Saturday, October 2, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Back to Work
Today was my first day back at work after a 2 month maternity leave. I was really nervous about having to go back. Since I left, our team has merged with a new team and moved to a new office building. I only know a few people at this new building and my best friend Karen is still at the old building. All those things made it really hard to go back.
I knew where to find my desk. I had been there once before and I remembered the steps. But I don't know where anything else is. Hard to believe, but I'm fairly directionally challenged. I rehearsed the directions to my desk in my head over and over all morning just to make sure I could get there okay.
This new building is really confusing to me. It has two buildings - Building 1 and Building 2 - that are interconnected by a breezeway. I honestly do not know which building I work in. Like I said, I just memorized the directions to my desk and any mention of Building 1 or Building 2 is just confusing to me. Show me where to go and I'll be fine. But don't tell me.
I am sure that in time this building will become as familiar as the other building, but in the meantime it's difficult.
Also difficult was getting out the door with a baby this morning. I ended up leaving the house about 30 minutes after I had planned. Everything just takes longer than I think it should and there are a lot of things that have to be done at the last minute.
As I was getting ready to head out the door, I realized just how many bags I needed for a day of work. This picture below contains all the bags that I have to take with me every morning.
Bag List, according to Emily - my "pumper bag", my laptop case, Noah's bag, Noah's bottles, my purse (which I could not find because I haven't been using it the last couple months, but finally I did).
Mike and I have worked out a schedule for our new "normal." In the mornings, Mike will take Emily to his brother and sister-in-law's house to catch a ride to school. I will take Noah to his mom and dad's house.
If I work from home, Mike will pick up Emily from his parents house and I will cook supper. If I work from the office, I will pick up Emily and Noah and Mike will cook supper. How long do you think that will last?
Next week will be the real test of our new schedule. I'm definitely going to have to work on my morning routine. I may have to shift my showers to the evenings. I tested that out earlier this week, but I don't know if I could do it every day. I really don't want to have to get up at like 4am to make this work.
So that's how my first day back to work went. I know it will get better from here. I like my job very much and I am excited to see what changes will be coming my way with the new organization. I think the changes will be good for me and my career once I get settled back in to the routine.
Noah's first day at Nanny and Poppa's house went well. He ate about every 2 hours, which is not all that uncommon for him. He goes back to the doctor next week and I am anxious to see how much he weighs now. That boy eats a lot! Every time he wakes up, he expects to eat something. He slept on the bed a couple times so that was good too. It won't take him long to settle into the new routine.
I knew where to find my desk. I had been there once before and I remembered the steps. But I don't know where anything else is. Hard to believe, but I'm fairly directionally challenged. I rehearsed the directions to my desk in my head over and over all morning just to make sure I could get there okay.
This new building is really confusing to me. It has two buildings - Building 1 and Building 2 - that are interconnected by a breezeway. I honestly do not know which building I work in. Like I said, I just memorized the directions to my desk and any mention of Building 1 or Building 2 is just confusing to me. Show me where to go and I'll be fine. But don't tell me.
I am sure that in time this building will become as familiar as the other building, but in the meantime it's difficult.
Also difficult was getting out the door with a baby this morning. I ended up leaving the house about 30 minutes after I had planned. Everything just takes longer than I think it should and there are a lot of things that have to be done at the last minute.
As I was getting ready to head out the door, I realized just how many bags I needed for a day of work. This picture below contains all the bags that I have to take with me every morning.
Bag List, according to Emily - my "pumper bag", my laptop case, Noah's bag, Noah's bottles, my purse (which I could not find because I haven't been using it the last couple months, but finally I did).
Mike and I have worked out a schedule for our new "normal." In the mornings, Mike will take Emily to his brother and sister-in-law's house to catch a ride to school. I will take Noah to his mom and dad's house.
If I work from home, Mike will pick up Emily from his parents house and I will cook supper. If I work from the office, I will pick up Emily and Noah and Mike will cook supper. How long do you think that will last?
