(no subject)
First of all, let me apologize to all of you active posters (all five of you) who got random comments from me today on posts you wrote months ago. I really wanted to catch up on my flist reading, and that meant going in the way-back machine.
These monthly posts are ridiculous. But better than nothing. V is seven months old now. Her age, the seasons, major holidays- this is how I measure time. I have a tenuous grasp on the date and frequently forget my own age. V has started solids (first rice cereal, then sweet potatoes and most recently peas) and I am still pumping and breastfeeding. V hasn't had formula so far, but we've come very close. When we got back from our Christmas tour (more on that later), my milk production took a hit and I was pumping about half of what I used to be able to pump. We dipped pretty heavily into my frozen store and I ordered some new angled flanges and started drinking special tea and bought some really good quality formula just in case. I also did what all the online people recommended and spent an entire weekend pretty much nursing non-stop to increase my production. Something worked, because while I'm still struggling a bit, my production has picked up.
Christmas. The stakes were higher with a grandchild in the mix. We ended up having our cake and eating it too (what good is cake if you can’t eat it?) by booking three separate flights and a car rental. On Dec 20th, we flew from Chicago to Manchester, NH. My little sister Jamie met us at the airport. Carey took the rental car and I drove with Jamie, and we caravaned to my Uncle Phil's in Newbury, Mass. Well, technically, he's not my uncle any more. His brother John used to be married to my aunt Val. Now Val and Uncle John are divorced, and Uncle Phil is more than likely still in love with Aunt Val, but she's living with her long-time boyfriend Jeff, who also attended the party. Lest you think that's the only drama, my sister and father have not seen each other since my wedding and have been on the outs about a money matter. And the one person at the party who wasn't family (a friend of my aunt's) got crazy wasted on wine and ended up first screaming at everyone and taking pictures really aggressively and then sobbing and leaving early. She drank a lot of wine. Multiple red solo cups full of wine. And she was in her 60s. Drunk ladies and family drama aside, it was a wonderful party. My cousin Little John (pretty much every man on my dad's side including my dad is named John) was due to be a dad in 9 weeks and seeing Victoria (named after my aunt Victoria who would've been at that party if she was still alive) was a real trip for him.
At 8pm we left Mass and drove to Wells, Maine, when my mom and step dad are renting. My older sister Stacey and her daughter had come up the day before. We stayed there for a few days and had an early Christmas, opened presents, watched old home movies, and had a pretty darn good time. It sucked that I didn't get to see my grandparents or other relative and friends, but it was also incredibly relaxing to be too far away to do all of that visiting.
On the 23rd we drove to Logan and flew from Boston to Minneapolis. We spent Christmas there for the first time together. On Christmas eve, we joined Carey's family tradition of caroling in a local hospital. V was the biggest hit, and people seemed really touched. After the caroling, Carey's folks had a huge potluck at their house. Unfortunately, V finally hit her limit of strangers poking and cooing at her, and I spent most of the night tucked into private spaces trying to give her a break. Christmas day we went to Carey's sister's house and his sister Zoe, mother Pat and I all rolled out roti while Ghram, Zoe's hub, saw to two big pots of beef and chicken. So delicious. After dinner we exchanged secret Santa gifts. Zoe had me and made me two tins of French macrons (I have been obsessed with them since my pregnancy). Carey and I had both his parents so we got them "Team V" t-shirts and a photobook of V's first 6 months on this earth. Carey's parents were so helpful with V that we got to go out on a real honest-to-god date at a great local, seasonal place. We also went out with friends for tapas. It was magical. V and I had come down with the same cold, and sleeping during the trip was pretty awful. Pat slept in the living room with V our last night there, and it was the only night on the entire trip that she slept straight through. It's my personal theory that Careys' snoring was waking her up, but it just seemed mean/unproductive to place blame.
We flew back from Minneapolis to Chicago on the 28th, and incredibly, all of our luggage was of legal weight and made it home with us. It took me another full week to recover from the cold, but V bounced back very quickly and we all slept so much better back in our own beds. We celebrated the New Year bingewatching TV shows and gorging ourselves on deep dish, champagne, and ice cream in advance of hardcore health resolutions.
Right now Carey and I are on a New Year's food reset. We got through the vegan week and have gotten fish and eggs back. On Friday night we got sushi (no rice) and tonight we went to this amazing Mexican seafood place in Joliet and feasted on ceviche, raw oysters, crawfish, shrimp, mussels, and crab legs. We'll have to reign in the spending now, especially since we're talking about Carey going back to school full time to get his associate's degree.
