Abbie: 5 Months.

Linking up with Kristin for Baby Talk!

Today my little girl is FIVE. MONTHS. OLD.

Where did my squishy little newborn go?

My sweet girl -

Today you are five months old.  It's so hard to believe that you're such a big girl already!  that big toothless grin of yours gets me to smile no matter what's happening.  Before I know it, it won't be toothless anymore, as evidenced by your drooling on everything and biting down on everything...including mommy's boobies.  Ouch.  Try not to do that so much, ok?

We've had a great month, little girl.  You started solids this month and definitely have some favorites and some you are just not a fan of.  You love fruit and hate rice cereal.  You met more of Mommy and Daddy's friends this month, and went to your first birthday party for your friend Jack.  We celebrated Mommy's first Mother's Day with Grandma, Pop, and your aunts.  You started to giggle, and you're trying to sit up!  I can already tell it won't be long before we're chasing you around the house.  You'll definitely be on the move early.

Abbie, you make me so happy each and every day, and I'm so proud to be your mom.

Love, Momma

Day 20: Struggling.

Day 20's topic is something you're struggling with.  I debated what to write about - after all, there are a number of things I'm working to overcome.  This is one I've been thinking of for a while though.

I miss having time to myself.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my baby and I LOVE being a mom.  But sometimes, I just want to go to the bathroom with the door closed.  Or paint my nails.  Or make dinner without a baby on my hip.  Or blog when it's not really late at night or writing it out by hand while pumping at work (yes, this happens a lot).

Then Abbie giggles the moment I scoop her up.  How could I ever be upset about that?

So that's where I'm at.  I'm trying to find balance in this new world of motherhood.  I'm trying to remember who I was before Abbie, and be that person AND Abbie's mom.  It's definitely hard.

I know it'll get better - she won't always need me for everything.  The day will come that she wants to make cookies all by herself, or have a sleepover at a friend's house...or even drive (now, that's a scary thought).  I know I'll figure it out as I go along, but it's definitely not going to be easy.  No one told me motherhood was. I just try to remember every smile she gives me, and think that I can paint my nails tomorrow.

Day 19: Favorite Blogs

Day 19's topic was 5 of your favorite blogs and what you love about them.  This was so hard to narrow down!

1. Laura at Stories from Austin.  See here for why I love this girl.
2. Kristin at Busy Bee.  Kristin is a new mama to Kenley, born in November.  I love that Kristin is so honest - she writes not only about the good things in her life, but the things she struffles with as well.  she's been a great support to me in new motherhood, especially since she's going through things about a month before me!
3. Carolyn at Life, Love, & Puppy Prints.  Carolyn is a fellow Alpha Gam and a sweet mom-to-be of a little boy!  She's such a positive person and has a great outlook on life.  she's always been a source of perspective for me, as well as a source of DIY ideas for when we eventually buy a house.
4. Jessica at Heart on Homestead.  Jessica has one of the first blogs I remember reading and loving.  She lives in the mountains of Virginia with her husband and son Noah (who was born on my wedding anniversary!).  She's also a budding photographer and I love seeing her business take off.
5. Sarah at Midwest Pillowtalk.  I only started reading Sarah's blog recently, but I feel like I know her so well already!  Sarah is a stay-at-home wife and is expecting her first baby boy in July!  If you need any more evidence as to why she and her husband are awesome, check out her proposal story.  So amazing!

Apparently, I have a mom theme in my favorite blogs...wonder why that could be?

A Story From Childhood

Linking up with Blog Every Day in May again.  Today's topic: A story from your childhood.

I was nine years old, and my sister Rachel was only a few months old.  I had waited for a sibling for as long as I could remember.  I was so happy to finally have a sister, but life had changed a lot for me.  I had been an only child for nine years, and suddenly I was sharing my parents for the first time.

Then I found the pregnancy test.

My mom had left it in the kitchen, on top of the microwave (I think about that now and wonder why the heck it was in the kitchen...).  I had never seen one before, but somehow I knew exactly what it was when I picked it up, the little plus sign looking up at me like in my math homework.

I marched over to my mom, and asked her what it was anyway.  When she confirmed her pregnancy, I only had one question.

"AGAIN?"

A few months later, this munchkin arrived.

