Archives for April 2012

friday favorites

April 20, 2012

Because I’m now a VPTWAHM, I was able to check out my neighbor’s garage sale in the early afternoon and found a 3-pelt sheepskin rug for $25. Score! I also took Levi to Costco and enjoyed a Very Berry Sundae for dessert. Hopefully our weekend will be just as exciting and productive as today!

Here are some of my favorite posts from around the web:

I love these shoes but worry they will be too wide on my narrow feet.

Courtney reveals her dirty little parenting secrets.

Holy cow, these photos are unbelievable!

The 72-room bohemian dream house (via Hither & Thither)

“New Girl” fans (I’m obsessed!), check out Schmidt’s Workout Video

Help me reach 100 “likes” on Facebook by the end of the month!

I also write for Lifetime Moms:

3 Ways to Worry Less When Your Husband is Deployed

Anybody doing anything out of the ordinary this weekend? Happy Earth Day!

me…jane by patrick mcdonnell

April 20, 2012

Did anybody catch Dr. Jane Goodall on “The Daily Show” earlier this week? The renowned primatologist was on the show to promote Disney’s new movie, “Chimpanzees.” Um, how adorable is that trailer?

I’m always amazed when I stop to think about Jane’s incredible life. She has basically lived the dream she imagined for herself when she was a young girl–to live with and help animals. Her adventures as a child with her stuffed chimpanzee, Jubilee, are the subject of an illustrated book called Me . . . Jane by Patrick McDonnell.

I think this sweet picture book, which is based on Jane Goodall’s autobiography, would make a lovely addition to a little one’s library, especially with Earth Day coming up this weekend!

{via Amazon}

i survived my first day as a VPTWAHM

April 19, 2012

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and support of my new job! Yesterday was a very, very good day. I worked for about four hours during Levi’s two naps and was able to take him to his midday music class. It was a million times more fun to be there with him after his morning nap than at the end of the work day when he is tired and cranky.

Although my plan as a VPTWAHM is to only put in 2-3 hours of work a day, I’m finishing up a couple of big projects and am also training my full-time replacement. Yes, I am giving up some of my responsibilities in order to scale back my hours, but I’m perfectly content with that. Of course, I expect that not every day will be a dream with Levi, and there certainly will be an adjustment period, but I’m so excited for this new chapter of my life.

my big news!

April 18, 2012

Today I start a new job! I am now a VPTWAHM. That’s a very part-time work at home mom. I recently realized that what I really want do is spend the majority of my time with Levi and only a couple of hours a day working… rather than the other way around. Thankfully, I work for an amazing company of mostly working moms who understood my desire to be full-time mommy and are letting me significantly cut back my hours to focus primarily on raising my son.

I went back to work part time after an incredibly short 6 week maternity leave and started full nine hour days just two weeks later. It was an extremely rough transition for me, but I was grateful to have a work-from-home job and was determined to make it the best of it. At the time, I thought I had the best of both worlds. I could take short breaks throughout the day to nurse Levi and was able to see his smiling face whenever I went downstairs to refill my coffee mug.

But hearing and watching him with his nanny, a loving girl who has become part of our family, also made me sad. I began to feel as though I was missing out on lots of Levi’s little moments. When I heard him laughing, I wondered what was so funny. When he cried, I wanted to know what upset him. Over time, I started to regret my decision to go back to work–and especially to go back to work when he was still a tiny baby.

I never thought I wanted to be a stay at home mom. My mother worked full time outside of the home, so growing up I just assumed that’s what mothers did–they juggled careers and parenting. I actually couldn’t understand why women would give up their jobs to raise kids. Before having Levi, I guess I always connected a person’s profession with their identity, and I never thought I wanted to be “just a mom.” I truly thought I could do it all, but now I realize that it’s impossible to do it all…and maybe, just maybe, I don’t want to do it all anymore. We have limited hours in a day and have to pick our priorities. If I can spend time with Levi, put in 2-3 hours of blogging and copy writing while he’s napping, take a shower and run an errand or two, that will be my new version of a very successful day!

{photos taken on April 16, 2012}

levi’s monthly photo (nine months old)

April 17, 2012

Dear Levi,

You are nine months old–and officially a baby on the move! You decided to give crawling a shot on St. Patrick’s Day, and we have video of you wiggling your way across the carpeted basement floor. After weeks of practice, you’re now able to get up on all fours and deliberately alternate your arms and legs as you move forward, which means it is really time to baby proof the house!

Shortly after you turned eight months old, you came down with RSV. Your coughing fits scared me because when your face turned bright red and it appeared as though you were choking, I was convinced that you couldn’t breathe. I even had to call your pediatrician at home! Unfortunately, there was no medication we could give you to stop the cough and we to wait almost a week for it to pass.

Changing your diaper is nearly impossible now. As soon as I put you on your back, you flip yourself over onto your tummy. You are such a squirmy worm! Daddy and I think you definitely look older, and your golden brown hair seems to be getting wavy. When I dress you, I’m now putting you in size 6-9/6-12 outfits. Packing up your size 3-6 clothing, I couldn’t believe how much of your winter wardrobe you didn’t get to wear because it wasn’t that cold outside, although maybe we didn’t take you out all that much when it was chilly.

Daddy has been away for work for half the month, but before he left, he moved your crib mattress down to the second level. You are averaging 10-11 hours of sleep a night! No more waking up to breastfeed. Now when you wake up around 5:30-6am, you are ready to start your day. You are quickly turning me into an early bird! I love the time we spend together before the sun rises.

You learned some new party tricks while you were eight months old like putting your thumb in your mouth and making clicking noises with your tongue. It makes you laugh when we click our tongues back at you! Mealtime has become especially messy in the last week, as you’ve discovered how to blow raspberries and your preferred time to do it is while you are eating. I think I need to wear a bib while I feed you! You still haven’t mastered the sippy cup, but some of your very smart friends also had difficulty figuring out how to tip it, so I’m not really concerned. Eventually you’ll learn.

Oh, and you still love bath time! You are very happy to sit in your inflatable duck tub scooping up water with your toys and banging them together. Sometimes you recline and stretch your legs over the side of the tub, and occasionally you try to roll over onto your belly. Maybe it’s time for more swim lessons!

This month’s stats: At your 9 month check-up, your doctor was smiling from ear to ear because Operation Chubbs was a success! You gained nearly three pounds in three months, putting you back on the chart. You are now 17.8lbs and in the 6th percentile for weight. Hooray! You are 28.75 inches long, which is a very good height to be. We’ll continue mixing butter into your food, but now we can start feeding you slightly chunky (but still mushy) grown-up food in addition to pureed baby food even though you don’t have any teeth yet! You currently nurse when you wake up and eat breakfast 30 minutes to an hour later. After your 9:30-11:30am nap, you get lunch, and I nurse you again an hour or so after that. You sleep from about 2:30-4:30pm (sometimes 3-5pm) and breastfeed when you wake. Dinner is an hour later, and I offer you a breastmilk night cap just before bed.

Stay sweet and happy, baby guy!

xoxo

***********

I’ll be photographing Levi on the 12th of every month to document his growth this first year. He’ll be wearing a numbered white onesie corresponding to his age in months, sitting in a chair next to his blabla doll for continuity. See all of Levi’s monthly photos here.

{photo taken four days after Levi’s 9 month birthday, 4/16/12}