I have nothing

I totally suck at this blogging thing lately. Totally, totally suck.

Let's see...

I've literally been spending most all of my nights on Photoshop. Pitiful, i know. BUT, i was so in need of a hobby so I'm glad it seems to be filling that empty space these days.

Work has been pretty busy now that I'm in full planning and designing mode for 2010. We also hired someone new to our team so I'm trying to keep his plate full while getting him accustomed to the group and how we do things. The whole idea of hiring Justin is to give me more time back at the office...instead of pulling 12 hour days at the hotel when we do have a program on the calendar. As much as i love meeting new people and spending time out of the office, it's just getting to be too much with a baby at home. Leaving at 6 a.m. and getting home at 9 p.m. is exhausting. Unless i wanted to stay overnight for three days, which i don't, then leaving at the arse crack of dawn and getting home way past bedtime is the only option. Now with Justin on our team, I'm hoping i won't be pulling those kind of weeks throughout the year. Time will tell.

I just can't believe for one minute that Christmas is a week from this Friday. When did that happen?!?! I'm not totally done shopping, but pretty darn close. I also sealed all of our Xmas card envelopes today and stamped half of them. Now the hardest part...getting to the post office to buy more stamps. Ugh. I hate the post office. Kerri knows this all too well, as I've had clothes for TJ for weeks now, that at this point he'll be using to dress some sort of boyish doll one day. Although, knowing Tim, TJ will never own any kind of doll. Ever ;)

Since i hardly took any vacation days prior to my maternity leave i came back to about 22 of them!!! I've been able to knock it down to about 13 with the holidays and shopping days. So tomorrow is one of my days off, but it's also my office holiday party. The girl coordinating it asked if i would come and bring Reese with me, to which i thought "Sure, what the heck!" It won't be the most fun since the drive is sooooooo loooooooooong. Hopefully i can time it somewhat right and it will allow Reese to nap a bit. We'll see how it goes.

Reese had her 8 month appointment yesterday, even though she's just about 8 1/2 months old! She weighed in at a whopping 18 pounds 12 ounces and she's 28 inches long. She got two more shots, which she was so not happy about. In fact, she cried before the doctor even put the needle in her chubby thigh. She just knows now. It's pretty amazing how intuitive they can be at such a young age.

She's also pulling herself onto everything she can. Standing like crazy! Yesterday i was getting dressed in our bedroom. I sat Reese in front of the laundry basket as she usually likes to unfold all the clean laundry as a form of entertainment. I turned my head for one second, and when i looked at her again there she was standing tall and so proud of her little self! Tonight she even stood up and let go of me, holding a book! The kid is fearless. She has scratches on her face to prove it! Her newest daredevil move is standing herself out of the bath seat she has. Not cool. The tub is just a whole other level of danger. It scares the crap out of me.

So, i guess that's all for now. Hoping for a fun and easy day at the holiday party. Back to work Tuesday through Thursday and off again on Friday to use up some more vacation!

Kerri - if i could pass them along to you i would!

My Name is Kim, and I'm a Photoshopaholic

To my very small, small population of readers:

Please do not be fooled. Although i have neglected to update my blog in quite some time i can't lie - i've been on the computer every single night, up to wee hours, addicted to my new hobby.

Here's what i've been working on:

That's right...i'm ADDICTED to Photoshop. I've always had the urge to learn how to use it to create logos, holiday cards, birth announcements, save-the-dates...you get the picture. I finally bit the bullet and started teaching myself how to use it! I've spent hours upon hours doing it and in the meantime have been given the chance to design a couple of cards for other people, including the first one shown above. Hillary did a photo shoot a couple of weeks back for a family who wanted a card made. I made the card and sent it over to Hillary having no expectations of them using it at all. Turns out they love it!

The one i made with Reese in it was something i actually saw on Shutterfly. I thought the design was so cute, so i tried copying it as best i could.

I Also made Hillary a logo (or MANY i should say) that she's actually now using!

SO, as i said, i'm on the computer these days, but it's spent trying to put my creative juices to work :)

More interesting updates soon!

Regrets

So as i type this Nathan is on his way to California for Thanksgiving.

Since i had been SO confident in our decision to not take Reese i hadn't really thought about being upset that Nathan was still going. I figured it would be like any other time that we were apart for one reason or another.

I was wrong.

I'm SO stinkin' sad about the whole thing - especially now that he is in route and we're not. Don't get me wrong, i'm not second guessing our decision, because i really do think we made the right one, but the whole thing just SUCKS arse.

A part of me was really looking forward to traveling together (and a big part of me was dreading the first plane ride with an 8 month old) as a family. The bigger part of me was just looking forward to being back in California since we seem to miss it a lot lately. Nathan called from the airport and said it was really empty which just irked me since i kept assuming it was going to be ridiculously crowded which would make bringing the baby even more dreadful. So i was wrong there.

I'm already thinking of when we'll re-use our tickets and fly out (hopefully in the spring). I want Reese to be a traveler most definitely, but the older they get the harder it is for some time at least, since they become more and more mobile. I guess we'll just have to get creative when we do fly with her on how to keep her busy.

I never wanted to be one of those parents who seemed "too careful" (although i'm not sure that really is ever possible when you're responsible for another life), and i know that some people think i was totally ridiculous for making the decision that i (we) made. What i have to remind myself is this: Making the decision to not fly with Reese during one of the worst flu seasons in history was solely based on that fact and that fact alone. It's bad right now. Was it guaranteed that she would get the flu? I don't know. Was it guaranteed she wouldn't? I don't know. What i do know is I stand by my decision to protect her in the best way i could. It has NOTHING to do with not wanting to go to California (quite the contrary, in fact), and it has nothing to do with being over protective. I do think kids should travel and be brought up in an environment where they can learn to "go with the flow" (although i've learned quickly that children don't understand that motto). But if traveling across the country and going with the flow means risking her health right now - then i won't live that way.

