Running from the Law

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

New Mommy Confessions - Part 5



Today we've got a few more bloggers sharing their New Mommy Confessions!  These are so so so good!  I am completely digging this series!   New moms uniting through failure!  Just kidding - no one's failing here.  What's really great about this series is that we get share our "oops" moments without judgment - we can all be good moms and still do stupid shit.  And isn't it refreshing to know that we really don't all have it together (not that I was fooling anyone).  And most importantly, we can laugh at ourselves.  Of course raising a kid is serious business, but I constantly have to remind myself not to take it all so seriously all the time!  Sometimes it's pretty funny just how clueless and unprepared I am for this whole Mommy gig.  I hope you'll share some love in the comment section, stop by the blogs of our lovely guest posters and feel free to share your new mommy confessions (you know you have some!).

Natasha from Hello Happiness

So, Caroline had been extremely fussy one morning and wouldn't go down for her morning nap (she is about 6 months old at the time). It had been rough, so I rocked her to sleep and decided to lay her in her rocking swing so I could get some chores done around the house. I was so nervous I would wake her up by buckling her in and putting the safety straps on, so I left it alone and put a blanket over her and went on my way.

An hour and a half goes by and I'm thinking what a good job I did and how she is still sleeping when I hear a terror scream/cry coming from the living room... I run downstairs to see what's wrong, and my darling girl has thrown herself out of her swing and has face-planted on the carpet laying NEXT to (not in) the swing.

Talk about feeling like you've lost "mom of the year"...I scooped her up, apologized for what seemed like hours, and prayed that she wouldn't get a bump so I'd have to tell Jeff. Needless to say, she is fine and I never put her in her swing again without buckling up first.





As someone who prided herself on always being prepared pre-baby {napkins and wetwipes stashed in the car console; backup black pumps and suit jacket residing in my office; duck tape and TP in the trunk}, I am astounded to find myself cast in the role of That Unequipped Mom on more occasions than not... You know, the one who's forever mooching yogurt melts off you at play group because she remembered her grande skim triple latte but didn't think to grab her kid a snack.  The one Mac-Gyvering a sippy cut from a bottle of SmartWater and a straw of questionable cleanliness.  The one behind you in the checkout line at Target letting her baby gnaw on a carton of Mint Milanos, because she left the teething rings in the back seat. 

A few weeks ago, I needed to make a major grocery run.  I grabbed L, my list, and the diaper bag and set off, mentally patting myself on the back for remembering both the sippy cup and L's toy de jour.  Hell, I even had some fancy organic Puffs floating around in the bottom of my tote in case of Mini Munchy Emergency.  As I unloaded my kidlet in the parking lot of the market, I caught the unmistakable whiff of something gnarly going on down South.  "Shit, shit, shit. I don't think I restocked my to-go wipes," I cursed as I booked it to the bathroom's changing station.  But, lo!  I had wipes a-plenty.  More than enough, in fact, to clean up the Major Blowout Situation I had on my hands {literally}.  Unfortunately, all the wipes in the world couldn't de-poop-ify L's outfit.  "No bother," I thought, as I dug for the Ziploc bag containing the emergency baby clothes.  "I've got this!"

And I would have... had I thought to swap out backup outfits since L was wearing size 3 month clothing. 

Which is how my child ended up riding around topless in Whole Foods shopping cart, wearing nothing but a diaper and "capri" leggings... with a muslin blanket thrown around her shoulders, cape-style, as we passed through the frozen food section. 

Hey. At least we had refreshments. 


Lauren from The Lucky Laymans


 * I dropped my baby on her head. Ok, not really, but she did fall out of her crib and it was on my watch.  Full story here.  


* I may occasionally toss a pacifier in Elyse's general direction to buy me just a few more minutes of freedom.  Yes, she fetches it like a dog.  No, I do not feel guilty about it.  

* As with most moms, sometimes I tear up just looking at Elyse.  When she's sleeping, nursing, playing, eating, or even when she's crying her head off, I become completely overwhelmed with how much love I have for her and how blessed I am to call her my daughter. 

