And We're Off.

Tomorrow The Husband, Little Man, and I embark on a 3 1/2 week journey to Nosara, Costa Rica. While this isn't the first time we've visited this beautiful country (this will be LM's 3rd time there) this is the longest we've ever stayed. The little town that we go to is pretty much in the middle of nowhere so I always have quite the task in trying to remember to bring anything and everything that we could possibly need. Somehow we were able to fit all the "necessities" into two checked bags and two carry ons. This was not an easy feat, the fertility products alone took up half a suitcase! (I kid I kid.) Don't get me started on the two (yes, two) surfboards the Husband is also bringing.

At this point whether we have everything or not we will be boarding a plane at 2pm tomorrow and heading off to our jungle oasis. A month is a long time to spend with just your husband and little one no matter how much you love each other. One of them doesn't have much to say and the other is only 20 months old! (Again I kid.) As with any family vacation there are always highs and lows. Here are a few of the anticipated ups and downs.

Yay

• 3 1/2 whole weeks, 24 hours a day with the family. Some serious quality time is destined to be had. 
  
• The beach is across the street, the pool is out back. For a 20 month boy this is true heaven.
  
• We stay in a house and not a hotel (I hate staying in a hotel for a long period of time.)
  
• One of the best Yoga institutes in the world is right down the street. I plan on going for 1 1/2 hours every day we are there.
  
• The food is awesome and cheap. Even better is that you can buy fish right off the boat and grill it up the same day, this is heavenly.
• It's about to get cold again in Boston and we are getting out just in time.
• My new Kindle already has 6 new books just waiting to be read. Best part? I don't have to carry the damn books! Oh, modern technology kicks ass.
• Wireless Internet. Need I say more?

Nay

• 3 1/2 whole weeks, 24 hours a day with the family. That is a LOT of time to spend with 2 people you already know everything about. 
• Flying. As in Flying with the little man. As in facing down my nightmare again, for the 12th time. I mean really why can't I learn from the past. If you are new to this blog click here, and here and you will see exactly what I am talking about.
• 3 1/2 weeks in the sun and heat does funny things to a person. I tend to go a bit batty down there, I apologize in advance. 

As you can see the pros definitely outweigh the cons, so Hasta La Vista (see you later)! 

I'll be back writing by Friday at the latest, and I'll try to twitter along the way.

More Fun In The Sun.

Again  today the sun was shining and the little man and I went down to the public garden for a photo shoot of our boys with my yummiest mummy friends. Our good friend is an amazing photographer and she did a great job getting the LM to sit still, a task that is not easily accomplished. 

The "real" pictures will be posted as soon as they are ready, but here are a few of my amateur shots.  The LM loved looking at the ducks, chasing his friends and he really, really, really, really loved the ice cream cone that followed. I'm starting to become a bit concerned that my man, himself may turn into an ice cream cone given the amount he has consumed this weekend. All I can say is thank got this kid isn't lactose intolerant!

As I was typing this it just hit me that we are off to Costa Rica on Wednesday for almost a month. We are no where near being ready, laundry is not done, suitcases are empty, etc......more on this tomorrow. 

I hope there is some sunshine where you live today, it really does make for such a change in attitude!

This Is How We Do It.

When the weather pushes 90 degrees and you live in the city you are pretty limited on how to stay cool. Luckily for my little city mouse I was prepared. 

20 Minutes of blowing up a pool by mouth, 4 buckets of water hauled across the street and we were almost ready. 

Here is the little man saying "Let's go mom!"

Ahhhhh relief at last, although at first he was a little shy about getting in.

Once he saw that those infamous cars weren't afraid he was ready to go.

A few kisses to the froggie.

And off he went. 2 hours later he was still in this same spot.

Now if only they made a Mommy sized version we would have really been in business.

101 Things I Have Learned From The Little Man.

There is so much that you learn from, and relearn through the eyes of a toddler. I am starting to feel like if I don't write it all down I am likely to forget all the amazing new insight that I have gained  from my new "teacher." Lucky for me I have a blog so from now on Fridays will be titled "101 things I have learned from the little man." There may be more that 101 but I figured in two years I can easily reassess. I know this has been done before with dogs, cats, kids, and even Congressman, but never through the eyes of my somewhat unique little guy so hopefully I wont be too redundant. Since the little guy cracks me up on an hourly basis with his antics, I'm not thinking that any of these will be too serious so please don't expect any good mommy advice here, just the lighter side of the joys of motherhood. 

#101 Sharing Sucks.

