Cutting Back

Four people living on one income can be hard to do, especially when I just realized today that a large chunk of our money a year goes to medical/dental insurance and taxes. WTF? Is that even legal? How do they get away with that?

Hopefully next year we'll get luckier with taxes since we (technically I) had a baby. Fingers crossed!
So we're brainstorming on ways to budget better. We already don't have cable t.v. We have antenna and get about 10 free channels, which is good because we don't watch that much television anyway. Hudson gets to watch his Qubo (a cartoon channel) I get my CBS (Monday nights and The Mentalist) and Jorge has been able to watch the entire World Cup thanks to the Spanish channel.
So today when we went to the grocery store we decided to get all off brand foods. Some of the names of them crack me up, instead of Triscuits we bought Woven Wheats, instead of Goldfish crackers, Cheddar Whales, instead of Nutri- Grain bars, Fruit and Grain, instead of Doritos, Nacho Cheese Chips. You get the idea. They pretty much taste the same and we saved $19 by buying the HEB brand-at least that's what our receipt told us.
We're also going to cancel our texting, so for those of you who text us you better get them in by tomorrow. I mean come on, with phones and internet is texting really necessary? I know I love it too, but that's a box of diapers. (with 2 kids in diapers we're am going to feel like we won the lottery when they get potty trained!) I didn't even have texting 10 years ago. I had a huge black version of Zack Morris' phone. That thing would barely fit in a purse.
So for those of you out there who know how to save an extra buck or two, pass it on. I'm going to go eat my Woven Wheats and call it a night.

Bathing Suit Season

I was online last night looking at the bathing suits and found an adorable one piece. It hid my least favorite asset (stomach) and enhanced my good ones (boobies). It had some kind of mechanism that tightened in your tummy (like Spanx) and then underwear to push up my girls (which I only get while breast feeding, so I want to show them off this summer). I'm in love with this suit that cost around $100. I can't wait to go to Macy's and try it on this week. I ask Jorge what he thinks about it. He replies, "it's great if you're 40."
Wow, I am thinking. I had a baby less than 4 weeks ago, am I suppose to be browsing the junior section looking for something a little more Girls Gone Wild? I'm not even suppose to work out until 6 weeks post postpartum. Should I be sneaking in some crunches right now? What is he trying to tell me?
:http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=433092&CategoryID=12420

We do so much for them to remember so little...

So, today was Hudson's second birthday party. We had it at Memorial Hermann Park, near the zoo downtown. I think I was more excited about today then Hudson was. The dinosaur cake looked awesome, the decorations were fun, Hudson would get to play with his friends all day, and I would get to see two of my besties that live too far away.
The party started at 9, so we left the house at 7:30, after all we had to set up for his special day. We get there a little after 8 this morning and the parking is anything BUT convenient. No matter where you park you end up walking about a half a mile to get to the actual playground area. We had a lot of crap to carry: food, cake, cupcakes, decorations, drinks and 2 kids mainly. Jorge had to make multiple trips and I carried Mia (in the baby bejorn- so that made me extra hot and sweaty) but it's better than lugging around that 40 pound awkward infant car seat and the decorations.
We're hurrying to get set up and everyone ends up being about 30 mins late b/c they don't know where the park is from the zoo. Today late is great because I had to set up anyway, so it worked out in my favor.
The party was a hit. The kids played in the play ground and water area, hit the pinata, sang happy birthday and ate cake. It was over before I knew it.
Hudson passed out on the way home and slept for about 3 hours (you can tell he had fun). When he woke up we opened his gifts. Opening gifts is the easy part, undoing all of those plastic ties that they put on EVERYTHING takes forever. It's ridiculous. Is it really necessary to have those on everything? Is the dinosaur going to fall out of the package if there isn't 10 plastic ties on the toy holding it to the box? gezz...so after I "undid" all of his toys he plays with them for a total of 5 minutes, walks upstairs and wants to watch Maisy. A cartoon that we have on DVD. Are you kidding me? I just did all of that work for him to want to go upstairs and watch the same DVD that he watches everyday???
Jorge and I worked very hard to make this day special for him. Sad thing is he won't remember a thing. That's why we have a camcorder and camera, right?
Happy Birthday angel-face!! I love you more than you'll ever know!