* On the days I'm at home with her, many times I feel more like a supervisor or a babysitter instead of her mom.  She enjoys playing by herself, reading, or just crawling around on her own so I simply work around the house, watch HGTV, blog, etc...all while "supervising" her of course!  


Catch up on the rest of the New Mommy Confessions series:

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Chipotle Rocks

Remember back when I was pregnant with Mac and I ate Chipotle chicken tacos at least 19 times a week?  

So not kidding.

Well, not that I was burnt out after that or anything (I wasn't but I think my husband was), we finally made it back to Chipotle, baby in tow, to chow down on some chicken tacos.

Hell to the yeah.

Chicken tacos for the win.


 This kid should be sponsored by Chipotle or something.

Chicken tacos...making babies awesome since September 2011.

Rock on.

Monday, November 26, 2012

New Mommy Confessions - Part 4


You guys!!  I have such a treat for you!  The "New Mommy Confessions" posts have been such a hit that I've invited a few of my favorite mommy bloggers to share some of their confessions as well.  You are going to LOVE these!  I got such great response that I'm going to have a couple posts over the next week or two featuring a few of the best (and most honest) bloggers I know.  I'm sure you can all relate to some of these great confessions - it's SO nice knowing I'm not the only one who does ridiculous things!  I hope you guys enjoy the confessions, leave some comment love, visit their blogs or feel free to leave a confession of your own!  Thank you for reading and thank you ladies for sharing!


Natasha from Schue Love 

Hi Friends!  I'm so happy that Sara asked me to participate in her "New Mommy Confessions" series today.  I have a five  month old son, Ethan, who was born this past June and I'm married to my college sweetheart, also named Ryan!  We currently live in Tahoe and despite my sporty look below...I'm a girly girl who loves to shop, drink wine, and catch up with my girlfriends.

I have to admit {first confession!} that I would be totally lost without the support from the blogging community. Being a first time mom is hard stuff and nothing really prepares you for it! We women definitely need to stick together and tell it like it is....I'm so thankful for Sara and her blog!  Her blog just cracks me...am I right?  Alright...without further ado, here are my mommy confessions:
  • When I come home from work, I just want to sit and snuggle with Ethan.  But if the baby starts to fuss or cry...I'll gladly hand him over to his dad.
  • My body postpartum is no joke.  I'm losing hair like no one's business...and it's very limp.  My full and lustrous hair is no more.  And even though I'm breastfeeding full time, I'm not losing the weight.  No bueno.  Perhaps the only thing that makes up for it is the big{ish} boobs.  I've never had them before and I definitely could get used to them!  ;)
  • I have no problem talking to my dog or cat, or speaking for them for that matter {our Golden has a goofy voice and Mr. Whiskers is French}.  But for some reason, talking in "baby talk" to my son just seems like I'm undermining his intelligence.  You should see some of the looks I get for this kid!  On the other hand, I have NO problem making funny noises and faces and the reactions I get from him more than encourage me to keep it up.  My biggest accomplishment to date is that he had his first laughing fit with me.
  • I didn't cry when I went back to work and I felt guilty for not feeling guilty.  Actually, that's a lie...I cried the morning I left because I felt like our special "just us" time was over.  But once I got to work, I was ok...and that was that.  The truth of the matter is that I cherish the time Ethan and I spend together so much more now and I feel like Ryan and I are equal partners and parents.  We both get up in the middle of the night to tend to him and we both get to spend quality time with him after work.  
  • Even though we swore against co-sleeping...when Ethan wakes up at 6am, I would much rather snuggle with him in bed than try to wrestle him back down in his crib.  Usually, I don't end up sleeping, but watching him next to me and taking in his sweet baby smell more than makes up for it.
  • I'm with Sara...our baby lives in PJs.  I hardly understand how to dress myself for the cold weather {here in Tahoe} let along a baby.  So he lives in PJs...and I feel incredibly guilty that he has TONS of cute clothes and barely wears them.  Oops!

Katie from Loves of Life


- A few weeks ago while getting my 2 year old ready for preschool, I (knowingly) put two mis-matched socks on her feet, because that was all I could find! and we were running late! and she'd just be wearing shoes that would hide them anyway! Right? They were both pink. BUT. The bottom of one of them clearly read, "SIZE 0-6 MONTHS".  SHE IS TWO AND A HALF. I shoved those suckers on her anyway, because god-knows-where-socks-that-fit-were. I honestly thought, "I hope they aren't doing like, foot painting, or something in preschool today. That'd be so embarrassing if her teacher saw these socks". But obviously that didn't stop me.

