Maternity leave...

I keep watching my calender thinking how quickly this week seems to be passing. I know Monday (my first day back to work) will be here before I know it, and I have found it almost difficult to enjoy this week because I am anticipating next week. Who would have thought it would be so difficult to leave your baby?! I'm thankful to have a great job to go back to, but I there are definitely things I will miss when I'm back.

Like...

Family Feud-I know, who actually watches this show? I do, and I have grown to love it. I play right along with the contestants, and I think I'm actually getting pretty good (probably another sign it's time to go back to work).

Afternoon dates with friends-This has so much fun during this season at home!! I have had lunch dates, play dates, coffee dates, you name it...all have been so much fun and I'm so thankful for my sweet friends!

Getting all my laundry done in one day (and not on the weekend)-Don't underestimate the joy in this.

Rerun episodes of Friends-Okay, I really don't watch TV very often (these just happen to be the shows that come on when I'm feeding her), and I don't have a poor taste in shows, we just don't have cable (beggers can't be choosers). But I have really enjoyed Friends at 4. :)

Lunch dates with my love-Kev has been able to come home at least 3 times a week for lunch which has been so much fun! I love seeing his face in the middle of the day!

And of course the best thing about being home is hanging out with this girl. Have I mentioned lately how much I love her?

Things I have not loved...

Hearing Truman bark-This guy barks...a lot. Of course I didn't realize how much until I have spent every day with him. The most annoying thing about his barking is he thinks it's a good idea to bark while he is in the house...really loud...when Elliott's laying down for a nap. You can imagine my frustration.

Being able to snack-I have realized lately how easy it is to snack during the day when you're home all day. I'm afraid chocolate chips have been my snack of choice which is not necessarily a good thing. Let's just say that the jumbo bag at Sam's might not have been a wise purchase. Good thing I finished it off yesterday. :)

I know there are so many more things I will miss and not miss, but these are the few that came to mind.

Obsessed

Wow, I have done a terrible job of posting lately. I keep thinking about different subjects I might want to post about, but just haven't taken the time to sit down and type anything. Pure laziness. Also, I have been a little obsessed lately...with a book that is. One of my friends mentioned to me that she was re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows because she wanted the story to be fresh on her mind before she saw the movie. I read the whole series years ago (think college), but I thought since I didn't have anything else I was reading at the moment, and we actually own the series (Kev's doing), why not!

I have issues with books: I either read them obsessively or I don't feel like reading them at all. I don't have a happy medium, just slowly read through a book. This book was definitely an obsessive read...I wanted to stay up late every night (definitely NOT me), didn't want to watch anything on TV (we like to watch the Office and Outsourced), and yesterday, I couldn't get a darn thing done because all I wanted to do was read. I had this incredibly strong urge to finish the book and finish is quickly. Definitely not convenient for living a normal life. Thankfully I finished the book last night, and today I was able to move on with my life. Such a relief. I justified my reading binge and not being productive with the fact that I am going back to work next week. Not sure that makes sense but it made me feel better.

Has anyone else read a book lately they could not put down? I'm always up for recommendations.

Adventures of motherhood

Thanks again for all of your comments and advice about going back to work! So very helpful and encouraging!

I actually went in for several cases at work today while Kev stayed home with Elliott, and I had my first experience pumping at work. Quite the adventure, I must say. I had to be at work by 7 and out the door by 6:40 which is no easy task when trying to nurse, pump, get all of my pump stuff together, not to mention get myself ready. Thankfully I get to wear scrubs.

So I decided in between cases was the best time, so I rushed to get everything set up, and then got to pump for about 5 minutes before the next case started. The best place I could find to pump was in the bathroom in the doctor's lounge. Of course the outlet was too far from the toilet, so I just sat on the floor. Don't worry, I'm sure it was clean. :) To make matters worse, I spilled milk on my pants, and of course I didn't have time to change. Oh the adventures of motherhood. Life is just a little more complicated than before.

Yesterday we got to spend some time with a few friends I went to PA school with. Turns out a lot of us have had babies in the past year, so we lined all the kids up by age. Of course we didn't take any pictures of the adults. I have realized recently I have very few pictures of myself.

Elliott was the 2nd youngest.

It's all fun and games until someone gets poked in the eye, poor guy.

