A Case of Opposites

This week has blown by. I made Carey go to Marietta Wednesday on his last day off to get me a new military ID. Mine was expired. Sawyer was just a little younger than Oscar when I got my last one and my hair was also in the same rough stage. I felt a sense of deja vu, like I was starting to repeat the last four years. Say it isn't so. :) My espresso machine has been broken since just before Oscar was born and the only place in Atlanta that I could find that was willing to see if they could repair it was also in Marietta so we dropped that off while we were there too. Then Carey and I went out to lunch. Lunch dates are a little different with a babe, but it was nice not to have Sawyer out with us too and worry about him. We picked Sawyer up early and took both boys to see Carey's grandparents. They hadn't met Oscar yet and as his middle name is after Carey's grandfather's, we thought it high time they meet. I hung out inside with Oscar and Grandad and Audrey and...

It was a weekend full of parties. After the pool party Friday night, we spent Saturday relaxing and hanging around the house. There were many storms, and I was tired and just didn't feel like venturing out. Both Sawyer and Oscar were being cranky and Sawyer was being rather sassy. So I figured it best not to test my patience and go anywhere. Sunday, however, we had two birthday parties. One was a "grown-up" birthday party for a neighbor. The do a birthday brunch every year. Sawyer had tons of fun playing with all the other kids and I got to catch up with some neighbors and friends. We came home for nap and then left right after for a birthday party of one of Sawyer's classmates. They had a bounce house, a slip n slide, and pizza. So in Sawyer's mind it was a great success! It's really funny because, until this year, he wouldn't go anywhere near a bounce house. But suddenly he is fine with them. Sunday evening we got home and Carey was back! Earlie...

I am the co-chair of the parenting committee in our neighborhood (see previous post about over-functioning). We had some funds leftover from our Easter Egg Hunt Social and thought it would be fun to do a pool/pizza party playdate one evening. So last night about 20 families came up to the pool for an afternoon. It was great fun. There were kids from 4 weeks up to 6 years old. It truly takes a village. Kids had no problem coming up to random parents asking for things. Oscar got squished by many mamas and I fed more than one kid who wasn't mine. :) As much as I complain about how "suburban" our neighborhood truly is one of a kind. I managed to get in a short walk yesterday and some work done. I still haven't gotten everything on my to-do list taken care of, but I am trying to be happy about small accomplishments. A friend of a friend is making a new dining table for us. He and his wife came over last night to show us samples of wood stain. We decided on one ...

We haven't had an eventful week. After the craziness of last week, I am incredibly happy about that. Oscar was 10 weeks old yesterday. It's unbelievable how fast time is passing. One of the things I tried to focus on this pregnancy and maternity leave, differently than last time, is to make sure that I am focused on being healthy and not so much on weight and body shape. Ten weeks postpartum, I am only eight pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. However, my body is much softer and hips are much wider. I am still having trouble fitting into pre-pregnancy clothes. I decided to pick up my workouts in addition to the stepbet that I am already doing. However, those two things can sometimes be in conflict with each other. My body definitely needs the strength workouts, but I am not able to squeeze in a walk in addition to the workout, so in order to make my steps, I am having to get creative. This week I started a new Nike Training Club plan. NTC is a free app that I use to giv...

It's been a whole week. Normally I wouldn't have waited so long to post, but...life. I'm gonna make this a bullet post with lots of pictures to catch us up. • Monday - We had Oscar's 2 month doctor visit. He got a vaccine. :( He weighs almost 12 lbs now and is 22.5 inches. The doctor noticed (I'd noticed it a few days before) a flat spot on the right side of his head. He always lays that way. So now we have to try to prop him on his left side to even it out. Otherwise he'll need a helmet. I kicked an ottoman and broke my toe. It's still swollen and bruised. Made for a rough week. • Tuesday and Wednesday - We went to Calloway Gardens so I could speak at a conference. Mom came with us to corral the boys. We managed to get some time to walk through the gardens and the butterfly house before we left. • Thursday and Friday -  I got hit with a terrible bout of mastitis. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Those days are pretty much a ...

I'm thinking about going back and putting a line from the song that I've used in the blog title on each post to sum it all up. But then again, I might not. :) Oscar doesn't follow normal sleeping patterns. Apparently he is not going to do anything like a normal baby. Although Sawyer didn't get on a regular sleeping schedule until he was 3-4 months old, he still had periods of being awake and periods of being asleep each day. Oscar doesn't do that. He has "awake days" and "asleep days". Saturday was an "awake day". He basically would fall asleep while nursing and then second I put him down would wake up and be ready to play or be held. He wouldn't sleep all day. The parents of a classmate of Sawyer's invited us and two other families over for afternoon play and dinner. The kids played outside and in the hot tub (which was set to lukewarm). There, of course, was some issues between the kids regarding sharing and accidental h...