Flash forward to pre-school pick up. The one and only time we've ever had a pee-pee accident since she's been potty trained. And, OF COURSE--the pee went DOWN TO HER SOCKS. Requiring a SOCK CHANGE, too. Because, OF COURSE! On the day I had mis-matched, clearly-too-small socks on my kid was the day she peed ALL THE WAY DOWN TO HER SOCKS and NEEDED A SOCK CHANGE. I swear, I saw the judgey look in her teachers eyes, I swear. 

- And my poor second child. Some days? After getting my oldest dressed and ready for the day? I have no energy to even change Lucy out of her pajamas. I should be more embarrassed to admit that the kid wears her footie pj's most the day, and sometimes I only realize she needs a fresh outfit when I see photos of her in my instagram feed from the night before IN THE SAME PAJAMAS. Fail. To my benefit, I'm thankful it's "Bundle-Me" season in the infant carrier. That big 'ole fleecy thing hides the fact that my baby isn't dressed all most the time.

- I absolutely, positively, despise being pregnant. Basically the only thing I like is some of the cuteness that comes with dressing the bump in the early stages, oh, and you know--making a life. But other than that? I feel like I'm going to die 99% of the time. Then? My babies sleep like absolute crap for, like, EVER. So for months after having a baby I'll swear up and down out of sleep deprivatio that I WILL NEVER HAVE ANOTHER BABY AGAIN!!!!! My husband just sits and nods and smiles, because he knows that in a year or two I'll be begging and all "WAHHH I NEED A BABY!!!!!" I'm all bark and no bite. I need more babies. But I freaking hate being pregnant. But right now? No.more.babies. (I don't mean it.)


Catch up on the rest of the New Mommy Confessions series:

Can you relate?
Are you guilty of any of these?  Fess up!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!
From our little turkey Mac-nugget!

You know I had to do it...here's Mac's official Thanksgiving card.

(front)

(back)

It's from Tiny Prints - my favorite place to order photo cards.  Did you have any idea they had such adorable Thanksgiving cards?  I mean, who even sends Thanksgiving cards (well, other than crazy people like me)?  The Halloween card was such a hit, I couldn't pass this holiday up.  Now I'm going to have to do a Valentine's Day card and a Groundhog's Day card and an Earth Day card.  I'm probably going to single-handedly keep the USPS in business this next year.  I just can't help myself...I have the cutest subject in the world and his adoring fans want more MAC!  

And because I couldn't just leave you with just a couple photos, here are the rest!

Outtakes:







Oh yeah, he ate the leaves.
Like I could even stop it.
The more I said, "Don't do it..." the quicker he shoved them in there.
And then he'd look at me and laugh.
I have a feeling this is going to happen a lot over the next few twenty years.




















We truly have so much to be thankful for this year.
Hope you all have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!  


And because they're so awesome, Tiny Prints is offering a nice little discount over the next couple days.  
Take advantage and get your Christmas cards done early!!  
20% off everything on their site!
Use the code: 20NOVSW

Happy shopping and happy Turkey Day!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

New Mommy Confessions - Part 3





  • I absolutely HATE it when you ask a mom how old her kid is and she says something like "Oh, she's 47 weeks old."  WTF?!  How old is 47 weeks?  I mean, it sounds like a lot of weeks.  Is she driving yet?  Is it even a year?  Hell, I don't know.  First of all, how many weeks are in a year?  Four weeks in a month times twelve...plus some other days...carry the one.  Ugh.  I always have to pause and think about this, leading to an awkward gap in conversation while I mentally count on my fingers and toes.  Please don't make me do math!  This just makes me feel incredibly dumb and plain sorry I even asked.  I don't even really care how old your stupid kid is, I was just asking to be polite.  For the love of all things holy, just give me an easy answer!  "Well, she's almost a year."  Cool!  Thank you!  Can we, as moms, put an end to this nonsense?  Let's say after 12 weeks we start going by months.  And then after 16 months, we start going by years.  Deal?