Oh my gosh, I'm so tired. This is way past my bedtime, y'all.
These monthly posts are ridiculous. But better than nothing. V is seven months old now. Her age, the seasons, major holidays- this is how I measure time. I have a tenuous grasp on the date and frequently forget my own age. V has started solids (first rice cereal, then sweet potatoes and most recently peas) and I am still pumping and breastfeeding. V hasn't had formula so far, but we've come very close. When we got back from our Christmas tour (more on that later), my milk production took a hit and I was pumping about half of what I used to be able to pump. We dipped pretty heavily into my frozen store and I ordered some new angled flanges and started drinking special tea and bought some really good quality formula just in case. I also did what all the online people recommended and spent an entire weekend pretty much nursing non-stop to increase my production. Something worked, because while I'm still struggling a bit, my production has picked up.
Christmas. The stakes were higher with a grandchild in the mix. We ended up having our cake and eating it too (what good is cake if you can’t eat it?) by booking three separate flights and a car rental. On Dec 20th, we flew from Chicago to Manchester, NH. My little sister Jamie met us at the airport. Carey took the rental car and I drove with Jamie, and we caravaned to my Uncle Phil's in Newbury, Mass. Well, technically, he's not my uncle any more. His brother John used to be married to my aunt Val. Now Val and Uncle John are divorced, and Uncle Phil is more than likely still in love with Aunt Val, but she's living with her long-time boyfriend Jeff, who also attended the party. Lest you think that's the only drama, my sister and father have not seen each other since my wedding and have been on the outs about a money matter. And the one person at the party who wasn't family (a friend of my aunt's) got crazy wasted on wine and ended up first screaming at everyone and taking pictures really aggressively and then sobbing and leaving early. She drank a lot of wine. Multiple red solo cups full of wine. And she was in her 60s. Drunk ladies and family drama aside, it was a wonderful party. My cousin Little John (pretty much every man on my dad's side including my dad is named John) was due to be a dad in 9 weeks and seeing Victoria (named after my aunt Victoria who would've been at that party if she was still alive) was a real trip for him.
At 8pm we left Mass and drove to Wells, Maine, when my mom and step dad are renting. My older sister Stacey and her daughter had come up the day before. We stayed there for a few days and had an early Christmas, opened presents, watched old home movies, and had a pretty darn good time. It sucked that I didn't get to see my grandparents or other relative and friends, but it was also incredibly relaxing to be too far away to do all of that visiting.
On the 23rd we drove to Logan and flew from Boston to Minneapolis. We spent Christmas there for the first time together. On Christmas eve, we joined Carey's family tradition of caroling in a local hospital. V was the biggest hit, and people seemed really touched. After the caroling, Carey's folks had a huge potluck at their house. Unfortunately, V finally hit her limit of strangers poking and cooing at her, and I spent most of the night tucked into private spaces trying to give her a break. Christmas day we went to Carey's sister's house and his sister Zoe, mother Pat and I all rolled out roti while Ghram, Zoe's hub, saw to two big pots of beef and chicken. So delicious. After dinner we exchanged secret Santa gifts. Zoe had me and made me two tins of French macrons (I have been obsessed with them since my pregnancy). Carey and I had both his parents so we got them "Team V" t-shirts and a photobook of V's first 6 months on this earth. Carey's parents were so helpful with V that we got to go out on a real honest-to-god date at a great local, seasonal place. We also went out with friends for tapas. It was magical. V and I had come down with the same cold, and sleeping during the trip was pretty awful. Pat slept in the living room with V our last night there, and it was the only night on the entire trip that she slept straight through. It's my personal theory that Careys' snoring was waking her up, but it just seemed mean/unproductive to place blame.
We flew back from Minneapolis to Chicago on the 28th, and incredibly, all of our luggage was of legal weight and made it home with us. It took me another full week to recover from the cold, but V bounced back very quickly and we all slept so much better back in our own beds. We celebrated the New Year bingewatching TV shows and gorging ourselves on deep dish, champagne, and ice cream in advance of hardcore health resolutions.
Right now Carey and I are on a New Year's food reset. We got through the vegan week and have gotten fish and eggs back. On Friday night we got sushi (no rice) and tonight we went to this amazing Mexican seafood place in Joliet and feasted on ceviche, raw oysters, crawfish, shrimp, mussels, and crab legs. We'll have to reign in the spending now, especially since we're talking about Carey going back to school full time to get his associate's degree.
Oh my gosh, I'm so tired. This is way past my bedtime, y'all.