Current Obsession : Nicole Richie Pregnancy Chic.

I don't know if it's because I am still dying to be pregnant, or if it is my new boho wardrobe, but for some reason I am currently OBSESSED with Nicole Richie's  new"maternity" look. Like obsessed. She just seems so ethereal, just like a pregnant earth mama should be. 

 Love it, love it, love it. 

Ohhhhh I want a baby.....and ohhh I want these clothes!

This Is Why I'm In Charge.

Lately The Husband and I have been trading off who gets the little man when he wakes up on the weekends. My heavenly child sleeps until about 8:30am, so the getting up part is not so difficult, it's usually what follows that is the more challenging part.

When it's the chosen person's "day" he/she has to get his bottle (yes, he's 18 months and still has a bottle in the morning) and change his clothes. Now, I'm not one of those people who changes their kid into his day clothes the minute he gets up. I figure that since I like lounging in my pajamas in the morning (day and night), then the little guy probably does too. The only problem with this is that when he wakes in the morning he is always wet. Like, t-shirt soaked, flannel pj's soaked, sometimes even the sheet has a nice layer of pee on it. (I wonder is this a just a boy thing, a LM, thing, or do all kids do this?) Ok, I digress. 

So Sunday was The Husband's "day," and after a quick change this is what came running into my room.

Ummmm, speechless. Did he honestly think that this was an OK outfit choice?

Let me be clear, these are not even clothes. In fact they are just his summer pajamas.

Did he really think it was acceptable for him to wear this in pubic? Yeah, he did.

While I said nothing, I just thought to myself that this is why I'm in charge.

Boho Mama.

My sister has been here for the week and for some reason I seem to find myself constantly asking her, "do I look too Hippie in this?" No, I wasn't referring to my midsection, but rather to my new wardrobe which seems very, very, very (very, very, very) Boho in nature.

 I didn't set out to have such a wardrobe. I think I have just been buying quite a few pieces that I think would look awesome if I were to get knocked up (fingers crossed.) These roomy flowy shirts and dresses just happen to SCREAM boho-chic. Added to this, most of my items are purchased from my stylist at Intermix and really that is the style of the store at the moment (ahem, for the last year to be honest.)

My sister's response to my constant questioning. "Yes, yes you look like a boho mama, and you look awesome." "Shut up and own it."

Enter my newest accessory. 

How's that for owning it?

I was at Intermix this morning and fell absolutely in LOVE with one of these ornate headbands. It is now mine, and I plan on seriously rocking this all summer long (and fall, and winter.)

I guess I'm just a Boho mama. 

Acceptable.

Exactly 6 days, 12 hours, and some odd minutes after my little man was deemed to be "not acceptable" I was informed that he was, in fact, "acceptable." Yes, I am talking about the never ending nursery school drama that has become my life. 

Picture me, halfway through my beach yoga, somewhere between inverted triangle and warrior two when I notice that my phone is buzzing. I don't recognize the number but it is a local area code so of course I pick it up. Low and behold it is the same woman who last week had wait listed my little prince, who is now "welcoming me to the family." Yes, those exact words. 

Of course, I immediately accepted the offer and sent in our tuition the moment we arrived home, let's not forget that the kids do yoga daily for Christ's sake (yes, I am still slightly obsessed with this fact.) I am, however, now just so jaded by the whole process. I mean 6 days. You sent me a letter essentially denying our entrance to your "amazing" school, only to tell me 6 days later that you can't wait to have my little man grace your presence. Really, would it have been so hard just to wait a week before crushing my hopes and dreams (said in a very sarcastic tone.)

In the end, I am very excited that we got in. Not because this is some "upper crust" nursery school, but rather because it is going to make my life a lot easier. For two days a week I will know that my little man is in a safe and fun environment, where he will be learning age appropriate activities, and will be playing with kids his own age. If I were to try on my own to create this type of environment it would cost a whole lot more money and would take up a significantly larger portion of my time. 

I think perhaps it was better that we weren't deemed to be so "acceptable" at first glance. Now we will never feel the sense of entitlement that I imagine some of the other families will portray. Also, maybe I can represent to some others out there that it's not always who you know, but rather who you are. Even if it's on this very, very, very small level. 

When we got the news the husband made the joke, " I guess we better start saving....it's either Harvard or Rehab at this point." Obviously, neither will be the case, but I still think it's kind of funny because I wonder if that is what some people think (about Harvard of course, not so much the rehab.)

Now we are on to the real stuff.....what kind of backpack and lunchbox best represents my kid. Oh, and is he allowed to bring peanut butter, or is it a nut free school? Will I drive him or take the train.....well at least I have until September to figure it out!

Oh, and just in case the picture threw you, no the little man does not have to wear a uniform....that would just be crazy!

