F is for Family

Family, home, travel, life

Archives for January 2013

Sharing the Preemie Love

I just wanted to give a shout out to some of my favorite Preemie Mom’s and their amazing little munchkins. These are just a few of the amazing ladies in the Facebook Preemie support group. If you ever want to see the preemie experience from different perspectives check out these sites.

The first set of blogs are babies who were all due January 2011 but are just a few weeks older than Sofia. We went through our NICU experiences together.

This is Liam, the amazing 15oz preemie who was even voted the smallest Saints fan while in the NICU! Who Dat!
www.micropreemiemom.com

Nora is actually our local preemie buddy. We were in different states during our NICU days but we even got to go to Nora’s 1st birthday!
http://jackies1stblog.blogspot.com/

These are our new preemie friends who we have “met” over the last few months.

This is Jack Ryan who is a 2yr old 28 weaker.
http://www.jackryansjourney.blogspot.com

Jaxson is an amazing 23 week micro preemie who is currently recovering from a few surgeries but is doing well and is such a strong little man.
http://anearlystart.wordpress.com

Hattie is our youngest just under 2 wks old, in the beginning of her NICU experience but a beautiful 26 weaker.
http://www.hattieharper.com

Sharing the Preemie Love

I just wanted to give a shout out to some of my favorite Preemie Mom’s and their amazing little munchkins. These are just a few of the amazing ladies in the Facebook Preemie support group. If you ever want to see the preemie experience from different perspectives check out these sites.

The first set of blogs are babies who were all due January 2011 but are just a few weeks older than Sofia. We went through our NICU experiences together.

This is Liam, the amazing 15oz preemie who was even voted the smallest Saints fan while in the NICU! Who Dat!
www.micropreemiemom.com

Nora is actually our local preemie buddy. We were in different states during our NICU days but we even got to go to Nora’s 1st birthday!
http://jackies1stblog.blogspot.com/

These are our new preemie friends who we have “met” over the last few months.

This is Jack Ryan who is a 2yr old 28 weaker.
http://www.jackryansjourney.blogspot.com

Jaxson is an amazing 23 week micro preemie who is currently recovering from a few surgeries but is doing well and is such a strong little man.
http://anearlystart.wordpress.com

Hattie is our youngest just under 2 wks old, in the beginning of her NICU experience but a beautiful 26 weaker.
http://www.hattieharper.com

Giveaway!!! (It’s our first)

So, this week has inspired my first giveaway. If we hit 150 “Likes” on our Facebook page, we will do a random drawing on Sunday January 20th for winner. What’s the prize? Wait for it…STARBUCKS GIFT CARD!

One lucky winner will win a $15 gift card, here are the conditions.

1) Like our FB page
2) Then, leave a comment on this post answering the question, why do you need some java in your life?

So, start spreading the word and ask your friends to “Like” us too. Please and thank you!

Giveaway!!! (It’s our first)

So, this week has inspired my first giveaway. If we hit 150 “Likes” on our Facebook page, we will do a random drawing on Sunday January 20th for winner. What’s the prize? Wait for it…STARBUCKS GIFT CARD!

One lucky winner will win a $15 gift card, here are the conditions.

1) Like our FB page
2) Then, leave a comment on this post answering the question, why do you need some java in your life?

So, start spreading the word and ask your friends to “Like” us too. Please and thank you!

Giveaway!!! (It’s our first)

So, this week has inspired my first giveaway. If we hit 150 “Likes” on our Facebook page, we will do a random drawing on Sunday January 20th for winner. What’s the prize? Wait for it…STARBUCKS GIFT CARD!

One lucky winner will win a $15 gift card, here are the conditions.

1) Like our FB page
2) Then, leave a comment on this post answering the question, why do you need some java in your life?

So, start spreading the word and ask your friends to “Like” us too. Please and thank you!

Can I Get an Extra Hour?!

Just about one week a month we normally end up with the craziest, busiest week EVER! That’s this week. It’s the longest week of the month. If I could get even one extra hour, I’d feel like I could breathe a little easier. Here’s a snap shot of the week:

· Monday: Work, 15 month well baby visit during lunch. Had a morning meeting that ran late, got to appointment late, had to reschedule. Back to work. Get home, dinner, bath, bedtime. We got this.