The fun continues

Mia slept through the night for 4 nights in a row, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I didn't want to tell anyone for fear I might jinx it. After last night I thought "screw it, let's blog about it." So, she went down last night at 6:30 and woke up right at 10:30 (when I was ready to go to bed of course). You're probably thinking, "why didn't you sleep while she was asleep?"
1. My son was awake and I wanted to spend time with him.
2. I wasn't tired at 6:30.
So, when she woke up she didn't want to go back to sleep-of course. So I think that I just stared at her off and on during the night and slept here and there. I feed her at 1:00, 4:00....drifted off again about 5:15ish, heard Hudson get up at 6:00...I fell back asleep after that and staggered out of bed after 7 this morning.
Did I get a nap today? No, when Hudson fell asleep Mia was hungry and then after I fed her I was hungry...food trumps sleep sometimes.
So here I am Thursday afternoon at 2:30. Both kids are asleep and I am blogging. It's not as good as sleeping, but the house is quiet and it's peaceful so I can't complain. A friend told me to cherish these sleepless moments b/c this might be the last kid I have. In a way she's right. I will miss these sleepless nights like someone misses herpes but they are only this little for such a short amount of time, unfortunately.
They are healthy and happy and there are much worse things then me being tired. Jorge probably doesn't think so b/c I can be a complete bitch when I don't get enough sleep-but he loves me-flaws and everything.

Dinner Time

Those of you who know me know I am a "foody." I love to eat, especially snacks, sweets, and cereal. I have a bowl every single night before bedtime.
But my children are making me not want to eat anymore. Let me paint a picture for you of what dinner time looks like at our house.
Jorge and I cooked hamburgers tonight-yummy! The three of us are sitting at the dinner table (Jorge and I are the only ones actually eating). Hudson is picking the cheese off of his hamburger bites and trying to grab chips off of mommy and daddy's plate the entire time saying "chips, chips, chips" while Mia rocks in her swing crying the ENTIRE time.
So, I put my burger down and go see if she has a wet diaper-she does and I change it. She should be happy as a lark now, right? Wrong! Back to crying, as I return to munch on my not so hot anymore hamburger while Hudson is now trying to drink daddy's coke...coke and chips-two things we try not to give him. So, I go to the pantry and try to see what he'll eat. I grab peanut butter crackers (hey, they have protein, right?). He proceeds to pick off the peanut butter (which is now mostly on the kitchen floor and his hands) and leave the crackers on the table untouched, as I try to finish my cold burger and wipe away his crumbs at the same time. So, now Mia is still crying in her swing, Hudson still hasn't eaten any dinner and I'm still starving because my start and stop time of eating had been quite a chunk of time.
So, if anyone knows of someone who can be my cook and nanny for free (b/c we don't have any way of paying them) please let me know. Thanks. =)

Must haves for moms

When I had Hudson I registered for an infant carrier-I think it was an Infantino or a Chicco...don't remember but it sucked. I didn't want to register for a Baby Bjorn because it was twice as expensive and I didn't think I would get it anyway. Hudson hated the one I got and it was killer on my back.
My friend gave me her Baby Bjorn for Mia and it is "the cat's meow." She slept in it on me for 3+ hours yesterday while I cooked lunch, farted around on FB, and tidied up a bit. Thank you Tasha! If you are pregnant you must invest/register for this. It was painless on my back and she was snuggled right up to me and I got some stuff accomplished-added bonus! My dad always says you get what you pay for, in this case it's worth paying almost twice as much for a good-scratch that-great infant carrier.
Another must have: nipple cream. I bought nipple cream pre-Mia but didn't use it, thinking I'll be fine I have nursed before.
But sweet Jesus! The joke was on me-she is a hard sucker and my nipples were cracked and bleeding (TMI). Sorry if you got a mental picture on that one. I lathered my nipples with that goodness for the first week and now I am fine, but if I would have done it before hand I wouldn't have been in so much pain. You must have this on hand if you plan to breastfeed, unless you have special rock hard nipples...I sure didn't.