It's finally the weekend. Although these days, I think the weekends are as exhausting as the week days. I have both boys all day and we've somehow managed to pack the days full. Last night we were able to play outside for a little bit before dinner. Sawyer is getting pretty good with this toy that our friends the Flaggs gave us. I don't even know what it's called but you roll around on it. He really wanted to play yard hockey but Oscar wouldn't sleep or lay on a blanket, he just wanted to nurse and be held. Initially Sawyer did really well with the fact that the baby needed so much. I don't know if it is because Carey is gone or because it's been two months, but Sawyer seems to have less and less patience with me and Oscar. I have to keep reminding myself that he is four. And when you are tired, hungry, and four, patience is not a strong suit. Then again, when you are tired, hungry and thirty-four, patience isn't much of a strong suit either. :) ...

Technically I started back to work part time last week. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to get anything done with Oscar's schedule so wildly unpredictable. I feel like I have a thousand unfinished things. But every little bit helps. At this point I am basically working to fund my FSA, Dependent Care account, and 401K. I'm not actually working enough to take home anything after that. But at least I won't be behind on those things when I start back to work. We've started a walking group here in the neighborhood and are calling ourselves the ESW Stroller Brigade. It's made up of moms who are stay-at-home moms, work-from-home moms, teachers out for the summer, and some like me who are on maternity leave. It's been great for accountability and company. I did 3.25 miles yesterday and ended up with over 12,000 steps! I might've gone a little overboard in my excitement about it and I joined a StepBet yesterday. You put money in a pot with others...

This week is only half over and has already been so wonderfully full. Last night a neighbor friend, Amy, came over after the boys were in bed and hung out until way too late. She kept saying she could go home and I was like "No! Stay and hang out." The adult conversation after being without it all day is so nice. This morning was a little rough but Oscar made it easier by sleeping in 3 hour stretches last night. It's amazing how your perspective changes as to what constitutes good sleep. 3 hours? Amazing. After getting Sawyer to school this morning, my friend Kaitlyn and her daughter Hadley came over to catch up and play. Hadley is two so she had a good time exploring all of Sawyer's toys. Conversations with a toddler around are always incredibly broken. But we managed to catch up on her life which was great. Oscar slept for a few hours after they left and I caught up on some work and emails. I'd managed to catch up on the 750+ emails in my work inbox las...

Yep, thats a picture of unfolded laundry up there. That was all I could manage yesterday and today so far. Some days just don't have that many photo opportunities. The good news is both yesterday and today (so far) have been extremely productive. I've vacuumed the whole house, mopped every room but the master bathroom, washed 4 loads of laundry (2 are put away), put 8 recipes into my recipe website for dinner planning, meal planned for the next two weeks, went on a 3 mile walk, planted two gifted tomato plants, planted two pots of flowers, went to the grocery store, got gas, and still managed to get 20 minutes of relaxing on the front porch swing with Sawyer last night. I had big plans for this maternity leave. I was going to do ALL. THE. THINGS! Unfortunately, I haven't managed to get one of those big things done (including steam clean the carpets, study for my licensing exam, paint the laundry room, organize the master closet, etc). But the house isn't a wreck, I...

Our friends and neighbors have been so wonderful about making sure we stay busy, distracted, and FED while Carey is gone. We are so grateful. We went to the pool yesterday with our next door neighbors and they helped wrangle Sawyer while I dealt with Oscar. That way everyone got to win. Our neighbors Casey and her kids Scarlett and Auggie invited us to go to the Zoo with them this morning. We both have memberships and are 10 minutes away so it's an easy trip. With a 20% chance of rain, we figured it was worth the risk. Turns out we had several downpours. The kids still had a great time and there was lots of splashing and stomping in the water. Good thing we wore crocs instead of sneakers! Both Sawyer and Oscar are sleeping peacefully and I've gotten all the ingredients chopped and prepped for dinner tonight. I'm going to try to get some computer stuff done before they wake up and our plan is to snuggle and play the rest of this rainy afternoon. It's been a great w...

Seems like I am always behind these days.  I think I am going to have to start posting these in the mornings. I thought that I would be able to do it in the evenings after Sawyer went to bed. That has been when I am getting the most things done. However, it appears that the evenings are going to be Oscar's worst times. He's tired but won't sleep and just wants to be held. I end up breaking out the pacifier or my finger to keep him calm. So then not much is getting done. I'm going to catch up on a few days today and hopefully start being a little more regular. This week was insane. We closed on the refinance of our house on Tuesday. The developer we bought from said that the lot behind us was unbuildable. Now that there is a new developer in the neighborhood, they have a product that they want to fit on it. Since we have trees behind us on our lot that aren't in the fence, we want to get them in the fence and do some grading to make the space really usable. Wedne...