It's The Little Things

Have you ever heard the expression "It's the little things?"

It can be used in reference to anything from relationships, work, life expereinces. For me, it really applies to anything and everything. It's the little things that can really get to me and stress me out or the little things that lift me up and put me in a good mood. And sometimes the little things that stress me out can also make me laugh.

With that said, as many of you know, I am still nursing my beautiful daughter. She will be 10 months old this week, so my body has not been my own for almost 10 months now. Breastfeeding is something that I truely want to do and would not give it up voluntarily. However, it can get old every now and then. I am doing this and working a full time job as well....which means I am pumping too. Each day, when all is said and done, I am nursing or pumping 6 times a day.

Last week, I was working in a different building than I'm usually in and had arranged for an area I could use to "do my thing." (That's what I say when I have to pump because most of the men I work with, get wierded out if I say I'm going to pump.) This area has a motion sensored light that turns on as soon as the door is opened and connected to a timer. Now, I've been doing this for sometime now, so I have a pretty good routine to get "hooked up"....for lack of a better phrase. So I'm sitting there "doing my thing" and about 10 minutes in I am sobmerged in pitch black. The timer has shut the light off since nothing had triggered the sensor in 10 minutes. Keep in mind I am still "hooked up" and the only source of light is my cell phone which isn't exactly a flashlight. I know the sensor isn't far away so I reach over the chair and start swinging my arm...no luck. I try stretching and straining...nothing. Frustrated, I use one hand to make sure I "stay connected" and the other to pick up the actual pump. I stand up and carefully walk a few steps and luckily trigger the light. As I sit back down I thought about how ridiculous I probably looked and I just had to laugh. At that moment my frustration subsided and my mood lifted. I'm laughing now just thinking about it. It was a tiny, little part of my day that would normally have come and gone without notice, but for me.... it's the little things that matter.

Fun, Family, Friends & FOREVER Since I've Blogged

Oh Blog...how I've ignored you!

I can't even believe how long it has been since I've blogged. Time goes by so fast. While the daily chaos and work take up time and energy, we've actually been pretty busy having some fun too!!!

A few weekends ago we made the drive up to my sister's house for Halloween and Alden's birthday. It was so cute to see all the kids dressed up and ready for candy and Alden ready to dig into cake and gifts.

Our little pumpkin!!!

Hermione Granger and Superman were great protectors of little Miss Ladybug as we went trick or treating! Especially when Superman would grab Hermione's wand and cast spells as well.

"Minomus!!!"

Emma Kate looked JUST like Hermione!!! I was so proud. As a HUGE fan of Harry Potter myself, I was so excited to see my niece and nephew so into it as well. We tried to find a Hedwig costume for Mackenzie, but no luck. However, she was a very cute little ladybug if I do say so myself. :) With everyone together for one weekend, we usually enjoy the company and embrace the chaos, as we are "our own freak show," but I thought the weekend was very relaxing. We just went with the flow with no agenda other to have a little birthday party for Alden and hit a few neighborhoods for trick or treating. If only my sisters would just move to Columbus. Ahhh...to dream!

The next weekend Chris and I went on a real, live, grown-up date!! For anyone with children, you know how exciting it can be. We realized we had not been out by ourselves for dinner since March!!! Wow! Now don't get me wrong...we've been able to get out of the house and hang out with friends, we just hadn't been out, just the two of us since our anniversary.

We had the best time!!! We looked at clothes for Mackenzie at Carter's, had a FANTASTIC dinner at Olive Garden and sipped Starbucks in Barnes and Noble for a few minutes. It was so nice!! We actually got to eat dinner at the same time. Normally we do the whole "you-eat-while-I-hold-her-and-then-we'll-switch" routine. We decided we cannot go another 7-ish months without taking time for just us. (We're already thinking about when we can go next.)

Then, just this passed weekend we enjoyed an impromptu cookout with friends on Saturday night. Mackenzie came with us and stole the show. Everyone went on about how cute she was and how well behaved she was! Yay! She really did do wonderfully!! It was great to just chat and catch up with everyone. We even had a surprise visit from our friend from New York who was in town. We really must get together more often to just chill.

All in all, a great few weeks! I'm looking forward to a few more great weeks in future as well. Thanksgiving with my grandparents, decorating the Christmas tree and maybe a trip to visit Santa Claus.