Survival and Staples

So I guess I am one of the fittest....because somehow I am surviving mommyhood and being back at work full time. Honestly, it's not as horrible as I had thought it was going to be. I cried as I left the house the first time all dolled up and wearing my Express pants. And yes, I totally cried in front of my boss that morning. And then I proceded to cry and mess up my perfectly applied mascara any time I was asked how El Bambina was doing the rest of the day.

Day 2? Piece of cake, sort of. I totally hate leaving her at home, but El Senor and the girl are sweet little buddies, so it has at least eased my worries.

Do I miss her? Every minute of the day I am not within 10 square feet of her. Do I hate not being at home full time? Without a doubt. Do I love having a roof over my head? Yes sir! Do I like being able to take the kid to the doctor? No question. So there you have it. The greater need of having a place to live and health insurance currently out weigh my need to smother her with kisses 7,000 times a day. And honestly? I love that my man is having this awesome time with her.

Then onto Staples. So the little one and I ran some errands last night. I needed a few binders for organizational purposes. I had looked online to scout out the best deal. Staples had just what I needed for the least amount of moola. When I arrived at my destination I cut to the chase and just asked one of the employees where I could find the desired item.


Employee: "Oh, we don't carry the Staples binders. . ." she replied.

Me: ..........."Umm, this is Staples? I'm not at Office Depot by mistake?"

Employee: ."We just don't have them in the store."


Seriously? Seriously!?!?! Sorry, but that is just lame, no getting around it. So I left the store without the binders. And as I pulled away I stared hard at the sign that said Staples, just to make sure it really didn't say Office Depot.

Orange Soda

The highlight of my maternity leave (other than raising El Bambina and getting to be with El Senor every day) has been going to the Costco at least 2 times a week. Yes, the Costco. I love the Costco. As you can tell, I love it so much that it is not just Costco...but the Costco.

Seriously, what can be better than entering the massive doors. There is the requisite greeter-bouncer there to make sure you are welcomed and a member. The exclusivity is also a big draw for me (even if you are the one paying a membership fee to be exclusively wanted). So there you are, greeted or bounced as warranted. Me, I am always greeted since I've been a card holding member since 2001.

I love to stroll through the electronics, dreaming of the day when I can justify buying a big new plasma TV. That day will most likely come if my current TV ever dies (which it wont without the aid of a sledge hammer). Then there is the center clothing section, jeans, coats, swimsuits and more! Books to peruse. Samples to taste. Choices to make! Can we really live another day without 7,000 chocolate cookies in our house? I think not!

Enough with the exclamation points. I really love the Costco in case you already hadn't figured it out. So, El Senor and I went to the Costco today to get a new battery for our '89 Camry. It has sat unused for 2.5 months and a jump did not give the poor thing a start. Since I am returning to work next week, we realized the necessity of having 2 vehicles in working order. The buddy system isn't going to get us both around any more. After purchasing our needed item we strolled El Bambina over to the vending machines. All I wanted was an orange soda for the magical amount of 75 cents but woe-is-be they were sold out!

I decided to move on from my woe. I had Sprite in the fridge at home and that would just have to do.

As we tooled home El Senor suggested we grab a bite of food from Wendy's. While there I automatically ordered a Sprite to go with the combo. With lightening quick thinking, El Senor realized that my orange soda dreams could come true. At the window he asked the nice lady if she could change the beverage to an orange soda. As you can tell, I called her 'the nice lady'. That should clue you into the outcome of this little story. Yes, the nice lady said, just one moment.

Lo and behold I had my orange soda! So the Costco trip was not a failed attempt after all. I will miss my regular visits to the old gal when my working days are taking up all my spare time. Thank goodness that I still have Saturday to commune with the mother ship.

Honey

I sit here writing with my baby curled up against my chest. There is a wet drool spot on my left shoulder. Sopping through to my skin.

And I love it.

The warm, heavy weight of this little body. Full to the brim with mama's milk. Her nose is pressed firmly into my chest. The soft breath warming my skin next to the cool wet spot.

I inhale her scent.

For some reason she smells like sweet clover honey. Her downy hair tickling the edge of my chin. So relaxed and beautiful. Her long lashes sweeping her smooth cheeks. I never want to set her down.

And I rarely do.

Some day she will be too big to cuddle like this. So I hold her now against my heart. Today, she is still a compact bundle.

Filling my arms with love.

New Year's Resolution

My New Year's resolution for 2010 is to not have my little, sweet and precious daughter grow up to be a tramp. I took these pictures of the little one during the last few days.

Beautiful and perfect.

Then I got this hideous catalog in the mail for high school prom dresses.

Seriously? You would let your teen-aged daughter dress like a low-end Vegas prostitute? You may as well buy her a pole and some fake boobs. So, with that said, let us all refrain from letting our daughters make a mistake that they might not regret, but you certainly will.

