A day in the life of a working mom: Pre Tax Season

Things have been crazy in the Millikan household. Between work, making/selling bows, the holidays, things have been completely packed!

I figured now would be a great time to list my daily schedule now that I'm a working mom. And I HAVE to be on some type of schedule to stay sane, so here it is.... A weekday in the life of a working mom:

5:30am Alarm goes off, and I wake up baby to eat
5:30am-6:00am Sophia eats
6:00am-6:45am Sophia goes back to her crib to rest/play, while I get dressed and do my hair/make-up
6:45am-7:00am Me/my husband (Ian) changes Sophia's diaper, dresses her in something acceptable (this step gets skipped if we run out of time...pj's at grandmas is alright attire! :)
7:00am-7:15am I wash and sterilize bottles/pump parts and pack up my Medela Pump in Style bag, packing an ice bag in a cooler.
7:15am-7:30am Drop Sophia off
7:30am-8:00am Ian and I carpool to work downtown.
8:00am-5:00pm WORK
5:00pm-5:45pm Ian and I drive home
5:45pm-6:00pm Pick up Sophia
6:00pm-6:30pm Hang out at home, relax, grab a snack
6:30pm feed dogs
6:30pm- Check work e-mail
7:00pm- feed Sophia oatmeal and her veggie of the day (see picture)
7:00pm-7:45pm Sophia naps while I cook dinner for Ian and I
7:45pm-8:00pm Ian and I eat,while Sophia wakes up and plays
8:00pm-8:30pm I shower while Ian does tummy time with Sophia
8:30pm diaper change and play time with Sophia
9:00pm- put Sophia down to bed (Ian showers)
9:00pm-10:00pm TV watching time/cleaning up the living room/house
10:00pm-10:15pm wash and sterilize some pump parts
10:15-10:30 pump before bed
10:30pm-5:30pm Sleep

REPEAT!!

This will be my schedule until January 15th, and then it will be completely different, as instead of 40-45 hours a week, I will be working 50-65 hours a week. I'll be sure to post that once I work out the kinks....

Being a working mom is stressful, hard and BUSY, but I wouldn't change it for the world! My career and my daughter keep me motivated to wake up and repeat this schedule day after day.

And, when I feel exhausted from a long day, I get to come home to this....

 

To poop or not to poop....

So I never thought I’d be so verbal about poop or talking about poop. But, as a mom, that 4 letter word is FREQUENT in your vocabulary. From the moment your child is born, they tell you to track your baby’s poop; the number of times a day, the color, texture, odor. It’s insane how much more you can tolerate once you have a kid. They literally gave us a picture chart of different types of poop. We’d match it up and log it in our book.


Well, a newborn infant poops constantly the first few months of life (especially a breastfed one). There were times Sophia did close to 10 times a day, so you realize my concern that my daughter (this weekend) has now gone over 48 hours without pooping!

Any moment…I’m sitting here waiting…and thank God for the internet. I google the craziest things (I only wish that I can go back and review everything I’ve googled since she was born) but yes I googled “My 4 month old hasn’t pooped in 2 days” and I got hits! It seems that as a mother, no matter what you are thinking, someone else has asked that same question.



It’s nice to know we are not alone fellow mommies! Let’s just hope I’m not alone when her no poop streak ends……

A new holiday tradition

Friday the husband and I decided to start our first holiday tradition as a family. We want to make decorating special for Sophia, and have decided to declare a whole night dedicated to decorating the house, in our PJ's after eating breakfast for dinner, scrambled eggs, pancakes and bacon.

I think it will be pretty fun tradition! I can't wait until Sophia is old enough to hang her own ornaments. This year we settled for her napping by the tree while we decorated. :)

What fun traditions does your family have?

Dogfish Head: Craft Brew Heaven

Another great thing about Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and the family beach house, is that we are about 2 blocks away from the greatest craft brewery ever (in my opinion).
Dogfish Head Brew Pub has been one of our favorite spots to visit while vacationing in Rehoboth. Not only do they have an amazing selection of beer, but the company itself really makes a difference in the community and for their employees. Their business motto shows that they take great pride in their beer, and their employees. They are always thinking outside of the box, and this has proven to help them develop some amazing beers.

http://www.dogfish.com/

We've had the ability to also vist their brewery in Milton and take a tour to see "where the magic happens."
http://www.dogfish.com/community/events/tours/index.htm

If I had to list out my favorite beers, my list would be different form my husbands, but be very lenghty, but let me list a few:
*Punkin Ale
*Midas Touch
*Pangea
*Chateau Jiahu
*Aprihop
*Tweason Ale
*Festina Peche

If you are ever in the area, check them out. If you see any of the dogfish beers in your store, try them!!! You won't be dissapointed!

Rehoboth Beach: A Family Tradition

I've been vacationing to Rehoboth Beach since I met my husband. He introduced me to the place, and I fell in love instantly. There is just something about the town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the small stores that adjourn the avenue, the awesome restaurants, and the amazing people.

This Thanksgiving we were able to show Sophia Rehoboth, the beach, and all of the fun places Ian and I love seeing while we are up here.

We were so fortunuate to get to have a nice 9 day trip up to Delaware, away from work, and the stress of home life. I had 9 wonderful days with my baby girl, and my 2 dogs, my husband, and family and friends.

If you live on the east coast, definitely look up Rehoboth Beach, DE. If you are looking for a great family friendly beach, clean town, the ability to walk everywhere, Rehoboth is the place to be!

