Time To Cry

I haven't slept well in weeks.

Maxwell's been battling an ear infection and amoxicillin wasn't working after 5 days so we went to something else. Because his sleeping hasn't gotten any better after day 5 of Cefdinir I took him in to see if his ears weren't clearing up.

Thankfully they were all clear.

Please note, I'm extremely tired while writing this so I guarantee that it'll be confusing and jumbled.

Anyways, the doc says that Maxwell's ears were all clear which, even though he hasn't been sleeping, is good news. Of course, if it were due to an ear infection that was persisting - trying another medication would be the clear answer and a potential medical fix for his poor sleep. Being positive though, it means that he doesn't have an antibiotic resistant ear infection. And even more positive, it doesn't mean that we have to look into tubes or anything for his ears yet. I'm optimistic that we won't have to do tubes, but I was nervous that we might.

So last night, after getting the OK from the doctor, we let Maxwell cry it out. We went in about every 5-10 minutes to hold him just long enough to calm him down, put him back in the crib, pat his butt, and try to get him back to sleep. He was screaming from 11:40-2:00 easily.

Anyways, after Maxwell finally seems to be asleep we hear Nolan screaming at the top of his lungs and guess what? He's throwing up!

I can't catch a damn break with the kids being sick and never sleeping.

To anyone with multiples or with more than 2 kids...

Now would be a good time to invest in Dunkin' Donuts coffee.

I count myself extremely lucky that my kids are generally healthy and hopefully this is a blip on the radar. But when my kids are teenagers I'm going to enjoy waking them up to get them ready for school. MUAHAHAHHAHA

But right now I'm so tired that any little emotional thing will set me off. It's like the tears are just right there ready to fall and I just need the sad news article to send me into a spiral.

Also - this is my first post since the election and all I can say is FUCK TRUMP and the idiots that voted for him.

Can We Just Laugh?

I have been straight up exhausted today because of stress/anxiety that has been going on with my life which, for privacy reasons, I'm not really going to get into on facebook. No worries though, I think I have it figured out. But a consequence of being scatter brained and disorganized is a 2 hour anxiety filled MOTN wake up where you close your eyes and the anxiety just gets worse so you play pokemon go instead.

I digress.

Here's some stuff worth laughing at:

I bought some leggings the other day. They were supposed to be the chosen ones! They are black lularoe and in a way they were my own unicorn that I was waiting on buying because financially speaking, having 2 kids in daycare is a huge money suck. I finally feel comfortable splurging on myself and I bought a pair of leggings and was really excited for a versatile staple to my wardrobe when on the first wear I notice they're defective.

"Defective leggings?" you say. Yes. I don't know what causes it but holes just appeared everywhere in them. And when I went to the bathroom (we all do it so it's not TMI) I saw what appeared to be stars in the crotch of the leggings. But alas, they weren't stars, they were straight up HOLES in the crotch. First wear. And no, I didn't wash them yet because I wanted fresh softness against my skin.

So that stinks. What I'm really not enjoying right now is that, while the consultant is giving me a credit for new leggings, her shop isn't open right now and I wanted some freaking leggings NOW dammit. I'm also bracing myself for her charging me for shipping which I will straight up contest. This all in addition to the fact that I probably won't be able to get black again because A) I don't think she'll have them and B) I don't trust the quality she receives.

I'm sure you're all appreciative of the last 3 paragraphs about leggings.

In Halloween News:

Nolan has a costume to be a dinosaur and I believe he believes he's supposed to dress as a dinosaur but every time we've tried to get him in the costume he straight up flips out. But he doesn't have a problem with the new/used Buzz Lightyear costume we've already taken him to Halloween trick or treat activities in!

That's a kid who is excited for candy! 

How could I forget this big piece of news. Maxwell and I were in a parade on Sunday! Yes, Maxwell was IN a parade before he ever saw a parade. As you can see from my photographic evidence, he was thrilled and honored to be in this role. 

