour

Happy hour.

Happy hour is Aria taking a long afternoon nap, while I sit in complete quiet, sipping a cappuccino and perusing the internet, because the house is already clean.

What am I talking about happy hour? That's actually heaven. And it's happening right here, right now!

Now that Aria is full on walking, she get's very bored inside, very early. This morning we headed out to a nearby trail for some walking through the trees with a very pregnant friend. Don't worry, we brought cell phones just incase she went into labor.

For the first time in a year of babywearing daily, Aria fell asleep on my back. It must have been the peacefulness of the trail. Or she thought we were completely boring, so napping seemed like a better option.
Yea, she was probably just bored.

I rejoined one the previous gym that I belonged to. I left there a few years ago to join the Y near our house because it was very family oriented and we were planning to start a family soon. It was significantly more expensive but it had free childcare,  which was important to us. I had a few negative experiences there with the childcare, so it became really tough to workout. I didnt' feel good leaving Aria in the kids room, so I would have to time my workouts before PJ went to work or after he came home. That was challenging because they don't have very long hours.

Long story short, it just wasn't working for us. I rejoined my old gym and went back yesterday. Wouldn't you know, I loved it. I'm not sure what it is this time around…maybe the familiarity, maybe the equipment options…but I loved it. They also have childcare that seems much more up our alley. And they are open for longer hours, so I have the option of going really early in the morning like the true crazy person that I am.

I'm feeling pretty psyched about this. You do have to pay $5.00 for childcare, but I feel that it's worth it.

Harper wanted you all to know that even though she looks guilty, she did not make this mess…

Have a great Friday friends! Were off to take the dogs out. Not to be confused with letting the dogs out…
You get the picture.

It's Been A While...

It has been a while, hasn't it. Almost 3 months to the day since my last post. I didn't intend on disappearing for so long, but we had a lot going on around the W house.

Little Aria is now a year old. She walks. She talks. And generally she runs the show around here. She and the dogs are like a little gang of hoodlums that bounce through the house destroying things like little tornados. Except for Harper she's a big tornado. 

I stepped back from my job about a month ago. It became apparent to us that both of us employed full time just wasn't something that was working for us. That was a big change for me but I am comfortable with it, and honestly I have felt it coming for a while. Being home with our children is something that is important to me. I think that stems from my parents working so hard when I was growing up. 

That's another post for another day though.

I am a stay at home mom pretty much full time now. I do some work independently (you know, with all of my mad skills), but 95% of the time, I'm here running our ship.

I, myself, am doing pretty well. This past year I've been lucky enough to be blessed with the most beautiful gift, and at the same time it has been a year of big adjustments. I'm still learning how to manage it all and I haven't quite figured out how to take care of myself while taking care of  everything and everyone else…but I'm working on it.

Happy Tuesday Friends. I'm excited to be back!

Diapers, Pool Adventure and Race Training

I actually wrote this post last Friday…but I still felt the need to share. I hope your friday is going wonderfully. 


Good morning friends! It's Friday! Today is actually a day off for me…so I'm pretty excited!

This morning Aria and Harper are investigating a box.

I am drinking all of the coffee.

And we are prepping for a trip to the pool!

Aria's helping. Can you tell?

Yes, those are disposable diapers that she is strewing about. We cloth diapered Aria for the first 9 months of her life. I love cloth diapers. They have treated us, and the environment, very well.

As of late, little Aria has become a terror when it comes to diapering. I'm talking exorcist, head turning all the way around, kicking, judo chopping, throwing her body around, screeching, all to get away from the evil person who dares put bottoms on this lady.

So as you can imagine, snapping the cloth diapers on our wild animal, has become quite the production.

I did a little research to find a disposable that I felt comfortable with, and we decided to give Honest diapers a try.

It has been about 2 weeks, and so far so good. I like them because they are all natural, plant based (ie. no weird chemicals on Aria's privates and no weird chemicals going out into the environment). They're also a cruelty free company which is always a thumbs up in my book.

I don't want to get all preachy, so if you'd like any more info on Honest Co. diapers, just ask.

Disposable diapers are wayyy easier to secure on this beast, as she's fighting to get away from me!

We haven't given up our beloved Charlie Banana cloth yet. We still cloth diaper, just not 100% of the time. Yesterday she was in cloth all day. Today she was half of the day. It all depends on how hostile the beast is on that particular day.

I'm supposed to start officially training, on Sunday. I'm not feeling so positive about it at the moment. The past 2 weeks I've tried to stick to a mock training schedule, to kind of get the feeling of what it'll be like to fit in a structured program with everything else going on.

It hasn't gone so great, unfortunately.