Next week will be the real test of our new schedule. I'm definitely going to have to work on my morning routine. I may have to shift my showers to the evenings. I tested that out earlier this week, but I don't know if I could do it every day. I really don't want to have to get up at like 4am to make this work.
So that's how my first day back to work went. I know it will get better from here. I like my job very much and I am excited to see what changes will be coming my way with the new organization. I think the changes will be good for me and my career once I get settled back in to the routine.
Noah's first day at Nanny and Poppa's house went well. He ate about every 2 hours, which is not all that uncommon for him. He goes back to the doctor next week and I am anxious to see how much he weighs now. That boy eats a lot! Every time he wakes up, he expects to eat something. He slept on the bed a couple times so that was good too. It won't take him long to settle into the new routine.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Name That Photo
The weekend went so fast for us. It did not escape me that this was the last weekend before I have to go back to work. I wanted to have some fun but at the same time get some things done before my maternity leave ends.
On Saturday afternoon, Emily and I went shopping with the boys stayed home and watched football. We got some cool weather outfits for Noah and a couple dresses for Emily. If you know Emily, you know that she LOVES to wear dresses so she was all over this shopping trip. Emily would wear a dress every day if I would let her. But for school I tell her that she has to wear shorts underneath her dresses and that's not so appealing to her.
We got a few outfits for Noah and a couple pairs of pajamas. He's wearing one of his new outfits in the picture below. It also has a pair of tan pants and a cute hoodie. And a pair of blue and green shoes that coordinate with it.
On Saturday afternoon, Emily and I went shopping with the boys stayed home and watched football. We got some cool weather outfits for Noah and a couple dresses for Emily. If you know Emily, you know that she LOVES to wear dresses so she was all over this shopping trip. Emily would wear a dress every day if I would let her. But for school I tell her that she has to wear shorts underneath her dresses and that's not so appealing to her.
We got a few outfits for Noah and a couple pairs of pajamas. He's wearing one of his new outfits in the picture below. It also has a pair of tan pants and a cute hoodie. And a pair of blue and green shoes that coordinate with it.
I though the picture below was really cute, but it needs a caption. What do you think?
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Going Green
Emily and I made another attempt at taking some pictures. I think they turned out really cute. Both of the kids happened to be wearing green this day.
Which one is your favorite?
Bags
I have a problem - I feel like I have too many bags.
When I was working, I always carried my purse and my laptop bag and my lunch bag. Now that I'm staying home, I've been carrying all my "stuff" in Noah's diaper bag. His diaper bag had a detachable pouch that I've been using to hold my stuff. Everything doesn't fit, but I can stuff the other things into some of the outside pockets on the bag.
Now that I'm going to be going back to work in a few days, I'm thinking I don't want to carry a separate purse. I need something that I can throw in the diaper bag or throw in the laptop bag or carry on its own. Does something like this exist? Does it make sense to try to not carry a separate purse?
My biggest fear is that I will forget to get my stuff out of one of the bags and I'll end up without my driver's license or my credit card or something. If I have to carry a separate purse to make sure I have all my stuff, then that's what I'll have to do.
When I was working, I always carried my purse and my laptop bag and my lunch bag. Now that I'm staying home, I've been carrying all my "stuff" in Noah's diaper bag. His diaper bag had a detachable pouch that I've been using to hold my stuff. Everything doesn't fit, but I can stuff the other things into some of the outside pockets on the bag.
Now that I'm going to be going back to work in a few days, I'm thinking I don't want to carry a separate purse. I need something that I can throw in the diaper bag or throw in the laptop bag or carry on its own. Does something like this exist? Does it make sense to try to not carry a separate purse?
My biggest fear is that I will forget to get my stuff out of one of the bags and I'll end up without my driver's license or my credit card or something. If I have to carry a separate purse to make sure I have all my stuff, then that's what I'll have to do.
Don't Wake Me
The other day, Emily and I went into Noah's room to get him up so that we could take Emily to school. Emily started talking to him in her sweetest little voice. And this was his reaction ...
