Rubber Ducky, You're The One!

I realize that Brianne is only 16 and a half months old, but I am a planner, and as a result, have already started thinking about her second birthday party! It is going to be Duck Themed, because Brianne loves Ducks!! It was actually one of her first words too and she will point out every duck she sees, even the tiny ones on her PJ pants!

My real inspiration came from the latest Oriental Trading Company Catalog though. I don't know if you've ever seen one of these or not, but it is filled with party supplies. And, they literally have every kind of Rubber Ducky imaginable. For example,

Rock-n-Roll Ducks
Ninja Ducks
Dinosaur Ducks
1920's Ducks, yes, they are actually black and white
Hippie Ducks

And my personal fave, Zombie Ducks!

I have grand visions of a Duck pinata, duck favors for everyone, and pin the tail on the duck, and duck-duck-goose, and a Duck cake and yellow decorations... and, if the pool is open for her party, we can throw a bunch of ducks in the pool and let them just float around.

So, I hope between now and Brianne's actual birthday she doesn't lose her love of ducks. I don't think she will. She will bring me the Oriental Trading Co. catalog and say "Ducks!" and we have to then sit down and look through it. She is too stinking cute!

Christmas in July

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year." - Charles Dickens

I know I'm not a good blogger. I will go through periods where I will blog daily, then other times I won't blog for months and months. And I am also bad about posting pictures. So, here is yet another picture post... Pictures from Brianne's first Christmas, in July lol.




And as it is actually July and not Christmas, here are some sunny summer pics.

My Very Own Mini Me

"Everything I've accomplished I've accomplished through the grace of God and pure stubbornness." - Mary Fairchild

It's Thursday. Day number 4 of a 5 day work week. And as of today, the score stands at Brianne 3, Mommy 1. You see, every day this week, our morning routine has not been so, well, routine. Every day, Bri gains more independence and becomes more strong willed and stubborn (aka. like mommy) and we all know what happens when you try to put 2 positive ends of a battery together, there's friction!

But today, I think I won the batter of wills! Score 1 for mom! We went to the grocery store yesterday after work and got all kinds of fresh fruit, so I thought I would give her a treat for breakfast and put some blueberries and bananas in her oatmeal. She refused to take a bight. Our morning routine is usually I give her a sippy of milk to hold her over till she gets woke up and I have time to make her breakfast, then we have breakfast "picnic style" on the floor in the living room so we can watch tv. So this morning, she had drank her milk and we woke daddy up etc. and we're sitting in the floor but she just wants to run around and play with toys she hasn't touched in months. I tried to give her bights and she wasn't having it. So, I picked her up and put her in her highchair. Warning, meltdown imminent! She threw a little fit! Screaming, kicking, throwing spoons at me, arching her back temper tantrum!

I decided to ler her scream it out this morning. I left her in her highchair while I made myself some coffee and started to put my makeup on. Then she calmed down and was reaching for her spoon that she had thrown... ah, victory! Sort of... she only wanted to pick the fruit out of her oatmeal and not eat the oatmeal. Fine. Fruit is healthy. So I ended up giving her the rest of the banana and then she took too big a bight and proceeded to gag, choke and cough! I didn't panic (I am CPR/AED certified and work in the Safety industry) but calmly reached over and gave her a pat on the back and all was fine. Does that earn me another point?

My point is, she is me! A tiny little me with a mohawk-mullet and Jason's ears... I have a feeling that life is certainly going to be interesting when we hit the teenage years. God give me strength!

On a different topic, Baby Kate will be getting her bone marrow transplant on her 1st birthday, August 19th. Everyone please keep Kate and her family and her donor in their prayers!

As I am still behind on picture posts (didn't blog for like 6 months) I leave you with Brianne's pictures from her 10 month photo shoot.

The Review is in...

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." - Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 was excellent! Although, as someone who has read the book a dozen times, I did of course find fault with a few scenes. But all in all, a fantastic finish to the series (ane yes, I cried, several times). And, Jason and I had an excellent date night! We had dinner and drinks at Bar Louie and just sat and talked and people watched like we used to. Last night was the first time I have seen midnight in a long time too, so, needless to say, I slept in a little. I slept till 9am which was also a rare event around these parts.

