Yesterday I ended up actually going to the gym for the first time in forever. I went at noon and it was the perfect time! There was hardly anybody there! Since I still feel a little awkward at that gym since I don’t know where everything is, it definitely helps to have it less crowded so I can walk around and look at stuff and not just feel like I’m avoiding everybody. So I had a good workout, but I’m still mostly just doing lighter weights or bodyweight stuff since I’m just getting back into working out. I feel like I need so stretch everything back out before jumping into it too hard.

I picked Jackson up right after the gym since he still hadn’t napped there. We ran to Kohl’s real quick and then I gave him a snack (they barely fed him anything) and I put him down for a nap. Of course, he was also super happy and sweet when I picked him up yesterday so now I’m just so confused about whether or not I should take him out of the daycare! He finally seems to be used to it.

Jackson was pretty fussy after his nap and Jon had come home and was on business calls, which always really upsets Jackson. He can hear Jon but can’t go in to see him, so he just stands at the door crying. It’s not too professional. So we went on a long walk with this new car thing that we got him for his birthday and played outside.

We spent the rest of our evening at home just hanging out. The usual. I did make some oatmeal banana bars for Jackson. He hasn’t been wanting to eat oatmeal and since we really don’t eat many grains here, I figured I’d try some sort of breakfast bar. It’s just oatmeal, banana, applesauce, almond milk, and cinnamon. And they’re actually pretty good! Then I watched The Bachelor (I love Nick! I never liked guys who cried but I think it’s really sincere and kind of cute how sensitive Nick is. Maybe Jon’s lack of emotion all the time makes me appreciate sensitive men.) and then went to bed shortly after The Bachelor ended.

I had planned on going to the gym this morning but I figured I went yesterday and then Jackson will be in daycare Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week, so I might as well make today my rest day. (Because after one day of working out, everybody needs a rest day.) I’m actually going to do a quick workout in the living room once Jackson goes down, so I’m still going to do something. I felt really good after working out again yesterday so I think I missed it in those few short weeks more than I thought I did.

Since we skipped the gym, I decided to take Jackson out this morning since it was nice out. We were outside for over an hour and now he’s hanging out at my feet until I put him down for a nap. I was going to try to have a playdate with Lisa and Nora today, but our schedules didn’t work out. We’re just going to reschedule for when I get back in town (Jackson and I are going to Atlanta next week).

We don’t really have any big plans for the day. Jackson’s one year appointment is this afternoon at 1:40, so we have to do that. We may go to the playground. Who knows. Maybe we’ll go explore downtown for a bit since his pediatrician is really close to downtown.

Well, nap time. Have a good day!

Happy Monday! It was a rough weekend! A good one, but rough. Jon and I were planning on leaving for Florida on Friday afternoon, so I was planning on taking Jackson to daycare to get stuff done. He woke up and was a real fuss pants and Jon was paranoid his ear infection came back. So I took him to the pediatrician (he was fine) and then we kept him home all day. Jon woke up with no voice, so he stayed home all day and I was able to run errands. We still didn’t leave for Florida until around 6pm, since it’s always been easier to leave at night when Jackson is asleep for the night.

Didn’t work. We stopped at McDonald’s to eat (one of us eats at a time inside while Jackson sleeps in the car with the other person) but he woke up. He was not happy about it, but fell back to sleep quickly when we got in the car. But then he was awake for two hours when we got to Florida. Jon and I were SO tired! He was happy though, but awake. And that’s never fun at midnight when you normally go to sleep at 9:30pm.

Saturday morning was good. We stayed with Jamie Lynn and John (my Jon’s twin sister) and their two kids. We hung out around the house and watched Hacksaw during nap time. The boys played together and it was nice to just chill around the house.

We left at one to go to Jon’s parents. His mom put together a first birthday party for Jackson. It was a good day and thankfully, the kids weren’t too crazy. Jackson did fine with no nap but he cried during his cake smash and barely even touched his cake. It was pretty cute, but I didn’t get any photos on my camera! Rebecca (Jon’s sister) took some on hers, so she is going to send them to me. We headed out around 7:30pm, with Jackson in his PJs for what we hoped would be an easy ride home.

Except Jackson woke up SCREAMING at 9pm. Normally he calms down if he gets out of his seat, but no such luck. The kid was miserable. We changed his poop diaper at a gas station and he was still miserable, and of course I was out of bottles since we didn’t expect him to need another one. (He didn’t need a bottle- but it would have probably helped calm the kid down.) We didn’t have any Motrin with us (Mom Fail) so we had to go to Target with him at 9:45pm (and there were SO many kids there- why the F’ are so many kids at Target at almost 10pm?!) and buy some. We gave him some and then got back on the road and I basically let him watch YouTube on my phone until he finally calmed down and fell back to sleep over an hour later. He NEVER gets to watch TV, so he was pretty into it. I also had a quick meltdown myself because I have been so overwhelmed with the daycare situation and the stress of him crying EVERY time I drop him off and then worrying about him all day and it’s just wearing on me. And then he had a rough weekend and I think I just hit my breaking point. It’s hard when you feel like the little person that you love the most in this world isn’t as happy as he should be. All you want is for your kid to be happy!

