A Week in Review

This last week has had its share of ups and downs, a little bit of a whirlwind for sure. Our biggest hurdle lately has been bed time. Oosh! We've started trying to put a bedtime routine together which we should have been doing for a while now. We're certainly paying for our late start on this. Tegan doesn't have enough of a set schedule to have a real set-in-stone bedtime, but she is predictable enough to give us a pretty good idea when its going to be nap time i.e. an hour after a meal almost like clockwork. Unfortunately she's decided that instead of her bedtime routine triggering her to sleep, it's her que to start a full fledged meltdown. Not fun! The biggest thing we are trying to get away from during bedtime and nap time is rocking or bouncing her to sleep. So once we get her initially calmed down and in her her crib we try everything we can to calm her down without picking her back up. This, as you can imagine, is not an easy task. We're also trying a hybrid version of the CIO (cry it out) method, where we start with letting her cry for only a few minutes before you try to sooth her, and then add a few minutes to each attempt. Our stubborn little girl went, for all intensive purposes, 40 minutes last night before I caved and nursed her to sleep. (Lil-sis, I'll blame this stubborn streak on you :) Just another crazy trait she seems to have gotten from you somehow.)

This week certainly hasn't been all struggles though. On Thursday we met up with Melissa and baby Azalea for a picnic and a walk around a popular lake. It was our first ever picnic, and if I do say so myself it was a great hit. I've really enjoyed having another new mom to talk with (Azalea is only two months younger than Tegan). Its amazing how long a conversation you can have about a babies bodily functions. Ha!

Just hanging out!

Then on Friday we got the two little ones back together and included the Daddy's to enjoy a dinner. Another great day!

And lastly we'll add a three day weekend to the week and end it on a very happy note. I'll never turn down an opportunity to have the hubs home to help out. Plus then he gets extra baby time which I'm sure he looks forward to, and I get a shower that doesn't involve keeping an ear out of screaming. Definitely a win win.

Next week will be Tegan's four month check up! I'm looking forward to finding out where our little squirt falls on the growth charts now!

Getting Frustrated

I had a sad realization this weekend. Tegan isn't quite 4 months old yet and the MIL is driving me crazy! Thankfully, I'm not alone the hubs is getting frustrated too otherwise I'm sure this would be causing problems for our relationship!

I've heard there are usually two common situations people have with in-laws after a baby- either it brings you closer together, or creates an even larger rift. I'm the latter. From the very start I never had a great relationship with the MIL, but I think it worked because we didn't see each other that often. She lived in NY, and I lived in MN. Problem solved. Then she moved out to MN right before the hubs and I got married. I still didn't see her that often, and it continued to work. Now that we've had Tegan (who is the first grandchild on the hubs side) we see her a lot more often, and this is where I'm reaching my wits end. To make the problem more complicated I'm not comfortable letting the MIL babysit because of a host of mental, and physical problems.

I know there's not a lot of people who read this blog, but the few out there that have past by, I NEED help. I'm reaching out for advice, even if the opinion is "Get over it". I don't know what else to do but at this rate somethings going to need to give. I can't make it another 18+ yrs like this.

Here's the situation- she calls the hubs on a regular basis (meaning weekly or several times a week) asking for a time to see Tegan, and emails me usually once a week asking for time to come by during the week. She pushes constantly for chances to babysit (that's actually what she asked for for Mothers Day which irritated me to no end). Whenever she hears someone else babysat, even if it's the hubs taking time off work, she blasts us for not having her babysit. When we do have her come by, she pressures me to let her do special trips with Tegan like going to the mall or taking her out in her stroller for a walk. And when we do tell her 'No' to something she has to know why, and will revisit the topic several times for answers.

What we've done so far- before Tegan was born we explained that we were not comfortable with her babysitting so not to expect that. We've told her several times to back off a little, and she does for a little while but starts pushing again before long. The hubs confronts her on a regular basis when she gets out of line, like explaining that we don't have to have a reason for saying 'no' but that she needs to respect our decision. The hubs has really done a great job running interference so far but it's still getting to be too much.

So what does the cyber-world say? Is there anyone else having similar problems? And how did you make it work?

Bad Mommy Award

I won my first "Bad Mommy Award" this week, it broke my heart. Tegan and I were playing on her play mat when I decided it would be a good idea to switch to reading since it had been a while since we had read a story. I went to pick Tegan up off her mat and thought it would be fun to add a little flare to the maneuver and go from the floor to swooshing her just over my head. We've done this before and she likes it so I didn't think twice about it. Unfortunately this time around there was a ceiling fan/light just above us. I swooshed her right into one of the light globes and bonked her head on the edge of it. She wasted no time making sure I was aware of my mistake and started crying. It took about 10 minutes to get her to calm down. I was feeling pretty awful. She now has a crescent shaped mark on the top of her head from the light. Its fading quickly but I can still see it.