Ian and I are still working on our $1 million idea, so that we can afford a house near the beach.....but until then, we will enjoy the family house. :)

Being Mom: A Purseless Christmas

First off, let me say that I skipped Black Friday mid-night shopping for the first time in AGES. In past years I would gear up with my winter coat, and coffee, and make the trek out to the stores from midnight to 6am. It was almost a habit of mine, and I enjoyed it each year!

This year things were a little different. Having a 4 month old meant I had to cut back some of my midnight shopping, or actually cut it out all together. Ian usually goes out with me and acts as my "wing man." He would drop me off at my favorite store and handle the car parking (which I am always so impatient for). He also would come into each store and start waiting in line, so that by the time I was done shopping I would be ready to check out. (I hate waiting in lines).... I have a pretty great husband, don't I?

This year, we considered taking our girl out with us. 4 months is a pretty portable age. I can stick her in a stroller or the baby carrier and she is content, but in the end I didn't want to deal with the hassle of diaper changes, messing up her schedule, and the cold weather. So, no black Friday midnight shopping for me. However I DID go to one store, a store I always go to, and that is Kate Spade. They have a great black Friday sale at the outlets where EVERYTHING is 50% off, and this year they were opening at 10pm. I did my usual Wednesday stalk, where I go in and see what I would want to buy, so that day of, I can grab it and go.

Thursday came, and Ian, baby, and I were on our way. I walked into Kate Spade exactly at 10pm (along with 70 or so other ladies) and I picked up my items, all of them were gifts for other people.... Ipad covers, make up bags, etc. Well I started wandering off the beaten path (ie. starting to look at purses that I had no business looking at). I would try them on, feel them, look at me holding them in the mirror. I looked around and saw 70 other women doing the same, some with 5-10 bags in their arms checking out. Then I got a little sad. Would I buy a $200 purse and actually use it these days? I have my Kate Spade diaper bag, and whenever I go out, I throw diapers, wipes, change of clothes, a toy or two, and BARELY have room for just my wallet. There is NO way I was going to bring a WHOLE separate purse out with me....so why bother buying a nice purse.

Now that I'm a mommy, I feel enslaved to my diaper bag (which is pretty stylish....), but I remember back to those carefree days where I could buy new purses each Christmas and birthday...are these days gone forever??

Purseless this Christmas.....

Marian

A word that ends in J

Playing scrabble today with the family. Stumped everyone when I actually came up with a word that used J as the last letter. "HAJ" I said, as I laid it down, and of course my husband challenged even though I was behind by over 100 points. (Scrabble is my worst game ever....I am horrible at it)

I looked it up, and sure enough it was a word:
Haj: A pilgrimage to Mecca during Dhu'l Hijja, made as an objective of the religious life of a Muslim.

So what if I ended up loosing Scrabble by 110 points (per usual), I stumped my husband. Booyah!

What's the craziest word you've ever used in Scrabble?

Crap Happens....Literally

So, this morning was an interesting one! I’ve finally got a morning schedule down that works well for my husband and I. However, schedule is not an actual word in baby terms….so I shouldn’t have gotten too excited.


This morning was a little different than most. For starters, Sophia slept through the night! From about 11:30pm until 5:30pm she slept! When my alarm went off at 5:30 I started my normal 30 minute feed for her. I noticed her diaper was completely bone dry. She slept through the night AND didn’t mess her diaper! Then, to my surprise, I removed her clean diaper and propped her on top of the potty (just for a test) and my child peed and took a BIG poop in the toilet!) We are talking baby genius here! This was going to be the most perfect morning ever! (or so I thought)

Because of the excitement of Sophia doing all of these wonderful things, I decided to not take my usual 6-6:15am nap, and jumped in the shower. (I also got spit up on during the feed, so a shower was a must). I was going to be 15 minutes early today! I even had time to pick out a special outfit for my child. Matching pants and onesie, with matching socks, and the cutest purple bow ever! I dressed up my doll baby and sat her in her rock n play where she stared at her bear for 20 minutes. My little angel! (or so I thought)

About 6:58 when we were about to head out the door, my husband handed her to me… “you need to fix this” I took one look at my child and saw, she had poop all over herself, her outfit, everywhere. Instead of getting out of the house at 7:00am, I spent the next 10 minutes scrubbing poop out of her clothes. I would of asked my husband to do it, but his idea of getting rid of poopy clothes is to ACTUALLY GET RID OF THEM…Straight to the trash. I was not going to throw away a good outfit!

Such is life as a mom. A good morning can turn ugly in a blink of an eye…

Anyone have any good soaking/stain remover recipes or products that will get out poop?

Car Sun Visors For Short People

Does being undcer 5'3" automatically mean you have to drive with the sun in your face, or sunglasses on?

Sun visors are discrimanatory to short people! Is it just me? When I put the sun visor down (on any car) it does absolutely nothing.

I think I will invent a sun visor extendor that pulls down. (Or buy myself a new pair of sunglasses)

Short people need shielding from the sun too!

I miss Sleep

I survived my first full week back to work! Last week was tough. Not only was I sad being away from my little stinker, but juggling my schedule at work, and the fact that Sophia is a 100% breast milk baby, made it extra difficult. I've finally got over my need to call and check in on my child, I know she is in good hands. And, my office is stocked with pictures of her galore. Each day I feel a little stronger and being away is a little easier.

One thing that my husband and I do NOT see eye to eye on, is a sleep schedule. What has been working while I was on maternity leave is me doing the nighttime feed and change, and me doing the middle of the night feed and change, and me doing the morning feed and change (notice a trend here). Well, the husband wants to keep it that way (obviously), and I'm trying to let him know that since we are both working full time, that we need to share the responsibilities of night time feedings.

