The morning we realized our baby has been replaced with a TODDLER

Rule #1 Do no allow toddler to eat massive amounts of blueberries before bed

Rule #2 Apparently, you don't get sick if you eat your own pooh

Rule #3 Always, ALWAYS remember to tell the babysitter that toddler MUST wear a onesie to bed underneath his pj's and sleepy sack

Rule #4 Make your husband get out of bed to help you clean it up, even if it is his first day off in 21 days. 

Rule #4 If you wake up to a naked butt on the monitor - it ain't gonna be a pretty morning

and lastly, be thankful that the 

MASSIVELY LARGE SHIT BALL 

went overboard with the soaking wet diaper and all that was left to play with, smear and eat were tiny little 

turdettes

Milk-Friendly? Why Yes, Yes I am

I am so totally jazzed because I'm Guest Posting over on Milk-Friendly today!

 {Guest Post: I Don't Just Whip It Out}

If you haven't checked out Milk-Friendly you most certainly should! Maryam is a nursing Mama with two beautiful boys who refuses to sacrifice fashion for accessible boobies. She is full of tips and tricks for maintaining your style while nursing your babes (and she's nursing a toddler, which makes her EXTRA cool in my book!)

If you are here from Milk-Friendly, WELCOME! I wouldn't say I have style per say, but I'm constantly working on it (I wore red lipstick on a date last week!) I'm currently nursing my 17-month old son, Owen, and have written lots about our nursing relationship both here and over at Kveller.com.

{More about our nursing relationship}

When my son was born, he struggled to latch and lost a lot of weight and some people felt I was doing the wrong thing by continuing to nurse him. He rejected the nipple shield at 8 weeks and with the help of my wonderfully supportive husband, a lactation consultant, my Le Leche League group and lots of pumping and supplementing he finally latched on his own at 11 weeks. Nursing has been such a blessing for us and when my little turned a year old, neither of us had any intentions of stopping. We've nursed through illness and tantrums, on vacation in Asheville and even in Target. Through informal milk-sharing four babies other than my son have also benefited from my milk. Last month we lost a pregnancy and while it was heartbreaking and sad, nursing helped get me through.  I am a huge advocate of nursing whether its three drops or three years, and I'd love to chat about it.

Thanks for stopping by our little corner of the internet and feel free to leave a comment or say "Hello!"

"WOO WOO TA! "

"woo woo ta!"

 "woo woo ta!"

This boy sure loves living across the street from a "woo woo ta!"

I have no shame

See that juicy snot-river? It ended up on my pants five seconds after this picture was taken.

Last week was rough to say the least. Jeremy was slammed at work and Owen and I came down with a nasty vomit/cold he picked up at the gym daycare.  Yes vomit/cold is an official diagnosis and yes, we survived.

I FINALLY got up the nerve to leave him at the gym while I worked out and this is how karma repays me.

Karma clearly hasn't seen my thighs.

You can read more about how awesome last week was here on Kveller.com

The most thankless job

Being a resident is one of the most thankless jobs I can imagine. People really have no clue how incredibly hard it is. They work 80+ (plus, plus, plus) hours a week being ridiculed all day (even the NURSES! boss them around!) Their positions are funded by Medicare while residents bring in thousands and thousands of dollars to the hospitals each year. However, most resident families qualify for government assistance like medicaid and WIC and carry close to a quarter million dollars in debt. 

Second year (PGY-2) started July 1st and hasn't let up since. Intern year is rough because you know nothing, but the nice part about it is that everyone expects that you know nothing. Junior year is a whole new ball game. Tons of responsibility, yet you still seemingly know nothing. It is also Jeremy's first full blocks on Urology service, which has proved brutal in terms of hours.

{A day in the life}

4:50 alarm

4:55 alarm

5:00 alarm

5:05 (smacked by wife) alarm

5:10 shower/shave/pack lunch

5:30 (kisses sleeping wife) out the door

5:45am-6:30pm

I have no idea what this man does. Usually you can picture what someone does while they are at work, when he was a teacher I pictured him standing in front of a classroom.

I know Jeremy's pager blows up all day long (just like it does at home) and he runs from one side of the hospital to another checking on patients, talking to nurses. He assures me his day is chock full of irrigating catheters, retracting, stitching, rectal exams and lots and lots of penises.

He nods afirmingly while being yelled at by attending physicians and anyone above him. After all, if you're the Junior resident - EVERYTHING is your fault. Even when it isn't.

He eats a protien bar and a glass of milk for breakfast and is lucky if he finds a few moments around 5pm to gobble down his turkey sandwhich/yogurt/pudding cup 

before evening rounds. 

If he's not on call he signs off at 6:30pm but usually has a few consults left to see. 

His goal is ALWAYS to make it home by 8pm to read a story to Owen before bed 

(if he gets home for dinner that's a bonus!)

8:00pm 
walks in the door to a toddler screaming
"Da-dee! Da-dee!"