· Tuesday: Normal work day. Get home, dinner, bedtime. This is going to be a breeze.

· Wednesday: Work, no lunch break, leave early for Occupational Therapy at 4:45pm. OT until 5:45pm, J and I got out for 30 minute run…. (Someone had the brilliant idea to train for 15k…oh wait, that was me!)….. Grocery stop on the way home, get home at 6:45pm, Sofia wants to go to bed early. (Since when?!)

::Insert toddler meltdown:: …..Mommy warp speed with a bottle (missed dinner) and bedtime story (I have it memorized) combo and down by 7:15. Start dinner. Mid dinner, baby wakes up…omg. Nursing session and she’s down, back to cooking. At some point we ate dinner. It’s only Wednesday?!

· Thursday: Get up early for a Pulminologist appoint. Arrive at 8am for the 8am appointment. Don’t get called back till 9pm!!! Wait for nurse, wait for doctor. Get the Synagis shot….wait for observation (20 min). It should be illegal to make a toddler wait for an hour for anything.

Leave appointment at 10am. Drive past work to drop her off, drive back to work. Work. Hopefully normal afternoon and nighttime. Is it Friday yet?!

· Friday: Work, lunch time appointment for 15 month well baby. Back to work. Home. Run (really, why can’t you just think yourself fit?) Exhale…..

Anyone have an extra hour, maybe two? Bueller???

Can I Get an Extra Hour?!

Just about one week a month we normally end up with the craziest, busiest week EVER! That’s this week. It’s the longest week of the month. If I could get even one extra hour, I’d feel like I could breathe a little easier. Here’s a snap shot of the week:

· Monday: Work, 15 month well baby visit during lunch. Had a morning meeting that ran late, got to appointment late, had to reschedule. Back to work. Get home, dinner, bath, bedtime. We got this.

· Tuesday: Normal work day. Get home, dinner, bedtime. This is going to be a breeze.

· Wednesday: Work, no lunch break, leave early for Occupational Therapy at 4:45pm. OT until 5:45pm, J and I got out for 30 minute run…. (Someone had the brilliant idea to train for 15k…oh wait, that was me!)….. Grocery stop on the way home, get home at 6:45pm, Sofia wants to go to bed early. (Since when?!)

::Insert toddler meltdown:: …..Mommy warp speed with a bottle (missed dinner) and bedtime story (I have it memorized) combo and down by 7:15. Start dinner. Mid dinner, baby wakes up…omg. Nursing session and she’s down, back to cooking. At some point we ate dinner. It’s only Wednesday?!

· Thursday: Get up early for a Pulminologist appoint. Arrive at 8am for the 8am appointment. Don’t get called back till 9pm!!! Wait for nurse, wait for doctor. Get the Synagis shot….wait for observation (20 min). It should be illegal to make a toddler wait for an hour for anything.

Leave appointment at 10am. Drive past work to drop her off, drive back to work. Work. Hopefully normal afternoon and nighttime. Is it Friday yet?!

· Friday: Work, lunch time appointment for 15 month well baby. Back to work. Home. Run (really, why can’t you just think yourself fit?) Exhale…..

Anyone have an extra hour, maybe two? Bueller???

Can I Get an Extra Hour?!

Just about one week a month we normally end up with the craziest, busiest week EVER! That’s this week. It’s the longest week of the month. If I could get even one extra hour, I’d feel like I could breathe a little easier. Here’s a snap shot of the week:

· Monday: Work, 15 month well baby visit during lunch. Had a morning meeting that ran late, got to appointment late, had to reschedule. Back to work. Get home, dinner, bath, bedtime. We got this.

· Tuesday: Normal work day. Get home, dinner, bedtime. This is going to be a breeze.

· Wednesday: Work, no lunch break, leave early for Occupational Therapy at 4:45pm. OT until 5:45pm, J and I got out for 30 minute run…. (Someone had the brilliant idea to train for 15k…oh wait, that was me!)….. Grocery stop on the way home, get home at 6:45pm, Sofia wants to go to bed early. (Since when?!)