Elliott held her 1st boy's hand...actually she held another little guy's hand as well but we didn't catch it with the camera. Not sure what to think about this.

Totally random...but this is when we knew Target diapers did not work with Miss Elliott!

Things I've grown to love on maternity leave...

I keep watching my calender thinking how quickly this week seems to be passing. I know Monday (my first day back to work) will be here before I know it, and I have found it almost difficult to enjoy this week because I am anticipating next week. Who would have thought it would be so difficult to leave your baby?! I'm thankful to have a great job to go back to, but I there are definitely things I will miss when I'm back.

Like...

Family Feud-I know, who actually watches this show? I do, and I have grown to love it. I play right along with the contestants, and I think I'm actually getting pretty good (probably another sign it's time to go back to work).

Afternoon dates with friends-This has so much fun during this season at home!! I have had lunch dates, play dates, coffee dates, you name it...all have been so much fun and I'm so thankful for my sweet friends!

Getting all my laundry done in one day (and not on the weekend)-Don't underestimate the joy in this.

Rerun episodes of Friends-Okay, I really don't watch TV very often (these just happen to be the shows that come on when I'm feeding her), and I don't have a poor taste in shows, we just don't have cable (beggers can't be choosers). But I have really enjoyed Friends at 4. :)

Lunch dates with my love-Kev has been able to come home at least 3 times a week for lunch which has been so much fun! I love seeing his face in the middle of the day!

And of course the best thing about being home is hanging out with this girl. Have I mentioned lately how much I love her?

Things I have not loved...

Hearing Truman bark-This guy barks...a lot. Of course I didn't realize how much until I have spent every day with him. The most annoying thing about his barking is he thinks it's a good idea to bark while he is in the house...really loud...when Elliott's laying down for a nap. You can imagine my frustration.

Being able to snack-I have realized lately how easy it is to snack during the day when you're home all day. I'm afraid chocolate chips have been my snack of choice which is not necessarily a good thing. Let's just say that the jumbo bag at Sam's might not have been a wise purchase. Good thing I finished it off yesterday. :)

I know there are so many more things I will miss and not miss, but these are the few that came to mind.

Fall!!

First of all, thanks for your sweet comments on my last post...almost made me tear up. :) I had a revelation yesterday as I was dusting the bricks on our fireplace (yes, you heard me right) that maybe I have a little too much spare time on my hands and going back to work might help that. Not that I don't love dusting bricks, but I think I would quickly tire of doing projects such as this.

Have I mentioned I love fall? I know I'm not alone in my love for fall but here are some of my favorite things about fall.

I LOVE when the leaves change. This is a picture from last year because they are just starting to change colors this year.

Nothing like a good, hot drink from Starbucks...yummy. Although have I mentioned Kev and I are TOTALLY addicted to iced carmel macchiotas? Well we are, and I attribute this nasty habit to my mother who bought me one nearly every day she was here after Elliott was born (you just think I'm kidding). I hate to see this addiction end when cold weather hits (although it will probably help our budget...and my waist).

Love, love fall decorations. I'm not a big fan of decorating for Halloween, but I love me some fall leaves and pumpkins!

And of course MOST of all we love our little pumpkin!

2 weeks...

Only 2 more weeks...until I go back to work that is. I can't believe it is already here. You think that 3 months is going to go so slowly, but it doesn't...it flies by! I feel such conflicting emotions. I do love my job...it is very low stress, I love the doctor I work with as well as the other staff members, I feel confident in what I'm doing. BUT it is so hard to think about leaving Elliott. I think part of the difficulty is just thinking about trusting someone else. I was talking to my sister about the fact that when she was first born, I didn't trust myself with her because I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. Over the past 3 months, I've slowly learned her preferences, her dislikes, what her cries mean, and it's just so hard to trust someone else.

I really never understood why people had a hard time leaving their kids, but now I know why. I'm just going back part time, and our families are helping a lot, but it is still hard. I'm just trying to treasure each day I have with her now. I think it will definitely get easier to leave her once I get into a normal routine (I definitely am a creature of routine), and see that she does fine when I'm away. I think it will also make me appreciate the time I have with her even more...but it still doesn't make it easy. Do you guys have any advice for the transition?

