Back.

Over the past few weeks, I've had time to explore parts of my life outside of being a mom, and I'm grateful for that. First on vacation in Cabo, then for a work trip at #SXSW. 

It's been an awesome couple of weeks, but I was walking around with so much mom guilt.  I'm so glad to be back home, on a travel hiatus, and refocused on my family. Oh, and it's spring. Super happy about that! 

Happy Wednesday, and a few random photos below. 

Emerged.

The first six months of Coral's life were a haze. A dream-like haze because the lack of sleep and the shiny newness of being of a mom. While sleep-deprived, I was constantly researching what changes she was going through. I soaked up all baby knowledge like a sponge. I wanted to learn, learn and learn. I bought lots of workout clothes because, duh! That's the new mom uniform. I strolled around in my "active wear" with a badge of pride. "I'm a new mom wth no time for frivolous clothes!" is what I would tell myself. I felt like a hamster in a wheel - a very determined hamster. A loopy, happy, tired hamster. 

Then Coral started sleeping through the night and the world started opening back up. Then coral started crawling, holding a bottle, entertaining herself and things got easier again. Still hard, but exponentially easier than the beginning days.  By 12 months I didn't give a hoot about research. I learned to trust my gut. And now, 14 months in, I've started coming back to myself. Well, I came back to myself a few months ago. But I finally feel ready to write again. 

I started working out when Coral was 9 months. Now I'm running. I run 3-4 miles now! I mean that's not a lot for running pros, but this is the most active I've ever been in my life. I've bought real clothes! Workout clothes are great, but yes it's time to dress like an adult again. I'm hitting my stride in the work arena. I'm getting closer and closer to what I really want to do. In fact,  I am en route to Seattle right now for a marketing/ PR/ social media conference.  I'm truly loving my life as a working mama. I can't do it all but I have found balance. 

My former self and new role as a mom have finally found a way to coexist peacefully, when previously, they felt at odds. This is where I am at today and I absolutely love it. I'm inspired today! 

-written from a plane #raganmsft  

A Rite of Passage

My little bundle of joy is a one-year-old. My once chunka-munka, funny-looking newborn is a the cutest walking and talking little girl!  I wish she could stay this age forever, because every day she's learning a new trick that has us cracking up or ohh'ing and ah'ing.  Don't ever let anyone scare you away from parenthood. Kids are what life is made of, the best stuff on earth I tell Ya. 

So what did we do for her first birthday? Oh just throw one of those big (perhaps over the top) birthday parties she'll never remember! It's a rite of passage right?! Pics below: 

 We love you Coral baby! 

~your mom and dad :) 

Coral Bear | 6 months

AHHH! My favorite age so far. You are sitting up much better, not completely stable yet tho. You are way more into toys nowadays, so it's much easier to occupy you at home. You love jumpers, your pretend cell phone, this water bottle with noodles inside that I made for you. You are pretty attached to mama, although you generally love everyone! You just want me close while you explore. 

We all survived mom and dad's first vacation to mexico. I was having serious wrist pain, and overall just stressed about the whole ordeal but it's so true when they say you really need vacation. 

And you really, really want to crawl. You can get up on all fours as of 3/14/15. You love books, and getting out of the house. You still pitch a fit over getting dressed, and the after bath routine of lotion and the works. 

You are too precious for words. I know I am biased as heck, but I find you to be the most adorable little girl! You have a huge smile on your face all the time. 

Mommy wants to end co-sleeping, but doesn't think you'll comply. I can not handle the dark days of no sleep again (3.5-5.5 months for Coral). So we shall see how this goes in the next month or two. Who knows, makes you'll just sleep with us til you're  four! Ha. Psyche. 

Love you so much Coral bear. 

Coral Bear | 5 months

This little cutie starting sleeping through the night a few weeks after she turned 5 months. Grandma had you overnight a few days before Valentine's as "practice" and she didn't feed you. We never fed you in the night again. We did have a few weeks of you still waking up quite a bit, especially with you attempting to crawl? But you found your tummy sleep position,  and that was the beginning of sleep. It did take a little time for me to trust you on your tummy, but once I did boy was it nice! Amen! 

Still co- sleeping, and 100% formula starting at 5 months. Mama felt like a human again! Quitting BF was a huge game changer for me. 

Our little social butterfly: You love to go out and meet new people. People always comment on how sweet you are when out, and how great you do with strangers. I hope this never changes! In fact you prefer being out and about over staying home. Overall you are a very happy baby during the day, it's just the nights that can be a toss up :) 

You really are becoming interested in books. You love bath time, car rides, naps in strollers, jumpers, your wub a nub, purées - carrots, pears and apples, and co sleeping. My goodness you love our sleeping arrangment! Lol. 

You hate getting dressed.  

Thanks Ya'll

Thank you guys for your encouraging comments on my last post. While my blog has never blown up or become huge (I wish), I will always love the friendships I have made, and endless stories I have read because they helped me in my own specific situation.

