Cut the Crap. Mama's Broke.

The past week has been stressful, overbooked, expensive and exhausting.

First off, my child has a non-cold.  I say "non-cold" because he doesn't actually have a cold (we already had the nasty cold pass through), he has a snotty nose.  And that's basically it.  So my child has snot.  But since my child is not 100%, that means he doesn't sleep 100%.  He does alright at night, but his naps are crappy.  He can't sleep unless he's in my arms or in the car.  If he's in my arms or in the car, he can sleep an hour or even two.  But that means I have to be either holding him or driving.  So I've been dealing with that this week.

Not my baby, but at the same time, my baby.

Second, I had a work project this week that unexpectedly required a file review.  To most of you, I just spoke a foreign language.  But regardless of your file review knowledge, it means that I needed to take a day to travel to Atlanta to review some government files instead of working on the report itself (even though reviewing files IS technically working on the report since the information goes IN the report).  So that was one day LESS of report writing than I anticipated.  Which in my mind put me a day behind schedule.  But I still got it done on Friday, which was the due date.

How I feel when I'm still working at 1:00 am.

Third, my dog Ollie decided to pick up a blood parasite ("similar to malaria", according to the vet) and then develop pancreatitus, so he needed a billion dollars in treatment.

And fourth, my cat Allie decided to get attacked by my other dogs, so she also cost me a billion dollars in treatment.  Including a very late night in the ER on Monday.

Okay, okay.....so Allie didn't "decide" to get attacked.  She was chased down the stairs, yes (nothing new).  She was cornered, yes (also nothing new).  The dogs and Allie have been doing this chase/corner game for the past three years.  But this time, it got a little ugly (or personal) for whatever reason.

Allie ended up with two fractured ribs and an air pocket in her side near the two ribs.  Not a single mark on her body except for the two fractures that had to be seen via X-ray.  Granted, the ideal situation would be that this scenerio had never happened.  But since we did have this little clusterfuck happen, I am so thankful that I only had a cat with two slightly fractured ribs and a non-emergency air pocket in her side.

Seriously, animals.  Cut this crap out.  We're only three months into the year.  Mama's broke. 
Ain't nobody got time for that.

Fifth in the line of stuff-that-happened this week, my brother got married!  The rehearsal dinner was Wednesday night and the wedding was Thursday night.  It was awesome, all went well, and they are now basking in the Hawaiian sun.

Rachel was very Greek Goddess-like.

Aww.

I love this one!

Lucas's parents also came into town Thursday and stayed through today for the wedding.

Then this morning I had the Color Me Rad 5k.  Our team (Color Me Maybe?) consisted of me, Leah, Maggie, Jenelle, Angie and Angie's daughter Teigan.  It was cold in the beginning, but overall a great day for a run.  We were just glad it wasn't raining!!

Pre-race

Post-race

The picture doesn't do justice to how much color was on our skin, in our ears, up our noses, etc!

I'm very much looking forward to a relaxing night of TV and bed!!

I was going to sign up for the Country Music Half Marathon next month, but I don't think I'm going to be able to afford it now that the animals have spent all  my money.  Such a bummer, but ah well.  Lucas and I are definitely doing the Tap 'N Run 4k in Nashville in May, though.  It's my birthday present to myself to watch Lucas do this, since he's not a runner.  He likes to claim that I just "run too slow" for him.  I may be slow, but seriously.......nice try, Lucas!

I've also accepted two more environmental projects, both of which I'll work on this upcoming week.  I drive to Woodville, Alabama on Monday and Knoxville on Friday.  So I'm still going to be busy for the next week or two, but the paychecks will be awesome in helping to pay off my kiddos' vet bills.

Let's just all cross our fingers that next week is a calm one!

Happy Easter!

I'm MOSTLY a Stay-at-Home Mom

(Written Saturday night, March 23rd:)

It's one in the morning, I should be in bed, but instead I'm up pumping.  Why?  Several reasons.

