Letting Yourself Go
I admit it. Before I was a mom, I totally (and silently) judged all of those women out there that stopped caring about their appearance the minute they popped their kid out. I just couldn’t comprehend how someone could not care at all about how they looked when they left the house. Didn’t they know that the rest of us could see them? What happened to the mirrors in their house?
Ha. Pre-baby me needed to be slapped across the face and kicked in a kidney. What a judgmental twit.
The day I became a mom I instantly understood.
Here’s a visual for you. This is the most recent photo of me without a baby and without being pregnant. (It also happens to feature my best friend, Alyson.)
This photo was taken on Labor Day weekend 2010. And yes, like I said, that is the most recent photo of myself without a baby/fetus attached to me somewhere.
Do you know why?
Because ninety-nine percent of the time, I look like hell and avoid cameras. Hadley looks great. Me? Not so much.
What pre-baby me didn’t know was that when you have a baby, you spend so much time feeding, diapering, wiping, pureeing, laundering, soothing, rocking, and teaching that the second you have a free block of time, it is gloriously spent doing absolutely nothing productive. Showering, putting on make-up and getting dressed everyday? That’s a solid hour and a half each day that I could spend relaxing on the couch with Dance Moms, Pinterest and a glass of Trader Joe’s wine.
I put forth as little effort as possible into myself to get through that day. It just seems selfish to spend hours every week getting all dolled up when I could be teaching HJ her ABCs or how to freakin’ say Ma-ma already.
I left the house yesterday for the first time since the 8th grade with not one stitch of make-up anywhere on my face. And I didn’t care. Granted, I knew I wouldn’t see a single person that would know me, but still, that was a huge deal in my mind. I never would have done such a thing before Hadley arrived.
So to all of you whom I judged silently in my head in the past, I apologize. And now I’ve joined your ranks.
To all of you non-moms out there judging me now, plop out a baby and then we’ll talk.
Baby Language
Seven month baby
Hadley’s new discoveries during month seven: sitting up is all the rage, bath water is way more delicious than Mom says, sharing is caring (note above photo), and hitting people produces a hilarious reaction.
Things that suck about month seven: stranger danger is real (but luckily isn’t too bad yet), sleeping through the night is a distant memory, the sippy cup is merely another toy, being less than a year away from having a one-year-old, and force feeding amoxicillin is way harder than it sounds.
Mommy’s favorite things about month seven: belly giggles from pinching fat baby thighs, watching HJ play all by herself with her new Christmas toys, listening to HJ mimic sounds that we say (this will not be fun in the near future, I realize), and having a baby that makes every day an absolute joy. Seriously, how did I live without her?
How to Make Dish Towels
Thanks to Pinterest and a few other factors that hit us in November, I decided to make the majority of the gifts we gave out at Christmas this year. It was pretty fun, super cost effective, and I loved, loved, loved how everything turned out.
This first project was simple, but adorable. It also helped that I finally figured out the issue with my sewing machine the day before I started: a dull needle.
In case you need a cute and easy gift idea for the other holidays throughout the year, here’s how to make them.
This is what you’ll need: a sewing machine, iron, flour sack towels, 1/4 yard of fabric of your choice, pins, and pom pom embellishments (if you’re feeling fancy).
Before this project, I had never heard of flour sack dish towels, but apparently everyone else in the world had. Everyone I asked was like “Oh yeah. I know what those are.” Riiiight. When is everyone discussing things like this? Thankfully, I found them at Walmart in packs of 5 and 2.
After you assemble all of your supplies, you’ll want to wash and dry both the towels and your printed fabric to take care of any shrinking that may occur with your finished product. (Warning: You will also need to iron everything after you wash and dry it as it will be a hot mess when it comes out of that dryer.)
Then, cut your fabric to the thickness you prefer to stitch to your towels and iron down your seams.
Next, pin the fabric to your towel wherever you think it looks good. I ran mine even with the bottom stitch of the towel to make things easier. When it comes to sewing for me, the simpler the better.
After you have it pinned where you want it, start sewing it down.
And you’re done. You can add the pom pom embellishment if you want, but it’s optional. Aren’t these adorable?
I was so excited to have conquered the damn sewing machine. And you know what happened as I finished the last towel? The bobbin thread got all wound up inside the bottom and when I attempted to fix it, the insides fell out everywhere. I can’t friggin’ figure out how to put it back together either.
So yes, I’m back to hating sewing machines again.
Our Merry, Happy Christmas
We hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend as much as we did.
Mommy Escaped
Daddy and HJ took off this morning to go shopping for last minute Christmas items.
So what did I do?
I busted out of the house and away from all of the baking, wrapping, washing, vacuuming, and dusting that has been nagging at me for the last week.
Working from home is awesome, but it’s also a curse. It’s like working two full-time jobs simultaneously. I must be able to keep up with writing assignments while also keeping the clothes clean, the baby happy, the house tidy, dinner ready, and the dishes done. And since the housework doesn’t pay the bills, guess what gets neglected?
Yeah. Our house is a disaster.
That’s why today has been awesome. I got to leave the house, sans baby, and just be productive without a million things staring down at me to be done. Hell, I even got to blog before 10 pm. WHAT?!