So while i don't regret not going, i regret assuming that this week would be easy for me. I regret convincing myself that i wouldn't be sad, or cry a little, when my husband left without us to take a trip that, as a family, we were supposed to take.

Now i'm trying to focus on enjoying the next 5 days off with my baby girl and fit in some much needed quality time.

So, until spring, California - here's to my husband flying with angels and returning home safely to his two girls who miss him tons already!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Be thankful for everything you have as there is always someone who has it worse then you.

Bad Blogger

That's what i am lately.

Life has taken on...well...a life of it's own. It seems more and more lately that i'm fighting to "beat the clock" so to speak on the weekends and at night. I just can't get it all done, and unfortunately the stuff i enjoy doing, and want to do, just gets put at the bottom of the list.

Sheesh. I have SO many random thoughts right now it's ridiculous, but i'll spare you all too much randomness this time.

I think Reese may be getting a tooth or two very soon. She just seems to be doing some odd things with her mouth lately, and she's constantly rubbing her bottom gums with her fingers now. She's also waking up at random times in the middle of night. I watch her through the monitor (baby registry tip: the video baby monitor is a MUST), and she just seems to be uncomfortable. I usually let her figure it out on her own, but obviously i'll go in there if she starts screaming and seems to be in discomfort. Any chance i get to spend time with her, even if it's rocking her at 2 a.m., is a chance i'll take these days.

She's also figured out how to tuck her knees underneath her when she's on her belly, so i think we may be on our way to crawling. Right now she doesn't get up on all fours quite yet. She actually scoots herself onto her toes, butt in the air, and pushes her body forward to get to something now. It's so funny. And she's insistent upon pulling herself into a standing position on everything she can. She also seems to get the whole walking concept lately. When she seems antsy i'll stand up with her and hold her hands and she "walks" in front of me - and she actually puts one foot in front of the other now. Granted she looks like she got into Daddy's mini fridge downstairs...but she's getting it nonetheless.

Work is work. Enough said.

Nate leaves for California on Wednesday. Although we were all supposed to stay for 10 days, he changed his ticket and will be coming home on Tuesday instead, so i'll only be home alone with Reese for a week. I took off Wednesday and Friday of next week so i get to spend 5 days off with her. I'm so excited, but i know from the last time Nate went out of town that doing it all by yourself for multiple days in a row is exhausting. I've said it before and i'll say it again - i honestly don't know how single mothers and fathers do it. My respect for them grows more and more every day.

And a little follow up from last week's chaos: I stopped taking the Flomax. It wasn't allowing me to nurse anymore and as ok as i would be with Reese not doing it anymore at all, i just remember how hard i worked to do it and figure why not keep at it a little longer. Nate feels pretty strongly that i should stop soon. Something tells me once she does break a tooth i'll feel the same way. Until then, she's nursing once in the morning and once before bed. She gets two bottles of formula at Kathi's (by the way - formula is a fortune...and even the largest container goes fast).

I think i passed my stone. It must have broken up since i didn't really feel it make it's exit and for that i'm grateful. RIP pet rock.

I'm off to bed.

I promise to catch up on some recipe posting this weekend too!

Papa was a rollin' stone...

And, as it turns out, so are my kidneys.

On Monday morning i was minding my own business, playing with Reese on the floor when i was struck by the wrath of what turned out to be kidney stones.

It came on SO quickly i didn't even know what was happening. First my back hurt, then it started shooting into the lower right portion of my stomach. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. The pain was ridunkulous. Seriously.

I said to Nate "Ugh - my back really, really hurts." He just kinda looked at me like "Yeah - what do you want me to do?!?" In his defense, i didn't want to make a big deal out of it, since i didn't know what was going on. Then, while he ran to the restroom to brush his teeth, Reese started whining and reaching for me so i went to pick her up. I literally was hunched over carrying her down the hall to Nate - and once i handed her off I feel right to my knees. At that point i said "call an ambulance!' which is crazy to me because never, have i ever, taken a ride in an ambulance or (thankfully) felt that i was in enough pain/danger to need to. But this, oh yes, this was different.

In the meantime Nate called John who drove right over and ended up taking me to the ER. It's right around the corner from our house so he got me there way faster then the ambulance would have. Of course this also had to be the morning where Reese had another doctors appointment since she had yet another ear infection.

Fast forward to the first round of pain meds that didn't do a damn thing, then the morphine (ahhh), then the cat scan, xray and blood work. 8 hours later, and convincing them to not make me stay overnight, and i was on my way home.

And that's where I've been ever since, straining my urine, waiting to catch my pet rock.

Reese is nursing her second ear infection in two weeks, but thankfully the meds seem to be helping so far.

So, in a nutshell, it's been a great week at the Albano household...and it's only Wednesday. Ahhh...how i only hope the rest of the week can be just as exciting.

And have i mentioned that I'm over this whole work gig? Shame on me - since the unemployment rate is currently at it's highest in years. But it's not about that - it's about wanting to be home with my daughter. The daughter who now claps her hands after she does anything at all. And guess who taught her that? Kathi. Not me. Kathi.

Sucks.

SCORE!

I'm home alone tonight....well Reese is here too, but she's sleeping already. Nate is off to the St. Peter's Prep football game to watch Ralf play in the "big game." I was supposed to go too, but ended up not having a babysitter so here i am, sitting on the couch.

The good news? There's a marathon of "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC. Woot woot! I LOVE this show. I guess it just goes to show that i do really have an obsession with weddings.

I know. Loser.

In other news, i seem to have this major issue that won't go away. I think i might suffer from adult ADD. Seriously.

Ever since returning to work all I do is find myself not being able to focus on anything work related. I'll be on a conference call for an hour and the only thing that goes through my head over and over is "What the hell are we talking about?" or "SHIT! What did they just say?"