My first option was co-sleeping. I found that to be really simple and easy. Ian got his way of not wanting to wake up, I got my way of getting some extra sleep, and Sophia enjoyed her on demand feed schedule. Well, after about 2 glorious nights of this, Ian finally lets me know that he absolutely does NOT want me to co-sleep. His worry was that I would roll over and suffocate our child. That IS a scary thought, but I had it under control. With that being said, the whole argument of co-sleep or not co-sleep came up. I did my quick research online, and asked him if he could find any recent cases online of someone suffocating their child by rolling over them. I told him the chances of that was less than her getting into an auto accident. (OK, I had no proof of this, but it sounded good).

I did also ready that co-sleeping helps regulates your childs breathing pattern, and they are less likely to suffer from sleep apnea. Sleep apnea actually causes your child to stop breathing in their sleep. (Again, everything I am saying here were taken from non-primary resources, so don't take my word for it).

But, I do want to take how my husband feels seriously, so I will not be co-sleeping per say. We came up with a compromise:
If Sophia wakes up in the middle of the night, Ian will go get her from her crib, and give her to me. I will then set 2 alarms 15 minutes apart, cosleep/nurse switch sides after the first 15 minute alarm, and then after the next 15 minute alarm I will put her back into her crib.

This solution gets me a few extra minutes of sleep. I don't fall into a deep sleep in 15 minutes, so I feel comfortable that she is safe.

Having a family is all about compromise! I hope this gives me more sleep and makes me less cranky! :)

MIA mommy

So I've been dropping the ball the past few days. This week marked my first FULL week back at work, and it has been eventful! Between tryin to work out a feeding schedule, sleep schedule, squeezing in dinner, laundry and a shower between the hours of 6pm and 10pm, it has been much more difficult than I have imagined.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post that goes through these past few days, and how I've managed to come out alive....or better yet....awake.....

If you are a working mother, what is your advice on how to get more sleep during the work week, but get the housework done, and spend time with your little one and husband too?

40 Free Photo Prints (Expired Nov 1st)

Head on over to http://photo.walgreens.com/walgreens/storepage/storePageId=Special+Offer+Prints
and upload and order a total of 40 4×6 photo prints for $7.60.
Head on over to the checkout and enter the code: DRUGSTORE40
This offer expires November 1st
This code will make all 40 prints FREE!  Then, select the option for FREEE in-store pickup,so you can pay $0 to take your prints home.

I love photo freebies! 

REVERSE Nesting?

So, we've all heard the term "nesting" in regards to when pregnant mothers begin to get the house ready for the new baby. Cleaning, doing laundry, yelling at our husbands to finish half started house projects, these are all common signs of "nesting." I had my share of nesting. My husband may even say I nested BEFORE I was even pregnant. I don't think buying baby toys on clearance to store them in my closet before knowing I was pregnant really counts as nesting...more like crazy? haha (Okay, I know that there are others that do this too, don't lie!)

Anyways, I'm digressing. When I "nested" I apparently made a whole list titled "Cr*p that needs to get done before the baby comes" and e-mailed it to my husband. Well, 2 days later, (and a whole month early) Sophia came, and my list never was completed. This was my first lesson I learned as a mom. "When it comes to having children, you can plan, but 99% of the time, things aren't going to work exactly as planned." So there was my short lived nesting phase when it came to my daughter.

Well, for those of you that don't know, starting in October, I went back to work 2 days a week, to ease myself back into my full time job. Well, next week, the week of October 31st, I start 5 days a week, full time. Well, this past week, on one of my days off, my husband came home an hour early, and caught me on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor of the kitchen. We're talking moved the breakfast table and chairs into the other room, and really getting the floor clean. He took one look at me and said, "So.....is this reverse nesting?"

Now, in the context of things, I don't think he meant quite what he was saying because when I initially thought of "reverse nesting" I thought it meant not getting things ready, or being lazy (I almost took the spatula from the kitchen counter and beat him over the head with it, if that was his intention of what it meant.) But, he went on to say "Is this where you go crazy and get everything neat and tidy before going back to work." You know, I think it was.

So, although the term "Reverse Nesting" can seem odd, I like the sound of it. So I fully admit to my reverse nesting phase. *Hopefully* I will get a clean house out of this!

Fisher Price Iphone Toy: Good or Bad?

So I recently stumbled across an interesting baby/toddler toy made by Fisher Price. They are calling it the new chatterbox phone. See exhibit A..The old school child friendly plastic phone:

Exhibit B, the new age "chatterbox" Toy made by Fisher Price:

 It's a case you place your iPhone in so that your child can play kid friendly apps. It features a mirror on the back, textured handles, childproof case with a plastic screen cover (no more worrying the child will drop and break/crack the phone), a cover to the home button (so the child cannot leave the game and go to your address book or phone, and accidentally call your boss), as well as a cover for the on/off button and volume buttons.

There are child friendly apps included in the case like the ‘Chatter Phone’ application, on which children can pretend to call various characters. When the child dials the police on the app, a character says, ‘Hello! I’m Pete the police officer, I keep everyone safe. Fisher Price is not new to the iDevice market. There are currently several iPhone apps available for download in the App Store with three free downloadable Laugh & Learn apps coming soon.

Do you think this is going too far? Should your child be allowed to play with your $200-$400 device?

My two cents- if you've already gone down the road of allowing your child to play with your iPhone, or play games on your phone, this product is GENIOUS, and you must get one!
On the other hand, I have yet to introduce my child to my other child (my precious iphone) and hope to keep it that way! The last thing I need is someone screaming "mine! mine!" and have a meltdown every time I pull that thing out. She should do what kids did years ago.....go look at some books, or play with some blocks!!

However, I'm sure I will succumb her desire to play with mommy's toy, and when I do, this will be in my Amazon shopping cart....