Sunday was my boy’s FIRST birthday! We wanted to spend the day out and about and go to the children’s museum, but he woke up and was miserable. Even when Jackson is sick, he is typically pretty happy and calms down easily when you pick him up or give him a bottle. But not yesterday. He had a super rough day. We hung out around the house in the morning and then put him down for a nap. I woke him at 11 after his nap and he had a meltdown. Nothing worked. He seemed so tired, so instead of lunch, Jon went up with him and gave him a bottle in his room and they just sat in his room for so long. Jackson NEVER sits in our lap, so we could tell he was miserable when he laid in Jon’s lap for a good 30 minutes. Finally his Motrin kicked in and he cheered up. We tried to go to the park but the park we tried wasn’t actually a real park, so instead we decided to go to Publix since we needed a few things and he LOVES the truck cart and it was close to nap time anyway. Well, the truck cart was taken, so we had to use a regular cart, but he was still super happy.

We got home and put him down for a nap and when he woke up on his own, it was the same thing as the morning. Absolutely miserable. It was probably 1 1/2 hours before his Tylenol kicked in and he cheered up, so we just hung out watching cartoons and cuddling him. So no museum!

We did take him to the park for a bit in the evening since he was okay after the meds, so that was his only birthday fun.

I love this picture that Jon took of us yesterday.

I expected Jackson to be miserable this morning, but he woke up happy! Thankfully! We had breakfast together (we reintroduced eggs to him and his face hasn’t broken out, so I am SO glad he can eat eggs now since I eat it every day for breakfast and he wants to eat what I’m eating) and then got him ready for daycare.

I quit our daycare today! It went better than I expected, but he still has this week and a few days next week to go, and I am going to take him. Also, he was happy when I dropped him off for the first time, so of course I left second guessing my decision to take him out. But we’ll test out the place Friday and if I change my mind, then I can. I think we’ll still take him out of daycare though, since we can pay by the day at the new place and in the summer, we may only take him two days a week and then we save money.

I’m about to work on some schoolwork and I need to clean up around the house. I think I’ll head to the gym this morning and I’m considering trying somewhere to eat downtown and then head out to the beach for a little while before I get Jackson. I feel like I need some de-stressing time and to just take a few minutes to just forget about everything!

I probably am about to get interrupted writing this since Jackson has been asleep for almost three hours, but oh well. I just found out that Laura is going to be able to go to Iceland with me this year!!!!!!!!

ICELAND!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Her and her boyfriend are planning to move to Colorado this year, but they were waiting to see when they would be moving depending on if her boyfriend’s work contract was extended or not. The decision kept getting pushed off, but they heard this morning that it’s been extended again! Woohoo! I cannot wait to start planning Iceland! We already know we’re renting a car to drive around the country. This is my ultimate dream vacation. I cannot freaking wait! Good thing too, because I have travel fever again after Poland and need to get in every. single. vacation. possible. before we have baby number two.

(And now, finishing this post four hours later because I did get interrupted after that.)

Last night I had the meet-up with the Facebook mom’s group in Charleston. Four people had RSVPed and then Lisa, the girl I met up with on Tuesday, RSVPed in person. Turns out, only one mom showed up (not Lisa). I was totally prepared for nobody to actually show up so I wasn’t disappointed at all and it was actually kind of nice to just do a one-on-one dinner! The mom who came was great and she lives in a neighborhood right across the main road from us, so super close. I think I’ll message her sometime soon (like, next week or in two weeks- you never want to be that overly excited mom- it’s totally like dating) and see if she wants to meet up again for dinner or something.

I also went to the other “in-home daycare” (really just a SAHM with two kids) this morning and decided to go with that mom! I’m kind of nervous to give notice to the daycare tomorrow, but I think this will be best for Jackson. He was so excited to play with the toys today and the woman has a 13 month old boy and a daughter who is a few years old (I have no idea how old- oops). He was happy and didn’t cry at all and the mom is super flexible with days, so I think this could work great. And if it falls through in a few months, I’ll be done with school and we will just make it work! I feel good about the new place, but also a little nervous about making the wrong decision and I’m second guessing if he is really happy at his daycare. Ugh. Momming is so hard.

Jackson and I went to the playground this afternoon (we always go to the same one) and met another mom with a 13 month old. We talked almost the whole time we were there and I ended up getting her number (seriously like dating). She seemed really cool too but sort of not into giving me her number, but maybe I just read it wrong. But her son was also 13 months old and she mentioned not having any friends his age so she’s starting preschool for him in September to get him socialized. So I offered some playdates, but who knows if we’ll ever get together. I’ll shoot her a text next week sometime when I’m going to the park (they live in the neighborhoods right next to that park, which is maybe a five minute drive from us) and see if she wants to meet up with us.

