motherhood

let’s plan a party.

July 11, 2013 by Rachel 2 Comments

As if being a mom isn’t still shock enough, I have an almost one year old.

Seriously. In friggin’ shock right now. It’s been almost ONE year.

Okay, okay… I know I’m jumping the gun a little. Three months is a little far away, but the big day will be here before I know it!

So obviously I’ve been party planning already. A Yo Gabba Gabba party is a definite must.

He loves the Yo Gabba Gabba songs. His little round face just lights up at the sound of one of the songs. It’s totally adorbs.

I’ve thought about Pinteresting the crap out of this party. But I’m confident in the fact that, in doing so, I would be in over my head — and that I will ultimately just stress myself out. … enter Etsy…

After stalking the crap out of everything Yo Gabba Gabba on Etsy, I’m super grateful for all of those super crafty people who make it a thousand times easier to plan a YGG party for a one-year old. PS. If you’re not a mom and/or have never seen an episode of ~~crack~~ Yo Gabba Gabba, here’s what you need to know:

It’s complete and utter nonsense.
Brobee is a grade-A nut-job. OK, maybe just a bit bipolar.
The phrase “There’s a party in my tummy!” and “I like fish!” will cause the cutest full-blown belly laughs.
your coworkers & spouse will grow to despise this show because you are always singing the songs.

Also, I realize it’s a bit excessive for a first birthday party, but I’m totally dying over this cake:

He needs it, am I right?? Ha! I know a place that would make it gluten free, healthy AND cute!

I know it’s *just* a first birthday… but there’s something to be said about keeping another human alive for a full year, right??

weekend round up //

July 7, 2013 by Rachel 1 Comment

As much as this weekend feels like it lasted forever, I also feel like it flew by — even though I had to work Friday!

I ended up getting out of work early Friday afternoon + I decided to hit the gym. I’ve decided that I wish I worked until 3PM every weekday because I would get SO much more done in those two hours between 3 and 5.

And I still felt like I had the evening to do whatever I wanted!

We ended up going to our neighbors for an impromptu cookout. We ate BBQ pork, apple pie, and drank a couple of beers until the late hours of the night [which, let’s face it, actually means 11PM for us].

Nonetheless, 11PM is way past our bedtime; and way, WAY past Ari’s bedtime! He was a champ, though. And we learned that he absolutely loves sparklers! Ha!

Pretty much Friday night was exactly what we needed — a chill night near home… snuggling with Babycakes and laughing with friends.

Saturday morning we all [kinda] slept in. Ari has been getting used to sleeping in the pack n play so that he’s OK sleeping in it on our upcoming vacation. And the Pack N Play is in our room… so we have no choice but to wake up when he wakes up. And Saturday it was at 5am. He was hungry so I brought him into bed, fed him and then we both fell back asleep until 8 — which is pretty much unheard of around our household.

We spent our morning at swim lessons, as per usual. After swim lessons mama went for a nice 5.5 mile run, followed by a brisk 1.5 mile walk. I could have sworn that my pace was slower than Thursday; but it turns out I did the same distance in just a few seconds faster than the previous. That may not seem like a huge deal, but I’ll tell ya — in humidity and heat — it really is.

The rest of the day was spent at or near home. We have a crazy few weeks coming up so we’re trying to relax as much as humanly possible.

Which turns out means still staying relatively busy.

Sunday morning I practiced yoga with the ever-so-awesome Gretchen — outdoors! Gretchen is hosting a series of yoga classes in a park, outdoors, in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood. Today’s class was the first — and it was a sweaty, brilliant practice!

Post-yoga, I picked Babycakes up to meet up with Gretchen and her baby for coffee at Nervous Dog. Follow that up with a late lunch with the GrandparAunts and an early bedtime for Babycakes? Perfection!

weekly mantra.

July 1, 2013 by Rachel 2 Comments

Sometimes I feel guilty about going and doing things solo… like going to yoga. Or for a massage. Or staying in the car for 5 extra minutes before picking Ari up.