Coral and I had a great day yesterday. I was off for MLK day, and it was so nice to just be with Coral all day, to really spend every minute with her and not feel rushed to do this or that. She was so sweet to me, and I could tell how happy she was to be with mommy. I got to sleep in a little bit, didn’t get dressed til 10 am (holler!) so her requests for more attention didn’t wear on me. I feel so terrible, but it’s just a fact of life. You come home from work and your patience levels are just lower than they should be as a mom!  She’s also finding her feet right now, and I got to soak in all that yumminess. It’s just the most adorable thing to watch a baby suck on their toes!  Proof below!

Just a tinsy sleep update: Coral’s sleep has gotten better. We aren’t cured and magically getting sleep, and sometimes it’s a total toss up and we feel like we are back at step 1 (Like last night LOL). We don’t know why Coral has so much trouble staying asleep certain nights, but I definitely rearranged her, or put her pacificer in her mouth about 5-6 times last night to keep her down. Throw in a feeding at 3:15 a.m., a diaper change and we’ve got one exhausted working mama! We are going back and forth about sleep training, and decided to wait a while before we do anything in that arena. I am also going to have my mom start letting her fall asleep unassisted for naps, and approach sleep training in a gradual way. Let grandma do the heavy lifting if you will! Removing me from sleep training as much as possible is A-Okay for me!

And that’s all I got lovaaaas. 

The (sleepless) 4th Month

Ohh the fourth month. Hands down the most challenging month yet, and all because of one thing: lack of sleep. Obviously all mamas expect to lose sleep in the newborn days, and most likely you’re on maternity leave. You hang out in your PJ’s, shower at noon, maybe cash in on everyone’s advice “sleep when the baby sleeps.” and of course, a new baby is just bliss.  But for your baby to sleep semi-well for 7 weeks, then WHAM all the sudden not sleep? AND you have to go to work the next morning? That completely blindsided me, and to be honest, left me feeling worse for wear all month. I definitely had a meltdown or two and lost confidence in my ability to mother. I spiraled myself into reading sleep blogs and questioning EVERYTHING we were doing. It was really, really tough.

Fortunately I had some adrenaline to run on because it was baby’s first Christmas. I mean, I was making outfit lists and coordinating plans weeks in advance. I was so excited about Christmas, and I gave myself some grace (thanks for that line Darby). Decorating and over-the-top gift giving/wrapping was just not important. All that mattered was Coral’s first Christmas! And me surviving zombie-mode.

Anywho I'll stop rambling. But to all first time moms, the 4-month-sleep regression is definitely not a joke. Hopefully I'll get my act together to implement a routine followed by some sleep training. 

and some stats to remember:

• 14 lbs 7 oz, 26 inches long. 60th percentile for weight, and 95th for height!
• size 3 diapers 
• 3-6 m clothes are too short. 6-9 m are a little baggy and need to be cuffed

Coral's likes:

• bath time! she loves to splash
• mirrors
• fingers! staring at them while moving them, sucking them, chewing them. Holding onto our fingers. her hand movements just make me melt daily.
• mam teething ring. putting everything in her mouth.
• being sung too. she loveeeees music. 
• getting out of the house. Coral is much more calm in new places. 

Coral's dislikes:

• getting dressed
• cold milk. 
• eating in the morning 
• playing by herself

Sleep: mostly bad. lol. co-sleeping from midnight to the am. in crib all other times/naps. Although it              has recently gotten better, this post is late and it happened in the 5th month. (to get technical)

Eating: 

• Still breastfeeding, and supplementing 4 oz of formula a day. We give her two half and half bottles a day basically. 
• This helps me not feel so stressed if I miss a pumping session, and eases my mind that she can take formula if needed for an emergency situation. I also can quit pretty easily when I decide to end our journey. Supplementing has overall taken the stress out of breastfeeding/pumping for me. 

Milestones: 

• giggles. not laughing spontaneously, but we can sure make her laugh if we tickle her! 
• sitting up with support very well. great head control. 
• her movements just became so fluid this month.

Mom & Dad:

• Matt has turned into superdad this month. I finally broke down and asked for him to step it up, since naturally I was carrying a lot of the load on maternity leave. Once I went to work I just needed way more help. Especially since pumping is quite the ordeal. 
• on the topic of pumping: exclusive pumpers deserve a serious shout-out. I tried to pump / bottle feed coral breastmilk very consistently when I went back to work. even on weekends and holiday breaks. She had developed a snacking habit when nursing and we just needed to get her out of that mode. and once she got it, I didn't want to go backwards. 

That's a wrap!

Christmas season 2014 is all done! I vacillated between excited and exhausted all month long. Here are some of our best moments. 

Furniture Friday | Amateur Furniture Refinishing

Happy Friday y'all. I sure need this weekend. Coral isn't sleeping well lately, but that's a post in itself. 

So, not much home decor things are happening in casa de cook lately, but I've kinda got a back log from Coral's nursery. For once in my life I actually finished a room! And really, really loved it. My favorite piece in the room is her dresser pictured above. It was one of those rare times that I didn't look at the finished product and go, "hm. Something didn't go quite right." 

We used a superrrr old dresser, painted that baby "Swiss coffee" by Behr with primer. I'm lazy and always get primer in the paint so I can skip sanding. I'm not necessarily recommending that, but we skipped it and don't really mind the few nicks on the paint here and there. 