"Don't wake me, Sissy. I'm dreaming."
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Stretch!
(This last one was Emily at about 2 months old.)Everybody now - Get those arms up - Lets stretch!
Friday, September 24, 2010
NMS
This morning, I tried to take some pictures of Noah. I have started to feel like my time at home is really coming to a quick end. There were so many things that I wanted to do while I was off work and I seem to have a lot of things still on my list. One of them is taking more posed pictures of Noah. I think it's really difficult to keep him settled long enough to take some pictures.
They're not perfect, but they're the best I could do today.
Parents Choice Drop Ins Bottle Liners
Okay so I have a question. Have any of you ever tried the Parents Choice drop ins bottle liners? These are the liners that go into the Playtex Drop Ins bottles.
I recently tried these with the 8oz Playtex bottles. They seem to work well. So far, I have had no leaks with any of the generic liners. The only problem I have is that the measurements on the bottle holder do not match the actual number of ounces of liquid in the liner. For example, I put 6oz of liquid into the liner and it comes up to the 7oz line on the Playtex bottle holder.
I don't know why the measurements on the bottles and the liners don't match up, but it's really difficult to tell how much baby actually ate. I'm not sure if the bottle liners have the measurements marked on it. If it does, they are very faint because I have never noticed them.
This issue with the measurements is the only thing I would change with the Parents Choice bottle liners. Otherwise, they work great - no leaks, no wasted milk.
I recently tried these with the 8oz Playtex bottles. They seem to work well. So far, I have had no leaks with any of the generic liners. The only problem I have is that the measurements on the bottle holder do not match the actual number of ounces of liquid in the liner. For example, I put 6oz of liquid into the liner and it comes up to the 7oz line on the Playtex bottle holder.
I don't know why the measurements on the bottles and the liners don't match up, but it's really difficult to tell how much baby actually ate. I'm not sure if the bottle liners have the measurements marked on it. If it does, they are very faint because I have never noticed them.
This issue with the measurements is the only thing I would change with the Parents Choice bottle liners. Otherwise, they work great - no leaks, no wasted milk.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Generics
We used to have a dog. He was a Bassett Hound named Fred.
We used to feed Fred a generic brand dog food. He seemed to like it very much and ate a lot of it. Then the vet told us that the generic brand dog food was like feeding your dog Snickers. It tastes really good, but does not have much nutritional value.
We recently started Noah on a generic brand infant formula. When the powder is mixed with water, it resembles melted ice cream. Maybe feeding your infant a generic brand formula is like feeding them melted ice cream. (I know the generic infant formula has the same nutritional value as the name brands, but this is what always comes to my mind when I see this generic formula that looks lke melted ice cream.)
The new formula is Parents Choice Sensitive. It's the same as Similac Sensitivity and is a low lactose formula. Noah seems to like it. He still has some gas and is fussy sometimes, but I think it's better than it was before. It's got to be better - the last formula we tried he would hardly even eat.
I have a picture for you from early this morning. It looks like Noah was fussing, but he was really talking - "Hey Sissy, come get me I love you and miss you."
When Noah took his bottle this morning before school, he drank more than usual. I put him in his swing for a few minutes while I fixed Emily's hair and he threw up all over himself and the swing. I had to clean him up and change his clothes before we could leave for school. We were a little later than usual, but we still made it to school on time.
This is Fred.
We used to feed Fred a generic brand dog food. He seemed to like it very much and ate a lot of it. Then the vet told us that the generic brand dog food was like feeding your dog Snickers. It tastes really good, but does not have much nutritional value.
We recently started Noah on a generic brand infant formula. When the powder is mixed with water, it resembles melted ice cream. Maybe feeding your infant a generic brand formula is like feeding them melted ice cream. (I know the generic infant formula has the same nutritional value as the name brands, but this is what always comes to my mind when I see this generic formula that looks lke melted ice cream.)
