Moira: Week 6!

Well here we are at week 7 today and I still need to get week 6 down. Thus is life with a newborn. We're all doing fairly well, having hit the very challenging 6-8 week mark and week 6 was very busy with a visit with Grandparents, meeting other relatives, my doctor appointment and a few other fun things. But since you are really here for the pictures, I'll try to keep it to just that primarily to explain the week.

Our eco-friendly baby's 2nd car ride. Off to Queens to meet her Grandparents and other relatives from Bill's side.

Meeting her Grandpa McKinney for the first time!

Hanging with Grandma McKinney and getting some zzz's.

Everyone all together. Moira definitely favors the McKinney side as far as looks go though she has her Mama's stubborn personality.

On Monday I had my doctors appointment and all was well, plus I was cleared to exercise! More on that in week 7. I also got a much needed pedicure (right as the temperature changed to full autumn) and then stopped by to see Melissa and baby Jasper. Hearing his little newborn cry made me realize how quickly Moira has grown. It's really incredible how fast she's changed and made me really cherish every minute even more. Moira is also pretty much officially done with the UPPAbaby Bassinet, loving the car seat much more. She's very alert all the time now, always looking around, and we're getting several more smiles too.

The last ice tea of the season.

Not much of a fan in the bassinet. She much prefers being able to look out from the car seat.

Me and baby Jasper. He was only a week old but almost as big as Moira!

My grumpy pumpkin. Getting ready to ring in our first holiday!

Bill and I had an amazing date night last Wednesday at Jewel Bako... and it's so nice to get out away from the baby and connect. Even though we see each other every day it's amazing how much our life revolves around the little miss (as it should), so it feels great to have some adult time and recharge in that respect.

We love this amazing little girl so much!

Moira's hungry face

The milk coma face

Making goofy faces!

Technically part of week 7 but last Friday we had a great 2nd HRP Mama's lunch meet-up and I successfully got Moira, her car seat and the UPPA frame into 2 cars, there and back and had really helpful drivers. The lunch was great, we talked a lot about going back to work and our plans for that. I found that another Mama I'd known from one of the earlier meet-ups is on the waitlist at the daycare we liked right down the street. A number of moms were also delaying going back to work until 4-6 months, which I found interesting as well.

That brings up the bittersweet of week 6, the halfway mark to my returning to work. It's something I've thought a lot about and voiced to Bill on our date night... how hard it will be to not only go back to work, but to leave Moira in the care of strangers. As challenging as it is to spend all day with her, I really love it. And even more so now that she's so alert and we're getting out on a regular basis for adventures. I love noting every new change and getting so much time with her. It really tears me up that me going back to work means I'll only get to see her briefly in the morning, basically just enough time for 30 minutes of breastfeeding, then not to see her again until 6pm at night, again for feeding and then ideally to put her to bed by 7. That means for 5 days a week I'll only have 10 hours of quality time to spend with her. I know eventually I'll get used to it. And I'm sure it'll hardly faze this resilient little girl but I know it'll be the hardest thing to leave her every morning.

A typical mommy and Moira morning together. She loves to rock the pout.

So in anticipation of that I've started to prepare silly little things to get me excited to go back to work. I scheduled my first post pregnancy Stitch Fix, which I'll explain in a second, that's provided me with some fun new style options for work. I've also made plans to meet up with work friends to catch up on all the latest gossip. I've devised a plan of attack to throw myself back into work right away (and also right in time for my yearly review). With her midtown daycare I'll be able to visit to breast feed her, so I'll try to do that as much as possible. My work is also great about me working from home (so long as it's not a regular thing) so we might do that a couple times too. And of course, I've started to plan out all the places I want to lunch at... starting with my favorite reps and favorite sushi spots. It'll get better, but I have no doubt it'll be hard for a while. The way we're doing it, with Bill taking his paternity leave when I go back, and my Mom and Bill's family watching Moira after that so we can delay daycare until January will absolutely ease my mind. And then we have a whole week and a half of vacation with the little miss, so come January it'll just be another day for us. Hopefully.

In very loving and capable hands :)

And back to Stitch Fix... it's a wonderful service where you fill out a style profile, including all your measurements, the way you prefer to dress, the amount you like to spend on various clothing items, things you want to see (me: tunics, accessories to dress up basic tees, day to night clothes) and don't want (me: pants, silly jewelry). You also tell them some personal info (me: I'm a new mom trying to get some fun clothes to go back to the work place in style, but also stuff I can wear everyday easily with a little one). Then you pay $20 for the styling (which is taken off the price if you buy one thing). They send you 5 items, you decide what you like, send back what you don't in a prepaid package and get 25% off the total if you take everything. I'd done this before pregnancy and was always pleasantly surprised at what I loved, and found I was constantly adding fun items to my wardrobe I'd never try on at a store. And this past fix was a hit, I loved everything, and scheduled another one for right before I go back to work... I know it sounds superficial, but if I'm excited about what I'm wearing, it'll be easier to get up and dressed, and therefore a little easier to leave Moira every morning.

My latest Stitch Fix success.

And speaking of mornings, oatmeal has become my go-to breakfast. I make it with coconut milk to get Moira used to another form of milk and fat,and then put in almonds, golden raisins, coconut flakes, brown sugar and flaxseed meal. Oatmeal is also great for breast milk production!

Ready to head out for an adventure! This little girl steals my heart every day.

Upcoming:

• Aunt T visited in week 7
• We also had our first Mommy Baby yoga class and man, was it fun!
• Tomorrow is our Friday lunch meetup and on Sunday I'm also meeting up with some Moms who are a bit closer to home for us. After that it's brunch with Amena and Preethi!
• More coworkers visit next week! Also I signed us up for a core class on Monday, more yoga next Wednesday and then Mama's lunch. Our schedule is filling up!
• Oh, and we're starting sleep training... let the good times begin.