It’s a lot of work making friends, haha. Although it is harder to move around with a kid, it definitely helps with meeting people. You always have kids in common and have playdates as an excuse to meet up. Even though the kids at this age just do their own thing. But I’m feeling pretty good now about this whole Charleston thing and am hopeful that somebody turns out being an actual good friend around here.

Other than that, Jackson has slept a ton today. I need to go wake him up because I have a feeling he’s going to wake up early tomorrow since he has napped SO much today. Oh well. I was getting a bunch of schoolwork done this morning (after I ate my breakfast in peace and quiet and enjoyed my cup of coffee) and this afternoon, I just cleaned up his crime scene from lunch.

We leave tomorrow for Florida just for the night/Saturday day. Jon’s aunt is going in town and his mom said we’re going to watch our oldest nephew’s t-ball game and then we’re going back to their house for a birthday party for Jackson. Which is nice, but I’m not a party person and had planned on not doing a party at all. I guess we’re going to be having one though. Jon and I are going to celebrate on Sunday with Jackson as a family (we’re coming back to Charleston on Saturday night when Jackson is asleep) and go to the children’s museum downtown and maybe to the beach if Jackson is doing well. I think I’ll swing by Saturday to pick him up a Nothing Bundt Cake since I love them and we can have that for his birthday cake. I need to go buy a #1 candle tomorrow for my big boy!

Alright, it’s 4:15. Time to go wake my bub up from his nap.

 

I’m being lazy and I think I’m just never going back to the gym. Except I will because I just paid WAY TOO MUCH MONEY for personal training, but today I’m being lazy.

I had my mom-date yesterday up in North Charleston. The girl’s name is Lisa and she has a 13 month old, Nora (although I may have asked “How old is he?” and some people really hate then when people don’t know if their kid is a boy or girl- they all look the same). We met up at a park and it was actually really good. Jon had my stroller, but she had her stroller and a baby carrier so I ended up wearing Jackson for a walk in the woods. It was so nice to have adult interaction again and she was pretty cool. Similar to my kind of mom, I think. Laid back for sure. She mentioned trying to meet up every week so I really hope we do that. It’d be nice to have a Tuesday mom-date every week!

Tonight I set up an event on a mom’s group on Facebook, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m not sure who will even show up. Lisa said she’d come, so that should be at least one mom. But I have no clue if other moms will come or not. If not, I’ll just hang out alone.

I looked at a home daycare on Monday afternoon. I thought the girl was great, but she just getting licensed and opening the daycare, so there are some downfalls. Her ratio is 1:6 but who knows what age kids she’ll get. I want Jackson to have kids to play with, so it would be unfortunate if he ended up being with five infants because he’ll obviously get much less attention and won’t have playmates. Also, if she has set part-time kids, I may not be able to switch up my days of the week. But she is a set daycare, so it’d be consistent, and she’s doing an opening rate that is cheaper than some of the other places I’ve seen. Because it’s an actual daycare too, she has a room just for the kids to nap in too so it’s quiet and darker. She also is big on schedules.

I’m going tomorrow to meet with the girl who has a 13 month old who just watches kids at her house on the side. That’s more expensive, but has more flexibility. I sort of hope she works out, just because I like the flexible days if I need to switch things up. Most of the time, a set schedule works, but if I have a work class, I have to have somebody to watch Jackson.

I was feeling like maybe I jumped the gun on the daycare thing since he was finally happy at pick up, but then as soon as Jackson saw the owner today, he melted down. He hadn’t even left my arms yet. And then I checked the app where they post everything and they immediately gave him a bottle, even though he literally had just had one at home and I told them they’d need to give his oatmeal. Instead of just skipping his oatmeal then, they gave it at almost 11am, which is when he usually eats lunch. So his schedule is ALL OVER THE PLACE! I don’t care if daycare days aren’t the same as at home: we’re on a two nap schedule here and he eats at the same times. But I want his daycare days to all look the same as each other. His naps should be consistent. His eating should be consistent. He shouldn’t cry when he gets there. So… I have to give two weeks notice but I don’t think I can even keep taking him. I think I’m going to take him this Friday and then take all of his stuff with me when I leave and just pay them for the next two weeks and we’ll just be out the money for daycare. I wanted to have something in place ahead of time, but I just don’t think I can do it. I can’t drop off a screaming child for two more weeks. If I have to keep him at home until we find a better alternative, then I will. I’ll just adjust to life with him for a little while and we’ll make it work. And the other kid who goes there is younger than him, and in three weeks, this was the first time the had him out of the swing they strap him in. I’ve never seen him sitting up before. And half the time, he’s crying despite being the only baby in there when Jackson gets there.

