Audience Participation! Short and not so sweet.

Show of hands please...

I have been talking to other new moms and I am starting to sense a theme...I am all about wanting people to know they are not alone, so let me throw it out there...

Which of the following is true for you?

I'm Not Dead!!!

For the love of Pete and Mother Donkey, it has been almost impossible to sit down at my computer for the past two weeks!

My day goes something like this:

3 am: wake up to pump.

6:30 am: estimate how likely it is for my husband to get up to get the kids ready. If it looks promising, I get up at this point to get ready for the day. If not, back to sleep.

7 am: get up and get in the shower.

7:10 am: a delightful dance of dressing, primping, and pumping! All at once! In our tiny bathroom! I always knew I should be a dancer- and this intricate, dangerous dance deserves a darn Tony award.

7:15 am: IF (note the big IF) my hubby got the kids ready, this is when I need to leave to be comfortably on time to work after dropping the kiddos off at daycare.

7:25 am: the time I am usually pulling out of the driveway with the children instead. This drive to work is another dance deserving of note, but I plead the 5th. This gets me to work at about 7:59 and 1/2.

7:40 am: the time I need to leave if it is just me heading to work for the morning.

7:47 am: the time I have been making it out the door lately. Even with all the prep the night before, I manage to forget this, lose that, snag this, stub that...this also gets me to work by the skin of my teeth at 7:59.

8:05 am: we have our morning meeting at work.

9:30 ish: time to pump. Starting to get the hang of things, but it is still a bit rough. We have a nice place at work to pump and very a supportive environment. Despite these things, pumping at work seems to be a bit, well, less than lucrative. I have one other co-worker who is breastfeeding as well. We have both noticed a drop in "product" at work.

Working-

12:30 ish: time to pump again!

Working-

3:30-4:30: last pump of the day. I try to time this so I won't have to pump again immediately when I get home. It gives me a little time to get everyone situated. It seems like it takes me a bit longer to pump even half of what I need for baby Scarlett, so lately, I have been taking files and phone numbers in with me. Filling out files works great, pumping while on the phone...a little weird.

5:15 pm: pick up my little darlings from daycare! My daycare has a strict close at 5 pm policy, which is strange given all the working parents that take their kids there. Thank God for Aunt Meggie. She picks them up and hangs out in the car until I get there.

As long as Scarlett is content, I LOVE the drive home. Especially around the holidays. Graham is just now at the age that he loves to sing along in the car, and we love the Beach Boys "Little Saint Nick" and "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town." He calls it his Christmas Rock 'n Roll.

5:45 pm: Roll up to the hood. It is at this point I contemplate driving around the block just to avoid carrying all the crap I have to lug around right now. Gather up diaper bag, lunch bag, hand bag, pump bag, milk bag, and assorted things the daycare sent home. Open Graham's car door with my foot, load one goes in the house. Graham starts in, "Mommy!TakeoffmyshoesIwannawatchmyshowwhere'smytoyIwantchipsgetmejuiceandcookies..."

Delicately step around son. Head back out to garage for load two. My beautiful little peanut. She is usually asleep, but if not, she is just hangin' out. Grab baby, head back inside. At this point, Graham has all his clothes off but his underwear and his pants that are stuck on the shoes he didn't take off first. Set down car set, help three-year old. Get him juice and start his cartoons.

6 pm: start dinner

6:30 pm: baby is hungry. Feed baby. Try to remember dinner is still cooking on the stove. Three year old runs out of show and commences fit. Re-start show for three-year old. Remember dinner. Detach baby who is displeased. Baby in crib under mobile-temporary distraction. Finish cooking dinner.

7:15 pm: Set three-year old down to dinner. Baby in bouncy seat. Mommy eats and cleans and puts things away and gets more ketchup and ranch for three-year old. Baby starts to fuss. Run to bathroom and start three-year old's bathwater. Back to kitchen, start baby's bathwater. Three-year old comes, hands open covered in ketchup and ranch, divert to bathtub. Three-year old in tub-yell at him to turn the water off for you. Feel like bad parent-too much responsibility for three-year old...check on him. He's using the soap as a battleship. Undress baby and start baby's bath.