Bottom line, whether you are two or one hundred and two, sharing totally sucks. I know, I know, we have to teach our kids to share. Not only because it is a totally necessary life and social skill, but also because this is the way we are most easily judged as parents by other parents. 

For all of you out there with kids you know what I'm talking about. There you are in the sandbox playing with your little man and in comes "Johnny." Johnny comes running over and rips the sandbox out of your little one's hand. Even worse is when you try to take the shovel back from "Johnny's" kung fu grip and he either 1) hits, 2)bites, 3) screams, 4) all of the above. 

As the parent of the victimized child you patiently wait to see what the other mummy/daddy/nanny is going to do in this situation. If they immediately run over and tell Johnny to give the shovel back and he actually (miracle!) does than you are deemed by most to be a "good parent." If you tell Johnny to give it back and he tells you to bug off than you are a "so so parent" in the eyes of the ever growing crowd, and if you do absolutely nothing than you are usually dubbed a "bad parent." Now we here at yummy mummy rarely judge since "Johnny" in this situation is usually (always) my little man but you get the idea. 

On the opposite spectrum think about when you see a child willingly share his toys. Everyone ohhhs and aaahhs about "what a sweet boy he is." My little guy loves to share his cars. Loves it about as much as I love getting a root canal. Everywhere he goes he travels with his two favorite cars in tow. He never, never, never puts them down. Not when he eats, bathes, plays, swings, watches TV....never puts them down. Now "Mommy" is always in his face at the park telling him he has to "share." I beg, I plead, I bargain and prior to this week nothing. Recently I have noticed that he now travels with three cars. His two favorites and one only I know that he doesn't like. He has figured out that when mommy demands he share he can just slip to kid the crappy car and never lose one of his "babies." Pretty damn smart I think.  

I would like to (and I try to) force him to share one of the others, but really I don't blame him. As I said sharing sucks. If The Husband came home one day and said that our neighbor was going to borrow a new pair of my Louboutins (the only thing I love as much as the little man loves his cars) I would look at him and laugh. My Louboutins, share? I don't think so. Or imagine if you got that new IPhone for Christmas and you are instantly told you have to let your best friend borrow it forever (because to a 2 year old five minutes really is forever) you would surely let out a big fat, "I don't think so." Hell, I don't even like sharing my desert with my husband. Yeah, now you understand where I am coming from.

Whether it's the toys in the sandbox or the Mass Pike at rush hour, sharing completely and utterly sucks. Just promise me that you won't let the little man know I said that. 

Decaffeinated.

It's been 2 weeks since I have officially been off the "sauce." Even as a former self proclaimed Starbucksaholic, I have almost given up my drug of choice. 

The demise of the Soy Latte was and is completely related to my desire to conceive baby number two (why else would a girl do something SO crazy?) Caffeine and Soy seems to be the number one and number two no-nos and since my drink consisted solely of those two ingredients than I was pretty much out of luck. 

I'm not going to lie, my detox hasn't been easy. The first week I had some wicked headaches. Like, oh my god my head is going to explode, please kill me now, kind of headaches. I also was really tired. Really, really tired. First trimester kind of tired. The second week, not so bad. 

I have had two minor slips. This weekend the weather was BEAUTIFUL and the LM, Husband and I took our favorite walk up to Peets Coffee in Harvard Square. I couldn't not get anything given the tradition so I opted for a decaf iced coffee. It was kind of like an O'Douls, same taste, same texture, sadly missing that same familiar buzz. 

I must say that I am impressed with my willpower given that this week I truly have been tested. My little man who used to get up around 8:15 has now decided that 6:30 is his wake up time of choice. Really, I say? You have to chose the week I cut out my IV of coffee to decide to take away an hour and half of my precious sleep? Sometimes, I think that kid has it out for me. 

So far I have survived, and I have an extra 41 dollars in my pocket. Given that I'm thinking my little hiatus may stick (sad). Oh, but just talking about it really, really, really makes me want a piping hot cup.

One day at a time, one day at a time. 

Past Due.

Yesterday was the due date from baby # 2. It was actually a date I have been dreading (dreading!) for the past few weeks. It's not so much about the baby that was actually due, but rather that I never, never, thought that when this date came I still would not have at least one baby on the way. My immediate response after they told us that the original baby had miscarried was, "when can we start trying again." I couldn't believe when she said we had to wait three months, three whole months. At the time that seemed like a lifetime. Well that was seven months ago and what I wouldn't now give for just those three short months.