6 weeks

I use to think that the doctor told you to wait 6 weeks after having a baby to have sex in order to give everything done there a chance to heal...now I think they tell you that for other reasons.
1) You're so damn tired that it is the last thing on your "to do list." Maybe after 6 weeks your baby will be getting some kind of sleeping schedule and if not maybe you can get a quickie in between naps.
2) You're still in your maternity clothes with that beautiful muffin top (unless you've been introduced to Spanx-thank god for those) pouring out over your pants and don't want your significant other to have sex with that thing...

Those are my top 2 reasons. I am sure healing is also a very valid point too. But the other two make more sense to me 3 weeks post baby.
Jorge hits my butt the other day and asks, "when are you going to be ready for me?" I'm thinking ready for you to give me a massage. Ready for you to cook me dinner. Ready for you to fold clothes...he's a man-of course he was talking about sex.
I just smiled-thinking a year from now sounds about right.

Is it really worth it?

Ever since Mia was born I have felt like I am on "lock down" trapped inside my house on the couch breastfeeding for the better part of the day so...
We (the kids and I) along with my mom went out this morning to run some errands. We went to the chiropractor (b/c my back is completely ruined from having kids and carrying them everywhere) and to Market Street in The Woodlands, and the mall.
After I had already taken the double stroller out of the trunk for the third time and hooked Mia's car seat in the front and strapped Hudson in the back, and strapped my diaper bag on the front of the stroller, and closed the trunk and the passenger doors we were ready to go inside the mall.
My mother made the comment, "when I had small kids it wasn't even worth it to go out." Part of me agrees with this statement. It takes forever just to get out of the car...geezzz. But once we got inside we had a blast. Hudson played in the indoor play area and rode the carousal, ate some delicious Chick-Fil-a and even got some jazzy new clothes from Gymboree.
So, is it really worth it? Of course it is to see that smile on his face. Will my back ever get better, probably not anytime soon. I asked my doctor today if carrying these kids everywhere was counterproductive to my progress, she said, "well yes, but they are both so little and it has to be done." I told her hopefully in 6 years my back would be better when they could do things on their own, ie:baths, getting in and out of cars,walking up and down stairs etc. She promised me it wouldn't take that long...here's to hoping.

Baby Blues

Whether you have personally experienced these or only read about them in a pregnancy book, they do exist. There are different levels, and at the extreme level a woman can be experiencing postpartum depression.
Don't worry I only have slight baby blues. It's a hormonal thing I'm sure. But after having a baby a woman feels "trapped." You are on someone else's schedule constantly. You have to take your naps (if you are lucky to get one) at certain times, eat cold food because she was hungry just when your meal was ready, sit on the couch for the better part of the day and nurse her for 30 mins at a time just to have her hungry again in an hour and a half. And last but not least my favorite, weigh yourself every morning and wonder why your body hasn't bounced back to it's pre- pregnancy look. Your normal clothes don't fit and your pregnancy clothes make you look frumpy.
Motherhood isn't easy. Men don't get it, at least mine doesn't. 6 months from now life will be easier. Hopefully Hudson will be potty trained by then, Mia will be sleeping through the night and experiencing fun milestones like supporting her head and eating "yummy" baby food. How do "The Stars" make it look so easy? Three words, Nannies and personal trainers. We can't all look like Heidi Klum coming home from the hospital, but if we could I would probably have 4 kids like her too.
To all the mothers out there-WE ARE SUPERSTARS!

