The Next Step...

Well, my part-time position has been approved for at least the next 6 months. After 6 months, my boss and I will meet to determine if this is still a mutually beneficial arrangement for us...but from now until April, I'm guaranteed to be werking part-time! I'm thrilled about this because:
1. I love my child.
2. I love my job.
3. Werking part-time will enable me to feel better about my commitment to my job and will free me up to really focus on our sweet little lady with a greater sense of balance and peace of mind.
4. My boss rocks. Seriously, I keep pinching myself that this arrangement is even available to me...I'm definitely not taking this opportunity for granted!
5. This will make coordinating my werk schedule with Jake's werk and sleeping hours much easier!

In other news...Colorado is expecting snow tomorrow! However, we are still very much in the full swing of Fall. I have decided that every animal probably has some sort of camouflage...and Lexi's is ideally suited for this time of year:

Textiles

A recent project of mine has been redecorating our bedroom. Despite the fact that I was literally rolling out of bed this morning as Jake was climbing into it after a night of werk, there is still something to be said about having a cozy and comforting sleeping atmosphere.

I used some of my birthday money to purchase a slate grey pintuck duvet cover from West Elm:

I REALLY wanted to get the cream and grey windowpane blanket and sham, but they are WAY out of the budget. :(

Next, I purchased some grey and cream quilted damask shams on clearance at Target, along with some deep red flannel sheets (these are their Christmas sheets and they were on sale for only $24.99 for a queen set!).

I also went out to JCPenny yesterday and got these curtains to complete the look in our room (they were on clearance for $15/each!):

The only downside to these beautiful curtains is that they let in too much light while Jake sleeps during the day, so now I'm figuring out how to pin some darkening sheets behind the curtains. I like them too much to return them for something heavier. Plus, we rarely actually open the curtains in our room, so having a dark fabric pinned to the back of them won't really matter functionally.

Now I'm contemplating painting our nightstands a high gloss white, and painting our lamp bases a fun metallic grey. I also am hoping to find some fun black/white artwork for the walls.

Our bedroom has never received ANY decorating attention from me during our 2 years at this house. The only time we spend in that room is while we are sleeping, so it wasn't high on the list. But now that I have some fun birthday $$ and a few classy pieces of the puzzle, I'm going to get this figured out.

Also, this look is just for the winter months while we have our down comforter on our bed. When it warms up again, we have a cream and tan coverlet and brown curtains for our room that I will probably switch over to unless we find we want to change that up as well. It's fun to decorate for the colors and textures of a season, I definitely wouldn't have chosen so much slate/charcoal or dark red for a year-round look!

teething

Our sweet babe is teething. Our little beam of sunshine is in pain, and it's hard for her to sleep, eat, and play without fussing. She goes between shortened feedings and restless naps during the day, and is waking more frequently at night...she had been sleeping through the night since about 5 weeks old.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this nap will last a long time so I can change out of my PJ's, put away dishes from this weekend, and maybe get some reading done before my small group tonight.

Fingers uncrossed...she's up again!

Part- Time?

Today is the day...I find out in 30 minutes if my position has been approved to be reduced to a part-time role. I proposed this to my boss two weeks ago, and he was very supportive...we have been working together to get this approved by his boss and HR so that I can stay connected to my werk without having to commit myself full-time.

This would be the ideal of all ideal werk scenarios...and it was pretty nerve wracking to ask for it...because I already feel extremely blessed by the flexible nature of my werk.from.home gig. But, with Jake going to work full time on the night shift, and it being a priority that we are our Babe's primary care providers...something had to give. And it wasn't going to be Jake's sleep!

Plus, if money were no issue, I'd love to be home full time until our family was 'complete' and all the kiddos were in school...alas...we're not *quite* there yet financially. Our needs are met and our bills would be paid, it would just feel a little tight.

Also, considering I'll head back to the full time world at some point in my life, it feels better to keep my feet in the water. It gives my resume more street cred, instead of a gaping 'professional' hole. Unfortunately, it doesn't look very good to have a line on there that says "stay-at-home-mom"...although in my opinion, it should!

So...werk from home about 20 hours a week and have my husband watch our Babe in the mean time? We shall see...

Sound Proof

Quick...where is the most sound proof place in your home?

In the midst of back-to-back phone calls and conference call meetings, I quickly learned that if I wanted to be worry free about baby background noise, I needed to set up the home.office in a sound proof spot. ASAP.

The last few days, a nosy neighbor would have spied me trekking to and from our Jeep carrying a notebook and pen, laptop, and cell phone...and camping out in the back seat. My home office during conference calls has started looking more like this:

 

Perhaps if we had a basement I would hole up there...but for now, this gets the job done and keeps up the 'sound' of professionalism on my end of the line. 

I used to picture myself werking out of coffee shops like 50% of the time, but I have survived enough brutal calls with co-werkers who are camped out next to the steamer or noisy customers in Starbucks...that background noise is not conducive to a clear phone connection. I'll stick with Pedro the Laredo for the time being. ;)

 

1 year later

My oh my. It's been one whole year since that little '+' showed up on my at home pregnancy test! It's hard to believe that after 40 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy, 7 hours of labor, and 3 1/2 months of living...our lives have completely been transformed by our sweet babe.

My littlest nephew was also born a year ago, so September 7 is apparently a very 're-productive' day in our family:). I remember my sister begging me to tell her my news (I had been telling her I had a hunch I was pregnant for a week or so), but I refused to announce it to the family on Luke's big arrival day...our news could wait at least a day to give Luke his grand entrance to this beautiful world of ours.

There's nothing like skyping into your sister's hospital room, meeting your nephew over a webcam and letting everyone know you're going to be adding to the family as well! I remember when we called my dad, he sounded as if the White Sox had won the World Series...and my in-laws were so excited they forgot to hang up the phone so Jake and I got to listen to their screams and cries of joy a little longer than they knew.

On a day like today, I wholeheartedly believe that Life is such a gift.

Meeting Luke on Skype

Proof of life!

First Day

Why is it that the Tuesday after Labor Day feels so distinct? It smacks of 'new beginning' more than any other Tuesday-after-a-Monday holiday. Perhaps because my subconscious is dredging up all of the first day of school memories, with a new back pack on my back, a carefully chosen outfit, and a bleary-eyed snapshot of me by our mailbox on Merion Drive. First day jitters would always bubble beneath the surface, caused by a new routine in a new classroom, with a new teacher and classmates...funny how it usually only took a day or two for those jitters to completely disappear. There's just something for me about having a bit of structure, and once I've made sense of it and found my place within it...I'm off to the races!

This Tuesday there's also a slight sense of mourning, as we say goodbye to summer and welcome that cool bite of Fall in the morning air. This summer was the most incredibly life changing one I've ever had. It was also the most unstructured...waking and sleeping with our sweet babe, pushing laundry loads through the cycle on demand, and coaxing smiles and laughs out of the little one with no concept of time.

I'm starting back to werk full time today, and I am incredibly thankful for the past three months, but also kind of sad that our blissful little world of uninterrupted bonding time is having some boundaries placed upon it. I have so much peace of mind knowing that Jake is providing care and love for her, as I'm confident my heart would break in half if I had to place her in daycare. This mama's just not cut out for that.

So, here goes nothing. As many head back to school today, I head back to werk. Maybe if I had actually changed out of my Pj's, I could've taken a picture by the mailbox for old time's sake. Sorry, Mom! :)

slightly wrong season...but this is my childhood home. From my first day of preschool through the day I left for college, this is the backdrop of many-a-first-day-of-school pictures!