It was defnitely not was I expected, and an interesting time for our family (especially a few years later when my youngest sister was born), but I'm really glad that test was positive.

I don't tell her as often as I should, but she's grown up into a pretty great sister.

I love you, Melanie.

Abbie: 21 Weeks!

Weight: Still think around 14 pounds.

Health: All good!

Sleep: Continues to have good and bad nights, but usually only wakes up once.  Naps are still great at the sitter, horrible at home.  Ugh.

Social: Lots more giggles.

Diet: Both breastmilk and formula. 1 bottle of breast milk and 3 of formula at the sitter.  Solids at dinner every night

Clothes: 3-6 months and 6 months.

Baby Gear Love: Definitely loves chewing on Sophie now.  She's also found her feet during diaper changes.

Crying: When she’s tired.  Poor girl.

Likes: Songs, kisses, and playing with Mommy and Daddy

Nicknames: Abbie, Abs, Abbiecakes, Stinker, Bug, Buggie

Postpartum: Weight loss is getting better – I’m back on track and feeling much better about myself.

Milestones: Trying to learn how to sit up – she can balance for about 30 seconds at the most.  She also is now reaching out to pet the cats!  I don’t know if she’s really trying to pet them, or trying to grab them, but it’s adorable.

My "Lot in Life"

Totally catching up on this blog every day in May challenge...and backdating everything.  It happens.

Day 16: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it.

I had a hard time with this one.  There are a number of things I'm working on, but nothing I could really call part of my "lot in life."  They were all things I had created, rather than them happening to me.

Then I looked at my nightstand and saw my thyroid medication sitting there.

I am hypothyroid.  I was diagnosed about 5 years ago now, and I never would have found out if not for a routine checkup.

I was working for a rental car company at the time, a job that required a lot of hours and very little downtime.  I was a manager, and 50 hour + weeks were expected (I'm so glad I don't work there anymore).  My commute was about an hour, and I remember always feeling exhausted on the drive...like so exhausted I struggled to keep myself awake.  I was more tired than I thought possible, and even thinking about it now, I think it was worse than the first trimester of my pregnancy.  In addition, my weight was steadily going up.

Since I has struggled with my weight for a while and had gone through some major life changes recently, I didn't think much of it - I thought I was just tired from work and not concentrating on what I was eating.  The hours didn't help me have much of a workout schedule, either.

Then for some reason I decided I needed a checkup.  I hadn't had one since starting college, and I figured it was time.

I went in and did the typical - height, weight, blood pressure...and bloodwork.  I had another appointment the following week to go over the results, and that's when I found out I was hypothyroid.

Suddenly, everything I had been experiencing made sense.  I have a type of hypothyroid called Hashimoto's Disease.  Symptoms of hypothyroidism include:

• Fatigue (definitely had that)
• Increased sensitivity to cold (I was cold ALL THE TIME)
• Constipation
• Dry skin (yes, and I previously never had this)
• Unexplained weight gain (defnitely)
• Puffy face
• Hoarseness
• Muscle weakness
• Elevated blood cholesterol level
• Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness
• Pain, stiffness or swelling in your joints
• Heavier than normal or irregular menstrual periods
• Thinning hair (Yep)
• Slowed heart rate
• Depression
• Impaired memory

After that appointment, I was referred to an endocrinologist.  He went on to take more bloodwork, do an ultrasound, and eventually, two biopsies.  (The biopsies were AWFUL.  I don't wish that on anyone.)  Thankfully, all that came back was that I only had hypothyroidism and not anything worse.  He increased my medication to a higher dosage, but a year or so (and a lot of research) later, I felt he wasn't giving me a high enough dosage, and I switched doctors.

I LOVE my current doctor.  She motiors me every 3 months right now, since my body is still evening itself back out from pregnance.  During my pregnancy, she monitored me every 6 weeks to make sure my levels were right so Abbie could grow and have enough thyroid hormone until she was making her own.

So why do I have hypothyroidism?  I don't know for sure.  There's no history of thyroid problems on either side of my family.  It's just something I developed, but I do believe stress was a factor in my case.  I was diagnosed during a stressful time in my life, and stress can do crazy things to your body.