  • Well, I still haven't lost the baby weight.  Like any of it.  Actually, I may be gaining again.  Just throwing that out there to make you feel better about yourself.  You're welcome.

  • Remember way back when I first announced that I was pregnant and told you that I'd still have non-baby related material on this blog?  I lied.  But I didn't mean to!  I just never realized that my life would be SO consumed with all things baby.  I figured I'd still have a little "me time" here and there, but I guess not.  I've been racking my brain for material for a non-baby post but I got NOTHING.  My life has been taken over!  I have done nothing blog-worthy without the munchkin in the past six months.  I haven't been anywhere, done anything, made anything, bought anything, seen anything or even eaten anything worthy of sharing.  I'm tempted to apologize, but I don't really care.  I love that everything is different and everything is baby.  He's my WHOLE life.  I'm ok with that.  I guess that officially makes me a mommy-blogger...welcome to my life.

  • Last week Mac FINALLY slept through the night. Once.  Hallelujah!  Cue the choirs!  One glorious night of sleeping EIGHT WHOLE HOURS.  However, neither Ryan nor I actually managed to get a full night's sleep that night because we were both so shocked that he was still sleeping that we each checked on him repeatedly throughout the night to make sure he was still alive. Fail.

  • The Elf on the Shelf is fucking creepy.  I'm not crazy brave enough to actually have an Elf, but I have  nightmares about the Elf murdering me in my sleep just from seeing other people's Elf pictures.  He's in the pantry eating the food, he's playing with the kid's toys, he's hiding in the bathroom with a razor blade just waiting for me to come in there in the middle of the night.  Please stop!

  • Babies do not respect hangovers.  They don't care that mommy's head hurts way bad.  So.Rude.

  • I took Mac to get his holiday pictures taken at our photographer's studio.  She had a little bed set up with Christmas lights on it and Mac would NOT stop sucking/chewing on the Christmas lights.  She kept asking me if that was okay (because there's real electricity running through them) and I was like, "Oh yeah, sure, he's totally fine."  She got a couple really cute photos, one of which was Mac's entire mouth open and lit up by all the Christmas lights that he'd stuffed in there.  Only when she mentioned that she probably wasn't going to put that one on her blog for fear that child services would be called did I realize that it probably wasn't a good idea to let him have his way with the lights.  Oops!  All in the name of a good photo.

  • I told my husband that we got rid of all the Halloween candy, but I have a secret stash of candy that he doesn't know about.  Well I did, until last night when I ate it all at 2:00 a.m. when I was up with the baby.  What is it about a crying baby that makes me need to eat 19 mini Twix bars?

  • I'd ALMOST go back to breastfeeding the baby just for the breast milk poop.  Formula baby poop is the most godawful hideous fowl smelly shit EVER.  Heaven help me when he starts eating food for real.

  • I was outside with Mac the other day and started singing to him.  Suddenly, I have this hallucination that all the woodland creatures came out from hiding to sing and dance with us, Disney princess style.  I was twirling around in a dress and the birds came down and sat on my shoulder before tying my hair up with a bow...and the squirrels brought Mac gifts of acorns and nuts...and the rabbits brought us flowers and snuggled up in Mac's lap.  I REALLY NEED MORE SLEEP.

New Mommy Confessions:

Monday, November 19, 2012

Defective

I think my Mac is defective...


...I can't seem to find the "sleep" option.

Whoever termed the phrase "sleep like a baby" is an asshole.  

That's all.

Happy Monday.

