Dilemma

I think I have mentioned before that I do not breastfeed Samantha. This was a personal choice since I had such a terrible time with Julia. I suffered a lot with her and tried my hardest- it just didn't work. I realized that at the time I was very miserable and I didn't want to project those feelings towards my child, so why just make her happy and get her fed :) So with Samantha I breastfed in the hospital and when I got home I gave her a bottle. She is doing really well with it so I am happy and she is happy. Anyway, I have this "friend" who is the biggest advocate for breastfeeding. She has a 4 month old who she keeps strapped to her boob at all times. I recently visited her and she made me feel very guilty for not breast feeding. So much that she made me very uncomfortable. Now I think that if you breastfeed then you are awesome! You have done something so wonderful for your child!! My BFF was the champion at it and I admire her for that. I just don't like being told that I am doing something wrong because I don't. My baby is happy and I think that is what matters the most. Anyway, before this turns into a breastfeeding V. bottlefeeding thing my real question is- Should I say something to her about how she made me feel? OR Should I just not be friends with someone that made me feel that way and avoid her? I am a super chickenshit when it comes to confronting this friend and I have no idea why. Maybe the real issue is that I need to get a backbone :)

Some serious stuff for a Friday-don't ya think :)

-Amanda

First Smiles

The last three days I have been able to coax smiles out of Samantha. This morning she smiled at me when she woke up and it made my heart melt. Is she really almost 2 months old?? Geeze I swear they grow so fast. Well here is the best shot I could get. I really suck at taking pictures so this was like 1 of 60 I took :)

Hope everyone is having a good week!

-Amanda

6 Weeks

Someone told me that 6 weeks after having a baby is when your hormones peak and you can either feel better or worse. I am feeling a a tad bit better, but I could go with out the following statements that have come out of my husband's mouth this past week.

1. "I think I am going to be late coming home tonight"
2. "So what's for dinner?"
3. "I think you forgot a couple of things at the grocery store"
4. "Could you do me a favor and pick up my dry cleaning?"
5. "So 6 weeks means we can have sex, right?"

I have answers to his questions and they involve either a bad word or just the middle finger. I am surprised that I still am married because I have been a tiny bit difficult. I love you honey- just give me another week and I should be on the right track :)

-Amanda

To Be Young Again

Remember when it was this easy? Who would have known a deflated balloon can provide hours of entertainment. I will remember that when I am tempted to buy her the new fancy toys :)

Hope you all had a great weekend!

-Amanda

PS- I did not dress her- she did and had to wear her new Vans that she got for her birthday :)

You Know When

You know when you are a housewife when they only thing that you are jealous about your friend's new house is that she has double ovens. The things I could do with 2 ovens :)

-Amanda

Alright I Will Play

I was tagged (along with everyone in the blog world) by NaeNae in NC. So here are the 6 Random Things About Me:

1- I have the longest second toe of anyone I know. It is almost like a finger. Someone told me that meant I would be the head of my household. Well according to me that is true. I wish that I could learn to flip people off with it because I could do it secretly and they wouldn't know :)

2- I bet I have seen every single episode of "Beverly Hills 90210" at least 50 times. I can tell you within the first 10 seconds of the show which episode it is. I still to this day have a thing for Luke Perry :)

3- Sometimes when I am cooking I pretend that I am doing my own cooking show. I will have a dialogue in my head like I am telling someone how to prepare the meal. I bet I look really dumb when I do this.

4- I sing all the time, yet I make up the words to most songs. Sometimes they are nice songs, but most of the time there are some bad words thrown in there. Of course I have to watch my mouth with a 4 year old because I would die if she went to school singing something I said.

5- I went to the same school district since I was in preschool. So I graduated high school with people that I had known since I was 3. I still have 4 friends that I talk to that I have known since 5 grade.

6- I have a v-neck t-shirt fetish. I bet I own one in every color. It gets to where I buy about 10 of them every 6 months or so because I wear them all the time. Old Navy has great deals on them right now (2 for $10). I always have at least 2 black and 2 white because they go with everything.

Well that is it folks. Now you know how weird I am :)

-Amanda

Oh yeah I am not tagging anyone because it seems everyone has done this one already, but if you haven't feel free to play along. Let me know if you did.

