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Liberating Working Moms


As the weeks leading up to the birth of our sweet baby girl draw closer, my maternity leave is ever increasingly on my mind.

1. How am I am going to handle taking care of a newborn & an 18 months old.  Can I do it?     Physically and emotionally?

2. How will we afford it financially?  I work full time and we rely on my income.  Given how the economy has been for us the last two years, saving large amounts of money is almost laughable.

3. How will my job be effected with me gone?  Can I give up some control go and let someone cover for me?  Have I mentioned that I am, what should I call it, a control freak?

4.  Why didn't I order that Aflac insurance when I was thinking about it!  Oh yeah, because this baby was surprise #2, remember?!  Our girls love to surprise us.

I was doing some research online about a new company that Kris and I want to start (heavily in the dream stage) and I came across a short blog post in regards to how the US handles it's Maternity Leave compared to other 1st world countries.  (see link above to Liberating Working Moms)

Can you image taking 50 weeks off of work after your sweet baby is born AND be paid for it?
How amazing would that be?  Maybe we should look into a move to Canada, eh?  Such a lame joke.

What are some things I can do now to prepare? 

How much would you say you care about Chip Clips?

I would venture to say you probably don't think much about them.  But, I do.  Any time a bag of chips, pretzels, cookies...or anything of the like needs to be re-sealed I always wish I had some adorable clips.

And, my dreams came true.



I found these in the dollar bin at Target.

If you find this post ridiculous.  I would probably agree with you. Except, when I look at my adorable skunk and raccoon chip clips it makes my little heart a little happier.

Now, you can go back to your very busy day.

28 Weeks marks my entrance into the 3rd and final trimester!

I see the light.  It's a dim dim...oh so very dim light.  But I can see it.  If I squint really hard.

I finally felt baby hiccups last night.  I was sorta getting worried because hiccups are a sign of a healthy pregnancy.   But, no need to fear!

All I have to complain about this week is how tired I am.  OH man OH man I am tired.  I would say that my two girls are already wearing me down. 

Especially because this one....



is teething.

But, look at that face.  How could you get too upset with her?  You just couldn't.

 I dare you to even try.

How lucky am I to be the mother to this amazing, fun, sweet, lovable, irresistible little girl?! 

Avery Charlotte has many nick-names that are used often.  Seriously.

Avery Bear (my personal favorite)
Baby Girl
Boo Boo
Boo Boo Bear
Monkey
Monkey Bear (trust me, I don't get it either)
Avery Girl

I look at her and thank God for sending her to me every day.  I don't deserve it!

Our baby is almost 16 months old and is so dang SMART!  She understands so much. 

She can point to almost every single body part including her knees.  Her favorite part to show us is her tongue.  And, it's the cutest little tongue in the world!

She is very much into kissing now-a-days.  She will kiss any pictures of anyone.  She kisses her dolls, her stuffed animals, her sippy cups, her toys and if we are lucky she will kiss her momma and daddy.

She talks a LOT. Of course, it isn't understandable English and I wonder all the time what she is trying to communicate to me.  I wish I could understand baby talk.

Little Miss still isn't sleeping through the night consistently.  Sigh.

Suzie is still her constant companion and always by her side.  We love Suzie and I even call her Suzie Bear sometimes.  It seems to fit.

She loves loves loves taking baths!  All I have to do is say, "wanna go take a....." and she will run to the bathroom without hesitation.  I don't even need to finish the dang sentence for this water girl to know what I am talking about.

Avery girl also enjoys brushing her teeth on HER OWN.  I try will all the patience I have to let her do it with my help here and there.  But, home girl wants to be in control.

She is still pretty obedient!  She might not listen the first time you ask her to do something, but she will eventually do it.  I would say that's pretty good for a toddler!  And, if she doesn't get what she wants, the tantrum/fit doesn't last too long.  She is pretty easily distracted.

She is so freakin' friendly to everyone!  Waves, says "hi" and flashes those dimples to every random stranger we encounter! 

I love her.  I love her so much it makes my heart hurt when I am away from her.  I love coming home to her at night and I love when I am able to wake up with her in the mornings.  The sparkle she has in her eyes when she sees me can compare to no other feeling in this world. 

And, to think that I am going to get one more soon is beyond amazing.  I can't wait.

Neither picture would I say I am "happy" with.  But, I was in a hurry this morning.  So, this is what you get.

Boise had some insane weather this morning with freezing rain and totally iced over roads.  I attempted to go into work at my normal time (6:30), but only got about two blocks before I literally couldn't see a thing.  I turned right around and came back home.