This was at the very beginning of the parade. I put the stroller umbrella over him for the duration of the parade and he was very quiet while I threw candy. 

Speaking of which, daycare freaking loves Maxwell. He is just the happiest baby of all time. Straight up. This kid rarely cries unless it's 7:00 and he's clearly ready for bed. He is a smiler and just all around pleasant. When we drop him off at daycare every morning we complete a sheet describing his mood and I've never had to put anything other than "happy" except when he's been up all night, but even then the daycare teachers always comment "he's SUCH a happy baby!" 

I might be biased, but I feel like he's an all time favorite for those teachers. I honestly felt like a teacher was trying to say those words without saying them because they shouldn't play favorites. Just yesterday when I dropped him off a teacher was like "he's just ALWAYS so HAPPY!" 

If you ever need a pick me up with the world's happiest baby, Maxwell is here for you.

Nolan's daycare report is also positive. He is in full on toddler mode so I don't really get the "world's happiest toddler" awards for him. But he was definitely a very happy baby. I was just too tired because he was also the worlds worst sleeper to see and appreciate it. 

He is friends with a boy named Luka who I always see him playing with when I pick him up. The funny thing is that I always notice Nolan is talking to the kids on the other side of the fence. I think these are older kids based on their playground equipment. 

The Salton family has enjoyed several volleyball games at this point. It's a really fun way for us all to experience Hilton magic without the congestion of Cyclone Basketball. Brian is definitely counting down the days until the first game. He got his tickets in the mail and I think he's really excited to drive up with his new license plates:

I'm an Iowa Stater. Always and forever. *winky face*

It Finally Happened

Nolan is a fully mobile toddler. It should come as no surprise that he is also an independent, free range, tantrum throwing, does what he shouldn't kid as well. He's awesome and for now I find what just happened cute.

He snuck downstairs when he was supposed to be in bed.

Yup, it's here! I no longer can trust that my toddler will stay in the confines of his bedroom when I leave the room. Unless I tether him there. Wait, I probably shouldn't do that. Should I? I dunno... I'll get back to you.

Anyways, the best/worst part of it was I was downstairs having my me time watching my grown up TV shows that simply wouldn't ever be on, even in the background, until he is MUCH older.

The Walking Dead - Series Recap

Basically, it was highlights from TWD's 6 seasons to prepare me for the season 7 premiere next week. Of course there wasn't a bunch of dialogue or them walking down a road.

Nope.

They were being eaten by freaking zombies. Shooting people. Fighting. Etc.

It wasn't until I heard, "I'm scared," that I realized my little man was watching for who-knows-how-long before announcing himself and also scaring the bajeezus out of me.

I put him back to bed and we sprayed our water spray bottle for monsters around his room before bed. Yes, it's just a spray bottle filled with water that we can spray for monsters. I'm not sure if this legitimizes the monster fear or helps give him some peace.

Anyways...

He came downstairs 2 more times after that.

I didn't even recognize you!

Seriously, I just went on my blog and was like "I don't remember making a new banner for my page!"

For nostalgia's sake it currently looks like this:


The pictures were taken from a photoshoot we did as a family this July and Maxwell's was from his 6 month photoshoot. Nolan's picture reminds me of Uncle Christian a lot! I think the outdoor lighting gave his hair a reddish hue.

I love my babies. I can't say it enough. They are the best thing I've ever done.

Tonight I have the privilege of picking them up from daycare. How much fun is that? If you pick your kids up from daycare, then you know why that's the best part of the day. I look forward to it like crazy. There's just a really cool feeling when you see your baby/toddler playing and having fun and then you say their name and they light up and start their way towards you!

Maxwell is a mover and a shaker now, completely mobile and starting to stand on his own for 3-4 seconds at a time. He CAN crawl up stairs but he doesn't often get the opportunity. I personally like to hold him with his little feet touching the stairs and then he "jumps" up the stairs by me lifting him from one stair to the next. He is a smiler. The picture above really captures his mood. This baby is always happy. Except when he's hungry or sleepy!

