Signs of a new Mom

I have now been a mom for 8 weeks. EIGHT WEEKS! things are going well over here, we are getting some sleep, drinking lots of coffee and getting to know Matilda's sweet personality.

I was thinking today of all the ways my "normal" has changed and was laughing to myself as I was thinking of some of the things that act as clear evidence that I'm a new mom. So I decided to blog about it.

The first way would actually be the fact that I am writing this post on my iPhone while holding my sweet sleeping baby and bouncing on my exercise ball.

Other ways you can tell I'm a new mom:

Getting dressed for the day now means changing out of the pyjama pants I slept in and putting on new pyjama pants for the day.

which pjs should I wear today...

The day's success is measured in hours of sleep and amount of poop. (Hers not mine, although after you have a c-section it takes the body awhile to get back to normal so you do celebrate your own bathroom victories - maybe that is TMI? Haha)

napping in her swing

Time to myself now consists of going to the bathroom in peace, doing a quick washing of all the bottles and maybe a game of scrabble on my phone (I'm getting pretty good!)

bottles washed and unwashed

If I want to drink my coffee hot it needs to be in a travel mug because it never fails that as soon as I take the first sip Matilda wakes up and I have yet to master the drinking of hot liquids and holding her simultaneously.

starbucks blonde roast brewed and poured into my travel mug

I consider lunch successful if I have eaten by 3pm.

My phone is now full of pictures of Matilda instead of my cats. Not a bad thing!

just smiling at her dad

My hair is going grey. And every time I tell someone they say "ya right" and then they look at my head and say, "oh ya!!" I'm considering just chopping it off into the short spikey silver "do" that women seem to do when embracing their grey. Oy.

some shampoo lovingly given to me by my sister, note the purpose: "for blonde, highlighted, and silver hair." :)

I tape shows like Dr Phil to watch during the day when nothing is on (I like having the TV on in the background, makes me feel less like I'm home alone). I also can tell you the best show to watch at most hours of the day, except for 11am, that time slot is hopeless, perfect time to pull out a book!

just imparting wisdom onto the nation. nbd (or no big deal, that's slang my sister uses)

These things and many more are the signs of a new mom - a role I am loving. I am so thankful for my new normal and for the sweetest little girl to call my own.

day 30: you, then

this is me
in all my pink loving glory
one halloween many years ago
this picture just makes me laugh


that's it - 30 days of september
30 pictures
more work than it sounds like it would be
hope you enjoyed it! :)

day 29: errand

clearing snow 

i suppose it is more of a "chore" than an errand

(or for michael - who owns a snow clearing business, I guess it's just work)

and this picture is very old

BUT I thought it would be a cute one to represent us doing the "errand" of snow clearing

this picture is from the first winter that we were dating

and now we've been married 4 years

and I'm glad there is no snow on the ground.. yet.

day 28: a good thing

a sister in law that is just a sister (who needs the "in law" title?)

a sister who is a best friend

having two of these sisters

a good thing!

day 27: love/hate

love/hate

i LOVE this picture

it makes me laugh

my dad wanted us (him, myself & my cousin Amanda) to do our "facebook pose"

he was convinced that this is how everyone poses on facebook

this picture also brings me back to my wedding rehearsal

since that's where it was taken

such a fun and wonderful day

so.. hate?

well, i hate that my cousin amanda lives far away!

she moved to Toronto

and I'm happy for her and everything

but really.. it's not here!

day 26: near

near

i love this picture

it is NEAR to my heart

auntie ashley & uncle mikey looking on to the sweetest little christmas present

the christmas of 2009

sweet little Everett John

but the other meaning of NEAR with this picture

is that Christmas is near (whether or not you like counting down this early - i do!)

and the other thing that is near - soon we will be gazing on a cute little baby again

like we are in this picture

but it will be OUR BABY.

6 weeks to go (or more, or less..)

but it is getting NEAR!

day 25: frame

frame

for todays picture I'm picking one that I think is "frame-worthy"

this is my family - the one I married into, but feel like I was always part of

2 Christmases ago I bought us some party crackers

complete with these crowns

and we decided to take family pictures

my dear hubby likes to always be different

so for the "serious" picture, he was crazy

and for this "crazy" one, he was normal.

he certainly is the baby of the family - can get away with anything!

day 24: 3 things

3 things

well, in this picture there are 3 of my favorite people

they aren't 'things' but there are 3 of them

hanging out the 4 of us is one of my favorite things to do

i love having siblings that are friends as well as family

3 things - leah, josh & michael

the best!