So, I got to spend some extra time with the family this morning.  And, that is why baby girl is in my photos!  She is such a little ham these days.

27 weeks.  I have had a constant, persistent and painful headache for 2 straight weeks now.  Tylenol barely does a thing.  Some days I can function pretty well, other days I feel like laying in a dark room and sleeping my life away.

Luckily I have a Dr.'s appointment tomorrow and they might be able to help me.  I did call last week and they told me that it could be due to extra low blood pressure.  Not sure what can be done to help that little situation, but I hope something can be done soon.

 I got stuff to do, man!

I'm also getting my Glucose test tomorrow to test for gestational diabetes.  I was 5 points away from having it with Avery, so cross your fingers that I don't have it with this baby.  Not sure if I want that wrench thrown in the mix of things.  Actually, that's not true.  I am certain I don't want to deal with G.D.

If you think about it...3 months seems like a long time.

But, if you put that in weeks, you could say only 12 more weeks.  That sounds a little better.

BUT, if you put that in DAYS, you could say only 90 more days!  Now, that I can live with!  We will have another little baby girl in about 90 days (no MORE than that)


I really need to get a belly picture taken for you folks.  I will do that tonight.

I promise?

The question mark was intended because I will probably might forget.


We had a pretty mellow weekend.  Mostly because it was below freezing outside.  Poor baby girl Avery got cabin fever, I could tell.  She would just run around the house not knowing what to do with herself.  I felt so bad.  We did go grocery shopping though, so she got a little human interaction.

Don't you hate going grocery shopping?  You try and keep your bill to the minimum and only get the necessities but after all is said and done you're left thinking "what the heck did I buy?".

I guess that is what I get though for letting my fridge get to it's bare bones.  There was about 5 items in the fridge before we went shopping.  Milk, butter, left over pizza and some condiments.  Try making a dinner out of that.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Did you know that I am a procrastinator?

 It's already the middle of January and I am just now writing down some goals.  Although, I have had them in my head for quite some time, I thought it might be fun for myself to look back on in 20 years.

I have some of the typical boring New Year's resolutions.  While important to ME it seems like they are important to most people. 

1.  Be a better Mom.

Could I be more generic and general?  I mean, being a better Mom leaves the door WIDE open, doesn't it?   So, let me be a little more specific.

a. I want to be a more FUN mom.  I want to take the time to not think about anything else except playing and spending time with my kid(s).  I want to be able to put all my worries and cares away in order to have fun with my family.  Sounds easy right?  For some reason, it isn't that easy for me.  I feel like I live a fairly stressful life, and it is hard for me to come home full of energy.  And, on those rare occasions that I do have an extra spring in my step at the end of the day, I want to spend it having fun.  Not doing chores or even watching my favorite TV show.  I don't want my baby to have to stand in front of my face to get attention.  I want my home to be filled with the sound of her giggles and begging me to stop being so fun!  At least until she is 14.  Then she will stop begging me to be so weird. I am sure of it.

b.I want to feed my family better.  In general, we don't eat a much JUNK food.  But, I don't feel like we eat enough fruits and vegetables and other foods that are SO good for you.  I try and make most meals from scratch but it doesn't happen as often as I like.  Especially when I get home late from work.  It is so important to me that Avery grows up learning to love healthy food and doesn't become a picky little kid that will only eat chicken nuggets.  NO THANK YOU.

2. Be more organized

a. The amount of paper traffic that comes through my home makes me weak in the knees.  Not only do we get our own bills, magazines, newsletters, cards, notifications etc. we also get a LOT of mail from previous renters.  I currently have a box in the entry way closet that is labeled MAIL for other people, but I don't really have a good system set up for our own paper trail.  I gota lot of ideas from Pinterest (ever heard of that site? pshh) and other blogs that I follow.  They call it a "Command Center".  I want to create a Command Center in our house.  Somewhere that we can both go to and find whatever we are looking for without having to dig through piles to find.  

b. Meal Planning, organized pantry & fridge, clean and neat linen closet, kids dresser drawers aren't packed full.  You get the idea. 

3. Be a better wife.

a.  I don't think I need to go into the nitty gritty of what I need to do to be a better wife.  But, there is no way that this should ever be off my TO DO list.  Although, a nice (figurative) kick in the butt to remember is necessary sometimes.  I will continue to work on myself.  Because, I will never stop growing.  And, I will never stop trying to be a better person and wife. 
I deserve it.
Kris deserves it. 
Our kids deserve it.
Our marriage deserves it.

Three things.  I can do that.  Right?

