Stay-at-Home Moms and More

I have renewed appreciation for stay-at-home moms. As I suspected, I would not make a good one at all! It is not that I am not absolutely enjoying my time at home with Milo. It is that I am an absolute, complete slug when I do not have a very specific schedule that needs to be maintained. Each day I wake up with a plan of action and a list of things that should be done that day and somehow I manage to just sit on the couch and do nothing. (See, the problem is that none of the things really need to be done and there will be no repercussions for not completing them.) I can even be sitting there being bored and thinking about the other productive things that I could do yet I will remain on the couch and watch the next thing on HGTV or the Food Network or a Law & Order or CSI episode if they happen to be on. I am almost ready to go back to work just so I can feel productive again. (By the way, for those of you that say "you shouldn't feel bad, you are taking care of a new baby... Please keep in mind that the baby sleeps about 18 hours a day so that leaves plenty of free time for me to fill.)

There are lots of things that keep meaning to post about (see above comments re: procrastination). I will try to hit the high points for you:

*Mark bought a new camera with his graduation funds. He could not let Sarah have all the fun! You can all look forward to great photos from him in the coming weeks / years. I will probably just hang on to our old camera and take snapshots when there is a cute moment to catch. The pictures below fall into that category. One of the reasons that I have not written in the blog the last few days is because I did not have any good photos. I know that when I post you all want to see photos, not just my musings!

*Every once in a while these last few weeks I have been in a worrisome mood (you know how sometimes you just create random things to worry about that will likely NEVER happen?). I attribute this to just sitting on the couch and doing nothing all day... again, see above comments regarding procrastination... Well, I was reminded the other day that the universe will always give you comfort if you just look around you. I was reading a magazine ~ probably Oprah ~ and I came upon the following quote by Mahatma Gandhi:

"There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever."

Reading that quote made me feel silly for worrying when I should be reveling in all of the joy in my life.

*The last Harry Potter book came out last weekend. I can't recall whether or not I have mentioned this in my blog before but while I was pregnant I kept worrying about my ability to read the book while taking care of the baby. Some things really are worth worrying about! Well, let me just say that we managed perfectly! Milo and I went to go get the book first thing Saturday morning and he hung out with me while I read it on Saturday and Sunday. I read the whole thing without encountering any spoilers on TV or the Internet. Yeah! I don't know why but I was worried about that too... Anyway, the book was exceptional and I feel some sense of personal closure for having completed the series. For those of you that have not read the series, I really can not recommend it highly enough. I read a lot and this is definitely equal to epic novels like the Lord of the Rings.

*Several weeks ago a good friend of mine asked me if there are any positive physical things about not being pregnant anymore. I have thought about it and with the exception of not having to take the shots anymore the answer is NO. I even still have heartburn for some reason. I am still holding out hope that it will go away... Anyway, when they say that your body will change after pregnancy they are making a gross understatement. The good thing is that I had my 6 week appointment on Wednesday and I am in the process of switching Milo to formula - both of which mean that I can start working out and I can go on a diet. Now if I can just get past that pesky procrastination issue. (Of course, all of these physical changes are outweighed by the arrival of my sweet, sweet little boy!)

*Finally, Milo and I needed to get out of the house today so we went to the library, an area park (since it was about 85 degrees this morning) and the mall. Milo was certainly the hit of the mall. There is something about a stroller that has a tiny infant in it... you almost can't keep yourself from looking inside. I was amazed at the number of people that stopped me to ask about him and to coo over him. Of course, he is pretty handsome if I do say so myself! I had my first occasion in which someone asked if he was my baby. I knew it was going to happen ~ I just didn't realize it would be so soon. The lady was not rude or offensive in any way. In fact she was about 7 months pregnant and she was asking me all kinds of questions about what life with a newborn is like. At one point she looked back and forth from him to me a few times and then asked about his daddy. It was kind of nice that she was so up front. I thought it was funny that when I saw her later she was with her husband who was white (she was Asian). I really love this area! It is so diverse.

So, I think that exhausts the topics that I have been "meaning" to write about. I will close with some pictures from this afternoon. When we got back from the mall I thought I would give Milo a bath so that he would smell sweet for Aunt Lynn. The pictures below show the progression from after bath to nap-ready.






This next picture shows my attempt to keep Milo from spitting up on his new, clean outfit because being clean is an automatic trigger for him to spit up (just like a new, clean diaper seems to be a catalyst for him to go to the bathroom again).


This pictures demonstrates what Milo thinks about my attempt to keep him clean.


Ahhh... clean clothes, a comfy chair, his pacifier... life is good and it is time for a nap!