Friday, May 28, 2010

Isaac’s first business trip

It was just after 6 a.m. the Tahoe was packed from head to toe – stroller, check; car seat, check; luggage, check; computer, check; breast pump, check; plane ticket, check – now we just needed to get there, but first, we needed to make a quick stop at grandma’s house.

Our flight left at 8:07 a.m., so I thought for sure that leaving our place at 6 a.m. would give us plenty of time – rookie mistake! Now, I’m no rookie at traveling – I’m so that person behind you in security mumbling to myself to get your damn shoes off and computer out of your bag – but flying by the seat of my pants doesn’t work when you have a 5 month old as your carry on.

It was pretty classic though – I was THAT woman. Picture this – cover up draped over me, baby on boob, stroller and car seat serving as storage, and here I am getting the arm workout of my life, right arm propping up Isaac, left arm dragging carry-on luggage, while grandma took care of the base and stroller. What a scene is all I can say. Thank God we aren’t famous because paparazzi would have had a field day!

I’ll take the blame for this one. Isaac did great on the way to the airport, but who could expect him to wait patiently to eat when mom pushed his normal breakfast back almost 2 hours...not my little boy!

During take-off he was still going to town, so his ears and the cabin pressure weren’t an issue. When time to land rolled around, he was still enjoying a mid-morning nap. Overall the plane ride was a breeze.

I had a busy three days in the Portland office, but we made time to give the attorneys and secretaries the dose of Isaac they were hoping for. Overall the trip was great...the only issue was Isaac and his teeth. I’ll save that for another day!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Party Planner – My favorite past time!

Anyone who knows me can vouch – I love to throw parties. So with the hubby’s big 3-0 bash just 3 days away, you know I’ve got my hands FULL! Mark wasn’t initially on board with the idea – didn’t want all the attention that comes along with a birthday party, but ha, ha – I was able to talk him into it!

The RSVP’s are still trickling in and there are a handful of folks who I know will be there, but have forgotten to look back at the evite and mark their response as “wouldn’t miss it for the world” – you know who you are! It’s surely going to be a night to remember, but it won’t be the rendition of our wedding reception I was hoping for – where Nor Cal friends met So Cal friends. It’ll be more like a family and friend reflection of Mark’s life in Nor Cal – and we’ll have plenty of pictures to help with the reminiscing! Isaac will be making an appearance at the beginning of the party, as will several of our friends’ kids. Mark just couldn’t resist the urge to show off his little stud! Isaac will likely cut out around 8 p.m. to spend time with grandma at the hotel until mom and dad show up after the party ends around midnight.

I’m still working out the final day-of details, but the BIG stuff is DONE. Venue is booked; dinner, cake and keg have been ordered; wine has been delivered; Costco run is complete; play list is being finalized – we still need to replace some of the rap crap with classic rock; floor plan is finished – yes, I needed to sketch out the room; games have been decided – yes, we will have games: Texas hold ‘em, beer pong and Nerf basketball; and the most fun task – picture collages are COMPLETE! Last stop this week is to Dollar Tree for the cheesy favors!

I even (think) I know what I will be wearing...

Last week I found a cute little black dress at Loehmann's, so I’m praying the rain holds off, because God knows I don’t want to be that person who ends up freezing her ass off, just for the sake of a damn dress! My sister is completely booked on Saturday, so I’m going to have to figure out how to pull off my own up-do, and since getting back from Portland last week, I’m still playing catch up on the frozen milk supply, so I still need to find time to pump a few extra meals for Isaac; not to mention find time to get my toes and eye brows done – eeekkk, so much to still do!!!

For the past few nights before drifting off to sleep I’ve been daydreaming about what I plan to say for Mark’s Birthday toast. I practiced on him last night during his (actual) B-day dinner, but I still need to pull my thoughts together. There’s so much I want to say (surprise, surprise) – do you blame me? He IS the man who changed by outlook on life and love ten years ago, but I’ll limit myself to 2 minutes – promise!

His Birthday dinner at home last night was really sweet. On our commute home we kept going back and forth about what he wanted to eat, but he finally decided on Taco Tuesday at the Devlin’s – followed by a delicious sampling of cupcakes from a yummy bakery down the street from my office in San Francisco! I did pretty good with his gift selection this year – only one return will be necessary, and it’s because the brand of shoes I bought runs a little small, so 13 was no good! Overall, I think it's been a great Birthday week for Mark – and thanks to momma dukes for the yummy split pea soup you made us, which kicked off the festivities last Sunday!

I’ll be back tomorrow with a recap of Isaac’s first plane ride, and momma’s first business trip since being back from maternity leave. And I’m certain Mark’s party will set me up with a load of future blog entries! TTFN

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

My First Mother’s Day

Spending Mother’s Day with my husband and son this past Sunday was priceless. We ventured off to a couple of wineries in Silicon Valley and had a beautiful picnic under the sun, which thankfully finally made an appearance as we began to grub down on lunch. We had plenty of milk in reserve for Isaac, so Mark let me give in to the temptation of wine...some more wine, and probably more wine than I had any business drinking. It was a lovely day; it’s just a shame that I didn’t leave well enough alone, and begged Mark to head further south to a Mother’s Day party we got a last minute invite to.

