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!

Luncheon

Yesterday I was fortunate to get out of the home office for a luncheon downtown. Many of my co-werkers from the.land.of.cubicles had to make the trek to Denver...I only had to scoot downtown! It was a good opportunity to get out of the house and throw myself into a crowd of people. Not something I get to do very often these days. It's funny, I'm always surprised by how my spirits are lifted after being around people...I really shouldn't be surprised by that anymore. I think it's just easy to get in a rut, hop on calls, answer emails, and do my day-to-day stuff around the house.

Even though I was pretty grumpy at first about having to:
1. find 9 month+ maternity clothes that were business professional
2. squeeze my poor fat and swollen feet into something besides flip flops
3. drag my tired self through a parking ramp and across a convention center

I'm glad I did. I got to meet some new acquaintances, randomly caught up with an old college friend, and enjoyed a nice message from a keynote speaker.

Granted, I did need a nap by the time I got home!

Happy Friday!

stiff neck

I was able to call into a monthly all-day team meeting today, instead of making the trek down to Colorado Springs. With my approaching due date, I figured it would be best to stick close to home and the hospital. That said, I just made it through a good 6 hour conference call with success...and a bit of a stiff neck from being on the phone that long. Whew, I don't think I've been on a call that long since high school!

I've always wondered how Michelangelo's neck was while he was painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling!

Lunch Break

It's been a while since I've journeyed over to my favorite park for a mid-day walk, mostly because the 2+ mile loop seems rather intangible these days. Today I flexed my home.werker muscles a bit, and met up with some girlfriends for a little picnic and time with their kids. All four of my friends have boys: 2 two year olds, one 16 month old, and a 5 month old. It was great to sneak in some time with these 'new' moms before becoming one myself, and to just connect with their own journeys into motherhood, starting with the labor and delivery of their boys.

It's amazing how incredibly different every mom, every pregnancy, and every birth is. In some ways, that gives me confidence, knowing that the birth of our baby doesn't have to be like anyone else's. In other ways, that makes it a little harder to be at complete peace with the unknown that lies ahead of us.

I am so thankful to have this group of moms in my life, and was really touched when they prayed for me, Jake and baby before parting ways this afternoon. It was a perfect break from the home office today!

(fun side note: the ladies are guessing that our little one is a girl!)

one of my favorite spots in the park.

Splitting Hairs

Split Hairs - to argue about small, unimportant differences
Origin: Shakespeare used this expression in the 1600s in one of his plays and "splitting hairs" has been widely used since.

I know about 'split ends' from a girlie point of view, it's when you need to get your hairs cut. Too much product, heat styling, and wear-and-tear on your lovely locks can cause the ends to literally split. In the world of good hair, this is a bad thing.

In the world of marketing, I have come to believe that sometimes the worst part about being a marketer is werking with other marketers. We tend to split hairs with the best of them!

A Marketer is: marketer - someone who promotes or exchanges goods or services for money

In order to promote or sell something to someone, you've got make it appealing to people, give them a reason to want what they don't have (or have enough of). Some might call this putting 'spin' on your message, tailoring your pitch to your specific audience because you 'know their needs'.

The hard part about being a marketer and werking with other marketers is that you are constantly putting spin on things, trying to sell the other person on your idea or view point. Particularly when there is a difficult situation or political landscape to navigate, the splitting of hairs, word play, and use of semantics becomes quite a grey cloud of smoke.

Pet peeve of the day: asking for a concrete answer and getting a vague response (that is sure to bite you on the behind later, despite your most proactive efforts to seek clarity).

Sometimes I really miss a corporate culture that is direct, and doesn't take time to sugar coat or insulate things. Let's just get to the heart of the matter and figure things out. Diplomacy and tact are great skills, but I will always prefer a forthright co-werker.