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I have to document that prior to having kids I’d see moms doing certain things and I’d think to myself “I wonder why she would do that? If I had a baby/kid I would do {insert something opposite from what the mom was doing}.” Well, now that roles have reversed I can understand exactly why all these different moms did what they did. Moral of the story: don’t judge moms if you don’t have kids. I did and I shouldn’t have.

This has been one heck of a week. Nursing strike (strike from baby, not from someone who wears these) and our water heater went on the fritz so I had to take an ice cold shower to which baby heard me squeal and scream and was probably traumatized. And now the heat outside is taking over. Poor Oslo, it is hard to be a black dog on a hot day.

But, Cdawg made a killer beef brisket when I was feeling low on iron and baby is now scooting backwards. She is becoming an independent woman! Life is good.

My sister’s family has this great dinner tradition of going over everyone’s “roses and thorns” from the day…highlighting the good and the bad events (with a few dandelions every now and then). I love this idea. When you are having a rough day and feel like it is full of only thorns it is good/nice to reflect on the little bits of positivity. Since it has been 239859327532 months since I last posted on this here blog I thought I’d list a few roses and thorns from all that we’ve done over the past few months to help me summarize life as it has been.

Roses:

I’d have to say, life with baby is so rewarding and fulfilling and love filled and changes daily and draining and exciting and fun and scary and inspiring all the same time. This little person has filled me with a love like I’ve never felt before. Her big gummy grin with her big fat cheeks just gets me. Have kids. They are worth it. You get to see life again from a new/fresh perspective which is so awesome when you get stuck in your own head doing things the way you’ve always done them.

My mom is an incredibly strong woman and I want to be like her when I grow up. She has been doing so great with her bladder cancer surgery #2 and chemotherapy. And, although she doesn’t feel well after rounds of “poison” she doesn’t complain.

Spending my first mother’s day with my mom.

Ctron is always a rose. And to top it off he is a rose who knows how to cook and the food he makes is way beyond anything I can ever dream of. I’ve made dinner maybe like a handful of times since baby arrived. Not sure what I’d do without Ctron.

Getting to spend the first half of baby’s life in so many different spots. 2 weeks in Palm Springs at 2 months of age, 3 weeks in Olympia at 3 months, 1 week in Colorado at 4.5 months then 2 more weeks in Palm Springs. She is an awesome travel buddy.

Friends getting engaged and having their nuptials at one of my very favorite places on earth.

Friends/family having babies.

Thorns:

Post partum hair loss. I had like five strands of hair before I had a baby and now I’m down to a Homer Simpson look. Plus, of the few I have that might be new/growing back they are coming in a beautiful gray. I don’t mind gray hair but I’m kind of not ready to be fully gray. I’m too young for that. And of course a good chunk is right in the front where I normally part my hair. So, I’ve started to part my hair on the other side as a cheap fix. It feels weird.

Trying to juggle work and baby. I don’t know how single mothers do it. I don’t know how working moms do it. I don’t know how moms without a Ctron do it…and our baby is easy! If anyone has any tips on ways to balance life, baby and work I’d love to hear. We have not yet gone the many/daycare route purely for financial reasons but we may have to give it a shot. I can’t quite get work done during the day but I also shouldn’t stay up until 1 or 2am every night.

Car died. That was stressful and expensive. But, we got a new/used bright red Volvo which is what you do when you start a family. And I wear mom jeans in my volvo (actually, the volvo is awesome so that is a good thing, not bad).

Dandelions:

Still not sure where we should end up. I just can’t yet let go of the bay area but I also know that I’d love to raise baby in a different environment that encompasses a simpler life. This indecision makes our head spin but it is also exciting. I still want to go the live in an RV route but I know that isn’t practical.

I really have to incorporate a few more things in my day where I can be inspired or creative (beyond just looking at pinterest) so I think I need to take more photos of something other than a baby, paint or sew again (woot!) and blog! So, here is me saying I hope to blog more. (side note: I wrote this post like two weeks ago and am just adding to the blog so the “blogging more” is going to be slow but I AM going to do it! I need to for my soul).