WARNING*

*If you like being a mom and you never complain about it then don't read this post. I am a new mom again so I think I have every right to complain :)

This is how my day is going so far:

- Was up for almost 3 hours last night with a baby who refused to close her eyes. I would rock, walk around, pat the butt, sing, pat the back- EVERYTHING!! So around 3:47 am I just put her in her crib and she fell asleep on her own. Shit if I had known that I would have done it 3 hours ago :)

-Was super late dropping Julia off at school. It is a bitch to get yourself and 2 kids ready for the day. Especially when one has hair that you have to comb out. That in it's self is a 15 minute ordeal! Was in the car for about 10 min when the baby decided to go poop. Had to go home and change her. Then she barfed on me. Had to change myself.

-I think I am going to get Julia's ears checked because we seem to have an listening problem in this house OR I just like saying the same thing over and over again.

-My skin is breaking out and it makes me very sad. Aren't I 30? Not 15 :)

Alright I am done. I promise to be more positive. I think I am going to talk to my doctor on Monday (6 week check-up) and see if he thinks I might need something for my anxiety. Maybe just a cocktail or two tonight will help :)

-Amanda

The Housewife Shuffle

Today as I was doing my "morning time things" I realized that I do almost the same thing every morning that it could be a dance routine. I would call it "The Housewife Shuffle" because I am shuffling around my house in slippers and a robe. I think that it might go great to the tune of "Canned Heat" By Jamiroquai because it has got a beat and you can dance to it :) So my dance would go something like this:

-Shuffle to the sink. Make a bottle and shake it up
-Dance my way to the chair. Feed the baby. Pat to the beat to burp her.
-Get up on my feet-. Sway my hips to the music as I am trying to get the baby to go back to sleep.
-Dance my way to the fridge. Kick my feet as I make a sippy cup for Julia.
-Do pelvic thrusts as I wait for her waffle to cook
-Dance my way up the stairs and do disco movements as I making the beds.
-Shake my booty as I am loading laundry into the washer.
-Stop for a dance break in between cleaning up last nights toys and collecting dirty clothes.
-Dance my way back down the stairs, pausing for a dramatic grabbing of the banister and striking a pose.
-Shuffle my way to the coffee maker, shake up the creamer, and one last booty shake as I sit down. End of song :)

Is that hot or what??? I bet I look hot doing it :)

What would your "Housewife Shuffle" song be??

-Amanda

Monday

I didn't have a name for this post that didn't involve a bad word so I thought I would just call it the lamest day of the week. As you can see I am in a fabulous mood :) We had a very busy weekend with no real down time and the Hubby and I are paying for it today. We had a birthday party for Julia at our local bowling alley which turned out to be awesome, but then that also meant a kid with no nap, hyped up on sugar for the rest of the day. Then yesterday the Greatest In-laws in the World came over for Easter, which also meant a kid with no nap all hyped up on sugar. I think that Julia finally calmed down around 7:30 last night. Up till then it was just a lot of aggravation. Unfortunately, I am starting to see the effect of the new baby on her and it is not fun at all. I do feel very sorry for her, but at the same time I miss my sweet little girl I once knew. I can't really blame her either- this is hard for all of us. Luckily the Hubby and I had a talk last night and I feel much better. Sometimes though I wish I could get in the car and drive away- isn't that terrible??

-Amanda

I almost forgot- the baby has thrush too. Aren't I just a ball full of happiness today? :)

One Month

Yesterday Samantha was one month old. God it seems it was like I just gave birth to her :) Anyway, she does all the stuff a one month old is supposed to do. She also sleeps 6-7 hours straight at night and now that I just wrote that I probably jixed myself :) Oh well she is so pretty to look at that I don't care if I have to hold her all night long. So Sweetcheeks we love you and are so glad that you are here :)

Happy Easter too! Hope that you and your families have a great day!

-Amanda

Am I Nuts?

Picture this- Me, 2 four year olds, one 20 month old, 24 hard boiled eggs, 2 packages of COLORED DYE (uh huh- that had to be emphasized), and cream colored grout on my tile counter tops and on my floor tiles.

Do I have anything to be worried about??

-Amanda

4 Years Old

Today my Julia Marie turns 4 years old. Little did I know that 4 years ago today I would be giving birth to myself. She is full of drama and spunk, which I have been told I am too. Of course she has a little of her daddy mixed in- his love of music and art. Lately it has been a little tough for her since the birth of her sister, but she has been an awesome big sister so far. I just can not believe that I once held this little girl in my arms and rocked her to sleep. I am very lucky to have such a great child and I feel blessed everyday!