Nolan is really learning a ton. The other morning I heard him singing in his room. He was quietly singing the ABC's to himself. He also has learned how to find his "own phone" (my old phone from before that I let him play games on) after he's done with his nap so he can get some uninterrupted surprise egg video time. Potty training is going along a little better now that I've really coughed up some cash and bought the bribe toys of a lifetime. Fashems/Mashems - whatever you call it. He goes nuts over them.



I'm bribing him with a fashem for whenever he goes #2 in the toilet instead of his pants. Sorry future Nolan for when your significant other reads this. I mean to say, I'm bribing him for doing the dishes and vacuuming his bedroom... yeah, that's what I'm doing.

In other news. Brian and I are officially really into playing Pokemon. Alright, to be perfectly fair my obsession is waning a little, but it's still really fun to play. Brian and I will take turns going to campus after the kids are in bed to hunt 'mon and get more pokeballs.

Photo dump!

Maxwell's in his carrier, but it looks like I'm holding a potato sack that I put a hat on

Safe to say Nolan loved the pumpkin patch again!

A combine slide

We found it! "Orange" the pumpkin

I love these two. They are buddies through and through. 

Checked out a fire station over the weekend... you try taking a picture of a toddler eating a cookie and getting a smile

He met "Marshal" from Paw Patrol ;)

He's 8 months old now!

Nolan wanted in on the photo fun!

I can't even... he's too cute!

Mental Pictures

Every once in a while there's just a time when you have to put down the camera and just make a mental memory instead of taking a physical photo. This is especially hard to do anymore since everyone is carrying a camera in their pockets at all times.

But since this is a blog it's hard to go too long without sharing a photo of my kiddos!

What a little ham!

In this picture Nolan was helping me take the grapes off the stems!  A chore I hate, but I do because I hate stems on grapes. He nailed it! And then played with the stems calling them Mommy, Daddy, and Nolan and having them play with one another. I love his imagination!

Anyways, the point of my story is to share a first of Maxwell's that I opted to take a mental photo of rather than a physical photo.

Maxwell's First Fruit (puree)

We've been slowly incorporating puree's into Maxwell's diet but really just starting with veggies because we all know that fruit is where it's at. Maxwell loves butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, pretty much everything except peas. He'll eat them with enthusiasm in that it's something different and that drinking 100% breastmilk was probably getting boring for him. He'd finish the purees with ease.

Yesterday was something else though. I gave Brian the go ahead to feed him a fruit as a bought a bunch at the store the other day. We had pears, mangoes, peaches, a couple of fruit/veggie combos etc. Well Brian selected peach for the first fruit and without any doubt in my mind I say it was a success.

The best part about watching him eat the peaches was how much he clearly wanted more and never wanted a break from the peaches. There was a shriek when the spoon wasn't in his mouth. A confused panic when Brian was cleaning off the peaches from around his mouth. He was leaning as far forward as he could to get his mouth to the spoon as soon as possible. And this adorable slurping sound as he sucked the puree off the spoon. Nary a drop of peach fell to his bib unless you count the bite I tried to give him and I clumsily dropped a blob in his lap.

It's moments like those that you just really can't capture with a photo. I could have took a video and that would have been great but it was just really wonderful to watch him and be in that moment with him and laugh while he shrieked and reached for the spoon.

I'm sure we'll get more of these kinds of reactions as he tries other fruits and foods too, but soon he'll get used to how awesome other foods taste and won't act the same towards them anymore. For now, I'm just smiling at the memory of how much he loved his peaches.