It totally sucks. I just can't concentrate. All I can think about is all the stuff that needs to get done in the house, or how i would rather be with Reese....or better yet spending money at the mall with Reese in tow all while someone cleans my house for me.

Huh.

Piercings and Pumpkins

This one is waaaaay overdue...sorry.

We had a 1st birthday party (so fun!) the day after Halloween and then i had a three day program to run down in Princeton Monday through Wednesday.

Needless to say, I'm farking e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d.

So rewind to last week. I had been asked on Monday afternoon if i was available to present to a group of people on Tuesday in NYC. Then i was in Jersey City on Wednesday to help run two Financial Advisor training programs that were running simultaneously. On my way there (and after being sent to the wrong hotel - and having valet park my car) i found out that Kathi was sick and couldn't take Reese. So i called Nate in a panic and said "don't drop off the baby! You have to stay home with her." And that's what he did.

And then that's what i did for Thursday and Friday. And i can't lie - it was fun. We played, shopped, and played some more. Basically just reminisced about the good ol' days when i was still on maternity leave. Good times.

So Thursday was filled with a make up Gymboree class (since we skipped a class a couple of weeks ago). While there i bought one of Reese's favorite things we get in class...bubbles! In turn, this is what Thursday looked like:

Then along came Friday. And what's a couple of girls to do on a beautiful Friday when swine flu is floating around all the major shopping malls? Well get their ears pierced of course! Yes, that's right, it was time for the little Peanut to get her lobes beautified. Once Nate was home i attempted to get a good picture - but wasn't very successful - but here's what Friday looked like:

By the way - i had them done by a doctor who has been doing it for over 40 years - not at the mall.

Then came Halloween. We had tons of fun going to Gymboree in costume and then having my cousin Jessie, her husband Ronnie and little boy Bailey over for lot's of pictures and dinner...and a group bath (between the babies that is):

You can't truly appreciate how hard it is to get a "good" shot of two babies in the tub at the same time until you try it. Just picture yourself juggling a 15 pound greased turkey in a tub of water. Not easy.

I also stumbled upon the H1N1 nasal vaccine today - so i got it. Although I'm not sure how i feel about getting the vaccine for Reese, i figured I'm willing to take the chance on myself and thought it was just another way to protect her. I'll let you all know if i get any side effects from it.

I'm pretty sure i know the next recipe I'll be posting so stay tuned.

Recipe of the Day: Cheesy Hash Browns

These are DELICIOUS for brunch or dinner!

When making them for dinner (which is when we generally have them) they are great with pork!

Ingredients:

• 1 package of potatoes o'brien (Ore Ida has the prefect ones - frozen)
• 1 16 oz. container of sour cream
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups of grated cheese (i generally use a little more since i like to cover the top once it's all mixed)
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 cups of corn flakes crushed (definitely NOT necessary-but more appropriate for brunch if you want to use them)

Cook:

Mix all ingredients together in a casserole dish, top off with a thin layer of (more!) cheese and bake covered in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. After 45 minutes remove foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.

If adding the corn flakes they can be added along with the thin layer of cheese on top, before baking.

Note: you may have to hit the bag of frozen potatoes against the counter a couple of times to separate all of them before mixing with the other ingredients.

Did i already mention that these are delicious?!?!

Yum.

Enjoy!

Blessed

Well it's official - Reese and I will not be making the trip to CA for Thanksgiving. And to that i say "EF YOU SWINE FLU!"

I'm so completely bummed out. I LOVE going to CA for Thanksgiving (or any other time of the year for that matter) and just relaxing at my Dad and Lisa's house - just kickin' it. But, i guess it's not to be this year. This also means that Nathan won't be with Reese and I for our first Thanksgiving as a family. Super sucks.

When i arrived to pick up Reese from Kathi's house today i met her niece, Jackie. Apparently she's a pediatric nurse so of course i seized the opportunity to pick her brain on the whole thing. She made it perfectly clear that bringing Reese on an airplane right now was NOT a good idea.

I also asked her for an opinion on getting her vaccinated and she expressed what Nate and I were thinking - not enough research done for someone her age. SO...looks like we won't be making the 1.5 hour trip to the only county in NJ offering a clinic for her age group (FYI - children who are between the ages of 6 months and 2 years old can only get the injectible vaccine - not the nasal).

Apparently her co-workers who have children are acting just like me. Not bringing their kids to malls anymore - or even the grocery stores. They also aren't getting them the vaccine. She told me not to think twice, that i wasn't the only mom being this cautious. Although i didn't give a rats ass what anyone thought of me for being so careful, it is nice to hear that you're not the only Mom who is taking precautions that, to some, may sound a bit overboard.

I have to say though, just when you think you have it so bad as a parent you hear something that makes you so completely grateful for every moment - good or bad. We found out today that a girl we went to high school with just lost her third and youngest son (17 months) when he was mauled by the babysitter's dog. Why these things happen i will never know. All i do know is the thought of what they are going through right now is enough to make me physically ill. How helpless and lost they must feel is unfathomable. Not only have they lost a son, but their sons have lost a brother. God bless them.

So tonight i am reminded to count my blessings - every single one of them. Sometimes life throws you some pretty crappy situations and decisions to be made, but never can anything come close to losing a child.

You Can't Prepare for This

When i was pregnant with Reese i would receive endless, unsolicited advice. Most of it consisted of the same stuff, "Oh god. Just be prepared to get no sleep for a few months." "That's it! Once that baby arrives you can't just pick up and go when you want, where you want!"