In the approaching weeks I was concerned that I would spend my "due date" crying, or freaking out about the fact that I wasn't yet with child. Even on Monday I was wondered how I was going to be. I was grateful that I had my sitter in the morning so the little man wouldn't be able to observe any of this behavior, if it had materialized in that way. To my surprise when the day actually came, it pretty much did what every day does, it came and went. If it wasn't for the note on my blackberry calendar that buzzed us during dinner I probably would have forgotten the whole thing. Even then I just mentioned to The Husband that today was baby number 2's due date and we went on eating, talking about all the other nonsense that we discuss at the dinner table (this could be a separate blog post in itself.) 

I'm sure my positive attitude has much more to do with the fact that next month I get to start the Clomid, than it does to do with anything else. Everything I read seems to say that this stuff really works and really works fast, so against to The Husband's warnings I am pretty much putting all my eggs (pun intended) in that basket. I also think that the fact that I not so secretly am hoping for twins (I know I have completely  gone off the baby deep end) makes me even more excited about what we have in store. It's kind of like a two for one deal, right? (You know how I like a good sale!)

I learned that a due date is just a date like any other and hopefully soon I'll have another to put in my outlook (yes, I actually do that, even though it's not like you could ever forget.) Hmmmm if you have twins do you get two separate due dates? Probably not. I bet you can get two separate push presents though (I kid, I kid.) 

And Just Like That It Was Over.

For the past few weeks the little man and I have been teetering on the brink of my greatest nightmare, the thing that keeps me up at night and sends chills down my spine whenever I envision it. Yes, I am talking about the dreaded temper tantrum. Now, this is not to to be confused with general fussiness or irritability (I mean we've been dealing with that since the day the little guy left the womb.) Nor is it to be confused with short bursts of anger, sadness, or demand for attention or and object of his affection. No, this is the full on meltdown. The thing that you see other people's kids having. You know the scene. The one where the parents are standing on the street corner trying to get their little one into a stroller, while the little one does nothing but scream, hit, kick, bite. The one where a precious child all of a sudden starts to resemble something from The Exorcist. Yeah, now you get the picture (if you don't just type temper tantrum into Google Images and your ovaries will immediately shrivel up and disappear.)

I'm sure to those of you out there who have kids, kids bigger than mine, you have seen this many times and you are probably laughing at me right now. I'm sure you have seen more than your fair of these episodes and as I have recently learned, yes this too shall pass. I imagine if asked in a few years I would say, oh that wasn't that bad. Or like everything else in parenting, the anticipation is worse than the actual event. Yep, I know the drill. All I can say is 1) who was that kid? 2) How long is this going to last? 3) Is it to much to ask that this only happens when Daddy is around?

Back to the incident in question. Last Thursday was just one of those days. The little man woke up early and in a foul mood. Nothing went our way and by the time we were in play group he was pissed and I was stressed. We went to put his cars in the diaper bag (which are not allowed on the gymboree floor) and the little man refused. There was begging, pleading, bargaining, hiding, etc... still the little man would not stop crying without those dang cars. Fine I said, and we left. Once we got to the car he decided he wanted to go back. I really like playgroup and since it is prepaid we went back. Things went a little smother and we made it through the hour. We then needed a quick trip upstairs to get some teething gel. Not only did the LM whine and cry the entire time, but when I was applying said teething gel the little guy bit my finger so hard that it drew blood. At this point I was OVER IT. A quick call from another yummy mummy assured me that we all have these days and I decided that some fresh air may do us some good. 

We went to the park across the street from our house. The park the LM loves. The park we always go to. Well of course he didn't want to go to that park and was pretty miserable the whole time. At this point it was lunch time and I was done. As in d.o.n.e. I scooped his monkey ass up and dragged him into the house. When we got in all he wanted was to watch T.V. and eat jellybeans. Not going to happen I assured him over and over........and that's when it began.  All of a sudden my pink cheeked little guy was red, like fire engine red, and within moments he was on the ground wailing, kicking, hitting, you know the full Monty. Rather than doing what I usually do (which is console him, hold him, distract him, and gasp....sometimes give in) I instead just sat back and waited to see what would happen. I continued to make lunch and ignored the whole thing. THE WHOLE 17 MINUTE THING. 