But I know that keeping myself healthy is the best thing I can do for my family. And that this totally + completely includes my mental health.

It may seem selfish to love yourself first. But it isn’t. I can’t take care of those I love if I don’t take care of myself.

So that includes making time to go for long runs; that includes making time for yoga to clear my heart and mind; and heck, that even includes making a solo trip to Target!

Love yourself first!

PS. Anyone else excited for the “short” week? I couldn’t be happier to have a day off on Thursday. What a great way to break up the week!

tales from a working mom // the truth about feedings

May 24, 2013 by Rachel 3 Comments

Having a baby means all kinds of grand planning.

And then real life slaps you upside the head and knocks some sense into you.

When we were going through the great solids debate, we knew we wanted to try the unconventional by using the baby led weaning approach. And in many ways, we have done that.

But we’ve also gone the convenient route.

Because, well, it’s convenient. And, more importantly, he likes it.

We started out giving him pieces of the foods we were eating — avocados, bananas, whole oats, etc. It went well. He was hesitant, but my little champ went with it.

But my milk supply continued to decrease. And the stress of not being able to make my baby feel full was overwhelming. So one day at Target I noticed that some of the Happy Baby organic, no-GMO, food pouches were on sale. So I picked up a handful of them.

Right away, he loved them. He ended up going nuts for them!

So I sent some to the sitter with him and ever since, he’s been eating about 2 pouches [or 8 ounces] of food a day. Sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots, sweet peas, bananas, beets, pears, mangoes and more. He loves it all.

One thing we didn’t do conventionally was feeding him one type of food for a week straight. Cause that’s boring for everyone. And who’s allergic to green beans?? Probably 1 person out of a million. Seriously.

So I guess we’ll continue with what works for us [which is what parenting is all about, right??].

We’ll feed him pieces of our meals and we’ll make sure he’s getting all of the necessary nutrition through alternate routes — like organic pouches and breast milk — keeping our baby happy and healthy!

learn to swim

May 7, 2013 by Rachel 1 Comment

It’s a big day in the It’s A Hero household! It’s Ari’s first day of swimming lessons! That’s right, our 6 and a half month old baby is going for his first dip in the pool this afternoon.

My excitement is unparalleled. Seriously.

I was ‘one of those’ babies; I cannot remember a time in my life where I didn’t know how to swim. My mom took me to baby swim classes at the YMCA when I was six months old — the kind of classes where you gently dunk the baby and then let go, and the baby instinctively swims!

When I was pregnant, I knew that I wanted to attend the same classes with Ari.

So tonight we go to Bubble Babies! Truth be told, I am a bit nervous. Mostly for me. I know he’ll be OK, but I will probably be the one who needs some comforting. Ha!

Tales From A Working Mom // it’s all temporary.

May 4, 2013 by Rachel 1 Comment

talesfromaworkingmom

Truth: I would love a good night of sleep. I would love to go to bed at a normal time and wake up at 7:30 am or even 8. Especially on the weekends.

I would love to not have to wake up at 3am for a feeding and to pump. I would love to not have to schedule my days around when and where I’m going to pump. And I would love to not stress about my supply not meeting Ari’s demand.

But it’s all temporary.

When I was home on maternity leave, I wasn’t able to see that these stages as just bumps in the road, thanks in large part to my postpartum depression. I was struggling to see that there was any light at the end of the tunnel. I couldn’t function.

Thankfully, I’m managing my PPD quite well these days, though I’m still haunted by some moments of extreme anxiety.

But I do recognize that all of these stages are temporary. And that’s a start.

So for now, I’ll wake up at 3am to pump even if Ari sleeps through; I’ll wake up at 6:15 am every morning, cause that’s when Ari starts his day; I’ll deal with the house being a mess cause I’m too busy to clean; and I can handle juggling work and home life, even when that means just barely making it through the day.

Because it’s bigger than me.

It’s for this perfect little guy we’ve created. And he’s totally worth it.