Insta Friday

Welcome to my first ever Insta Friday post. Chance, you can stop pestering me about it now, thank you very much. Because I'm going to rock this. This week has been, well, take a look for yourself and insert your own adjective.

Road tripping it back home from Denver. I think Vincent's happy to have gotten a haircut during the trip. Check out the before we took during the trip out: 

Still cute, but maybe a little too furry. 

You talkin' to me?! You talkin' to me? Our table centerpiece gives us lip during dinner.

Vincent's school pictures. Yeah, this could be submitted to Awkward Family Pictures. Oh my. Even though they're expensive, we're going to buy one for prosperity. 

A little better but still very sad. The background is his room teacher's arm. Nice. In his defence, Vincent was sick.  Obviously he's a cute baby. See earlier picture. 

Mama got an iPhone 4GS. FaceTime here I come!

I started decorating for Christmas this week. I still haven't finished. Hopefully I'll be done before the 25th. No promises. Vincent still refuses to help.

Pretty, right? It cheers me up!

Until it doesn't. Then I write snarky, bad things on my chalkboard mug. 

And drink wine over lunch. Oh the perks of working from home. 

You'd think I'd stay in a great mood between the Christmas decorations, getting a new iPhone, AND receiving a pile of cute jeans, slacks, and tops from my sister Melissa. Clothes that fit!

She also put in this sexy bra. Bow chicka wow wow! And since I just quit nursing, I was more than happy to welcome back underwire. And sexy.

I mean, just look at how happy these girls are. At work even. (Who's thinking maybe she shouldn't drink wine? )

My husband has been bringing home flowers when he grocery shops. I'm pretty sure they're not on the list, but I love them.

When I don't work, I sometimes shop. Make that window shop. Who thinks I should buy these boots? Victoria Secret's. $89. 

The table piece is going to eat all the stars. Oh no!

What a monkey

We tossed around several ideas for Vincent's first Halloween, among them: cowboy, the little baby from Adam's family, an ewok, and a squirrel. We finally landed on him being a monkey because, well, he does kind of have monkey feature with that crazy hair and big ears. I love my child. I really do. :)

Little pumpkin

Last weekend we ventured to a pumpkin patch at a local cider mill. Although the day was pretty warm, we didn't let that spoil our fun and first ever pumpkin patchy goodness! We found our way through a corn maze (which pales in comparison to the one I went to in Colorado a few years ago; not only was the maze super easy but the corn was all dead and see throughy), and then we picked our way through the pumpkin patch. And you can't have baby's first pumpkin patch visit without the requisite sit-next-to-a-pumpkin picture!

Twins

A little Photobooth fun. Oh, how I love Macs!

Foyer for ya

I can't help myself, but how clever is my post title? Look at me trying to be witty. Now for a test: try saying "foyer for ya" five times real fast. Ohhhh! Hard, ain't it? Now onto our regularly scheduled programming... My new house (I've lived here a year and it's still new to me) has a grand foyer. I love it! Jonathan thinks it's a big ole waste of space, but I like that upon walking into the house you don't immediately walk into the living room. Walking into a foyer always makes an impression on me. That said, my foyer wasn't making much of an impression on anyone. All it had were stacks of unread baby, yoga, travel, and decorating magazines (see where my interests lie?) and place to catch the keys. It needed something! So I shopped around the house. So this makeover is free as the bird that Vincent likes to unintentionally give his parents. Six months and he already has attitude! The table is actually an old Target desk (it has a hutch that now lives in the basement).

Progress pictures:

Here's what we have: That big stack of magazine (needs to go!), a purple latern (I have these in all colors, and thought it would provide a pop of color; it got the axe in the end); a delightful candle that a friend gave me from a local bath shop (it's lit to give some ambiance. ommmm); dahlias cut from my yard and placed in a Shatto milk jug (glad I saved that!); a basket from Pier 1 to hold the Flip camera, keys, and other things; and a fleur de lis place card holder turned picture holder from Nell Hills.

Here I added a stack of books to give some dimension and height, a tray, and a photo box. (Pardon the shake. Still getting used to my camera settings and how to take pictures...)

Getting closer...I swiped the quilted runner my sister made from our dining room table for some added texture. Hmm. Still looks a little too blocky. 