• First and foremost, I worked a bartending shift at the museum tonight.  Which means I didn't feed my baby before bed.  Which means that my boobs would resemble overexerted balloons by tomorrow morning, and that I would be potentially waking up in a puddle by default.  Too much...??
• Second, my freezer stash is dangerously low.  As in I think I have about 4 bags of frozen liquid gold left.  If I didn't work at all, this wouldn't matter.  But since both Lucas and my mom occasionally have the baby to themselves while I work a museum event or do an environmental site visit, and since I'm trying really hard to keep Delano on ONLY breastmilk, I have to have a stash.  So I pump.
• Third, Delano is eating 5 ounces (at least when he eats from a bottle) a sitting nowadays.  I'm currently up to 4 1/2 ounces.  So there is NO WAY I'm going to bed until I hit at least 5 ounces, even if it takes another hour to squeeze out every last drop.  If you are (or have ever been) a breastfeeding mom, you KNOW what I'm talking about!!

I don't own this bra, but I've seen it at Babies 'R Us.  I wonder how realistic it is to be "hands free"?  She looks like she's really enjoying herself!

People ask me what I do a lot, and that's not really a cut-and-dry answer.  If I didn't work at all, I could simply say that I was a stay-at-home mom.  The end.  If I worked a full-time (or even a part-time) job, I could say "I'm an environmental scientist" or "I work as an environmental scientist part-time and am a mom the rest of the time".  But describing my situation is tricky.  If I say I'm a full-time mom, then people will assume that I don't work.  If I say I'm an environmental scientist (or a bartender), then people assume that's what I do most of the time.  So when anyone asks me what I do", I'm always like, "Well............" and this is how I describe it:

I'm MOSTLY a stay-at-home mom.  But I do have a few side jobs I've kept because I enjoy them as well as the extra money.  I occasionally bartend special events at the Hunter Art Museum, mostly wedding receptions.  I also work as an Independent Contractor for an engineering firm.  They call me up when there's a project in my area (within a few hours), tell me how much they'll give me, tell me when it's due and ask me if I want it.  I can either accept the project or turn it down.  If I accept it, I coordinate the site visit day with my mom, since she watches Delano while I go do my thing.  I actually call her first before I accept any job to make sure she's available.  The third job I have is a dog walking gig, even though I'm not really "walking" the dog.  A friend of mine is a nurse and works 12-hour shifts usually 1-3 days a week.  During those days, I go to her house and let her Yorkie mix out to potty, as well as feed her lunch and toss the ball for a little bit.  I've been doing this for the past 4 years.  I've been bartending special events for almost 6 years.  And though I've been an environmental scientist for the past 7 years, I've been doing the independent contracting thing off and on for about a year and a half.

But let's say I don't have any bartending shifts for a couple of weeks and no independent contracting gigs pending.....and then maybe Maddie (the dog) only needs let out out once that particular week.....during times like those, you would definitely call me a stay-at-home mom.

See how explaining what I "do" gets confusing??

SO not what I do....but maybe I should work the tips more??

Also SO not what I wear, but maybe I should??  (P.S. NO WAY!)

Also SO not what I do......I can't imagine walking this many dogs at once!!

Also SO not what I do, but this made me giggle.  The title of this was, "Environmental Scientist And A Plant In Desert".  No explanation or anything.

(I'm up to like 5 1/4 ounces on the pumping right now.  It's 1:45am.  I'm really going to regret staying up this late when I'm super tired in the morning, but I'm going to keep going!!  I'm shooting for 6 ounces now.  Five ounces for a feeding and one ounce to spare.  Which I'll get to add to the random 3 ounces hanging out in the fridge just waiting patiently for 2 more ounces.  My poor boobs are over it.)

So I bought this dress the other day for my brother's wedding.  It looks like nothing on the hangar.  In fact, it looks like it's about 4 sizes too big on the hangar and really square and unshapely (nothing like what the website mannequin pic looks like).  But when I put it on, it shapes nicely to my curves and doesn't make me look like I'm expecting my second baby (which a LOT of dresses do), so I'm excited to wear it.  I've just got to decide what shoes I need to wear with it! 

My second brother gets married in 5 days.  My other brother got married not quite 8 months ago.  And Delano was born 7 months ago.  It's been a busy 8-9 months!!

My youngest brother Brian and his wife Nicki at their July wedding.  (I married them, fyi!)

