EvY at HomE

Since we've brought her home from the hospital the pets have been woefully neglected. To be honest though, the dogs have been woefully neglected for awhile. It's just way too easy to just let them run around outside all day and just bring them in for feeding and to sleep. If it's super hot out we let them in most of the day but by and large they are always outside. The cats are cats so all they need is the occasional cuddle when they sit next to you on the couch and they're good. How are they doing with her? They are all mostly curious but keep their distance. They sniff her and wish her no harm but aren't affectionate either. She's meh to them. I think Woz is having the hardest time with her. He's kinda pretending she doesn't exist and I don't think I've seen him sniff her once. He's always been the pet most attached to us so having to compete with yet another creature is just too much for his little heart to comprehend. LJ on the oth...

You may not believe me if I told you this but prior to the birth of my nieces and my own tax deduction (thanks Man-D for the nickname idea), I was not really a baby person. I didn't have anything against them per se but I would take a shopping trip at Target over holding a baby any day. It was also the fear of becoming a MOM for the reason that my relationship with my own mother, while much improved, hasn't been great. That's probably/definitely why I wanted a boy so much, fear of raising a daughter. I also waste a fair amount of time hatereading mommy blogs and some of those women sound like the worst kind of selfish desperate for attention jerks. They also become boring, simply because motherhood is boring a lot. And so, I was afraid of what motherhood would do to me and how it would change me and would I even like it. Matt recently said that since we've been married I've gotten a lot girly-er. When asked to clarify, he said  I used to be very one of the guys ...

On the night before our wedding, our last night of living apart, we were both on our laptops doing something or other when Ali snapped this photo.  It captured a mundane but telling photo. There would be times of exciting travel and adventure in our marriage but there would mostly be times of a simple life when adventure would be found in being home, just the two of us. Never has this been more true than in the adventure we've embarked upon called parenthood. It's exciting and unpredictable but we are happiest when we're home, just the three of us. Happy Anniversary, father of my child.

Matt and I have been making jokes about Alice's face after her feedings and how drunk she looks. On one of her early morning feedings I was on Pinterest looking up "milk drunk" or "drunk baby" and I found this mom's entry about her struggles with breastfeeding and how she ended up having to feed her baby with formula and all the guilt that came with it.  It was emotional and sad and I felt bad for this mom and all other moms that tried and couldn't feed their baby with their body and felt incredibly blessed that I am able to. So so blessed. So here's to moms and however they feed their babies.

I think there's a sort of belief that I am a big DIYer. I am kinda . I've been known to spray paint a chair here and there, glitter up a tree, and make a yarn wreath; and I usually graphically design invites to my parties but I'm very impatient and most of the projects take a certain amount of precision and care to achieve the right look and I just give up. Instead, I'm going to point you to a few blogs that are big on craftiness and DIYing that inspire me and I pretend that I'll actually get around to making the things on their site. They range from crazy handy like custom building shelfs to updating your boring dresser with a fun toe kick. A Beautiful Mess : A pair of sisters run the show and it's… epic. They do it all on their site. Almost Makes Perfect : She's the most different from the other ones listed. Her style is more muted and modern that the others. I'm a crazy stalker and love all her projects. Dream Green DIY : Her office is KILLER ...

The other day on Pinterest I saw a really terrific office . And in the terrific office I saw a really terrific mail holder  in the shape of an envelope. I thought to myself: I MUST HAVE THIS ITEM. WHERE IS IT FROM?! Well, it's from Target. Of course, of course it's from Target . It's perfect for my office so I can put in the mail and correspondence that I have to deal with like RSVPing, sending presents, and writing a thank you note. Matt handles the bill paying but anything that's personal and social I pretty much handle so it will hold pretty things like invites. Incidentally, if you're a Target addict like me, I highly recommend downloading the Target app for your phone. I had no earthly idea where I would find this item in the store and since I had it on pinterest, I just searched for it on the app and it let me know where in the store it was (aisle D74). Also, if you're in a Target store you can connect to their WiFi. I swear, it's like they neve...