8 pm: baby quick bath, run in bathroom to watch three-year-old in bath. Baby back under mobile so mommy can make sure three-year old actually uses soap on stinky parts.

8:15 pm: Three year old "reading" books which are actually being tossed all over his room. Baby eating again.

8:45 pm: Baby asleep. Time to pump. Three-year old begs for show. Mommy gives in so she can pump in peace.

9:15 pm: Tell three-year old "ONE MORE SHOW AND I MEAN IT!" Baby wakes up.

9:45 pm: Three year old in bed. Baby back in bed.

9:50 pm: "Mom! I want juice!" Baby back awake and crying. Get juice, get baby.

9:55 pm: Rocking baby to sleep. Hear suspicious noise in bedroom. Inspect. Three-year-old has snuck into my bedroom and turned his show back on. Would throw hands in air, but holding baby who is still wide awake.

10:15 pm: Daddy's home from work! YAY! Daddy on shift. Mommy hands over baby, gets lunches, milk, outfits, and anything we need ready for the next day. Does a little cleaning. SO READY TO SLEEP...

but it's 11pm: Time to pump...

So how do YOU do it? :) My friend Rachel said it best, "Here's to having it all!"

LOL.

PS: Daily Delight? One word. Enjoy Life motherpluckin' chocolate chips. Free of all of the 8 major allergens and DELIGHTFULLY TASTY! They melt in oatmeal...I am in Heaven.

Merry Christmas all.

Love.

Never enough pancakes- a blog in two parts...

Part I

Snow is blowing sideways outside, thank GOD it is a Saturday!

So of course, when the weather gets cranky, we turn to the comforts of home-

Blankets, holiday shows, and FOOD.

One thing I have missed with my dietary restrictions is pancakes (obviously, since I blog about pancakes *kind of* frequently). I happened to pick up some Bob's Red Mill Coconut flour the other day, and that is my daily delight of a discovery!

Here is a REAL MSPI friendly recipe for coconut flour pancakes! I used coconut oil to brown up the pancakes on the griddle:

http://www.nourishingdays.com/2010/07/fluffy-coconut-flour-pancakes/

They really look like this! (I borrowed her pic because I thought about taking a pic too late!)

The conversation at the table went something like this:

Me: "These are Scarlett-safe pancakes! They are supposed to taste like doughnuts!"

My husband: "Ok..."

*everyone eats for a bit*

My husband: "Do you want more? I am going to eat the rest if you don't want any more."

Me: "Nope, they are all yours!" (silent victory!)

Then I take it that ONE step too far...

Me: "You like coconut, right?"

My husband: silence. Side eye glance. No words are neccessary...

This is the part where I DON'T ruin his meal by telling him what he is REALLY eating.

This morning, silence was golden.

Part II (completely unrelated to pancakes)

My daily disappointment doesn't come in food form. I was running errands last night, and remembered that I desperately needed mascara. I was going to save this purchase for a fancy trip to MAC in Omaha, but since I was out, I picked up my old standard favorite-L'Oreal's VOLUMINOUS mascara. It's AH-mazing. It is obviously NOT a disappointment.

Something shiny caught my eye. Many beauty mishaps start this way, don't they?

It was Hard Candy's 1,000 Lashes Fiberized Mascara. I got swept up in the sweet talk, the promises, the tiny little price. There are actual little fibers in the mascara! I tried it on and was pretty impressed! It seems to add volume and length, which is great...

But I checked the mirror just a few minutes later-and had little black fibers all over my face! Kind of hilarious. I should take some before/after pictures...but I am still wearing yesterday's makeup. If I get motivated-I will add photos!

