Daddy's home!

melts my heart

How to get ready for work with an (almost) one-year old

Option 1: Baby on hip/lap. Can prove difficult when attempting to put on pants or eyeliner. Usually ends with one person in tears and the other wishing for more coffee/sleep/hands/patience.

Note that there is obviously a 2nd adult at home in order to take this picture...he does what he can, but a rigid schedule pushes him out the door early. (And yes, my vanity table really is that messy most of the time.)

Option 2, Preferred Method: Give baby snack cup. Although not without its faults as there tends to be a Cheerio trail to follow before walking out the door. However if you've got a Zoe, or similar garbage disposal, that will solve the issue.

Overall, Option 2 allows optimal time for Mom to fix hair and makeup, get dressed, and actually eat breakfast! Is recommended for all moms having places to go and people to see!

Ben competing in his solo Cheerio-eating contest.
Personal best: 20 in mouth at once.

Option 3: Wake before baby does and get ready then...but that's just absurd.

Tyler Prentice and Son, DMDs?!

A couple weeks ago, we visited Tyler at the dental office where he works on the weekends. It was after a morning of errand running and consignment-sale shopping, so Ben was spent. The lack of enthusiasm is daunting though when considering possible career paths!

"Gee Dad, dentistry is really exciting. (sigh) Yeah, wow.
I can't wait to take over the family practice one day. (yawn) "

That's OK, buddy. You can do anything you want to do!
...As long as you're willing to take in your parents when we're old and gray.

SAHM again for a day!

Last week, Mrs. Patsy had outpatient surgery, so Ben and I got to hang out for the day! Just like old times, we spent the morning talking in bed, playing in his nursery, catching up on some reading, and taking lots of pictures!

"If I move real slow, maybe she won't see my little hand coming."
(taken .2 seconds before he reached for her and she fled.
Poor Ben gets no Zoe-lovin.)

"What? Just checking in on the Brangelina clan. Don't judge me!"

Eventually, we got out of our pj's and met Tyler for lunch before we headed into the office for the afternoon. Ben had a short 40-minute power snooze before he was ready to "help" me work. We signed new members up for the gym, took people on tours and answered some emails and phone calls. He's my secret weapon if I ever have to talk with an unhappy patron - you just can't be mad about your gym locker not opening when Ben's giving you a gummy grin. :)

"Working hard or hardly working, Mom?"

We capped off the day with a new treat - a biter biscuit! I've been advised to strip him down and have plenty of wipes and towels handy. Here he is, just trying to figure it out.



What a day!
falling asleep saying bedtime prayers...

It's still new to me!

"Let's go, Mom! You're so cool!"
(Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what he was thinking.)

Have I mentioned that Ben is six-months old?! :) So when I talked to my sister on Ben's half-birthday, she cheerfully commented, "Wow! You're like just a mom with a baby now - it's not new anymore!" Meant to be an observation of an achieved milestone, she had unintentionally fallen into the hot mess of my am-I-not-a-New-Mom-anymore-? crisis. (Very similar to the are-we-still-newlyweds-? crisis of '05, to which I decided the answer was "yes" until three years. Now the answer is "no. old marrieds.")

So I proceed to whine about how it seemed much more cool to be a New Mom than A Mom with Kid/s. New Moms are young, hip, balancing family, social and sometimes work lives. They still hang with their non-kid friends, just with a little baby in tow. (If you're insulted b/c your baby is older than mine, just know that I am making these assumptions based on watching your example!) The scariest part is that Moms make a mistake and are labeled as "careless" and not "hands-on." Nobody ever says this about a New Mom! New Moms can write off parental misgivings as "still learning the ropes" and are comforted with "it happens to everybody!"

What I decided though, and Jess backed me up (probably b/c she sensed my emo-instability), is that because Ben is always going to be entering a new phase, I will always be a New Mom! I will be a New Mom of a kindergartener, a New Mom of a teenager who just started driving, a New Mom whose son's wife just had a baby, etc. Sure, that might be a stretch, but it made me feel better at the time. I just hope that, even in the hard days or years, Ben always seems "new" to me and I can remember to be thankful for who he is and the happiness I feel just being near him.

playtime with Daddy

Adventures in Parenthood

So last weekend was interesting... I left Ben at home with Tyler for the first time while I attended an 11 a.m. wedding on Saturday. I'd timed it perfectly to feed Ben right before I left (which is a cute look while wearing a dress and hot rollers), and then as soon as I got home. So I enjoyed the beautiful ceremony and brunch reception, said goodbye to my friends and slipped out to the parking lot. It wasn't until I jammed it into the lock for the second time that I realized I'd taken the wrong key off the key chain and was now locked out of my car! Sure, I could've panicked, but I just took a deep breath, called Tyler to come pick me up and slinked back into the reception for coffee and a piece of wedding cake. My friends comforted me and reassured me that Ben would only need a lifetime of therapy after missing his feeding. Ha ha.

I met Tyler and my screaming child in the parking lot 20 minutes later, and Ben cried himself to sleep about halfway home. I, on the other hand, was still in tears upon pulling into our driveway!

So, after Ben wolfed down a late lunch, and I loosened my white-knuckle grip on him a few hours later, we decided that a little thing like having a 7-week-old infant wasn't going to dampen our Saturday night, and off to the movies we went, Ben in tow! Yes, we were those people who other moviegoers stare at disapprovingly, wondering "what are they thinking, bringing a baby into the theater?!"