Washes his hands, takes off his scrubs

cleans Owen up from dinner, plops him in the tub for soap and splashes, get him ready for bed and reads him stories while rocking him.

This is what he looks forward to all day.
Thirty minutes to just be a Dad.

8:30pm 
hands Owen over to me for nursing/bed

He sits on the couch, answers any pages that came in while he was on "Daddy duty", inhales the plate of dinner that was saved for him and works on notes for another 1-3 hours. 

---------------

Jeremy hasn't seen Owen on a weeknight in over four weeks.

He usually reads "baa, baa" and "rawr"

Last night Owen asked for those books repeatedly but when I tried to read them he shut the book

"No. Da-dee."

"Daddy's at work" the same phrase I use all day long when he askes

"No. Da-dee"

so I read my designated books and rock my dissapointed little boy to sleep. 

Last night Jeremy was on call. On call nights one person is covering over 2,500 hospital beds for any urologic issues. He gets home extra late 930-11pm and usually has to run back out in the middle of the night. His pager goes off non-stop and he sleeps (if he sleeps) on the couch so not to wake me.

Jeremy and I knew this was going to be hard, but Owen doesn't understand. He just wants his "Da-dee" which has made second year harder on all of us. 

When we are together we soak up every minute doing things as a family.

We treasure these moments in our life while keeping our eye on the prize. 

When training is over, the reward will be a more accessible Daddy who just happens to be a doctor.

Saturday Morning in the Strip District

What a difference a year makes!

Two weeks ago my cousin Marissa came back to visit! Last July when she visited Owen was only five months old and now he is a big, walking toddler!

{THEN}

{NOW}

 

We played at the Children's Museum together

 

wrinkle nose smile - blurry but too cute not to post!

 and we went to the POOL!

 

COME BACK SOON!!

Owen Counts to TEN!

Owen loves numbers and loves to talk about numbers but the other day I heard him saying, "blah, blah EIGHT" and so I started counting to ten with him and with the exception of five, and nine - he does pretty well!

Why moving (again) was worth it for us

When we moved to Pittsburgh last year, I had every intention of going back to work full time but as weeks turned into months and I spent my days soaking in the cutest boy on the planet we decided that in order for me to remain home, we needed to find a cheaper apartment.

We loved the location of our place, within walking distance to EVERYTHING and were sick with the thought of giving that up, but were willing to do so if it meant less financial stress each month. Somehow the stars aligned and a place opened up NEXT DOOR to our current building. The apartment was being fully renovated, new kitchen, stainless steel appliances, new carpet, new paint with a $300 per month savings. In addition we were getting a sun room which we turned into a playroom for Owen, a recessed deck (new grill!), and covered parking. Did I mention we were SAVING money and still walking to all of our favorite places? So we hired a few college students and schleped all of our belongings and our precious boy next door.

I hope one day to give you a full house tour, but I am excited to show you Owen's playroom. His bedroom is set up almost identical to how we had it in the old place (I honestly don't even think he noticed we moved) and his room will always be my favorite place. It smells like baby and makes me happy just to be there. But his playroom is a close second because I love to watch him explore and learn in his own space (that and I don't have to clean up the toys multiple times a day anymore, win-win)

The last year has been hard on us financially. Resident salary is less than what Jeremy was making as a teacher so we've had to be creative with our budget. I'm confident we'll continue to make it work and I've been looking for opportunities to bring in extra money while being with O full time. We're lucky to have wonderful family who have gifted us some very special things in the last year, including our Zoo membership and a membership to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum.

Read more about how we enjoy our life on one salary HERE on KVELLER. {Mayim Bailik posted my article with compliments on her Facebook page and I was so touched. Its also blowing up with Facebook "likes" and that made up for the snarky comment that one reader left. Such is life on the internet I guess...)

{Owen's Play Space}

This is the view looking into our family room, as you can see Owen's play area is just behind the couch.

My/our desk area shares the sunroom space. I love the window and the carpet I scored at Ikea for $20! Now I'm just looking for fun things to decorate the huge blank wall to the left of my desk, I'm thinking something like THIS inspired by YourWishcake

When I was little all of my play furniture - cradle, table, chairs - was handmade by my grandfather. Woodworking just isn't a skill we posses in this house so Owen's table and chair set is from grandpaIKEA. But I was inspired by THIS and I spiced it up a little.  We had plexiglass cut at Lowe's to put over the top of it (wipes easily!) and I'm really happy with how this little $20 table turned out.

I'll be on the lookout for a wooden play kitchen once Black Friday deals roll around and I've been scouring the internet for a boy babydoll and blue stroller because anytime we play with friends Owen finds a doll and stroller to push around. We've been really lucky in that 99% of these toys were either gifts or handed down from our neighbors. Hand-me-downs have been a god-send on our budget!

A certain little boy loves to spend time in this sunny room stacking cups, zooming cars and reading books. It absolutely melts my heart to watch him play in this colorful space made just for him.