My second youngest brother and his fiancee Rachel, to be married in 5 days!  I think this is my most favorite picture EVER of them.

(I'm up to 7 ounces now......I'm on a roll......I now have my 5 ounces PLUS 2 ounces to add to the 3 ounces in the fridge to make an additional "serving"......maybe I won't have to give him that formula after all!)

P.S.  I have performed 5 non-denominational weddings in my days as an ordained minister (and the 6th in the books for next month).  And I must say, all 5 of my couples are happily married and 3 of them have children!  So maybe I'm the key for making your marriage last.....just sayin'......haha.

People ask me and Lucas ALL the time, "When are you getting married??".  This includes everyone from family to friends to people who just met us and realized we have a child but aren't yet married.  For those of you who maybe don't know, Delano was ON PURPOSE.  We didn't accidentally get pregnant as an unmarried couple and then decide, "Aw crap, well I guess we'll stay together".  We made the decision to get pregnant, because we were both in our 30s, had been together for several years, had bought our home, both wanted a baby, and simply decided to make that our goal instead of a wedding.  It took us 6 months to get pregnant.  Sure, we had talked about getting married in the past.  But when it came down to "what do we want to focus on the most right now?", the answer was a baby.  We didn't want to try to plan both a wedding and a baby at the same time, just because you couldn't guarantee the timing of the baby, and I didn't want to look like a whale at my wedding.  And as soon as we were pregnant, the wedding became completely unimportant.  I seriously stopped caring about having a wedding AT ALL.  My life revolved around that baby and has ever since!!

I can't even stand it!!!

There are technicalities involved that would make life easier if we were married.  The main thing being medical insurance.  Since we're not married, and since I don't work full-time, and also since my insurance changed a few months ago (as insurance does on the regular), it has been quite the roller coaster dealing with it.  One of the big issues is that I'm not a full-time employee at any of my side jobs, so I don't qualify for any of the company insurance.  So for the past few years, I've had to shop around for my own.  Which was fine when it was just me, but a baby tosses in a whole other set of rules and regulations and issues.  Lucas's insurance is awesome.  Granted, insurance in general SUCKS overall, but for what is out there, Lucas's rocks.  Had we known then what we know now (hindsight is 20/20, right?), Delano would have gone on his daddy's insurance from Day 1.  But at the time, we thought it was all under control (and under the best plan) with mine.  And all was great until my insurance company decided to shake things up a month or so ago (Hey guess what?  We're not going to cover this and this and this anymore.....sorry.....).  So in THAT aspect, getting married would eliminate all of this insurance crap.

But who wants to say they got married for insurance reasons??  Depressing.  Understandable and sensible, maybe.....but still depressing.  Where's the romance in that?

It's super depressing that you can actually Google images such as these.  What does that say about our system??

Speaking of romance, it would be interesting to learn the REAL romance factor between the husbands and wives (or the boyfriends and girlfriends) that I know.  I'm fully aware that we all want our lives to sound amazing on Facebook.  Everybody wants everybody else to think that they have it the best (MY HUSBAND/WIFE/GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND IS THE BEST EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!  HE LOVES KITTENS AND UNICORNS AS MUCH AS I DO AND HE BUYS ME DIAMONDS AND CUPCAKES WHENEVER I NEED TO TURN MY FROWN UPSIDE DOWN!!!).....unless of course it's that person who posts nothing but depressing status updates all the time.  YOU know who they are, even if they don't realize who they are.  You know because you hide them.  You don't want to be obvious and defriend them, so you simply hide them instead.  You don't have to read their posts, and they're not offended because they have no idea.  Really, it's a win, win.

So.....this post started 5 nights ago and I really had planned to add more to it (because, AS USUAL, it wasn't long enough already), but instead, I'll just post it.  I really want to start a new post about how my year has started off SUCKY and how this week has been quite a cake topper, but that will have to wait for another time.  For now, I need to get back to the environmental report I've been working on.  I'm on a time crunch.  So ta-ta for now!!

P.S.  I ended my night with about 7 3/4 ounces.  :)

Mostly About Baby Food

(Wednesday night........)

I'm blogging for the second time tonight.  You can thank Pinot Noir for that.