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

This is the one word that I would use to describe my vacation from the little man. Yes, I know I went to Hawaii, and I'm not going to lie, that was pretty awesome as well. However, the real vacation was from the job that I have had 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week for the last 19 months. 19 LONG months. 

You know the job, the most important job of all.  The only one you can't quit, the job of being a mom. Getting a vacation, alone with the husband, and alone with myself was needed more than I may have even realized.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I didn't miss the little guy. In fact, I missed him every minute of the day. This missing, however, was greatly outweighed by what it was like to wake up every day knowing all I had to think about was myself. Whether I was hungry, or tired, or thirsty, etc. For the first time in a long time it was all about Me, Me, Me and I loved it. 

The other highs included eating in public without being on pins and needles that my companion (aka little man) would have a meltdown ruining our meal and the meal of those around me. Laying by a pool all day without the fear of my toddler jumping in. Oh, and taking a 15 hour plane ride without a baby? That seems to go without saying.

I was pretty sure that I was going to spend the next few weeks after we returned with the little man clinging to me 24 hours a day to "pay" for my time alone. Like everything else, this anxiety was all for naught. Since I have been home the little man and I have successfully fallen into our old routines. Sure he is a little clingy (tiny, tiny bit), but given that I had been away from him for so long, I actually don't mind the cling. Now that I think about it maybe I am the one who is clinging to him? Either way, thankfully there has been no real "payment" due.

I am the first to say that I am no expert when it comes to parenting. However, having done this once so successfully I feel that it is my duty to share what worked for us. 

1. Go far, far, far away. For at least a week. Far enough that you have no way of getting home. I'm not saying run off to Hawaii (although, that is a great place to be), but I would suggest you go at least one plane ride away. If you can drive home you are more likely to do so. Remember, planes fly every day and can always get you home if there is ever a real emergency.
2. Try to get family. We were lucky enough to have our in-laws available and willing to watch the little guy for a week. Until we were gone I didn't actually realize how lucky we were for this. A couple that was on vacation with us also left their little one for the week. The first dew days it was with their family, and the second few was with their sitter. While their little girl did well with both, there was a definite change from one to the other. We all know that our kids associate the sitter with us leaving, so having family seems to be the key to a happy baby when you are away. Plus no one loves your baby more that grandma and grandpa or your sisters and brothers  (etc.) so it helps to keep you from being concerned about their well being. Also, it has the added benefit of giving them some alone time with the little ones, which you know they are always dying for. 
3. Bring the chaperons to the baby, not the baby to the chaperons. Keeping the little man's environment the same was definitely the number one key to our success. He had the same room, same park, same surroundings, all of which I guarantee was what helped to alleviate a significant amount of the anxiety that I imagine he was feeling. 
4. Keep the routine the same. My in-laws were able to come a few days early so they were able to watch the little man's daily ins and outs. This way when we were gone the little guy didn't miss a beat. 
5. Ask for updates. This was one thing my mother-in-law picked up on without me asking. Ever morning and every night around the same time my black berry would start to buzz e with a detailed email of how he slept, where they went, what he ate, etc. An added bonus was that attached there were always a few pictures of the day, which always put a huge smile on my face. Having those emails and knowing everything was OK on the home front really gave me the opportunity to relax. As in totally, totally, totally relax.
6. Appreciate the omissions. The last think you want to hear about is every bump and bruise, or if a nap was too short. This will just drive you crazy. 

The one thing I would do differently?

1. GONE SOONER. I mean this. For those of you who have kids under the age of 1, you will just have to trust me. When they are those sweet little blobs their needs are very simple; food and sleep. Sure they would like it to come from you, but no 6 month old will turn down a bottle when that hunger sets in. Around age 1 they begin to demand everything from their mama. As in "mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, and sometimes dada." Go, go before you know who they are..........run don't stop. Book that trip TODAY.

I'd like to send out a very special thank you to the little man's Grosmami, and Grospapi. Actually a thousand thank you's, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you..........the little man misses you both already. Anytime you want a repeat we are more than willing to find another tropical destination to spend the week enjoying. 

30 Degrees In Maui?

On the only rainy day of our trip, the Husband thought that it was a good idea to climb the volcano. We all agreed to the 4 hour trip so long as we could bring some cold beers in the back, to which he happily acquiesced.

We drove and we drank, and we drove and we drank some more.....eventually reaching the top which to my surprise was only 30 degrees! Considering that it was about 80 at the bottom, this was quite the temperature swing. 

Our plans for a "hike" were quickly dismissed, but at least we got in some good pictures. If you are ever in Maui and have some time to kill, I highly recommend this trip. Just make sure you have a designated driver and some icy Heinekens. Oh, and a winter coat!

Here is the view from the bottom.

And the view from the top.

10,000 + feet in less than two hours, not bad.