I do have other little things like:

--decrese debt
--wash my car more often
--blog more
--take more pictures of our family
--be a better employee, work harder and continually move up
--be more thoughtful and give of myself more
--nurse baby #2 at least as long as #1
--get baby #2 to sleep better than #1
--be a superhero in my babies & husbands eyes

What am I missing?  Enter Mrs. America?  Start a new company?  Wash my hair more often?
All of those sound nice....maybe next year.

What are your 2013 goals or resolutions?

Kris is such a fantastic dad.  He is always on the floor playing with Avery and entertaining her.  When her fat pregnant mother can't stand to move a muscle, dad is there to play and have fun with!

Avery and I both are so lucky because after I go to work early in the morning, Kris takes care of her and eventually takes her to his parents house for the day.  I know that the time that they have together in the morning is just continually building their strong father daughter bond. 

Before having kids, as I assume most do, I always dreamed of marrying a man that was a wonderful father who was so dedicated to his family and wanted to be always around them.  A man that would be fun and loving while at the same time initiate discipline to insure our children were will manner members of society.

And, let me tell you.  I hit the jack pot.  I am not kidding.  Not one bit.

My husband is everything a father should be.  And, I know with all my heart that our children are so blessed to have him as a father.  They will always have him in their life.  They will always know that their dad loves them. 

I am so lucky.

You are well aware of my horrible picture taken capabilities....seriously, I thought the iPhone was supposed to rock at everything?  But, Avery was playing in her pink butterfly tent the other night and Kris got in to play with her.  It was such a cute little moment that I had to take a picture.  Albeit-a blurry, dim lit picture, but you get the idea.  I also love the fact that he can't fit all the way in so his head is sticking out.  Too cute.

She usually doesn't care about any of her toys around her (don't buy her any more toys!).  She just wants to be rolling around on the floor with her dad playing and laughing.  That is when she is happiest.  And, that is when her dad is the happiest too.  Oh, and me too!





This picture will always be one of my favorites of two of my favorites people  And, hopefully, she will show this picture to any men she is interested in (when she is 30!!) and let them know that this is the kind of man she will marry and she wont settle for less.


I think Avery is about 2 months old here.

Avery has had a case of the squirts the last few days (sorry...but, it isn't TMI when it's a baby, right?) So for her dinner I made her some toast with oatmeal.  She was eating is just like a big girl with her spoon so I left her for a few minutes.  When I returned, there wasn't much oatmeal still in the bowl as most of it was on her tray being swished around and squished in her hands.  When I asked her if she was done, she shook her head "no".  She liked the sound the oatmeal made in her hands when she squeezed them together.  She didn't care that it was in her hair and all over her arms.  She was just living in the moment and enjoying the small and simple things of life.



So, I had to take a picture!


Couple things were wrong with this picture.  She isn't looking at the camera, and the lighting wasn't great, so I decided to take another picture with the flash on.



What's the first thing you notice in this picture?  Is the spirit that's standing in between myself and my baby girl?  Because, that was the first thing I noticed.  And, the look she was giving me made it seem like she could see that spirit with her own eyes.  The hair on my arms stood up and I decided it must have been a weird fluke, so I needed to take another picture.





Kris wasn't home...so started to hyperventilate.  Ok, let's try this one more time!


I think I am going to have a heart attack.

In a state of panic, I turn my phone over and notice there is a fleck of "something" on the camera lens of my phone.  My babies face is almost mocking me the above picture.  "Momma...turn it over.  Just turn the phone over and look.  Come on, turn it over you big goon."


Perfect.
And, no spirits.

Now....into the bathtub  you go.

I apologize for the delay in posting pictures!  Blogger is having problems with Internet Explore not allowing me to post pictures, so I had to download a new Internet browser to be able to upload.

I am now 25 weeks!  The pregnancy has now come to the point where I feel like it will never end!  I am getting big.  I don't know what it is about how I carry babies, but my stomach gets pretty large, and it's uncomfortable to say the least.  And, baby girl is getting to be quite active.  You can now see with your eyes when she is kicking.  I love that feeling!  And, it isn't painful yet so I am really enjoying it!

I just feel.  Big. Big. Big. 

Other than that everything is wonderful!  I am so lucky!  A little heartburn in the middle of the night never killed no-one.

If you didn't receive a Christmas Card from us this year....what is my problem?!!  I am sorry!

But, here are the pictures we managed to get.  I love my little family!

Oh, and this was on Thanksgiving day, so my belly is so cute and tiny still!


I included the last picture because I think it's a little funny.  Trying to get Avery to pose for a picture can be a tad bit frustrating.  She was NOT into it.