Just when I thought that neither of us could take anymore, it stopped. As in the little guy just picked himself up off the floor, rubbed his eyes, wiped his nose, and completely stopped. He then went over to the recycling and picked up the bag and carried it to the door asking me to help him take it to the trash, and it was over. Sure there were a few tiny sobs and he needed a little more cuddling before nap, but really that was it. I'm not going to sit here and say that wasn't so bad, but the truth is that it wasn't that bad. Like I said the anticipation was much, much worse. I also recognize that this was in the sanctity of our own home not to be confused with how this would have played out had we been in public. In the end we both survived, and after an extra large glass of wine that night (for me of course) we both moved on to the next day which turned out to be a great, great day. 

One down, who knows how many to go (please let me be at home, please let me be at home oh please let me be at home.) Ahhhhhh the joys of raising an almost two year old. 

(just a side note, the picture above is NOT from said temper tantrum, I'm not that cruel. Now that I think about it that would be some good payback in 20 years....next time video camera? Just kidding of course.)

Marathon Monday.

Happy Patriots Day to all my Boston friends! For those of you who don't know, today is Marathon Monday which is one of the best days of the year to be downtown. This is the day that hundreds of runners make their way through 26 miles to cross the finish line right in the heart of Back Bay where thousands (upon thousands) of spectators gather to cheer on their accomplishment. While I have never run a marathon (and likely never will) I can only imagine that the amount of pain that one must endure is second only to the pain (oh I mean joy) of childbirth. The fact that people do it year after year (run that is) really amazes me. 

Today the little man and I took the T from our side of the river to join in the festivities.

Here we are down the alley from the finish line. You can see the jumbotron in the back tracking the runners.

Here we are near the prudential center getting out prize of the day, a much sought after blue balloon.

Eventually the little man joined in, shaking his cowbell and cheering on his babysitter J.S. who has been crazy enough to run the marathon 3 times. 

Once the crowds got to thick to maneuver the stroller we made our way back home for a much needed nap. I'm going to say what I say every year....next year is my year, I will run the marathon. This is the 5th year in a row that I've uttered those words, somehow I doubt it will happen. Maybe by the time the little man makes it to college? 

Congratulations to everyone who ran today!

Lost Items, Found Words.

This weekend we did a little "spring cleaning," aka we looked for all the Husband's missing (ahem misplaced) items before we leave for our three week trip to Costa Rica. I thought the little man would find this a bit boring, but much to my surprise he was more than willing to chip in.

We never did find the items, but we eventually determined that both were in a missing blue beach bag. We must have repeated "blue bag" about a thousand times because at one point the LM looked in the closet and said "blue bag." This is the first time he used two, yes two, words together and we are pretty damn proud of the little guy. Not only did he "find" some new words, but the floors also don't look too shabby, if you ask my opinion.

You may notice in some of the pictures that the house is in a bit of disarray, all in a never ending search for the illusive blue bag.

EDITED: I would also like to point out that again his father picked out this outfit. 

I Want, I Need, I Have to Have.

My newest obsession? No, it's not shoes, and shockingly is not anything clothing related. My current OBSESSION is the Kindle 2. Did I say obsession? This is more like, I need, I want, I have to have. 

Seriously, this thing is AMAZING. It is as thick as a pencil, holds like 4,500 books, and weighs less than a paperback. Can you say sold!

Luckily, someone has a birthday coming in just a few weeks. Hint, Hint.

What a Difference A Day Makes.

Spring has finally sprung here in New England. Finally.

Yesterday, it was 45 degrees and windy as hell. We tried to stop and smell the newly opened flowers, but the little man almost got blown over.

Today was a completely different story! The sun was shining, and the temperature reached almost 70 degrees. As in 70 degrees! The little man and I celebrated by having a smoothie. Even though it was the size of his head he still managed to drink the entire thing. 

We then went to the park and.....wait for it........wait for it..................

we wore SHORT sleeves.  As in arms exposed, no clothing on our arms kind of sleeves. 

Yeah, it's been about 8 months since we last did that.

Given that it is New England, of course, tomorrow it is going to be 40 degrees and rainy.

Oh well, at least we were given one perfect Spring day. 

Oh Dear God.

This is the stroller made for twins and a toddler. Yes, that seat in the front would be for my little man. I don't think I could ever be seen in public again! 

Seriously, this thing is a monster, could you just imagine me rolling down to the T with this and three babies in tow?

Oh Dear God!

Seems Like a No Brainer To Me.

"Seems like a no brainer to me." That's what my good friend said when she got the fertility appointment wrap up. I won't bore you with all the details, but the bottom line is that my hormones are still pretty messed up from the miscarriage and were likely messed up prior to, which is what the specialist said probably caused it in the first place. 

