melted smoosh

the last Friday before returning to work next week! here's what i've been enjoying during my time off... -- Bolthouse Farms Protein Plus protein shakes. the chocolate tastes just like a chocolate milkshake, and the vanilla version has a hint of nutmeg reminiscent of eggnog (a good thing in my book). they're the perfect sweet pick-me-up for the middle of the afternoon with staying power to quench the nursing-mama hunger!  -- Scandal, starring Kerry Washington and created by Shonda Grimes (the master of drama behind Grey's Anatomy). i've never been too interested in politics, so when people would rave about this show i never thought i'd enjoy it. but one fateful afternoon, it popped up on the "Popular" list on Netflix and i decided to give it a go. and.... oh ... em ... gee. i can't stop watching it. not only are the storylines tight, fast-paced and intriguing, but the camera-work is fantastic and i want to own Olivia Pope's wardrobe...

dear sweetest-of-all-the-peas, you're sleeping in your bouncer right now, and as much as i'm cherishing the quiet, there's a part of me that misses you when you're in dreamland. how is it possible that you've been with us for two whole months already? and how is it possible that there was ever a time when i didn't know you? you smile so much now -- at me when i get you out of your crib after a nap, at Daddy when he comes home from work, at the cats when they walk past you (and sometimes tickle you with their tails). every once in a great while, you let out the cutest squeaky laugh and then look surprised at yourself. you absolutely love having your diaper changed, which is weird and cute at the same time. you've discovered your hands, and you like to wave your arms and kick (sometimes with glee, and sometimes because you're mad and not in the mood for a nap). you still love your pacifier especially when you're falling aslee...

since i've been on maternity leave for the past 8 weeks, friday doesn't come with quite the same sense of TGIFFFFFF!!!, but it's still friday. and deserves celebration. and there are always new favorites i'm discovering (or old ones that merit acclaim)! this week i'm focusing on my beauty must-haves. i'm sure there are better, pricier products out there, but for drugstore prices, and for my skin, this is where it's at. --Aveda botanical kinetics toning mist. okay, this isn't a drugstore product and it costs $18 per bottle at my salon, but it's worth every penny (and a bottle lasts me about 9 months). i use this after washing my face and it has made a world of difference in evening out my combination skin.  -- Neutrogena healthy skin SPF 15 moisturizer. the alpha-hydroxy is key to this moisturizer that truly sinks into the skin and leaves it feeling soft and refreshed. so many moisturizers i've tried in the past are either too heav...

one of the great things about nursing is that it all adds up to several hours a day to snuggle Greta and ... catch up on Facebook, google my latest crazy mother question (recent searches include "is desitin cloth-diaper safe?" [ no ], "wonder weeks", and "nursing strikes" [just out of curiosity]), watch an ungodly number of Roseanne episodes, and READ. for the first few weeks after Greta was born, i did no reading whatsoever. it felt like an insurmountable task to focus on anything longer and more in depth than a Facebook status. but now that things have settled into a routine, my Kindle Fire and the Kindle app on my phone are my near constant companions!  (full disclosure: the Kindle Fire has mostly been used for watching Scandal, my recently-discovered Netflix addiction. but i digress.) so here's what i've enjoyed reading lately: Sharp Objects , by Gillian Flynn. i absolutely could not put down Gone Girl  by the same author, and while Sh...

dear sweetpea, it's the morning of new year's eve, and you and daddy are still sleeping upstairs while i savor my coffee and watch the snow flurry and dance around our backyard. you turned one month old this week, and i'm still in happy disbelief that you're actually here. after several false alarms, you were born the day before Thanksgiving and the moment we laid eyes on you, we fell in love!  you have already grown and changed so much since you were born, and part of me misses your tiny newborn self, but i love watching you thrive. you have always been very alert and attentive to your surroundings, and now you easily track toys and follow us with your eyes if we move out of your line of sight. last week, you started to smile on purpose, especially if we're talking to you. and when daddy sings to you, you make your lips into an "O" shape to mimic him, and coo along.  Kaiser loves you and tries to give you kisses. he'll be so excite...

at long last, our Sweetpea has arrived! we are overjoyed to announce the birth of our daughter, Margaret Kathleen. our sweet Greta weighed 7 lbs, 5 ounces and was 20 inches long. she is happy, healthy, and has us both wrapped around her perfect little fingers :) she did keep us waiting, though, arriving ten days past her due date and after two days of early labor that felt like twenty! i had been having mild contractions starting the week before her due date, some of which would come 5-7 minutes apart for over an hour and had me thinking that we'd be seeing some real action soon. November 17 came and went without any fanfare. at my 41 week visit with the midwives, they did a nonstress test (which she passed with flying colors!) and we started to talk induction. at this point, Mom had already been in town for a few weeks and was scheduled to fly back to Seattle on November 30. i knew how devastated we both would be if she missed Sweetpea's birth, so i asked the midwife what ou...

bump watch: sweetpea is officially head down, thank goodness! annnd apparently not quite ready to debut in the outside world yet. i'm trying to relax and just enjoy these last days of pregnancy, but we're getting pretty impatient to meet this little one!  sweet pea: is more active than ever the last few days, with lots of kicks and squirms. at my 39 week appointment, baby landed a sucker punch right against the doppler wand that made the midwife jump (and made me laugh!).  image credit from  W hat to Expect When You're Expecting best moment:  finding out for sure that sweetpea is vertex (aka head down), as that's a prerequisite for delivering at the midwife center as opposed to a hospital birth. it's been quite the mental challenge trying to make informed decisions about our birth preferences, while still holding everything loosely knowing that the birthing process is unpredictable, and in the end, our goal is to have a baby, ho...