The new formula is Parents Choice Sensitive. It's the same as Similac Sensitivity and is a low lactose formula. Noah seems to like it. He still has some gas and is fussy sometimes, but I think it's better than it was before. It's got to be better - the last formula we tried he would hardly even eat.
I have a picture for you from early this morning. It looks like Noah was fussing, but he was really talking - "Hey Sissy, come get me I love you and miss you."
When Noah took his bottle this morning before school, he drank more than usual. I put him in his swing for a few minutes while I fixed Emily's hair and he threw up all over himself and the swing. I had to clean him up and change his clothes before we could leave for school. We were a little later than usual, but we still made it to school on time.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Oklahoma State Fair 2010
This weekend, we went to the great state fair of Oklahoma.
Nanny got us tickets to the Disney on Ice show. I thought the show was really cute. I think Emily was most interested in eating candy. And Noah was most interested in eating and then sleeping.
Nanny got us tickets to the Disney on Ice show. I thought the show was really cute. I think Emily was most interested in eating candy. And Noah was most interested in eating and then sleeping.
Emily wanted to play some games. She actually did pretty good at the game where you pop the balloons with the darts. She won 4 or 5 prizes that day I think.
Dad helped Emily with some of the games too. 
I meant to get more pictures, but I had my hands full with this little cutie pie. He was really good while we were at the fair. He slept in his stroller most of the time.
It was really hot at the fair this year. We were going from shady spot to shady spot trying to stay cool. It still didn't work though.
It was nice to do something fun and spend time together as a family.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Busy Times
Lets do something fun. Make sense using four. Or maybe less.
Watching the mobile. Elephants and Hippos. Lasted 5 minutes. Or less. Oh well.
- Went to the doctor. Got a good report. Said incision's healing well. Poor Noah was hungry. And screaming. Fed him in lobby. Then he slept.
- Baby's been gassy. Poor thing. Going to change formula. Again. Maybe milk allergy? Just like dad.
- Kindergarten's going well. Emily was line leader. And brought snacks. And suckers from Disney. Teacher got a bracelet. Show-n-Tell was Stephanie. (Was that four? Or five?)
- Been hot outside. Some leaves are changing. Fall's coming next week.
My sweet children. One a little cross eyed. Bless his heart. She loves him though.
Watching the mobile. Elephants and Hippos. Lasted 5 minutes. Or less. Oh well.
This face I love. He's got big eyes. Waiting for first smile. Working toward it daily.
One sentence with five. Did you see it? Spellcheck made me do it. Oops another five. Ha!
Good night!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Kindergarten Love Part 2
This is Part 2 of the Kindergarten Love post. If you missed the first part, you can CLICK HERE.
So Jaydon's mom told me that Emily had written him the sweetest note at school the day before. She said it was a picture of Jaydon and Emily holding hands. And she had written I LOVE YOU JAYDON on it. Jaydon's mom said she was going to put it in his Kindergarten scrapbook.
Emily has such a sweet heart. One of her favorite things to do at home is write notes to everyone. She knows how to spell the names of everyone in our family, except mine. She does not know how to spell many words, but she knows how to spell I Love You. She puts that on just about every note she writes.
Emily is all the time asking us how to spell words that she doesn't know. Sometimes it's the name of a family member and sometimes it's another word. One day I got smart and spelled out all the names of our extended family members on a piece of paper. But that didn't last long. I think she lost the paper. I guess it's back to spelling words.
So Jaydon's mom told me that Emily had written him the sweetest note at school the day before. She said it was a picture of Jaydon and Emily holding hands. And she had written I LOVE YOU JAYDON on it. Jaydon's mom said she was going to put it in his Kindergarten scrapbook.
Emily has such a sweet heart. One of her favorite things to do at home is write notes to everyone. She knows how to spell the names of everyone in our family, except mine. She does not know how to spell many words, but she knows how to spell I Love You. She puts that on just about every note she writes.
Emily is all the time asking us how to spell words that she doesn't know. Sometimes it's the name of a family member and sometimes it's another word. One day I got smart and spelled out all the names of our extended family members on a piece of paper. But that didn't last long. I think she lost the paper. I guess it's back to spelling words.