Now I am getting ready to go pick up Brianne from my parents and take her to Entertrainment Junction to see the trains and play with the other kids. But unfortunately I have to make a pit stop at work to finish up something from yesterday blah!That is, just as soon as this storm passes so I can get to the car without taking a shower on the way.

And becaues I promised some pics, here is a random assortment of my latest faves.

This just in...

Baby Kate has found her perfect match! She will get her bone marrow transplant!

God is Good!

Friday Randomness

"Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disapear when you get up close to them." - John Shirley

I'm so glad it is Friday! It has been such a long week and the weekends are my time with my family - I get Jason and Brianne all to myself, well, for the most part. Tonight however, Bri will be sleeping over at Memaw and Pops' house while the husband and I go see the new Harry Potter movie. I can't wait to see the movie and have a date with my hubby, though I will miss Bri, especially our morning baby snuggles.

This has been such a long week too, but, yesterday Brianne gave me a hug for the first time! I asked her for a hug and she came to me and leaned her little head and put her little arms out and it was just the sweetest thing ever! That made up for the temper tantrum I got a little later when I refused to take her outside at 9:00 in 100 degree weather.

My mom and dad are taking Brianne to Bass Pro Shops today and she is going to be in animal heaven (don't tell her they were real living animals though). And tomorrow when I go pick up Brianne, we are going to go to Entrainment Junction for the first time and I can't wait. She is going to love it! And then, if it doesn't rain, we're going swimming!

I really need to post pics, especially since she is officially 16 months old now and I promise to get to that this weekend. Hopefully I will have a ton of great pics from our adventures this weekend too.

I revamped the blog a bit. I like it so much better but am not sure I am completely satisfied with it... so expect more changes to come.

... One Giant Leap for Mankind

"America has tossed its cap over the wall of space." - John F. Kennedy

Today is a sad day for me, and I'm sure I am not the only geek mourning the end of the space shuttle program. The end of Mission Control and Shuttle Atlantis and the space program in the US. I want to document this day because this blog is basically my pregnancy and motherhood journal and someday I hope for Brianne to read it.

The space program always brings to mind elementary school, mostly because the launches were a huge deal and our teachers would let us watch them on tv. I will never forget when I was in 4th grade and the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded upon take off, January 28, 1986. That was 25 years ago! I remember the teachers were panicked and the principal made an annoucement over the speaker. It was a very odd sort of day.

Shuttle Atlantis made its final touchdown at Kennedy Space Center at 5:56 am this morning, July 21, 2011. There were around 2000 + people there to witness the end of an era. I watched the landing on the news this morning before I woke Brianne up and now I wish I would have woken her to watch it with me.

I can only assume that sometime in Bri's lifetime the United States will launch another manned mission to space, maybe to Mars or the Moon again. Or, there's always hope that we'll win the lottery and can take a private chartered trip to space ourselves... And so, here are some pics of the final launch and landing of Atlantis.

Space Shuttle Atlantis' Final Launch from Kennedy Space Center, July 8, 2011

Atlantis' final landing at Kennedy, July 21, 2011

A visit with the Ducks

This morning when we dropped Brianne off at daycare her teacher informed us that since she is the second oldest in her class, and she seems to be increasingly bored with the little ones, that they are going to let her start visiting the Ducks class! That would be the next class up (she is currently a Tweety Bird and started as a Baby Bird).

Her teacher took us the Ducks room and showed us around and told us about a typical day with the Ducks. They have a more structured day with actual activities like craft time, story time, sing-a-long time etc. She said they will start to use crayons and do puzzles and crafts like gluing cotton balls to paper haha. And they all eat lunch and snacks at their little tables in their little chairs and start learning to drink from real cups...

And all of this is so wonderful because we assumed she would be slightly behind since she is was a preemie but it seems like she is right on track with her peers, or even a little ahead in some cases. But, I of course, I immediately see a whole new world of danger for Bri. Glue? We have been trying to get her to color, and she will scribble for like 2 minutes, then the crayons end up in her mouth (and for some reason its always the same red crayon, must taste better than the rest or something). I can do the math, crayons in mouth will lead to glue in the mouth... and I just know that will do wonderful things for her digestive system. And she has entered the climbing phase so I can see her climbing all over the little chairs and falling off them, or getting hit/bitten/scratched/knocked over by the older kids, drowning on a cup of water, choking on her lunch because she won't be strapped into a high chair and thus will not be able to sit still for longer than 2 bights at a time...

