Thursday, May 31, 2012

Picture of the Day

My husband's getting pretty good with our camera...










xoxo,

L

Life Dilemmas of a Young 'Hip' Mom

So...it's no secret that not-too-long-ago I was just your average college student who went to more parties than class. My first pregnancy was a *surprise* for me and my husband (then boyfriend), who were at the time both just college students living at the beach. Since then, life has changed (obviously). As far as we've come together now as parents and a married couple, I would like to think that we're pretty responsible and relatively good and making this whole thing work. Still, there are some things that remain the same-after all, I'm still young! Here's a following list of some of the dilemmas that I face as my identity continue to evolve and change. (The following is meant to be funny-but also pretty much true.)

-Is it okay to wear to wear my favorite black and neon skull t-shirt to storytime at the library? Or is that going to scare the kids?

-Panty peek. I feel that your underwear slipping up past your jeans when you bend over is about 1000x more unacceptable if you are toting around a baby. Especially if there's leopard print involved, and especially if it's a thong. But sometimes no matter how careful you are, wardrobe malfunctions happen.

-Changing whatever is in my car's CD player to Snoop Dogg every time that I make a quick solo trip to the store, just doesn't feel the same as it used to. It's hard to feel like a gangster with a carseat in the back and half of a T-Rex sticker permanently stuck to my back window.

-Do I have to suddenly pretend that I think marijuana is evil?

-What do I do when I tell my 3-year-old that he can't have an Oreo because he didn't finish his dinner, when I really want an Oreo, and I also didn't finish my dinner?

-When you have a child that has learned to speak and therefore repeat everything you say, the use of the word 'douche bag' has to be laid to rest. Which is a shame, because sometimes you really have to call it like you see it.

-Drinking. Always going to be a dilemma. It's not that you can't drink-the baby WILL go to bed eventually, leaving to your own adult devices. But you might want to think twice about playing 'Circle of Death' with a bottle of cheap wine when your brother comes to visit, because a hangover with a toddler poking you in the face at 6 a.m. is a whole 'nother ballgame then it is when you're in college and can just sleep it off until 4 p.m. the next day.

-Bob Marley t-shirts? Inappropriate? Still cool to wear? Not sure about this one, but I have decided that randomly yelling "Rastafiiiiiiiiiiii" is out. bummer.

-Short shorts. Unfortunately, it wasn't until AFTER I had the G baby that I realized that my legs are actually one of my best physical features and I should be showing them off. Not sure why I didn't have the confidence in high school/college as a young adult. But now that I actually want to wear little shorties and some wedges, I'm not sure if the old lady behind me in the grocery line is judging my 2 inch inseam+2 baby combo.

Lol, That's my list! What are your awkward modern-day young parent dilemmas?


xoxo,

L


And for laughs, a relatively inappropriate old picture of me (though even more inappropriate pic of my BFF Lauren) during roommate daquiri night at our college apartment:





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Wednesday, May 23, 2012

It's a beautiful life

I just pirated these photos from my husband's iPhone, and they made me giggle. Enjoy!

                                                     Proud big brother.

                                           I like my burritos pink and snuggly.


                                                Silly.


                                         My husband and I at his honors fraternity pinning.
                                    John Deere dealership=one happy G baby.




                                   Just two kids, being silly.


                                       Bubbles McGee.


                                                 Over the rainbow.


                              Thumbs up from the boys at my Ob-Gyn.


                              Swinging at the park, approximately 36 hours before I went into labor.


And guess what else? Little Foot is 2 weeks old today! Tomorrow is her two week check-up, where I'm sure they will tell me that she is gaining weight like a champ. She is getting too big for all her newborn stuff, it's ridiculous! I might have me 9 pounds of baby girl by now, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow......


xoxo,

L

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Makeup Review: Revlon Color Burst Lip Butter

I've been meaning to post about this for a while...at the moment, this is my favorite beauty find: Revlon Color Burst Lip Butter.

RevlonColor Burst Lip Butter
Ulta-$7.49

There's been a lot of hype around this stuff, and I have to say that personally I really like it. So far, I've only tried one shade-Sugar Plum. It is ALMOST like a lipstick, the main difference is that it's super-smooth and moisturizing and just goes on way easier (you don't really need a mirror to apply). I really love using it during the daytime because it's pretty but not too dramatic, even in the purple shade I chose. The only downside is that it isn't really long-lasting and does gum up a bit in the inside seam of your lips (which is a problem for me with every.single.lip.color.in.the.world.  bummer.)


From further away, a bit of color but not too much...


I liked this stuff so much, I bought a tube for my Ma! Haven't heard how she liked it yet though...

