Yep, I'm a Quitter

I haven't quit very many things in my life just because I wanted to and not because some circumstance made it so I had to. The only thing I can recall is high school cheerleading my freshman year. After that, I'm drawing a blank. I'm sure Aimeeliz or my sister could come up with some others since they often remember my childhood/life better than I do. :)

That being said, last week I quit my job. Because I wanted to. And to be honest, it felt really good. It was a very agonizing decision for me, as I have always liked working in general and I've always worried that if I stayed home I would somehow fall into a deep, hermit-like depression. But my job in Utah hasn't really been everything I wanted it to be for many reasons, and it makes it that much harder to go back to now that I have a lot more to do at home. I am going to miss some of the good friends I've made at work, but hopefully they'll still hang with me even though they won't see me every day.

Obviously, with Harper in the mix now, it's just too hard for both of us to have demanding jobs outside of the house. Ash works 50+ hours a week and it's never going to get better despite my constant nagging. He works hard for our family, and I really appreciate that. My 45-minute-on-a-good-day commute plus the possibility of shuttling two kids to two different daycares just seems impossible right now. And if not impossible, definitely stressful and probably not good for any of us.

So, I'm officially a SAHM (or Shit Ass Ho Motherfucker as Dooce says) with benefits. Those benefits are that I am still working on contract sporadically with my former job...from home mostly. Helena's still going to go to montessori school a few days a week and Harper will chill with me.

I'm looking forward to wearing more workout clothes instead of dress clothes and possibly not showering every day. And hopefully I'll be a better mom now that I have a lot of stress off of my back.

Anyway, I'm lucky to have this option as a lot of people don't right now. I honestly never thought I would. Bring on the mom's clubs and playdates! Woo Hoo! As Ash put it, I'm working for us now.

-Emily :)

Whew!

I've got a list of 18 blogs to write and hopefully I'll get to them someday. :) Still don't really have my shit together, if you know what I mean! Needless to say between having 2 sets of visitors, quitting my job, and keeping up with the normal amount of things, blogging has gone to the wayside.

To tide all six of you who read my blog over, here's a most recent pic of Harper showing off his new skill:

Yay for smiling!

-Emily :)

Progress

We might have turned a corner this morning. Helena helped me give Harper a bottle! She was very excited. :) Maybe she'll be helpful eventually! ha!

Also, yesterday Helena told me to "Move my 'milk getter' off of her Dora couch." She was referring to my breast pump.

Happy Friday everyone!

-Emily :)

Survival Mode

Harper is 4 weeks old today. As I sit down to write this, I'm not sure if 4 weeks counts as a month or if I should wait to say he's a month old until the 24th. These are the annoying things that go through my sleep deprived brain.

We're doing pretty good around here...I, of course, have been sleep deprived long enough that it's starting to wear on me. Let's hope I'm about halfway through the really bad part. Harper's sleeping well for his age, though. Usually has one 4 hour stint and one 3 hour stint through the night. Now, if I can just get Helena to quit waking up OR sleep past 6:15 am, we'll be set!

Anyway, here are Harper's official one month pics. :)

Man, those cheeks seem to have their own gravitational pull. (Shout out to Tracee for making the adorable retro owl quilt!)

Life is rough for this little buddy.

Harper actually fell asleep on top of the dishwasher while it was running. Disclaimer: you really probably shouldn't lay your newborn on the kitchen counter. This maneuver is for EXPERIENCED parents, like ourselves, only. Disclaimer #2: The other caretaker in the house did this, not me. I'm sure it was an emergency situation.

-Emily :)

Early Days with MeeMaw

Thought I'd post some quick pics of Harper-- who will be 3 weeks old on Thursday.

My mom has been visiting to help us out/spoil us and heads back home tomorrow. Pray for us. :) Ash and I have to get our A-game together quickly.

MeeMaw, Harper & Helena.

Helena's first time 'holding' Harper. This only occurred because I bribed her with THREE M&M's. She wouldn't touch him and was scared to death. Her face here cracks me up...but she'll do anything for M&M's!

Harper yawning -- 2 weeks old. He's being a pretty good baby!!

Cute boy...his hair has a tinge of red to it nowadays, we'll see if it stays that way! I still think his eyes are going to be blue! :)

-Emily :)

Visit from Papa Larry

My parents are awesome. Let me just say that up front. My dad, with minimal prodding, came out pre-baby to help us with Helena when the big event occurred. I was very thankful he was here, as it took some stress off knowing she was with him. I did have a backup plan, but Helena tends to be a little high maintenance, and I feel better about her bossing my dad around than one of my well-meaning friends! And now my mom is here staying with us for 2+ weeks. I'm not sure how I'm going to manage without her. Laundry definitely won't get done as quickly, and there's probably a lot of pizza ordering in our future!

The day I went into labor, we went to the zoo with my dad. Walking around wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be, and in hindsight, was probably a good idea to speed things along.



We also went fishing at Snowbird Resort in the mountains when my dad was here. Helena caught her first fish on her Dora pole with some pink sparkly catfish bait. I think Ash was more excited than she was. :) They have a special kids pond there that is stocked to the max with trout, so it's pretty hard NOT to catch a fish. Fun times for the kids for sure! Helena and Ash were the rock stars of the pond, catching 3 fish before we called it good.



-Emily :)

The Fourth

Our 4th of July was a tad bit more low key than usual. Don't worry, Ash still spent inordinate amounts of money on fireworks. Even drove to Wyoming to get them since Utah's laws/selection suck.

We did take Helena to her first big fireworks show at Sugarhouse Park. We ended up walking about two miles to get there, but it was worth it. Helena loved the show and wasn't scared at all. On the way back, she started to fall asleep in the wagon, so Ash had to carry her for over a mile and a half. Oh, and our wagon broke. And, it rained on us. By the end of the ordeal we were laughing so we wouldn't cry. My mom is here helping us out and generously watched Harper for us so we could go! Yay for moms!! :)

Helena had a really cute 4th of July parade at school last Friday. They all marched down the hall with their class floats and threw candy. Helena's class made an Air Force One float. Pretty creative!

On the actual holiday, I tried my best to get a pic of the two of them together. I asked Helena to put her arm around Harper and this is what I got:

Let's just say she hasn't exactly warmed up to him yet. :) Although she is not shy about criticizing my parenting skills with him...whenever I leave him in his bed, swing, blanket on the floor she says, "Mom, where is YOUR baby???" Which is sometimes followed by, "You'd better go get him!"
Anyway, I gave up and tried to get good pics of them individually.

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

-Emily :)