I do get time to workout everyday…usually. But, at max I can only squeeze in about an hour, after PJ get's home from work. I heard somewhere once that you aren't supposed to leave babies at home alone, so training earlier in the day isn't really an option at the moment.
It has been hard to get in anything longer than that, unless its the weekend.

Aria is so young right now, and every day is unpredictable. Some days she needs mama more than others. Some days I work late. Some days PJ works late. Some days, I just can't squeeze in more than an hour, because I have so many more responsibilities. Most days there just isn't enough daylight left for more than an hour, after PJ or I am home for the evening.

I'm not sure what to do. The races I'm planning for this fall are long. It's essential that I train properly, so that I don't get hurt, and so that I can perform at my best level.

There's a chance I may just have to let go of these distances for this year, and go for a few half marathon distance races. Then come back with a vengeance next year…after things calm down a bit.

I'm not there yet though. I'll hold on to my dreams for this year, as long as I can!

How in the world do people balance everything?

Anyways, were off for our pool adventure!

Taking Stock

Currently I am…

Making: Leggings for Aria

Cooking: Sweet potato, quinoa and white bean burgers!

Drinking: Iced coffee out of mason jars

Wanting: A 10 hour deep tissue massage

Looking: Forward to my sister coming today!!!!!!

Reading: Doula by Bridget Bouland

Wasting: As little as possible...

Trusting: That I'll be able to fit in 6 days a week of training for the next 18 weeks

Wishing: My cat would stop sticking her wet nose in my ear when I sleep

Enjoying: Girlfriends. We just had a ladies weekend away! 

Waiting: For some extra time, to lay some mulch in my garden

Liking: Our new bed

Wondering: How long this rain will last today. 

Loving: How peaceful the transition was to Aria's crib. We recently transitioned from co-co-sleeping to her crib. I felt like she was ready. And honestly, although we co-slept longer than planned and longer than we thought was ideal, waiting until I knew she was ready made the transition pretty seamless. 

Hoping: Aria stops acting like a wildcat when I change her diaper. As soon as I get a diaper off of her, she suddenly feels the need to do whatever necessary, to try to keep me from putting a new one on. Resident nudist.

Marveling: At all of the love I see at this graduation party across the street. How proud these parents are! (yesterday)

Needing: A haircut!!! Or a wig. 

Anticipating: Racing racing racing

Contemplating: How I can talk PJ into getting chickens in a year or two

Smelling: Freshly mowed grass. PJ just cut the lawn

Wearing: Pajama shorts and a tank

Following: Aria! She is crawling and pulling herself up on everything! She reminds me of a bull dozer. Just plowing over everything

Noticing: How awesome my doggies are. They are so patient, gentle and loyal

Knowing: That I married the perfect man for me

Thinking: About the amazing 14 year old who carried his brother 40 miles, on his back, in a walk for cerebral palsy awareness

Exploring: Trail running

Bookmarking: Doula workshops

Opening: My windows! What wonderful weather

Giggling: At PJ and my new hobby…sending each other random selfies during the day, with Aria. This was yesterday while I was driving home from the Berkshires.

Feeling: Relaxed after our girls spa weekend!

Happy Monday!

Oh Motherhood.

It took 2 hours to get Aria to sleep for her first nap today…and she only slept for 30 minutes. This is why I'm never on time for work. Just incase anyone who is concerned about my punctuality is reading this.

She is going through some very big developmental stuff right now, so her little brain is on overdrive. Aria actually isn't the best sleeper anyway. She's one of those kids who wants to be awake all the time because she doesn't want to miss anything.

While I love her spirit…girl needs some sleep!

Well, I have one really awesome thing to brag about, and one really awful thing to shamefully confess.

On the awesome front…I made Aria this sweet little dress a few nights ago!

I wish I had more time on my hands. I love to make things…but the time just isn't there. Our days are so full right now, that I can usually choose one thing to do for myself every 4 days. The other 3 days I'm just so darn tired that I sit in silence until I start hearing my neighbors do whatever it is that they do so loudly over there, and then I watch Dexter kill people for an hour before I give in to sleep.

On the scary as shit, someone call the authorities because I'm obviously not qualified to take care of another, much cuter, human, front…Aria rolled off of our bed on Wednesday morning.

Our bed is high. And she just rolled right off the side.

My initial reaction was yelling her name in extreme desperation. Then I scooped her up saying "Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god." She was screaming because it probably hurt worse than anything she's ever experienced thus far.

I cuddled and snuggled and tried everything in my power to make her feel better. Calm on the outside, but falling apart on the inside. How in the world could I let this happen? How could I let my sweet baby fall off of my bed????
I suspected it a few times before, but now I'm sure that I'm the worst mother on the face of the earth.

