Miscellany

I have too many random thoughts to share to create a cohesive post. So miscellany will have to do. Seems like my blog is becoming one giant miscellany lately, huh?

-Speaking of blogs changing/dying out---did everyone else have a major freak out last week over Google Reader 'expiring'? Like, woah. I'm now using 'Feedly' and it was seriously way too easy to make the switch---one click on 'sign in through Google Reader' and I was done. So easy and Feedly seems really cute and user-friendly. Now I just have to make the time to actually READ some blogs and comment....same tune, different day, right? But really, does anyone else get the feeling that blogs are kind of on their way out and IG is taking over the world? Makes me kind of sad in a way but I sure do love me some IG and can't seem to make the time for blog reading. I'm sure I'm not alone in this change.

-Let's discuss Downton Abbey for a second: I realize I'm way late to the game here, but OMG. I just started season three last night and can't stop smiling when I think about DA. It took me about 3 episodes of season one to be hooked. I just adore the complex story lines with numerous characters and Matthew Crawley is getting dreamier by the minute. Except I saw this article on Facebook and am a little upset with him right now. I sort of love Mary now (used to hate her) and truly despise Thomas (who doesn't?). And woah to 'His Lordship' and his shockingly sneaky side! Didn't see that one coming. Old Lady Grantham kills me every time, too. Okay, that is all the rambling I'm going to do because I don't want to give anything away to those who are even further behind than me, but I love it so much! I haven't had a 'show' to watch in years, it seems. Downton is filling the void in a major way;)

-Meanwhile Nate is becoming addicted to his own show of choice, Breaking Bad. I watched a few episodes with him in the beginning and was all about it for a bit. Until I realized that it's freaking dark and depressing and gruesome as can be. Ick. When I started to have nightmares at night involving meth and chemistry I knew I needed to be done, and got back on my Downton kick. But Nate is still watching BB on Netflix on the TV while I shriek away on the laptop watching DA. It's pretty hilarious to see us so excited about two shows each night since we never used to watch TV before. It's soooo hard to be productive when all we want to do is escape to our respective TV worlds each evening after the kids go down. Rough life/first world problems to the max;)

-Where in the heck is spring? It snowed all day yesterday, has been in the 20s consistently, and today it was 13 degrees last time I checked. I'm totally over it and this has to be the worst winter I can remember in Wisconsin. I take back anything nice I ever said about snow being pretty. It is not. It's dumb and not welcome here anymore. I shoveled our looooong driveway last night with Truman's 'help', listening to CC on the monitor since Nate didn't get home until after 9pm. My back hurts today and I have decided that shoveling snow at the end of March is pure misery.

- Big news on the home front: my parents have made a HUGE decision to move from Missouri to Colorado. My dad accepted a job in Fort Collins, CO and my mom has put in her notice at work so it's pretty much official. His job starts on May 1 and they are moving out there at the end of April. So wild and scary and CRAZY to think about this, especially if you know my parents! They have lived in my childhood home for 27 years and it's so hard to imagine them living anywhere else. The house needs some updates to make it market-friendly, so I guess my mom is going to get her new kitchen and new carpet RIGHT as they are leaving the house---so unfair, right? But I suppose whatever house they buy in CO could just have everything she wants right from the start this time;) I'm so happy for my dad and his new adventure with his career. And I'm excited for my mom, too, since she plans to look for a job but has no idea what she will do. Besides being a little sad about not seeing my childhood home after a final visit I'm making with Cecelia next month, I'm also sad that my biggest dream of having my parents move up here is probably not going to happen. They assure me that they will visit just as often since they will now live 1 hour from Denver's airport instead of being 2 hours from St. Louis's airport. Nate is already dreaming up a huge family vacation to Colorado over Christmas which includes skiing, staring at the beautiful mountains, and drinking warm drinks by a fire with family. I'm in! But this big move is definitely still sinking in for me, even though I'm so proud of them for taking this next chapter in their lives. Colorado is a pretty freaking sweet state. We will miss the excuse to visit Missouri a few times per year, though;(

-We set Cecelia's first birthday party date: June 1. Point one: I'm kind of freaking out that we are even discussing my baby turning ONE and I can't really handle it just yet. Point two: June 1 has been a pretty important date for the past two years, so it's ironic that Cecelia will have her party on that date. In 2011, I was in the ER with hemorrhaging after my miscarriage on June 1. I'll never forget the thousands of dollars of hospital bills that showed up dated 6/1. (grrrr) In 2012, it was the date that my OB scheduled an induction for Cecelia in case she didn't come out on her own. And of course, she did and we ended up being at home with our new baby on the first. I'm kind of a sucker for dates with stuff like this so I'm really into the symbolism of celebrating an entire YEAR of life for our girl after a crazy journey to get here. Sniff.