As odd as it may sound, I actually envy the people who get to leave home everyday and go to an office. I’m insanely jealous of how much work you get to get done, uninterrupted for eight whole hours in a row. I’d love to be able to do that. My workday starts at 8 am and doesn’t end until midnight, everyday. Between changing diapers, feeding pea purees, reading books, and singing Old MacDonald, I must also meet writing deadlines, coordinate client projects, and make work phone calls that don’t include a screaming baby as background noise. It can be a doozy some days.
BUT, with that being said, I LOVE the gig I’ve got. I know how lucky we are that HJ gets to stay home with me and that I’m able to work from home.
I just wish babies understood work hours.
Six month baby
Hadley’s new discoveries during month six: taking a binky during nap time isn’t so bad afterall, armpits and feet are VERY ticklish, crawling isn’t necessary when rolling is equally effective, other kids are the coolest things she’s ever seen, and splashing in the bathtub is totally worth tipping the Boppy seat over and watching Mommy lose her shit for half a second.
Things that suck about month six: Mommy is absolutely under no condition allowed to leave the room, the days of exclusively breastfeeding are over, grabby baby hands only seem to reach for sharp and dangerous objects, moving HJ into her Pack n’ Play to sleep instead of the Rock n’ Play, and naps in the crib instead of Mommy and Daddy’s bed.
Mommy’s favorite things about month six: Hadley’s love for Christmas music, seeing HJ constantly search a room for her mommy, HJ’s newly thick head of blonde hair that covers and helps the dry scalp, a baby that sits up on her own with only minimal tip overs, cuter clothing selections now that she’s wearing 12 month-sized outfits, and watching her light up as she shreds the pages of the parenting magazines that probably should have been read.
First Visit with Santa FO FREE
No. That title contains no typos.
I was so excited about our free visit and photo with Santa today that I keep referring to the visit as such: “Our visit to see Santa, fo free sucka.”
Until I became a parent, I had no idea just how many asshats out there try to rob parents by selling the magic of Santa and Christmas. $30 for a couple of prints of my kid sitting on Santa’s lap? Baby Jesus is ashamed of you people.
Luckily, I am a parent of 2011 and have the internet at my disposal. I searched the entire metro area for free Santa visits and discovered that not only were there visits offered at Bass Pro Shop FO FREE, but they also gave you a photo FO FREE.
Chicka chicka, yeah!
They also allow visits in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day. I went with my brother, his adorable wife, and their two awesomely handsome boys at 2 pm. We were out the door, pictures in hand, by 2:30 pm….because we’re winners. Winners who like a good deal and no lines.
Since we’re all friends here, I’ll be honest. I was pretty disappointed she didn’t scream and cry. Those kinds of pictures are way more hilarious than sweet, adorable, smiley baby pictures. Ah, well. There’s always next year. (Right, Sis?)
Baby Hats Kill Me
I kind of have an obsession with baby hats. I have no idea where it came from either.
Baby clothes are cute. Baby shoes are ridiculously adorable. But the minute someone throws a hat on my baby, I’m all “Holy Mother of God! Howmuchisitwherecanigetitcanitakeithomerightnow?!” It’s a bit silly really.
I mean, it’s just a hat, right?
Wrong! It is adorable cuteness perched upon my child’s adorable head.
See. (Ok. Technically this one is a headband, but the size could qualify it as a hat.)
And a giant flower? What is cuter than a chubby-cheeked baby being eaten alive by a giant flower? The correct answer is nothing.
Except this. I had this monkey hat picked out and bookmarked on my computer two years before Hadley was born. My expression in this picture perfectly illustrates how I feel about this hat…and maybe that sweet little babe in it too.
And the most recent addition: the “Moo Cow Hat”. Grandma Paula found this adorable headpiece while on our trip to Branson last weekend.
Every other baby around was totally jealous.
The Annual Christmas Card
It’s the year Aaron’s been waiting for since we got married: the year he’s not required to be in the annual Christmas card photo.
I told him once we had a baby, he could finally have an excuse that I’ll accept. So of course, this year it was “Ugh. No one wants to look at us, Megan. They want to look at the smiley, adorable baby. See, look at her. She’s adorable.”
Well played, Sir.
We weren’t going to send out cards this year because we’re really cutting back around here, but then I found a $20 Shutterfly gift card while going through the piles of baby coupons I have stashed around the house.
HOLLA!
I’m not going to lie. It was almost causing me physical pain to think that we wouldn’t get to have a holiday card for Hadley’s first Christmas. Finding that gift card made my whole Christmas. Ok, that’s an exaggeration, but I really get a kick out of our annual card.
Here’s last year’s:
And you can see all of the other ones we’ve gotten from Shutterfly here. Can you tell I’m slightly obsessed with Shutterfly? They give the best discounts and coupon codes. You know how giddy I get over a bargain.
So here is the card that after two hours of me making Aaron look at 20+ mock-ups, we’ve chosen for the annual Spreer Christmas card this year:
I’m posting it here because not all of our favorite people will be getting cards this year (because of said cut backs) and I just couldn’t bear the thought of this sweet baby face not being seen by everyone. Isn’t she absolutely precious?!
