Crafting with Carter

I have always loved making fun and pretty crafts to decorate our home.  My house is filled with pinterest inspired wall hangings and decorations.  Now that Carter has come along, I am loving the chance to create crafts and presents with him.  I have especially enjoyed creating holiday themed crafts.

For Christmas we created salt dough ornaments using Carter’s handprint and footprint.  We made the ornaments when he was about 5 days old.  I will treasure them forever.  I already can’t believe how small his hands and feet once were!  When we first started making the ornaments he screamed each time I put his hand or foot into the dough.  That was rough for both mommy and daddy!  We quickly realized the trick was to warm the dough up so it wasn’t cold when we put his hand/foot in it.  After that he just slept through making them with no trouble at all.

The recipe we used was:

·         2 cups flour

·         1 cup salt

·         1 cup water

We rolled the dough into balls and then used a rolling pin to flatten it out.  Then we baked the ornaments at 200 degrees for 3 hours.

I am so in love with handprint/footprint crafts.  I know I will love looking back and seeing how small my little man once was!  For Valentine’s Day we made a footprint craft present for grandparents and for Ty.  I found the idea here.  Then I tweaked it a little bit.  I used frames with a large mat instead of a canvas like she did.  This probably wouldn’t work unless you have a very new baby or a custom sized mat.  Carter’s feet barely fit and he was 2 months old at the time.  We took the same idea and created cards for aunts, uncles, and great grandparents.  We also did a Valentine’s Day photo shoot so we could include adorable photos of Carter!  

I used a red stamp pad from Michael’s and just used baby wipes to clean his feet when we were finished.  The trickiest part was that Carter likes to roll his toes up.  I would make his footprint and then look down and there would be no toe marks!  Then I would have to unroll his toes and press them down above the footprint.  He is a tricky little baby!

My latest project wasn’t a craft, it’s a decoration.  I wanted to save Carter’s going home from the hospital outfit and I saw this cute idea here.  I decided to make a shadow box and add his hospital bracelet too.  I love it!

I’m looking forward to our next project, whatever it may be!

First Day Success

Remember those goals of mine?  

Don’t do the ugly cry.  Check

Get to work on time/don’t dilly dally too much at the daycare when I drop little man off.  Check

Make my students’ day/make sure they can’t tell I miss my son like crazy/be cheery, happy, and peppy for my little ones.  Check

Leave work right at 3:45 (which will be the first time that I can ever think of).  Check

We started our day with a very smiley and cheery baby.  I love Carter’s sweet personality.  He is definitely a morning baby.  For his first day of daycare he wore a special outfit.  We took some pictures to help us remember his first day.

He was smiling and right as Ty snapped the picture he spit up.  He cracks me up!

Everyone at the daycare was so nice and helpful.  They made it easier to leave Carter although it was still extremely hard.  Ty went with me for support.  I really hoped I wouldn’t cry at the daycare and I was able to make it all the way to the parking lot before I broke down.  I cried all the way to work and sat in the parking lot for a while to get it together.  It felt good to walk into my classroom, my home away from home, but I was still struggling to dry it up.

Once the students started to arrive, my spirits really lifted.  I had missed them so much.  The first students to arrive poked their heads into my room and very excitedly said, Mrs. Cox IS back!  Almost like they didn’t believe it could be true.  I went into the hallway to greet students as they arrived and I had a smile from ear to ear.  They really are the sweetest group of kids!  

The morning flew by and before I knew it, it was lunch time, time to see my precious boy!  His daycare is about a 5-7 minute drive from school.  Between dropping my kids off at lunch, driving to and from daycare, and picking them up from recess I had a solid 20 minutes with him.  He had just woken up and was alert.  When I walked over to his crib and looked down at him, he smiled up at me.  I got to spend the entire time cuddling him, talking to him, and receiving smiles.  It was such a great way to spend my lunchtime.  

My handsome lunch date!

On the way back to school I drank a smoothie I had made the night before, froze, and left in my car to thaw.  The rest of the day went by even faster than the morning.  Before I knew it I was saying goodbye to my students, quickly checking my e-mails, and packing up to go home.  All the while thinking, I can do this.  I really can do this working mom thing.  Thank goodness!  What a relief!  The smiles on my students’ faces and the hugs made the return to work much easier than I had anticipated.  Now I have all weekend with my loves!

One of my students wrote Carter a card.  She asked what is favorite color is and I told her he can only see black and white right now.  Her thoughtfulness warmed my heart!

Random cute story: A mom of one of my students e-mailed me to say her son told her he wanted to dress fancy.  She asked why and he said, it's Mrs. Cox's first day back and I want to look nice.  He wore a button up shirt, looked very handsome, and was on his best behavior.

This Is It

So guys, this is it.  Tomorrow is the day.  It’s time to go back to work.  I’m a little bit stressed and nervous.  Let’s be honest, a lot a bit stressed and nervous.  What if I forget to pack something for Carter?  What if I leak all over my shirt?  What if I’m miserable and miss him all day?  So I have some goals for myself.

1. Don’t do the ugly cry.
2. Get to work on time/don’t dilly dally too much at the daycare when I drop little man off.
3. Make my students’ day/make sure they can’t tell I miss my son like crazy/be cheery, happy, and   peppy for my little ones.
4. Leave work right at 3:45 (which will be the first time that I can ever think of).

I think those are doable.  Let’s see what tomorrow brings…

This picture will be one of many on my desk to help me make it through the day.

