WAHM

I was so lucky to have been presented with the opportunity and ability to take a new position recently. This is a great opportunity professionally and I truly can't wait to begin working next week.

This also allows me to be working remotely nearly full time. So I can be home with the girls and have more flexibility during the week. I will be doing some light travel as well. Our nanny will be here 4 days a week which is awesome.

Here is where I need some ass-vice from anyone who wants to dish it out.

The home office.

We live in a little house with 3 bedrooms all of which are used as a bedroom! Before Vivian was born we reconfigured a bit so we could make better use of our basement as a family/play room. And now, office. Basically, I will be working alongside my adorable kids. Which sounds great and loud and is obviously not the best. But it is what it is and there is literally no where else to go! I am organized and not too worried about productivity. But from those who do work from home, what tips do you have? What are things I wouldn't anticipate that could be a problem? A dedicated office is high on the list for a new house, but we don't have a new house right now so we need to make this work!

Travel

I will be traveling on occasion. The first occasion being soon for on boarding purposes.  I have everything in order for the girls' care and now I need assurance that pumping on the go will be just fine. I will only be gone 2 days/1 night but I am nervous. Nervous I won't be able to pump enough, nervous TSA is going to be ridiculous, nervous V won't like me when I get home! Rationally, I know it will be totally fine. But if you've been through this, hit me with your best advice!

It is going to be a new adventure but I love  good adventure!

Wordless Wednesday

In honor of her 2 month unbirthday last week – a few of my favorite newborn pictures

(all courtesy of Bella Rose Photography)

Frozen

Not the movie.

We, like a lot of the country, are frozen! So much bone-chilling cold, so much snow (but not as much as New England!), so many hours spent inside our tiny house with my favorite tiny humans.

I love those girls to death, but MAN do I appreciate them more when we can all get out of the house on a regular basis. Gianna has not been to school for a full week since before Christmas break. We have not spent this much time at home since, I don’t even remember when!

So we have dance partied, had sing offs, crafted, colored, movied, puzzled, played with all the toys! Gianna has “worked out” with me a few times to get some of her energy out. But we are all losing our minds and getting on each others nerves!

Who else is surviving the winter? We need some fresh ideas on things to do that don’t involve playing in the cold.

The cold totally bothers me and I fully appreciate that I live in the wrong state since the cold keeps coming back every year!

Aleesia-isms

Toddler talk is my favorite and Aleesia has a few things that she says I just do not want to forget! She has tons of words, regularly talks in sentences of at least 4-5 words, and loves to sing songs.

She calls all stars "twinklelittlestahs" with the most hilarious accent that makes her sound like we live in boston.

Actually, almost any time she says a long a sound she uses a goofy accent that alternates between Boston and English!

You're welcome = ewemelcome with emphasis on the melcome.

The way she answers most questions is "uhhuuuuuhhhh" ( uh huh!) Or "oh!" Or "Nope!"

I asked her if she needed help the other day with something and she loudly proclaimed "No, I GOT IT" and put me in my place.

All verbs end in -a; it is so funny when she uses them in a sentence. "I bumpa head", "I eata salad", "I walka white hhheeewwwee"!

She does the backwards speak - "I hold you" when she wants to be picked up, "I put the table on" when she puts something on the table, "baby eat you" when I'm feeding Vivi (lolz) etc.

And my favorite thing is how she refers to anyone she doesn't know as "people". We were at a little play area and I saw her crying so I went to check on her. Through huge tears she told me "I bumpa peoples, mommy". Poor kiddo bit her lip and On had to bite mine so I wouldn't laugh at her sweet innocence - she was so offended that "all the peoples" were trying to play near her!

I'm excited for our little toddler conversations to evolve.

Wordless Wednesday

Toddler fashion is fantastic!

Easing into three

It is far from a secret that the transition from having one to two kids was not an easy one for me. For whatever reason though, I was not at all nervous about going from two to three. I guess in my mind I figured that somehow I made it through last time so this would all be fine.

And thankfully, it HAS all been fine (not counting the crazy things that happened recently).

Aleesia has been pretty great with Vivian and hasn’t given me much of a hard time at all while I’m nursing “baby bibi”. Thankfully, she is pretty easily entertained the vast majority of the time. I think she is starting to feel the lack of snuggle time though, because sometimes she says “I hold you mommy, no baby” and gets sad if Vivi starts crying/needs me. Gianna’s only fault, if you can call it that, is the lack of personal space that she gives Vivi because she wants to hold her all the time and check on “my Vivs” – she really is the sweetest little mini-mommy! One upside to the crazy amount of snow days we have had is that I have had Gianna home at least one day a week, which helps with Aleesia entertainment!

We are super lucky to have our nanny still with us a few hours a week while I am on maternity leave – she plays with Aleesia, helps around the house, holds the baby, etc. It has for sure spoiled me and definitely helped with the transition!