I was going to go to the gym today, but a girl who I “met” on FB (haven’t even met her in person) asked me if I could take her kids to daycare tomorrow and the next day. I was worried about the seats fitting in my car with Jackson’s seat, so she was swinging by today either around 10:3o or 2. By the time I got Jackson to daycare and ate, it was 9:30. I finally texted her around 11 to see when she’d be by so I could work out and she came right over, but now I’ve lost my motivation. Oops. I was also in the middle of something for school and by the time I finished, I didn’t want to rush to work out and then rush to shower before getting Jackson. See- if I liked his daycare better, I wouldn’t feel bad about keeping him there longer… But I feel like he’s probably bored and misses me, so I always go get him pretty early.

And now I think I just want to shower and get ready before I pick Jackson up, since I have that meet up tonight and need to look presentable for that. So I may go get him and go to the park with my boy. I should try and get started on my next project that’s due for school, but have been putting it off. I think I’m doing fine on timelines anyway, I just think March is going to be a busy month.

 

 

 

Happy Monday! I always seem to finally make it back to the WordPress world on Mondays. This past week has been a good one, though a bit stressful!

For the fun stuff: Jamie Lynn, John, and their two boys (Jon’s twin sister and her family) came in town last Tuesday night. The boys are 2 and 4, I believe. It can be stressful hosting children, especially since Jackson is still pretty easy to care for and I can easily clean up after just him, but it was actually way less stressful and a lot more fun than I was expecting. It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to sit down and talk to Jamie and we got to sit and chat with each other while the kids were napping and John ran out and it was just nice to reconnect. We also realized that we parent pretty similarly so we meshed pretty well. I think Jackson was a little overstimulated, but he did well.

Jon and I also realized we can take Jackson out to eat now! It was really difficult for a little while since he didn’t ever want to sit still, but we took him out on Valentine’s Day (just for a quick meal, nothing fancy) and he did great, and we took him out at bedtime with Jamie and the boys and he did wonderful. The dining experience is still not as relaxing and I prefer not to have him with me at restaurants, but I feel like it opened up some more doors for us now and we can start getting out to try new places more often.

JL & J’s family (Jon and I text each other in initials for everybody) left on Thursday morning. On Friday afternoon, Kassie and Billy (my friends) came in town. Kassie is 23 weeks pregnant now. They sort of did their own thing on Friday and then on Saturday, we all went to Poogan’s Porch for breakfast. They had such good chicken and waffles! Jackson fell asleep right before we got there so Jon stayed in the car while he napped, but then Jackson was so good the rest of the day! He just hung out in his stroller while we explored. We let him play in the fountains downtown and he thought it was the best thing ever!

Kass and Billy came in town for a soccer game (Atlanta just got a soccer team and there was a pre-season came in Charleston) that we thought was at 7:30, but it ended up being at 4:30. It was a whole mess. But anyway, the boys took Jackson to the house and Kassie and I got to hang out by ourselves for a little while! It was so nice to be out in Charleston with a friend and no baby! But then we realized we had to go home to watch Jackson while the boys went to the soccer game, except it turned out that we all had to go (long and confusing- I won’t get into the details because it’s boring).

Taking Jackson to the game wasn’t nearly as bad as taking him to the Braves home opener when he was three weeks old, but not quite that enjoyable. He didn’t want to sit still and he’s in a phase where he wants to walk ALL OVER THE PLACE, but he won’t hold me hand and he fusses if I won’t let him climb all the stairs in public places. He can’t be contained and he gets very angry if you try to contain him. So I didn’t pay attention to the game at all.

We got home Saturday night in time to put Jackson to bed and then Kass and I hung out (the boys were at the Charleston game then still- we drove separately). Kass and Billy left early Sunday.

On Sunday, Jon and I went to the outlets and I got a few things from J. Crew. Then we went to the beach with Jackson and he was so happy, as always. I was pretty tired last night. I’ve had an incessant cough at night that is driving me insane, so I’ve been taking Ambien every night and have just been so tired. So we just chilled last night at home.

So, last week was stressful because Jackson just kept melting down when I dropped him off at daycare. I made a post on a mom’s group I’m in on FB about his daycare and so many said it just didn’t sound right. It’s really hard because he’s at an age where he knows if we leave him (he even cries if Jon goes to work or if Jon’s in his office on the phone and Jackson can’t get in), so I can’t tell if he cries at daycare because he doesn’t like it or because of his phase. Then they turned off the cameras at daycare for parents to see (I never had access, but I decided I wanted to check them out because of the crying). You can’t just sneak it at pick up- you have to ring the doorbell and wait for somebody to come. I don’t know. He just doesn’t seem happy. So I cried like, all day last week (I can’t even remember when) because I just couldn’t decide if he’s happy. So I spent $60 for care.com and shouldn’t have. I set up interviews with nannies, but don’t want to spend that money, nor do I really want him at home. But then a girl posted on my post and she was from Charleston too and let me know of a nanny share website! So I found all these great resources and in-home daycares that I’m going to check out this week. And the price isn’t too different from daycare. One is a few dollars cheaper and the others are a little more expensive. I just hate to switch him to a new daycare entirely since this is his third and he’s only a year! It’s stressful to constantly move back and forth. But his schedule is always different at this daycare and nothing is consistent, and I just hate that he seems so upset at drop off. Although, he stopped crying last week when I pick him up, so that’s good, I think. I guess I took for granted how amazing our daycare in Atlanta was (for like, over twice the cost). I felt GREAT leaving Jackson in daycare there and the ladies would kiss him before he left and tell him they loved him and Jackson got so excited about getting to daycare!