Baby Blues meter: 2

I am feeling pretty optimistic lately. Partly because Mike and I have come to an understanding on the dishes and laundry since I am back at work, and it really seems like we are working together now. The stress level has dropped dramatically! The house is not going to be perfect while I am working, and it doesn't have to be! No, I am back to stressing about my post-baby body again...might as well focus on what is important, right? :)

And then there is this-

I have been thinking a lot about dreams. We have dreams as kids. Things we want to do and be when we are older. Sometimes it surprises me that we are older. I am often shocked to learn that I am an adult. Does anyone else feel this way?

Life sometimes feels out of control because I am not focused on my childhood dreams. I get short bursts of panic that I am not a practicing writer, a working actress, an active dancer...but if that is what you love, and you do it when you can, then aren't you still those things? I start to worry that I am not pursuing these dreams and getting too old to do so, but then I realize it was also my dream to be a mommy, and maybe that is the dream I am chasing right now.

Thoughts?

Love.

Don't call it a comeback!

This may be short and sweet...I have one child on the edge of sleep in her swing, and one child in Iron Man pajamas sneaking out of his bed every three minutes. I am pumping, typing, and barking orders. There are fruit snacks on my bedroom floor, spaghetti handprints on the end of the bed, and a tiny voice calling, "Moooooooooooooooom...I want you to come heeerrrrrrrre!"

Never mind that I am hooked to a milk machine and your baby sister is asleep less than 20 feet away from you, my sweet child.

What my precious little foghorn cannot comprehend is that Mommy needs baby to sleep so she can finish pumping, get outfits together, lunches ready, start a load of laundry and make sure the bottles are clean for tomorrow...so shush it!

That's right, pets. It was back to work week for this mommy.

I just wanted to squeeze in a quick hello while I can! I forsee things becoming less chaotic once we get back into a routine around here!

But if you don't hear from me again in the next few days...please send help.

Loves.

Trader Joe's!

Trader Joe's reps the Big Red!

Although I am sad that my maternity leave is almost over, I have had something to look forward to this week- the opening of Lincoln's first Trader Joe's!

From what I had been told, Trader Joe's is a great little grocery store with unique items and decent prices. I must say, I was not disappointed. Since it is my last weekday as a stay-at-home mom, I thought it would be great to pop in at the oh-so-stay-at-home-mom time of 10 am.

It was crazy! Trader Joe's is located behind SouthPointe, where HobbyTown and Jazzercise used to be. Once I made it through the door, it was immediately like being invited to a very big affair, but lots of other people were invited too. There was even a guy playing the steel drums!

Craziness at Trader Joe's!

When you walk in, you are immediately surrounded by fresh floral stems, produce and Lincoln-themed murals. (Hence our bicycle riding Wooly Mammoth up top.) The perimeter is much like our other grocery stores, dairy, meats, produce, and a GIANT wine and spirits section which was so crowded, I didn't get to check out. I know Two-Buck Chuck was in there somewhere...

That's candy!!!

The center of the store was filled with all kinds of unique bread, pasta, baking goods, dried fruits, candies, frozen foods, and snacks. The selection was great, especially for the frozen foods. I think for someone looking for allergy specific foods, you can score at Trader Joe's, but you will still make another trip to your local co-op.

All safe for Scarlett!

The prices were pretty decent...not that I buy a lot of persimmons...

At 2.99, that's the best price in town for this stuff!

I wish I had more time (and elbow room) to get a better idea of what there is to offer, but I did end up taking home a few bags worth of Trader Joe's delights. Two HUGE bags full of goodies, (Sweet Trader Joe's bag too!) and the price was very comparable to HyVee (which I also *LOVE*).

That's 71 dollars for a lot of stuff!

Daily Discovery: Trader Joe's has a CHOCOLATE SORBET!!! Allergy free (for me)! I have been dying for some chocolate! I will definitely let you know how it tastes!

Daily Disappointment: Lots of the packaged meats at Trader Joe's looked really tasty and fast, but the seasonings almost always contained soy. Boo!

Baby Blues meter: 1 Not too shabby today. Cried a little this morning because things didn't go according to schedule. That could happen any time for me, though. I don't consider it too baby bluesy. Plus, shopping with Scarlett made my morning. :)

Boob milk is always free!