6 Month Maxwell Man!

"Maxmaker Maxmaker make me a Max, find me a find, catch me a Max"

"I love my baby Max, baby Max, baby Max... give me my baby Max, baby Max, baby Max. CHILI'S BABY MAX RIBS.... Barbeque sauce"

Max-o-mill (instead of Maxwell, it's my way of calling him Maximilian)

All nicknames/songs for my little little man.

He is:

• Putting all the things in his mouth (I need to vacuum) 
• Pulling my hair when nursing, sometimes slapping me too
• Waking up about once in the MOTN most nights
• Smiles when he sees mama and dada
• "Sings" and is finding his voice
• Laughing at silly noises we make
• Loves chewing on my phone... probably not good for the phone...
• Sitting up for short periods of time unassisted
• Army crawling

6 month appointment is this afternoon!!!

New Gig!

First things first.

I GOT A NEW JOB!

It's a reservation coordinator position at Transportation Services at Iowa State. I'm so thrilled for this opportunity to actually show my skills as a leader and get a whole new list of responsibilities! I start on July 11th. The new position comes with a decent pay bump and it's technically a pay grade higher so it's a promotion booyah!

It honestly is bittersweet leaving the College of Business but I think a little more sweet than bitter to be honest. I'm really ready to make a change and the day to day at the CoB has been getting a little repetitive.

Songs currently in my head:Graduation (Friends Forever) - cuz when you're leaving a job you get graduation goggles (credit: HIMYM)

I'm just kidding... everyone was awesome!

• Final Countdown - Because http://itsalmo.st/#mylastday_b5dxi

ILLUSIONS, MICHAEL!

• Don't You (Forget About Me) - HEY HEY HEY HEY! OOOOoooOOOOoooOOOOooooOOOooOOH

That fist, though.

I've got a lot of loose ends to wrap up here before I am officially out but I'm so excited!

Some Happiness

I'm not going to lie, there has been some incredibly sad stuff in the news lately. At this point, my heart can't take any more sadness and I'm cutting myself off from the news including facebook and reddit for 24 hours and we'll go from there. I don't mean to be insensitive but sometimes your heart can only take so much and I'm at the maximum capacity for sadness before I cry uncontrollably.

Sooooo this blog is a happy update with photos! We could all use a little cheer, right?

This week my mom came to help watch the kiddos for a few days which was really fun! Nolan and Maxwell stayed home with her on Tuesday/Wednesday. Nolan got a little haircut (photos forthcoming) and Maxwell is just working on regrowing his bald patch.

It's been hot, this kid is sweaty 

Nolan is naked in this photo. 

Smiles Davis

Trying to eat his fist!

The only photo I got from this week (the above were from the week prior)

Some more happy news... I get to see Christian this weekend! It'll be for like 3 seconds, but I still get to see him which makes me happy! Maxwell and I are driving to Iowa City to spend the morning with C while he's in between weddings (a Friday and Saturday night wedding - YIKES). It'll be my goal to take a lot of photos while we're all together. I decided to keep Nolan behind because it'll be a lot of driving for one day. I think Maxwell will handle it ok because he can (hopefully) fall asleep on the car ride.

Monday starts our nanny! I'm THRILLED but I'll be bleeding money for a while as nannies are way more expensive than what I'm used to. But I hope to get her familiar with how to drive my car so she can take the kiddos around while I'm at work. We'll see how that works out though.

In case you were wondering if I'm still annoyed with daycare. Yes, I am. They are sloppy and disorganized and I'm tired of them spelling Nolan's name wrong and calling Maxwell "Maxy"

N.I.P. Badass

N.ursing
I.n
P.ublic

Isn't it great that the acronym also spells "nip" so you can doubly make people uncomfortable just talking about it?

I have to say that my boobs freaking rock. This is my personal opinion and even though they're not in the same state that they were in my 20's they're soooo much more useful now. My baby has, thus far, been like 99% breastfed with ye olde bewbs. They just make milk! That's freaking amazing! I don't have to worry about bottles and sanitizing and making sure that things are a safe temp... all that is taken care of by my body.

