Endeavor (en DEV er)

We are still struggling to find the new normal in life. This week I started back to work full time - under more protesting. I know Matt doesn't understand because he's been "back to work" full time for 9 weeks. I did try to explain to him but I'm not sure I can explain my not wanting to leave maternity leave status to myself either. Next week may be even more of a struggle because this past week I at least had 2 part time days. She's doing very well at work - it helps that Commerce has been extremely supportive and people want to take her and see her. It also helps that she naps pretty well in the morning, which has become my productive point of the day.

We closed the work week by checking in on my Grandma, who has officially moved into an assisted living facility and we couldn't be happier! It's a nice place and her room looks over her flowers in the courtyard and she's happy with how nice everyone is and it was fun to watch her introduce her youngest great-grand to all the staff. I did chuckle about how she's going to have to "watch herself" with the dining room because everything is so good and she doesn't have to do any work - meaning grocery shop, make it, clean up afterwards, etc. I'm glad she's enjoying being taken care of.

We had a busy weekend - It started with John, Allison, and Oliver. They were passing through on their way to Minot and stopped to visit. We hadn't seen them since last Memorial Day and Allison was just pregnant. It's amazing to see how much things have changed. It's also amazing to think of some of the stories Matt has told me about him and John and now see them as responsible Dads. It was Len and Oliver's first meeting and I loved that he was a strawberry blonde too with blue eyes and what a happy baby! My only wish is that they didn't live all the way out in California, would be fun to compare stories and watch these two grow up together.

It was also our first camping trip of the year... well, Len's first camping trip period. Now I'll be honest

- I've become one of those people I didn't want to be that is limited by their baby. But I do not like deviations from my routine because, well, parenting is hard. I am fully aware billions of people have and will continue to do it but I haven't quite found my stride and I like the ease of my routine. Either way, Matt and I pushed me out of my comfort zone and found ourselves at Fort Lincoln State Park in primitive camping with a 10 week old. And I think she handled it better than I did. We had a few meltdowns and we didn't quite find a good system with baby, but she slept really well once we got her down and we even enjoyed a campfire and I had my first s'mores of the season. We only went for a night to see 1. how the camper would go 2. how we would do. The temp did get up to 85 but the night cooled down nicely to 61.

Best meal: Not exactly a meal, but I did enjoy my s'more and my husband by the campfire.

After a long day at work and helping Grandpa move...
ALR and EER in backseat.
ALR: We are almost home, Len, don't cry.
MJR (from the font seat): Sing Ol' McDonald
ALR: Old McDonald had a Farm, EIEI-O and on that farm he had an Eleanor, with a Wahh wahh here, a Wahh Wahh there, here a Wahh, there - a Wahhh... everywhere a Wahh Wahhh.
EER stares.
EER starts fussing again.
ALR: Old McDonald had a Farm, EIEI-O and on that farm he had a Dad with a grunt, grunt here, a toot toot there, here a grunt, there a toot, everywhere a grunt grunt.
EER stares
MJR (still from the front seat): I like that version.

Day in the life: Morning Surprise

We've got a loosely structured routine for the mornings. Throughout the night, Matt is responsible for feedings while I'm continuing to pump. This carries over into the morning while I get ready for work. He listens for her while I'm in the shower or whatnot. I get ready, load the car, and then get her into her seat to go to work. He then gets up and gets himself ready with us gone.

The other morning I was scrambling and running a bit behind. I could hear her making a bit of noise while I organized the bags going into the car. When I came back though, all was quiet. I ran up the stairs to find her room empty, but not my bed!

The only thing I wish I would have captured was the ginormous smile on the face on the right just 3 seconds after I snapped the picture.

Sentiment (sen tuh muh nt)

It was a long week, or at least that's how last week felt to me. We had to go to work every single day, ugh. Yes, it was only half days, but still, every single day. Both Len and I are starting to adjust to the work world a bit - I'm sure we both like it about the same too though. We really did live for the weekend.

On Saturday, we took a drive east to see Aunt Janice. She was recently diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer and has surgery planned for the coming week. We wanted to take some time to see how she was and show a little love. It was such a nice day, aside from the driving. We caught up, as best as possible, and she got to spend a little time with Eleanor. Made my heart happy to see them together.

That night we drove back and stopped in on Brendan and Claudia, who were camping in Bismarck. We also spent part of Sunday with them too. Matt took them down to the lake and they went fishing. It was a catch and release type of fishing but I'm glad all the boys enjoyed the fun.

