Tralee & County Kerry

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Let me just say that I have been fortunate to be in some beautiful places in my life. I even live near a few, but little prepared me for the tug on my heart strings of County Kerry and the town of Tralee. It wasn’t just the sights—even the beautiful pictures can’t exactly do justice to it; the entire vibe and atmosphere just felt like home to me. There are very few places I feel connected to in the way I felt connected to County Kerry, I tend to be more connected with people rather than places; however I could have just stayed there and become an expat—at least until winter.

Tralee is a fairly small coastal city/town? with one of the most beautiful parks I’ve ever visited. The playground was also just fantastic and I wish we had something half as nice near our home. We just so happened to be fortunate enough to be there when the 200th festival was going on and the day after we arrived so did festival stalls, music, and giant semi-scary puppets for the kids.

Down the road a bit further from the park is a museum which was definitely worth a visit. The adults enjoyed the history and scenes set up while the kids enjoyed the dress-up and mini-excavation pits set up inside the museum. Because of the festival, the museum was free I believe but we gave a donation and had the OPK card from Dublin.

We stayed at an absolutely BEAUTIFUL bed and breakfast, The Park Georgian Guest House, owned by a lovely and accommodating couple, Joe being the one who primarly took care of us. Breakfast was insanely delicious and freshly prepared every morning. The few mornings we left early Joe got up early to cook for us. He and my husband bonded over StarWars filming stories and Joe and his wife also own an inn in Dingle which is where a good bit of the crew and cast stayed when filming in Dingle and on Skellig Michael. We also went to Great Blasket Island which is deserving of its own post later and we could see Skellig Michael on the boat trip. Very steep. Not for small children. Joe had recommended for our leisure day (a.k.a. Explore town day/take it easy day) to try Mucross House.

It was worth it. The estate itself is so postcard-perfect but there were more than enough activities to keep my little one entertained who is happy so long as she can roam around outside. We did the “farm tour” and were VERY glad to have brought rain gear and to have worn comfortable hiking style shoes. Some of the pathway was fairly steep but as you can see, totally worth it…

The farm tour was lovely and we would have enjoyed it more had my sister and I not been separated from the Moose and Lil Bit. Apparently they had gone into the first little house which was off to the side of the road which we thought might be a place we weren’t supposed to go. Turns out we missed out on fresh, hand-churns butter and stone ground wheat bread hot out of the wood-burning stove. I also had no idea how large Irish Wolfhounds were, wow!
Overall the getting separated bit was one of the few stressful downsides to the whole trip. Rain in Ireland was far less torrential than what we were expecting as even when it was “heavy” per the locals it was mild compared to GA/FL summer downpours we are accustomed to here. (Sometimes I feel we need an arc)

We ended the beautiful day by driving partially around the Ring. It really is worth it folks although I’d hate to be on a tour bus and the drive seems somewhat treacherous because of them. We saw beautiful Irish Countryside, met some sheep (my Lil Bits happy place), loved the free-spirited Irish cows (they were running y’all, running–no wonder all of the beef there was to die for) and saw some ancient architecture along the way.
If I hadn’t already been in love that day sealed it for me. And we hadn’t even gotten to probably my favorite/soul-moving experience yet…

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A few of my favorite things—baby items

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So for 6 months and under after two kids some of my favorite baby items include:

Sit Me Up chair—LP (little prisspot) is NOSEY yet clingy. She likes playing in this chair while I pumped, cleaned, folded laundry, took a break.

Knock-off or actual Hakka pump—I still like occasionally and this saves the boobie juice and my shirts/bras.

See my previous pump regarding my Spectra.

My BoB stroller. I’m a BoB-levier now and I should’ve just bought one with my Little Bit as we went through 3-4 strollers any darn way. It is a little bit heavy but it maneuvers like a dream. The almost 6 year old still fits in it if she gets exhausted (like when we were at Disney) and I can still wear the baby. We did but the cup holder thing with the pump and repair kit and it was worth it. The adjustable handles make it worth it as hubby and I are a foot and 1/3 height difference. Just so many little upgrades that are awesome and easy to use. They are expensive and hold their value well for buying used. We bought new because we had Amazon registry for baby and had the coupon at the end.