The Final Countdown

When I think of my return to work “The Final Countdown” starts blasting in my head.  I picture myself as a tough momma.  I’m dressed in my new polka dot shirt I bought for my first day back to make myself feel a little better.  I walk up to school with no tears pull my badge out to the rhythm of the song, type in my code, and head in for the day.  I have the toughness of a boxer going into battle.  Isn’t that what it takes on your first day away from your baby?

I know that my first day back will most likely involve tears.  I mean how could it not?  For some reason this vision helps me feel strong enough to make it through a day not being by my precious baby’s side.  I know each day it will get easier.  I will have to keep that in mind on Thursday.

I am the type of person who prepares for everything.  My running side comes out and I want to “train” for what is to come.  When I was pregnant I did planks, special core exercises, and continued running to train my body for labor and delivery.  I know the only way to train for leaving my son at daycare is to leave him now, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.  The longest I’ve been away from him is 3 hours.  Now I just have to double that and add a few hours and I’ll make it through a work day.  I’m afraid I’ve set myself up for failure.

So cue the techno beat fit for a boxer entering the ring.  The countdown is in full force, T-Minus 2 days.  Just gotta keep listening to this song and picturing myself as a tough momma!  I can do this…

My First Postpartum 5k

Saturday morning was an exciting first for Carter and me.  It was our first 5k together since he was born. My last 5k was the Jingle Bell Run at 35 weeks pregnant, the weekend before Carter was born.  It was also the first time Carter and I have been out the door before 9am.  That will end this week when I return to work!  

We hadn’t preregistered so Ty went to register us while I got the stroller and Carter all set up and ready.  It worked out perfectly because the race was right at Carter’s morning nap time and he slept the whole time.  It was 27 degrees, so Carter was super bundled up!

I have been running with the stroller every day since I started back, but I was nervous about having the stroller in a crowd.  The race was small, about 100 people, which was perfect for my first race with a stroller.  I went to the outside of the start and started farther back than I needed to.  I didn’t want to get in anyone’s way.

As we were waiting for the race to start Ty asked what I thought I could run.  I wasn’t sure, but I had run 4 miles a couple weeks ago and hit the 5k mark in 27:30, so I figured I would definitely be faster than that.  He decided he would try to keep up with me.  His PR was 26:53 and he knew he should be able to run around 27 and a half minutes.

The gun shot and off we went.  Navigating the start was a little bit difficult because I went way to the outside of the course, but people would shoot out to go around without looking and I’d have to steer around them.  We went through the first mile in about 8 minutes.  I knew we were on pace to run a bit faster than Ty had expected and I could hear him running along behind me.

The race went out and turned around.  As I was turning around the cone I heard a man running behind me start yelling to the race workers saying, isn’t that woman with the stroller amazing?  When he caught up to me he ran beside me for a bit and said how awesome it was I was running fast with a stroller.  Then he said he wanted my training program.  I chuckled to myself because I’m only running about 10-15 miles per week, taking it easy coming back.  I enjoyed the encouragement though and had to smile.

I finished in 24:06 and Ty finished in 24:54.  My running app showed that the course was actually 3 miles, not 3.1.  Assuming Ty would have run the last 0.1 at the same pace he had run the rest of the race, he would have finished in 25:47.  A PR of over one minute!  I was so proud of him.  He said the whole time he was assuming we were on pace for around 27:30 and was frustrated that he felt as poorly as he did.  

I had my camera in the stroller so I was able to get a picture of Ty finishing.

Running with a stroller I was able to finish 2^nd in my age group and 10^th overall female.  It felt good to be able to run a decent time just 11 weeks after Carter was born and while pushing a stroller.  Carter won his age group which made me think of my mom.  During an out and back race we did when I was pregnant, as I saw my mom, she yelled out what place I was for overall female and then yelled and first fetus!  She cracks me up! 

It was really fun to get comments from other runners too.  After the race, as we were waiting for the awards ceremony, a few people came up to me to congratulate me and tell me they were impressed with how I ran with a stroller.  One lady said her group of friends was making bets on whether there was actually a baby in the stroller or if there was a motor in there.  It’s always so much fun to get compliments and encouragement from other runners.  I love the running community! 

With my medal for 2nd place in my age group.  Carter didn't get a medal for his win.  ;)

 Let me tell you, running a race with a stroller is a little bit more difficult than just a training run.  My lower back and arms were sore the next day! 

Now I’m excited for the next race we plan to run in 2 weeks, a St. Patrick’s Day race on March 16^th.  I’m not sure if Ty will run with Carter or I will, but either way I am looking forward to it!

We are Rolling!

On Carter’s one month birthday he rolled over twice.  The next day he rolled over again.  I spent every day for the following week trying to capture him rolling over on video.  But he never rolled over again.  At his 2 month check-up he rolled over on the examining table.  But just like before, didn’t do it again.  What the heck little man?  I was being a spaz holding my phone and camcorder videoing him every time he was on his tummy, but nothing! 

Finally on Friday he did it again, and again, and again, and again.  Until he finally screamed to tell me, mommy enough is enough!  Now anytime he is on his tummy he pretty much immediately rolls over to his back.  I think the difference now is that he has figured out how to do it.  Before he just got lucky and happened to move everything together at the right time.  Now he understands how to kick his leg and flip over.  He can roll over without a pillow propping him up, but he fusses the whole time and it takes a while!

It’s so exciting!  I’m so proud of my little mover and shaker!  Not too shabby for a baby born 4 weeks early.  Everything I read said he would probably be a little bit behind developmentally since he was technically premature, but he’s right on target!

Please forgive my over-excited screeches at the end of the video!