Where's the Love?
Clearly, the post I wrote on m phone at 3am did not come through completely. I'll have to work on Part 2 later.
Sorry!
Sorry!
Kindergarten Love
One day this week, Emily drew her teacher a picture on the way to school. She said she loves Mrs. B!
When we got to school, she showed me the picture. She had drawn a picture of herself and her teacher and wrote I LOVE YOU. She can't spell many words, but she can spell I love you!
The next day as I was dropping Emily off at her classroom, her friend Jaydon's mom told me that Emily has written him the sweetest note the day before
Friday, September 10, 2010
Teddy Bear Picnic
This morning was Grandparents Day at Emily's school. Poppa, Grandmother, Noah and I went to school with Emily for breakfast. They served cinnamon rolls and milk or juice. I didn't get any pictures on my camera so I will have to get some from Grandmother for another night.
This afternoon, I went back to the school to help out in Emily's class with the Teddy Bear Picnic. For the last two weeks, the class has been learning about bears. Emily knows about different kinds of bears, where they live, what they eat, all about hibernation and that baby bears are born in the winter.
So today, the kids got to bring their favorite teddy bear to class for a picnic. Mrs. B asked parents to come early to help put together the snack plates for the picnic. So I got there at the assigned time and there were no other parents.
Mrs. B gave me a general idea of my assignment and sent me to the other kindergarten class to get the supplies. Well, the other teacher apparently went home sick and that class had a substitute who barely knew what was going on.
So Emily and I went into the cafeteria and started putting 30 plates of food together as fast as we could. About 10 minutes later, another mother came to help but she had two little boys running around her and didn't get to help much.
We got some blankets laid out under a big catalpa tree in front of the school and then the kids came out to the picnic. Then we brought the plates of "bear food" out - teddy grahams, goldfish crackers, peanuts and mixed nuts, honey sandwiches, blueberry muffins, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries.
After the kids finished their snack, they were all talking and giggling. It was so cute. Then some of the boys got up and started running around the tree and picking up sticks and throwing them. The teachers told them to sit back down on the blankets, but then got distracted with other things. So I told a couple of the boys to go sit down on the blankets. And they looked at me like I was nuts and went back to what they were doing. Guess they showed me!
Here are some pictures from the Teddy Bear Picnic. Hope you enjoy!
This afternoon, I went back to the school to help out in Emily's class with the Teddy Bear Picnic. For the last two weeks, the class has been learning about bears. Emily knows about different kinds of bears, where they live, what they eat, all about hibernation and that baby bears are born in the winter.
So today, the kids got to bring their favorite teddy bear to class for a picnic. Mrs. B asked parents to come early to help put together the snack plates for the picnic. So I got there at the assigned time and there were no other parents.
Mrs. B gave me a general idea of my assignment and sent me to the other kindergarten class to get the supplies. Well, the other teacher apparently went home sick and that class had a substitute who barely knew what was going on.
So Emily and I went into the cafeteria and started putting 30 plates of food together as fast as we could. About 10 minutes later, another mother came to help but she had two little boys running around her and didn't get to help much.
We got some blankets laid out under a big catalpa tree in front of the school and then the kids came out to the picnic. Then we brought the plates of "bear food" out - teddy grahams, goldfish crackers, peanuts and mixed nuts, honey sandwiches, blueberry muffins, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries.
After the kids finished their snack, they were all talking and giggling. It was so cute. Then some of the boys got up and started running around the tree and picking up sticks and throwing them. The teachers told them to sit back down on the blankets, but then got distracted with other things. So I told a couple of the boys to go sit down on the blankets. And they looked at me like I was nuts and went back to what they were doing. Guess they showed me!
Here are some pictures from the Teddy Bear Picnic. Hope you enjoy!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Grandmother is Here!
Grandmother came to visit us today. She got here early afternoon and went with me to pick up Emily from school. She waited in the car with Noah while I went into the school to get Emily. And when Emily saw Grandmother at the car, she just said "Hi" like it was very normal to see Grandmother at her school.
