OMG y'all. I've been busy. (Alternate title: Adventures of pumping in prison)

Holy buckets. Once I added in work, it's like this whole "three kids, full-time job" thing kicked into high gear. Add into that a couple of major celebrations, houseguests, and eight billion loads of laundry and there hasn't been a ton of time to blog. But fear not. There are several catch-up posts in the queue.

 I wanted to start off by talking about going back to work. I decided at the last minute to take a little extra vacation time and do two weeks of half-days. I think it was ultimately a good decision, but it is really hard to cram my work into a half-day. I hadn't anticipated how much time I'd need to get readjusted. And figuring out the whole pumping thing? Lord help me.

So pumping. It's always awesome, isn't it? Last time I was lucky and had my own office. This go-round, my "area" has been a topic of concern for MONTHS. Seriously. MONTHS. Several meetings. Finally it was decided that I'd use our small shared office, and kick people out as needed. Not awkward at all. My first day back I went to the office, and suddenly remembered that one of the things that made this a great office made it a terrible, terrible pumping spot. It has three large windows and is at the end of a major hallway (read: everyone walks by it). After a day of trying to pump in what used to be an inmate bathroom and then my boss's office, I requested blinds and was told to tape paper up instead. I love the planet (and my sanity) so that night I whipped up curtains. Because I am the epitome of the modern woman.

The next day I proudly hung up all my curtains and stood back to admire my ingenuity and flexibility. As I closed my curtains for my maiden voyage, I was feeling quite proud and efficient. I even geeked out a little bit at my good fortune that my fabric matched the wall color. And for some reason, I felt compelled to put on my nursing cover. This is important, because I have never used a nursing cover to pump before. I don't even know why I threw it in my bag. (This is called foreshadowing, I think. Also, divine intervention). So there I go. Pump is whirring away and I'm hunched over, balancing bottles on my knees while I type on my computer. I hear voices in the hallway but I'm confident that I am safe and private behind my pretty curtains. And then the door opens.

I grip my cover and start yelling, "Excuse me! Excuse me!" but the little bald head that can only belong to one of the more socially awkward supervisors keeps coming. Finally, as I say, "Please close the door!" the head retreats without ever saying a word. Phew! I don't think he ever saw me and I'm sure that we're all so humiliated that this won't ever happen again. But then! I hear an officer and three inmates outside my door, pondering whether I want my office cleaned. I'm assuming that they're all aware of my near miss and so again, I'm sure that no one would think to barge in. WRONG. Again, the door slowly opens. Again, "Excuse me! Excuse me! Please shut the door! DON'T COME IN HERE!" as I'm tethered to my "discreet" backpack. Only this time I don't get the quiet retreat. I get an officer, in his officer voice, saying, "What are you doing in there? You can't have curtains on your windows! This is not cool! You need to take these down immediately! What are you doing in there?" "Can we please discuss this in a moment?" "Yes. But you need to come out here immediately."

OMG. So I unhook and get dressed, then ask the officer to step inside. Where I've left all my bottles and hoses and horns (OMG. Horns) out on my desk. And I hold my head as high as possible to explain that I am pumping breast milk and therefore require (and have a legal right to) privacy. To which he responds, "Those are really nice curtains! Did you make those?"

And it's back to work I go

Classy as always

Happy Mother's Day!

It all makes sense now, doesn't it? 

Camping Weekend


With my maternity leave ending soon, we decided to take advantage of the time and weather to take our first camping trip of the season. It was a little short-notice, so we ended up plunking a couple hundred for "supplies" and basically throwing every camping-related item we own on top of the car. We're hoping that next time the process will be a lot more stream-lined (and cheaper!).

It didn't look like this for long, but it was so cozy!

We found an awesome campground that was on the other side of a local lake. Read: Everyone else was on the near side and our side was practically empty. This meant we had our pick of sites and were able to spread out a bit. I think we ended up covering three :) And the camp hosts were awesome. They even brought us free wood that they'd collected from cleaning other sites each night we were there.

This made my heart happy

Have I mentioned how much I love the Ergo? Avery practically lived in it.
(Also, this picture is my motivation to do more arm work. WTF is happening there?)

  

One of my favorite parts

of camping is everyone wandering around in jammies/sweats in the morning

Eli was SO excited to catch a lizard!

 

So happy after sleeping for EIGHT HOURS STRAIGHT in the tent.

 

Early morning sisters photo shoot

C teaching Syd how to cast. She's a natural

They took of on a "hike" just the two of them. I just about melted from the cuteness.

Awesome little dock. Note that Syd's legs don't reach the water, so C had to dangle her. He's got incredible arm strength 

 
I love love love camping. I'm so glad we went and that now we know that Avery can go too. I foresee lots more trips this summer.

So questions for the internets:
Do you camp with your kids, and if so, what are your go-to dinner recipes? I'm tired of burgers and brats and want to branch out more.
What's the quickest way to remedy whatever is happening with my arms? Seriously, I may need to eliminate tank tops from my wardrobe. 

I want one in my living room

On being the working parent

We just got back from one of Eli's school functions, where I watched my husband hold court in a mass of class moms. None of who had any interest in meeting me, if you catch my drift. School is the one place where I really notice the larger effect of our single income arrangement. I don't know a single mom by name. Despite volunteering in class I don't even know the majority of his classmates. It's not necessarily bad, but it is weird. Especially since I have been home for three months. Is this a common working mom situation? If so, how to you make sure that you stay keyed in? C knows all the gossip, who's who, and which kid is super popular this week while I still can't figure out if class starts at 8:17 or 9:06.

This girl

Caught the notoriously camera-shy smile!

Oh Ms. Avery Paige. I call her my "freebie baby" because she is SO easy. I woke up this morning and stared at her for a good half hour, so sad that I'm going back to work soon. And then she goes and throws a day like today. It was a total sitcom/stereotypical newborn day. Seriously, ALL DAY all she did was scream, eat, and scream. I spent most of the day bouncing around the house, "shh shh shh"ing, swaddling, unswaddling, changing diapers, changing clothes, and occasionally hopping on one foot. A friend of C's came over to pick up a table they're refinishing and I literally thrust the baby at him, said, "Here, you try" and walked away. She's finally sleeping in the swing, where I will gladly leave her all night if she wants. C thinks that she didn't sleep well last night but I'm afraid her glorious mood today may be a direct result of my glorious extra large vanilla latte at church yesterday.  I really hope not though. I don't really know how that works and what my time frames are. No coffee today though, so I'm really hoping that tomorrow's a bit easier.