Way to go Fisher Price!

My Guest Blog at You Are The Roots!

Check out my guest blog over at http://www.youaretheroots.com/
While you are there take a look at all of the fabulous posts by its blogger Lindsay! She is awesome!

Have a great Friday!

Dear Michaels, I miss you

Recently I wrote an e-mail to Michaels, the store. I use to frequent that store weekly, but since having Sophia, I haven't really gone into the store, and I finally realized why.
I decided to write them so they would understand why I and some others may (consciously or subconsciously) avoid their store.
SO, this is evidence that if a change is made, it may possibly be because of this e-mail I just wrote. (PS. this proves how much of a dork I am, since I'm spending the time writing this e-mail, and then of course a blog about the e-mail...geeze....lol)

"Michaels! I just want to say I LOVE your store, and your SpookyTown collection gets my husband and I in every year. I do want to communicate a recent change in my life that has caused me to not be able to shop in your store as frequently. As a marketing major in college I studied the trends of consumers, and when I realized what I was actually doing, why I was beginning to avoid your store, I decided I HAD to let you know (in case others subconsciously were avoiding it as well).

I recently had a baby. Upon entering your store for the first time I realized I could not fit my child's car seat into your shopping cart basket. Your baskets are TOO small. "Big Deal" one might think, but it WAS a big deal. Not being able to place my daughter safely inside the large part of the shopping cart meant I had to lug around the entire car seat with baby in it. Too heavy, it caused me to wander around the store for 2 minutes and then leave. I haven't been back since because when I went to JoAnn Fabrics the car seat fit into the stroller, and I spent a whole hour strolling around a nice quiet sleeping baby.

So, over the past few weeks when I've had the need for crafts, I have only gone to JoAnns. The main purpose being because my car seat fits into my cart.

As a mom it's too much effort to take my infant child out of her car seat to go into a store, and if she is sleeping, no way will I take her out of it! Popping her in the stroller makes a quick trip in a one stop store a nightmare (as the effort to uncollapse and collapse the stroller is an extra step, and it is hard to maneuver around the aisle with a stroller and a basket). I save the stroller for the mall.

So, this is my friendly request. Consider making your shopping baskets a little bigger so I can again enjoy my weekly trips to your store!

Thanks!"
 
So my bloggie friends, if Michaels ends up getting bigger baskets, this may in fact be my one and only claim to fame. Here's to big baskets, being lazy and placing our carseats in them!

To Gym...or Not to Gym....

My running joke is that when I go shopping and buy clothes for Sophia (which I do a lot), I have to keep the bags hidden so that my husband does not yell at me for spending so much money on clothes. I always say I hide the bags in his gym drawer, because he never looks there.
But... I'm totally calling him out on something I'm 10 times worse at...

I will admit (shamefully) that I have had a membership to Golds Gym and have not gone in a year. I know it's horrible!! $19.99 a month flushed down the toilet. I made so many excuses... Oh I'm pregnant, wow this pregnancy is making me to too tired to exercise, tax season is here, oh, now I'm too big to go to the gym, I don't have any gym clothes that fit my pregnant belly, I just had a baby, I'll go next week, yadda yadda yadda.

Now, my big excuse is: "I would rather spend time outside of work with Sophia, than to be at a gym." And, you know what, that is 100% true. I WOULD rather spend time with Sophia then be a sweaty mess at the gym, but I need to figure out a way to motivate myself to go.

To all the other working moms out there, what motivates you to go to the gym? What do you tell yourself to get you to get those sneakers on? How do you manage family, work, and the gym?

Then it hit me. A baby and me class! There has to be some sort of class out there where I can bring Sophia along, that way I'll be spending time with her, and getting a workout. Well, I haven't starting searching for this "class" yet, so if anyone has any pointers send them my way!

I guess I can't complain about not loosing all of the baby weight yet, if I have not step foot into the gym. Maybe some exercise will help me kick these last 8 pounds that are lingering......

Here's to the end of excuses, and to the beginning of solutions!

Ashland Berry Farm

We took Sophia to her first Pumpkin Patch. We decided to make the drive to Ashland Berry Farm. They
had a great hayride (free admission) and we did the "all you can carry for $20" Ian was forced to carry 8 pumpkins!
The reason we chose Ashland was because they did not charge an admission to get in and do the hayride. And, since Sophia is too young to enjoy rides, mazes, and games, it was the most economical route. Plus, this way you pay for what you actually enjoy!
Their decorations were great, and their gift shop was a fun way to end the day.

I highly recommend Ashland Berry Farm! Visit their website at: http://ashlandberryfarm.com/

Here is a picture of the trial run. I don't have a picture of the final carry, but we tossed 3 more pumpkins on him. Ian survived, and everyone got their pumpkins!

Munchkin Bunch Member

Thanks to everyone's support and voting, Sophia made it as a Munchkin Bunch Member! She wins scholarship money and a prize package of Munchkin, Inc. products every month through May 2012

She received her first package on Thursday. It was filled with tons of Munchkin products!

Thank you again for your support. Sophia is excited to share her monthly product reviews with you and the rest of the Munchkin, Inc. Family!