Emily's school is having a Grandparents Day breakfast in the morning. Grandmother is going and Poppa is going. The school is serving cinnamon rolls, milk, juice, and coffee.
I would write more, but Noah is a bit fussy tonight and needs his Mama.
Look for some pictures tomorrow night!
Emily's school is having a Grandparents Day breakfast in the morning. Grandmother is going and Poppa is going. The school is serving cinnamon rolls, milk, juice, and coffee.
I would write more, but Noah is a bit fussy tonight and needs his Mama.
Look for some pictures tomorrow night!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
360
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, Noah was content and took a couple good naps during the day. Today he was unsettled and took a few little naps of 20 minutes or less. It's like a complete 360 degree change.
He did take a pretty good nap this evening and then went to bed at about 8:00pm. I hope this does not mess up his nighttime sleep schedule. We have been doing pretty good at night, only getting up once at about 1am. Except for the daily poop at around 5am. This wakes him up every time and it's hard to get him back to sleep.
We have been getting a lot of rain today from the remnants of tropical storm Hermine. The rain makes it soooo difficult to get Emily into the school while carrying Noah in his carseat. And today, of all days, I needed to stop and get gas really bad. Perfect timing, right?
Hopefully Hermine will be out of here by tomorrow morning because we're having company. Grandmother is coming up for Grandparents Day at Emily's school on Friday. I think she's coming to see Noah too.
Poppa has been out the last few nights to work on our dryer. The dryer works, but the timer was not working right. After dealing with a (new) bad part, Poppa finally got the dryer working tonight. I say new bad part because the store said the part tested good, but it didnt work. So Poppa had to get creative to get it all to work!
Well, sorry about any misspellings tonight. I'm attempting to post from my phone since our internet connection is spotty due to all the rain tonight. Hopefully I'll have some new pics tomorrow.
He did take a pretty good nap this evening and then went to bed at about 8:00pm. I hope this does not mess up his nighttime sleep schedule. We have been doing pretty good at night, only getting up once at about 1am. Except for the daily poop at around 5am. This wakes him up every time and it's hard to get him back to sleep.
We have been getting a lot of rain today from the remnants of tropical storm Hermine. The rain makes it soooo difficult to get Emily into the school while carrying Noah in his carseat. And today, of all days, I needed to stop and get gas really bad. Perfect timing, right?
Hopefully Hermine will be out of here by tomorrow morning because we're having company. Grandmother is coming up for Grandparents Day at Emily's school on Friday. I think she's coming to see Noah too.
Poppa has been out the last few nights to work on our dryer. The dryer works, but the timer was not working right. After dealing with a (new) bad part, Poppa finally got the dryer working tonight. I say new bad part because the store said the part tested good, but it didnt work. So Poppa had to get creative to get it all to work!
Well, sorry about any misspellings tonight. I'm attempting to post from my phone since our internet connection is spotty due to all the rain tonight. Hopefully I'll have some new pics tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
What a Way to Wake Up
Smiles all around. That's what I like to see.
Noah went to bed last night at about 8pm and slept until 1am. Then he went back down until about 6:45am when these pictures were taken. He went back to sleep when I took Emily to school at 8:00am so I put him (still in his carseat) in his bed and he slept until about 10:30am.
While he was sleeping, I cut out pieces for some learning games for Emily's class. Last week, her teacher sent home a note asking for volunteers to cut out some game pieces and I said I would help. The next afternoon, she sent home some laminated pieces that I cut out and returned the next day.
Then a couple days later, the teacher sent home another 6 pages of stuff that needed to be cut out. Knowing my luck, she'll have all that stuff laminated and then I'll get to cut them out all over again. I guess I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I signed up.
Printer, but does it print?
Our replacement printer was delivered this morning. I got it out of the box and got it all set up, but then I realized I was going to have to configure the wireless networking again before I can print anything. And it would help if I could find the cord. Apparently, I have more work to do.
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