::Insert toddler meltdown:: …..Mommy warp speed with a bottle (missed dinner) and bedtime story (I have it memorized) combo and down by 7:15. Start dinner. Mid dinner, baby wakes up…omg. Nursing session and she’s down, back to cooking. At some point we ate dinner. It’s only Wednesday?!

· Thursday: Get up early for a Pulminologist appoint. Arrive at 8am for the 8am appointment. Don’t get called back till 9pm!!! Wait for nurse, wait for doctor. Get the Synagis shot….wait for observation (20 min). It should be illegal to make a toddler wait for an hour for anything.

Leave appointment at 10am. Drive past work to drop her off, drive back to work. Work. Hopefully normal afternoon and nighttime. Is it Friday yet?!

· Friday: Work, lunch time appointment for 15 month well baby. Back to work. Home. Run (really, why can’t you just think yourself fit?) Exhale…..

Anyone have an extra hour, maybe two? Bueller???

Simplifying Life in 2013

The end of the year brings reflection and this year was no different. With so much to balance working full time, raising a little one and trying to manage a household both Jonathan and myself had lost focus of what was really important and what we are truly working toward. In the past we pretty vigilant about following a budget and keeping financial goals in mind. We were even pretty good at keeping on top of housework, eating well and staying active.

Our time in the NICU had clearly thrown a wrench in our normal habit, for obvious reasons. It was closely followed by moving our life to another state, into my parents house and within a few into our first home. Throw in starting a new job for me, Jonathan transitioning to a new position in his career and having a little one growing leaps and bounds each month and becoming more active by the day and  it’s safe to say we’ve lost our groove. Until now of course! This year will be about balance for our family. And here are a few of our changes so far.

We’ve signed up for Mint.com and thoroughly assessed where we are spending our money (FOOD), where we can cut back (cable) and how we can fix it. So, we have implemented meal planing and in just a few days we will be cable free in our house! I’m still a little on the fence about this last one but I’m committed to giving it a shot.

To get ourselves moving again, we’ve signed up for a 15k run in March. This will be my first big race since my half marathon, pre pregnancy. This will be Jonathan’s first road race…ever and we have signed up Sofia for the kids fun run so, this is a big family first and we are excited. I want to be able to set a good example of staying active and healthy for Sofia so she has a good foundation for her future.

I’m sure I’ll have more to share as we go through the process but I can honestly say, at this point, it’s really nice to have refocused our goals. Next on the journey organization!

Simplifying Life in 2013

The end of the year brings reflection and this year was no different. With so much to balance working full time, raising a little one and trying to manage a household both Jonathan and myself had lost focus of what was really important and what we are truly working toward. In the past we pretty vigilant about following a budget and keeping financial goals in mind. We were even pretty good at keeping on top of housework, eating well and staying active.

Our time in the NICU had clearly thrown a wrench in our normal habit, for obvious reasons. It was closely followed by moving our life to another state, into my parents house and within a few into our first home. Throw in starting a new job for me, Jonathan transitioning to a new position in his career and having a little one growing leaps and bounds each month and becoming more active by the day and  it’s safe to say we’ve lost our groove. Until now of course! This year will be about balance for our family. And here are a few of our changes so far.

We’ve signed up for Mint.com and thoroughly assessed where we are spending our money (FOOD), where we can cut back (cable) and how we can fix it. So, we have implemented meal planing and in just a few days we will be cable free in our house! I’m still a little on the fence about this last one but I’m committed to giving it a shot.

To get ourselves moving again, we’ve signed up for a 15k run in March. This will be my first big race since my half marathon, pre pregnancy. This will be Jonathan’s first road race…ever and we have signed up Sofia for the kids fun run so, this is a big family first and we are excited. I want to be able to set a good example of staying active and healthy for Sofia so she has a good foundation for her future.

I’m sure I’ll have more to share as we go through the process but I can honestly say, at this point, it’s really nice to have refocused our goals. Next on the journey organization!

Michael’s AD