Things that I have noticed as drastically different after baby 3:

• The amount of laundry feels like it has somehow grown exponentially which is annoying. I strongly dislike laundry (but I strongly adore our nanny who helps with it!).
• We have a Traverse with a 2nd row bench seat and I HATE HATE HATE it. We have 3 car seats that do NOT fit 3 across so Gianna climbs through the hatch. Just seriously inconvenient.
• Having 2 in diapers is really not fun, and is different for me, but it hasn’t been as bad as I imagined so far.
• There is always room to snuggle all 3 girls at the same time. It sometimes takes some adjusting, but we can make it work!
• Aleesia and her newly-minted 2 year old self, sometimes has trouble “sharing” mommy but so far we have been able to find a solution to any jealousy issues that have come up.
• I am even more laid back than I was before. What gets done gets done each day and what doesn’t will be there tomorrow!
• Sometimes Vivi has to cry for a few extra minutes, I can’t snuggle her all day even if I wanted to, she spends a decent amount of time in her swing right now because a) she likes it and b) it’s a safe place to put her when I need to do things like go to the bathroom or cook dinner!
• To the laid back tune, I started out being all hyper-aware while breastfeeding because it was so hard with Aleesia  but then I had to check myself. Despite having a mild TT and ULT, Vivian is a pretty good nurser. I learned how to correct her shallow latch and that has made a big difference. She doesn’t particularly enjoy dairy so I am laying off of raw dairy and that seems to make enough of a difference that she’s not uncomfortable all day.
• Vivian is super chill compared to baby G and baby A – I’m almost waiting for the screaming to start – but so far, she is fan-freaking-tabulous!
• There is even less time to do all the things that I wish I could do, but then again, not necessarily. Vivi and Aleesia usually nap at the same time in the afternoons which leaves a bit of a window while G is at school to do things that I need to do (clean, eat, workout, shower, blog, etc.). Plus, again, fabulous nanny is here so she lends a hand with A and V whenever I need it.
• I still do not love the afterschool to bedtime period of the day – it’s always a rush of get G off the bus, after school snacks, make dinner, fussy/whining kids, baths, homework, bedtime etc. all before Mike gets home. And now, at least, I can end those few hours with a glass of wine either in celebration of a successful evening or as a reward for making it to bedtime without anything bad happening!

Overall – life as a family of 5 is working out prettttty well. It will all require a new adjustment when I start working again, of course, but for now – we are easing into this new little place in life with only a few small bumps so far.

Wordless Wednesday

Time for your checkups!

Miss Aleesia; age 2: 28#, 36", full of spunk & adorable smiles.

Miss Vivian; age 6wks: 9#13oz, 23", slow grower & ridiculously cute & snuggly.

A letter to my second daughter {TWO!}

Aleesia!

Holy cow my smiley little girl, you are TWO! I feel like the past two years have just flown by so quickly. I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday – it was probably the most empowering day of my life to date.

You were my slow grower, staying nice and peanut sized for quite a while. But once you decided that food was awesome and figured out that you could move – well, we haven’t been able to stop you since (moving or eating!)!

You are quite hilarious! You’ve been talking for awhile now and I forgot just how much I love toddler-ease. One of my favorite things is how you narrate your day – “Leesie wake up”, “Leesie habba milk”, “Baby cryin”, “Baby done cryin”, “I put cup table on”, “Leesie laughin mommy” you get the idea – you tell me every move you make (or that I make, or that your sisters make!). You are great about using your manners, I really need to get the way you say “you’re welcome” recorded because it is adorable!

Some of your favorite things to do are to snuggle with your blankie and binkie (“I sitta mommy on da couch? Right here?”). You love it when I hold you but you also love to sit in your new anywhere chair, or your princess chair as you call it. Playing with Gianna’s toys is your favorite – barbies, doll houses, and ponies usually win out over “little kid” toys. You really like to color and do “homework”, dancing,  and I think you could sometimes spend all afternoon playing with puzzles. And I just love to watch you play – it’s no secret that I love to watch imaginations at work and yours is developing so quickly!

You are a tough girl – always falling down, bumping into things, getting lots of bumps and bruises – and while you might cry, you don’t let anything stop you. While you are tough, you are also sensitive and emotional. If anyone else is crying, chances are so are you. You are realizing that everyone doesn’t always get their way all the time and it’s not your favorite lesson so far. The way you pout is too cute to ignore, and I am pretty sure you know that!

I’ve always said how special sisterhood is – and watching sisterhood in action, in development, is quite awesome. You play both the baby sister and now the big sister rolls perfectly. Anything Gianna says, you do it and you take care to notice what Vivi needs (mainly her blanket, lovie, and binkie!). I am so looking forward to watching your relationships develop in their own special ways.

While you love your sisters, your relationship with your cousin has grown so so much this year. You always want to play with Luci, go see Luci, when she comes in the room not much else matters and  you two are in your own little cousin world. What fun it is to watch you get into all kinds of mischief together!

People ask me a lot if you are a mommy’s girl or a daddy’s girl – I think you are both. You always seem to know just who needs a hug or an “I wub ewe too”. You just have a way of changing the mood in a room from tense to joy with the way your eyes sparkle and you smile spreads across your whole face. Never lose that ability because it is priceless. You have so many people who love you so much in your life and while you have some clear favorites (Muncle and Papa!) there isn’t really anyone you won’t love on. You’ve started to become a bit cautious in new situations but you always smile.

When you were born you snuggled right up on my chest in this spot that was obviously made just for you. You have been snuggling up in that same spot on my left shoulder ever since. I never ever EVER tire of my Aleesia snuggles. I might not be able to hold you all the time right now but I love you so much  more than words can ever say. I am so excited to see what two years old has in store for you and the lessons you will surely teach me along the way.

Love you my little peanut,

Mommy