#badmoms

One of the most important things in my life is my relationships.  Of course that means my relationship with my husband as well as my kid, but another set of extremely important relationships are those with my girls.

As a wife and mom, I feel as though society expects a lot out of me and, in turn, I expect a lot out of myself.  In addition to my very full time job, I am expected to take care of my family’s health, do chores like cooking and cleaning, run errands, take my son to his various activities, and generally keep a positive attitude.  While I have no problem doing these things most of the time, there are times where I just want to say enough’s enough and go out with my girls.

I try to schedule one extracurricular activity weekly whether that’s going to a concert or a broadway show, attending a movie, taking a painting class, or just meeting for dinner.  I have a few groups of people I spend time with and try to rotate through them so I get to see all my favorite people as much as possible.

Last night, I did something a little out of the ordinary, but extremely amazing.  I went on a girl’s trip to Louisville to see P!nk!

First we met at a salon to get manis and pedis.  The best part about the salon we went to is they had a bar!  I got to try a new drink:  vodka and orange juice with a splash of cranberry.  It was delicious!

Then, after a quick bite at Panera, the six of us piled in a van and headed south a few hours.  The whole commute was filled with laughter, jokes, and a ton of humorous conversation.

We got to Louisville with enough time to primp, but when they told us the room wasn’t ready, we had to set up camp in the lobby!  Of course about 10 minutes after we had everything unpacked so we could do our hair and makeup, we received the call that our rooms were cleaned and ready to be used.

The caravan loaded up the 6 million bags and headed to the twelfth floor.  If you think 6 women would overpack for less than 24 hours away from home, you would be right!

Once dolled up, we headed to Doc Crows, a restaurant recommended by my bestie.  There, we met Billy and Carolyn for dinner and drinks before all of us went to the concert.

 

My tip to you:  if you ever have a chance to see a P!nk concert, DO IT!  I saw her twice this tour and she didn’t disappoint either time!  We were a little concerned she was going to have to postpone her concert due to the flu, but she rallied like a trooper and KICKED ASS at her Louisville show!  I thought maybe she would tone down the acrobatics, but she didn’t at all!

We weren’t ready to wind down right away after the show, so we walked over to Fourth Street Live! to check out Howl at the Moon.  Guys, this place was SO FUN!  I had seen several of these in various places I’ve visited, but I’d never been to one.  I was amazed at how talented the band was on the stage.  Each musician played every instrument as well as sang their asses off.  I loved it so much!  We danced and sang our hearts out until we could barely stand up anymore.

We called it a night around midnight and headed back to the hotel where we goofed around for a bit, snacked, and laughed even more before bidding each other good night.

The next morning, being moms, we were all up early and got on the road by 9a.  I haven’t laughed this much or this hard with a group of ladies in a long time and I’m counting the days until we can do it again!

#badmoms #protour #part-a

 

Reading Rainbow

Do you guys remember that show?  Man, I LOVED it!  The books came alive!  They literally came alive!

Anyhow…my friend, Heather, started a great link up for us moms out there that want new ideas for books for their kids!  What a fantastic idea!

Jake is all about textures lately.  He loves feeling things, tasting things, etc.  When I pulled out the “That’s not my…” series, he loved them!

These books allow him to feel various textures.  He is very good at picking out the “different” texture on each page.

See how fluffy Black Bear’s ears are?

OK, it’s kind of hard to tell from that picture.  But what about Brown Dog?

He has mega fluffy ears!

I’ve gotten some ideas from Heather as well as Joanna.  I’m always looking for more, though!  If you’re a mom, or even if you’re not, leave a comment below telling us what books you recommend for your little ones!  Even better, if you are a blogger and want to participate, head on over to Heather’s blog and link up!

Just Say No…

…more breastfeeding!  I don’t breastfeed anymore.  I officially stopped about two weeks ago and it was one of the most liberating, exciting things I’ve done.  Let me give you a little back story.

When Jake was very young, I breastfed him pretty exclusively.  After a while, I was having a hard time functioning due to lack of sleep.  My mom was visiting and offered to take some of the nighttime feedings.  I would pump and she would feed Jake with my breast milk.

Often, I didn’t have enough milk to give him only breast milk.  This was most likely caused by my not feeding Jake using both breasts at each feeding, resulting in decreased supply.  I also had a hard time drinking enough water to produce the correct amount of milk.  For some reason, I have always had a hard time drinking my fluids!  Because of my decreased supply, we supplemented with formula.

Let me tell you, ladies, breastfeeding in the beginning (especially when you have no idea what you’re doing) is challenging, frustrating, and exhausting.  It’s also very rewarding, don’t get me wrong.

Anyhow, as the weeks went on, I continued to have to supplement with formula.  I would nurse Jake and then when I didn’t think he was getting any more, I would offer a bottle.

Then I went back to work and Jake went to day care.  I would pump about half the amount of breast milk he needed, so we continued to supplement.  He got so used to the bottle at daycare that when I tried to nurse him, he would get distracted, not latch properly, etc.

Finally, after about three months of trying to nurse, I gave up, choosing to feed him strictly from the bottle.  I continued to pump, but no longer offered the breast as it was too difficult and ended with both of us frustrated and dissatisfied.

Pumping at work can be challenging, especially when you stay as busy as I do throughout the day.  Being a manager at Walgreens, my assistance and knowledge are used throughout the day by all members of staff.  At the time (before we got the new registers), I was required to be present for all returns or exchanges, I had to get change for cashiers, assist in the pharmacy, address customer service issues, along with various other tasks.  This is not including the projects I was involved in (such as building displays or working in the stockroom).

Every 3-4 hours, I would have to excuse myself and go off to a little room for 20-30 minutes.  Sounds nice, right?  To have a break in the midst of the chaos to take a little time for myself.  Not really.  Often, I would get a page or a phone call while pumping.  Someone needed my assistance or help finding something or had a complaint I needed to address.  If there was another manager there, it wasn’t a big deal as they could handle the issue, but if I was alone it was frustrating.  I would have to stop pumping, get all unattached, redress myself, take care of the issue, and then undress and attach myself again. I am grateful to my manager, who covered my “alone time” more times than I can count.  Thanks, Kristy!

So, to sum up this long winded post, I chose to stop pumping at six months instead of the originally intended 12 months.  It was a personal decision and I wrestled with it for several days before I took the plunge, but I must say, it was one of the most freeing decisions I’ve made in quite a while.

No longer and I living in 3-4 hour increments.  If I want to go get my hair done, then go shopping, then go to a movie, I can!  If I want to get a big project done at work without constantly watching the clock, no problem!  I love that I was able to give my baby breast milk for the first six months of his life, but I also love that I’m done.  Now I can focus on solids.  We started vegetables yesterday!  Stay tuned for that post…