Monday, August 26, 2013

Parenthood (No not the show)

So I've been thinking lately about parenthood - I know, I know so original when you have a new baby. I've been trying to figure out what is an appropriate parenting style for Spencer and I.  Okay that sounds like I've been trying to solve the world's problems in an afternoon.  Really, what I've been trying to sort through is how much do I want my kids (assuming Noah isn't the only cute little baby we decide to parent) to be along for the ride and how much do I want to adjust my life to revolve around them.  Wow my words aren't doing justice to what's in my head.  Basically, do we want to be the kind of parents who keep doing approximately what we were doing before we had kids and just bring Noah with us everywhere or do we want to be the kind of parents who decide parenthood is going to be our main thing for awhile and we're going to put our pre baby life on the back burner.  Words still not doing it justice, oh well.  

I get that there is no way to do just entirely one way or the other without having a starving, exhausted baby or ending up a depressed, divorced single parent.  I'm not really talking about the extremes right now.  But what about a random thursday night.  Do we stay home and put Noah to sleep around 7:45 pm because he now sleeps better in his own room than anywhere else and then maybe watch a movie or play cards or do a house project and just lounge around the house or do we strap Noah in the ergo and go back to our crazy paced life of social things almost every night of the week just with baby and the giant diaper bag in toe?  I guess there is a third option if you are really rich or the prince of England - bring on the full time nanny that changes all the diapers and also goes on vacations with you!!  Okay back to reality . . .  

I guess this weekend got me thinking about it because we decided to take the babe to my sister's and aunt's cabin in the middle of nowhere Arkansas.  We packed up a bunch of baby stuff and then we pretty much took Noah along for the ride. It wasn't too bad, but he also slept in till almost 9:30 this morning because the poor little guy was so exhausted from tramping around the woods all weekend long.  We just decided to strap him on while we hiked a crazy frisbee golf course at Horse Shoe Canyon while it was 90 degrees and sunny out and then later went swimming in the Buffalo river and all this was after an afternoon and night of passing him around to all of Rach's friends while we cooked a giant mexican feast and then later sat out by a bonfire under the stars. It definitely required more upfront planning than our normal pre baby weekend spur of the moment getaways, but I think I prefer that to not going anywhere.  I think.  But again, I'm still thinking about it all :).

And also I realize that maybe you can get away with taking the first kid along for the ride but by the time kid number 2 rolls around it gets a lot harder.  And maybe two is still sort of doable and that's why so many people have 2?  I'm telling you I have way too much time on my hands to think right now.

Any thoughts? Is this just a personality thing?  I don't like being home all day so my kid better not like being home all day either? I love the go, go, go so I'm going to bring my kid along for the ride? Or is it selfish to drag the little guy everywhere instead of letting him nap peacefully in his swing every afternoon?   Or is this more of a lifestyle choice that you just get to make.  Yeah for being an adult.  Sometimes it is still just so odd that I can be making these decisions for myself . . .

Oh and total fail on taking pictures for the weekend.  So much for documenting Noah's first swimming experience.  Apparently having no cell service also means I never carry my phone and don't take any pictures.  The only picture from the weekend is a hilarious picture of Noah's pacifier sitting on top of a pack of cigs.  Okay maybe that was only funny if you were there :).
 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Wednesday Afternoon Musings

Just some pretty random things floating around in my head right now.

I want to try reupholstering our dining room chairs.  Which is making me think about painting the dining room and redoing it a bit.  Which is making me remember that painting is not my strong point.  I've learned about myself I love finishing tasks more than I love having them be exactly perfect.  I warned you this was random :).

This morning I walked with another new mom friend and it was so, so gorgeous out.  I'm sorry if you aren't a high 80's kind of person, but I think it's lovely and invigorating, especially with the breeze blowing off the river.  After the walk I had an iced latte and enjoyed some more sun while Noah cooed and laughed and I talked to the coffee shop guy about how his boyfriend is an OB and whether or not that makes them want to have kids.  He said first they want to travel the world and I thought oh travel how I would love to be booking a trip to Ireland right now ;).  Sidenote (as if this could get more random): I sent a picture of Noah with his passport to my boss because I know he loves traveling and he said his daughter had gone to 20 countries with them before she went to first grade.  Umm yes please.   I actually do have 2 trips with Noah already planned but they are just stateside for now . . .

Maybe I should have labeled this post stream of conscience on a Wednesday afternoon haha.

I asked my work about doing part time from home.  This got me thinking about officially working on the back room and making it into a sunroom/office/spare bedroom.  Cue hours (okay maybe 20 minutes) looking at Pinterest and laughing about wall art like "work hard and be nice to people."

We've also been trying to actually budget.  I know fun times.  We are not so good at it, but I am a numbers person so I do think I might get used to it.  I just don't think cutting coupons is ever going to be my thing.  I do like meal planning though.  And I like gardening.  And I have all day to brainstorm about free or cheap dates, so it could work out.

And this is what happens when you have all day to yourself.  And by myself I mean with Noah, don't worry grandmas ;).


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Learning to Pace Myself

First off this little guy is getting more and more entertaining and I love it.  He giggles and coos and pouts and plays with his lips and blows bubbles and pretty much is the most adorable thing ever.  Also last night he went almost nine hours without needing to eat, so yeah that's pretty awesome. I think we may have a 7 pm to 7 am sleeper on our hands if we can just get him a little chubbier so he can go that whole time without eating.  The little man is still pretty long and gangly!! 







This pace of life though is a little odd.  And to be honest I'm getting stir crazy.  And bored.  And feeling like I want to accomplish something more than making a yummy healthy dinner I found on pinterest with the 6 hours of downtime I had to kill while Noah was napping.  I knew this would come after I woke up some and he slept a little more and I started realizing that every day is essentially made up of taking care of him and maybe running an errand or getting coffee with a friend (but somehow not spending all my money for the month in the first week on lattes . . . still working on that one).

Don't get me wrong, I like running errands at 10 am on a Tuesday - so much better than 3 pm on Saturday with the rest of the world!  And I love getting coffee with the bunches of other new moms from church or grabbing lunch with a coworker who is probably wondering why this is the third lunch in a row I've been in workout gear.  Umm it's been hot and taking a shower at 11 am after running seems pointless when I'm just going to get sweaty carrying the carseat around all day.  So yes I wear my work out clothes a lot.  Although now at least I am legitimately working out and not just wearing lululemon because it's the only thing that fits ;).  But I also really like getting things done, having to do lists, finishing projects - you know all those lovely type A things.  And raising a baby well that isn't really a to do list or a project to finish, at least any time soon :).

So I've been brainstorming on some different things I could do to help me feel a little less insane and to help those long nap times enjoyable instead of just staring at the wall thinking "I know I'm lucky that he sleeps two hours at once but I have no idea what to do with myself right now." Yes I know I could pretty much sweep dog hair 24-7 but really who likes that?!  Okay maybe I need to work on liking cleaning my house.  That could really be a good skill to have :).

In the meantime while I'm brainstorming, I've been going through the filing cabinet and throwing away a ridiculous amount of paperwork we don't need anymore.  I found the letter I wrote saying I would accept the internship at Cimarex back when I was a junior in college.  You can totally tell I had just taken writing for the profession at TU and learned how to write a memo.  I'm also trying to figure out how to turn the back room into a sweet office/spare bedroom/sitting room for reading. I know it's a tiny space but I think it might be doable.

Okay time to finish cooking my fish and feed Noah his bottle and then a walk on riverside because it is 75 degrees and breezy in AUGUST. Yep yep it feels like fall and it's lovely.  Too bad their aren't pumpkin spice lattes yet . . .