My Husband is Extra Awesome

El Bambina at 10 days old, and yes, I am that Mom,
letting the kid cry so I can take a picture of it.

The babe has acid reflux. We have a prescription that we give her 3 times a day that has really helped. At our pediatrician's visit last week the doctor told us to call her if it seemed any of the original symptom were returning. El Bambina was diagnosed with the problem when she was about 4 weeks old. Well, now she is a big girl at 2 months (you know that 4 weeks in the life of a baby is about 100 years or so).

The doctor was right, the dosage needs to be changed.

Any sane person would have just asked her to do it at the time she gave us that little tidbit of information. So here I am instead at 2 in the morning waiting for the little darling to finish crying and to settle down for the night. El Senor is dealing with the def-con 5 situation, giving my arms and ears a much needed break. All I can say is that my husband rocks my world and I'm calling the pediatrician at 9am sharp.

Milestone

First off, I have to ask. Did anyone out there realize that Christmas is next week?!?!? I feel like a missed the memo reminding me to do my Christmas shopping. Apparently raising a baby is an all consuming job.

Right now the Bambina is passed out on the couch. She is 2 months old today, and went in for her first round of immunizations. No fever as of yet, but getting stuck with a needle for 3 shots and 1 given orally is enough to take the mickey out of a grown person...much less a little package like our girl. El Senor is right though, she took it like a champ. I think that I cried and was more upset than she was.

Her growth update is as follows, she now weighs 11lbs 9 ounces, measures out at 23 inches, and her head circumference is 15 inches. This puts her in the 71% for weight, 76% for height, and 40% for head circumference. For the Bowler Girl family members...this means that there is another Little Head that has joined our team. I think the Big Heads are getting out numbered.

Being away from work has been awesome. I like my job, however, being at home and taking care of the little one has been the best job ever. Can you imagine if someone gave you the following job description?

Responsibilities:

• Change dirty diapers 7-10 times daily
• Change onesies 2-3 times daily due to above blow-outs
• Feed baby 8-12 times daily (no set schedule available at this time)
• Help crying baby go to sleep 6-8 times daily
• Coo nonsense at baby whenever she is awake
• Console crying baby (even when you can't figure out what is wrong)
• Take screaming baby on car rides at 3am whenever necessary
• Be ready to wear your velcro baby at all times
• Bath happy baby every 2-3 days, or as blow-outs deem necessary
• Be ready to not talk to adults for 3-4 days at a time
• Watch hours and hours of terrible daytime TV, since you are wearing the velcro baby and nothing else can get done
• Read everything you can Google on how to help your baby be a smart adult
• Change your diet to accommodate the needs of your breast-fed baby (no dairy, seriously!?!?!)
• Be ready to add words to your daily vocabulary such as 'poops' 'pees' and 'toots' (totally embarrassing mommy talk)
  
• Hold precious sleeping baby in the wee hours of the night

Compensation:

• Zero Dollars for the above responsibilities
• Eternal rewards, amazing

If someone gave that to me and asked me to do the job I would have told them they were nuts and to check into the closest loony bin. 8 weeks of doing this myself, and all I want to do is have more babies and do it again and again.

I know how glamorous it sounds. Really, who doesn't want to be changing messy diapers and voluntarily be cutting themselves off from the normal adult world? Well, the grass is always greener folks. I have friends that are stay at home moms, and all they want is to go to work. I go to work, and all I want is to stay at home with our sweet babe.

I'm just glad that we have insurance....those claims from the hospital started rolling in and all I could see was red. I'm not even going to get started on my rant about our health care system.

So this post is called "Milestone". I'm sure after all the above rambling you are trying to figure out why. I will tell the rest of the story in pictures.

The Bambina discovers mom and dad's bed
is better than her own crib for sleeping.



First sponge bath at home....waiting for that cord to come off.



First Halloween, looking good in a themed sleeper
and a little stoned, she must of just had some dinner.

Grandpa and Grandma Bowler visit.

Grandpa puts her to sleep like a pro.

No, that's not poop.
Her umbilical cord finally came off after 3 1/2 weeks.



Grandma T. makes her first visit. She was such a great help!



Is she waving? Oh, my!



Hanging out while Dad decorates the Christmas tree.



Just before her shots, so unsuspecting and sweet.



A kiss from Dad for good luck.



Weight, Head Circumference and Height
Sorry again Big Heads!



The after effects of going to the doctor, one tired baby.
.
.

Delicious

I must say, I think our little darling daughter is pretty delicious. I could just eat her up. Don't you agree? El Senor is absolutely smitten with her. I see a serious problem as she gets older and wants her way. Mom is bound to say no, Dad will be putty in her hands with a quick yes and a kiss. Enjoy the pictures.

Side note: Carina, am I no longer cool enough for the cool table?