My most favorite red wine.

I just started to think about certain non-important topics and how I'd like to talk about them.  I was afraid that if I didn't, I'd forget.  Due to my ever-lasting mommy brain.  And maybe also the wine.

P.S.  I'm not drunk, I swear.  And my baby is long asleep for the night.  So is Lucas, for that matter.  And I have alcohol test strips to utilize if for any reason I think I may need to pump 'n dump.  But I definitely don't anticipate needing to go that far.

Yes, I own these.  Thanks to Jessica.  :)

P.P.S.  I think Snooki may be a better mom than I am when it comes to "alcohol awareness".  She had TWO glasses of white wine on her first night out as a mom, pumped THREE FULL bottles of breastmilk between that night and the next morning, tested them all, they all came back negative, but yet she dumped them ALL because she didn't trust the test strip results.  In my mind, she just dumped about 18 oz of liquid gold down the drain for NO REASON.  But then the other side of my brain thought - holy crap, she's just being a super cautious mom!  Way more cautious and paranoid than myself!!  For the record, I trust the test strips.  If they give me a negative reading, I believe them.  Especially because they claim to be super sensitive, even picking up alcohol components in the air.  I've seen them turn a nasty color of black when I've had a bit too much (which is easy when you don't drink like you used to).  I AM paranoid enough to test my milk.  But you will NOT see me dumping breastmilk that has a negative test strip!!  But still, Snooki wins Mom of the Year on the pumping and dumping.

P.P.P.S.  I'm fully aware that I just admitted to watching Snooki's show.  I'll even kick it up a notch.....I watch it On Demand!!  I'm not ashamed.  It's all about her baby, and I'm currently all about babies.  I enjoy watching the lives of parents and babies from a different perspective.  I still even enjoy A Baby Story on TLC. 

Snooki's baby, Lorenzo.  He's pretty UH-DORBS.

So I wanted to talk about baby food.  I make all of my baby food, at least for now (having only one chitlin).  I have the Beaba Babycook unit, which I love.  I found it at a consignment sale last spring for $40.  I wasn't sure if that was a good deal or not, so I held it in my hands so no one else could take it while Lucas googled it to find out how much it usually costs.  When we discovered it sells for about $110 on Amazon, we scooped it up!  Now I love my Babycook, but I can't see paying $110 for it.  It steams and it blends....is that really worth $110??  A person could steam in their microwave (or on the stove) and blend in their blender or food processor....so $110 just seems steep to me.  I'm glad I didn't pay that.  I WOULDN'T have paid that!  But it IS quite convenient to have a contraption that both steams and blends.  I wouldn't trade my Babycook for anything right now!

Love it.

That being said, Delano didn't start his solids with foods from the Babycook.  He actually started with things like sweet potato, avocado and banana.  Yes, you have to cook a sweet potato before giving it to a baby (or an adult, for that matter), but with avocado and banana, all you have to do is mash it up.  No cooking involved.  And if it's too thick (which it will be), add some water or breastmilk (or formula) to it.  I have actually stood over the counter with my boob out squeezing breastmilk into a food bowl.  Which would be disturbing if I wasn't a brestfeeding mom.  And is definitely not sexy.  And falso falls under the category of "TMI".  But it is what it is.  You can actually freeze avocado for future use (I haven't tried freezing banana.  But I did try refrigerating it, and that was a no-go).  You can even pop avocado and banana the microwave for a few seconds to soften it for mashing.  Just make sure you stir it fully and touch it to your lips to make sure there aren't any hot spots before feeding your chitlin.  If it's too hot, stick the entire bowl in the freezer for a minute or two to cool it down.  Really ripe fruit is also good for "no Babycook needed".  Ripe pears are fantastic for mashing.  You don't even need to add any water/milk to them because they're so juicy.  Strawberries are too, even though they're not recommended for the wee ones because they might cause some nasty diaper rash due to the acidity that ends up in their poop (especially those prone to allergies).  Lucas and I don't have a history of food allergies in our families, so I introduced Delano to things like acidic fruit a little early.  We were good to go.  Of course, any baby who sits in his poop for a little while could break out in a little rash, regardless of what he/she ate.  Wouldn't you?