My Favorite Recipe: SkinnyGirls Stuffed Peppers

Bethenny Frankel has an AMAZING recipe for stuffed peppers. It's part of her Skinny Girl line, so it is low in fat, and high in protein because of an amazing grain called Quinoa! You can get Quinoa at your regular grocery store in the natural foods aisle (at least at Kroger you can) or at any natural food grocery store.
This recipe is pretty simple, the only thing that stinks is it dirties up 3 cookware items, but it's well worth it, AND I make the husband do the dishes at the end, so it works out! :)

http://www.bethenny.com/2010/08/10/stuffed-peppers-recipe/

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cook for 30 minutes
Prep Time 30 minutes

• 6 peppers (cut off top and bottom and use them)
• 1 pound turkey meat
• 1 cup quinoa (cooked)
• ½ large onion
• 2 cups jarred tomato sauce
• 1.5 tsp garlic salt
• 2 tsp tabasco
• 2.5 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp fresh thyme
• 1/3 cup feta cheese
• 2 tablespoon toasted pine nuts
• Parsley for garnish

Preparation

1. Cook quinoa per directions. Add one cup grain to 2 cups water. Boil, then simmer until water is gone
2. Crumble turkey meat with wooden spoon over medium heat.
3. While turkey meat is cooking, chop the tops and bottoms of peppers into pieces and combine with chopped onion, garlic salt and tomato sauce. Saute over medium heat and add remaining ingredients except the feta and pine nuts
4. Combine the above with cooked turkey, quinoa, pine nuts and feta cheese (save a small amount of feta to sprinkle on top later on)
5. Remove the inside of the peppers. Portion the mixture into each of the peppers and place them on a baking sheet. Top with feta cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

Target: 20 free prints

Target is having a sale on prints, 10 cents per print. This is the price I normally get my digital prints for if I'm in a hurry. 10 cents is good, and rarely do you get it for any cheaper unless it's a special deal through an online retailer.
Well, there is also an additional coupon for $2 off 20 prints. So, you will get 20 prints for free if you print the coupon at: http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/tplclick?lid=41000000029606694&pubid=21000000000273499

Bow Making 101: Fabric Bow-double layer folded

So here is my first instructions on how to make hair bows! First, I'm going to show you step by step instructions to make a double layer folded fabric bow. (I totally just made that name up, I don't know what it's ACTUALLY called, but just work with me here....)

Please note this is the FIRST time I have made this bow, and I'm taking pictures along the way, and obviously making mistakes. I'm not ashamed to admit it! :) So I don't think the final product is going to win any awards, but hopefully it will be a fun project for others, and maybe I'll get better at it!

PS. Please ignore my absolutely horrid chipped nail polish. I'm way overdue for a manicure...obviously....

Materials

• Fabric- one color or two colors. You don't need much, maybe 3 inches by 20 inches of one color (base color) and 2 inches by 8 inches of another color (top color)
• glue gun, craft glue (for this demo I'm using super glue because that is what I had, but I don't recommend super glue because it can be dangerous, hard to work with.
• white thread
• Scissors
• a hand sewing needle
• a small piece of felt
• ribbon (to wrap alligator clip) Grosgrain ribbon works well
• Alligator clip
• circle templates 2.5 inch and 1.5 inch in diameter
• Button cover kit

Step 1: using your templates, cut out (7) 2.5 inch circles with you base fabric, and (4) 1.5 inch circles with your top fabric. Cut a slit halfway through each one. (pretend there is 7 orange circles instead of 6 in the picture below

 Step 2: Fold each orange piece over into triangles by 6ths, folding it into opposite directions. It should look like a bunch of "S"'s bunched up.

 Step 3: Sew each bunch onto the small round piece of felt. (you only need to sew them on in the middle of the felt.

Step 4: Do the same with the top layer, except fold in 4th's and sew together.

Step5: Make your fabric button (see back of cover button box for instructions) and sew button onto top. (You can really use any embellishment on the top.

Step 6: To attach to the alligator clip, first cover the alligator clip with the white ribbon using your glue (it will make the flower hold onto it longer), then glue the flower to the clip!

Fan Question: What do I miss most?

Here's a new post where I answer questions that people have submitted to me!

Our first question is: What do you miss most about your daughter while you are at work?

Awesome question, and although there are MANY things I miss about my daughter while at work, the one that is always on the back of my mind is what she is doing. Is she doing something new? Have I missed an important milestone?
I've come to terms that I will miss a few things. I may miss her first step, or her first giggle. But, someone will be there to see it, and it will be someone that will help her develop that skill. As long as she is growing and learning, I am content. I will see those steps, and I will hear that giggle. It may not be the first ones, but I'll aim to hear the most giggles, by trying to make her laugh, and see the most steps, by playing with her outside, and that's something I look forward to every day :)

Have a question? Leave a comment or e-mail AdventuresofaWorkingMom@gmail.com

1 week down

So I finished my first week back at work! I did all the typical first week things like:

• Bring in pictures of my child
• Talk to other people about how I'm doing back at work
• Change my wallpaper on my computer to one of her
• Surf my phone to scan through pictures of her every few hours

and yes, I did call to check in on her. :) And yes, that did involve my mother in law placing the phone to my child's ear, and me explaining to my 2 month old that I missed her, and will be picking her up soon.
I realize that ALL of these things, I did for me, to make me feel better, and survive my day.

So in the end this week was a success. One thing I think I learned is that the majority of the time I need Sophia more than she needs me. When she's with her grandma, or at daycare, she learns, gets attention, plays, and has a great time. I just keep telling myself she is fine, safe, happy and learning. I couldn't ask for anything more.

So yes, I do need my child more than she needs me, but you know what.....that's okay :)

Free BareMinerals Lip Color

Now, this is only good if you have a Sephora located in a JC Pennys. But alas, if you live in Richmond, Virginia, there is one at Chesterfield Towne Center!

