Four Hours

four hours...that's the average amount of time I have been werking each day for the last six weeks. My return from maternity leave to a part-time schedule was really wonderful. Although my pesky all-or-nothing personality trait had a hard time ignoring the werk emails and phone calls that came in during the time I wasn't werking. And there were definitely some days where I just focused on mountains of laundry, hours of breast feeding, and sneaking in a shower. Hence, my use of the word 'average'.

i'm sitting in the home office, listening to a webinar and patiently waiting for the roofers next door to finish working on our neighbors house...roofers aren't really conducive to conference calls. Neither is a barking Lexi (at the roofers...who can blame her?), or a crying baby. Thankfully, the crying baby factor isn't really an issue most days. Our sweet little girl is a happy camper and usually only gets fussy when she's winding down for her nap. And Jake is doing an incredible job taking care of her while I transition back to werk.

I'm thankful for the three day weekend ahead, because next week it's back to full time for me and I'll probably be making my first journey back to the.land.of.cubicles since April. My nerves are a little frayed and sometimes I notice a slight case of the jitters when I hop off my conference call or after time reconnecting with co-werkers. It's a big thing to climb back into the proverbial werk saddle after 3+ months of  focusing on my little family unit. I'm sure it'll feel like normal in no time...but sometimes I wish I lived in a country like canada that allows for 50 weeks of paid maternity leave...if only!

slow progress being made on the roof next door...

B's

Burping the baby...
Breastmilk is thrown up into my hair, curds deep into the
Braid that hasn't been washed for two days.

Bumbo, sitting up all proud and happy one moment, the next...a major
Blowout explodes from her diaper, up to her neck.
Barking is the dog at the cat in the tree, incessantly.

Blessed beyond all measure, I find myself with a half naked
Baby, laughing with tears of joy in the closet.
Because I am daily
Baptized into this journey of motherhood
Becoming someone who I sometimes doubted I could
Be. I find myself to
Be so ridiculously happy.

Stains

I have become a stain fighting machine...and I am winning most of my battles!

When we first brought our sweet babe home, I knew a little about baby poop, but not a lot. I just knew that meconium was the dark tar-like stuff that came with their first BM, and then it should get a lot more liquid-y and more yellow in color as the days wore on.

My very first outfit I purchased for her while I was still pregnant was a super cute long sleeved onesie that has a cream background and little red tulips all over it. It was during the days of not knowing her gender, and me day dreaming about what it would be like to have a little girl...so I caved and bought this adorable onesie from Violet Moss online.

Much to my dismay, she had one of her first major blow outs in this outfit, and since it's also the outfit we brought her home from the hospital in, I really wanted to keep it in good condition for sentimental reasons (or if we have another girl someday!).

In the midst of my recovery pain, the small bits of sleep, and the many visitors, I carelessly threw this onesie in the washer and dryer, thinking that breastfed babies have poop that doesn't stain...it's water soluable so it should come out in the wash, right?

Wrong. And here we are almost three months later, and I can finally say I have attacked this 'washed and dried' stain with all my might and it's gone! How did I do this?

1. Hit the stain with cold water.
2. Hit the stain with dishwashing soap (I use 7th Generation, so I wasn't worried about using weird chemicals on her clothes). Rub stain vigorously with fingers and fingernails, working into a good lather.
3. Hit stain with more cold water, and repeat 1 & 2 a few times if needed.
4. Spray "SHOUT- advanced gel for set-in stains" on the area, and rub in a little, then let sit for 5 minutes before washing in the machine. After the washing machine is done, if the stain is still visible, do not put it in the dryer. Soak the garment in cold water, then repeat steps 1-4 again.
5. If the stain is gone or almost gone, let garment dry in bright sunlight. Sunlight will help bleach the rest of the stain from the garment...it's magical! If you don't have ample sun available, stick to the dryer.

This method has also worked for my clothes.  As a new mom, I am often trying to eat with one hand while caring for baby with the other...often food ends up on my clothes, too! I usually just go straight for the SHOUT gel and let the garment sit for a while as I gather the rest of my laundry.

Interesting? Maybe not. Helpful? I hope so!

Part-Time

Well, my first 9 weeks of life with baby...virtually uninterrupted by thoughts or communication from werk...is slowly coming to an end. My incredible boss is allowing me to resume life as the.home.werker at a graciously slow pace, however. I'm returning to werk part-time for the next 6 weeks. So I'll put in about 20 hours a week, from home, and continue to enjoy my flexible routine of nursing/cuddling/playing with our sweet babe the rest of the time.

A few things I have experienced that I always heard other moms talk about but never understood:

-the incredible endless flow of laundry. We used to go two or three weeks without doing laundry...now it's almost every other day.
-it's really hard to find uninterrupted time to do creative things like write blog posts. For example...during this post I have already stopped three times...once to check on baby, once to use the facilities, and once to bring Jake his phone so he could take a super cute picture of something super cute that baby was doing.
-cold food is a new normal...hot meals are a thing of the past. As is sleeping for 8 uninterrupted hours at a time. Because if baby doesn't wake up hungry, mama wakes up needing to use her breast pump so she can continue to sleep comfortably!
-you will never know how deeply and completely and unconditionally your capacity to love is until you have a child. it humbles me and energizes me every day to see her smilely little face and know that I'm her mama. It's simply.the.best.