Like I do at home.....without all the sexiness.

We've also given Delano a few things on the food chain not normally thought about for baby food-makin' purposes.  Babies tend to go through phases of not pooping for days on end.  As adults, we instantly think of prunes to help get things moving, whether you've actually ever had a prune or not.  When Delano was going through an "I can't seem to poop" stage, I decided to get him some prunes.  I went to Earth Fare and found him some prunes in their pre-packaged bulk product section.  When I got home, I steamed them.  And because they had already been dried out and seemed too thick for steaming, I steamed them twice.  Then I added some reserved liquid and blended them.  They were still way too thick, so I added some more water and blended again.  I did this about 4 or 5 times until they were the consistency of baby food that I wanted!  Then I figured I shouldn't be feeding him straight prunes (I didn't want to make him poop like he was pooping water), so I steamed and blended some pears and did a half and half blend of prunes and pears.  Delano pooped within about 12 hours.  It was a success.

Another fruit I've steamed (twice) and blended for Delano has been dried dates.  Which he loved.  I've used the dates to flavor cereal as well as sweeten some of the more "plain" vegetables, like white potato and carrots. 

Another "odd" vegetable Delano has had blended into baby food consistency is bell pepper.  A person doesn't usually think of a baby eating bell pepper, but ours has.  I blended with sweet potato, and he liked it.  And there's still some in the freezer waiting for him.

Delano had the yellow bell pepper mixed with sweet potato.

Half prunes, half pears.

I've mashed up, steamed and blended peas, carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, bananas, avocados, prunes, dates, pears, plums, strawberries and apples.....plus a few things I'm sure I'm forgetting about....and all have been a success.  I'm really hoping I end up with a kid who will eat anything. 

I'm no baby-food-making expert by any means.  Those are the people I google for inspiration.....BUT I've had some pretty good luck so far.  So feel free to ask me questions about my food feeding experience if you'd like!  Otherwise I'm sure you can google whatever you'd like to know!

(Thursday night.....)

One thing that's up for debate is baby cereal.

This is the image that came to my mind regarding baby cereal.

This is what I bought for Delano.

I avoided baby cereal for as long as possible.  For one reason, it is actually stated in some studies that cereals are BAD for babies, despite what we all have thought over the years.  There are those who believe we should be holding off on feeding our babies grains just like how we hold off on things like acidic fruits, peanuts, meats, dairy, eggs and honey.  But since Delano is on the small side, I decided to try giving him a little more "substance" in the form of wheat cereal.  I have no issues with him being on the small side.....he's a perfectly healthy little boy....but the doctor wanted to see him gain a teeny bit more weight.  She (of course) suggested rice cereal.  So I attempted to make my own.  It was a giant fail.  I managed to get a LITTLE bit of the rice ground down enough for baby cereal, but most of it was still too large, which made a much-too-thick cereal that when watered down, just became a thin, chunky mess.  I think you really need a spice grinder to get the rice ground down to the desirable powder.  So I went to the store and bought wheat cereal.  YES, wheat contains gluten and YES, I'm aware that gluten is a big allergy to watch for nowadays, but since NONE of our family members are allergic to gluten I wasn't concerned.  And I didn't have any reason to be.....Delano handles it just like anything else he eats.  Which means he likes it.

I'm still not a fan of feeding him cereal.  And I'm not exactly sure why I'm so against it.  Maybe because it seems like unnecessary carbs for a baby.  Maybe because it's what the DOCTOR wants me to do and not what I would choose to do.  I'm happy with my baby's size.  I don't want a GARGANTUAN baby just because the chart says that's acceptable nowadays.  I'm a breastfeeding mom, and those babies tend to be smaller anyways. 