Disclaimer: FED is best. I'm super happy breastfeeding, but everyone should feel like a rockstar whether they breastfeed/formula feed whatever. As long as you're not giving your kid margaritas, I think we're cool

It's literally the 2nd coolest thing my body has ever done. The first coolest thing is a tie for making N&M.

Freaking amazing.

But I wanted to give a shout out to the people at the park the other day that gave no f*cks about me nursing openly.

I got to wear my new dress out and about, too. The dress that I don't have to lift over my head to feed a baby with. Yes, I had to do this in a bathroom with Nolan once. Yes, I fed in a bathroom and the only thing I felt bad about was that the line was extremely long for the guests... but I didn't have a nursing friendly dress and there were NO other rooms available. So yeah. The people waiting in line forever probably thought I had some #gastrointestinaldistress

Do hashtags work in blogger yet? Shout out to Survivor Stephen Fishback if so.

I've got 2 weddings this summer, back to back, which this dress will get some mileage on. I got it in an indigo color. Check it:

I love the "high/low" aspect of it. Makes it fun yet casual. Going to be fun to dance in it! I'll be wearing cute heels for the wedding, but I want to get some casual, non flip flop, sandals so I can wear it to work.

But anyways, when I was done at the park instead of a squeaky/squaky baby, I had this baby:

PTFO

While at the park Nolan was forced out of the baby swings and onto the big kid swings and he took the change well! He's still being pushed. We'll work on him swinging on his own when he gets a a little bigger.

In case you were wondering, we weren't sharing a hat. I bought that one for Nolan last summer when we went to the Twins/Cubs game in Minneapolis.

See, I told you guys I could do a positive update! There is so much good that's going on in my life I need to focus on that. Sometimes it's just easier to write about the stuff that's bothering me.

I'm havin' a bad bad day

Warning: Long blog, very ranty, I won't be offended if you skip it.

Well, it's been more of a bad 2-3 weeks really... I'm fine at the moment but I've been on an emotional roller coaster now since May 26th.

On May 25th -
I am picking up Maxwell from daycare. The "teacher" asks me about adding formula to each bottle as Maxwell tends to cry after he's done with the bottle.

Let's back up.

On a good day I can pump 12 ounces at work. Then if I stay up til 10 (2.5 hours after Maxwell goes to bed) I can pump anywhere between 2-4 ounces more.

So when daycare was whining a few weeks back about how the 12 ounces I was giving Maxwell to drink per day wasn't cutting it I gave them 14 ounces. 4-3.5 ounce bottles. So I'm literally giving them all I got. And on the weekends I've never needed to supplement.

I get this feed report for the day:

Let's analyze the afternoon, shall we?

Between 1:00 and 3:15 (a total of 135 minutes or 2 hours 15 minutes however you prefer to look at it) my baby was given 9.5 ounces of milk.

Any lactation consultant/parenting expert/google search will tell you about 1-1.5 ounces/HOUR would be sufficient for a baby Maxwell's age. So they were OVERFEEDING MY BABY BIG TIME.

That night I thought about what I was going to do...

May 26th - The Drop Off
I drop Nolan off first and then go into Maxwell's room and... well...

I talk to the "teacher" about how much she's feeding Maxwell. I told her that 1.5 ounces/hour should be the goal and to try and sooth him in other ways. I also mentioned that he probably was tired and that's why he kept taking a bottle.

Then... Then.... THEN....

Oh my god.

I fully digest what I saw in the room when I first walked in. And I can't tell you how much I regret not having my phone in my pocket to take a picture of this... but there was a baby with a bottle propped in his mouth.

Not just propped.

FUCKING TIED AROUND HIS FACE!

TIED.
AROUND.
HIS.
FACE.

With a goddamn blanket.