Superbaby, as she will now be referred since she's being super nice to us right now (until she becomes a pain in the butt in which case she'll just be "the baby") so I've had time to squeeze in a few clean ups here and there. You know how they say you really don't realize how much time you had before you had a baby, holy crap it's true. Just trying to eek out a shower becomes an accomplishment so feast your eyes on this little nerd organizing that I was able to accomplish during a glorious nap time. I sorted the gift bags by occasion! I don't know why I hadn't done it earlier but I got so many baby shower gift bags that I needed to incorporate them into my stash so I took the opportunity and got ridiculous. Don't look at me like you're surprised, I've organized tissue paper by color for pete's sake. I'm able to publish this post right now because Superbaby is snoozing in the mamaroo. Thanks for sending prayers and good vi...

Alice is amazing. She slept all night from 11-7 (I, on the other hand was awoken by milk and pumped around 3am), fussed and gave me a courteous mini cry to tell me she was awake and hungry. She ate. I changed her and laid her back in the pack and play and she smiled and coo'd for awhile then let out her energy quietly, kicking her legs and put herself to sleep again for her morning nap. LOVE HER. Today though is her 2 month checkup and she's being vaccinated. She's gonna cry and be fussy and I'm trying to prepare myself for a rough rest of the day and a rough night. It sure was nice of her to give me a few of these good nights of sleep. - mobile blog post. spelling irrelevant.

Due to the arrival of youknowwho, Matt and I have been talking a lot about tightening our belts and being even more financially responsible and prioritizing our finances instead of spending money on things that we really don't need. I mean I could make the case that I will eventually need an Apple Watch but come on… let's be real. During pregnancy I survived on TWO pairs of jeans. It's not that I couldn't afford more but it just felt pointless having more than the two I did since I wasn't going to be pregnant and needing jeans for that long. Soon came the hot weather and I added some shorts to the mix but I made it two seasons with two pairs of pants that I rotated every other day. And guess what? I still looked cute and fashion-y (as my sister Mari would say). What is it they say about necessity being the mother of invention? Limitations really expand our horizons. Working with what you have on hand makes you so much more inventive. So fall is coming up and ...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the only thing that takes the sting out of summer being over is the arrival of FALL FASHION. And just because I had a baby and spend the majority of my time dressed in a nursing tank and sweat shorts doesn't mean I'm not thinking about and stalking pinterest and fashion blogs especially knowing New York Fashion Week is happening (or happened?).  But since I do have a baby and am a nursing mother (mother!) I'm a) poor & on a budget b) lazy c) lacking in any sort of personal time. As I got dressed in the closet I found that I really wanted to wear shoes that are easy to take on and off and though I have a hefty collection of flats and loafers, I wanted to wear some sneakers which brought me to the idea of slip on sneakers and thank heaven: they're on trend! Here's some evidence that they can be worn with a little flair. This image makes me miss New York. I'm looking for some va...

I hung in there and breastfeeding has gotten way better. I no longer hate it! I would read on the webs that around 6 weeks was the time when it would get easier and the net was right. She takes less time to eat, I'm not as sore in the nips, its just wayyyyy better. The miss is not a good daytime napper. She will nap when being held or gloriously in her car seat be it in the car or in the stroller. Sometimes a swaddle, rocking, and some white noise in her room can convince her to nap in her crib. Sometimes I can get her to lay in her crib and she can get herself tired enough or soothed enough to nap for 1/2 hour max. It's a very deceptive nap because she looks like she is OUT for awhile but alas, looks are deceiving. The wonderful BUT in this is that she is a pretty decent nighttime sleeper and Lord bless her. She can go for 3-4 hour stretches, wake up to feed, and go back to sleep with very little incident. The frustrating yet kinda miraculous thing is that I wake up abou...