Savoring the Sunshine

This year, Rhode Island has had an uncharacteristically warm winter... and I'm not complaining.   Yesterday it was sunny and chilly but nice so I took Olivia to a nearby park to enjoy the outdoors! We played on the swings  Watched the geese in the water  ...and walked around like we owned the place!  

Back from Vaca.... BOO

I blog at work....

SHH, don't tell anyone because I'll probably get into trouble

but here is the only place where I can gather my thoughts enough to actually make any sense.

Last week my husband and I were both on vacation from work, hence, no blogging.

But, now I'm back (BOO) and not rested but what can you do, gotta make the money honey.

Lets talk about the vacation, shall we? 

Olivia got one heck of an attitude adjustment last week... in the WRONG direction!

How did my 16 month old cutie pie turn into a pubescent 13 year old girl overnight? 

I really don't know where she got her attitude but I wish she'd put it back...

at least until she's old enough to reason with!

She's super funny though. 

Seriously. 

She announces when she's doing wrong by saying "no no no"

all while smiling brightly at you and touching something she shouldn't be...

like the toilet, plugs etc. 

Then, when I walk over to redirect her, she runs away...

shrieking at the thought of being chased. 

So what does any fun Mama do? 

Chase her around the house saying "I'm gonna get you!"

and she squeals with laughter until she's hiccuping from laughing so hard. 


Her silly face!



 

She's also very cuddly and lovey dovey at the same time. 

She's generous with her hugs and kisses and she's such a sweet little girl.

During my week off, I really saw her personality blossom.  She's a feisty little thing with a stubborn mind of her own and now that she knows she has free will, there's no reining her in!

....if 16 months is difficult, I can only imagine my little munchkin at 13 years old!

 



Random pics & NIP



TGIF for real. 

 Vacation next week is making today almost unbearably long and my mind is focused on not working! ...so since I don't want to think (and I'm still ticked about something that happened yesterday...see below...here are some pictures for you) 

My poor girl has had the stomach bug all week. She looks so sad. 



....and despite being sick, she's still happy!



...and silly! 

Here's the "thing that pissed me off yesterday".  People can be SO ignorant. 

There aren't too many topics that get a rise out of me

but breastfeeding and NIP (nursing in public) is one of them. 

A "friend" (and I use that term VERY loosely) on facebook wrote a post saying....and I quote

"I'm disgusted that a woman is breast feeding in the middle of IKEA. 

I mean really.... go to the bathroom.  SICK!"

Insert HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE as soon as I read the first sentence. 

I immediately felt defensive since I breastfed my daughter

for 6 months (I wish it was longer), so I commented. 

I was rational at first and then my emotions were beginning to get the

best of me because all of her friends were backing her up of course. 

I asked her if she wanted to eat in a public bathroom. 

I tried to explain that it's a natural bond between mother and child. 

I tried to give her an example comparing one of her favorite TV shows,

Jersey Shore, and said that if she thinks its ok that the cast of JS go clubbing half naked

and bring people home to have sex with on TV then

WHY is breast feeding in public something to be ashamed of?

I explained that babies can need to eat for sometimes more than 30 minutes

at a time and it's not always convenient to sit down in a corner for that long. 

I tried to understand her perspective being an unmarried childless woman.   

But then I realized that I cant understand blatant IGNORANCE.

It's completely IGNORANT to think that you have the right to pass judgement on a woman feeding her child.

The comments that her and her friends were making were just

ridiculous and hurtful and I really wanted to call her ignorant

and say hateful things but I decided to be the bigger person

and bow out of the conversation.

I said all I could to defend the subject and it didn't work. 

This really bothered me. 

I hate to think that there are people, WOMEN, in this world that

dont have enough RESPECT for other women to NOT

pass judgement about something as simple as feeding their child. 

I guess the only thing that I can get from this is to choose

my "friends" better, especially since it

wasnt one of those "lets agree to disagree" scenarios

and not try to educate people on things that are obviously

not as imporant as their comfort or lunchtime margaritas

(as her very next post on facebook was that she was now having a "drink"
with lunch and one of her friends obviously commented "is it breastmilk?") 
Mature.

So, my response to advocate for my fellow breastfeeding mothers was to post this picture.

So What! Wednesday

That's right, it's Wednesday again (thank God this week is already 1/2 over) and I'm linking up with Shannon over at "Life After I Dew"  This week, I'm saying "So What!" if... ~ I took yesterday off from work because Olivia was sick and up 1/2 the night before. ~ I can NOT wait for this week to be over since I'm on vacation next week. ~ I ate a Reese's peanut butter heart at 7am today. don't judge. ~ I'm totally obsessed and sad that Teen Mom 2 is almost over. ~ Jersey Shore is getting to the point that its embarrassing to watch.  They're a bit old to be acting that foolish. ~ I got SO excited that Vera Bradley sent me a $20 of $20 coupon!  I live near the VB outlet and they have great deals!!!  I cant wait to go there this weekend. ~ I'm rearranging Olivia's whole room to fit her new kitchen set.  She's going to love it... (read: she BETTER love it!) That's all I have today... go check out Shannon's blog and link up for SWW! 

