Coffee and prayer

Well, week one of our new schedule is done. Just like everything that I overreact about, I can look back in retrospect on this week and say, it's really not that bad. I need to learn to be less dramatic.

The hardest part of our new schedule is being tired, but that's nothing new. I've come to terms with the fact that being tired is just part of being an adult. If you don't have to tape your eyelids open every afternoon around 3pm, then you aren't doing it right.

Our new nanny is a blessing. She is an older Bosnian woman, and she insists that Max call her "Nana" which I think is adorable. She is concerned about his leg strength so she is sure to tell me that she helped him walk around throughout the day. His little cooler of food comes home completely empty each night, so I'm proud of her for getting Max to eat so well! She even managed to get him to eat all of the tofu I sent. Ha! I had to laugh when I dropped him off on Wednesday morning and she said "Uhh I forget baby's name?!?" Fair enough...it's not like he can tell her himself! And after a long day at work, sometimes I am driving home and my fried brain goes--Ashley! You have a baby! His name is Max!! And I think, how did we choose the name Max?? 

Thank you everyone for your support as I blab about my so-called struggles. I promise I am only 10% motivated by the need for attention. The rest is purely to just write and capture the events so that when Max gets older I can say, thennnn when you were 9 months old, THIS happened... So thanks for reading.

I have come to realize that when I crave easier times, I am absentmindedly wishing my life away and wishing away some of our most precious moments with Maxwell. And then I realize, all I need is a lot of iced coffee and a lot of prayers for a continued positive attitude. That, my friends, is my recipe for success.

Nine month appt confirms: His head is large.

Max is his own Valentine this year!

Spring fake-out (and a quick rant)

It's that time of year again, where it's not pitch dark when I leave work each night, which puts me in a springtime frame of mind...then temperatures surge into the 50's so I ditch the coat in the morning, and I start to wear pastels thinking that will propel us into spring, and I just get butterflies in my stomach thinking of the fresh feeling that spring brings!!!!!

I know we are weeks (and a few snow storms) away from spring but gosh darnit, we are well on our way to green grass and less hibernating!

My goal for this spring is to get out and about with Max after work.  In the winter, and with him being a little babe, it has been so easy to just come home and play on the floor until bedtime.  But, with warmer weather approaching, and now that he is a bit older, I feel like we can really get out and see the world.  Luckily, my friend Mike provides the perfect opportunities for outdoor activities - kickball games!  Last fall, he had games at a park down the street from our house once a week.  I don't know why we didn't go more often, but there was a handful of glorious nights where Max and I would walk to the park and watch a few games in the final hours of daylight.  I was still such a rookie - on our first trip to watch kickball, I packed up practically his entire nursery into his stroller and then tried to nonchalantly run across a field with him, but all of the crap kept falling out of the stroller and players were like, "HOLD THE GAME, BABY ON THE FIELD" as I made a scene.  Not to mention it was super windy and I was wearing a dress so....I can only thank the good Lord that my confidence and my parenting skills have improved since then.

Also, when will I stop having dreams that Max is in our bed and going to fall out if I don't thrash around and save him?  I'm sure Mike is wondering the same thing.

Flashback to a kickball tournament
 last fall.  Who is this baby??

**Quick rant, if you don't mind: Is anyone else offended by the phrase "Welcome to the club" or am I solidifying my status as the most annoyable person alive?  I mean....how does one establish themselves as the "official welcome committee"?  It's almost as if they want you to know they were there before you, and so "welcoming" you is their way of saying, "Oh man, you just arrived?!  I've been here for a while now and it's cool.  Glad you finally caught on to this cool thing, and as I said, I've pretty much been here forever, so...welcome."

Even worse, people are welcoming others to "clubs" that have either been around forever (parenting, etc.) or are so mainstream and so hip (craft breweries, etc.) that it's impossible to determine who is qualified to offer the official Welcome. So, QUIT IT.

Is this rant legit - too legit to quit? Discuss.

Worst Life Competition

I'm offering myself a challenge this week.  Don't go for the gold in the worst life competition.

It's so easy for me to try to compete.  It's so easy to make a conversation entirely out of what is currently sucking the most.  But why?? What's the point?  What do you really win when you realize that you have the worst situation?  Nothing but a trip to Downerville.

This week, our routine is getting a shake-up.  Mike's work schedule has shifted significantly and we are starting with a new nanny.  So now, instead of getting ready in the silent darkness and then sneaking out of the house, we are getting Max up and ready and I'm dropping him off on my way to work. Mike hits the road well before the sun comes up to get to the gym and beat traffic.

It's like we're adults or something!!!

Change is scary and I hate when my routine gets a shake-up.  I feel like I have so many little things I need to remember to do to have a successful day, and any shift in my routine compromises those little things.

Last night, as I put Maxwell to bed, I counted my blessings and remembered to be 1000% thankful for every single one.  Comparison is the thief of joy and darnit, isn't that the truth!!!  This is my life.  I (try to) choose to love what I get and ignore what I don't get.  I hate to get too crazy here but I really feel like I'm making a huge discovery in "the meaning of life" and "things you can only learn as you get older".

Things I'm excited about:
--Getting to turn the bedroom light on in the morning!
--Getting to dress Maxwell in the mornings!  It may sound silly but I was sad for only getting to choose his outfits 2 days a week.
--Mike's new commute takes him right past a Chik Fila so I'm quite certain this will be a dinner treat at least once a week!!!
--Since we no longer have an in-home nanny, I'm crossing my fingers that our Excel Energy bill will go down since our TV and lights won't be on all day during the week.
--Our new nanny lives literally 3 blocks away.  (The location is almost so perfect, I feel like we're on The Truman Show.  In that case, can I start collecting royalties or what??) She is a sweet older woman and as I was dropping Max off this morning, she kept saying, "You don't worry.  I'm the grandma.  Don't worry!" And even though dropping him off this morning was probably harder than going back to work after maternity leave, I got to work with a huge surge of excitement to pick him up later this afternoon.

We tried cheese this week.  Success! (duh)

Not to be left out, I caught what the boys had.
This pretty much sums up my week.

Super Bowl fun.  For those of you who don't
know, it went downhill shortly after this.

Filed under: Adorable and Blackmail

Warming up for the big game!