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16w and the End of Leave

30 Oct

Looks like it’s here. I’ve known it was coming since before it began, but it’s here. The end of maternity leave and the return to work. 

I was lucky enough to have 16 weeks at home with my kids this time. Though most people get 6-12 weeks, I got 16. A rarity and a true testament to the “family first” philosophy my boss shares. 16 weeks. 

At this point in my new son’s life, he’s cooing and smiling, bordering laughter. He’s happy and wonderful and I am truly blessed that he’s my little guy. Of all the mama’s laps he could have fallen out of the little cloud of baby angels he was chillin on before earth, he fell into mine. He’s been the peace to my storm and my joy in the bleakness that has surrounded my little family for the last few months. Well, he and his brother have been my joy, but toddlers are toddlers and baby’s can’t talk yet, so he’s not old enough to challenge me outside of normal baby challenges, yet… You understand what I’m saying. My Remy is a fireball. A lover and a fighter, stronger willed than many, hilarious and sweet, and a handful. My Desy is just pure joy. 

I’m lucky. I got him for 16 weeks. Through all the drama that’s occurred in that time, my comfort is in knowing that I had that time to handle it. If I had been at work while we went through the last 4 months worth of junk, I don’t know that I would still have a job. Instead of relaxing and soaking up my new baby’s newness, we’ve been confronting odds stacked so high up against us, we should have broken, but we didn’t because I had those 16 weeks.  
And now, they’re done. This was my last baby and therefore my last 16 weeks I’ll ever have to be in baby land, but it’s over. 

Tomorrow I’ll open my eyes and he’ll be turning one. The next day I’ll open my eyes and he’ll be turning two. Time passes so quickly with kids and while working, it passes at lightening speed. They grow up. We grow old. They take over. Omg. I’m 70 already! But time really does fly and starting tomorrow, we enter the super speed time warp that will have my kids graduating high school and off to college, getting married and having their own babies. 

I don’t want to miss his first laugh. I don’t want to miss his first steps. But I probably will and somehow I have to figure out how to be ok with that. 

My first day back happened to coincide exactly with Desy’s turning 16 weeks old.  
(Yes, he’s wearing the same outfit at the day he turned 13 weeks. #favorites)

This is what the counter looked like when I left the house in the morning with a sick baby at home:  
This is what my baby looked like when I left in the morning as I walked out the door: 
This is what my car looked like all packed up for the day:  

This was my desk at work:   

This is the room I pump in:   

This is the face I came back to: 

 
It’s going to be hard. I know that. Transitions often are. But the bottom line is that I’m a mama and my family needs to be able to rely on me inside and outside of the home for now. I am teaching my boys equality in the work-place. That women are strong. I’m teaching them that their mom would do anything to take care of them. I’m teaching them to dream and succeed. I’m teaching them that I love them and that no matter how far away I feel sometimes, I’m always there fighting for our family. 

Cheers to living for the weekend again! 
  

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Goodbye 4th Trimester

9 Oct


He’s 3 months old! That means that the 4th trimester is over and I have a real baby on my hands. Not just a crying little wormy newborn, but a real baby, with likes and dislikes and smiles and laughter. Yup. Welcome to real life, little guy.

So far, Desy’s favorite things are nursing, smiling and his big brother Remy. Seriously. I was excited about the brother bond before he was born, but seeing the way he lights up with his big brother is around, well, there are just no words for that.

Speaking of big brother, he’s been SO GOOD!!!! I’m shocked by it daily. When he sees “Baby Des” he gets so excited and wants to hold him or kiss him, it’s just awesome. He also nicknamed him “Noooookie” pronounced just like that. Noooookie.

Desy was about 3 days old when he got this name. After we moved, we found a restaurant in our new hood called “The Nook” and they have a big sign inside that says “Nookie’s”. Needless to say, it’s the only restaurant Remy ever wants to go to… Good thing though, cuz the pancakes. Yum.

I’ll update this post with my giant baby’s stats after his apt next week, but for now, he’s huge, delish, and amazing. Such a sweet soul, I can already tell. Happy 3 months of life little man. Mama loves you.  

HEIGHT: 24.5″

WEIGHT: 16.04lbs

The Happiest $2 I Ever Spent. 

13 Sep

For about 8 years, I’ve had a $2 bill in my wallet. A long time ago someone told me that if you kept a $1 bill in your wallet, you’d always have money if you needed it. So, my lucky $2 bill has kept me out of trouble and I’ve never needed to spend it. 

Today though, we went on an adventure that wasn’t what we planned, but so much more fun. Heading for the Autry Museum turned into a detour to Travel Town, In-N-Out for lunch and PONY RIDES instead of naps! #momoftheyear

By the time we got to the ponies, we were out of cash. I had forgotten that the Griffith Park Pony Rides are CASH ONLY!!!! #worstmomoftheyear

My little cowboy was so sad!! The Trains took credit cards, but the ponies don’t. WTF GPPR?? 