THE BABY WAS BEING PROPPED ON A MOTHERFUCKING BOPPY WITH A GODDAMN BLANKET WRAPPED AROUND HIS FACE TO HOLD A BOTTLE IN HIS MOUTH SO IT WOULDN'T FALL OUT!!!!!!

I CALMLY had to ask, "how are you feeding Maxwell, are you holding him while he's eating or is he on the floor?"

"He's usually laying on the floor"

Guys, my BABY probably had a bottle tied around his face too. The fact that I didn't set this woman on fire, but instead remained cool, is a testament to how bad the daycare situation is in my town. I NEED a place to take my kids. This is the only place in Ames that I could get into.

DEEP BREATH.

Ok, so I tell her "can you please start holding him while you're feeding him instead?"

She said ok like it was no big deal.

So I was ok with her answer and I left.

Guys, I didn't take the bottle out of that baby's mouth. The award for worst mom ever goes to... oh great... me.

As I'm driving out of the parking lot and I hit the first light I grabbed my phone. The owners surely need to know about this. I quickly google "propping a bottle"

So I'm validated. My feeling about the propped up bottle is now confirmed. I turned my phone to my contacts list and dialed the daycare center directly. The daughter of the owner answers and I pretty much have this conversation:

Me: Hi, so I just dropped Maxwell off in your infant room and I noticed that the "teacher" had a bottle propped in the baby's mouth and it honestly TERRIFIES me that you're doing this. Babies need to be held. When you're paying a premium for infant daycare they should get a little bit more than this. I feel like I'm dropping my children off at an orphanage with the level of human touch that propping a bottle gives.
Daycare: Woah, blah blah blah feigned concern that sounded genuine, the woman who gives us our license has told us that we shouldn't do that. I'll talk to her.
Me: Thank you.

I feel a sense of relief as I hang up. I honestly feel like she's taking my concern seriously.

But remember when I said that I didn't realize exactly how bad propping a bottle was? I mean, I knew it was bad... but  how bad was it really?

Let's take a horrifying walk down memory lane.

*la de dah, it's the day you're going to meet the infant daycare "teacher" you're starting care NEXT WEEK with Maxwell and you just want to make sure you've got your ducks in a row when you drop him off"
Me: blah blah blah, what do I need to bring?
"Teacher": Oh this and this and blah blah blah [meanwhile, she takes a blanket and twists it until it's a tight spiral and makes a "U" shape out of it and places it on a baby's chest while he's laying in a swing. She puts the bottle on the U and keeps talking to me]

Shakes head and zaps to present time.

HOLY FUCK. She propped a bottle right in front of me. I KNEW it was wrong at the time. I KNEW I should have said something but I didn't. I thought "well, I guess that a center has so many kids to adults, maybe they just do this so they can change diapers or whatever else the other babies need"

At least one other time in my memory do I remember seeing another baby with a propped bottle.

Three times.

Third time's a charm, I guess?

I get a call back from the daycare around 8:30am that morning. She tells me that they've removed that "teacher" from the room.

Ok, this is where I'm going to skip over the details because in the scheme of things the rest of what happened doesn't matter.

We're hiring a nanny. We've found a great college student who can work full time this summer for not much more than this daycare center was charging. It'll be tight, but we can make it work. But she can't start for two weeks.

Today I'm having a bad bad day because I don't know how to address this with the daycare at the moment. I officially need them for another 2 weeks as I don't have alternate care. I know they know I've been concerned about safety, and for good reason. I don't know how to tell them we're through. I kind of want to wait until the Friday when we're done and say "peace" but I also don't want to end on rough terms for some reason.

Ok, so if you made it through this blog I commend you... this was probably very hard to read and I'm sure you were yelling at me through your computer screen. Soooooo yeah...

I promise a more positive blog for my next one.

Getting the hang of things

Having 2 kids in daycare has been an adjustment but it's not impossible. I'm still lukewarm about our current daycare center but we're on lists to go other places so for now it's ok. In fact, on Mother's day weekend Nolan had some plants to take home that he made - I guess as a gift for me? More likely it was just a fun activity to get their hands dirty!