Friday, November 16, 2012

What I'm Really Thankful For



Anyone else getting a little bored with all the "I'm thankful for..." posts on Facebook?  They're all the same and totally lame.  Of course I'm INCREDIBLY thankful for the many blessings in my life - my health, my husband, my baby, my pets, my family, my job, my home, blah, blah, blah.  But there's a whole lot of other awesome stuff out there we should also be thankful for that no one mentions.  How about we all be a little more honest about what we're really thankful for this year.  Here's my list:

  • I'm thankful for SPANX.  Screw diamonds, Spanx are truly a girl's best friend.
  • I'm thankful for VODKA.  Because how else am I going to get through my evening?
  • I'm thankful for ESPRESSO.  Because how else am I going to get through my day?
  • I'm thankful for our NANNY.  Because sometimes it's really nice to be able to hand her the baby in the morning and say, "Here.  Your turn!"
  • I'm thankful for HUGH JACKMAN.  I mean, just look at him. 
  • I'm thankful for TRADER JOE'S INSIDE OUT CARROT CAKE COOKIES.  Damn you Claire for introducing me to these - they're like crack.  I can't get enough.  
  • I'm thankful for my DVR.  Cheers to the some crappiest shows of all time like The Vampire Diaries, Switched at Birth, Pretty Little Liars and the new 90210.  Now if I only had time to watch them.
  • I'm thankful for my CLEANING LADY.  I wish she'd just move in with us.
  • I'm thankful for CONCEALER.  Possibly the greatest beauty product in the world. 
  • I'm thankful that FACEBOOK didn't exist when I was in college.  So very very thankful.
  • I'm thankful for my BED.  It doesn't feel like I've been able to get much use out of it these days, but it's so amazing to fall into a sea of pillows and down at the end of a long day (or after a two hour middle of the night baby scream-fest).
  • I'm thankful for OLD SCHOOL 80s MUSIC.  Like the Beastie Boys, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, Guns N Roses, Poison and Talking Heads.
  • I'm thankful for DRY SHAMPOO and PONYTAILS.  If the ponytail ever goes out of style, I'll never leave my house again.
  • I'm thankful for ONLINE SHOPPING.  Like so much that I want to marry Amazon.com and have it's babies.  
  • I'm thankful for TEXT MESSAGING.  Because honestly, I don't want to have an actual conversation with you.   
So there it is.  

What are you really thankful for this year?

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Obligatory Pumpkin Patch Pictures

So, I'm a little behind on posting these pictures.  I think every mommy-blogger in the world has already posted a million photos of their kid in a pumpkin patch this fall, so I better get with the program before they take away my mommy membership card.  Wouldn't that be the worst?  Anyway, we didn't make it to an actual pumpkin patch this year, but we did make it to the Kirkwood Farmers Market and they sell pumpkins, so that's close enough.

The farmer's market is pretty adorable this time of year, if I do say so myself.  They've got everything from fruits and vegetables to flowers and potted plants, baked goods and jellies/jams to decorations and candies.  The farmers market is a must every time my parents come into town.  Mac and I tag along and make them buy us things like pumpkin whoopie pies, apple cider, vidalia onion salad dressing, zucchini bread and bacon (the bacon was Mac's idea, I swear).   In October, the whole place is decked out in Halloween/Fall decor, with crafts and pumpkins galore.


















Mac was mildly intrigued by the decorations.
I'm pretty sure he was thinking, "Hey this one looks like mommy in the morning. Hi mommy."


And these decorations are fun because you get to pull on them, like mommy's hair.






But mainly, he just wanted to chew on them.



Of course, while we were there we had to take a few family photos in the pumpkin patch.




I just love the look on Mac's face here.  
Like he's saying, "Did you really just kiss me in public?! I can't believe you just did that."


And a few of Mac with the pumpkins (as opposed to Mac IN a pumpkin).



He wasn't thrilled about this.



I got that "what are you doing to me?" look of horror.
Are we done yet?


Back in the baby carrier to let Mac pick out his own pumpkin.
Of course he liked the gross warty ones.
Such a boy.




After about 30 seconds he became incredibly bored with the pumpkins and needed something to chew on.
Water bottle for the win.  


The farmers market also has a "kid zone" with swings, a corn pit and mini tractors that you could ride.  We started with the swings.


Mac's first time in a swing was a success.  



He was a little apprehensive at first, but loved it!





Then we took a ride on one of the mini tractors. 


He was not interested in this.  
Perhaps farming is not in his future.


Finally, we moved on to the corn pit.  Now this was FUN.  He could not figure out what his feet were touching and was going to town kicking and jumping and dancing in the corn.


A couple more quick kisses from Granny Kel before heading home.



But not without more pumpkin whoopie pies!