It still surprises me how much you can care about your tiny little person. It really does break my heart in a way I never even thought would be imaginable to have him cry and not want me to leave him. Especially since it’s such a new thing! I feel like HE’S not happy at daycare and it makes me so sad. I just want my boy to be happy and for him to feel loved. I feel like I never should have wasted all those tears on exes back in the day because my heart breaks enough for this kid. Being a mom is a crazy thing!

Back to regular life- Today I had a fitness eval for signing up at my new gym. I really liked the guy doing the eval but I totally got pressured into 3 months of training! Jon was like, “Why didn’t you just say you had to discuss the prices with your husband?” and I had totally planned on saying that in my head, but I ended up just somehow signing up. It all happened so fast, haha. But I am doing once a month for three months and it costs more than CrossFit, so I’m going to hold off on CrossFit obviously. Which is maybe good. My hip is so incredibly stiff and I’m more out of shape than I thought. I really want to take the time to get my hip flexibility back (this is the one I injured). And I need to strengthen my left foot from the stress fracture since it still causes me pain sometimes. Plus, I need to get my eating back on track. I’ve been eating healthier, but not nearly enough. I eat when I’m hungry, but I want to gain 7-8lbs back so I need to eat way more food. It’s just busy with a kid. I’m always on the go and doing things for him and feeding myself takes a back seat. So, over the next three months, I’ll do this and get back in the groove of working out and then I think I’ll actually go back to CrossFit. I’m just typing this all out to justify the amount of money I spent this morning. Also, I have thought about getting my personal training certificate (you know, because I’m not spending thousands on my master’s degree or anything) so this may actually be kind of neat to do. I’ve never done personal training so it’ll kind of give me some insight into what they do really.

I actually haven’t worked out at all (and didn’t today) because of my cough. I’m going to go tomorrow, I think, but I’m still so snotty and coughing nonstop. I’ll just ease back into it.

Alright, time to go do some work. I didn’t know I’d talk this much today.

Happy Monday! After finally starting to get back into the gym last week, I ended up sick. Womp womp. On Thursday (my rest day from the gym, but I went Tuesday and Wednesday), I noticed Jackson’s eyes were super crusty. I figured we wouldn’t be able to take him to daycare on Friday, so I ended up waking up at 5:30 to go to the gym on Friday morning. I was feeling a little under the weather at the gym, but nothing major.

Jackson and I hit up the pediatrician and found out he has an ear infection, not pink eye (THANK THE LAWD!). I brought him home and he ended up taking a nap that was just over three hours. So I did some schoolwork, did some cooking, and some other random stuff, I’m sure.

Jon and I went to bed early on Friday night because we’re lame.

I woke up Saturday feeling pretty miserable. I had planned on going to the gym super early again before our day started, but I snoozed until Jackson woke up too. I took a bunch of Motrin and ran to Whole Foods for the week and then Jon and I had to go to Savannah. His clinical rep had cancer in remission, but it has been back now for a little while and there was a fundraising event for her. It was nice to meet a lot of Jon’s coworkers (I had never met his boss), but it wasn’t the best circumstances. Jackson has been super sleepy since being sick and I was feeling pretty bad… Jackson also didn’t want to sit still at all (reasons we don’t go out to eat), so I walked him down to the beach for a little bit and let him go crazy since he LOVES the beach!

We left Savannah around 5:30, so Jackson passed out for the night in the car. I was exhausted s we hung out on the couch when we got home (around 7pm). I was being pouty because I’m bored with Charleston already. I really miss having a babysitter. I hate the thought of paying somebody over $10 an hour to watch Jackson for a date night and haven’t found anybody who can do a sitter swap with me, so Jon and I can’t get out. And I don’t have friends here yet and I miss being social! I miss working. But I feel like it’s pointless to make a huge effort to meet a bunch of people because I’m only here for 6 months anyway! And then I may be back here, but I may not be! I’m being a little overdramatic here, especially since I’ve still only been out here for a total of three weeks (one week in early December, and then over the last two weeks, I had to go back to Atlanta for one of the weekends) and Jackson and I have both been sick now in that time… But man, I miss my Atlanta life!

