The What-Ifs

I’m really not a fan of people who seem to constantly be writing negative things about their lives. I get that bad things happen but, I believe that how you react to a situation tells a lot about your character. To me, complaining is just about the least constructive thing you can do. So, having already written two pity-party posts about our family’s illness over the past few weeks—I debated whether or not I should even write this post. Buttttt, when I started a blog, I promised myself I would share all the ups and downs of being a mommy: the good, the bad, and the scary. And last night was a very worrisome night in our household… and not just because the Patriots lost—which sent my Patriots-obsessed husband into a severe off-season depression.

Before I begin, I should probably give you a little back story. I’ve been getting migraines on and off for years. When I got pregnant, I would literally get a gut-wrenching migraine every Monday like clockwork. I figured it was a combination of working, crazy pregnancy hormones, and the all too common lack of sleep. As soon as I delivered, they went away for awhile, but have just recently started returning with a vengeance—and more frequently too, sometimes bi-weekly. I had one last week that was so bad; I woke up in tears at 3 A.M.

Yesterday, I started to get a migraine around 7 P.M. but I tried to ignore it—hoping it would disappear. We had just returned from watching the Patriots game and I was brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed (yes, at 7 P.M.!). Now, Lacey’s at that awkward stage that she is able to sit up well but she loves to lunge for everything—and often tips over in the process. So to be on the safe side, we leave her rock ‘n play (which she outgrew for sleeping) in the bathroom so she’ll have a safe place while I get ready whenever Ross isn’t around. Well, apparently she has outgrown this stage as well—because within seconds she had managed to turn herself upside down and was trying to climb (or more like it: fall) out of it. I rushed to her and ending up tripping over our bath mat as I lunged to save her from hitting the ground. I started to fall sideways and knew I was heading right for the ledge of the bathtub—with no way of stopping. I wrapped my arms tightly around Lacey to try and keep her from taking the brunt of the fall and pummeled into the ledge—letting out a scream on the way down to alert my husband to come running.

I swear we seemed to fall in slow motion. I didn’t take my eyes off Lacey the entire time—wanting to keep her as safe as possible. We hit the ledge and she immediately started to cry. I knew I was hurting pretty bad so I worried that she had been injured as well. My husband came bursting through the door all of .5 seconds later and Lacey had already stopped crying. We immediately checked her over and over again and she seemed perfectly fine—aside from the initial shock. We had one other scare like this a few months ago—when Lacey fell off the bed—so we knew what signs to look out for in case of a concussion. I think I probably checked on her every 15 minutes last night, but thank god, she seems to have come out unscathed.

I, on the other hand, was a mess. My arm started to bruise within seconds and I’m still worried I may have slightly fractured my wrist. I honestly don’t know how Lacey didn’t end up with so much as a bruise. The stress of the situation caused my migraine to intensify and within an hour, I was shivering and seeing spots. Ross took Lacey and I jumped in a hot shower to try and relax. As I was getting out, I briefly blacked out, sat down on the same darn bath ledge we had fallen upon earlier, and started throwing up.

Like most moms, I couldn’t even take the time to worry about myself. The entire time I was worried about Lacey and just wanted to check to make sure she was still okay. I wanted to kiss and cuddle my baby girl after such a scare. It was all I could do to stop myself from thinking about the what-ifs. What if I couldn’t have cushioned her blow? What if she had hit her head on the shower faucet? What if this had happened an hour later while Ross was at work? I just kept thinking about how lucky we were and how much worse the situation could have been.

I called my mom and immediately started to cry as I retold the story and explained my fear of the “what ifs.” Like any good (great!) mom, she calmed me down and reminded me that you can’t worry about what could have been. All I can do is thank the Lord for keeping my baby safe and learn from my mistakes (like never, ever leave anything on the floor... & maybe try to be less clumsy).

As mommies, there are millions of what-ifs that we could worry about each day. I’d love to say it’s something that I’ll outgrow as I continue to grow and learn as a parent—but I have a feeling that’s just not how parenthood works. The scary truth of the matter is that your life as a parent is constantly changing and evolving. Fifteen years from now, I won’t be worrying about tripping while holding my baby—but I’m sure as hell going to be worried about whether or not I’m qualified to teach her to drive (I’m not. Ross will be taking the reins on that one). And 27 years from now, I’ll probably be worrying about my ability to give my own daughter the right advice when she calls crying about some mistake she made with her baby girl (hopefully I’ve inherited my own mom’s ability to always know the right thing to say).