What was supposed to be a brief “let’s only stay for 1 drink detour” turned into a 4 hour boondoggle that left Mark with his hands full – and two babies to care for. Needless to say, my body was pretty pissed off at me by 8 o’clock, and the wine no longer wanted to stay in my system (if you catch my drift). Lesson learned – you CAN’T drink vino all day and expect to feel human the next morning. It’s just not going to happen. The kicker is the tummy ache that’s lingered for the past 2 days. Not a good feeling when I have to get on a plane tomorrow morning.
It will surely be a Mother’s Day to remember – and a reminder to stop while you're ahead – and let a good day, stay a good day, and not turn into a rough night. Thank God for Mark who loves be unconditional – I owe you one lovey. Here’s to your Birthday Bash in a few weeks...and Cheri enjoying LOTS of water!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

HELLO TEETH - The Next Phase of Breastfeeding

Well, it finally happened, and I was forced to drop the middle name, which is never a result of something good when it’s coming from your parent. If you’ve been following my blog you’re already well aware that my little man’s first two teeth came through late last month. Since then, the joke at home has been about how breastfeeding was going to become a whole new experience. Well, so far so good, until last night!

That little stinker decided he wanted to chew his food like mommy and daddy, and my nipple was the main course. The piercing sensation (NOT in a good way – so not into that crap!) surprised the hell out of me. I literally jumped at the surprise and by the look on Isaac’s face, I startled the heck out of him, too. The pain subsided fairly quick, so after I pulled my shoulders out of my ears I let him go back to town.

Then this morning rolled around...

This past week Isaac has been consistently waking up between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. to eat breakfast, which has been working out quite well, since I typically need to be in the shower by 6:30 a.m. We’ve been setting our alarm clock, but Isaac has been playing that roll just fine. Once the whimpering wake up call rings, Mark makes his way to the nursery to retrieve him from his crib and brings him back to our room for me to feed him, most of the time while I’m half asleep. So this morning all was going as usual – Isaac nestled in my arms, laying beside me with boob in mouth, while my eyes were closed and I was on the verge of dozing off when – CLAMP! He bit me...again! Daggomit – that’s when the middle name got dropped. “Isaac Patrick, that hurts!”

Man, oh man, these nipples are tough, but shoot, they are no match for the sharp pearly whites that have made their home in Isaac’s mouth. I haven’t resorted to the cheek flick just yet, which my mom reminds me daily was what taught my sister and I FAST that biting the booby wasn’t allowed. Third time is the charm, and if he decides to practice chewing again tonight, I may need to follow in my mom’s footsteps...more to come on that!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Living for the weekends!

Since being back at work full time and wrestling a daily commute of up to an hour and half each way some days, the weekends are now more important than ever. It’s knowing I have 2 full days with Mark and Isaac right around the corner that keeps me motivated to crank at mock speed all week. Aside from me being a little under the weather and having to make another pit stop in Fremont to drop off a few necessities for my dad, this past weekend was perfect – and full of firsts.

On Friday night we attempted to move Isaac into his own room – something we’ve been putting off for several weeks now. Can I just tell you – he not only slept through the night (the first time since tooth 1 and tooth 2 came in), he slept sound in his crib – in his own room – woohoo! The sound of Isaac’s nose whistling a.k.a snoring that played through the baby monitor was music to our ears – the perfect white noise to rock us to sleep. Then 4 ‘o clock Saturday morning rolled around, and the pain of engorged breasts woke me up from a dead sleep.

Like any other reasonable person trying to stack her stash of breast milk, I made my way to the kitchen and hooked myself up to my buddy – the breast pump. I was just about deflated to a comfortable level before Isaac started fussing and was ready for an early breakfast. I vaguely heard him start to whine over the cheesy 80’s disco thumping noise my pump makes when I looked up from my Parenting – the Early Years magazine to see Mark looking at me like, what the hell are you doing? Don’t you hear him? That’s not actually what he was thinking, or even said, but he definitely had the, I’m half asleep, and would much rather be in bed look going on.

When Mark first heard the baby whimper and noticed I wasn’t in bed, he initially thought I was already on my way to retrieve him. It wasn’t until 5 minutes later and still a whimpering baby, Mark realized I was up to something else – that’s when he ventured to the kitchen to find me relieving myself via the breast pump. Needless to say, I wrapped up fairly quick; Mark offered to store the goods in the freezer; and I made my way to Isaac’s room to feed him. By 6 a.m. everyone was back in their own beds fast asleep, well almost fast asleep – papa was excited to no longer have a G rated room and welcomed me back to bed with something that would definitely help rock me back to a comfortable slumber, if you catch my drift. Yeah - TMI - just trying to make a point - lovin' doesn't have to stop just because you have kids!

The three of us slept well into the 9 o’clock hour; and Saturday ended up being a very lazy day, which was just what the doctor ordered given the fact I was dealing with sinus pressure from hell and a stuffy nose that would only drain when I laid on the side opposite that was stuffed – good times!

Sunday rolled around – and Isaac showed us his latest talent of rolling over. LOL – no pun intended. Mark and I sat in amazement, cheering him on, hoping he would figure out how to roll back over instead of smashing his face into the floor while he tried to master the art of scooting. After observing a couple of minutes of struggling, we’d help roll him back over and watch anxiously to see how quick he’d roll himself back over again. Isaac is definitely a professional roller from back to tummy, but he’s still learning to get those arms and legs to work together. Yeah, yeah – I know, he’s still young, I get it, but can’t a mom be proud that her son is on his way to crawling – very exciting!

We made sure to update Isaac’s baby book with the latest accomplishments...2 pearly white teeth to add to his beautiful smile; taking resident in the cutest room in the house – his nursery; and mastering the art of momentum – yay for Isaac who can roll over. The joys of parenting!