So I bought Delano some formula the other day, and he has had it ONCE as a test-run.  As much as I don't want him to drink formula, I realized that I needed to have a back-up plan handy in case the milk stash runs out (and it is dangerously low).  If I didn't work at all, this wouldn't be a problem.  But since I do work the occasional bartending shift at the Hunter, and since there are about to be more of them in the next couple of months due to the impending wedding season, I just simply realized I needed a back-up plan.  So I bought this:

I was already angry on the inside that I bought formula.....I was actually embarrassed about buying it.....so I absolutely REFUSED to buy anything other than organic formula.  Call me a breastfeeding snob or a formula snob or whatever else you want to - I don't care.  I'd simply like to limit Delano's exposure to pesticides and hormones and antibiotics and man-made concoctions as much as possible while I have control over it (before he's screaming for the McDonald's Happy Meal alongside his buddies).  Even the fruits and veggies I buy for Delano's baby food are organic.  My plan is that this formula just grows old in my cabinet and he never has to have it.....but at least it's now THERE if it's needed. 

P.S.  I am not knocking the mothers out there who formula-feed their babies and feed them one of the standard commercial-brand formulas.  It's just not for me.  Just the same as breastfeeding is not for you, for whatever reason that may be.  I am just very proud to be a breastfeeding mom, and hate for anything to compromise that out of my control!

P.P.S.  If you can't afford to buy all organic for your baby but want to do as well as you can while you still have control over what your child eats, shoot for the Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen standard.  The list varies a teeny bit based on whose version you look at, but it's basically the same overall:

The Dirty Dozen contain the highest amount of pesticides, so go for the organic varieties.  The Clean Fifteen, in commercial farming practices, contain the least amount of pesticides (and none at all if bought organic).

You're still not an evil person if you feed your child "regular" (aka commercial) produce.  I just feel it's a "win" if someone decides to think twice about what they put in their baby's (or their own!) system.  If all you do one day is decide to buy organic strawberries instead of the cheaper commercial ones, you've already decreased the amount of pesticides you're ingesting (or feeding your baby).  And then next time you're at the store maybe you'll buy TWO organic items....or maybe you'll simply switch it up and always buy one thing organic but make it different every time.  Lucas and I are fortunate in the fact that we can buy organic all the time.....our vegetables, fruits and meats are almost always organic and even often local during farmer's market season....but I'm aware that it does get pricey. 

(Saturday morning.....)

It's now Saturday!  Lucas is still in bed while I'm feeding the baby from one boob and pumping the other.  And since Amanda and I had a girls' night out for dinner last night.....and since I didn't pump before I went to bed....I was FULL this morning!

Delano had his re-check at the doctor yesterday.  Ears are crystal clear and he now weighs 15 lbs, 11 oz!  He's still a little guy but the doctor was happy with his weight gain. 

My almost 16 pounder!

Yesterday was a busy day.  I had to drop both Allie and Ollie off at the vet between 7 and 8am, then Delano's appointment was at 9:45.  After that, my mom and I went shopping for a dress for my brother's wedding (since the one I thought I was going to wear doesn't fit) and shoes (to go with my mom's dress).  I also ended up buying a pair of Merrels Barefoot shoes (for only 35!!!) to try out for everyday use since I've been having issues with my feet in all my other tennis shoes.  I really hope they're just what I need.

Can't wait to try these out!

I still need to make my way over to Front Runner in the near future to be fitted for a running shoe.  And I do really need to go to a podiatrist to hear what he thinks I need to do.  Ugh.

My blogs are always so long.  I've thought about making them shorter, but it just never happens.  I ramble in a blog the same way I ramble on a voicemail.  But here's a spice to end it with.....

Back on Track.....At Least Until the End of This Post.

It's been over two weeks since I've blogged.  Two weeks!!  But quite honestly, I was so distraught over losing my last blog into the pits of the internet (SAVE) after working so hard on it (SAVE) that I just haven't been in the mood to sit down and write another one (SAVE).  But I'm back, and this time the internet will NOT defeat me (SAVE SAVE SAVE)!!

What's new?  Well, Delano turned 7 months old last Saturday.  SEVEN MONTHS!!  Time is just flying by.  I know I probably say that every single time he turns a month older (and will probably keep doing so), but it's just so true.  He's growing like a weed, even though he's still just a little guy!

UH-DORBS.  And I really should show off that blanket.  Our dear friend Mary made it for Delano.