Here we are freezing our butts off for a quick pic. 

A word to a wise, you get a bit drunker at high altitudes. This was something that Yum may have forgotten on the ride home. At least it made for a very interesting night!

A Poser?

While looking though some photos taken thus far during our trip I have begun to notice a subtle  trend.  For some reason I seem to have a very specific "pose" whenever I am taking pictures with the Husband. I don't think I am consciously aware of said "pose" but I was unable to find a shot where I wasn't standing with my arm draped somewhere over his midsection, usually with my hands clasped at his waist. 

I'm not a body language expert so I am unsure of what this says about us, but either way I think we look pretty damn cute. I recognize that I may be a bit biased in that respect. 

As you can see we are enjoying our time in paradise. 

Maui I heart you.

Separate Vacations.

I never would have believed it had you told me last week. Never. In fact, I still can't believe that the little man is doing so well without his "mama." Likewise, his "mama" is doing equally as well without her little man. Sure I miss the pee out of the little guy, but lounging by the pool all day definitely mutes any desire to run back home.

 The little man is having an amazing time soaking up all the love from his grandparents, while I am enjoying soaking up some much needed sun. Although it may seem premature, I think we may  have made it through our first separate vacations. 

All that's left now is to kick back and relax....what else is a mum on vacation to do?

Here I am lounging by the pool, doing what I do best.

My view of the 90 degree water.

Here is the little man enjoying his "vacation" at the children's museum.

Morning Yoga.

At 5 am The Hubs and I were wide awake. A six hour time change will do that to you. I patiently waited the two hours it took for the sun to come up. Since everyone else still seemed to be sleeping I thought this would be a great chance to get in some beach yoga.

First I had to find just the right place.

This was too public.

The church seemed like a nice possibility.

The grass was a bit too wet though.

I found a nice little cove that seemed to fit just right.

Add in some Coldplay on the Ipod and I had a pretty amazing place to practice. 

Travel Time 16 Hours and Change.

We made it!

In case you were unsure, Hawaii is really really really far away from Boston. like get up at 5am, 6 hour trip to San Francisco, 3 hour layover, 5:30 minute flight to Maui, and 30 minute drive to the hotel far. Yeah that far. If you had asked me on the flight if it was worth all that travel I would have said absolutely NO, if you asked my last night while I was having a Mai Tai by the pool I would have said Hell Yes! 

I only had one, "oh my god I miss the little man, how could we have left him, I can't be away from him this long, oh my baby meltdown." This occurred somewhere over the Pacific and was gone far before the plane touched down. Once I received confirmation from my mother-in-law that he has been absolutely perfect I was finally able to relax.

Here are some pics of the journey so far.

My last minute attempt at packing, needless to say I brought way to much, says The Husband.

A much needed beer and burrito at the SFO airport. It was surprisingly yummy!

With that much flying time I managed to read an entire book, 4 magazines, and watch the Sex and The City Movie (aka best movie ever) on my computer. 

Did I mention yet that flying without a baby is a dream. Seriously, after 18 months of hell on planes, this trip was pretty much as close to heaven as you can get.

Wait List Is The New No.

If Bitter is the new Black, than in this economy Wait List is the New No.

Wednesday I rushed to my mailbox for my much anticipated nursery school letter and I found this.

Dear Yummy Mummy,

We loved meeting you, blah blah blah, we think you would fit in great at our school, blah blah blah, unfortunately we don't have space available at this time, blah blah blah....we would like to put you on our WAITLIST...blah blah blah. You will be notified just as soon as a spot opens up...blah blah blah.

Sincerely,

X Nursery School.

This is what they REALLY meant.

Dear Yummy Mummy,

Your husband is not a Red Sox player, nor are you a billionaire. You have not made massive contributions to our school and you have never appeared in the society pages of any of the local newspapers. However, in this economy we can't count on all the families that we have deemed worthy enough to be able to pay our pricey tuition. Therefore, we would like to make you wait and put all your plans on hold just in case we need your money and then maybe, JUST MAYBE, you will be granted admission to our school...unless someone better comes along that is.

Suck It,

Elitist Nursery School

OK, clearly I am still bitter. After 2 days of wondering what we did wrong I now realize that this is not the end of the world, and that this is just a blip on the little man's educational future. A good friend of mine was also wait listed for another school and they are the best people I know so clearly there is nothing we could have done. My friend's husband was the one who said, and I agree, that in this economy no one is going to say "No" for fear that maybe people will not be able to pay when they are granted admission, so it is likely that everyone who wasn't an immediate yes, was then put on the dreaded wait list. 

The Husband, who is unaffected by all this, thinks that the whole thing was probably fixed from the beginning. Not in a Madoff pyramid scheme sort of way, but more in a "we only have 10 spots and we all know someone who has already put in the effort, time, and money to fill those spots." Like everything else in this town it seems to be all about who you know, not necessarily who you are. I guess even at 18 months that lesson seems to apply.