Tegan's Piglet Lovee Helped calm her down afterwards

Her boo-boo (It really wasn't that bad- I just felt awful for doing it in the first place)

I know these things will happen, and this is probable only the first of many "Bad Mommy Awards", but that doesn't make you feel any better when your little one is crying as a direct result of something you did. And usually its something pretty stupid you've done.

Special Visitor

My little sister paid a visit to us last weekend! She came all the way from Kentucky. It was so great to see her again and she was so excited to meet Tegan. She stayed in the 'Sibling Hotel' (aka our spare bedroom) so we were able to spend a lot of time together. It was great watching her interact with Tegan too. As the days went by she got more and more comfortable with her, she even mastered dirty diapers before she left. Ha!

While she was in town we gathered everyone together for a family picture. That was a bit of an experience to say the least. We had 8 adults (2 pregos) and 3 kids (3yrs and under). My nephew Ethan was so fasinated with Tegan it was adorable. I think in all the pictures Ethan has a hand on her head. There's even a series of photos where Tegan is crying so Ethan reaches across her to where his sister is sitting and takes the stuffed animal shes holding and gives it to Tegan. So cute!

Cousins!

My sister is hoping to make it back out for Thanksgiving or Christmas, so until then...

Mothers Day

Yesterday was my first Mothers Day! The Hubs made it a great day for me. I had told him that all I wanted was a lazy day to spend with him and Tegan. Our weekends get so crazy that I just wanted to hide away and spend time with my new family unit. The hubs even surprised me with a digital picture frame and some chocolate. It was definitely a great day.

About the only thing we did do yesterday was get Tegan's 3 month pictures taken. Tegan wasn't quite her bubbly self unfortunately. We still got some great photos but the shoot did not go as well as we had hoped. I think the studio was just to warm for her, for all of us really. She was pretty fussy and kept spitting up. She actually spit up on her outfit three times before the shoot even started. My poor baby. But like I said there were still definitely some cute pictures, and I'm super excited for them to come in.

Next weekend when my Mom is back in town we'll be doing something for her. As cliche as it sounds-now that I'm a Mom it really does put a whole new perspective on things with my Mom. I think back to some of the Mothers Days in the past and think I really didn't get it before. The beauty of hindsight right?

So here's to a great first Mothers Day, and many more Mothers Days to come. I'm so looking forward to celebrate them with Tegan as she gets older.

3 Months

Happy 3 month birthday Tegan (a few days late, but better late than never)!

Tegan is getting so big so fast. At her last appointment she was 10lbs, I suspect she's around 11lbs now, or at least close to it. At 3 months old she is already supporting her own head pretty regularly, she still needs a little help every now and then. She's also just starting to figure out bouncing! I have a feeling that will become a new favorite thing pretty fast. Ha! And continuing her super baby theme-she's already starting to rock on her hands and knees. This child is going to be unstoppable once she figures out how to move! And even though the transition started out kinda rough- she's sleeping in her crib like a big girl, and actually sleeps for 5-6hrs in a stretch at night pretty regularly and on a rare occasion she'll sleep for 7hrs. I am certainly enjoying the extra sleep, even if I wake up a little uncomfortable after the longer stretches.

We'll be going to get her 3 month pictures taken on Sunday, which will also be my first Mothers Day. I'm really excited for both. Until then though here are a few pictures to show just how much she's grown!

Just home from the hospital

Her last day in the bassinet (~3 months old)

Props to Working Moms

I had a bit of a reality check last weekend when it comes to working Moms. If I was going back to work I would have just completed my first week back. This alone blows my mind. Tegan and I are just starting to figure out a routine that works for both of us, and I can't conceptualize what it would be like to leave her home, or at daycare, and go to work. She's changing so much each day I would always feel like I was missing out on something whenever I was at work. Not to mention just that I would miss her like crazy.

I had a small glimpse of what it would be like to be a working Mom this weekend. I had a training session for a new job that started on Friday afternoon, and went to Sunday afternoon. All in all, it was exhausting. From trying to get out the door in the morning, to trying to function on little or no sleep, to trying to fit pumping into the day to keep supplies up- I would get home at the end of the day and have nothing left. I was excited to see Tegan, but had no energy to calm her when she got fussy. I wasn't happy, Tegan wasn't happy, and I think the Hubs was worn out too. It also became clear to me why a lot of nursing Moms don't continue to nurse once they go back to work! It is really hard to fit in pumping time (even if by law you are entitled to that time now).

This weekend was definitely an eye opener for me. I'm so thankful that I am able to stay home with Tegan, and so happy to find a job that will help out the budget but also still allow me to stay home with Tegan. This new job will on average only need me to work one day a month, and I will have the ability to accept or decline each project. I will admit when I first heard about this new job I thought it was too good to be true, but I'm glad it worked out.

So as I mentioned in my title- many, many props to working Moms, and I hope next weekend you get the Mothers day you deserve. I tip my hat to you! I am honestly in owe of what you are able to do.