Hope everyone has an awesome Sunday!!

xoxo,

L

Saturday, May 19, 2012

She's here!!!

A week past my due date, our little bundle of princess finally arrived via VBAC (yes!!!) The night before my scheduled induction, I finally went into labor, but I waited until my appointment anyway to go in. I was only at the hospital for five hours before little Ari arrived, so everything went much faster and easier than I expected. It actually probably would have went even quicker, but my OB kept having me stop during pushing because the baby was having some stress, and when she came out she was BLUE and completely silent and it was so, so scary. It only took a minute or so for them to clear her airways and pink her up, and after that she's been totally fine.

Ari Katherine

                                                     First hold before they took her off to be cleaned and weighed!

                                   Dad and his baby girl in our room at the hospital

                                                           Some hospital bed snuggles

                                                                        1 week old!

                                                 Wide awake! Doesn't happen too often at this point...

                                           Time for some girl talk on mommy and daddy's bed


                                                                   Superdad at work...


Oh, and if you're wondering how the G baby is doing...
He's doing good. This is him looking very solemn with his "big brother" hospital bracelet. Our nurse gave it to him so he wouldn't feel left out, since they had Eric and I wear hospital I.D. bracelets. G baby takes his responsibility very seriously. 

So now for the awesome/awkward points of Ari being here so far.

Awesome:

No C-section or induction! With G baby, my water broke but I wasn't in labor yet so I had to be chemically induced, which led to my placenta rupturing and within 15 minutes I was whisked into the OR. Ari was a week late and the idea of being induced again after what happened last time was pretty scary. Luckily, she came just in time!

This baby sleeps. She has been sleeping at least one three to four hour stretch a night since we brought her home. She's also not that hard to get back to sleep once she wakes up and is changed and fed. It makes me wonder WTF was up with G baby because he was impossible to get to sleep and never stayed asleep very long. Just goes to show that babies can smell your panic...

BABY GIRL CLOTHES!!! Need I say more? 

Eric is out of school for the summer and is home to help me every day. It makes the transition from one to two babies so much easier. He really is an amazing Dad, and I'm really glad G baby is going to get a heavy dose of father-son time this summer. 

Weight. I don't have a reliable scale at my house, but this stuff is really melting off. It is amazing how fast your body transforms during and after a pregnancy. Of course things are a little stretched out and kinda saggy at this point (10 days post-partem), but I can recognize a bit of my old body already. Besides just the health of your child and how economical it is, this is another reason why I am super-pro breastfeeding-it gets your body back into shape so quickly, not to mention the porn star boobs. Which are also pretty hard to believe. 

Awkward:

The aforementioned porn star boobs. They hurt, and leaks are a pain in the butt. I am going through nursing pads like crazy.

Baby dresses. All of Ari's adorable newborn baby dresses are kinda big or just don't fit right and it's totally bumming me out. Good thing all the onesies and pjs are super-cute too!

"Little Foot". This is what we have been calling Ari as a nickname, due to the fact that one of her little feet was horribly bent up after she was born. Her pediatrician says he believes it is just from where she was stuck in position in the womb, and it's actually straightening out already. But it provided me with a serious dose of uneasiness those first couple days. (The nickname is cute though, right?)

Money. Always tight for us (my husband is still in pharmacy school), it has literally flown out of our hands this month. All those little baby purchases and you just don't see coming, no matter how much you prepare. sigh.

And now for something that is both awkward/awesome:
The pacifier. 
Any tips/advice/info? G baby never took one, but Ari loves hers. She just needs a good dose of comfort sucking during the day, and my boobs just aren't up for the job, I already asked. I'm glad that all it takes to calm her down is putting a paci in her mouth, but it makes me really uneasy, because I don't want it to get out of hand or cause problems down the road. We have tried saving it for emergencies only, after other methods of comfort have failed, so mainly we've been only using it at night or out in public. I would like us to avoid having any nasty paci-weaning in our future, but I don't want to stop letting her use it just yet.


So...there's what we've been up to. As I ease back into wearing my own clothes, hopefully I will have some outfit posts up soon!

xoxo,

L

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Ari's Nursery

After a lot of old furniture refinishing and blanket sewing...here we are!


                                                                           cranes in a jar


                                                        Homemade Origami butterfly mobile

                                           

                                                            Homemade baby quilt

                                              Big brother Gabriel trying out the ottoman


                                       Modgepodge fabric-on-wood letters

Just waiting on our baby girl to arrive......I'm a whole week late, and we see the doctor tomorrow! Keep us in your prayers.

xoxo,

L