Enough of my drama. Saturday night once we went to bed, I ended up having cold chills almost all night. I felt so horrible. Jon woke up with Jackson on Sunday morning and let me lay in bed. Jon even brought me tea with honey in it because my cough is so horrible and my throat is killing me! It was sweet! I took some Dayquil and once that kicked in, I think my fever came down and I started feeling a little better.

We made it to Publix, where we stuck Jackson in one of those carts with the trucks on the front and he had a blast! It was so cute! I could hear him squealing from a few aisles away. We got home and had lunch, put Jackson down for his afternoon nap, and then Jon and I both fell asleep.

Jon had to go back to Savannah or the night to conduct interviews with his boss, so I was all alone. Thankfully I felt much better until about 8pm last night, so Jackson and I went out for a walk and then he went to bed by 6:20. I’m so glad we did Babywise and have 6:30 bedtimes. Seriously. My nights are the best.

I was in bed by 9:15. This morning I kept trying to figure out when I should take Jackson to daycare (he can go 3 days a week), but I decided to take him today. I had him for the last five days and just needed some alone time!

I dropped him off and then went to Vintage Coffee Co in Mt Pleasant. It was in a super cute area out there! The coffee shop was decent, but I couldn’t concentrate in there to get schoolwork done because it was too loud. So I left and walked around Shem Creek (super cute!) before coming home. I’m home now. Need to get on the school stuff, and then I’ll get Jackson around 3:30 probably. Jon will be home this evening.

This week will be busy! Jon’s twin sister and her family (husband and two boys) are supposed to come Tuesday night-Thursday morning, and Kassie and Billy come out Thursday night-Sunday morning. I’m excited!

 

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I love staying at home! I know it’s kind of cheating because Jackson is actually in daycare three days a week, but I have so much more time! Jackson has been super fussy lately and giving me a run for my money. Even yesterday when he was fussing nonstop, I didn’t even get frustrated because I’m not really in a hurry anymore. I always felt a time crunch when I was working to get Jackson to sleep for naps so I could get stuff done and do schoolwork, but this is way easier. Despite his incessant crying (which is totally abnormal for him, but other than a cold, he’s fine according to his pediatrician here), I still manage to enjoy him.

Yesterday I went to the gym for the FIRST time in months! It was an easy day and nothing crazy. I knew I’d be sore no matter what I did, so I didn’t go crazy. I walked an incline for 20 minutes, did some step ups onto a bench, push ups, air squats, dips, and a few pull ups (I can still do them, yay! although not many), and that was really about it. I’m going back later today but I didn’t feel like sitting in traffic to get there when I dropped Jackson off today. The gym here has a lot of stuff but is so small! I think the whole gym is the size of the free weight section at my old gym, but the staff seems awesome and the gym has a lot of nontraditional stuff. Also, the childcare was wonderful! They have tons of toys and the girl was so nice working there and I felt good about leaving Jackson with her! I’m hoping the late morning/early afternoon will be less busy since I just feel awkward trying to navigate my way around a new gym like a lost person when everybody is in there. I also could definitely feel my foot after walking on the incline, but it seems okay today. I feel like it’s not all the way healed yet but I’m too impatient to keep staying off of it. Maybe I’ll just have chronic pain.

Jackson had a total meltdown after the gym, so our plans to go to this toddler time play thing at the rec center changed to just a little date at the playground with my boy! He LOVES being outside and had so much fun at the playground! We were coming up on nap time so we didn’t stay long, but he was the cutest thing ever in the swing! Pure joy! Another little girl was there so Jackson followed her around and wanted to do everything that she was doing. She and Jackson took turns on the slide and he was just in heaven! It was super cute.

We got home and did a quick lunch (he has been eating so little lately compared to normal, so any meal that he eats is a success to me) before he went down for a three hour long nap! He sat up and started playing in the middle of his nap and I thought for sure it was over, but he went back to sleep! So I did lots of food prepping and cooking, cleaned up, and did schoolwork and showered. The usual mom stuff that never ends.

He woke up from his nap and we played inside, had a snack, and then went for a long walk. Jon didn’t get home until later since he went to the gym but then he had a conference call, so most of our evening was spent hanging out inside. Once I put Jackson to bed, I ran to Target for all sorts of glass tupperware and new cleaning supplies that are green. Jon and I wanted to watch an anti-vax documentary the other night but we didn’t see any on Netflix, so we watched this movie about the chemicals (mostly in plastic). Not that I didn’t know this stuff, but man, I felt motivated to green up our life a little! No more plastic dishes and definitely better cleaning supplies! I bought glass water bottles for me too! I had wanted to do glass baby bottles with Jackson and we didn’t, but I think I might next time around. Even though bottles have a tough life and get thrown a lot, so I’m worried about how glass will hold up. I’m also glad I watched the documentary (have no idea what the name was) since I have to write about a bill for my master’s degree, and I’m going to write about banning bisphenols in plastics. So, save $150, search for documentaries on chemicals on Netflix, and then go to Target and buy all new stuff, haha.