I guess, like my mama said, we just have to remember to be thankful when things turn out right and pray when they don’t—and just enjoy the journey along the way. Thank you mom for teaching us the importance of positive thinking—and for always being there to remind us when we have a momentary lapse of judgment.

Do you suffer from what-if syndrome? Have you had to learn any mommy lessons the hard way? Leave a comment and let me know I'm not alone. ;)

See you real soon,
Lacey’s mama

Your Daily Dose of Lace: still happy even after a Patriots loss

Lacey's Blog Post

jkznjnhmj nh   m mn  n

Smother Mother

It's all too coincidental that "mother" makes up the majority of the word "smother." As mommies (and daddies!), it’s our job to love our children unconditionally—to think that everything they do is near miraculous. Perhaps you’ve seen ABC’s new comedy “The Goldberg’s”? If you haven’t, I highly suggest it. It’s a hilarious show about what life was like growing up in 80’s—during a simpler time—before selfies, iPhones, and you know—parenting blogs. If you have seen it, then you know all about Beverly Goldberg—coined by her children as the original “smother mother.” She’s the type of mother who would walk you to class on the first day of your senior year. She listens to her children beat box (not well, I might add)—and is certain that angels have descended from Heaven to personally serenade her. In other words, she’s fantastic—and sure, to some, borderline insane. But to most of us, she’s just mom. Overly obsessive over every little thing her babies (grown or not), do.

As moms, we often suffer from a case of Beverly-syndrome. Where your child can do something so remotely simple—yet to you, a doting mother, it’s near perfection. I experience these moments “on the reg”—as to me, my baby girl can do no wrong. Just yesterday, I endured a moment that would make those without children (and some with children) cringe—but to me, it was priceless. Our little princess (side note: I used to hate when parents called their daughters “princess”—I get it now), who is still getting over her cold, stuck her finger right up her very, very snotty nose and proceeded to feed those delicious boogers to me. In pre-mom times, I would have gagged. But oh no! Not now. Now, I was certain that I was raising a genius. I was floored by the fact that she already knew how to share. How caring she is at just 9 months! I mean, she had one thing (albeit: boogers) and she gave them to ME! How much she must love me to give me the only gift she had to give! I am just the luckiest person in the entire world.

To that degree, I have a little shameless mommy-bragging to share. Last week, Lacey had her 9 month checkup. While discussing her developmental accomplishments, I mentioned to her pediatrician that she wasn’t crawling quite yet (but she could "army crawl" herself anywhere), and while she was able to pull herself up to stand and was willing to let go while standing—she wasn’t quite “cruising” yet. Our doctor told us to count our blessings that we would get a few more days of peace before we started having to chase our little mover-and-groover all over—and bet that she’d be cruising by next week.

Well, incase her looks weren’t enough to prove that she is her daddy’s daughter—she also seems to respond best to bets—just like her daddy (incase you didn't know, my husband will literally bet anyone on anything). Lacey took her doctors bet—and raised him: she took her first crawling steps that very afternoon. She crawled (3 whole steps!) to her push-walker, pulled herself up, and took 5 whole steps!

Told you: she’s a genius. ;)

Did your baby reach any knew milestones this week? Do you have any great “mother smother” stories of your own to share? Feel free to leave a comment and I will see you real soon.

--Lacey’s mama

Your Daily Dose of Lace--

Working hard on her blog:

Victory picture after her first steps with her walker (sorry it's blurry!):

 

fgbc v <<Lacey’s daily blog post

The Sick Cycle

Well, as the last few sniffles seemingly start to wind down in our house, I think I'm finally ready to get back to blogging-- hopefully without jinxing us this time.

The last week has been nothing short of exhausting. I thought we were done with this cold but that was so far from the case. As my husband and I started to get better, Lacey started to get worse. Her nose switched back and forth between being stuffed one minute-- and dripping the next. She'd have to interrupt her nursing sessions every couple of seconds, only to come up gasping for air. She was coughing, crying, and miserable. And by Friday night, she was starting to throw up. After an emergency weekend call to the on-call pediatrician, we were given the advice that parents everywhere dread: there's nothing we can do but to "wait it out and keep her hydrated."

On top of the vomiting, there was the poop situation. At first, there was no poop at all. For several days. And then... it came. Like a wrecccccking ball. Nonstop. Saturday was spent changing what felt like a record number of diapers: 14 poopy, smelly diapers in a matter of 9 hours. (Yes, I kept track). What a crappy day that was (pun intended!). Pretty hard to keep a baby hydrated when she's puking and pooping around the clock-- but we did it. By Sunday night, everything was finally starting to pass (again).