Soak in all that fun quilted goodness. But it still isn't right...

Enter and smaller tray to hold mail, keys, sunglasses, and whatnot (just for you sis!); I also swiped the G from my mantel that my sister gave me years ago, and I removed the basket. Not too bad, huh? What made it difficult is that the table sits along a half wall that overlooks the stair well to our basement. I didn't want anything that stood higher than the ledge.

Who doesn't love a big initial?

and a pretty collection of flowers, books, and a candle?

It's an end result that I'm actually pretty darn happy with. But you should have read the text to my sister as it was in progress.

Want to accomplish

I always have a running want-to-accomplish list in the back of my dusty brain. Here's my top 10 house want-to-dos. Maybe publishing them here will be a spark of inspiration!

1. Find more frames at garage sales and on Etsy to spray paint as part of my wall collage in my foyer. I'm doing all black frames since my walls are the color of putty and white makes the putty look garish.

2. Create art for some frames. I want to do a mix of signs, pictures, and meaningful things. Hopefully it won't become the Museum O Vincent. But could you blame me?

3. Possibly repaint the white desk in the foyer that I'm currently using as a foyer table. I'm thinking black, but maybe I should be more bold and do something unexpected. Like navy blue or tea?

4. Spray paint some wooden airplanes that were Jonathan's when he was a boy and hang them from the ceiling in Vincent's room. He's starting to be more aware so I think he'd like having something to look at over his changing table. I'm just going to paint them white to go with his furniture.

5. Make some signs to go in Vincent's room. Right now he only has his "I love you to the moon and back" print that I made him. His nursery is so boring, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. And anymore I realized I hate rooms that are too themed. I want his room to be eclectic.

6. Sew couch pillow covers.

7. Sew curtains for the dining room.

8. Shop around for some new things to put on the mantel.

9. DIY things to put in the mantel apothecary jar.

10. Organize the pantry.

Food snooze

I've always heard how exciting it can be to give your kid their first foods. Makes sense. Food can be quite yummy and fun. But I wasn't in any rush to give Vincent food. His ped recommended waiting until 6 months and if we wanted to try anything earlier we could do rice cereal. Rice cereal=FAIL! We tried it a few times starting at 5 months, but when it made him gag so bad he puked, I threw in the towel. Or the spoon in this case. If he wasn't ready, I wasn't going to push it. I hate cleaning up puke more than I like feeding him food. So we waited until 6 months when we could give him something that didn't taste like sweet cardboard (sweet because it's mixed with breastmilk...and yes, we tasted it...don't judge).

Vincent turns 6 months this Wednesday, so we figured it was close enough. We broke out some sweet potatoes. Yum yum. Er, or not. Vincent still isn't too interested in food yet. And he still managed to gag. We'll keep trying. Just offering a couple spoonful until he can master the art of eating. I guess we should have known he wouldn't be fond of food. He's only eating 4 or 5 ounces of milk at a time. He's just not an eater. Yet.

But hey, I did get some cute pics out of it. Look at all that yummy cuteness! I think he's more fascinated with the camera than the spoon.

Daycare bound

And just like that, it's time for Vincent to go to daycare. Just to recap: He was home with me for 6 short sweet weeks, followed by two weeks home with Daddy. Then he went to work with Daddy through the end of June and watched full time by Grandma Pat almost the whole month of July. This very last week of July, he went to work with Daddy half days and spent the other half of the days at home (while I worked) and Daddy did most of the caregiving. On Tuesday it was Mamma & Vincent day from which I took the day off from the week I found out 5 months after having Vincent that my new company gives to new parents. Yeah, thanks for that 5 months later assholes. (Yes, I'm bitter. And I wrote assholes. I'm bitter, remember? But seriously, who doesn't tell an employee who was pissed about having to use all their vacation for maternity leave that they wouldn't have had to use with the old company that they get an extra week?!)

Today, on Vincent's very last day of no longer being cared for by family, we dropped in on his daycare that he'll be going to come August 1. The ladies that run the infant room are so sweet, even when one baby wasn't too happy about missing his nap because of the fire alarm drill that morning and another baby crying every time she looked at Jonathan.