Best meal: We've had a few things from our garden. Our first was the zucchini. Matt put two zucchini plants in a pot, despite my mild protests. I said, I don't think they'll grow in there. I was tickled pink when the plant produced. We grilled it up on Friday night with our pork chops.

Another harvest that we enjoyed was my lettuce crop. I love the cream and vinegar dressing on fresh greens. My lettuce came in spotty this year (we have a plan for next year) but we decided to harvest the crop to serve it alongside BLTs.

ALR to EER: Okay, I have to put you in your carseat.
EER squaks in protest.
ALR: I know, I know. I don't wannah go to work either. Dad is making us.
in the background, MJR: Do you want a house?

Binary (Bi ner ee)

Someone is officially two months old now! I can't believe it. We had her doctor's appointment and she's doing well! Dr. Anderson is happy with where she's at and even commented on how she tracks objects. She's in the 95th percentile for her height and 87th for her weight.

The doctor isn't the only one who has taken a special interest in her this past week...my coworkers have been stopping in to see her too. Half days have been working out pretty well. She has gotten a little overtired from the activity and change in scenery but we are finally starting to fall into a little bit of a common place. I appreciate her morning naps more than ever as I'm attempting to get caught up on where I'm at.

Matt and I also made a trip north this past weekend to pick up his boat. We took it out for a bit at Grano. It was a hot day and the cool breeze from the ride and the hum of the motor were perfect conditions, I could have easily laid down and taken a nap. Was nice to see Matt excited about the boat. So we now have the Love Boat for Cottonwood Lake and the Blue Fin for the rest of the water. 

Best meal: Jess and Kay and their littles met us for supper on Friday night at McKenzie River. The meal was nice but the friendship and conversation was so nice. The only thing we miss about Dickinson are the people that we met. 

ALR: How are you doing with me back to work?
MJR: I'm so tired.
ALR: Now you know why I took morning naps.
MJR: So tired.  

Travail (trav eyl)

We celebrated Len's second big holiday (Father's Day was her first). After a couple busy weekends, we decided it was time to take this weekend slow which involved no real plans aside from sleeping in. We did bring the camper home so we could give it a good cleaning and start planning some outings.

On the 4th, we headed over to Mandan to do a walk through Art in the Park. It
was a hot one, coming in at 93 degrees. We enjoyed a little food, took in the sights and decided to take the fun home. We picked up a baby pool and some swimmers diapers on the way home and had a full blown rookie parent mistake as we wanted to plan in the pool, the three of us but because we waited too long to fill it, we never got the temperature warm enough to take Len in. Matt did crawl in and I dipped my toes but we now know to plan a bit better. We capped the night off with having my mom over for dinner and discussion on the patio. Was a nice holiday.

That wasn't the only big thing that happened this week. I went back to work from maternity leave - which I was not ready for and did not want to do. Don't get me wrong, I like my job, I like where I work, I like my boss, but I wasn't ready to admit that I have an 8 week old baby and the maternity leave that I had so many plans for was actually over. I liked our little "routine" that Len and I had. I'm not kidding myself in thinking it was a routine but there was a semblance of normalcy in our daily activities. I am lucky in that she's not going to daycare full time right away, she'll instead come to work with me until she's 6 months old. That will make things a bit easier but it's still a reminder that our baby is growing up. Oh, and we won't mention the box of clothes that she's already outgrown that I had to box up... if I didn't need the mental reminder, I also got a physical one too!

Best meal: In a rare moment where someone was napping, we made grilled semolina pizzas. We also used infused oils that Michele had found us to make them even better!

ALR bring EER into bedroom. She is in a good mood and chatty.
EER: inaudible coos
ALR: You slept really well last night!
EER: inaudible coos
ALR: Now, could we just move the sleep just a little back so you sleep through the night. Can you do that for mom and dad?
EER: Yeah (clear as day)
ALR eyes fly up to MJR: Did you hear that?
MJR: You know it doesn't count.

Dissemination (dih sem uh NEY shuh)

With our newborn pics complete, the showers and celebrations complete, the thank-yous filled out and done, we finally got her announcements out too. Can't believe our little girl is coming up on 8 weeks already. I had to go through my first clothes purging and reboxing. Weren't we just preparing for her arrival and putting the clothes in her dresser? Some of the items she had barely worn once, some not at all. You'd think I wouldn't be shocked by this but I can't believe how fast she's growing already.