While daddy and Remy headed for (another) train ride, I remembered that $2 bill in my wallet. Pony rides are $3, and what mom can’t scrounge $1 in change from the bottom of the car (sure it may be hiding under French fries, but you know it’s there somewhere). 

It was the best $2 I’ve ever spent. As the boys took off zooming past me on the train, I got to wave the pony ride ticket to show my boy. I didn’t get a pic of that smile, but let’s just say he was so happy. And that made it all worth it. 

Before:

  

During:  

  
After: 

 

   
And then there’s me and the baby: 

 

Clearly, baby is jealous that he isn’t old enough for pony rides.  
 

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First Day of (pre)School, Take 2! 

10 Sep

It’s no secret that the last few months have been unparalleled with change, stress and events, including but not limited to a major move. That move ripped off the comfort bandaid of needing to explore preschools, since we loved Remy’s daycare so much and didn’t plan to leave until they kicked us out. 

Well, moving away (only 20 miles, but in LA traffic, that’s like 20 hours) forced us to recognize that our little man is growing up, and needs more structure and education than a daycare could provide. That could also be because there’s just no other daycare like the one we had and everything else just seemed to be miles behind where my 2-going-on-8 year old boy is at developmentally. 

Before we moved, I found a school that seemed really good, but with a newborn who hates traveling, I wasn’t able to tour it until after we moved. At that point, the one open space they had (for full time) was taken and we were left with that school only as a part time option. Not awesome.  

I found another school that was close by, but was much less intimate and far more “public schoolish” even though it still cost more than our first choice. It was great, but not awesome. People were sweet, but it ultimately didn’t give me the same good feels as the other school. 
We reserved a spot for option #2 for M/W/F, option #1 for T/Th and I kept calling #1 every day to see if the wait list had opened up yet. Nope. Nothing. So bummed. 

As summer closed, maternity time off is dwindling down and my babe needs to get comfy in his new place, the start of schools were eminent. He was going to have to adapt to multiple environments and I was going to have to harness my emotional outbursts at the thought. 

Remy’s first day of school at option #2:     Was yesterday. 
I got him already, packed a nice bento lunch:   

 And we were off, paperwork, check for a zillion dollars, and outrageous emotions in hand.

We got to school (alluring him by calling it a “playground”) and I tucked him into his new classroom. Remy’s a HUGE TALKER, so I asked the teacher if any other the other kids were too. She said yes and brought him to two kids who looked at us blankly and said nothing. Meanwhile, Remy spouted off about the kind of dinosaurs he’d found in the bucket and was telling everyone about them (#shamelessmombrag). 

I got myself together, said goodbye and left him there. With kids who don’t talk. Kicking myself that I made a bad decision and guilting myself to go back and get him. 
I finished the paperwork (BTW- can we talk about that sometime???? How much paperwork can you possibly need for preschool?!) and finally, handed them my aforementioned bazillion dollar check. 

Not even 20 seconds after getting to my car, my phone rang. It was school #1 saying that they had an opening and it was ours for the taking! It wouldn’t be available until 10/1, but it was ours! “I’ll take it” was quickly followed by “Now I have to break up with the other school who’s currently in possession of my firstborn son. Shit.”

I can’t tell you how awkward that conversation was. I mean, I can, but I don’t know that anyone could possibly understand! The switch was flipped and the lights of “welcome to our school” were immediately off and replaced by “come get your kid and get out”. Well, that’s not really true. They let me keep him there for 2 hours, and were cold as ice about it, but I had a sleeping infant and couldn’t leave any sooner. Oops. Sorry, it’s not you, it’s me!! Ok, it’s you, but oh well. 

So, TODAY, Remy started his first day of school, again!!!    

Followed by:
 
And 
 

And a big smile when I picked him up this afternoon! 
Drama is over, life can begin settling in now. I’m happy he’s where he is and even more happy that he’s only there a few days a week while I am still on maternity leave, before starting full time. Oh, timing. You’re a silly monster. Thanks for keeping me on my toes… Again. 

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I’m Baaaaack!!!

3 Aug

It’s been almost 4 weeks since this new little life exited my body and I’m finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After a ridiculously challenging pregnancy and an even harder labor/delivery, I’m starting to feel like I’ll heal one day soon and will be able to start living life again. 

To anyone who’s been c-sectioned before me; kudos to you for standing up and walking again! With the incredibly high rate of voluntary c-sections that exist in the world, it’s shocking to me that anyone would choose to do it TWICE! So hard to get back to normal!!!! Or, maybe I’m just old. 😉 

For now, here’s a picture of my happy place: 

  

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