I'm actually pretty excited for this part of Vincent's life. I think he'll learn a lot at daycare, and I'm looking forward to picking him up in the afternoons. The daycare isn't too far from our house, so it'll be a nice way for me to not only get out of the house every day but also to close up shop and go see his smiling face. Or at least I hope it's smiling. Miss Helen warned us that it takes a week or so for babies to get acclimated and they usually go home exhausted. The bonus she said is that they usually start sleeping through the night if they're not already. This mamma is loving those words!

The end of nursing

I think we've just about closed the door on the nursing saga. Lately it's been a battle of wills when I nurse Vincent. Not because he doesn't want to, but because he gets really impatient and lazy. I've done all I can to keep up my supply, which had dipped. I really don't think my problem was lack of a supply but rather a baby who'd rather the milk flow like from a bottle nipple. It makes my heart ache to close this chapter. I really wanted to see it through some date in the future determined either by medical necessity (me going back on my MS meds) or him not gaining enough weight. I never imagined that mother nature was going to give me milk that drips rather than flows. I think I'd be impatient too. And before you comment with a ton of advice, believe me, I've tried it all—or I feel like I have. I know that many sites suggest taking away the bottles until he can get used to nursing again, but as a working mother, that's impossible. Thanks America for providing a way for mammas to provide the very best for their children. I hate how you rob us mammas of so many opportunities to be with our children.

Maybe this won't be the end. Maybe it will be. I just hope I'm ready for whatever is in store.

A V post

I think I've abandoned my other blog, so look her for all news about Baby Vincent as he mostly known at least on the Massey side. I think it has a better ring than Vinny (which makes my blood curdle and makes me want to vomit a little in my mouth; guess if you want to be on my good side, you'll call him V, Vincent, or even Vince, just saying).

So about the little guy: At almost 5.5 months, he's really close to rolling over. He hates tummy time, so I'm not sure if he'll ever be successful until it's time to crawl. His hands continue to fascinate him, and even though mamma shows him his feet everyday, he has yet to be interested. I'm so ready to see him do happy baby.

He's really attached to people (at least he is to Mom and Dad) and is starting to notice if you leave the room. Hopefully that won't be a cord that's around forever. I'd like to think Vincent could be a social, non-clingy child, but if it means more mamma snuggles, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

I've given him rice cereal on several occasions and he's still not interested and has a strong tongue thrust reflex. His pediatrician doesn't even recommend rice until 6 months, so I'm in no rush to push the issue, especially after this week's cereal triggered his gag reflex and he vomited every where. I felt like the worst mamma in the world. Honestly, I think this society is too keen on being food pushers, including bottles. I kept wanting Vincent to eat more in his bottles, but then it finally clicked that hey, he obviously doesn't need it so why push it? He'll eat more when he's ready; same goes with solids.

He's starting to reach for things independently. Before we had to show it to him and he would tentatively touch or grasp whatever it was we were presenting to him. He's starting to sit up more on his own, and we're thinking we might invest in a Bumbo seat so he can get more practice sitting. A couch isn't exactly conducive to unsupported sitting. One delay I'm a little worried about is that when we try standing him on our lap he doesn't bear weight on his legs, unless he's really pissed off. If he's still not doing this come his 6-month appointment, I might say something to our pediatrician. I just don't think Vincent is in any rush to achieve his development milestones and when he's ready, he seems to accomplish them in a day.

Randomness

By request, here's 29 (cuz that's how old I am!) things you may not have know about me.

29. I think I'm a hippie at heart. I believe in the good of most people. Unless you piss me off and then I write you off forever. Maybe I'm not a full-blooded hippie.

28. I happen to think women who don't wear any makeup and dress casually are the most beautiful because they let their personality "dress them up".

27. I thinking eating takes way too much time, especially now that I have a kid.

26. Even though I work from home, I have to be wearing shoes, even if it's just flip flops. Otherwise it feels like I'm working on the weekends.

25. I love the comfy casual look best. Not only am I comfortable but when I feel comfortable, I feel like I look good.

24. I love challenges. I took calculus in college just because I wanted to see if I could do it. I didn't even need it (journalism major). I ended up with a C, but I contend that a lot of that was because I had to spend a majority of my time tutoring my roommate because she didn't understand basic algebra.

