Holt is 3 months old!

All those people aren't lying when they tell you how fast it will go by! Now if only I could tell the millions of people that ask me if my life has changed to put a sock in it, I'd be happy. I'm enjoying Holt at this age so much. Everyday he is making a new sound and he just smiles constantly. This past week he just started laughing out loud and it's the cutest stinkin' thing I've heard in my entire life! He's just days away from rolling over, but since he absolutely hates laying on his belly, I think he's putting it off. He has found his range in his voice also. One second it's the deepest "OOOOHHHH" the next he is shrieking so loud that Bentley is running for the door. He amuses himself all day long. Every now and then I catch him staring at me, whether Kyle is holding him or he's next to me on the couch. I must admit, I almost want to cry every time I see this. It absolutely melts my heart that he is just so in love with his Mommy. He's making me want to pull an Angelina and Brad and have a whole herd of kiddos! He was recently diagnosed with eczema but it's pretty much taken care of with prescription lotion. He never seemed bothered by it, but the red scaly patches were getting worse and worse, so I had to have it taken care of. Holt can only wear 100% cotton, use Cetaphil to wash, and prescription or Baby Aveeno lotion.

Here are some of his likes and dislikes:

LIKES:
-TV, it was a joke before, now he seriously loves it. Especially FOOTBALL.
-Smiling and laughing
-Talking, he's a serious chatterbox
-Being out and about
-Outside
-Rattles
-He loves his tongue! In and out in and out...
-Bathtime and bedtime

DISlikes:
-Getting strapped into his carrier
-TCU Frog horn
-Not a huge fan of the bumbo yet
-Naps, I'm in trouble
-Being on his belly


Now that I am back at work, full time for only another week thank goodness, our schedule is quite different. I am SOOOOO tired at the end of the week I can barely function.

5am- I wake up and start to get ready in anticipation he could wake up anytime between 5:30 and 6:30. I feed him, put him back down, finish getting ready and load the car, then get him ready. He really loves sleeping in the mornings.
7am-We head out the door
8am-I drop him off at daycare and head to work
9am-I pump at work
12pm-I go feed him his lunch at daycare
3pm-I pump again
5pm-I go pick him up and we head home
6pm-Home to play and talk and get dinner ready, he naps
8pm-Another feeding sometime this hour
9pm-Bath time and bed time. Then I pump to make up the ounces I need for the next day. I get his bottles ready and I get ready for bed.
11pm-Feed him again, catch some ZZZs

It's even more exhausting to type it out. Just to see him smile in the mornings and when I pick him up at night, makes it all worth it. I never saw myself as a working mom, but it truly is a great balance. It will be even better when I'm home for 4 days and at the office for 3. I just hope I can continue to do a good job at both. The "I just had a baby, give me a break" card can only last so long. First and foremost, I want to be the best mom and wife I can be, my career comes second. We're looking forward to his first Halloween in another week. I love him to pieces!

Pumpkin Patch

Tonight we finally made it to the pumpkin patch for some pics! I've been trying to go every single weekend since October started, and now that there is a week left, I finally made it! Holt was a great sport even when we tried to make him lay on top of the pumpkins. We probably took 200 or more pictures and probably have 10 good ones. All you need is one right!?

I figured it out...

You know why us women, and especially now that we're moms also, can come across as bitchy and nagging? Because we don't ask for help. We think we can do it all. We think our husband can read our minds about the messy house or the fact that the laundry is still waiting to be folded.

First of all, most men don't care about these things. I have tested it. While I was pregnant, I nicely asked Kyle to pick up anything that was on the ground since I couldn't bend over anymore. There was a single Qtip in the middle of our bathroom floor. I thought to myself, "How long will it stay there?" It was bugging the heck out of me, but I would rather step on it than attempt bending over on tile floor. You know how long it stayed there? Well over a week until I couldn't take it anymore. I hastily bent over to pick it up while somewhat screaming to Kyle, "YOU DON'T SEE THIS DOWN HERE?! I TOLD YOU I NEEDED YOU TO PICK UP EVERYTHING ON THE FLOOR SINCE I CAN'T!" I honestly don't think he even noticed the Qtip on our floor at all and if he did, it certainly didn't bother him like it did me. I bet if I had just asked the very first time I saw it, if he would please throw it away, he would have kindly obliged. Neither of us would have given it any thought. He wouldn't have thought I was being a biotch and I wouldn't have had to scream.

