Friends with no Kids

Well all this point, I'm in the middle of the summer and most of my weekends are totally packed with awesome plans. And by awesome, I mean weddings, graduations, birthdays and other miscellaneous things I wish I didn't commit to. Don't get me wrong, I love a fun wedding every now and then, but I would love nothing more than to couch surf in my underwear for just one day.

That said, I feel like I've been letting my 'friends with no kids' fall to the bottom of the barrel. I do love them, and I'm lucky that most of them understand how busy life gets, but on the other hand I feel like a small portion of them think I'm lame now ...and their pretty damn close.

So this ones for you, friends with no kids.

Dear Friend,

It wasn't very long ago when we would hang out routinely. We would drink way too much, spend lots of money, stay out late and really pretty much have life by the balls. These days, a 6 month old has me by the balls.

All my money goes to daycare, cute baby gap dresses and other baby needs.

Having a few brewskis sounds pretty fun, but they don't really mix well when you need to wake up early and entertain a child all day long.

Oh and time. Yea, I have none of it. After my (working) weekday shuffle, I need to catch up on all the things I didn't get done during the week, on the weekend, plus all those damn weddings.

So friend, It's not that I don't love you and or don't want to hang out with you; I'm just trying to find that happy medium.

Love,
Your exhausted parent friend.

I'd also like to take this time and post a bunch of pictures of my young drunk careless self. You are gone, but never forgotten, self. We'll meet again someday...only you'll drunk off of a couple glasses of wine and not quite as dumb.

Something you want to tell your childless friends? Comment below!

The Weekday Struggle

Where my working moms at? Yea, I'm talking about the weekday routine. You know, where you're pretty much a robot Monday through Friday?

I've been back to work for about 3 months now and I always have people asking me "how is it?", "are you getting into a routine?". Shit, routine is my middle name. I feel like a robot on an assembly line on a daily basis. I must say, a lot of people think being a stay at home mom or a working mom has the eaisier job. But, I assure you, neither one of them is easy. Sometime I think maybe my house would be a little cleaner if I stayed home, or maybe the fridge might be fuller. But really, what's that in the grand scheme of things.....and maybe that might not even be the case.

I've been lucky enough that my boss lets me work at home on Monday's, but for the rest of the week, it's what I like to call 'The Big Rush Around'. Here is what my typical work day looks like;

5:30 - Wake up, Get ready, pump one boob
6:15 - Wake Baby up, feed baby on other boob
6:30 - Walk Dog
6:35 - Carry the shit ton of shit to car (Pump, baby food/bottles, purse, lunch, spare clothes for baby - potentionally my work laptop, diapers or wipes...oh yes and BABY!)
6:45 - Drive baby to my sisters and drive myself to work.
7:30 - 4:00p - Work
4:30 - Pick up baby
5:00 - 7:30 - Get home, make dinner, wash bottles and pump parts, feed humans, bath child.
8:00 - Give baby bottle and put her to sleep.
8:30 - Attempt to shower and pack everything up for the next day.
9:00 - Pump and finally go to bed.

Add Laundry and cleaning in there somewhere.

So yea... I'm a robot. Does your workday look like this?

Making Homemade Baby Food

Make your own baby food is super easy. You just need a food processor of any sort and fruits and vegetables. I have a very small food processor, but it gets the job done. It's not necessary to buy one of those huge systems with everything in it if you don't have the money. Heck, I had the money, but I'd rather have less junk in my house. All you really need to do is cook the fruits and veggies. Some need to be baked, some are boiled and some don't even need to be cooked at all. I simply just googled whatever fruit and you'll see how to prepare it. After you've ran the food through the processor, you can either put in nice little cube containers or an ice tray. If you're using a nice tray, cover the tray with saran wrap, freeze, then break the cubes out and store in ziplock bags. Fresh food is good in the fridge for about 3 days.

Here's all the food I made last night. Took me about an hour and I made 3 sweet potatoes, 4 peaches and 1/2 bag of peas (mixed with sweet potato, since my baby isn't the biggest fan).

So have you given making your own baby food a shot?

Never Pass Up Snuggles

Once you have a baby, you'll probably get sick of people saying "they grow so fast". I hear it at least twice a week. It's getting old, but it's totally true. I feel like it was just yesterday I was driving my fat pregnant ass to the hospital, but evidently that was really 5 months ago...and I'm sure 5 years will sneak up on me. 

Per usual, on the weekends my husband gets out of bed way earlier than any human should for plain shits and giggles. I sleep until the baby wakes up and then I get her and nurse her in bed with me. She usually falls asleep. I got out of bed to pump and came back to check on her. My plan was to get some laundry folded while she slept, but that didn't really happen. I looked at her sleeping on the bed and melted. There's nothing more heart warming than a sleeping baby. Quite often I look at her and think to myself she's so little, I want this moment to last forever, but I know after today she will never be X amount of days old. And each day she'll grow older and older. 

Anyways, instead of folding that laundry, I gently got back into bed and snuggled. Laundry will always be there, these morning snuggles won't be. Don't ever pass up on the snuggles.

What to Pack for the Hospital

I've seen so many 'what to pack' lists and I think most of them suck cause they have you over packing. Trust me, you're not going to want to spend one ounce of time un-packing and doing any laundry when you get home with your little bundle of joy. You could go to the hospital with nothing packed and be totally fine. Less is more! Believe me!

So here is my slim packing list;

For mom -
- Going home outfit. Between bleeding, breast feeding and doctors checking my uterus and other parts; no outfit from home was going to cut it, for the exception of a plain old hospital gown.
-Slipper socks and a bathrobe were handy for getting out of bed for a stroll.
- Extra hair elastic
- A little make-up (if you really want)
- Phone Charger
- Camera
- Smart Phone - I see a lot of items on lists that a smart phone can easily take place off. You don't need your laptop, iPad, paper, pen, pictures or radio. These days ALL of this stuff can easily be done on your phone. 

For Dad -
- One outfit
- PJs
- Slippers
- Change for vending machine

For Baby 
- Going home outfit
- Car Seat

Toiletries - soap, shampoo, condition, tooth brushes, toothpaste and whatever products you use daily.

Happy Packing!


 

Cheese Ball Recipe

If you're ever in a pinch and need something quick, cheap and easy to make, this is my 'go-to' recipe.

THE Cheese Ball

The ingredients sounds odd, but everyone loves it!

2 (8 oz) packages of cheese
1 (8 oz) can of crushed pineapple, drained very well
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup fine chopped bell pepper (any color)
1 teaspoon of season salt

Mix all ingredients together, form ball and refrigerate overnight in tin foil.

I bring this to a party with a box of crackers and a paper plate and I don't have to worry about getting my plate or whatever back. Enjoy!

Diapers & Washer Machines Don't Mix

Unless their cloth diapers, you obviously shouldn't be washing your disposable diapers. I was emptying my washer when I found all sorts of weird stuff in it, like jelly. Upon further research, I found a diaper full of it. Weird that it turns into gel! I guess this is also why you should buy those special swim diapers.

Anyways, take out what you can and toss the clothes in the dry. The gel will dissipate. I did end up running the clothes through a rinse cycle again cause I was freaked out, even though the gel did not have any odd odor.