He actually did quite well though, and I think if we hadn't chosen a movie with multiple explosions, car chases and gunfire, he may have lasted the whole way through! However, Tyler and I took turns bouncing him in the hallway...not the most relaxing way to take in a flick. I'm pretty sure the next movie Ben sees in the theater will be animated, around 2 p.m., and not for quite a few years!

And we didn't stop there! Maybe we're gluttons for punishment, but we're definitely gluttons for chips and salsa, so we stopped for Mexican on the way home! Fortunately, the food was on the table quickly and in our bellies even faster. Ben did great, but we were all happy to crawl into bed...just as the opening credits for SNL were beginning to roll!

Hanging out at home

Before Ben was born, I often wondered what my days at home with him would be like. I wasn't sure how I'd fill my time, if I'd be stir crazy, or if the days would drag on. After all, it would just be me sitting in a small house all day staring at an infant...well him and my friends on daytime TV...

Now that I've been home for a few weeks, I (and other mothers I've marveled about this with) can testify that the days do anything but drag on. Since life is now broken down into three-hour cycles, I'm either feeding or cuddling with Ben or cramming a shower, nap, cleaning, work, errands, a walk, or food in while he sleeps. That's a lot to try to do in one-hour increments!

And yes, I said work. My department at UAB has been flexible enough to let me work from home part time. This allows me to extend my maternity leave by as many days/weeks that I put in at home. It was such an answer to prayer for a number of reasons - mostly that I get more time at home with Ben and also that he'll hopefully have a spot in the UAB childcare center by the time I have to go back full-time.

So, for anyone wondering what stay-at-home moms do all day, I now know it's NOT watching soaps! (TLC, and Ellen are a different story...but something's got to entertain me during feedings!) It's helping me become a better time manager, and it's giving me the priceless gift of soaking up as much of Ben as I possibly can. :)

Some excerpts from a typical day below:

First month reflections

Ben turned one-month old on February 23. In celebration, Tyler stayed up with Ben after his 6 a.m. early-bird feeding, while I caught a few more zzz's. After being jolted awake every two hours for the past four weeks by high-pitched shrieks, there was no better gift than to slowly stir and stretch under the sheets, knowing that my baby was warm and cozy with his dad. (I should have mentioned that during pregnancy, one of my top fears of new mommyhood was the forfeit of sleeping in on Saturdays!)

At this milestone in our new journey, I feel compelled to offer some tips to the moms-to-be out there...and there are many! So here's a list of things that have made my life easier in the first month of my new baby's life.

1. my donut. No, not the kind that comes from Krispy Kreme (although I wouldn't have turned those down either!). I'm talking about the inflatable one that the hospital will give you so that sitting directly in a chair for the first two weeks of postpartum will not reduce you to tears.
   
2. small goals. The successes and accomplishments of a day are not to be judged by clean laundry and cooked meals, but by a full tummy (his) and brushed teeth (mine).
   
3. help. This is a big one! It comes in all forms, and should be accepted in all circumstances. From my mom bringing the baby to me in the middle of the night during my first week, to Tyler emptying the dishwasher when it seems like an insurmountable task, to the sweet, sweet friends who have ensured that I have neither had to cook or venture to the grocery store in a whole month with their generous and thoughtful gifts of dinners. And then there have been all the phone calls and visits that have been the highlights of my days - you never know how much all those simple things are appreciated until your sole purpose and responsibilty becomes feeding and caring for an infant. Tyler and I can't thank you all enough!

I had a bunch more tips when I started this post two days ago, but before this turns into his 5-week post, I'll just stop here!

Ben and his big sister, Zoe.

She's a much more cooperative model, having years of experience under her belt,

and was happy to get back in front of the camera for a change!

Just so that people will believe me when I say this sweet baby has a dark side...(but then again, how would you like having someone take your picture while you're screaming your head off?!)

Lunch with Aunt Jess!

Just the three of us

Well, it's the end of our second weekend at home. They never seem to last long enough...

My dad came down on Friday night, and after showing us all how to entertain Ben on Saturday (it's a wonder he survived all week without his grandpa!), he and my mom returned to Nashville on Saturday afternoon. Ben and I both had a good cry, but decided that we were going to be just fine! So far, so good. Our little family had our first outing last night - going to visit Kelley and Scott's new baby, Carter, and then out for dinner at Moe's. Ben did so well, it gave us hope for future public appearances. :)

We also had the chance to weigh Ben and discovered that, thanks to a very healthy appetite, he's gained one whole pound and now weighs more than 9 pounds! We're so thankful for his health and the happiness he's already brought to us.

P.S. You all know "the mailman" was just a joke, right?! The fact that he's gotten more votes than I have is unacceptable!

Showing off my outfit with Mommy

Snoozin' with Daddy

Playing with Daddy

Carter Brown and Ben - born 6 days apart

Kelley and Carter, Stacey and Hope, me and Ben

Joys of parenthood...

Aside from pictoral updates to add to Ben's story I only have two fatherly comments...

1) No longer can I say I've never been pee'd on (with a sense of accuracy I might add!)

2) All those who said "breast-fed babies' diapers don't stink" are bold faced LIARS!