So you see, if we would just ask the first time something bothers us or ask when we need help, we would probably be a lot nicer to our husbands. Even better, they would be happy to help instead of feeling like they have to because we screamed at them. I'm going to work on this.

I'm quickly learning that I can't do it all and I need to ask for help. I'm on the go from 5am until 11pm now that I'm back at work. Instead of glaring at Kyle while he cozily sits on the couch watching TV while I am pumping or fixing bottles or cleaning up the kitchen, maybe I should just ask him to help me get the bottles ready? I am willing to bet that he would and have no problem doing so. I'm looking forward to seeing how this epiphany will change my life, my mood, and my marriage. Glad I could save the rest of you the trouble of waiting to figure it out.

Teacher's Pet

Holt's First day of Daycare

As most of you probably know by now, I have embarked on my journey of Working Motherhood. This is an entirely new and different type of Motherhood. I returned to work on October 4th. I was in complete denial about returning to work so I really did not think much about where Holt was going to go until he was about 4 weeks old. Did I want a nanny? Did I want him in daycare? Did I want to sell everything I own and live in a box just so I could be with my baby all day? (It wouldn't be that bad, I'm choosing to return to work.) I called the daycares around my house, no openings. I searched online Nanny services and immediately got freaked out about some stranger coming into my home and caring for my baby the way I had for 12 weeks. I called a daycare by my office, BINGO. They had an opening. Just to be sure I called other daycares around my office, NO OPENINGS. I sure hoped I liked the school since it was looking to be my only option. In the beginning, I didn't think I would want him at a daycare where he would be left alone all day without much attention. Then I started liking the idea of security that it offered. Needless to say, he is enrolled in that daycare by my office, about 3 minutes from my office to be exact. I wouldn't have it any other way! I'm allowed to go feed him at lunch time and I like that I am so close in case they needed me for something. Moving on...there are several things I have noticed about Daycare.

-It's great people watching. I am there for about 30 minutes or so at lunch so I observe the kiddos (only 4 allowed in the infant class) and wonder, "Why are they here?" Then sometimes I have to feed him before we go home so I see their parents pick them up. Interesting. "THAT's what her mom looks like?" "Man, his dad is short, he's screwed." And "Wow, her parents are old."
-The teacher, in her broken English, loves talking smack about the kids and their parents. "This one is spoiled, her parents let her sleep in bed with them." "This one only wears organic diapers and eats organic food, what a pain." Surely she has nothing bad to say about my perfect child right?
-That brings me to my next observation, I'm certain my child is perfect compared to the other monster's in his classroom. I now understand why everyone mom thinks their child is the best and most perfect child in the world. I'm just glad that it's actually true for me. :)
-I learned quickly the most efficient way to drop off and pick up your child by observing the other moms. DO NOT bring your purse in. Keys only. Smart. I'm considering never carrying a purse now that I have a child. How annoying is that and a diaper bag?
-I have a crusty kid. I always told myself I wouldn't have a crusty kid. Every kid in daycare is crusty.They are always getting their noses wiped and coughing up stuff. When I pick him up he has a nose full of boogers and sleepies all over his face. I don't even mind, I'm just happy to see my crusty baby.

OOPS! Don't make of mess of your outfit at school or you get to wear clothes that don't match!


This is all sounding like I didn't have a hard time dropping him off the first day. I cried for about 5 minutes in the car before I could get him out. He was sleeping so peacefully and had no idea that this was the first day we would be separated all day long. Poor guy never saw it coming. I cried carrying him in, cried handing over his bottles, cried handing him over, and then smiled when I saw him smile at me. It's like he was saying, "It's ok Mommy, see I'm just fine." I cried on my way to work, cried when my mom called to see how I was doing, cried when Kyle called to see how I was doing. After I saw him at lunch, I didn't cry anymore. He was happy and well taken care of. I'm certain he is the teacher's pet. She always tells me wonderful stories about him and how happy and smiley he is all day long. Rarely sleeps, but also rarely fussy. I look in the window on the door before going in sometimes and she's almost always looking at him adoringly. I hope he has this effect on people his whole life. She's also told me he's a bit of a chatterbox. He loves "talking" to her and the hanging animals on his bounce and mobile.

There's that smile!

Starting in November I will be working from home on Mondays and Fridays. I think I get the best of both worlds by getting my adult interaction at the office 3 days a week, and getting to be a Mommy to my little boy the other 4 days! Now I'm off to finish my Mother's Milk Tea to keep up my supply...it's never ending I tell ya! A breastfeeding working Mom is an entire blog in itself, I'll be sure to fill you in on that when I have more time.