(MarieFinds) Of Upheaval and Big Change

As most of my friends can attest, I'm not much for change. I find jobs and stay in them. I have a routine. My kids have routines. I like my life that way, thankyouverymuch.

I've been pink slipped. Fired. Laid off. Let go. Terminated. "thankyouverymuchforyourtimeandeffoert." "Itsnotyouitsus." Gah. Like most industries, in mine, client loss = job loss. The math makes sense. It really isn't personal. Except the consequences are personal. They are actually being great about it. 30 days notice. 2 weeks severance. They owe me 8 days of vacation pay. All in all, I get over 7 weeks of pay while I job hunt and wrap up clients. And then there is unemployment.

Before that, hopefully there is a job. Because blogging and momming doesn't pay the bills. Especially not the frequency with which I post.

I fret. And then I say we will be OK. And then I fret. And then the Lawyer says we will be OK. And then I kiss my kids. And wonder how many days a week I can keep Squirrel in her Mandarin pre-school. And then I say we will be OK.

(MarieFinds) Where have I been?

Hello ... I have been leaving ALL of the blog work to Jess. Life has been in a bit of upheaval. Seriously, since the last time I posted: I came down with strep throat (BAH!), we have put the Squirrel full time in to big girl underpants, I quit my job (seriously!) and start a new one in 3 weeks, we've had a busy time of childrens birthday parties and weddings, the Lawyer has gotten awesomly sick again, and Baby Boy has Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Ugh.

So, that is all the big news. I am excited to start my new job, but sad to leave where I have been working for the last five years. I have, to quote the awesome Auntie Feather, a shit-ton of work to do before I am out of here.

Anyway, my fall resolution? To be a better blogstress!

(MarieFinds) Cleaning / Stocking the Freezer

I have a dirty secret. It's my fullsize freezer in the garage. It is old and inneficient, and as such is a hoary mess. It needs to be defrosted. I have been trying to gradually clear it out. Instead, over the weekend, I did bonus cooking and stocked it fuller.

The Lawyer and I both have full time 8-6 jobs. (Since when is that the new 9-5, anyway?) We get home at 6:30 on a good night. Kids start bed time routinte around 8:15. That doesn't give us a lot of time to round dinner up and get it on the table. Leftovers and pre-made frozen dinners can be the salvation on many a night, especially when the budget starts to run thin. No money to go to dinner, need something fast? Pull it from the freezer and throw it in the oven.

So, Sunday I made lots of individual sized chicken pot pies. Monday a big old double batch of hamburger-macaroni casserole, which my kids both adore. (Go figure. I wouldn't touch it as a kid.)

Set the oven to 400 and you've got dinner.

(MarieFinds) Wealth and Hellness, Part II

Ah... the non-stop glamour that is working motherhood. I had to spend a couple of days visiting a client in SoCal. A great couple of days of meetings, actually. Lots of good stuff that we will be able to use over the coming year.

Downside: I left The Lawyer at home with an ear infection. And two kids who were both rocking ear infections, as well. Nothing piles on the mommy guilt like that, except ... the call from the Lawyer on Wednesday night that they were headed to the ER. Squirrel had hurt her arm.

Now, in a former life, Lawyer was an Army medic. He's pretty non-reactive to childhood bumps an fevers. S this means something is up.

Diagnosis: Nursemaid's elbow, AKA dislocated. So I'm on and off the phone with him while he is juggling both kids in the hospital. Answering questions only mommy can answer during admit (shots? Primary docs name?) Listening to the doctor pop her arm back in place. Hearing my beautiful girl scream.

But then she got a race car bandaid and everything was OK. Yup, sent her home with a dose of ibuprofen, a dose of tylenol and a bandaid.

(MarieFinds) What happens in Vegas ...

This week has been like a long nightmare ... but I want to get the deets of my trip out there before it is just way too late to be relevant.

The Lawyer had his annual conference in Las Vegas last week, so we decided to plan a family trip around it. He has family there, so it is always a good excuse to go see them, and let Super Squirrel play with her cousins. That was definitely the best part. Lawyer's sister and her husband and son came out as well, so there was family every where, and we got to spend time just hanging out.

We stayed at the Monte Carlo. In large part because our research had told us it had a very kid-friendly pool set up. Turned out to be true. Of course, this all depends on your definition of kid friendly. Yes, there is smoking and drinking pool side, a few folks getting VERY friendly with each other in the water. Lots of Kanye and Lady Gaga booming in the background. But, um, this is a hotel on the Vegas strip. What were you expecting? The hotel and pool overall was great. The smoke free room actually didn't smell like smoke, the food in the restaurants was very edible, the help friendly, and the poolside service was great.

Both kids were faboosh on the flights. Did really well overall with the complete destruction of their regular schedules.

I took Squirrel to see the lion at MGM (loved it!) an the fountains at the Bellagio (she's still talking about it) and one day a bunch of us took the kids to the Excalibur. Never again. Least kid-friendly venue on the strip I think. Smoky, dank, dirty, no place to sit down that isn't attached to a gaming machine, no changing tables. Gross.

I did no gambling. I think the Lawyer dropped $15 into the slots at the Venetian.

Baby Boy wasn't up to being left without me (i.e., didn't want to be that far away from the boob - he doesn't do straight formula yet and I didn't bring a breastpump), so we didn't really get any big people time to ourselves, but it was a nice trip.

I'd go back to Vegas with kids, and I would stay at the MC with them again. I think it would be a little better with the kids a little bit older. Lawyer was working a lot, and I couldn't take both kids to the pool myself because of their ages, need a 1:1 ratio of adults and kids in the water at this stage, but we were still able to get in the water a great deal. Aunt and Uncle have a pool, and there were lots of Aunties and Uncles around last week willing to play with Squirrel in the water while I sat or played with Baby Boy.