I need to just embrace it, she is growing up and with that comes danger, but I'm not really willing to accept that just yet. This is exactly the reason that I still rock her to sleep every night and will continue to do so until she tells me she doesn't want me too. Don't judge me for still rocking her to sleep, it's actually more for me than for her. I have already given up the intimacy of her morning bottles and snuggles and I would like to hang on to this last piece of babyhood for as long as I am allowed.

And just one more I would like to reiterate how smart Bri is. Yesterday her daycare teacher told us she loves the "10 Little Indians" song and will do all the hand motions along with her. So when we got home I sung the song and sure enough, she busted out with the little motions and was dancing all around. She also has a new love interest - Cookie Monster! And this morning, she asked me for a cookie and I was reluctant to give her one since she just ate breakfast, but I did and she took it to the living room and opened her book to Cookie Monster's picture and proceeded to feed the cookie to the picture of the Cookie Monster! She's a baby Einstein!!

Hero in Waiting

I just mailed my Bone Marrow Donor kit back to DKMS with my 2 cheek swabs in it. I am officially a “hero in waiting” now. And I decided not to include a quote today because I couldn’t think of one that would sum up the cause better that this badge for Baby Kate, which is of course, the reason I registered in the first place. If you want to read more about her or are looking for inspiration (or a reason to register) check out this story about Kate , or head over to her mommy’s blog.

All of this has made me realize how much I have changed in the past… I’m reminded of my college days and all the PETA and Animal Rights bumper stickers and buttons I had. I used to put all of my effort and passion into fighting for animals, which I still have a passion for, but I guess now that I am a mommy, some of my priorities are just a little different. Not the my convictions have changed, I am still against animal testing and consider myself and animal rights advocate, just not so much of an activist these days. But, if I had to change, I guess this is an acceptable change, right?

I do realize that this blog is supposed to be about Brianne and lately I have been talking a lot about baby Kate. I just want to explain why, so that when Bri reads this, she will understand:

Brianne,
I want you to know that I registered to be a bone marrow donor because of you. I registered in honor of Kate, but it is because of you. If it weren’t for you, I would not know what a mother’s love is and thus not truly be able to understand what this little girl’s parents must be going through. To try to put myself in her mom’s shoes is nearly unbearable. It makes my heart ache. No baby should have to suffer or know what pain is, ever. And I feel like with all the horrible things in the world and on the news, I need to know that a simple act of kindness from a stranger could potentially save someone’s life. It is proof that there are still good people in this world and that means there is still hope.
I love you so much,
Mom

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Lazy Days of Summer

“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.” - Sam Keen

Last week we had some record high temps here in the Cincinnati area and guess what, Mother Nature isn’t through bringing the sweat just yet. But, I love summer! I love the sun and the heat and all the things that come with summer, yes, even the humidity. And we had a wonderful summer weekend too. Saturday we went to the IHM festival with Sam and her Fiance (and Anna and Jack, Puddy and McQueen) for her birthday and it was mine and Brianne’s first festival! Bri got a balloon and we got to swing and had some funnel cake (Brianne’s first) and fried pickles and hot dogs. I knew there wouldn’t be any healthy food options so I packed some peas and applesauce for Brianne but she caught on quickly. I was trying to feed her peas while I was enjoying some funnel cake and she was like, um, I want that mommy. So I caved and let her have some.

Yesterday Brianne and I went for our morning walk and it was already so hot at 8:30am that we had to cut it short. She didn’t want to go in though, and threw her classic temper tantrum. So I promised her we would go back out to the pool later, and we did. As soon as I put her swim diaper on and she saw her bathing suit she knew what was up and was standing at the front door waiting for me with her purse on her shoulder, saying “Go?”. It was so cute. We didn’t stay long though because she gets bored easily in the big pool, so we migrated to her baby pool where she can run around without mommy freaking out. I didn’t get any pics of her in the pool yesterday so I decided to attach some pics of her swimming when she was younger that I never posted, and to show how much she has changed, another lake pic.

Our first time swimming in our pool. Brianne is 3 months old here

And this is from our first swim class when Brianne was 6 months old.