Throughout all of this, showering was (once again) placed at the bottom on my list of priorities. Sunday night marked Day 4 of "The Shower Draught"-- and I was covered in every type of bodily fluids imaginable. And then it happened. My nose started to run. The coughing returned.

I had managed to get sick again.

That's the problem with dealing with sicknesses in a family-- it's all too easy to pass the germs around again and again... and again. Especially when you're too caught up taking care of your little one to remember to take care of yourself.

Monday came, bright and early, and all I have to say is: Thank God for husbands. Over the next two days, Ross took over the daily Lacey activities and left me quarantined in our bed-- hoping to stop this cycle of sickness once and for all. We disinfected our apartment from top to bottom-- and after one last head-splitting, tear-causing migraine at 4 A.M. last night (again, thank God for hubbys who calm the crying baby while mommy stands under the scolding hot shower until every last drop of warm water drips); I'm truly praying that this is behind us.

And now we deal with the post-sickness apocalypse of an apartment we are calling "home." Seeing as someone in our house has literally been sick every day since we got back from Phoenix-- on January 1st(!)-- we've got more than a bit of housework to tackle. I literally still have suitcases left to unpack! And approximately 15 loads of laundry to do. It's so bad that I had to do an emergency load of laundry just so we had underoos to wear. It's seriously pathetic.

So, that's our week. We made it through! And we had some pretty exciting developments with our baby girl-- but I'll save those for another day. For now, hope all of you who have been sick (like, the entire country) are starting to get better and able to enjoy some slightly warmer weather. I know we're excited to venture back out into the outside world!

See you real soon,
Lacey's mama

Your Daily Dose of Lace:



             cnfmdra
<<Lacey's daily blog post

Calling in Sick

This week the "Polar Vortex" made it's way all the way to the perma-summer state of Florida-- resulting in 24 hours of almost freezing temperatures and one fully sick family. If you know me, you know I live for the cold weather. I was so excited to head out with my family and enjoy the chilly weather. I even had an entire Disney day planned-- complete with layers upon layers of clothes and drinking hot chocolate while strolling through "Italy" and "France."

My body, however, had a different idea.

Apparently, after 8.5 years of living in this climate, my body is no longer equipped to handle a dip in the temperature below 50 degrees. I didn't even get to enjoy my burst of cool weather-- instead, I woke up with the worst cold without even taking a step outside. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one with the cold-- my husband and daughter were hit as well.

Now, back B.C. (Before Children), a bad cold meant a day off work, snuggled under the covers with a pack of DayQuil and "The OC: The Complete First Season" on DVD. Not the case anymore. There's no "calling in sick" when you're a mommy.

For starters, babies don't really understand sick days. Our baby girl was feeling under the weather as well-- and since the only way she knows how to communicate is through crying, it was a day full of tears. Which is heartbreaking. And exhausting. And only worsens you're already brain-splitting headache.

Also, if you're breastfeeding you really can't take much to help you feel better. Gone are the days of poppin' any and all pain relievers to temporarily take away your splitting headache and runny nose. Instead, you're forced to hit the 'net to find out what is "safe" for you to consume.

Wanna know what pops up first when you type "what is safe to take for a cold while breastfeeding" in to your favorite search engine?

Get lots of rest and take a hot bath.

I honestly almost spit out my delicious concoction of raspberry flavored "Emergen-C." Thanks for the help Google. I don't know about you but the last time I enjoyed a hot bath was pre-pregnancy. And rest? Good joke.

So, I skipped over Google's excellent options and went with the my tried and true form of post-baby pain relief: slathering on Sombra: Cool Relief Natural Pain Relieving Gel basically 24/7, taking 2 tablets of Tylenol, drinking 10 bottles of water, and inhaling a pack of Emergen-C every 12 hours. Luckily, after precisely 7 hours of glorious "rest" last night, I woke up feeling almost myself again... and just in the nick of time because Miss Lacey just took her real "crawls" and I need to get to baby proofing!

Do you have any "feel better quick" tips? Any ideas for quick and painless baby proofing? Feel free to leave a comment! :)

See you real soon!
Lacey's mama


My sick baby girl. :(


 ccfc xccdrfdr <<Lacey's daily blog post

The Great Debate: To stay home or return to work?

Becoming a parent brings up all types of questions you never would have considered before. For me, one of the greatest dilemmas of new found parenthood is the age old question: Do I stay home with my new baby or return to work?