Chunky Monkey

So, we went in for Mia's 4 day check up last Friday and she weighed 7 lbs 6 oz, today we went back for her 10 day check up and she weighed 8 lbs 1 oz. That's 5 ounces short of a pound for all of you math majors.
What was I thinking when I heard the news- My boobies did that!! With Hudson I wasn't producing a lot of milk and he needed to be supplemented, so for me this is huge!
All of my 9 days sitting on the couch shirtless just paid off! If you are/were a breastfeeding mom you can definitely get a mental picture of what I am talking about.
There is no point in putting on a nursing bra or nursing camisole when you are lying around the house. It's uncomfortable and takes too much time to lift and lower that crap. You might as well just be topless (only in the comfort of your own home of course) you do need those other things when you go out in public.
Poor Hudson probably just thinks Mia is this "thing" that sucks on my boob all day and then falls to sleep after wards. It must seem pretty strange from his point of view...

I think sleep heard me

We put Mia in her bassinet for the first time last night and she only woke up at 2, 5, and 9...something like that. I had to check on her a few times to make sure she was still breathing. One time when I woke up I found her sucking her little thumb, it was the cutest thing (Hudson is a thumb sucker too). And more good news, Hudson didn't wake up until 8:30 this morning-2 hours later than usual.
I feel (somewhat) rested today. Who would have thought that writing to an inanimate object would work?
Let's make tonight an encore of last night.

Dear Sleep

I have never missed anything as much as I miss you. Sleep where are you and why do I feel as though I don't know you anymore. Between feedings every two hours and my extreme back pain I think I sleep 3 solid hours a night. Then when I hit my deep REM around 6 a.m., Hudson wakes up. It's official I am a walking zombie. They say you need less sleep as you get older- I say bullshit.
During high school and college I could pull all nighters studying or partying. Now, even before the baby arrived I was going to bed at 10 and waking up for work at 6. That is still a good solid  8 hours. Now as I type this I don't know if I am sleep walking or not.
So sleep, please find me soon, or let Mia start sleeping through the night at 6 days-yea right! I'll find you again someday and when I do I won't take you for granted.

The night before her arrival

On May 30th at about 8 p.m I started having contractions in my anus. It was a weird sharp pain that I had never experienced before (also a sign of labor I would later find out). Then at about 9:30 I was having "normal" contractions about 3 mins apart. I told Jorge that I wanted to try and wait it out at home because I didn't want to be stuck in triage for hours like I was with Hudson. So I called mom and dad about 10 p.m and they came to our house to watch Hudson.
Jorge and I left in pouring down rain with crazy traffic--I thought we would never get to the hospital-it was awful! By the time we arrived I had already dilated to 6 cm. The nurse said we could stay (duh). About 30 mins later they put me in my own room and I had already dilated to an 8-too late for that pain medicine that I had been longing for.
So there I lay screaming and crying, "I can't do this, it hurts so bad...throw a few naughty words in there too." I asked for an epidural but the nurse said I had to have gone through this bag of fluid first and that now I was 9 cm. Good grief, get her out of me. We were waiting on my gyno who wasn't on call that night, but she gave me a note saying they could call her when I was in active labor. So, there I waited and waited for her to arrive and then the anesthesiologist came and gave me an epidural-probably about 15 minutes before she actually came out-but it helped a little. ( I will never understand how women don't get them-HUGE difference in Hudson's labor and in Mia's).
So, Dr. Turner arrives I pushed for what seemed like 10 mins and "viola" out came Mia-this beautiful little girl with a full head of dark black hair who looked nothing like mommy or daddy or Hudson, she looked just like Mia.
Not having any pain medicine was amazing because the labor was so much shorter-but the pain was oh so much worse.
Would I do it all over again, you betcha. Having a child is the most amazing thing any woman can ever do, in my opinion.

Baby love

Who would have ever thought that the second baby would be just as amazing and loved as much as the first one. We can't explain the love that surrounds our baby girl, it's unexplainable but maybe you can read a little about it here.
There are many little things already that make you feel so blessed to have a precious little baby. From her cries,  to her little eyes looking at you and wondering if she really knows who you are, or if she is going to remember these wonderful moments in her future when she grows to be an adult. Her little head moving around and her little mouth searching for mommy's breast when she wants to get fed is an amazing moment in our lives that everyone goes through and will be with us forever...