I had a c-section so baby bath and changing table did (and still) do get used by me. LP is 5 months and I still use her baby seat for the tub. It’s a simple one I got used for $5 though.

I also utilize a playmat a lot and we again bought a used one that could be washed and bleached and was totally worth it.

Medela steam bags for my pump/bottle parts

LP is just now getting big enough but I used lot these for Little Bit as well and saved them. Buggy/highchair cover—as a healthcare provider I worry a lot less about dirt germs than people germs even though I’ve seen people say they were a waste we used ours a lot. A lobster claw highchair—so easy to travel with and use!!! We take our girls with us most places that we go—how else do they know how to behave when they go somewhere new? And because I didn’t want the servers mean-glancing at us I used this and just washed it off in the sink, dried it off briefly and rolled it up into the diaper bag.

This is my favorite nursing cover because I’ve needed a nipple shield with both girls and the pockets are perfect, it folds up well and holds it color in the wash and is relatively comfortable. It’s hot and humid so we only use it when we have to. Mine is a pink peacock color which I can’t find anymore (6 years old)!

I realize a lot of these links are from Amazon but we are Prime members and there is such a thing as Amazon Priming while pumping. I may have ordered many of these things or at least put them on a list at 2-4am while trying to stay awake feeding/pumping.

Things I feel like you should save your money on—

  • bottle warmers
  • sterilizers
  • fancy swings (old school works fine)
  • bassinet (they outgrown them soon, buy simple)
  • baby shoes (we do socks)
  • Baby wipe warmers
  • Bath thermometers (God gave you the best—your hand)
  • Baby pulse ox/heart rate monitors (owlet), they are inaccurate, give too many false alarms and the American Academy of Pediatrics actually recommends AGAINST them and they have not proven to reduce risk of SIDS so save yo’ money.
  • Baby specific blenders/baby food makers unless you don’t have a blender, food processor or magic bullet/nutribullet already. Those work just fine!!

What have your favorite baby items been so far? What do you feel like was a waste of space/money?

Back to Work: Post-Baby Advice

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We were so fortunate to welcome a second little girl into our lives in early May. We were also fortunate enough that despite her spending her first week in the NICU she is a very healthy girl. Everything happens for a reason and it has made me a better provider as I now have more appreciation for parents who’ve been there (generally for much much longer than we were) and for exclusively pumping mommas.

While I’m not a first time mom, this is the first (and last) time returning to work post-baby in my current capacity. I’ve learned so much through both experience and from other moms with both children that I’d like to share in one place what has worked for me in hopes that some other working mom (or working stay at home momma!) may find it useful.

Routine—hahaha! That’s a joke right? Especially if you’re breastfeeding. You can get into a very loose routine but don’t fool yourself in to thinking baby is going to get into a set schedule for the first 3-4 months. Fellow type A mommas—this is ok, let it go or you’ll make yourself miserable by constantly failing to live up to impossible expectations. I pump around the same time everyday regardless of while I was on maternity leave or now that I’m back to work. I pump roughly 2xday at home. If you’re exclusively pumping don’t expect to hit that number for a long time. Just go with the flow, and for goodness sakes try not to go back at 6 weeks if you can manage longer. That’s really soon.

That being said, focus all that energy on trying to prep for the next day/challenge such as organizing your diapers, wipes, changing stations as well as your nest. Yes I used the word nest and I’m not referring to the whole house. The Moose coined this term with the first child in our house and he was referring to my seat that became my breastfeeding and pumping station. With the first I was less organized than with this baby. This time I set up a cheap dollar store basket for all of my pump parts and creams, etc on the end table near my nest.