My favorite part of this dresser is the hardware. I searched high and low, and was very picky about hardware.  Coral's room is shades of coral (duh), muted pink/peach and gold. So the gold handles were incredibly important to me. We bought 4 from ansaldi hardware, (the modern pull) and 6 from Lowes that we very carefully spray painted with a brass finish color. 

I'm gonna post more pics later, but am currently rushing from task to task. Have a good weekend! 

Winter White Inspiration

I always have fun with holiday outfits, and since I have darker skin winter white is my go to. It's just so elegant & timeless, and not overly bold like a red pick. Here are some pieces I'm lusting over this holiday season. Also, this is my first polyvore collage. Stuff is addictinggggg. Happy Hump day!

winter white by tessytessio featuring a white coat

Long sleeve mini dress / Ann Taylor white ivory dress / White coat / Polka dot skirt / TOMS foldover boots / Charlotte Russe bracelet / Gorjana ring / Jules smith earrings / Ted Baker stud earring set, $33 / Kate Spade post earrings / Nars cosmetic, $32 / Essie pink holographic nail polish

3 monthss for my wittle baby!

Phew! This month as been the most hectic, yet the most fun thus far! Coral wakes up babbling, and doing her fake cough (I think she thinks she is laughing?) and runs her mommy and daddy in circles all day! She absolutely loves to be talked to. She kind of demands it actually. “Talk to me, look at me mommy and daddy!” is what she would be saying all day. IF she could talk ya know?  It’s the cutest thing and we just stare at her and love on her all day. We often call her our spoiled firstborn, and we wouldn’t have any other way. We just adore her. And know we won’t do half of these things with our subsequent children ;)

So super big deal, I did go back to work this month. I opted to go back the Thursday before Thanksgiving week to “ease back into” it. I highly recommend this for any other working mamas (Thank goodness for my mommy-guru-neighbor-BFF, Jessi, and all of her advice). I worked a 2-day week, a 3-day week, then POOF it was Turkey day! This really helped me get the hang of pumping at work (during a very slow time workload wise!) and still felt energetic after work to see how she was transitioning at home. I can tell this balancing act is going to get much harder. After my first full 5-day week and a fun weekend in Galveston this mama was E X H A U S T E D. Sunday night I could barely keep my eyes open, but you bet your bottom dollar I stayed awake for HOMELAND! Who else is watching?!

So a little bit about Coral:

Stats: no update on weight, but size 2 diapers (loving swaddlers still), and mostly 3-6 or 6M clothes. Sometimes she doesn’t quite fill them out, but there is no point in buying 3M anymore, especially since the pants are usually too short. We also want all the clothes we buy to last her the entire winter season, which is only until February in Texas!

Likes: kicking, talking, chewing on things, pulling mommy’s hair, her wub-a-nub, getting out of the house! I swear she’s so bored of our house. Being looked at and talked to, and being sung to. Daddy has a song he’s been singing to her since the hospital days and she smiles every time he sings it. Baby girl LOVES bath time. Sleeping in motion. Watching TV? she turns her head from wherever she is to look at it. (eek?)

Dislikes: Diaper changes and getting dressed. Waking up alone. Not getting attention. The Carrier. Cue the tears on that one!

Eating: Coral is still exclusively breastfed/bottle-fed breastmilk. She’s mostly getting bottles during the week, and I nurse on the weekend (to get a pumping break), but not excessively so we can keep up with her weekday bottle routine. She also has a snacking problem when we nurse, so bottles are really best. She usually takes 4 oz a feeding. Even though we run through the drop-ins quickly, the Playtex nurser is still her favorite bottle. She won’t take a full feeding out of a Medela bottle, and I refuse the 4-part bottle. We did give her a few formula bottles before I went to work just in case something happened to my supply, but it mostly just made her gassy. And nothing happened to my supply - SO- the breastfeeding journey continues. Quitting seems like more work than continuing on, and it sure is convenient to nurse your baby on the go!

how my thanksgiving looked

Sleep: We’ve regressed here. Coral now tries to roll out of the newborn boppy lounger, so she is no longer sleeping in it from 10p-4am. Yup, she’s in our bed full time! I’ve been putting her in the crib some nights, usually until midnight, and my mom naps her there during the day. I’m planning some serious sleep training over the Christmas holiday since I’ll have 6 nights to try to get her out of our bed. I’m putting decorating and gifting as 2^nd priority this year so I can focus on her sleep. The good news is I really enjoy sleeping with her (hello dream feed!), and have gotten used to fragmented sleep. She’s just so adorable, but I do think we need to cut the cord now. If not, I’m afraid she’ll be sleeping with us until she’s 3.  I also have no idea why Coral hasn’t dropped feedings and just started sleeping through the night on her own. I’ve tried holding her off, blah blah blah and nothing seems to work. We may try a tinsy bit of cereal in the nightly bottle in a week or two to see if that helps.

Milestones: She rolled over! The day before she turned 3 months actually. I’ve already lost track of smaller milestones.. need to get better at tracking!

What a month it has been. Love ya girl!