I was going to have coffee with a girl at 1pm today that I “met” on a Charleston mom group on FB, but she is sick and rescheduled. Probably a good thing though since I’m feeling behind on schoolwork after spending all weekend in Georgia. So I’m going to run to the gym later and do schoolwork all day. I have a feeling it’ll be another late night for Jon since he’s in Savannah today and is going to the gym after. I’m pretty excited that he’s been going to the gym since we’ve been here! I really hope it lasts since health is important!

Anyway, off to start on school. I’m so unmotivated with school lately. I would be so tempted to just drop out and stay working super minimal hours, but I’m already halfway done and know I would regret not finishing it in the future. I actually am excited about my degree too and hope to use it one day, but for now, I just want to chill at home and live the life.

Hey-o, Day 2 in Charleston! Jon and I happened to wake up at 5:30 today (so did Jackson- we finally have our monitor mounted again so I can actually see him in the crib and he was sitting in his crib playing with all of his loveys- it was so freaking cute!)! I’m seriously loving these early wake ups. I’m like a whole new woman. And oddly enough, since coming back from Poland, I’ve had way more energy than before. I have no idea if it’s the early bedtime and early waking. Maybe it’s eating better. No idea. But I feel great. Maybe it’s just the beautiful weather motivating me at life. Haha. I didn’t even have coffee  until today, and I didn’t even feel like I needed it for energy. I just love coffee.

I’m solo-Mommin’ it today since Jon is in Savannah and has a late interview (he’s doing the interview- no new job in our future) today. And tomorrow I head back to Atlanta. I really wish I didn’t have to go back to Atlanta at all this month. It’s going to be a pain keeping my job back there, but I’m telling myself that it’s just one weekend a month and it’ll pay off in the long run. It keeps me from having a gap in my employment too, which will keep me more marketable whenever I need to apply for jobs in Charleston (or somewhere else!) after I’m done with school. I’m still sort of bummed about the fact that I’ll probably have to quit my job when I’m done with school, especially because I could probably get into a management role there once I’m done with school. I’m trying not to think about it too much since I know life could look totally different for us in a year from now, but I wish it was easier to plan my career. I guess that’s what happens when the other person is the breadwinner though, and I can technically work anywhere. I’m thinking of switching out of the ER though once I’m done with school and either get into pediatrics or go into public health. I think I’d love public health! I almost did my masters in it but decided to go with management since management has way more money in it than public health (and I can still do public health without a degree in it).

Anyway, Jon is kind of convinced he wants to do a ketogenic diet. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I mean, we admit patients into the hospital for being ketotic, so it doesn’t make sense to me to put your body in a state of ketosis. But from the little bit I’ve looked at, it seems to be beneficial. I just need to research it more. I don’t personally want to do it, but would make a switch back to mostly Paleo. I don’t want to lose any weight and am hoping to gain 5-10lbs (10 is probably not realistic- I need to gain a lot of muscle to get back to 105), so I don’t want a diet that encourages fat burning. So, we’ll see. It seems pretty strict for Jon to completely stick to, especially if I’m still making food that I want to eat too. But it’d be good to shoot for that with some extra carbs, since it has the basic principles of Paleo anyway (except keto allows dairy).

I’m just going to get some schoolwork done today and maybe clean the floors if I have time! Babies sure mess up floors! Mostly in the kitchen since that’s where he eats, but still… I haven’t cleaned them since we moved in so I feel like it needs to be done. And I want to pick our room up a little bit more and try to get things together. I also need to call to add our dresser to our claim since that got messed up in our move too, which I hadn’t realized. Man, fun stuff. Hoping to get Jackson around 3 since I’ll be gone tomorrow! I’m going to miss him over the weekend! He’s been so fun lately.

This post is boring, but I should go get work done now. I’m slacking big time. I really just want to go out to the beach, but hopefully if I get ahead this week, I can go next week one day if the weather stays good!

Hey guys! I really want to leave to go get my boy from daycare, but I actually feel like writing a post so I thought I would.

I’m officially in Charleston! I packed up all of our stuff on Monday and I left Tuesday morning at 8am. Jackson has a bad cold, so he slept most of the ride here. He did stick his hand inside the toilet (literally, he grabbed the inside of the front toilet bowl rim) while I was going to the bathroom in McDonald’s on our drive) and I had to let him walk around McDonald’s with no shoes, but other than that, everything went well! We got here pretty early and Jackson was SO playful, which was a nice change from his mood since I got home from Poland on Sunday. He was having so much fun exploring!