Ok. So, it is true that you don't get sleep for quite some time. And it will get to you, and some days you'll think you can run on 3 hours of sleep - and other days you're pretty sure they're gonna have to cart you away to the looney bin because the exhaustion has taken on a life of it's own. But honestly, there is no way to prepare for sleep deprivation. Not when you're being deprived of sleep because you're a new parent. Not only are you not sleeping, but the first few weeks are spent learning how to do all this crazy stuff, while not sleeping.


Sure, we can take classes to "prepare" and read books, but the emotional decisions that we make as parents are something you just can't prepare for.

Now something as, what used to be simple, as traveling home for the holidays has proven to be a difficult decision. Our tickets are booked and we've been planning on going for quite some time now. Enter the swine flu. Yup. It may sound totally ridiculous to some, but the swine flu may just be keeping me and Reese from going to California for Thanksgiving.

I know this would probably sound so totally asinine to me before i had Reese, if i knew of someone who was considering cancelling a 3,000 mile trip with their baby because of the swine flu. But you know what? Now that I'm a Mom and have this tiny little person to protect, it doesn't sound so asinine anymore.

Right now I'm doing my due diligence to ask doctors and others in the medical field for their opinion. I've also gone to several websites to find out about the vaccination and side effects. At this point our pediatrician does not expect to get it at his office. So the first question is can we get it. The second is, do we want her to have it. I don't know about either of these.

Then there's a question of if we should bring her on a plane. Expose her to thousands of other people who may or may not be sick, possibly with this flu, and have her sit with 100+ other people on a plane for 6 hours where the same air is circulated the entire time.

I'm thinking...NO. But the thing is...never did i ever think that making this type of choice would be such a big deal. THIS is the kind of decision that you don't think about when you're preparing to be a parent. And even if this type of situation has crossed your mind...there is no way you would know what you would do until you're in the situation.

So, as of now, i really don't know what we'll do. From the medical professionals I've spoken to, most of them are saying they don't recommend she travel. That, to me, is huge. Basically, my gut is telling me she shouldn't go on that plane. Because, as a parent, i would never forgive myself if anything happened to her because i decided to take a chance.

Whether we go or not remains to be seen. I'll be making the decision as the best parent i can be. I'll be prepared to upset people and receive plenty of comments and insight - but i don't care. When it comes to being a parent, nobody can (or should) ever judge you for protecting your child.

Period.

P.S. ALL of the sleep deprivation and emotional decisions...totally worth it. Hands down.

Steady as she goes...

Sorry, no recipes tonight...but i will leave you with something else that is delicious...to look at.

In chronological order, here is a visual for attempting to snap the perfect picture of a squirmy and fearless 6 1/2 month old sitting on the couch:

She had some new clothes from The Gap to model...including a new super awesome hat.

P.S.

If you do read my blog and think others would enjoy...please pass it along! It would be fun to see how many recipes we can exchange.

Recipe of the Day: Salsa Chicken

I certainly won't be posting recipes every day...but the mood struck so here goes:


This is another crock pot recipe - my apologies for not switching it up tonight.



Ingredients:
3 - 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (defrosted)
1 can corn
1 jar of salsa
1 can of black beans (I drain the juice prior - but that's up to you)
1 packet of taco seasoning
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Tortillas

Cook:
Put all ingredients in crock pot
Add 1/2 cup of water
Cook on low all day
30-60 minutes before serving shred each chicken breast with a fork

Side dish: Goya Spanish rice is yum with this!

Serve a couple of (big!) spoon fulls of the salsa chicken in a tortilla with shredded cheese and sour cream.

Enjoy!

Credit: Jessie

Recipe of the day: Crockpot Chicken

Well that's what i call it anyway.

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1 packet of Lipton onion soup mix (the kind you make onion dip with)
A splash of cooking sherry wine (not necessary if you don't have it)

Now...all hail the mighty crock pot! I want to meet the person who invented these suckers. I'm pretty sure it was probably a woman...a mother to boot. What a fricken genius idea! Check this one out - it's going on my Christmas list...it has a timer!!!

Anyway...

Cook:

Put all pieces of chicken in the crock pot
Mix both cans of soup and packet of onion soup mix in crock pot over chicken
Mix all together so that all breasts are coated

• If you're going to be home while it's cooking: Turn to "high" setting for a couple of hours, then turn to "Low" and leave until you're ready to eat
• If you're going to leave the house for the day while it's cooking: Turn to "low" and allow it to cook for at least a few hours.

Side dish:
Cook some white rice on the side - instant, stove top or in a rice cooker

Once all is cooked - place white rice in the center of your plate, put a piece of chicken on it and smother it in the delicious gravy that cooked all day...and ENJOY!

It's also really, really good with some Pillsbury flaky biscuits!

Credits: Lisa Innis

Who's Hungry?

Ok. Here's the deal. I've been wanting to do this for quite some time on my blog and just haven't pulled the trigger.

Although this is probably a complete waste of time since I'm pretty sure only one person reads my blog (no offense, Kerri! Thanks for reading!) what the hell. I'm going for it anyway.

Over time, I've had so many conversations with different people on how it's always such a challenge, for some reason, to think of new meals to make for dinner. Based on those conversations it seems pretty safe to say that we all fall into the same old dinner routine, a slump if you will, and it can be really hard to come out of that meal slump over time. But with work, family and other things who has the time to sit down and actively look for new recipes? Especially recipes that are easy and non-time consuming?!?!

SO, with that, I've decided to start posting recipes as a way of sharing my usual dinners, desserts and party foods for others to try. My hope is that other people will come across these recipes from time to time, and will share some of their favorites, too, for other readers to try as well.

Now...this is still going to be a blog about my dysfunctional attempt at being a mom, but i will do my very best to post a "Meal of the Day" as often as i think of, or come across, one to share.

Disclaimer: i will ALWAYS give credit where credit is due.I will never claim to be the one who came up with every recipe i post, nor can i promise that the recipes i do create myself and post will be tasty.