At this point I am pretty much over the initial rejection. My mother-in-law has assured me that this is nothing compared to the feeling when those college applications start to roll in. Besides I look at my husband, and all the other successful men and women I know and none of them went to some fancy, schmancy private nursery school so I don't think this denial will be indicative of the little man's future. 

I of course reserve the right to reassess if that phone call ever does come in saying that my little man has been deemed "acceptable."

A Minor Slip.

I'm sure by now you have noticed that I haven't updated today's "days since YM's last purchase." Yea, well thats because I am now back to 1. 1 sad day. Although I ended up breaking a pretty amazing streak, this break was well worth it. Go big or go home they say, right?

Ok, so all winter long I have been lusting after a leather motorcycle jacket. LUSTING. Yesterday, on Gilt I found what my life has been missing. Enter the Tory Burch sale. This jacket retailed for 795 dollars. It was on sale for 308. I had quite a bit of gilt "credits" so it ended up being practically free. Well not free, but at least 80% off. 

Put it this way, if I was a leather jacket I would be this leather jacket. I woke up today with no remorse. In fact, the only emotion I felt was absolute confidence that I made the right choice. What's a girl to do when they are practically giving this stuff away?

Guess I'm back to working those twelve steps again. Ahhhhh but it was so worth it!

Life Update.

The in-laws are arriving in a few hours, which means that Yummy Mummy is currently in crazy, psycho, clean the house mode. Since I have limited time I figured this would be a good chance to give you a life update.

1. Baby Number 2- I went to the doctor yesterday who doesn't seem to be too concerned that I haven't conceived in the past 5 months. Yea, well I'm concerned so we weren't exactly on the same page. She suggested I start tracking my cycle.In response I whipped out my excel spreadsheet. She then got the picture. The bottom line is that she can't really do or tell me anything. She is pretty sure that it has nothing to do with the miscarriage or D&E. She is, however, concerned that my ovulation days are pretty all over the place. Her first thought is that maybe I am not producing enough progesterone to support a pregnancy. When we get back from Maui I am going to begin having my blood work drawn throughout the next cycle to see if this whole thing may be hormonal. If there is no abnormality then she will refer me to a fertility clinic for the next level of tests. The Husband is hoping we don't get that far so he won't have to have a date with a plastic cup (yikes.) I'm just glad that we are now on their map and I feel like I am being proactive about this whole thing which gives me a lot less anxiety. 
2. Nursery School- Application letters were sent today so I have been checking the mailbox every 15 minutes even though I know we won't hear until at least tomorrow. My friend who applied to a different school found out that she is in, so I'm psyched for them. Fingers crossed for us.
3. Maui- Last night I began to panic about the fact that we are flying without the little man. Panic as in, oh my god what if the plane goes down and we leave him without parents? Totally irrational I know. Today I drafted a quickie will and confirmed that our life insurance policies are in place. Now I am again jumping out of my skin with excitement. I just can't believe in 5 days I am going to be sitting on the beach drinking cocktails. Yay!
4. Shopping Moratorium- Hmmmmm minor slip. A gilt sale to good to be true. It's for fall so it doesn't really exist right? Details to follow when I break the news at home.
5. My New Avatar- So I am totally a sheep and copied The Missus and Legally Brunette and made an avatar. Those of you who know me tell me what you think, does she look like me?

That's the quick and dirty of my week. I will let you know as soon as there is any news to report! 

Proper Plane Attire.

I've begun to think about packing for our upcoming trip. I can hardly believe it but we are already leaving on Saturday (gulp.) I finally have the perfect Maui/ Resort attire thanks to my early shopping, but I just realized that I am completely lacking the proper plane attire. 

This isn't the first time that I have run in to this problem, and I have determined that it is not my fault, but rather New England's fault. Really, what is one to wear when you are going from about 20 degree temps at 6am to 90 degree temps at 2pm all in the same day? Clearly layers are the way to go, but then by the end of the trip you have about 50 million pieces of clothing to remember (my good friend the Missus left her trench in SFO a few months ago due to this same problem.)

We have a 6 hour flight to San Francisco, and then another 6 hour flight to Maui, so comfort is a must. Right now I'm thinking my boyfriend jeans, gray T, white Mason vest, converse, and my trench sans winter warmer. Oh, and a gray and white striped cotton scarf. This way I can shed layers as we go and still look presentable at every stop. Now that I think about it I may also slip a pair of sandals in my bag so when that plane hits the ground I can officially start my vacation.

What  I won't be wearing is what Posh was recently spotted in on her way to catch a flight. 

Seriously, is she for real? That just can't be comfortable.