Like most moms, the instant I laid eyes on my daughter, I couldn't imagine leaving her. I felt separation anxiety taking a 3 minute "shower"-- how could I possibly entertain the idea of leaving her for a full-fledged work day?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was a third grade teacher when I welcomed Lacey into the world. My due date was April 5 but I ended up having to take early maternity leave due to complications with my pregnancy. Our little girl finally arrived on April 7th and my husband and I celebrated our luck that my maternity leave would run right in to the summer. I'd get to spend 4 whole months at home before returning to work! Surely, I'd be ready to leave Lacey by the time August came around. I mean, I'd be dying for a break, right!?

Nope.

As the days of summer wore on (all too quickly, I might add), I began looking for new teaching jobs. My husband had recently started a new job in Daytona (about 30 minutes from our apartment) so we planned on relocating when our lease ended in the beginning of August-- meaning I couldn't return to my previous school. As I updated the ol' resume, I tried to imagine my return to work. The inevitable tears (both mine and hers) as I dropped Lacey off at daycare. The hassle of non-stop pumping to supply her with enough breastmilk for an 8 hour day. The worry and guilt I would feel being away from her. I talked to my husband and we decided I'd  postpone returning to work until January.

Well, it's January and my return to work has now been placed on an indefinite hold.

Although my reasoning for not wanting to go back to work was mostly selfish (I told you: I'm "that mom"), there is a handful of other reasons to keep us moms (or dads!) out of the office for longer than originally planned. In our household, our biggest deciding factors for me staying home were:

1. Cost- The cost of quality daycare these days is borderline extravagant. Unless you work at a daycare, have a doting grandmother, or a friend who runs a daycare out of her house, it's both costly (and scary!) to find the right daycare.

2. Schedules- As a teacher, my working hours are Monday through Friday, 7 A.M. until 4:00 P.M. On the other hand, my husband works as a poker dealer-- meaning his prime hours are evenings and weekends. If we were both to continue working in our preferred careers, we'd literally never see each other. I just couldn't get on board with Lacey not getting the family time she deserves.

Ultimately, the great debate on whether or not to return to work is one that, like most, will need to be decided upon in house. No matter which way you go, be prepared to make sacrifices. Although we are lucky enough to live comfortably on my husband's earnings alone, we definitely make sacrifices on a daily basis. We don't have a massive home to call our own (we rent an apartment), we don't drive the newest cars, and our savings account is significantly lower than it would be with two incomes. But to me, getting the chance to be with my daughter and experience all of her "firsts" is worth more to me than any amount of money. There will be time to deepen our savings later-- like when I follow Lacey to kindergarten, right? ;)

Do you have any advice for mom's contemplating the dreaded return to work? Do you work at a daycare and get the best of both worlds? Comment below! :)

See you real soon,
Lacey's mama




 bn,m nm,.l;/U,hm fnmj <<Lacey's daily blog post (typed with her feet)

Diagnosis: Mommy Brain

My husband accuses me of having the worst case of "mommy brain" known to mankind. He's right.

I'll swear up and down that I used to be intelligent. I graduated from The University of Central Florida with a degree in Elementary Education and a 3.83 GPA. I could hold a conversation. Write a paper. Complete a simple division problem without the use of a calculator. Then, I got pregnant.

Immediately, my brain turned to complete and utter mush. I was a 3rd grade teacher at the time and sometimes I swore my students were smarter than me. Every day felt like a failing episode of "Are You Smarter than a 3rd 5th Grader?". It's as if the tiny being I was creating took all of my intelligence to keep for herself. Which is fine-- I obviously want a smart child. Still, I figured once my body was done, you know, making a person, that it would get better.

It didn't.

It actually got worse. Much worse.

Suddenly I found myself stumbling to put together 3 words to create the bare minimal of a sentence. My brain was so encompassed by keeping my little girl alive and happy, that my wits went right out the window.

This is one of the reasons why I decided to start a blog. I'm a stay at home mommy who spends her days singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" to someone who has no idea whether or not I'm singing the right lyrics. I can stumble over every word in Dr. Seuss' "ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book" (Hey, those words are tricky!) and Lacey's none the wiser. I needed a reason to up my intelligence ante. Enter: blog.

You could also say that blogs have begun to be somewhat of a family business. Both of my sister's have amazing blogs that center around their passions (& fashions!).

(WARNING: Shameless plugs below!)

