Simple Pleasures

Dear Evelina,
You are still too little to realize that Mommy is always coming after you with the camera.  I lovingly call myself the Mamarazzi.  You are just too cute for words and I don't want to miss one second of you growing up, revealing your personality, or doing something new and fun.

These are two of my favorite photos from August.  Neither of them were taken in the best lighting and they are both blurry or fuzzy but they are still my favorites.

In this picture (taken by Papa), we were napping in the living room on a warm Sunday afternoon.  You were very cranky due to the arrival of your 1st year molars, and I was attempting to rest my back, which I had hurt on our vacation in Pittsburg, NH.  You very rarely will sit still these days when we hold you and napping with us hasn't occurred since you were itty bity so this was such a treat for me.  I'm looking forward to more of these moments to come (minus teething and back pain).  

In this picture you are pushing Mimi and Poppy's doggy, Lilly, around in your wagon.  Your expression is priceless.  I'm not sure what you love more, doggies or walking around with your wagon.  Put them together and you have pure excitement, complete with your tongue sticking out and eyes crossed. 

You continue to teach me that the simple pleasures in life are what makes life worth living.  I love you sweet pea.  

You are the sunshine of my life,

Mommy

Solo

Chris will be traveling for business this week, returning on Thursday night.  This will be the longest stretch of time he has been away since before Evelina was born.  This week, I will get a good strong dose of single parenthood and I'm exhausted just thinking about it (props to all those who do it everyday).  My week will consist of:

• Morning routine responsibilities. I'm usually office bound (to beat traffic) before Evelina starts her day.
• Morning drop-offs (rush hour traffic, here I come), in addition to my usual afternoon pick-ups.
• Preparing dinner and cleaning up toddler messes without Evelina having Dada to play with and keeping her from climbing up my legs in the kitchen or getting into the dishwasher.
• Potentialling dealing with bath time tantrums by my lonesome.
• Night-time wake-up duties.  Evelina has had a stuffy nose and hacking cough over the past few days and has been waking up 2-4 times a night.  Not good timing!! 

I'm praying for my sanity.

12 Months :: Happy 1st Birthday Evelina!!

Dear Evelina,

You are 12 months old, ONE YEAR OLD!! How did the first anniversary of your birth arrive so quickly? I have been thinking about this day for months and each time I would get misty-eyed as I re-lived your momentous birth in my memory. It is still so vivid yet often seems like it never actually happened. You are no longer a sleepy infant who lives for eating or being held. You have transformed into a beautiful toddler who lives for learning, exploring and bringing so much laughter into the lives of all who know you.

I never in a million years thought I could love someone as much as I love you. You have changed my life and you have changed me for the better. At the very moment of your birth, you provided me with the greatest gift of all, the gift of motherhood. All of the pain that accompanied each contraction during labor, the adrenaline rushing through my body to allow me to keep striving toward the ultimate goal, and the pure force required to push you into this world, all disappeared the moment I met you, my daughter, for the first time, and laid eyes on your beauty and perfection. I still gaze at you in amazement wondering how I got so lucky to be your Mama.

This past year has been an incredible learning experience, but has not been without mistakes. Despite the many challenges the first year of parenthood can present, I’ve always discovered what you needed, and how to get through each twist and turn. Although, at times, this year has been extremely exhausting and difficult, it has been the most rewarding 12 months of my life. And, with each day that passes my ultimate goal is to continue getting to know you, to teach you, and to learn how to be the best mother I can be just for you.

Sweet Evelina, you have come so far since your first screaming moment. You can smile, laugh, giggle, roll over, sit up, crawl, pull up and sit back down, sleep for 11-12 hours straight, feed yourself, explore with your tiny fingers and pick up the tiniest spec, babble and “talk”, wave, clap, high five, blow kisses, play peak-a-boo, show us where your head is, and so much more. You have accomplished so much in only 52 weeks of life.