And this is the one from the lake in June

Brianne's First Bling

"Big girls need big diamonds." – Elizabeth Taylor

A momentous occasion has occurred in our little family… Jason passed his baby ring on to Brianne today, on her 16 month “birthday”! Lately she has been very girlie; won’t leave the house without her little purse (which contains her toy cell phone and sunglasses cuz a girl needs her accessories!), she insists upon putting on my necklaces and has been sporting one of my flower rings on her little chubby fingers. So, Jason found his baby ring and it fits her perfectly!! She was so proud of it too and continuously was holding her hand out for us to “Look!” at like a girl that is newly engaged lol. She even took a nap in her new jewels.

An ever present, ongoing internal battle

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide to forever have your heart go walking around outside your body.” ~ Elizabeth Stone

You may be wondering why I chose that particular quote for today’s post since we decided to have a child roughly 24 months ago. Well, lately, I’ve been doing a lot of pondering and contemplating and fighting an internal battle over whether or not we, or I guess I should say I, will ever be ready for another child.

I have such mixed emotions about pretty much the entire situation and frankly, I’m scared to death of a repeat. As you have probably read or know, I had a pretty complicated pregnancy last time, what with my cervix being short and thin and dilating early, being put on bed rest at 28 weeks, 3 separate stays in the hospital, pPROM at 33 weeks and then a week in the hospital being pumped full of IV antibiotics. While yes, all of that was scary, that was just the tip of the iceberg -Brianne was born 6 weeks premature and spent 3 weeks in the NICU and all the apnea scares and the reflux and the sleep deprivation and everything that comes with having a newborn baby. I honestly don’t know if I have the strength to go through it all again.

I have done my research too. Only between 1–3% of pregnant women experience pPROM, and of those 1-3%, like 99% deliver within 24 hours of the pPROM. So, I fell into the 1% that was able to stay pregnant for more than 24 hours but that’s twice in the same pregnancy that I ended up in a very small minority. And women who have experienced pPROM have a 30% chance of it happening again. In hindsight, I could totally do bed rest again, although it would be more difficult with a child on the outside as well, but it wouldn’t depress me the way it did last time. I know the signs and symptoms of preterm labor now so at least I would be more vigilant about calling the doctor when something seemed off. But no one knows what causes pPROM and there really is nothing they can do to prevent something that has no known cause. What if next time it happens but it happens earlier? 22 weeks? 26 weeks? Wouldn’t I be tempting fate and if to get pregnant again? Especially since I am going to be 35 next April?

But then I think of all the positives: another child to love, a sibling for Brianne (which would be awesome since I am an only child), the wonderful parts of being pregnant again, the opportunity to experience a normal pregnancy and a full term birth, buying cute baby clothes again, picking out names... I guess I have alot of things to weigh because there is also one more big negative - paying for 2 kids in daycare!

We have discussed this before and both agree that if we are going to do it we want to wait till Brianne is at least 3 because it would just be better on us with daycare costs and would be a nice age diff. So I guess I have some time to think all of this through and dicuss further with Jase. But, if we do it, and we have a boy, I like the name Soren...

Jammy Time!

"Oh no! I should do something....but I am already in my pajamas." - Prof Farnsworth, Futurama

Remember when you were a kid and could get away with PJs all day? I miss those days. But I especially love how adorable and cuddly Bri is (or was) in her footed jammies... Here's a collage of jammy time pics...

Picture Post, mostly

"From a little girl so very small, how and when did you get so tall?" - Karen Mortensen

Since I went so long without posting anything I decided to post some pics of the past few months to catch everyone up on the cuteness they missed out on : )

"Yes mom, can I help you? Can't you see I'm reading here?"

Isn't that a great smile?

After feeding herself some lasagna...

Wearing mommy's sunglasses

Is anyone looking? I'll sneak a bight Hmm, tasty... Think I'll have another

What are you looking at, I'm just eating some bread

And here are a couple from the park and zoo

Christmas with Santa

And I'm not sure if this will work or not, but here's some video of the second time she walked.