Who doesn't love a free lipgloss!

http://f.chtah.com/i/2/95827765/SephoraCoupon2.jpg

RIC-OOOOOO-LAAAAA

Todays find is for Ricola Throat Lozenges. I used to not be a fan of the taste, but it got the job done. AND I loved those commercials, you know RICCCCOOOOOOLAAAAA with the guy and the horn?
Anyways, they have a mixed berry flavor I've been wanting to try. Why spend over $3 to try them, when you can spend $0.19!

Walgreens has the 19-24 count Ricola drops for $1.29 with their in Ad coupon.
Then, use the $0.50 cents off 1 Walgreens coupon found in the October Coupon booklet (I snagged this book at Walgreens the other day from their counter.
Then use the $0.60 cents off 1 manufacturer coupon you cna print here: http://enlnks.com/aff_c?offer_id=118&aff_id=174

Final price: $0.19!

Mommy, CPA

Today was my first full day back at work. I'm working Tuesdays/Thursdays in October, before going back 5 days a week in November. I'm a CPA, (a certified public accountant). I work on taxes, tax return, tax planning and compliance. (Don't everyone get jealous!) I LOVE what I do though, and the people I work with. And, I like to think I'm good at what I do, so I enjoy it (plus it helps pay the bills, buy more toys for Sophia, and a few new pairs of shoes here and there.....once a month.....okay...sometimes weekly).

It feels like yesterday I was sitting at my desk at work, and my water broke, and shortly after I met my beautiful little Sophia. Well, now, 2 months later, it is time for me to get back to work. It was a hard morning. Not only was I unsure of the feeding schedule for the night (I have just done all of the night feeding, since Ian had to be well rested for his job, and I would rest during the day), I wasn't sure of how the day would turn out. We tested out a schedule where I feed a 11pm bottle, and Ian wakes up at 4am to do a feeding so I could sleep through the night. Well, 4am rolled around, and Sophia was not liking daddy duty, and cried for what seemed like 30 minutes straight. I could not sleep knowing she was unhappy, so I was awake, too. Night time schedule day 1: FAIL.

Fortunately for us, my mother in law has agreed to watch Sophia for the next 6-7 months. Then, Sophia will start daycare June 1st. It would be a great transition for me, and it seems that Grandma (aka Nannie) was more than thrilled to have more one on one time with baby girl. Win-Win. Well, Nannie asked me to write down Sophia's schedule.

SCHEDULE? Ummm.... thinking back, Sophia HAD no schedule. I fed her on demand when she was hungry (3-6 times during the working day depending on how hungry she was). She slept when she was tired and I was doing some chores around the house, I played with her when she was awake and I had the house semi cleaned. THERE WAS NO SCHEDULE... so what did I do? I guessed. I figured Sophia would get into a schedule eventually.

The morning was off to a good start. I woke up on time, got myself ready, woke up my sweet pea, spent 10 minutes just hugging and kissing her (to make up for the hugs and kisses I'd miss during the day), and got my stuff together. So.... I had my laptop bag, my purse, my snacks, my breakfast, my coffee, my pump, HOW ON EARTH WAS I GOING TO CARRY EVERYTHING IN? "You can take two trips" Ian said. No way, I was not walking through the parking garage, into the lobby, and up the elevator twice. I already was going to miss out on work time having to pump every 3 hours. I was just going to "European Vacation It." A term I coined when we went on our MMediterranean cruise and had to walk 5 miles with all of our luggage tossed over our shoulders, and on our backs. Oh, I have pictures, and it is ridiculous!

Most of my day was spent getting things back to normal. First, I noticed the coffee cups had changed, we now had biscotti biscuits in the break room, I had a new phone, we had a new phone system, I had a new computer, we finally got a color laser print. OH MY GOSH, everything was different. Learning all of the new systems/phones/computers/printers kept me busy, but I still thought about Sophia and what she was doing.....

I will always wonder what new things she was learning, did she miss me? Did she do something new today? Did I miss a milestone?

But... I will always think back to why I am a working mom. I'm very invested in my career, my coworkers are like family, and as Ian has reminded me "If you don't go back to work...we'll never afford to take Sophia to Disney World." So... I salute you Mickey Mouse, for being (one) of my motivations to continue to be strong.

Life as a working mom, here we go.....

Do You Extreme?

Okay, I wouldn't call myself an extreme couponer, but I love a few freebies here and there. if it's simple enough to print from a computer and pick up at the store, I'm in. Today I got almost $40 worth of free stuff, and all it invoved was a couple minutes and a printer!

First I picked up 2 scrubbing bubbles hands free toilet cleaners. These are regular $9.99 and Walmart had them on sale for $3.97 each. I was going to be at Target anyways for another freebie, so I took the Walmart ad into Target to be more efficient (since Target price matches.) So Target price matched them at $3.97 each, and I had (2) $4.00 off coupons I printed online. NET PRICE (-$0.06)

Here is the $4 off coupon (you can print up to 2): https://www.rightathome.com/Offers/Pages/2011-09-sb-facebook.aspx

Next, at Target I purchased a Transformer action figure MSRP $11.98, marked down to $9.98 and I had (2) $5.00 off coupons. NET PRICE (-$0.02)

The thing about Target is you can use a Target coupon AND a manufacturer coupon at one time. I had a Target coupon for $5.00 off and a manufacturer coupon for $5 off. I don't really need this, but I will be donating it to the Salvation Army Toy drive. :)

Target Mobile Coupon (This was new to me, as I signed up for it online, and Target instantly send me the link to my cell phone which gave me a bar code to give the cashier to scan): http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/mobile.jsp?title=coupon_signup

Manufacturer coupon on Targets website (you'll have to pan through until you find it): http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000029606694&pubid=21000000000203393

Next I picked up a free pair of VS underwear, via a coupon they sent me in the mail. They send me these every quarter for some reason. Retail price $8.50. NET PRICE ($0.00)

 

In the end I got $38.46 worth of stuff for FREE (before tax).  The items at Target had some tax that I needed to cover, but I'm going to ignore that.