Your Papa and I couldn’t be more proud of you. Just as we’ve enjoyed your first year and watching you grow each step of the way, we will continue to celebrate each moment of the upcoming year. We are looking forward to witnessing you succeed at the many milestones that are just waiting in the wings for you to accomplish, but most importantly, we are excited for you to just be you. 

You are a blessing, a treasure, brighter than the sun and stars, and although you are still too little to make a wish for yourself on this, your first birthday, I will wish for you. I wish for a year full of happiness, love, fun and new discoveries, family, and friendship. You're Papa and I are lucky enough to be along for the ride with you.  We can't wait!!  

Happy Birthday Evelina Marie-Claire, Evelina Bambina, Bean, Beanette, Peanut, Sweet Pea, Sweet Buttons!! I love you more than words could ever say.

You are the sunshine of my life,

Mommy

"Working" From Home

Today is an ice day...no snow is falling here in Ashland, just a lovely freezing rain. Daycare is closed but work must be done, therefore, my trusty little helper and I are trying to be productive in between feedings, diaper changes play breaks (which includes playing with my mobile and making accidental calls), and steam sessions (poor little thing is so congested and has a horrible cough).   From the look on her face, she may have found an error in my document

In a Perfect World

I'm extremely grateful that I've had the opportunity to work part-time and my current company has been flexible and supportive of my new, 32-hour/week schedule.  It could change at anytime, but for now I'm enjoying having Fridays off to spend with Evelina. We get to chill at the homestead together and have mommy and me time, run errands, attend mommy and baby groups or meet up with friends.  I very much look forward to our Friday's together each week.  They make getting through a busy work week so much easier, and having a 3-day weekend every week isn't anything to complain about either.  I am a lucky gal. 

But (of course there's always a but), in a perfect world, I would love to continue to work, but only 10-3, 3 or 4 days a week.  Lina and I could get up in the morning and leisurely get ready for the day with some playtime or cuddle time thrown in.  She could head off to daycare during the middle part of the day while I worked.  After I picked her up, we could head home, she could go down for a nap while I made dinner in preparation for Chris's arrival home.  While I cleaned up, Chris could take over the bedtime routine and after 7p (she's in bed at this time) we could veg on the couch, cuddle with Violet, watch our fave shows, update the blog, or read until bedtime.  

Sounds perfect to me.  

I'm Tired

Ever since Evelina's birth I have been tired.  Completely normal for a new mother, right?  In those first weeks of her life I was pretty much a zombie (battling with breastfeeding, growth spurts that led right into one another, and the fact that she was a newborn) but once she started to sleep more than 3 hour stretches and nap longer during the day so I could nap as well, I felt much more refreshed...or maybe I just adapted to fewer hours of sleep.  When she started sleeping though the night I felt great!!  I even felt rested upon going back to work.  But over the past couple of weeks the tiredness has crept back in and I am just tired...t.i.r.e.d. The consistent 6ish hours of sleep a night is catching up with me. 

• I'm tired because I have to wake up in the middle of the night to pump. 
• I'm tired because I have to wake up 1/2 hour early every work day to pump when most days I would love to sleep a little bit longer.   
• I'm tired because even on the nights that Evelina doesn't wake up once, my body still feels the need to wake up multiple times and it doesn't do well in falling back asleep next to a husband who snores (not even that bad I might add...I'm just horrible at falling back asleep no matter how tired I am).   
• I'm tired because of falling back in November.  It always has taken me forever to adjust so I have been waking up around 4-4:30a and the likelihood of falling back to sleep until 5:30ish is slim so I lose out on almost another hour of sleep.
• I'm tired because Evelina has decided that she doesn't want to sleep past 5ish in the morning which means that I never get to either...particularly on the weekends when I can't WAIT to sleep until 6ish. Oh how I miss the days when she would sleep until 7a.  
• I'm tired because I am constantly going, going, going.  

I have no doubt that Evelina's smiles and giggles will wisk my tiredness away today and I'm certain that she doesn't care about the dark circles under my eyes.  

On the menu tonight before bed? Prenatal vitmains, DHA and a Benedryl.