Funny...

I was looking through the pictures I took of Ben in the past couple of weeks and realized that the picture I posted earlier was pre-haircut. He has a comb over that's hiding the long hairs in the front. So here's a picture of him afterward. He's a handsome fellow, but perhaps I'm biased.

Ben's grandpa gave him his first haircut. His hair was growing into his eyes.



Man, I'm tired. Ben is 17 1/2 lbs. It takes a lot of milk to satisfy that child. Milks well into the night. I don't mind. I'm just tired. He sleeps a lot better than he used to. My only problem now is that he won't sleep without me, but we're working on it.

Chris and I have started house hunting. Due to the unfortunate state of the economy, we may actually be able to afford a house payment. There are a lot of options in the valley that might actually be able to work out for us. I'm pretty excited at the possibility of owning a house. I'm so tired of living in our tiny little trailer. Our family has gotten too big. And by family, I'm also including dogs, tortoises, and all of our stuff. So having more space for all of us affordably would be pretty cool.

I have so much to write, but no time. Having a kid takes up a lot of your energy. It's pretty much the best job I could ever ask for.

The pay stinks, but the hours are great!

I have joined the ranks of the unemployed as of March 6th at 4:45 pm. To be completely honest, it's a little bittersweet. I will preface this by saying that I do not, in any way, think stay at home moms are not contributing just as much to their families as their husbands. This is simply an expression of my own guilt and not a judgment on anyone. That being said, I totally do not feel like I am contributing as much as my husband is. It makes me feel an immense amount of guilt. He works full time and is taking 12 credits. His butt is being kicked daily and he gets four to five hours of sleep every night. He has so much stress, and I can't really do anything to alleviate it. And now I'm not working, and I'm doing what I want to do, which is being a stay at home mom. I really really appreciate my husband so much for everything he does. He doesn't give me any grief about not working anymore, and he's glad that our kid is being raised primarily by me and not an outside caregiver. I'm so glad I married the guy that I did.

This past week has felt more like I've been on vacation than anything else. I don't feel like work is done. I feel like I'll be going back to my desk at work on Monday, whenever Monday comes because every day is perpetually Saturday. It's weird.

You should use a battle axe.

One very unfortunate side effect of working full time, feeding your family regularly, keeping the kitchen somewhat clean, and parenting a small baby is that my hygiene routinely suffers. I manage to brush my teeth and hair every day, but showers just don't always make it into my schedule. Sure, I know, there are at least hundreds of women who are able to do all this - and more(!), but I am not one of them.

Another, albeit marginally, unfortunate side effect of my sad bathing status is that the hair on my legs gets shaved maybe once or twice a month. So sad and gross. Why am I even telling you this? Because you're my friend, that's why. (Aren't you just so glad we're friends?) This is only embarrassing when my pant leg rides up when I'm crossing my legs. Lucky for me, I cross them all the time! I'm surprised no one has called the Sasquatch Gang, because BIG FOOT LIVES IN IDAHO AND SHE WILL EAT YOUR FAMILY! Also lucky for me, my secret is safe because no one has reported me- yet. I should also add that the last time I shaved my legs, I broke my last Intuition razor cartridge. You know that nice lotiony moisturizing bar that surrounds the razor? Gone. Broken by my porcupine leg hairs after its second use. I've still been using it to shave my armpits with copious amounts of Dove. What? Those cartridges are expensive. I've got to get my money's worth.

Anyway, I managed to get a shower today because my husband reminded me that I had planned on taking one (hint, HINT, stinky!). And I tackled the beast what lives on my lower extremities. With copious amounts of Dove because I forgot to buy more razor cartridges. I didn't even make it up to my knee caps because the hair was so long. I'm talking like a third of an inch or so. Again, sad and gross. You might ask me why I am telling you this. Well, I heard you needed to feel better about yourself, and since we're friends, I thought I'd oblige.

My last day at work is Friday, and I am so ready. I am tired of pumping my breasts four times a day like a dairy cow. I am tired of my sitter over-estimating how much Ben will eat and wasting my hard earned milk at the end of the day. I'm tired of sitting around at work with nothing to do. It's so boring, and I still have to act like I'm doing something, right? Most of all, I'm so tired of being away from my kid. I'm so glad it's almost Friday.