Not too shabby!

A Bow For Every Outfit

That's my goal, to have some sort of bow that goes with everything Sophia wears. It may be far fetched, but I can at least try right? After spending countless hours on Etsy, and buying bows here and there, I developed the genious idea that I was going to make bows. It can't be too hard right?

Well, this coming Saturday I will let you know because I signed up for a bow making class. I'm hoping with this knowledge, and the JoAnn Fabrics down the street, I can make my dream come true...a bow for every outfit :)

Well, I've already developed quite a stash of bows, and I wanted to make sure I knew where they were at all times, so I wanted to make my own bow holder. Sounds simple enough right? I'd seen them online for purchase, but wanted to see if I could make one to match the nursery so I went to my Michaels and picked up the following supplies

*A wooden Plaque
*A wooden letter S
*Some Ribbon (I think I got a yard of ribbon)
*2 wooden shapes (as weights)
*Super glue/wood glue (which I already had)
*The paints we used in the nursery

It probably took me about 20 minutes. (I don't like doing many things that don't have some sort of instant satisfaction, I tend to get bored) BUT, 20 minutes later and I was done. SO, if I can do this, anyone can.

Here is the finished product! The only problem is....it doesn't fit (anywhere close) to all of Sophia's bows, so I'll have to develop some sort of rotation. The neat thing about bows is that I've ordered all of my bows on alligator clips, then I have a stash of headbands, and I can clip these bows on the headband of my choosing.

Happy Crafting!

BabyLegs Legwarmers and tights 75% off

Baby Legs Legwarmers and tights 75% off plus free ship on orders over $30

BabyLegs has a great deal going on. 75% off their legwarmers. These are so cute! Normally $10-$15 each, I managed to snag 11 pair for only $31, no tax, free shipping (That's $93 off). Plus they'll make great gifts too. I bought an assortment of newborn and baby sized leggings. Just use FB75OFF75 promo code when you check out. And dont add any of the winter line into your cart (those are not discounted), and the code only applies to the legwarmers and tights, however some people have had sucess with the socks.

Happy shopping! :)

Offer expires October 3rd

The Nursery

I've always dreamed of what my baby's nursery would look like. Therefore I spent many hours trying to figure out the exact color combination, the perfect bedding, and decorations for my little girl.

Well, after months of research I found the perfect bedding. After hundreds of saved pages and shops on my bookmarks tab on my computer, and endless trips to the baby store to take a look at what they had displayed, I had chosen a set!

I've always wanted to do pink for a girl, and I've always wanted to paint the room two colors with chair rail in between. Lucky for me Ian agreed to put up the chair rail, under one condition, I couldn't do dark pink and light pink as my two colors for the walls. (Apparently that would be too much pink for him).So, after go back and forth, I decided on brown and pink. I thought the colors would really compliment the bedding and furniture.

The furniture was something I had picked out over a year ago. Yes, I was one of those girls that frequented the baby shops without having a child or being pregnant, but I was so excited to eventually have a child, I figured there was no harm in looking. There is (was) a cute baby furniture shop in town, and when I was out running errands I would stop and "browse." I decided on the babydream brand since they had the crib gate, which would allow me to bend over and pick up baby easier (and this type of gate was not recalled with the latest recall back in June). This gate only partially dropped down, which allows short people like me the ability to reach in with ease, safely.

The other big decision was the closet. I told Ian last Christmas, that all I wanted him to get me was a baby closet. (This was before we even knew we were expecting). So he built one! I chose green and white as the color combination since I figured I could reuse the closet accessories if we were having a boy or a girl. I think it turned out perfect.

SO, without any further ado...here are some pictures of our finished nursery. Now, I just need to courage to move baby Sophia from our room to the nursery....

PS. Don't forget to give your 5 daily votes to Sophia http://lifewiththemillikans.blogspot.com/2011/09/top-10-finalist.html

Free 16x20 Poster Print from Walmart

I saw this coupon online that you can print to receive a free 16x20 poster print from Walmart. It looks like a photo enlargement!

You have to upload your photo at Walmart.com and you have to select "for same day service."
Add a 16x20 POSTER print to your cart (I choose Matte finish instead of glossy since I was framing mine).

You also must select to pay at pickup. (because the coupon has to be used when you pay in the store)

Enjoy!



Note: If you have trouble printing from this picture, you can go to this website to print the file from an attachment(this is also a website I find a lot of great deals/coupons/freebies from


http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3308470 (post has been removed)

PS. While you are here, please consider voting for my little *Sophia Millikan* (The baby with the white head band) in a national baby contest. She's made top 10 so far (out of 3,500) and needs your help to make top 5.
You can vote for her 5 times a day at: http://www.facebook.com/MunchkinInc?sk=app_159117397504600

Or, check out my blog post about the contest! Thanks!

Thursday Rant: I need space!

I don't like complaining. I love being a mom, and I dont' mind the extra hassles and new struggles being a mom brings. But, sometimes it's nice to talk about some of those struggles to see if anyone else relates. Plus it allows me to get it off my chest, and laugh about it, so here goes! :)

So, today I took Sophia out to run a couple errands. Mom decode: going to 2-3 stores for an hour or two, and needing about an hour to prepare for the trip. (Bottles, diapers, change of clothes, timing the last feed, getting the stroller ready, etc.)

