Tonight's the second night of Chanukah, and figuring out activities and/or gifts for EIGHT nights this year had been a bit much for me.
I'm trying to stick to the spirit of "handmade Chanukah" by focusing on doing things together and/or handmade gifts.
For the second night, we made a gingerbread house. (Which, funnily enough, was a Christmas gift. But we're a non-traditional family, so I'm OK with it.)
Ben enjoyed it. And the pre-made house was a great idea. It held his attention for about 30 minutes, then he was ready for bath and bed.
But, he wanted to pose for pictures tonight. My little man's becoming more of a ham, and while I like that he's not fighting me when I pull out the camera, I'm not crazy about all the goofy faces he makes.
But, I guess now that I look at those faces, what's not to love?
Let me start by saying that breastfeeding is natural thing. It’s also full of health benefits and way cheaper than formula. And while I’ve never found the actual act of breastfeeding that difficult, breastfeeding isn’t easy.
But MAN OH MAN is it hard to breastfeed and work fulltime. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t that much easier to do it while I was at home but I was getting brave. Not carrying my pump everywhere. Feeding Vivi in “mother’s lounges” at the mall or on a bench or my car when I was out and about. We had such a good little system that when I came back to work I had almost NO stash…. And the stress began.
I hated pumping today for tomorrow. Not to mention that my days are so crazy, any hopes of pumping three times a day on a normal basis were out the window on day one.
And did I mention that there are two lactation rooms in our building? Seems like a nice idea, but there are a BA-ZILLION people that work here. And about half of them are women. And, by the way things are working out, it seems 95% of them are breast feeding. Oh, and the building is a quarter mile long (That’s NOT an exaggeration. It really is a quarter mile long.) So if the lactation room closer to me is full, and I walk to the other end of the building… well it just takes forever.
And the constant planning…. And calculating… When did she eat? Add three hours to that, so I should pump at 9:30, but I have a 9:00 meeting and if it runs long, I won’t be able to pump until 11, and that would be too long. So maybe I should pump at 8:30, but is that too soon? Ok, if I go with 8:30, then I’ll need to pump twice more before I leave… But someone is talking to me right now and it’s 8:30 right now and if I don’t go by 8:40, then I won’t be back in time for my 9:00.
Then there’s… How much did she eat? 15 oz!? I pumped only 12 oz. today. I am going to have to dip in to my stash. How much to do I have frozen? How long will that last me? How can I boost my production? I have to get up to 15 oz. per day or my child will STARVE!
But you know what? Six weeks in, I’ve got a pretty good little routine at work. And we have a nice little routine at night. And, I’ve learned that if I can pump only twice a day, it’s OK. I still come home with about the same amount. And water keeps my production up. And drinking water is the one thing that’s actually easier at work. And stress is bad for production. So I’m not stressing anymore.
And you know what else? I stopped breastfeeding Ben at about 4.5 months... and he turned out just fine. So we’ll try and keep this breastfeeding thing up for as long as I can… and, as long as I can avoid walking around with my shirt on inside-out, I’m going to be OK.
So, we did the last minute vacation thing again.
The week before I went back to work. The week my four-hour freelance project turned into a 16 hour freelance project. When Vivi was only 5 weeks old.
What were we thinking?
We were thinking we needed a getaway. We were thinking we had the time off of work. We were thinking .... it was cheap. Honestly. That's mostly what we were thinking. Brian had the vacation days, I was off of work and rates in Destin, Florida were dirt cheap.
It was wonderful. Toes in the white sand.
The beach to ourselves.
And snuggling up like alligators in the sun.
It's been two months since my last post? How is that possible?
Oh, I have an 11 week old. You get it, right? I know you do.
I should try and recap, but I can't. The past 11 weeks has been a whirlwind of the best kind. A new family member, new routines, new memories and a joy that's familiar but unique.
There are also familiar challenges. Like, oh, getting out the door fully dressed. Arriving at work on time. Putting meals on the table for the boys. Staying hydrated enough to continue to make food for my baby girl. All worth it.
Every minute.
I'd say I'm back, but no promises. Who knows what tomorrow holds.
Another year at Lynd's
This time with new friends
And just a few days before a new baby sister
One of our yummiest tradtions
.... before I am thirty....
Give birth to ONE new baby
Make that baby TWO dresses from a pattern
Try THREE new veggies or fruits
Sit down for dinner as a family of FOUR
Try FIVE new updos
Send SIX birthday cards
Spend SEVEN days on vacation
Put EIGHT quarters in expired meters
Read NINE new books
Run TEN miles (at once) again
11
Send TWELVE letters
13
14
15
Make my own butter using SIXTEEN ounces of milk
Celebrate my engagement on March SEVENTEETH with my husband
18
19
Have all TWENTY of my nails (fingers and toes) painted
21
22
23
Make TWENTY FOUR cookies from scratch and give them as a gifts
25
26
Leave TWENTY SEVEN comments on my favorite blogs
Print and frame TWENTY EIGHT pictures
Write TWENTY NINE new blog posts
Get rid of THIRTY things from my closet