2 Month Appointment

I have been anticipating/dreading this day for awhile. Anticipating to see how much Elliott has grown, but dreading the shots. My mom has always told me when I got my shots I never cried (apparently we were only given one shot instead of three at the same time), so I was hoping Elliott would follow in my footsteps. She must have taken after her daddy because she screamed and her little face turned beet red. Sadness. At least it's over...for another two months.

Here are her growth stats:

Weight 13 pounds 0 pounds (89%)

Length 23 1/4 inches (73%)

Head circumference 16 inches (85%)

She's a growing girl and that makes us happy!!

11 pictures on the 11th

I saw this idea on a friend's blog...she took 11 pictures of her sweet baby girl on one day for her 11 waking hours. I thought it was such a fabulous idea, I would try it. Two things I quickly realized: it's not as easy as it seems and we do not have a very exciting life. Poor Elliott was blinded by the flash all day, because let's face it, she's not really up that much and when she is awake, she spends half the time eating/getting her diaper changed....both not really appropriate to photograph. Of course the 11th of this month fell on a boring day in our household (I try to do all our laundry/house cleaning on Mondays to get it out of the way). But boring and all, here they are.

Stretching to wake up in the morning.

I see eyeballs...

but they're still a little sleepy.

Reading books with mommy in the morning.

Surprise visit from daddy before lunch.

Chilling in the bouncy chair.

Loving it!

Talk time with mommy.

Tummy time under the activity gym.

All this playing makes a girl sleepy!

I realize this is only 10 pictures and 3 of the same event, but like I said, our life is kind of boring. We did also go to community group this night but unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures. :( I'll get better!

2 Months

I'm a several days behind in writing this post, but it has been a crazy week! I decided make the drive to my parents again (4 hours)...by myself. I started off pretty positive, but on the way down as Baby E was LOUDLY screaming, I questioned my sanity. A screaming baby in a car makes you feel completely helpless...you can't turn around to give them their pacifier/comfort them, you don't want to pull over on the side of the road for safety reasons and if you do pull over to retrieve the pacifier, she spits it out before you've even started driving again, and you can't reason with them...a no win situation. I tried singing to her, talking to her, playing music, but when nothing worked, I ended up just turning up the music which helped drown out her cries and helped me not go completely crazy. Does that make me a bad mom? She eventually fell asleep after what seemed like an eternity. The trip home was mucho better and I was very thankful for that!

I cannot believe she is already 2 months old!!! The time has flown by, and it feels like she changes a little every day! Here are Miss Elliott's stats:

• She is just fitting into 0-3 months clothes but I am now buying all 3-6 months clothes. I am frantically trying to put her in all of her cute 0-3 months outfits because she is growing out of them so fast.
• We just moved up to size 2 diapers. Can you say blowouts? That seems to be our cue as to when she needs the next size up in diapers. Not a very fun cue.
• She is still nursing every 3 hours during the day for about 15-20 minutes and is taking 1 bottle daily with 3-4 ounces from daddy. She loves to eat! I've tried to give the bottle to her once or twice and she said "forget it, give me the real deal lady".
• Her last feeding is at 10 and she has been regularly sleeping until 4 or after then we wake her at 7 or 7:30. The last 2 nights she slept over 8 hours and we had to wake her at 7 or 7:30...I feel like a new woman! Longest sleep since she was born.
• She still follows her eat/wake/sleep cycle really well and is usually up anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• She takes naps on her tummy during the day (I know, totally breaking the rules) and we still swaddle her at night.
• Still loving that pacifier...we use it as a cue for naptime.
• She LOVES to look at herself in the mirror. Hello beautiful.
• She loves to stand and seems to be really strong.
• She is smiling regularly at us (as well as the wall, ceiling, and other random inanimate objects) and has started to try to "talk" to us. LOVE it!

It's hard to catch a smile on camera but here's a little one.

LOVE.THIS.FACE. She does this frequently.

"Mom, I'm falling in the couch crack."

"What did you say?"

Chilling in the Moby wrap.

Words cannot express how much we love this little girl! She is super duper sweet! Can't get enough!

Boomer Sooner!!

Elliott's comments from the game:

"Get him!!"

"Way to go DeMarco!"

"Uncle Stu, I can't see the T.V."

"Mmmm, that dip looks good...mom, can you get me some?"

"Whoa, that was stressful."

"So glad I'm a Sooner like my mom and dad!"