For those who come across this and don't want to leave a recipe as a comment, are more then welcome to email me with their recipe at which point i will be happy to share it here, and give credits at the bottom of the post.

Mmmmkay....let's cook!

Creepy toy alert

Although i consider myself very new in the whole toy stage of being a parent, we certainly have begun the great collection of fun, educational, use-it-once and she's over it and apparently creepy-ass toys.

And while your child may LOVE every part of this creepy-ass toy (Reese hugs this thing continuously throughout the day), you may find yourself thinking of ways to make it disappear.

Toys that suddenly talk on their own from the toy basket, while you're home alone with a sleeping child and it's 10 p.m. should NOT be allowed. Period.

I don't care if you're teaching my daughter her ABC's, how to hug, or her color wheel. You creep me out. You wait until I'm all alone and then decide to start talking - out of nowhere. What's with that?

In case you're wondering...here's a link to the culprit:

http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2341&e=detail&pid=30407&pcat=bulnl


To ensure we don't inherit any other stalker-ish toys i'll be checking Reese's Christmas list at least twice before it's sent off to Santa.

It was bound to happen

Well, for the first time in her 6 1/2 months of life Reese is sick. The poor thing has had a runny nose for about 10 days now. Why the hell didn't i bring her to the doctor sooner, you might ask? The answer - I don't know!

Every day she woke up with it running like the dickens, but by mid day it would stop and just form that delicious crust around her nose. Aside from that she didn't seem too bothered by anything. The one thing that definitely changed was her nap routine - or her lack there of. She was barely sleeping during the day but i chalked it up to that infamous "6 month phase" that the doctor, and everyone else I've talked to, has mentioned.

BUT, in my defense, each day that the runny nose continued to rear its ugly head and her napping continued to disappear more and more, i kept saying "something just isn't right." Finally, this morning, i called Kathi while Nate was on his way to drop her off and told her that i wanted to take her to the doctor today since whatever she seemed to be fighting wouldn't leave her alone. When i went to pick her up Kathi told me that she had no interest in even eating which just reinforced my decision to take her in.

We arrived about 10 minutes late (anyone who knows me is aware that i HATE to be late) - and they called us right in. Of course the one time we weren't surrounded by sick, sneezing, coughing little varmints there wasn't a wait. Anyway...i striped her down to her diaper and in came the doctor. She listened to her chest, back and then looked into her ears and bingo! An ear infection.

SO...i guess that cute little move she's been doing lately where she shrugs her right shoulder against her ear isn't a new skill. It was more of a message: "Hey you dumb biatch! My ear hurts!"

Oh well. Now i know the signs.

Now she's on antibiotics for 10 days, is getting nose drops so she can breath and eat at the same time, and I'm running the humidifier at night. Hopefully after 24 hours or so she'll feel much better and start to fall into some kind of nap schedule again.

I guess this Mom gig takes continuous practice.

Oh BOY!

So funny...

I had just decided to take a work break to blog about my waiting as patiently as possible to find out if Tim and Kerri are having a boy or girl...

Wouldn't you know as soon as i was starting to type i heard *beep, beep, beep* and it was THE text message I've been waiting for!!!

IT'S A BOY!!!

I'm so happy for them. Nate and I had a feeling it was going to be a mini-Timmy in there.

We love him already...and so does Reese, which will make the arranged marriage much easier 25 years from now :)

They said it would get easier...

Before i went back to work i did whatever i could to "prep" for how i was going to feel, act and behave as a result of this big change. Quite frankly, i was a complete mess leading up to going back to work. I reached out to close friends...and those who weren't necessarily "good" friends, but fellow mommies nonetheless, who were more then willing to email me back, or reach out, just to talk about their experience and lend advice and insight.

The general theme of all of these conversations and/or email exchanges: It will get easier.

Not. Really.

A strange thing seems to be happening for me. Although my first day back was very hard - seeing Nate drive off with Reese, knowing i wasn't going to hear her playing in the house, or napping upstairs - i did what i thought was pretty damn good. And the day after that, and the day after that. In fact, i kept saying to myself, "Shit...look at me go! I'm not crying or anything." Sure i would think about her ALL day long, and i would feel sad, but i feel good about who's taking care of her and when i go to pick her she's so happy that i makes me feel even more confident about my decision.

Now, almost three weeks later, it's getting harder. I feel sad more often throughout the day when i think about her. I constantly wonder what she's doing, if she's making new noises, getting closer to crawling while playing on the floor, and hardest yet, if she's thinking to herself "Where's my Mommy?" Uh. Talk about driving a knife through my heart.

I was just sitting on the floor with her this evening just watching her play and i couldn't help but realize how much she's changing - and how fast it's happening. While it's all so exciting to see, i can't help but think that I'm really not seeing all of it as it's happening. Nope. That's what my babysitter gets to do now.

So, while i am really proud of myself for being back at work, and being able to say that i too provide for my daughter, i can't help but feel like "they" lied.

It doesn't get easier.

Gold Diggers

I might give off the wrong impression with this one, but the following is a glance of what any one work day at the office can look like for me. It's also a little something i like to think of as a damn good reason why some women either become - or are just born to be - gold diggers:

5:30 a.m. - Wake up/Shower/Makeup
6:00 a.m. - Feed Reese/Check crackberry
6:15 a.m. - Find something to keep Reese busy so i can blow dry my hair
6:30 a.m. - Wake Nathan up (usually for the 3rd time); Savor every drop of Foldgers in my cup
7:00 a.m. - Get dressed/Check crackberry
7:05 a.m. - Get Reese dressed
7:10 a.m. - Make Reese's bottles; Pack Reese's bottle;
7:25 a.m. - Log in to answer emails before i get in the car to drive to the office
7:45 a.m. - Put Reese down for her morning nap
7:50-8:45 a.m. - Back on computer to answer more emails while Reese naps
8:45 a.m. - Get Reese up; Change diaper; load her in car seat; head out the door
8:55 a.m. - Stop for gas
9:00 a.m. - Drop Reese at Kathi's
9:05 - 10:15 - Drive 45 miles/over 1 hour to work; Run through parking lot to get into office for a conference call
10:30 - 11:30 a.m. - 1st conference call
11:30 a.m. - Meeting with co-worker about 2010 planning
12 noon - Break record for consuming chicken salad sandwhich in shortest amount of time
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. - Another conference call - survey planning
2:15 p.m. - Sweet - enough time to pee
2:30- 3:15 p.m. - Another conference call - 2010 planning/training design
3:30 - 4:00 p.m. - Finance "meet and greet"
4:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Conduct interview for open position on team
5:05 p.m. - run upstairs to get my shit
5:10 p.m. - run through parking lot to car
5:15 - 6:30 p.m. - Drive...and drive...and drive home
6:30 pm. - Arrive home to Reese in highchair and Nate cooking
6:35 - 7:00 p.m. Play with Reese
7:00 p.m. - Eat breakfast for dinner (no time for grocery shopping)
7:10 p.m. - Give Reese a bath
7:25 p.m. - Feed Reese
7:45 p.m. - Read Reese her favorite book: I Got Two Dogs
7:50 p.m. - Put Reese to bed
8:00 p.m. - Check emails
9:00 - 10:30 p.m. - Watched "18 Kids and Counting: First Grandduggar" (i know, i know)
10:30 p.m. - BED!


With that, I say:

Rock on Gold diggers, Rock on.

Say Hello to My Little Friend...

Well...i should say Reese's new friend. Yup, that's right. The little Peanut was chalked full o' poop for about a week. Finally, during her 6 month check up I asked the doctor how i can ensure my 6 month old does end up with a hemorrhoid. Enter prune juice!

So i filled her sippy cup with 1 ounce of prune juice and 1 ounce of water...the next day the kid shit 3 times! Who knew that an ounce of prune juice could be so potent? Anyway - she's back in business so to speak. I've still been laying off the rice cereal and bananas which seem to be the culprits.

This weekend was SO busy. We threw a surprise 50th birthday for my mom at our house last night. We converted the garage into a martini bar...it turned out great (pictures to come when I'm not so lazy) and she was 100% surprised. Mission accomplished.

Tonight we went to my Aunt's house because my Uncle Tim is in town from California. It was so nice to see him since it's been so long...so long that i don't even remember the last time we saw him. Perhaps our wedding....or the Christmas right after we got married??? Err....not sure. But you get the point - it's been a while.

OH. Rewind a couple of days. Friday night i found myself at Shoprite at 10:30 p.m. stocking up on all the goods to make food for my Mom's party (i made EVERYTHING). While i was there i decided to paroose the baby food aisle. Like i mentioned in a previous post there are just some things i can't keep up with anymore - and making baby food is one of them. Although I've continued to make some things, I've come to realize that purchasing baby food is SO much easier. Anyway, once i started gazing the shelves for all the delectable choices (slight sarcasm in the word "delectable") i was like a friggen mad woman. Just picture me sweeping my entire arm over each shelf as jars of baby food fly into my cart. I was overwhelmed with the thought of being able to feed my baby without doing any of the work to actually produce the food. I bought so many combinations of flavors, both fruits and vegetables, and found such satisfaction in coming home and stocking my shelves with it all.

There was something so satisfying last night about just opening the lid to the jar and simply feeding Reese. And the best part of it all: I'm totally fine with it. I mean, I'm not going to let this cause me to lose sleep like the whole breastfeeding/formula debacle did. I know it may seem strange that feeding my child Gerber baby food is a relief, but i guess i just had visions of homemade baby food fairies dancing in my head for so long. I was sure that i was going to feel like a failure if i couldn't keep up with making all her food. Well...turns out...i was wrong. And, for once, I'm so happy i was. Her favorite so far seems to be the banana and mango mixed together. She can't get enough!

Tomorrow is Columbus Day - i don't have off but Nathan does, so he and Reese are going to play together all day while i work. It is a Bank of America holiday but not a Merrill Lynch holiday (since our calendar coincides with the Stock Market). Next year we will get it off...but that doesn't do me any good tomorrow, now does it?!?!

Ahhh. Time for Desperate Housewives. My guilty pleasure for the night.

My Little Pumpkin Pie

We went pumpkin picking this weekend! I LOVE the fall...and all the fun things that go along with it. I can definitely say that it's even more fun when you have a little one. The place we went to had a tractor that actually drove us out to the fields where you pick your own pumpkin. SO FUN!

Now it's Monday...and i started off the week by going into the office for the first time. It was a crazy day. I'm exhausted, i can't lie. It's just a long ass drive - and once i arrived i was in meetings back to back for 5 hours and then got back in the car, picked up Reese and came home for more chores and work.

Poor Reese cried all evening. She's constipated so who can blame her? She has her 6 month appointment tomorrow so I'm hoping to get some insight on some methods of relief for her - before her little belly bursts or she pops a blood vessel in her noggin.

To top off what wasn't the best day ever, i sliced the top of my thumb open pretty good while cutting an onion. Ouch.

Off to relax before it all begins again tomorrow.

Goodnight.

Promises, Promises

Here are some pictures I promised!
At her Grammy's 50th birthday dinner!

With Uncle Moe

On her way to Kathi's while Mommy works

Boo!

Ready for Bailey's 1st Birthday (did i post this one already? Mmmm....)

To make or not to make

Baby food that is.

I've been making all of Reese's food so far, but i won't deny that it's time consuming, messy and it looses it's lustre after a while.

Either way I've just chosen to make it so i have "bulk" cubes (i freeze it in ice cube trays) and because i actually kinda enjoy it.