So I take my medication, I go to my doctor for regular monitoring, and I try to be healthy.  I avoid excess soy since there's some evidence it interferes with thyroid function.  I'm trying to decrease my weight, since that usually leads to a lower dosage of my medication.  I've read at least a dozen books on my thyroid, and I am trying to follow as healthy of a diet as I can.

Her newborn screening came back clear, but I'm really hoping Abbie doesn't develop it later - it's a trait of mine I don't want her to get.

Day 14 and 15

I finally fell off the Blog Every Day in May challenge...time to catch up!

Day 14 - 10 things that make you happy

1. Baby Cuddles
2. My husband
3. My sweet kittens
4. A fresh manicure
5. A freshly made bed with clean sheets
6. My family
7. The colors purple and yellow
8. A great book
9. Memories with my best friends
10. Being a mommy

Day 15 - A Day in the Life

I feel like I covered a lot of this in my "What I Do" post, so here's the rest of it:

6:15am: Alarm goes off for both of us.  Chris goes to get Abbie up and change her diaper while I go to the bathroom and grab the boppy to nurse her in bed.

6:20am: Start nursing.  Chris gets in the shower.

6:45ish: Abbie's done.  We play for a few minutes in bed while Chris gets dressed and ready.

6:55ish: Chris takes Abbie downstairs and makes himself breakfast while she plays in her jumperoo.  I get up and get dressed and ready for the day.

7:15am: I go downstairs and make myself breakfast.  Chris and Abbie play.

7:25ish: Chris grabs Abbie's daycare bag and bottle bag and puts them in the car.  I put Abbie in her carseat, give her a million kisses (give or take a few), and say goodbye to her and Chris.

7:30am: He leaves to drop Abbie off and head to work.  If I'm running on time, I leave now too...

7:45am: I leave for work, aka force myself out the door so I'm not late.

8:00am-5:00pm Work work work.

5:00pm: Leave work and head home.

5:25pm: Get home.  Grab the mail, Clean my pump parts, start dinner prep.

5:45ish: Chris and Abbie get home.  I prep whatever food Abbie is getting today (it was pears tonight).

6:00pm: Chris or I feed Abbie while the other preps dinner.

6:30pm: Dinner's usually ready by now, so we eat.  A lot of times, Abbie sits on one of our laps during dinner.

6:45pm: We play.  Sometimes Chris does the dishes now, sometimes he does them after I'm in bed.

7:00pm-7:15pm: Abbie's bathtime.  She loves bathtime!

7:15pm-7:30pm: Get Abbie dressed for bed and bring her downstairs to nurse.

8:00pm: Rock Abbie to sleep if she didn't fall asleep nursing.  Wait 10-15 minutes before putting her in the crib to be sure she's really asleep.

8:30pm: Make my lunch and breakfast for the next day.  Prep Abbie's bottles and get them ready to go in the fridge.

9:00pm: Shower.

9:30pm: Read or blog in bed.

10:00pm: Goal to shut the lights and go to sleep.

2:00, 3:00, or 4:00am: Sometimes Abbie wakes up.  Sometimes she doesn't.  If she does, I nurse her on both sides, then rock her back to sleep...the whole process takes about an hour.  The worst is when she wakes up at like 4:30 or 4:45...so hard to get her to go back, if at all.

So those are my days right now...jam packed for sure!

Apology

Today's prompt is to issue a public apology.  I can't really think of anything to apologize publicly for, so let's go with this:

I'm sorry I'm not blogging much today...but I'm a Momma and I'm going to bed.

Goodnite folks.

What I Miss

I'm a day late...so I'm cheating and backdating this.  No one said that wasn't allowed!

In honor of Mother's Day , I thought I'd honor someone I miss that isn't here with us.

My grandma.

My grandma passed away last year on January 17, the same day we had our miscarriage.  I will never forget that day, and I will never forget my grandma.  We didn't have a ton in common, but I see little things in me that I get from her - having to wear makeup when I go out, having to have the right outfit for special occasions, and a fierce independence.  I'm so glad I got the chance to know her and to be her granddaughter.

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Ten Words

Today's Challenge is to sell yourself in ten words or less.  I told my friend Michelle about it, and she said to write:

"I'm awesome.  The end."

It's late, and I'm tired, so that's what I'm going with.  Have a good night guys!