To Work or Not To Work

That is the question and has been the question since I was first pregnant with Leon. I think every mom who knows me is tired of me talking about this. I can't figure out if I should be a SAHM (stay at home mom) or a working mom.

I've done both. For Leon's first 5.5 months I was a SAHM and I lived it. We had our routine down walking/running along the waterfront followed by breakfast and naps. On some days we went to mommy and me yoga and on others we went to playdates. Then I with one of them.

Which will it be?

Holiday Cards Are Done!

We did a photo shoot a few weeks ago with a great photographer here.  I made our cards with some of my favorite pics.  Enjoy!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Four Months

Elsie is four months old! She is weighing in at 18 pounds! The nurse who weighed her insinuated that Elsie was overweight and that I should monitor her feedings. Um how about no! She's perfect! I'm not concerned that she's chubby. She's a baby! Get over it!

Another Member in the Village

Ok so I know I've said before it takes a village to raise a child (African proverb).  I just added another person to my village!  A babysitter!  I have a baby sitter.  Ugh, I feel so old saying that.  I used to be a baby sitter.  She is more like a mother's helper because I haven't actually left her alone with the kids yet.  I actually would never leave her with both.  Nothing against her but a toddler (like Leon) and an infant is a lot for anyone to handle.  The last two weekends my baby sitter has come over from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm.  During this time I have been able to get Elsie down for her late afternoon nap, make dinner, and clean up.  I highly recommend finding some young energetic person who wants money to watch your kids!

Three Months Old

Elsie is three months old.  She has her very first cold.  Not too many things are more painful than hearing a three month old cough.  It's so sad because I really can't do anything about it.  But she's happy.  She's nursing and sleeping so she is ok.  She can sit up (leans way forward, great yoga posture) by herself!  She babbles in her own language.  She is very loved by her brother and everyone else.  The three months has gone by quickly. It's hard to believe in another three months she could be eating her first solid foods and maybe crawling and then three months after that perhaps supported standing.  

Este es mine!

Leon's favorite word is MINE.  Seems like that's a thing for toddlers.  Instead of saying, "This is mine."  He typically mixes up his Spanish with English and says, "Este es MINE."  Two of his favorite things are his cholas (flip flops) and his lunch box (bolsa).  I curse the day (ok that's a bit strong) I purchased those Old Navy on sale flip flops.  Because he is forever tripping up in them or putting them on wrong and wincing in pain because the divider is between the wrong toes.  And he loves his lunch box to death.  His teachers in preschool have told me that Leon is doing really well EXCEPT that he wants to carry his lunch box everywhere.  He doesn't want to leave it on the table.  He wants his snacks by his side all the time.  We did a three hour hike this weekend and Leon carried his lunch box most of the time.

I have to admit the fascination with his lunch box and his flip flops is cute and understandable.  We live in an area with amazing weather.  So sneakers and other shoes are not as nice as open toe shoes.  And I love making his day care snack.  Every night I get excited about what treats to put in his lunch box.  I have been placing Halloween stickers in their recently.  Today he had a small cookie, mandarin oranges, graham crackers, and cheese sticks.  Tomorrow he'll have slices of bell peppers, fruit snacks, cashews, and probably a few sweet potato chips.

Two Months and Counting

Elsie is two and a half months old.  She "passed" her two-month check up with flying colors.  She's quite strong and inquisitive.  She stares and smiles at everything and can hold her head up in tummy time for a short while.  She also makes lots of sounds and practically smiles on command.

I'm not quite back to my pre-pregnancy shape and far from the pre-preggo strength.  But everyone says I look great for just having a baby.  Still I'm so anxious and ready to get back to pre-preggo shape and strength.   I seem to have a lot less patience this time.  Which is surprising being that I actually look and feel great in comparison to where I was two months after Leon.  I want all my clothes to fit now!  I want to run for hours now!  I want my abdominal muscles to repair themselves and for my diastisis to disappear.

But I know it takes.  In a few months I'll be back to "normal" and Elsie will be trying to crawl.

Time goes by fast so instead of focusing on the fact that I can't fit all my jeans.... I’ll try hard to focus on Elsie's little feet!