A "working it" Mom :)

Hello bloggers!

I am trying to be better about posting and not waiting almost a whole month to update!  Any who, as Pearlee nears her seventh month of life, it makes me reminisce about my life before her. 

  As a single woman living in a big city, I was always on the go--finding events to go to, running along the Lakefront of Lake Michigan, and occasionally hanging out with friends and family.

Surprisingly, my life hasn't changed that drastically.  My childless friends are extremely supportive of me bringing my daughter along with us to many outings (since she's still exclusively breastfed, she's with me most of the time) and for the few hours I go to the gym, our out with friend at a concert (How Sweet the Sound was AWESOME!) she stays with her dad.

One thing that has changed is my preparation for work in the morning!  I have learned that prepping the night before is a vital key to a successful morning!  After an afternoon workout, my routine has been giving her a bath, night feeding, then put to bed (hopefully) by 8 pm.  When she's sleep, I get to focus on me!  That means, taking a shower, eating dinner, grading papers (yes, the joys of being an English teacher) then re-packing her bag for the babysitter. 

And I have now had to add two more things to this routine: making baby food and doing her hair.  Now both of these tasks are not nightly (thankfully).  I steam and blend enough food for a week or so.  Making baby food is very quick and easy--it's just making sure you find time to do it.



 And I braid her hair, which lasts about 3-4 days.  And for those that are wondering, she is NOT cooperative enough for me to do her hair so I normally do it when she's sleep.  Or her grandmother does her hair for me.














So you may be wondering, when do I sleep??? lol, honestly, it's not the 8-10 hours I was used to, but I still try to be in bed by 10:30 each night.  This means cutting a few corners in my personal life.  One major thing is my hair.  I used to spend as many as 2 hours styling my hair.  Now, when it is not in the occasional afro, I take the time to go to a stylist and get my hair done in an up-do that is low maintenance, lasts for several weeks at a time, and best of all, I'm still cute! 


 Here's a recent style I just got done on Saturday:

front view

side view

I have to admit, when I first found out I was pregnant, I was afraid that the social facet of my life would disappear.  I understood just from observing friends and family that children, especially young children, need a lot of time and care and I did not want to come off as one of those mothers who sacrificed their children's childhood experience for their own happiness.  As a high school teacher, I deal with the ramifications of those decisions by seeing the emptiness and the search for belonging with some of my students because their mothers didn't give them the attention they needed (and deserved!).



But I'm not going to worry or over think potential problems when my daughter becomes a teenager.  Right now, I am enjoying my time with her and journey thus far.  And I couldn't imagine my life without my little cutie-bootie--one of her many nicknames!

Look out for the next post--I'm sure it will be about her first crawl!!

Be blessed everyone :)