Delano got shifted into his crib this past Monday (two days ago) for naps and nighttime sleeping.  I also started some basic sleep training to A) make sure he's getting enough sleep, B) make sure he's sleeping at the right times, and C) teach him how to sooth himself back to sleep when he wakes at night.  Monday and Tuesday, he did well.  He took 3 naps on Monday (though the last one was only about 10 minutes) and 3 naps on Tuesday (all between 45 min to an hour each), all of which were in his crib except for the hour-long nap he took in his stroller yesterday.  Monday night he woke up at 1am and cried until 2am, then was back asleep for the night, and Tuesday night he woke up at 9:30pm, 10:30pm and 4am, and put himself back to sleep in less than15 minutes each time.  He even had his paci in his mouth this morning, which means he found it and popped it back in during his 4am wake up!

Today started out great - I got him up at 7:30am and then had him down for his first nap at 9:00 - but he just hasn't been able to stay asleep today for whatever reason.  He has woken up from every nap within 5-10 minutes with ZERO chance of falling back asleep.  No amount of crying caused him to pass back out.  He's now asleep in my lap, which defeats the purpose of training him to nap in his crib, but the poor boy just really needed some sleep!  He'll get the chance to nap in his crib again tomorrow.  He's been doing so well with it, I'm not concerned.  I really was prepared for it to be MUCH worse.  :)

Crib nap.

Of course, the books tell me that I should have him asleep by 7:00 or 7:30 at night, but he just absolutely does not fall asleep before 8:30.  Maybe as he gets a little older we'll be able to back up his bedtime a little, but again, I'm not super concerned at the moment.  His temperament is good (he doesn't seem cranky and overtired) and he's still getting around 11 hours of sleep at night (longer if I let him sleep past 7:30)!

I had an Arbonne spa party the other day.  It was fun, but not nearly as successful as the party I attended last month.  There were WAY more people at the other girl's party!  But it was still fun.  I try to stress to people that I DO NOT expect anybody to buy anything at these parties, that I REALLY just enjoy having people come over and hang out, but I still think people feel awkward coming to a party with goods to buy and leaving without buying anything.  And I just don't know how to eliminate that feeling in my friends.  But I really wish I could.

With that being said, I'm having a Pampered Chef party next month on Sunday, April 14th.  This party is happening because I didn't know how to say "No thanks".  Donna (the consultant) called me, caught me off guard, and I said sure.  So it's happening, people.  AND THEN THIS IS THE END OF ANY CONSULTANT PARTIES FOR AWHILE.  So I want you to come.  I REALLY want you to come!!  I want you to come hang out, eat my food, drink my wine , play with some kitchen gadgets and then go home.  The end.  If you don't buy a single measuring cup, I DON'T CARE.  I'm not having this party to try to earn any free stuff.  I don't even have any idea what the hostess "incentive" is.  And I have zero interest in becoming a consultant myself.  I'm just having it to have it and give the consultant a chance to sell some stuff if there happen to be any Pampered Chef lovers there.  I'll send out a Facebook invite and give some status update reminders, but go ahead and mark your calendars for 2:00 on the 14th.  Come hang, bring the kiddos if you wish, bring the hubby if you wish, listen to Donna do her thing and then do with it whatever you choose.

Donna's been doing this a LONG time, so she may have a good spread to play with.

Sidenote:  John Cena is one SEXY man.  I don't watch WWE (I think it's silly, even though I live in the south and have even been to a WWE match at the arena several years ago when Stacy Keibler was wrestling), but I'm watching a Late Night with Jimmy Fallon rerun (we are 49 shows behind....seriously) and John Cena is one of the guests.  He and Channing Tatum favor one another.  I heart them both.  Like a lot.  If I were younger, my walls would be filled with their posters.  I should hang a few up somewhere and see what Lucas says about it. :)

Seriously.....those dimples.....

YES.

OH MY.  This one makes me think of this one:

WHAT GIRL LANDED THAT JOB?????

Notice that they all just kept getting nakeder.  I don't think anybody who reads my blog will care.

And I just lost my train of thought.  So I shall end this blog on that note above.  You're welcome, ladies!!  :)

O.M.G.

I just spent HOURS writing a blog entry.  As in I started it HOURS ago when the sun was up.  It talked about so many things that I marked off my "blog list" as I wrote, plus some extras.  It was HOURS worth of material.  Not hours of reading....hours of material.  I even hit "save" several times throughout.

