Almost a year ago, I was lying on my couch, half listening to an episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. I started having mild back pain…which quickly progressed into not-so-minor back pain….which eventually prompted me to pull out a stopwatch and wonder if this was it.
Ten hours and two calls to labor & delivery later, we made our way to the hospital in the hope that they’d confirm I was in labor.
Twelve hours, an epidural and too much apple juice after that, we had a baby.
I’ll always remember a few things about that night. It was raining. San Francisco was celebrating the fact that the Giants were headed to the World Series. My post-labor hospital meal (chicken breast, noodles in peanut sauce, salad, a roll and milk) was simultaneously weird and satisfying. And this little person was wide eyed, alert, and cool as a cucumber.
It took Lucy and I a few weeks to get in sync – she was barely 6 pounds and had some trouble breastfeeding. But once she got the idea, she went from this:
to this:
in a relatively short amount of time. Strangers commented on her kissable, squeezable cheeks, and I marveled over each and every fold and roll on those beautiful baby legs. I did that. Me.
Eventually, we added solids into the mix…
And my girl just kept on growing, changing and loving life.
Parenting while working full time is definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I knew my life would change after I had a child, but one thing I didn’t expect was a radical change in the way I cook, eat and look at food. In the early months with Lucy, eating was both a luxury (due to the fact that she was a terrible napper and hated hanging out in the swing and bouncy seat) and a primal necessity (due to my insatiable breastfeeding hunger). I ate what I could, when I could, and felt as if I’d never get back to my old routine.
Many months later, that routine has not been restored. I still eat what I can, when I can, though Lucy’s on a more regular schedule that allows us to have proper meals as a family (or quiet adult meals after she goes to sleep!). I don’t cook dinner every night; instead, I cook several big meals on Saturday or Sunday, and we reheat them during the week. It’s not the way I love to cook – I hate leftovers, and reheating meals cooked in advance feels a lot like leftovers – but it works. I don’t want to slave over the stove at the end of a busy workday; I want to spend time with my family. My palate may suffer, but my heart reaps the rewards with moments like this:
What a sweet girl. That video is enough to make my heart melt! I can’t believe its been a whole year.
Oh Beth, can you believe our little babies are turning into toddlers?!? I can’t believe how fast this year flew by, and everyone keeps telling me it will only go more and more quickly. Sigh…
You know that I totally relate to the whole food thing. I rarely “cook” anymore unless you consider throwing some beef in a skillet and covering it with ketchup cooking. However, life is good…and thank goodness for peanut butter & banana sandwiches!
P.S. Lucy’s reaction to your arrival = cutest thing ever. Doesn’t that just make you smile all over?
That made me cry. I think I’m officially a baby junkie. Sweet, sweet Lucy with her mama. xo
OH MY GOSH!!! So stinking cute! This makes me so excited to be a mom one day
I was just talking to a girlfriend the other day who is a mom of two. I was asking her how she balances working full-time and two very active toddlers. She said exactly what you do, they cook a few big meals on the weekends and reheat them and eat them during the week so they have more time in the evenings to spend together.
and now i’m crying. that was the cutest thing ever <3
i can't believe it's been a year! your little family is absolutely adorable
xoxo
Quite possibly the best video ever.
Oh my gosh, that video!!!!!! It totally made my morning. I miss you guys!
Oh. My. Goodness.
Such cuteness.
How adorable! Must be wonderful to come home to that. I can’t believe how much she has grown up since I saw her last….
SOO CUTE.
that is the best video, i just teared up a bit.
Thank you thank you! I already professed my love on Twitter, but came here to do it again
I had my son 7 months ago (eep, how has it been that long?!) and keep waiting for my routine to come back and it’s just… not. I finally realized I had to completely change my mentality of what my “routine” would look like. I’ve had to give up all the time I used to be able to spend on creating meal plans, shopping lists and exercise plans for time with my little man. It’s so precious and I’m not willing to give up a second of that. And losing weight? Ha. I’m not willing to waste my precious mental space on what a scale tells me. I make the healthiest choices I can so that I’m the best momma I can be, but I’m not obsessing over some weird number and it is SO liberating. I can honestly say I don’t care. I care about HEALTHY, not weight, for the first time on my journey.
I still do my best and do what I can, but I’ve given up on the hope that things will ever be restored to my “old” ways- and I’m 100% ok with that for the first time in 7 months. I’m not battling any more- I’m just accepting that this is the new normal. And I could not be happier. I’m such a more wholesome, grounded and happier person. Not that those things didn’t make me happier before, but for where I’m at in my life right now, they were just adding stress that I don’t need.
I guess you could say this opened the word vomit for me
All that to say, thank you for putting into words exactly what I needed to hear. <3
sweetness. i cried at the video and understand all too well about the cooking and such. i try to remember she’s only this way once so eating in a way that’s less than i’d prefer can be a sacrifice to (try and) happily make. i’ve missed Lucy pics and updates since deleting my facebook. so happy to see how much she’s growing!
Oh GOD her reaction to you coming home from work is enough to make any able-bodied female yearn for offspring. So, so, so cute!
Such a sweet post! Looking forward to meeting you at the Foodbuzz Festival!
how cute!!
I can’t wait until my little baby girl is that reactive! She is starting to communicate with us, it is so exciting.
It is amazing how fast they grow! A year, and she learns how to hold her head, roll over, eat, sit, crawl, and walk… it is crazy how much we, as parents, grow and learn with them. It truly is an eye-opening experience
Your little Lucy couldn’t be cuter – I kind of want to nibble on her cheeks
And oh my goodness can I relate to your sense of overwhelm as a mom who works a lot. At least once a day I ask myself, how on earth do people do this?! It must be a lifelong challenge to figure out how to get everything done while enjoying work and home life — let me know if you learn any tricks!
Happy (late) birthday, Lucy!
My god I love your baby. I would have to stop you in a store and talk to her, lol.
Aw, thank you!