I mentioned yesterday that my younger sister, Allie, was the one to finally persuade me to start my blog (so if this blog sucks, and you absolutely hate it-- feel free to place the blame on her. :-P ). Well, she happens to run a not-at-all sucky fashion blog over at Luna Vida. It's actually way more than not-sucky. In my completely unbiased opinion, it's the best fashion blog I've read. She focuses not only on finding cute and creative outfits-- but on finding cute, creative, and AFFORDABLE(!!) outfits. And she's so good at it. As not only my sister, but also my total BFFFFFF, we've spent more than a few days hours shopping together. After an afternoon shopping spree, we'll both end up with our several bags of scored loot. However, her total always ends up being about a tenth the cost of mine. I find it to be seriously unfair-- but what can I say? She has a gift. Check it out. Trust me, your closet (and pocketbook) will thank you.

My older sister, Amanda, runs my other favorite blog: Vintage, Lace & Pearls. (I told you I was unbiased!). After getting engaged in September 2012 and deciding on a May 2014 wedding, she decided to chronicle her wedding journey via the intra-net. What's great about Amanda's blog (and wedding) is that she is also a bride on a budget. My parents have 6 children-- we're not all getting $50,000 weddings! But, our parents are fantastic and fully paid for our dream weddings, and with this blog you can see how she turns her wedding vision in to a beautiful reality. It's safe to say that out of all my siblings, Amanda is the most creative and artistic of the bunch. I loveeeee seeing what new DIY project she comes up with to enhance her special day even more (& I can't wait until May to see how it all comes together!).

Now, I don't know fashion and my own wedding was over a year and a half ago (& I can't take credit for that anyways-- I had some awesome help). But, I do know babies and I do know the struggles and triumphs that come with raising your little one. So, that's what I plan on writing about here: funny stories, scary stories, great mommy debates (breastfeed or bottle feed? make your own baby food or buy from the store?), and reviews of the toys and clothes that somehow manage to catapult themselves in to every corner of your home.

If you have any other ideas that you'd be interested in reading about, please feel free to leave me a comment.

But for now, I urge you to get off my blog, grab your little sweetie and give them a smooch. I'll still be here during nap time. ;)

See ya real soon (Mickey Mouse voice),
-Lacey's mama

Your daily dose of Lace:




.415265
25656566526526536+    <<Lace's daily blog entry (someone discovered the number pad)

New Year, New Blog.

Blogging. It's something that I've been considering for awhile now-- while at the same time, had every excuse not to start. I often told myself that I didn't have the time, or the energy, or even the desire to put my day to day activities "on the line." (Internship movie reference, anyone?) In fact, as I sit here typing this, my daughter woke up from her "lap nap," lunged toward the laptop and began typing a blog post of her own.

Finding the time (or in my case,  the energy!) to blog may be a challenge... but the truth is, so is being a mom. It's all about juggling your day to day activities, establishing priorities, making approximately a zillion checklists (and finding peace with the fact that you'll never, EVER check off that entire list), and mostly, about finding the humor in every situation. Because if you can't find a way to laugh when you spend an hour getting your child down for what ends up being an all-too-short 10 minute nap then you're kinnnnda missing out on the fun that is "parenting."

However, one thing that is as certain as the inevitable truth that your baby will always have a larger than life bowel movement within moments of becoming freshly bathed, diapered, and clothed, is that it truly does take a village to raise a baby. And whether your "village" be your sister with the 2.5 perfectly behaved children, your best friend with the handful of loving rugrats, or your mother who's view towards motherhood perfectly embodies your own-- these are the people who will help your find your way through the rummage of sleepless nights, seemingly endless diapers, and non-stop feedings. These are the people who will help you figure out how to mold your own little human in to their best version of themselves.

As for me, I am the mother of a beautiful, smart, silly, cheerful-as-can be, almost 9 (when did that happen!?) month old baby girl, Lacey. When I say that she is literally my entire world-- that's an understatement. She is my everything. I'm 100% overly obsessed with her. And although I am the second oldest of 6 siblings-- and my husband is the youngest in his family-- we are the first to bring a baby into the lives of our families. Of our few friends who do have children, many have moved away or have children who are of an older age bracket-- which means that my "village" of baby knowledge often comes from other mommy blogs and websites (& of course my own mommy!).

So when my younger sister (who blogs over at Luna Vida) urged me to start a blog of my own, I finally decided to give it a try... because if I can help one other mommy find the humor in her hectic day or lead another new mom to score an amazingly cute outfit for her little one at a great price, then why not? And, if I get another excuse to share hundreds some pictures of my cutie along the way-- then count me in!

So pour yourself your (third) cup of coffee and enjoy! Feel free to comment with any questions or ideas you have for me-- and check back soon for more. :)

Thanks for reading,

Shannon (Lacey's mama)


./mk,kl .,mkl.l;kl;,lnm,o;plk,       <<Lacey's blog entry