My routine is like this:
5:40: Wake up, makeup/hair/brush teeth/breakfast - basically ME stuff
6:00: Wake up Nolan, cuddle with him because he's grumpy, and get him fed
6:20ish: Whenever Maxwell gets up I feed him and try to juggle other morning responsibilities around this, but if I have to wake him up I usually like to have him moving about 40 minutes before we need to get out the door.
6:40: Get kids dressed in daytime clothes
6:55: Get out the door
7:15: Drop kids off at daycare
7:30: Arrive at work

Then when I'm at work I pump 3-4 times a day in a stuffy/dusty closet room thing that really needs some TLC. I offered to help redesign the room to make it more inviting to anyone else that needs to use it. Right now I seem to be the only one though. It's right next to our faculty lounge where I keep the milk in the fridge and I keep my pump in a cabinet so no one messes with it. The lounge is locked but the lactation room only has a lock from the inside so I can't safely keep my pump in the lactation room.

Work has usually been slow in the summer but I have all sorts of projects that are keeping me busy.

I still am suffering from "brain melt syndrome" where I'm just too tired to really think of anything creative to write about.

Until we meet again. ;)

Bick Two Werk

I'm going to start off with a brief update that daycare is not going that bad... although... I'm not loving the place that we're at. My biggest grief is that they misspell words (eg Catapiller) or... well just look.

"Reffused"

"Hole" (as opposed to "whole")

I use the wrong there/they're/their and your/you're on occasion, but usually when I'm not thinking about it too hard. I'm sure there's boatloads of typos in my blog. I don't claim to be perfect, but these seem like you'd want to take extra care to write words correctly for a parent sheet.

The above report was the 2nd day of daycare, and the day after the poison milk debacle. The first two bottles were "reffused" most likely because he had such mistrust for the bottle at that point - I don't blame them at all for that! But yeah... the spelling issue.

Anyways, I actually have to get out of this place. The daycare situation is "good, not great" at best. I've had a few people asking me recently where they ask how I feel about the place and sadly I just can't recommend it. So I feel like a terrible mother who's just biding her time until her kiddos are accepted at one of the many other places that she has them on a waiting list.

I guess the big positive is that this is definitely a cheap center. But that's what you want for your kids, cheap daycare right?

The day before I went back to work I actually talked to someone about getting an au pair. I really love the idea of having someone from another country come live with us and help teach our kiddos another language. Brian hates the idea of anyone else living with us. I understand that but... but! I WANT ONE.

Currently, we're slated to join a different daycare in December/January (if enough people move their kids or whatever).

When I get home, it's extremely disheartening that I only have about 2 hours before it's bedtime. Not to mention, the 5:30-bedtime is about the crankiest time of the day for the kiddos because they're TIRED.

So yeah, I'm back at work and it's sad leaving my kiddos behind, but there's definite good things for the kids to being in daycare. I always ask Nolan if he had fun and he almost always says "yes" enthusiastically! I ask if he sang songs, and played outside, and colored and it's "Yes! Yes! Yes!" He also tells me he has friends there which is really important for a young kiddo.

Son of a mother fudge biscuit carp eating shitake mushrooms!

#)*@#)*(&&&^$^$^*@*@(@#((#(#($(*%&$)#(*&

I was planning on posting a "my first day back at work" post before I'd ever have to post one about this.

I THINK I have a high lipase issue with my breastmilk.

What that means is there's an enzyme in my breastmilk that breaks down the milk, even at low temperature (read: frozen), that makes the milk essentially sour, rancid, soapy, or metallic.

I'd categorize mine as both sour and rancid.

Come with me while I tell you a tale of a mother of a newborn just trying to feed her baby and excited about making a freezer stash!