I might get a different travel stroller before we do that again. We have a broken down old cheap umbrella stroller that we used all over Cozumel last year, and the bearings are totally shot on it. Definitely need a stroller in Vegas because of the distances. Had Squirrel in that and Boy in the Wallaby a lot.

Again, it might not be everyone's kid-friendly idea, but I'm OK with my kids seeing some of that stuff, and I let them play in the dirt at home, so why not in Vegas?

(MarieFinds) Checking up and checking in

Baby Boy had his 4 month check up on Monday. And it was one of THOSE days that makes you love being a parent. First the stats.... Baby Boy looks like a bruiser to me. Clearly this is all relative. He is a 1/2" taller than his sister at the same age, but a full two pounds heavier. That still only puts him at right smack in the middle of average weight for his age. Girl was skinny. They're both tall for their ages, however. 26.5" and 14 lbs., 14 oz.

Now to my Monday... drop the Squirrel off at school, and then take Baby Boy with me... figure I have almost 90 minutes to kill, I'll go to the deli, get breakfast and work while I nurse my morning coffee and him.

And then he pooped. and pooped. and pooped. It ran right out the leg of his pants and all over me. I didn't have time to go home. So, I cleaned up as best I could (it was all over my jeans) with baby wipes and wet paper towels, and went about my day. grrr.

(MarieFinds) Today we were those parents

You know the ones. The ones that send their sick kids to daycare. And I don't mean "has the sniffles" sick. I don't even count that. I mean running-a-fever-if-the-daycare-takes-his-temp-they-legally-have-to-send-him-home sick. Gah.

Bad Mom. I am relying on my son's generally good disposition to not tip them off.

Edited to add: apparently it worked. It is almost 4:30 and daycare hasn't called me to pick him up.

(MarieFinds) Milk supply woes

So, last week my milk supply cratered. At the same time that Baby Boy was trying to up his intake. I have regularly been pumping about 14-15 oz. a day, and he has been eating 12. (plus morning and night nursing.) last week, I suddenly could only pump 8-10 oz, and he was increasing his eating to 16+. Not the equation we are looking for.

With Super Squirrel, I got to the point that I was regularly pumping 20-24 oz a day plus morning and night time nursing. I was able to keep her on breast milk only until she was almost 6 months. And then one day I nearly had a meltdown that I was "only pumping 20 ounces! I need 4 more so she won't be hungry tomorrow, but I have a meeting..." and finding myself pumping at midnight after all else was done in the day... that was the day I decided a few ounces of formula a day to make up the difference wasn't going to harm her. I hope to make it that long or longer this time, but I won't let guilt run that decision.

So, in response, I have been mainlining fenugreek, drinking a gallon of water a day, and spent the whole weekend with the Boy on the boob. Plus pumping more. I love fenugreek. And my pediatrician cleared it when I had a little trouble with it production the first time around.

This morning, I got 9 oz. in my first session. That's more like it. I usually get a ton in the first pump of the day, and less in my later sessions. But I tell you, I work for a living, man. I can't spend more than two hours a day pumping at work. Not and at least APPEAR that I am getting work done. And um, I need this job. Until JessFinds starts paying my bills, I am an interactive marketing professional, and need to at least appear to show up for work.

(MarieFinds) She is all atwitter

Yup. I did it. I signed up for twitter. I now tweet. I still don't think I know why people tweet. But I do. I work for an interactive marketing agency. One of the things we do is consult with companies on their social networking strategies. So... twitter. We tell people what they should be tweeting about, who should be tweeting, how often and who will be following them, etc. So I figured I should see what all the fuss is about.

I don't what I think, yet.

(MarieFinds) Conversations with IT

Hee... try this conversation on for size: "Jeremiah, the wireless no longer works in the bathroom. It did last week, but now, since Tuesday, it appears that the wireless 'bubble' no longer extends to the bathroom. Can you look into that for me?"

(MarieFinds) I miss my office

I used to have an office. Not a real one. More like a tall cubicle with a sliding door. But it was tall enough you couldn't see over it. About a year ago I moved to a regular cube. Right now, I am pumping milk in the bathroom. With my laptop so I can keep working. Grrr. At least it's a nice bathroom.

(MarieFinds) Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work I go...

Yesterday was my first day back at work. Today was the first day to take the kids to daycare. Yesterday they were at my sister's house (federal holiday and all).

I did NOT break down in the parking lot and sob like someone died this time. I DID almost cry in the room with my gorgeous toddler girl as she sobbed like her world was ending. Than they brought in breakfast. And that made things mostly better. And her little friend Ryker showed up. That helped, too.

Baby Boy? He is unphasable. Didn't eat much at my sister's yesterday, and kind of whined about it, but no major drama. Of course, that means that Auntie Lola gave herself an upper body work out by rocking and holding him for 4 hours to prevent the melt down. Hee. While trying to dance with Squirrel. Welcome to my house of nonstop carnival fun!

I am both looking forward to being back and sad about it. It was great to spend the last three months watching my daughter grow every minute, and being able to snuggle my little boy (almost) whenever I wanted. But man, I think I get more time to myself when I work 60 hours a week. Not to mention more showers to myself. I think there was a straight month where every shower I took had a toddler in it.

Ideating and mommyhood...

I work in marketing. At a company where people discuss ideation un-ironically.

Sometimes I have to travel and leave Super Squirrell home with the Lawyer. Few things in life strike me funnier than an overzealous FTA security guy bomb sniffing my breast pump.

This commercial cracked me up. Enjoy.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4UftvQaKxv0

It actually reminds of high school meditation class....