She fell directly on her face, and her nose. I don't think I'll ever forget the sound of her hitting the floor. Or the sound of her scream.

I contacted her Pediatrician and he gave me the walk through of how to assess her, and what to watch for.

I've watched her like a hawk for the past day and a half.

She is okay. Her nose is swollen and bruised, and she has a rug burn. But overall she's as slap happy as usual.

My soul is a little darker and the mommy guilt has gotten me pretty good too. I also can't help but notice Aria's eyes are a little less trusting when she looks at me.

I even rolled myself off of the bed a few times, to see how it felt.

For the record. It didn't help me feel better.

In an attempt to end this post on a happy note, here are some pictures of my sweet pooper face from this weekend.

Happy Thursday.

One of Those Days

Today was just one of those days where I feel like I'm totally failing.

Aria and I went to the gym this morning so I could get a workout in. I took her into the gym childcare room and the moment I handed her over, she had a total melt down. The woman I handed her to was trying so hard to comfort her. The other woman, who was sitting slouched in her chair, with an extremely unwelcoming scowl on her face (totally appropriate for working with children), who I have never met before in my life, says "She cries too much."

It doesn't really matter to me what she thinks, but as someone who works with other humans, parents and children for that matter, I understand certain things that I shouldn't say out loud. Especially to a stressed mother, who's child is clearly upset about something.

I felt so bad for Aria because I had no idea why she was so upset (it was probably that woman), and I didn't feel comfortable leaving her. So we got our things and headed out to run our errands instead.

Aria seemed happy the rest of the morning, so I still had no idea what that was about.

Around 2pm she crawled for the very first time!

We had a little celebration and she spent the rest of the day crawling from dog toy to dog toy, trying to get them into her mouth. When she wasn't doing that, she was lifting up the rug, and picking off pieces of the rug pad, to put them in her mouth. Let's be honest here…she got a few in there. I did fish them out though.

I gave her a handful of cheerios to eat rather than the rug foam and Saint Aria decided to feed her people instead. She threw some to her left for Harper and some to her right for Boston and continued picking off pieces of the rug pad.

Once the time came for her last nap, I put her down and she slept for a whole 10 minutes. I had just enough time to think about eating, and instead make coffee.

Because her nap was too short to actually be considered a nap, she was pretty cranky the rest of the evening. I took her upstairs to play on the bed with me, because that usually cheers her up.

She spent the next 20 minutes trying to launch her little body off the sides. It's a good thing I have fast reflexes.

It was then 5pm and I had gotten literally nothing done. I figured I should at least stuff some diapers.

A few minutes later, Aria had gotten really quiet behind me. I look back and she is licking a diaper.

At least it was clean.

Lick away girlfriend.

It's 6:00pm and the house is a disaster area (did I forget to mention we are having family over tomorrow for a BBQ?). I didn't get to run to Target to get shampoo because my baby was eating foam off the floor and licking diapers. I haven't showered yet. I'm still in my gym clothes (I guess I should be realistic and let go of that dream for today). My small dog is humping my big dogs face. And my cat has just puked on my purse.

Bath time is cute and fun as usual. Aria is a little ham in the bath. Afterwards she eats her bottle and we snuggle until she falls asleep.
I leave her and go into the bathroom to empty the tub. I look at the monitor and she's up. I go back in to comfort her. She has started screeching at the top of her lungs. It was actually scary. I haven't heard her that upset in a long time! I comfort, comfort, comfort. She falls back asleep. I go back into the bathroom. Then I hear her screaming as if she is being murdered.

I go back in to comfort. She's almost asleep…The dogs start barking. I yell down to the dogs because I'm so frustrated. She starts a combo of scream screeching because I have scared her. It then dawns on me that she's never heard me that loud before and I probably just scared the shit out of her.

Mom of the year.

After that it took about 30 minutes to snuggle away her sobbing. She's finally asleep.

I'm exhausted and I feel like shit.

The house is a mess and I'd rather die than clean it.

At least tomorrow is another day.

12 in 2014: May

Were finally picking back up on the photo challenge we're doing this year with Jessica from My Baby Birds.

May

Aria turned 8 months old in May. Now that it's warm, were starting to explore outside. It's so much fun to see her experience flowers, dirt, grass, the beach, and all of the fun that comes along with see those things for the first time. 

She has also started standing in her crib…which means her sleep is currently non existent, because standing is so much more fun. 

Her favorite thing to eat is whatever I'm eating…doesn't matter what it is. She wants it.

Her favorite activity is babbling and giggling to herself. The sound is so very sweet.

Happy Thursday Everyone!