But did it save?  NOPE.  Do I want to write about all that shit again?  NOPE.  So here's a summary.

My period came back and it SUCKS.
My boobs are uneven and beyond the realm of "sexy".
I heart nursing bras.
I heart nursing covers.
I heart my Boppy pillow.

I CANNOT BELIEVE MY ENTIRE BLOG ENTRY WAS DELETED.  LITERALLY HOURS WORTH OF DEEP THOUGHT, TYPING AND AWESOME PICTURES JUST GONE IN A SECOND.

Must cool down.  Must remind myself that it's not actually important.  It's a mundane blog.  Nobody cares.

OMG there was SO MUCH information!!!!.......

Must cool down......not the first time I've ever deleted anything "important".......

SUCKS.

So......instead of giving you all this info about my life.......tell me (if you wanna comment) when something like this happened to you.  Lost a term paper?  Deleted a file?  Computer died?  Power went out?  Sent an email to the wrong person?

I'm so mad right now........because my blog was so informative.......and awesome........ :)

Who Dat?!

Half Marathon Number Seven complete!!

I totally won.  Just kidding.  This means I finished.

Here's me around 6:30am before the race.  Chipper and ready to go!

Me after the race.  Soaking wet, boobs FULL and barely able to walk.

The race started off well.  I fell into step behind a girl who runs at a little faster outdoor pace than I do (about a 9:45 pace), and I was able to keep up with her until around mile 3.  Mile 3 is when things started to get a little ugly.  Sometime between miles 3 and 4, one of my ankles started to hurt.  By mile 5, both of my ankles were angry with me.  Around mile 7, I happen to look down and notice that my boobs were leaking, so I doused the front of my shirt with water to cover that little truth up.  Around mile 8, my knees started to yell at me, and by mile 9, my inner thighs were screaming.(which is unusual for a run).  By mile 10, my left hip decided to join in on the pain train.  So those last 3 miles were by far much slower than the first 10.  Which is a shame, because maybe I could have finished 5 or 10 minutes faster!  But ah well.  I finished at a decent time AND I even beat out two of my previous race times!

My official race finish time info.

My other race times from my Half Fanatics profile.

More details about the other races. 

There were 9,270 runners in the half marathon, but that ONLY includes the half marathon participants.  So in the group of half marathoners, I finished a little behind the middle of the pack.  But there were also 2,631 full marathoners, 123 relay teams (in teams of 2), 3 wheelchair marathoners and 1 wheelchair crank (I have no idea what that means).  That makes 12,151 runners/wheelers total in New Orleans this past Sunday morning!  The biggest race I've participated in to date, even if you only include the half marathoners.  Woot woot - WHO DAT?!

I did end up with a couple of battle wounds from my run.....

Gotta love some blood blisters on the ring toe.

After my shower I found this bad boy on the same foot.  It doesn't look like much here, but it was a HUGE blood blister that wrapped around my toe.  Good times.  Ignore my dry, crusty foot.

I also left the race with a giant pain in the top of my right foot, like the top of my foot was pulled.  It's still sore today even though it's getting better.  I've iced it and stretched it and stayed out of tennis shoes for the most part.

Ironically, my left foot.....the one with the suspected plantar fasciitis......the one that has been the huge pain in my ass the past several months......doesn't have a single battle wound on it.  AND, to top it off, my plantar fasciitis pain seems to be gone!!  It's still sensitive when I press into the bottom of my foot, but the pain while walking is gone.  Like I ran it off.  Granted, I've also been avoiding tennis shoes (since obviously the ones that used to work for me before Baby no longer cut it), but I'm not even having any issues after sitting for long periods.  Weird, eh?

The rest of the trip was great as well.  We walked around the French Quarter, visited a couple of parks, drove around the Loyola University area (million dollar homes), went to the Audubon Aquarium, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the National WW2 Museum, the Cabildo and the Presbytere.  We had some really good food (loads of seafood and Jambalaya) and some really strong drinks.  I have a bunch of pictures I'll eventually upload into a Facebook album.  But for now, here's a family photo from our trip!