Mom's Don't Get Sick Days

Last week I was SO sick....an ear infection and sinus infection were kicking my butt.  I was exhausted and hadn't been this sick in a LONG time. In the midst of me feeling like I'd been run over and had a foghorn blaring in my ear, Olivia was super cuddly and I had a sinking suspicion that she wasn't feeling too well either.  Sure enough, she had a fever.  I gave her some Tylenol, milk and a luke warm bath and she seemed to be acting more like herself. She hardly ate all day (which I'll soon discover was a good thing).After her 2nd bath of the day, I was rocking and cuddling her to sleep for the night and she vomited; everywhere. The room was dark and I couldn't see what was going on so I yelled for my husband who walked into the room and got a front row view of our poor baby getting sick. 
It totally freaked him out and he's already useless in these situations. Puke was everywhere, all over the rug, Olivia, me... it was a mess. I called the Dr. and bathed Olivia again while my husband shampooed Olivia's carpet and then back to bed she went with a small cup of tepid water. She slept until midnight and woke up starving.  I was so relieved that she woke up and wanted to eat something.  A few oyster crackers later, back to bed she went for the 3rd time and slept until the morning. Moral of the story?   No matter how sick you are, as a Mom (or Dad), when your kiddo gets sick, you're issue is no longer important. ...but that's fine with me, as long as my little girl is feeling better, I'm happy.  

So What! Wednesday

Today I'm linking up with Shannon at Life After I Dew for So What! Wednesday!  Today I'm saying So What! if..... ... I cried real tears yesterday because we had to spend $600 on new tires for my husband car. ... I'm SO looking forward to my week of vacation in 2 weeks, I need it! ...I've been at work since 6:30 this morning and haven't really worked yet? ...I went to bed at 8:30 last night, woke up at 11 and watched Teen Mom 2.  Don't judge. ...I'm obsessed with Teen Mom 2. ...I just got my 2nd tattoo and already thinking about ideas for a 3rd.  ...my whiteboard in my office still says Merry Christmas? 

I'm still Laura!

This weekend, for the FIRST time since Olivia was born, I went out.  Yes, you read that right... in the past 16 months I have NOT gone out without Olivia with a friend at all.   So, Saturday night, my husband graciously kicked me out the door told me to go out and have fun!   Perfect timing too because it is my friend Jenn's birthday on Tuesday (Happy Birthday Jenn!!!) ...and we needed to celebrate! At 4:30, I kissed my hubby and Olivia good bye and picked up my friend.   We started the night at Casserta's Pizza on Federal Hill... YUMM!Had dessert #1 at Pastiche - chocolate layer cake for me and lemon cake for Jenn.  Headed to the TATTOO PARLOR for my 2nd and Jenn's 1st ink!  Got pulled over by a pretty cute state trooper... (no worries friends, I only forgot to turn my headlights on, I simply got a "keep your lights on, Go PATS! from the Statey... no interesting jail stories here!) ...and had a 2nd dessert at Newport Creamery!  ....it was a MUCH needed night out.  I seriously enjoyed every second of it.   I kept feeling this sense of "wow, I'm still me" all night long.  99.9999999% of the time, I'm Olivia's Mom and Joe's Wife... it was a nice refreshing feeling to realize that I'm still Laura! ...back to the tattoo, I got Olivia's name on my foot and I love it!  I made up for the time I missed with Olivia on Sunday and we had a Mommy/Daughter lunch date at Panera!  ...and this Monday morning, I feel refreshed! 

Tag, You're It!

Callie Nicole from Through Clouded Glass tagged me in her "about me" post

yesterday and included 11 about me questions to answer along with a cute little bloggy award! 

I'm excited about this... seriously. 

I'm trying really hard to have an interesting blog, write consistently

and have followers that I can connect with and talk to so
hopefully this helps you learn a little more about me!

[the rules]

1. Post 11 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post,

then pass those 11 questions to the people you've tagged.

3. Tag 11 people and link them on your post.

4. Let them know you've tagged them!

11 Fun Facts About Yours Truly

 ~ When my husband and I got married in May 2010, he took MY last name. 
We didn't really tell anyone before the wedding except our parents so the entire reception,
everyone thought that the DJ was calling us by the wrong last name by saying
"Mr. & Mrs. B." instead of "Mr. & Mrs. D." - we had to a lot of explaining to do!



~ On my first day of work at my current job, 8 years ago, I went to the restroom and somehow
got my underwear caught on the toilet seat and the ripped straight down the left hip seam. 
I was mortified. 
I had to take my underwear off, throw them out and go commando the rest of the day....



~  I absolutely HATE it when I'm in a public bathroom that's completely empty,
choose a stall and someone else comes in and goes into the one directly next to me. 
Why cant they skip one and use the next one over? 

~  I'm still really close friends with my high school math teacher. 
We kept in touch after I graduated and her and her husband are actually Olivia's Godparents.



~  I'm a Quality Analyst by day and my job directly affects the associates incentive. 
If I issue an error, they don't get that months incentive. 
I've been in this position for 2+ years and every time I issue an error, it still makes me upset.


~  I'm an only child.  I used to love it since I had the "I'm an only child so I get what I want" mentality. 
But now that I'm older and know better, I wish I had a sister or brother to grow up with. 
I get scared and sad that after my parents are gone (not for a LONG time) that I'll be all alone.



~   I'm the youngest of the cousins on both sides of my family.



~ I love to travel.  My family loves to vacation in Maine and I've been to
Virginia and Arizona for work purposes. 
I cant wait to show Olivia the world.

~  My favorite outfit is super duper plain. 
White t-shirt, jeans and Chucks.  I just really love the simplicity of it. 
I don't have much time to invest in getting all dolled up on a daily basis so this is my go to outfit. 
If I have to dress it up, I can add some jewelry, change my shoes and I'm done.

~ I have one tattoo and I'm planning on getting a second one THIS WEEKEND! 
Stay tuned for some pics next week.

~  I bite my nails.  I've stopped so many times in the past and it's just what I do to relieve stress. 
It's such an awful habit and I hate it... I need to figure out something to make me stop forever!


I hope you enjoyed learning more about Moi! 
I'm going to split this "tag" post into 2 separate posts
because this one has been sitting half finished since Monday
and... ya know, I should probably do some work since that's where I am right now.  SHHH!