23. I wish I would have majored in biology. I'm good at science, and I love a challenge.

22. Sometimes I miss being a college student and wish we could have repeat days where we go back in time for a day and have a do over and have conscious knowledge that it was a do over.

21. My other do-over days would be: the day my mother died so I could tell her goodbye, when I met my husband, my wedding day, and the day I gave birth to my son.

20. I didn't know motherhood would be this hard. I also didn't know how anxious I would be to find out how my little boy is going to turn out.

19. I like buying name brands. I equate them with quality, but since having a kid all brands are fair game.

18. I'm embarrassed to admit we bought Wal-mart brand diapers and we like them!

17. I'm a neat freak about how I clean: I don't clean all the time, but when I do, you could eat off every surface.

16. You could even eat off my toilet.

15. I loved being pregnant. I want to have another kid just so I can be pregnant again.

14. I also want another kid so I can go through birth again. I was in labor with my son for 18 hours and I pushed him out in 10 minutes.

13. I love to-do lists. My sister once made fun of me for all my lists and even bought me this beautiful to-do list book, but I can't bring myself to write in it because it's so beautiful! On my to-do list is to be brave enough to write in it.

12. I don't have very good manners.

11. I have a hard time meeting new people.

10. I firmly believe in my astrological sign, the Pisces. All the traits apply to me.

9. I think it would be fun to own a New Age shop. I would burn incense all day and listen to music that always puts me to sleep.

8. I'm very sensitive to the moods of people around me, especially anger. If you're angry, I can't stand to be in the same room with you.

7. I hate fighting.

6. RE: 7: It makes me very passive aggressive.

5. I love gummy bears.

4. I cracked up when my niece and nephew saw my gummy bears in my travel snacks when I went to Denver and totally wanted them. I guess I love kid candy.

3. I can't sit still long enough to watch movies anymore, especially ones that are thought provoking. We just watched Conception and I was glad we were interrupted by the kid so I could do something else for a while.

2. I hate people who bitch and complain and then when you bitch and complain they give advice like it's not a big deal. Hello, feel my pain!

1. I hate crying. When other people cry I never know what to do. Crying is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I think that's why I don't let Vincent cry much.

The forgotten post chronicles: Work from home is for the birds

So now that I've been working from home for almost four months, I felt it was time to give my assessment and true opinion of working from home.

Pros:
My own bathroom
Can eat whatever/whenever I want (I don't, but it's nice to have access)
When I'm done for the day, I'm already home
I can wear whatever I want
Getting Vincent and myself ready is easy since I have plenty of time

Cons:
I feel more disconnected than ever
I miss talking to people face to face
I feel less motivated (NOTE: this could be due to sleep deprivation and company changes)

Cousins

The day we arrived in Denver during our recent trip there, much to our surprise and shock, my niece Abby wanted to hold Baby Vincent. It was her idea! I think Vincent brought out the tiny mamma in her. She didn't even want to let him go, and it still warms my heart to know she is still asking where Baby Vincent is at—almost a month later. She's going to be a fine big sister. And almost just as surprising, Vincent tolerated being held by amateur arms. I just love that they're in their PJs.

Quilt love

There's nothing better than a quilt to snuggle up under. Nothing. Those little blocks sewn together with love have been en vogue in my family for as long as I can remember. If you were lucky enough to get a quilt that was made by either of my grandmothers or my mom, you almost felt like you really did win the lottery. Quilts made by these women are a hot commodity both because they've already passed on from this life and because of the time, energy, and love they poured into their artistry. They're things of rare beauty. So you can imagine what it's like to look upon my sister's quilt creations. Although her work is more modern and the quality probably surpasses even our familial quilting predecessors, I still feel that same comfort seeing her work. And now we're proud owners of one of her quilts. Or I guess I should say Vincent is. Lucky baby. I really wanted to hang it up it's so beautiful, but my sister wasn't having it. She wants her quilts to be used and loved—not hung up as a relic. I'm so happy that Vincent has a blanket he can snuggle up under when he's older that was made by someone who loves him almost as much as I do. Everyday we break it out and play. We practice rolling, we sit up and read, we play with our play gym, and sometimes we just cuddle up with Mamma underneath it. Thanks Aunt Chance for such an amazing gift!