-Baby girl will be ten months next week and we are still nursing, which is awesome since Truman was not that interested at this point (but I wouldn't let him give up until he turned a year because I'm psycho like that). BUT, at nearly 10 months of breast feeding I figured I was safe from The Big M considering I had it three times with Truman and never with Cecelia. I was wrong. On Friday morning I woke up with a clogged duct. Total bummer because those babies hurt like the dickens, but I figured with pumping three times that day at work and nursing Cecelia on top of that I should be fine. After work, at home with the kids before Nate arrived, I started to feel like pure hell. Freezing cold, body aches, chills, headache, and a fire boob. Oh, the fire boob. As soon as Nate got home I collapsed on the couch and couldn't move, other than to nurse Cecelia to sleep, which involved me sobbing from the pain. Not in a great mental place at that point, my friends. I hate mastitis SO freaking much! Luckily my OB was the one on call at the office and she called in the prescription for antibiotics without an office visit. I'm not sure I really even needed them since I did feel much better in the morning after only 1 of the 40 pills I'm to take, but whatever. Better safe than sorry. I am clueless as to why I got hit with mastitis this late in the game.

-When I was spiraling down into the depths of despair Friday night, nursing and crying, I panicked thinking that this could be it for nursing. So I got the rest of my frozen milk from my in-laws and holy hell, I have a LOT more than I thought! Like, 5 gallon bags filled up and I assumed I had about 1 gallon bag left. Score! I could start mixing in cow's milk to her daycare bottles but I don't think I need to just yet with all of this frozen milk. And she IS still nursing well (from the right side only---leftie is pretty much out of the game at this point and it's a sad lopsided sight, let me tell you) and I am not throwing in the cards just yet, still pumping three times a day at work and also once before bed each night. I find it rather startling to see my supply drop after mastitis and I pray it bounces back somehow. The numbers game with pumping can be so freaking depressing during something like this. But it's amazing to think that I won't have to pump in two more months. You better believe I am going to go buck wild after my last pumping session. Hate it so much lately. Such a time commitment! But I love that my girl is still nursing and I cherish it every single time she latches on, even if it's a quickie little snack session (her favorite lately).

-Awesome discovery: about 4 months ago I lost a pair of my black work pants. Could not find them ANYWHERE and it was bugging me to no end since I knew I never took them off outside of our house. I ended up buying new work pants and moved on. Then I 'lost' my sports bra the other day and refused to run in anything but my 'big breastfeeding' boulder holder. So I looked every where, including looking up into our laundry chute from the main level up towards the bathroom. Want to know what I found? My missing black pants. Don't worry, my sports bra was behind a drawer in my dresser, too. But those pants! So happy to find them, and let this be a lesson in the pitfalls of a sneaky laundry chute.

-Speaking of running: we are well into our half-marathon training program, and our longest run has been a smidge over 6 miles so far. Can I just say that training AND breast feeding means that I have an appetite that rivals a 400 pound man. For reals. And I'm not complaining because I know this amazing calorie-burning will not last forever. Might as well live it up while I can!

-I'm a total freak but I cannot decide how many pictures I want to share in this post, versus waiting to share next week in Cecelia's 10 month post (not even close to writing it, of course, but still thinking about which images to share). So whatever. Here are a lot and we'll see how many others from these 'shoots' I even share. I love Blogstomp so much!!

(new outfit from Target, total of $3 for both the top and bottom!!!)



(St. Patty's Day--dug around in the attic to find an old green onesie from Truman's baby days. Definitely didn't make a big deal out of this holiday and I'm totally fine with that, just like this awesome blog post mentions. Also, love my red headed girl in green. Also, Truman refused to wear green and refused to be in pictures. Go figure. Headstands are one of many new tricks, in case you were wondering.)




(she officially has 5 teeth now! And can pound a full slice of pizza cut up into little bites. Go, baby girl!)



So much miscellany in this post. Now I'm off to finally read some of YOUR blogs in Feedly before the kids wake up. FRANTIC!!!