A Tree for Bri

“The pain passes but the beauty remains,” - Pierre Auguste Renoir

I know this is supposed to be a blog about Brianne and our family, but it’s also about me cuz I’m the mamma! And, it’s my blog so I’ll post what I want to ha! On Saturday June 18th I got a new tattoo, courtesy of Brad Rouse, who by the way will be opening his new shop, Our Only Hope Tattoo & Piercing, very soon (and did I mention I was his first customer in his new shop). Brad was great too and was able to squeeze me in even though his shop wasn’t officially open yet, and he is an amazing artist and an old friend that is just one amazing person. So, without further ado, here it is:



My dad went with me to get it and got some good shots too (I’ll try to get copies of his pics and post later if I can). I have to say that I was expecting it to hurt lots more than it did, because the flower on my lower back (see pic below) hurt terribly (nearly passed out) and took almost 4 hours to do (but Nate from Designs by Dana did a wonderful job). This one did hurt, I won’t lie and say that it didn’t, especially the part near my neck and on my spine, but not as bad as I had prepared for it to hurt. Although, I think my pain tolerance has probably increased considering the fact that since my last tat I have had an epidural (needle in the spine), given birth while only partially numb and had a lumbar puncture (yep, another needle in the spine).



Anyway, the tattoo is of a tree obviously, but it’s my version of the celtic tree of life (and Brianne’s birth month tree is a Beech Tree, so I tried to take that into account when designing it – it’s an Irish thing). The 3 green leaves symbolize the 3 members of our little family, me, Jason and Bri, and the other leaves were intentionally left open so as our family grows, I can adjust accordingly. And the pink bird also symbolizes Brianne, my sweet baby girl.

Pray for Kate

I just wanted to do a quick post to point out the new button I added to my blog. Pray for Kate! Check out how sweet and adorable this little girl is and follow her story from the begining. And, in honor of her, I just registered with DKMS to add myself to the Bone Marrow Donor Registry.

Accomplishments and Milestones

“Cleaning the house while the kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk while it’s still snowing.”-Phyllis Diller

I know I probably say this daily, but holy Toledo time flies! Brianne is growing up so fast and everyday she amazes me more. I’m sure every mother thinks she has the smartest (and cutest) baby in the world, but I’m pretty sure I actually do : ) For example, just this morning we were in the car on our way to daycare and she heard a loud truck go by, and she pointed at it and said “look… truck!” which astounded me because I have never pointed out a truck to her. Well, wait, that’s not entirely true… every night before bed we look at her big book of first words and there are trucks in it that I have pointed out to her, but they do not make sounds, obviously. My baby girl was able to take what she saw in a book and apply it to real life based on a sound she heard! And yesterday on our way home from daycare, she pointed out a billboard to me that had a bunch of penguins on it advertising the Newport Aquarium and said “birds!”

So, with all this learning and growing going on, I felt compelled to do a milestones update. But, I’m not entirely sure milestones is the right word… let’s use accomplishments instead shall we?

Can feed herself with a ford or spoon (it’s messy, but she can do it)

Can point to specific body parts when asked (head, belly, nose, ears, toes and eyes)

Dances every time she hears music of any kind (including when I whistle)

Can point out things in her picture book when asked (where’s the apple? Panda? Flowers? balloons? Baby?, Etc.)

Cleans up after herself, sort of (loves to take dirty diapers and other things deemed as “yuck” to the trash can where she will lift the lid, toss in the item and close the lid all on her own.)

Understands and obeys simple commands (“Bring that to mommy”, “Come here”, “Get your blankie” “Let’s brush our teeth”, “Hold my hand”, “Take this to daddy”, “Go get your book”)

Mimics everything she sees (will grab her purse, put it on her shoulder and head for the front door, turns around and says “bye” and blows us kisses, changes her baby doll’s diaper and shares her paci and sippy cup with her baby doll)

Says “all gone” when she finishes her meal or milk and asks for more

Says “no” while shaking her head no (even though this typically means yes instead of no)

Tries to stand on her tippy toes

Can point out mommy and daddy in pictures

Brushes her own teeth and hair (though not very thoroughly yet)

Recognizes things by sound (trucks, birds chirping, cats meowing, dogs barking, etc.)

Learning to color (on walls too)

Can drink through a straw now

Learning to drink from a big girl cup

Plays peek a boo and says “Boo!”

Obviously this list is not complete because it would take me all day to actually think of and list all the amazing things she does and knows, but it’s a nice summary. She will be 16 months old this Sunday and I’m so proud of how far she has come and fast she has caught up to where a full term baby should be. Actually, she is surpassing many of her peers in cognitive abilities (and in physical growth too!). She is such a delight these days and so much fun. She makes me a proud happy mama!

Being a mom isn't just about teaching...