Key word: kinda

Now that I'm back to work, and had to make sweet potatoes for her last night, I'm realizing why some people think I'm nuts for spending the time to do it (this includes my pediatrician). Kathi had mentioned that she thinks maybe Reese would like a veggie with her fruits at lunch. So there i was at 10 p.m. last night making sweet potatoes for her. It actually wasn't that bad - just not what i wanted to do on the night of my first day back to work.

The other reason why making baby food isn't always the "best" idea - not all veggies freeze and reheat that well. Example: yellow squash. I went to heat it up last weekend, pulled it out of the microwave and just thought "i could never give this to my child." It looked like hair gel had been squirted into the baby food bowl. Gross.

So today at Target i bought some of the Gerber Organic baby food - Yellow Squash. I figured if i can't make it and have it be as delicious as squash can taste to a 6 month old i might as well buy it so i can broaden her horizons in the food department. She ate it tonight and loved it!

My point is - if your kid is hungry you have to feed them whether it's homemade or store bought. No matter what you choose they will presumably grow and become stronger from it. Now this really makes me want to get on the formula v. breastfeeding topic but i definitely don't have the energy for that tonight. I will, however, devote an entire post to that sometime soon. Let's just say that my attitude toward that is the same as i stated above with solids...and that's coming from someone who worked her ass off to breastfeed....and still do. I'll stop there for now since I'm already gritting my teeth while resisting the urge to get "into it."

In other news: Reese is 6 months old today! My oh my, how time flies. I took some pictures of her today but haven't loaded them so I'll catch up with pictures over the weekend.

Mmmm...i think that's it for now.

Time to do some laundry and stay awake long enough to catch a new episode of The Office!

That's what she said.

We Survived

My first day back at work...and Reese and i are still in one piece.

She actually did much better then i did. I cried all morning. According to Kathi, Reese was "perfect" today. She must have known that today was going to be hard enough on me already so she decided to be a good girl.

Now i can only hope that continues - and that she doesn't have multiple repeats of her trip to Kathi's on Monday.

To top off my bad-turned-pretty-good day i ate McDonald's :reaches for barf bag:

Yup...my first day back and wouldn't you know I'm already thinking to myself "thank God tomorrow is Thursday!"

Amen.

Talent

I have zero.

Seriously, it has to be one of the most pathetic things to be a person who wants so desperately to be artistic and creative - and yet have zero capability of doing so.

Since I can't be one of the lucky ones who has an artistic eye, hand or anything else for the matter, i like to give props to those who do.

Most of these people won't even know I'm doing this...and now that i think about it I hope they don't mind. If you check out the blogs that I'm following you will see a couple of the people I love to check in on. It's so fun to see what projects they are working on or fun ideas they came up with. Mostly, i just read their blogs in envy wishing i could learn to "do that."

The first one is a blog i came across when i was still pregnant. I must have found her on one of the message boards from http://www.thebump.com/ or something like that. Her name is Natalie Malan and she also had a baby girl a few months ago. Anyway...she makes so many beautiful things and also has a sister blog/site off of her personal blog that's called See Jane Scrapbook. I think about emailing her from time to time just to tell her how much i love to see the things she makes, but then i think of how creepy and stalker-ish that makes me, and i decide against it.

The next one is Hillary Duarte Photography. I know i can talk about Hillary because she's like a big sister to me...and even if she gets embarrased...well...I don't care :) Hillary has a great love for taking pictures and it turns out she has a great eye for it as well! Now I'm so proud of her because things have seemed to take off and she's become a hot commodity for families, engaged couples and even businesses. I can't wait to be home in CA for Thanksgiving so we can finally get a family portrait done! Anyway - check out Hillary's blog for recent photography shoots she's done and to hear about what she has coming up. I see great things in her future ;)

Lastly, i came across this site by reading a blog that i enjoy following - http://www.theblogfairy.com/. According to her blog she is a self taught at Photoshop...which inspires me even more so to get a copy and start playing around! Anyway, i thought her site was cute and was such a great way to put her creative juices to work and make other people's blogs pretty.

So off i go to bed soon, not having done anything creative or hobby-like for the day.

Oh well. Better luck in my next life ;)

Back

Ok...I'm back for a while. Apparently Reese cried herself to sleep at Kathi's so I'm not going to get her quite yet. I won't type more on how crappy it makes me feel that she's so upset today.

Instead I will post some recent pictures from this past weekend.

On Friday we went back to the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange. It's so cute there, easy to cover in a couple of hours, and very family friendly. You can even pack your own coolers with food and drinks! This was our second time there but it's amazing what a difference a month will make. Reese actually sat in her stroller and looked at the animals this time. SO fun!

We also had Bailey's 1st birthday party this weekend. Since Nathan was out of town, and my friend Wendy's husband couldn't go either, Wendy drove to our house and we rode together...just us 3 girls! It's so funny to go to parties now and arrive to a house full of children! As soon as we walked through the door there were babies everywhere. Really cute ones! All of us adults decided that it's ok to attend parties that involved chasing little ones around...as long as there is still liquor present. There was at this party so it was cool.

And not to be left out....Daddy did bath time the night before he left (which he usually does while I'm cleaning up dinner). Reese LOVES the bathtub and gives a new meaning to the warning: Splash Zone!

One more....the whole clan waiting for Daddy to get home:

Ok...maybe not

So today is Monday, September 28th. The date really has no significance other then it's two days before I'm officially back to work.

I brought Reese to Kathi's house today thinking it would be good for her since come Wednesday she'll be going "for real." I took the time to re-organize our home office (where I'll be working most of the time) and get some things done that i know i won't have time to focus on soon.

After day two of totally switching up her schedule on me, and being VERY cranky this morning, i dropped her off. I had a feeling she would freak but she did fine as soon as i handed her over to Kathy.