Her solution? 100 percent Clomid. A low dose. The lowest dost possible. She said that this drug was made for people like me, with this exact problem. She said I am not infertile, I just need a little help getting my body in perfect baby order. Her concern was that if I didn't take the Clomid, and got pregnant on one of these random 

cycles I would have a higher risk of miscarriage again. 

To this I responded pill please!

Pros

1. Get pregnant within next three months (she said this is a very likely possibility.)
2. Get to actually keep baby number three (she said the miscarriage rate will be lower and she is giving me progesterone to help keep the baby in place when it clings on.)

Cons

1. Twins. As in TWO babies. The doc told me the true risk is 10 percent. As in one in ten. 
2. For the five days you are on it you can become a bit of a moody mummy. 

Right? Seems like a no brainer to me. 

I'm having my pills delivered tomorrow and will begin on the next cycle. I still have this month to "try" and I am still hoping we can get it the natural way. If not, next month the journey begins. 90 percent chance of only one....that's what I keep telling myself. 

A Solution?

A friend of mine emailed this to me as a solution to my egg problem. Given that my name is Robin I thought that this was very appropriate. 

Tomorrow we meet with the fertility doc, so I'll have to run this one by her. At a minimum I'm thinking that they must taste better than that fertility tea that I am currently consuming by the gallon. 

Donations Needed.

OK, so I know some of you have a few extra dollars left over after getting locked out of Gilt's Louboutin sale last week, and lucky for you I have just the place for you to spend some of that disposable income! I know, I know, times are tough for everyone and I was just kidding about money lying around but what is not funny is how many charities are currently in need of funding right now. When the economy dips so do the donations but unfortunately the need for services only rises. 

A good friend of mine, and fellow yummy mummy, is walking this weekend to help raise money in the fight against MS, a disease which more than 400,000 Americans live with. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is dedicated to ending the devastating effects of MS. They simultaneously fund research for a cure while also helping people who currently live with MS lead more fulfilling lives. All donations go directly to the national center to help fund this cause. If you are able to donate any amount large or small click here. If you are unable to donate at this time, please keep this charity in mind in the future. 

A Fashion Question.

A few weeks ago I received the following email from a reader who is due to have her first little man any day now. 

Anonymous said...

YM-
I have a only tangentially related fashion question for you. I am about to become a first time YM in April. About 10 weeks later, my sister is getting married. The good news is that there are no bridesmaids, so no dress to squeeze into, but I'll still need to find a dress that will be forgiving of the paunch I imagine will still be there in the tummy area, and that will allow easy access for b-feeding. The wedding is casual/cocktail on the Maine coast in the evening in June. Boston is where I shop, and I thought you might have some ideas about what would be the ideal dress and where to procure it in Beantown. This is your challenge should you choose to accept! Thank you for any help you can give me!

My response? A formal wrap dress. This is totally the way to go for a number of reasons. 

• First and foremost the breast feeding issue. Because she will be breast feeding all strapless/ halter/ and spaghetti strap dresses should be immediately nixed for the simple reason that it is really hard to find the right bra which will allow you to wear these type of silhouettes and stack yourself full of nursing pads. Also if you are at a semi-formal event it is very unlikely that you will feed/ pump in public so I like the idea that you can just take the whole dress off in one easy swoop and hang it on the back of the bathroom door while you do your moma cow business (hey, no one said motherhood was pretty.) 
  
• Second I love the wrap dress for the reason that it totally disguises any mummy tummy that you have left over from growing that little human the last 9 months. Not only can you suck yourself in with the ribbon but that bow can always be positioned to hide any unflattering areas. 
• The wedding is in Maine and is not totally formal. I think the dressy wrap dress is the perfect dress for such an occasion new mommy or not. It's classy, doesn't show too much skin, and you know you will never be too overdressed or under dressed which means you can be totally comfortable and confident in your choice of attire. 
• It's Maine and it's June, things can get a bit chilly up there so this is a great choice simply for the fact that it has sleeves!

Here are a few of my favorites. 

This dress is from JCrew and is actually my favorite of the bunch. 

A DVF classic, this dress would fit the bill perfectly.

This one is DVF and is a but pricey but is a good look. I love the neckline and the textured bow.

This is a little more casual with a nautical feel and is by Marc Jacobs.

This DVF is also perfect for this occasion and could be worn multiple times with some fun accessories. 

Click the designer for a link to see where to purchase. All stores are local. 

Good Luck Anon with the baby and the wedding!

Happy Easter.

Happy Easter from my little bunny.