Jon was planning on being gone till later last night, but he switched things up so he could come home to see Jackson. I headed out to run errands around 7pm, after trying to get the house together the best I could. Although things are great with Jon and me lately, it still annoys me to no end that after living here alone for two months, he hasn’t done anything with the house. The office is in the same shitty condition as when I left in early December. How come I’m taking care of our son, working, working on school, staying up to clean bottles and make Jackson lunches for daycare, cleaning up all of our messes, and he is coming home from work and…? I don’t even know what he has been doing.

I wish I was better at letting things go! But I guess I just feel like he knows how much I have to have a clean house. I can’t concentrate in a messy house. It stresses me out. I can’t relax. So I don’t care how messy our house got while I was gone, but I wish he could clean it up for us. I got home to choking hazards everywhere and no baby gate down our super long, wooden staircase.

But anyway, since I’ve been home from Poland, I’ve been jet lagged which is actually nice! I’ve been waking up super early and I’ve been loving it! So today I set my alarm for 6am and got up and showered and got ready. Jackson slept until 7am (thankfully- my parents said he woke 3 times while I was on vacation which is so unlike him, and he woke early there from having a cold, but has been totally fine since I’ve been home with his sleep) so we got his lunch made and then I took him to his new daycare by 8:15!

I am still feeling so unsure of this daycare. I know I just got lucky with my last daycare, but in the 5 months Jackson was there, I almost never heard babies crying there. They all had so many toys to play with and so much to do, and I just worry that this daycare will be boring. Jackson is the only one walking in the new room and there is hardly anything to play with. It really does make me so sad that he doesn’t have Pilar and Miss Betty (his other daycare ladies) because he loves them so much. I know Jackson will be back to his other daycare in 6 months, but still… I just feel so sad about this switch and I really hope he’s happy there. Man, the feelings involved with being a mom!

Once I filled out tons of paperwork (and Jackson cried when I left- he NEVER does), I headed to Whole Foods to stock up on some stuff. Then I came home and have been cleaning since! I just sat down out on the porch to eat lunch before going to grab Jackson.

I’m feeling super motivated to get our life together! I say that like we don’t have our lives together, haha, but after living in my parent’s house for so long after selling our house, it feels so good to be home. I’m going back to Georgia on Friday morning until Monday afternoon (to work) and have to go back for a work class on the 22nd and 23rd, but we’re finally home! Maybe it’s just the sunny, 60 degree weather, but I’m just so happy today!

I can’t wait to work out. I’m planning on looking at the gym next week. I don’t know if I’m going to do a regular gym or CrossFit yet. If I could get up and do the 6am class regularly, that would work. But I like the flexibility with a regular gym. So, I’m not sure. I may do both? I think the regular gym is $40 a month (including childcare), so our gym costs would be similar to what they have been in the past if I do that and CrossFit. My foot was great the week before Poland, but then it bothered me almost the entire time we were in Poland, but now it has felt fine since being home. We walked a ton while we were there so I’m sure that caused it pain, but I’m hoping working out will go well. I’m too impatient to let this thing heal any longer!

I’m also exited to eat better. I wasn’t eating great at my parent’s house and only took time to make Jackson healthy food. I would eat what my mom made (usually pasta or something) and ate all of their snacks. I just want to feel better. So many nights there I went to bed feeling bloated and disgusting, and woke up with that nagging annoying feeling in my belly.

I’m also feeling like my body just needs to get back to normal. Jackson is one in three weeks, so there’s no more “you just had a baby” excuse. I know I had a stress fracture that took me out of working out for awhile and just a lot going on, but still. My legs are so thin, my butt is so flat, my belly sticks out from my loosened abs that stretched around a baby. My pants all hang off of me. My boobs are finally back to normally since I officially quit pumping (which is probably why waking up early seems so freeing- I don’t have to pump anymore!), although I think they actually got smaller. So I need to get resized and get some better fitting bras. I was looking at pictures the other day of when Jon and I went to Italy together and my body is just so different. I miss my muscles! And I know I won’t be in that kind of shape again and I don’t even care to get there again, but I just want this body to feel more like mine again!

I’m excited to have days to explore alone in Charleston! To walk around and get brunch and coffee in a leisurely manner or to do schoolwork in a cafe if I want! Jackson is in daycare three days a week, so right now, it’ll be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and will shift on the weeks that I have to go back to Georgia so that he’ll be there when I’m in Georgia without him. I’m already sad that we have to go back to Georgia in September and wish we could just keep our family together all the time. It’s going to be hard going back and forth again, especially because it’ll be for nine months instead of two.

Anyway, I’m craving some baby time! I wish Jackson’s stroller was here (I had to leave it in GA since I didn’t have space in my car- I’m getting it this weekend) so we could go for a walk! Or I wish he had shoes that fit so he could walk around outside with me! The ones I bought were too big, so I ordered some more off Amazon today that are a smaller size. They better fit him! But I’m off to go get him and I’m crossing my fingers that I pick up a happy baby, or I think my heart might be broken!