Well, I had some issues today that I need to rant about! First, I'm in the fitting room at Ross, and out of the 10 fitting rooms,there was one large fitting room, and 9 smaller fitting rooms. Well, some lady all by her lonesome is in the large fitting room, and the 9 other rooms are empty! So, me, and my tugboat stroller, are left waiting for her to finish so I could actually fit my child in the room with me while I changed. So after 10 minutes of waiting I was tired of "talking" to my child "OK Sophia, we have to wait for the big room since we REALLY need it" to which the lady did not take a hint, so eventually I surrendered had to go into a small room and change with the door open with the stroller stuck in the doorway.

Then, in the next store, Kohls, it was about the time where Sophia was crying and needed to be changed and fed. Off to the bathroom I went. There were 6 regular stalls, and 1 big stall. NONE of the regular stalls were being used, but the big stall was occupied. REALLY...really? Why do people do this? I thought about it, and I guess it's sort of like if you were waiting to get on an airplane, and they said "OK folks, you can choose (for no charge) to sit in First Class, Business, or Coach" Of course you're going to choose First Class right?" Sigh...but really... the toilets ARE THE SAME SIZE. Okay, so you get 2 extra feet of empty space, what are you going to use it for if you are not handicapped, or don't have a large boat like stroller? Are you going to dance around in it?
I need the big stall to fit my stroller in, to use the changing table, so I waited again...
I thought, maybe it IS someone else with a stroller, or maybe a handicapped person (a very legitimate reason to use the large stall), but no, it was a single young (skinny) woman.

Okay, I think I'm done with my Thursday rant. I Marian, will never take the big stall, or the big changing room, when it's just me, by myself. :)

The Rainstorm Portraits

I'm the type of person that if I bring an umbrella out, it wont rain, but if I don't bring an umbrella, I find myself stuck in a rainstorm.
Well, today I was smart, it was ALREADY raining, and I was heading out with Sophia for some quick Sear portraits, meeting up with my parents coming in from out of town. I was going to outsmart my bad rain Karma, and bring an umbrella. Surely it would stop raining once I got in the car but I would have my umbrella!
I venture out with Sophia in tow, and the rain gets stronger and stronger. You would of thought I was driving in a hurricane! Once I get to Sears it's raining so bad, and my appointment was in 5 minutes, I had to think fast.
I parked as close as possible (about 25 feet from the entrance) and thought out my strategy. I somehow had to get myself, my child in her carseat, my stroller (which I would have to uncollapse from the trunk) and my photo props into the mall. Okay, so I knew I wasn't going to make that happen without things getting wet, but hopefully I could control HOW wet they get. First, since I was so close to the entrance, I would get the stroller uncollapsed put the props in it and over to the door of the mall. I knew I couldn't manage snapping my carseated child into the car seat without her gettng soaked, so I figured if I did this fast, and because I was only 25 feet away from her I would be okay. So I held my breath (I don't know why I did that) and jumped out of the car, opened the truck, pulled out the stroller, popped it open, and raced it to the entrace of the mall under the roofed area. Then, I ran back to the car and jumped into the backseat to catch my breath (again, I don't know why I held my breath). When I looked back at my stroller I was in horror, STUPID me forgot to put the brake on and there it went down the ramp, and through the parking lot, into the rainstorm. So much for trying not to get it too wet. I had to chase it, which left me AND the stroller soaked. I then tossed a blanket over my childs carseat and ran her into the mall.

I think only mothers can relate to the effort and exhaustion it takes just to plan for a situation like this. I deal with it everytime I drive anywhere, do I bring JUST the carseat in? Do I bring just the child in with the baby bjourn? Do I bring the whole stroller in? How long am I going to be in the store, does it justify the strength I need to pop open the stroller? Do I even have the strength to pop open the stroller? Ok, I've decided.... I'm going to go home and try this later. STORY OF MY LIFE.

Anyways,the portrait session itself went well! We had some cute pictures taken and Sears did a good job. However, today was officially Sophia's first bad hairday, thanks to the rainstorm, and I have pictures to help me remember! :)

Top 10 Finalist

Out of 3,500 applicants, Sophia was chosen as a top 10 finalist to be a member of the Munchkin Bunch! Now it's up to facebook to select the top 5, and Sophia needs every vote she can get!
If you have a Facebook account please vote! You are allowed to vote for her 5 times per day. Here is the link:

http://www.facebook.com/MunchkinInc?sk=app_159117397504600

You have to allow access to the voting application and like the page for Munchkin, Inc. Then click on her picture, and click vote 5 times. Munchkin, Inc is a popular developer of infant toys and gear such as the Arm & Hammer diaper pail. They also make safety gear, feeding gear, and tons of other useful items for mom and baby.




Please spread the word, and help Sophia make the top 5. Voting ends October 1st! :)

Potty Time

So, it's been a running joke that Sophia likes to poop and pee on Ian when he's changing her. She likes to hold in some extra just for the occasion, and seems to time it perfectly. Ian has concluded that this could only mean she is ready to be potty trained. Even though he was joking, he brought up the idea of putting her on the potty the other day. (Sunday August 14th to be exact) I told Ian he was crazy, and that if he dropped her into the toilet I would kill him.

When he asked for my help that morning, I figured I'd let him have his moment, and help him (my sole purpose was to make sure my child did not get injured during this attempt). Ian held her under her arms, and I held her litle legs up and out a little. Ian then firmly told her "Sophia, go potty!" and lo and behold, 3 seconds later, she peed in the potty. My 2 and a half week old pee peed in the potty!

Granted, this was probably just a coincidence, and I may have wiffed a little bit of cold air towards her, but the end result is she did it! We will always remember this memory. And, to keep our memory of this, we have the following picture. Notice Sophia is holding up her #1 finger, as if she is saying "I WENT #1!"