day 23: before bedtime

before bedtime -
we brush our teeth
we wash our faces
we watch an episode of one of our favorite shows
we hug and kiss 3 times (one for me, one for mike, one for the baby)
and we fall asleep.

day 22: up

so, these 2 photos are something that never fails to cheer me UP. and that is how it qualifies to fit under the title "up".
my friend audrey & I used to work together and we were at a work conference when we took these pictures and the day had been a bit.. long.
hope they cheer you UP too

day 21: sometimes

sometimes

sometimes i take pictures of myself

sometimes i find really good lighting

sometimes my eyes are big and extra blue

sometimes i take the time to curl my hair

and sometimes, just sometimes I am not a blonde

this picture was one of those sometimes

day 20: man made

one of my favorite man made things - my piano. I am so grateful that my Grandparents saw how much I loved music and gifted me with this piano. I think of them everytime I play it. It is one of my favorite places to be. By myself or with family or friends. Playing worship songs or just random songs. Writing music and playing music written by my friends. 

I'm not the greatest piano player, but I play with a real love for music, and I am so thankful to have this "man-made" item in my possession. 

day 19: underneath

underneath that belly of mine is a place that I am seeing less and less of. my toes are not something that I can see easily and I may or may not have become a bit out of breath taking this picture (it didn't help that I attempted to paint my toenails prior!)

soon I'll be able to see them again, but I'll be too busy staring at a cute little baby!

day 18: price

price - well these days I'm spending most of my money on adorable baby clothes and baby "gear" - it is the funnest kind of mail to get when you have ordered something online! since it's online it doesn't list the actual price on these tags, but they are still price tags right? :)

If only I could show you the clothes that belong to these tags...

day 17: in my fridge

These days I'm trying to fill my fridge with healthy foods, trying to feed my baby the right things, but hey.. it's autumn and autumn means pumpkin, so... if you look into my fridge you will see the tastiest treat - pumpkin spice latte cupcakes. want one? come on over!!

day 16: strange

strange - well, what is strange to me might not be strange to you, and vice versa. For this picture I decided to let you in on one of my favorite thing - which some people may find strange, but I find wonderful :)

I call every other day "bath day" - where I fill up my tub to the brim with wonderfully warm water (I've had to make it a bit cooler since being pregnant), set up my little table with my laptop and some DVDs (currently the first season of Parenthood), getting an ice cold glass of water, and settling in for a good 30-45 minutes :) Best part of my day!!

day 15: first thing you see

the first thing I see every morning is this - my alarm clock showing the magic number: 7:53 - the perfect time so that I can hit my snooze (7 minutes) at not actually have to get up till after 8!

day 9: what I do most weekends

What do I do most weekends? Well, in the summer we try to get to the cabin as often as we can, so.. most weekends! this summer has been a bit more full that other ones, but whenever we have had the chance, we make the short drive out to the lake and settle in for a relaxing weekend. 

we love going to the lake to spend time with family, to relax, to read, to go for walks and to go on the water! Michael loves being in the water, swimming, boating and especially wake boarding. I'm not a huge fan of wakeboarding (i can get up, get in and out of the wake - most times - but I would never be one to do "jumps" or "tricks" and in all honesty, I'd much rather sit in the boat and watch!) I love taking pictures of Michael and seeing him accomplish new tricks on the water. 

So most weekends in the summer, we try to get out to the lake for moments like these!

day 8: at night

i wish i had a really nice night time picture
a picture of a summer bonfire
a sky full of stars
a walk around our neighbourhood
something like that!
but, apparently I'm too busy enjoying those things to stop and take a picture (and I'm really ok with that!)

so here is a picture of what its like around here most evenings.
we have 2 of the snuggliest cats, and when michael & I are in for the evening, relaxing, chatting, watching tv or whatever, the cats love to hunker down with us and fall asleep. they like to be where we are, and often they get very comfortable, and fall asleep in some funny positions! but quite typically, most nights the cats are just sprawled out as much as possible.

so.. here is what the nights around here look like.

day 7: natural

todays picture is "natural"
and what is natural for me? well, a few things come to mind!

I have always been a natural baker. I find it relaxing and fun to create in the kitchen (both baking and cooking, but baking it always tastier in my opinion). The mess doesn't bother me, and I love seeing all these random ingredients turn into a warm & delicious product.
another thing that is natural for me - being an auntie!! I love being an auntie to 3 sweet boys - jay, everett & roger. I love hanging out with the boys and hearing ev say things like, "oh auntie, you want to cuddle?" and i love watching rogie laugh and learning new skills.
so, what else could be the perfect picture today than these two -
spending some time with one of my favorite nephews - everett, while the two of us bake up some tasty concoction.

This is natural!