So off i went to climb up in the attic to sift through some crap, and tackle the office. I felt so good thinking "Great! Haven't heard from Kathi so things must being going really well." Fail.

I text Kathi about 2 hours after i left just to check in - apparently she had been crying a lot and wanted nothing to do with eating. Poor baby. I feel so bad. Now i have no idea if she's acting this way because something is bothering her or if it's because she's upset to be at Kathi's house.

I'm assuming since she was cranky for me this morning that it has nothing to do with being at Kathi's but mother's guilt sure does make me wonder if I'm doing something wrong to her by not being with her during the day.

In other news - our weekend went by very quickly, especially with Nathan out of town until Saturday evening. Sunday was a rainy fall day filled with grocery shopping, cleaning, and Reese spending time at her Grammy's house.

I have some new pictures to load - and will post them once i do!

I'm off to get the Peanut in a half hour.

Progress

This one will be short as I'm off to bed. It's only 9:30 but my little "rooster" as i like to call her will be cock-a-doodle-dooing at 6:30 a.m.

Reese went to Kathi's house again today and actually got a pretty good report. She did really well: ate all her breakfast, played on the floor, fussed for her bottle then drank it, then went for a walk and fell asleep in her stroller. I showed up to get her 40 minutes later for Gymboree.

Of course her schedule for the rest of the day was shot, but we'll have to work on that since next week is approaching fast. I felt SO bad that i had to wake her just to take her to Kathi's this morning. I'm pretty sure waking her up was all she needed to throw her off for the rest of the day.

The weekend is almost here again already which makes me sad since Nate is out of town yet again, and it's my last weekend before going back to work.

Life is about to change. Big time.

Sitting Pretty

It has to be one of the funniest things in the world to see something (I should say "someone") who only weighs 15 pounds to sit up on her own. It's like watching a super miniature adult sit on the floor and play with toys.

Reese decided pretty early on that she liked to sit. Of course she was far too small at the time to do it on her own, but she always insisted on being in a seated position when someone would hold her. I would always just laugh and think "how strange that she knows she wants to be in that position."

Anyway...apparently most babies start off sitting by propping themselves up with their arms - literally like a gorilla would. Around 4 months or so i would sit Reese on the floor at Gymboree to play and she would just fold in half with her upper body completely flat to the floor. Errr...that wasn't the best thing to keep doing with her as she clearly wasn't ready. So each week at Gymboree, and at home sometimes too, I would let her have some practice at the skill and assumed that one day she would actually start posing like a little gorilla.

Well that day never came. All the sudden, one day, Reese just decided it was time to sit - and sit all the way up. Nice and straight, look-ma-no-hands style sit. It happened almost exactly on her 5 month birthday:

Here she is surrounded by pillow just in case...but you can even see it in her face - she's shocked at her new skill.

Now, almost one month later, this trick is old hat for her. Her new "skill" is twisting onto her belly and knees into the crawling position. She doesn't go anywhere, but i do get visions of my daughter doing a pretty mean worm on the dance floor one day.

In other news, while Daddy was away, Reese and I went to the boardwalk for lunch with Aunt Kristen, Uncle John, Grammy and Grampy. She LOVED being outside and even sat in a restaurant highchair for the first time (hey - it's the small things in life, ok?).


This is my favorite one:

There are so many things that she's started doing recently that make me wish i would have started blogging sooner. Instead, I'll make a quick list for your viewing pleasure:

• Rolls all over the floor



• Eat her own feet - with or without socks and shoes, she's not picky!



• Makes owl sounds all day



• Laughs hysterically at her Daddy and puppies


• Enjoys looking at herself in the mirror - multiple times a day



• Eats solids!!!

Solids has been quite the adventure to say the least. We can only try one new thing every 4 days in case she has a reaction to anything. I've been making all of her food for her. So far i think her favorite is bananas, but the pears we just started over the weekend may be a close second.


Here's a picture of her very first time ever having solids, which just happened to be bananas:

Let's see....oh yeah...anytime I get out the camera (or my cell phone now) she instantly starts to smile and laugh as if she knows exactly what to do already! It's really very funny. The other morning she was playing on the floor so i grabbed my camera and Reese, who was awake for all of 10 minutes, did this:







Ok...enough for now. Reese is currently on another practice run at Kathi's (the babysitter) house. We're not off to a good start so I'm hoping that changes since I'm back to work next Wednesday. Yuck.

More about that in my next blog!

Makin' a comeback

Shame on me for not blogging in what seems like years. Although i do feel bad for not updating our "old" blog http://alittlebabyalbano.blogspot.com/ - I can assure anyone who reads this that it's with good reason.

Reese Elizabeth Albano was born on March 31, 2009 - and time since that very day has flown by quicker then i could have ever imagined. Now, here we are 5 1/2 months later, and I just felt i would be cheating ourselves, our family & friends, as well as Reese if i didn't document it somehow.

I'll bring everyone up to speed with some recent pictures of our little Peanut. She's just so much fun now! She's sitting up on her very own, and eating solids. We're trying one new food every four days so it's a sloooooow process but she's a really good eater and it's so fun to see her face when she tries something new!

I'm headed back to work in a week and a half :( No words can express how hard it's going to be, but we feel it's what we need to do in order to provide Reese with the life she deserves - and being able to give her the things she wants and needs motivates me to work even harder at everything i do now.

She's just started getting her feet wet at the babysitters which hasn't gone too well yet but we'll get there. More on that later this week.

Here's a couple of pictures for now. Plenty more to come!

Her first time swinging in a big girl swing - Tully Park.

With her Daddy on Labor Day weekend at Aunt Jen and Uncle Mike's house!

Lot's more to blog about i promise. I'm off to bed now. Nathan comes home from Quincy & Tierney's wedding weekend trip to California tomorrow :) We missed him SO much.