So Happy Birthday my love. Mommy and Daddy love you so much!

-Amanda

Family Fun Day

Today we decided to venture out for our first official family outing with the baby to the Wild Animal Park in Escondido, CA. All went well since a baby at 1 month old pretty much sleeps the whole time. We had an awesome time and I thought I would share some pictures (and yes you can see my nice new blonde hair)

Julia and I at the entrance to the park

Julia at the Petting Zoo

The biggest f-ing gorilla I have ever seen. He was totally the leader of the pack (as you can see why)

What Samantha did the whole time :)

Cute pic of the kid at the jungle gym

I never put pictures on here- that was fun :)

-Amanda

Sunday

I am blonde again! Believe me that is a good thing :) Also I left the hubby with both kids for 4 hours and he didn't complain and actually said he would do it for me anytime. Now where should I go???

Hope everyone is having an awesome weekend!

-Amanda

My Story

I wasn't sure if anyone wanted to hear Samantha's birth story, but some of you have said that you would like to know. I really honestly had such a good experience that I feel like I could do it again (don't worry Jon we won't) Julia was a difficult birth since I was induced and she just didn't feel like coming out. She was vacuumed out, I had a fever, and, she was "sunny side up". I was super afraid that Samantha was going to be hard, but it turned out to be the complete opposite. So here is my story :)

I was supposed to be induced on March 16th and I was counting down the days. I had a doctor's appointment on March 13th and I was only 1 cm dilated and he was going to "strip my membranes". He ended up not being able to, but for some reason I think her did something because 2 hours after my appointment I started to have really bad cramps. I couldn't even stand up straight when I went to pick Julia up from school. I called Jon to have him come home and when he did I took a nap. When I woke up my cramps were gone. Jon went and got dinner and we started to eat. In the middle of eating I had 4 HUGE contractions about 3 min apart and then they didn't stop. I called my doctor and asked him what to since I did not go naturally go into labor with Julia I had no idea. He told me to go to the hospital and he would meet me there. When I got to the hospital I was 2 cm dilated so they checked me in since I was in active labor. I contracted till I was given something to go to sleep. When I woke up the next morning my contractions and pain were gone.

I totally freaked out because I thought for sure they were going to send me home since I was not having anymore contractions. The doctor came in and said that I had dilated to almost 3 cm so they were going to give me pitocin and get me going. I was so happy! As my contractions started to get stronger I really was in no pain. The doctor told me to get an epidural anyway just in case so I did. Around 7 pm they were going to break my water since I was having a hard time dilating past 4 cm, but within 20 min of waiting for the doctor to come back, my water broke. After that it took 2 1/2 hours to go from 4 to 10 cm. My contractions got pretty strong after my water broke and I had this nurse who taught natural child birth. She was so awesome! She basically talked me through my contractions and I kinda went into a sleep mode, which relaxed me so much that when I was ready to push it took 8 times. She actually had to tell me to wait to push because they couldn't find my doctor. But he came just in time and Samantha came into this world on March 14th at 10:23 pm. She hardly made a peep and still is very mellow like that. So in total I was in labor for 12 hours which is nothing compared to the 27 I was with Julia. I am so happy that my last time giving birth was so awesome because I will remember it that way :)

Thanks for reading this. I am glad I shared :)

-Amanda

You Know When

You know when you are truly a housewife when you actually asked for one of these for your birthday and then went to the grocery store and planned your entire week around using it. Last night- chili. Tonight- pot roast :)

-Amanda

Monday

Well I am now in my first week of being "old". I am really okay with it (uh huh) My party on Saturday night was so much fun. I have a great group of girlfriends who have great husbands and kids. My family was also here and I can't say enough good stuff about them :) There were 8 kids all under the age of 4 in house and they were very well behaved. I even paid them each $.50 to clean up the playroom and they did! Aw the power of bribing :)

I had some cocktails, but not too much. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to wake up to feed the baby. That didn't matter anyway because the hubby did the feeding. She sleeps in 5-6 hour shifts so she really only wakes up once in the middle of the night. Yes, I know- my kid rocks! We bottle feed in this house so I am sure that has something to do with it.

Thank you so much for all of your birthday wishes. You guys also rock in my book!!

-Amanda

Such a Fool

Today is the day- 30 here I come :) So Happy Birthday to me!!

-Amanda