Hiatus

Sorry for the long hiatus from posting! We have been on the go, and arrived back home late last night. We bravely ventured off to the land of 10,000 lakes with our 5 week old baby, our golden retriever, and some bags under our eyes after the temperature remained a sticky 90 degrees inside our home for a few days in a row. Denver was having quite the heat wave, a majority of the state seemed to be on fire, and we do not have air conditioning. We were hoping to make a trip to MN later in the summer, but we realized that my maternity leave and Jake's graduation/passing the nursing boards left us with no excuses...we could hit the road and spend some time cooling off in the lake and the air conditioned homes of our friends and family.

We were amazed by a few things on our trip:
1. When you are first time parents, a lot of 'firsts' seem intimidating and you have no guarantee how your baby will react...but in the end, you live your life and make decisions for the family, and just go for it! Our little one was a rock star on the drive to MN, and thanks to a breast pump adapter that fit perfectly into our jeep's cigarette lighter, we were on our merry-bottle-fed-way. She did have a major blowout once we arrived at grandma and grandpa's house...but that's better than in the car seat, right?
2. A lot can change in 2 weeks for a newborn! She is now responding to us with smiles, has perfected an adorable and heartbreaking little pout where she pooches out her lower lip, and is making new noises all of the time. She also loves looking in the mirror (especially with Grandpa Max), really digs my Jose Gonzales Pandora station, and generally seems to enjoy being around lots of people (she didn't really have a choice on this trip, and she did really well).
3. Lexi is really growing up and adjusting to her new role of 'big sister' in our family. She graciously curled into a tiny ball in the back of the jeep, next to the stroller and extra luggage. She patiently waited for her turn to go potty at rest stops, and is still very proud of her little sister whenever people are holding her...she likes to kiss those little hands and feet just to show how much she loves her.
4. The more time you have with your child,  the more you learn how to communicate with each other. We now have a better grasp on gassy cries (usually high pitched and accompanied with kicking legs), hungry fists near her mouth, tired stares when she just needs to be quietly held with no one in her face, and her adorable morning routine of smiles, wiggles, and cuddles. Oh, and she really loves the little lady bug that hangs on the handle of her car seat...she kept staring and randomly smiling at it on the drive home. Adorable.
5. She has grown so much! We left wearing newborn sizes and are already fitting perfectly into 3 month sizes. Some of her 3 month footy PJ's may not last much longer, since she loves to stretch her long legs and they are already a little short on her.
 6. Amazingly, we have yet to spend money on clothes for her. Our friends and family have been incredibly generous and she has been outfitted with the most adorable clothes. We couldn't be more thankful, since we started out with very little for her due to not knowing her gender before she was born. I am continually humbled by the generosity of others.

Miss Lexi, in her element in Forest Lake. I just love the color of her fur in the sunlight!

The Art of Being a Mom

Lately, I am learning that I need to master a new way of living, a new set of skills, so that I can begin to say I understand the art of being a mom. Here are a few:

1. How to enjoy a cold meal and a lukewarm drink. My child seems to know when my meal is hot and my mug is frosty...and that's usually when she needs to eat.
2. How to identify 'productive' body noises before I find myself doing poopy laundry the rest of the day. 
3. Applying concealer to portray a 'refreshed and well-rested' look. Sometimes I think it's unfair that men don't get to use this miracle cosmetic.
4. Walking the dog, while carrying baby in the Baby Bjorn, to return a library book to our library that is 4 blocks away. I didn't actually read the book, but I did manage to pick up dog poop without ripping any stitches!
5. Rocking the smell of sour milk as my new perfume. Oddly enough, I almost threw up when Jake had to dump a carton of sour milk down the drain this morning...for some reason, that bothered me!

More to come, I'm sure. :)

The Home Werker

When I first created this blog, I wanted a name for it that could potentially follow me in two different directions: one, my career and adventures of werking from home.  and two, my journey into the land of staying at home with my baby.

Well, our little one has arrived, and I am now entering week three of motherhood and my leave from werk. Although the 'werk at home' has not slowed one bit! It's amazing how bringing our little addition home has changed the pace of our lives, the order in which things get done, and how many times I start a task only to forget what I was doing and start something else.

I am a mom, and I love it. Some observations from our first two weeks I thought I'd share:

1. Nothing is more intense or amazing than staring into your child's eyes for the first time.
2. For the past two weeks, my priorities have been greatly simplified...is our baby eating? sleeping? peeing? pooping? does she need a bath? and then...am I eating? sleeping? peeing? pooping? Good lord, I need a shower! Life has been stripped to the basics, and it's still pretty busy!
3. The word 'bilirubin' has never put me on edge before, but I'm glad our baby's levels have evened out and we're not worried about jaundice.
4. I have definitely giggled a lot at the places and spaces I have been puked on.
5. We do a lot of laundry.
6. I don't know how to ask for help from other people very well, but when people show up and take charge, I'm very good at letting them take care of me. I'm really thankful for all of the meals, cleaning, and loads of laundry that have been taken care of for us in the past two weeks.
7. Some people are more uptight about how to care for your baby than you are. But that doesn't make you a bad parent.
8. ALWAYS stock up on thank you notes and stamps before the birth of a child.
9. As parents, Jake and I have learned that we have good instincts and need to ask God for a lot of help and wisdom.
10. Lexi is a very understanding and sweet 'older sister'...I can't wait for the day when our baby and Lexi can play together more!