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.” - Rajneesh

Now that Brianne is a full blown toddler, I feel like I’ve learned so much. Not just about being a mom, but about life and living and being a human being that participates in society. Looking back at my former life now, I don’t think I was actually living. I was more zombie than human, going from one mundane life task to the next without stopping to “smell the roses” or look around at all the beauty (and horror) in this world. Yes, it is true that I cry (a lot) more now, but I tell myself that is because I’m awake now, I’m alive now. My emotions are more real, more raw, and things really affect me differently now because as a mother, I can see things from different perspectives. I understand why my parents set curfews and made me call home when I arrived at my destination. I understand what true love is, not fake movie love, but true love because of my husband and daughter.

I find myself questioning my beliefs and wondering how, in a just and civilized world, a person convicted of hurting a child is NOT being put to death (this coming from someone who did her college internship with Amnesty International). How is it possible that my beliefs and convictions of the past that I was so willing to defend and so passionate about, could change so dramatically?

So, yes, needless to say, I’ve changed. Physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. It almost feels like I have worried myself into a strange sort of calm, something I am not used to as anyone who knows me knows. And strangely enough, after having Bri, I have controlled (mostly) my anxiety and panic disorder without the use of meds. I successfully weaned myself off zoloft before my third trimester, as was recommended by my OB and all the research (a personal accomplishment I am proud of). And yes, in the beginning, with a child in the NICU that was prone to forget to breath and turn blue on occasion (several to be exact) and a horrendous case of Reflux, I did my fair share of over-worrying and panicking and over-reacting. And I had some pretty severe post partum depression and what I have dubbed “post-preemie-panic-disorder” (any mom of a preemie knows this disorder – it’s comprised of the following – guilt, fear, anger, grief, depression, guilt, shock, extreme highs and extreme lows, fear, guilt, sleep deprivation, inability to eat or hold a conversation, and did I mention guilt?) and I even went to a therapist. But now, I feel different. I feel calm…

Now, don’t take this to mean I have a calm life or have somehow figured out the answer to the working mom riddle, because of course I am still winging it like every other new mom is, but now the chaos is calming. I have come to realize that taking my daughter out for a walk with my husband is infinitely more important and life altering than loading the dish washer. Reading a book to Bri is so much more rewarding than running the vacuum cleaner. And before, dirty dishes and cat hair strewn about the house would cause me to lose sleep, but now, I look at them as the sign of a happy home. It is proof that we have money to feed ourselves, the cats who are getting old are still healthy enough to play, and that life is keeping us too busy and happy to even notice the mess.

My life is chaotic yes, but I wouldn’t change a minute of it. I have come to the realization that there isn’t enough time to do it all, so you know what, I only do what I can. Prioritize! I am content to spend my week of vacation at home literally just watching Brianne grow. Should I have cleaned out my closet and put away my winter sweaters? Probably. Was that a necessity, no. As a working mom I miss out on so much of my daughter’s life! A couple weeks ago we learned that she can blow kisses bye bye and we have no idea where she learned this because we have never blown kisses to her. According to her daycare teachers, they do it at daycare. I don’t want to miss anything else! So if I have to sacrifice updating my blog, or painting my toe nails, or putting away the laundry to spend time with my little girl, I will do it with a smile. In a typical week, I really only get to see my daughter 35 hours, in a week!!! This is our week day routine:

4:30am – Wake up and quietly get ready for work
5:45 – Brianne wakes up. Change diaper, make breakfast, feed
6:00 – Wake Jason up
6:30 – Dress Brianne for daycare and get one last cup of coffee
7:00 – Take Brianne to daycare : (
7:30-4:30 – Work
5:00pm – Pick Bri up from daycare
5:45 – Make dinner for Bri
6:00 – Feed Bri dinner
6:30 – Give Bri a bath
7:00-7:30 – Bedtime for Bri

There are 168 hours in a week. 35% of those hours Brianne is in daycare, 50% Brianne is sleeping or napping… So for those of you doing the math, that leaves me a desolate 15% to spend with my daughter. That’s not a lot of time. She spends nearly 60 hours a week at daycare!!! And from this horrid realization, I have learned that a clean house and painted toenails are simply not a priority any longer. I don’t want to miss anything else. Life is just too busy and there’s nothing you can do it about it. And luckily, I have I learned how to slow down and live it rather than watch it pass me by…