I haven't counted how many ounces I have saved, but it was more than enough to easily take out a couple of bags to make 4 4-ounce bottles to take to work yesterday. See, I took these photos thinking I'd make a great blog post out of them. MOTHER FRICKER.

I still am tripping over the bags I have in the freezer. At least 15-20 in there with about 2 ounces if not more in each bag.

SON of a BRATWURST

16 ounces of liquid effing gold right there. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUdgeCK

ALL GARBAGE.

ALL. OF. IT.

[excuse me while I punch a hole in the wall]

GAHHHHHHRRRFFFFFFFLLL

Yesterday around 4:00pm, after doing relatively well at work, I got a call from daycare that my poor little man hadn't eaten ALL DAY. By the time she called he finally relented and drank 1.5 ounces of what can only be described as milky VOMIT. My poor baby must have been starving.

I'm so mad I didn't smell it when I thawed it. And before you ask, it was under 24 hours since the milk was thawed. And I sampled like 3 other bags to see if they also tasted rancid, and yes they do. THANKYOUVERYMUCH.

Well, with the exception of a bag that I stored on 4-12-16. So maybe not ALL of my milk is bad but it may as well be. Mystery time!!! Why did my 4-12-16 bag taste fine? Had it not been frozen long enough for the enzyme to take over?

Before I go any further, I want to really drive home the point that I tasted it and realized it had gone bad yesterday around 6pm. I still taste it in the back of my throat right now.

I. STILL. TASTE. THE. BAD. MILK.

SON OF AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

So yeah... I'm going to have to pour out my milk for my homies, or I'm legitimately thinking of making soap with it.

RIP milk - Hardly knew ye

In memoriam 

Blogging from the bath: let's make this quick

Two month Maxwell update in which I blog on my blogger app on my phone in the bathtub.

Maxwell, holy crap you're a great sleeper (knock on all the wood). With you I usually get a good 6-7 hour stretch of sleep before you wake me up for a feed.

[Imagine a gif of a standing ovation here... I don't have the wherewithal to insert one from my app]

This is bloody brilliant, I must say. With the rest I've been able to achieve with you I've been far more productive this maternity leave than I was with Nolan where I was in a constant zombie like trance from being awoken every 2-3 hours. This morning I made cinnamon banana muffins FROM SCRATCH and even included a few lactation helping ingredients... And didn't tell the hubs who tried them ;)

This is no offense to Nolan, you came to sleep in your own time.

Anyways, Maxwell just had his two month doctor appointment. We got him vaccinated per the standard vaccination schedule which included the rotavirus vaccine and the shots. Poor little thing... You weren't expecting the ouchies in your thighs! You screamed until there was no oxygen in your lungs and then you just went through the motions of screaming and your face turned burgundy. Thankfully the pain subsided quickly and you we're happy in my arms and asleep in your car seat before you knew it.

You are a smiling little flirt! You like to sick out your tongue when you smile and your chubby cheeks show off a dimple on your right cheek. Adorbs!

You're now 12#13oz and you have adorable rolls on your thighs and a double chin. This is totally acceptable and cute when you're an infant... If someone describes me the same I will cry.

I look at you and my heart overflows! I kiss those chubby cheeks constantly and play with your soft feet. I love getting you dressed and picking fun outfits, mostly hand me downs from your big brother (get used to that, sorry).

I'm starting to clear out my closet of maternity clothes and am selling them on eBay. So far I've made about $100 which in investing in non maternity wear for myself (my wardrobe needs a facelift).

In personal news, I'm becoming obsessed with figuring out storage in our house. Thinking about adding garage storage cabinets eventually among other organizational tools. I don't see myself as the mom who keeps all the toys from your childhoods, just the really special ones. As you kiddos grow up, we will clear that clutter to make room for the new toys you'll undoubtedly want!

I'm still in the tub and just going to submit without double checking for typos. Good luck figuring out any tricky sentences, but my apologies for making you do so.