I started my first week back to work as a “one-day” week where I worked Friday only then the next week went back to my 4 day schedule Tues-Friday. This let me “test the water” so to say on how much breastmilk I needed to leave for the sitter, anything I may need to bring to work the next week, and it was better for me emotionally. I had taken 10 weeks off but it still felt too soon and we certainly weren’t getting much sleep at night (night-time nursing is good for your supply however…).

I have my own office at work so I am fortunate to leave my station set up and ready to rock. Otherwise I would have probably got everything set up and ready sooner.

My work pump station:

I had used a Medela with Little Bit but tried a spectra that I got brand new from Amazon for like $112 or something along those lines. Oh My God! Saved the nips. I didn’t know how much the Medela was killing me! Lol.

I bought a new hands free bra that made it a little faster for me. Previously I just cut holes in Lycra sports bars (cheap from target) and those still work great for home. This portable drying rack that has been good for travel (Disney World trip!). I also find these helpful as we use tommy tippee bottles and I can pump into those with my Medela phlanges and can use those with the spectra with this.

Going back to work has not been easy of course but hopefully I’m learning how to make it work better and will be able to help other mommas as well as show my two little ladies how to rock it as a working mom.

I’ll post more as we go through this journey. I’ll also discuss a little about what I’ve learned about exclusively pumping (when I had to the first weeks) and what I do to save milk for my munchkin.

Update: bought a second spectraand you can check the hours using the above if you decide to as well. I paid $30 for a pump with 3 hours on it. 3 hours ladies. I’m not even an exclusive pumper but I had already put 91 hrs on the Spectra that I bought when she was almost 2 months old.

Baby Break

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IMG_6475Back to work!

I think it’s obvious when I say I’ve been on a sabbatical. Everyone knows new-mommy life can be very time consuming to say the least. I’m back to work, pumping and trying to keep afloat at home. As of that wasn’t enough we are also looking at possibly buying a new home. Stress anyone?

So while I will elaborate on the work aspect a little more on my NP blog, I’d like to talk about being a second time mom and all of the above in the next several post. I’ll tell you a little about our story and then what has worked and not worked for us!

Little Bit became a big sister and I ended my child-bearing journey on Cinco de Mayo this year. Punky Doodle came into the world pink and crying and a few hours later decided blue was more her color so ended up in the nursery and then the NICU. Brand new experience for our little family. Moose followed her down there and was hand on as much as possible until I was released a day and a half later (c-section). She was by far the biggest baby in her neck of the woods there and quickly got better but we were still there a week. The Ronald McDonald house is awesome and our families new charity after meeting some amazing people and witnessing all the good work they do there. They made us so much more comfortable than we would have been otherwise. It was the last week of school so my mom, dad, and sister (The Princess) took care of Little Bit while we took care of Punky Doodle.

 

So Little Bit has adjusted pretty well. A few jealous moments mostly with the Princess who is her BFF, but otherwise she is in love with her sister and so are we.

For the first time ever I was able to spend the whole summer with her and be a stay-at-home mom for awhile and I actually really enjoyed it. Could I completely quit work? No, I’d miss my patients and doing what I do to much but could I cut my hours more? Yup if and when we could afford it. It was still a lot of work and I give props to SAHM and my sitter but we had a really good routine once baby and I were out and about; I kept big sister active all summer too.

Anyway that’s what we were busy doing. I’ll post some more about breastfeeding and pumping and back to work soon! Ciao!

Cold Icky Day, Warm Full Belly

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Cold weather has finally (and briefly) moved into the southeast. Moose is stuck at work but Lil Bit and I are busy working on things at home. Including a yummy and hearty soup that has become a family favorite. I was originally inspired by a recipe you can find here. However, none of us are fans of celery and Lil Bit has a tomato allergy so this Mommy had to creatively find a way to give the soup some flavor and acidity. You can absolutely pre-prep this and throw it in the freezer (minus broth) for a busy night and cook in either the slow cooker for about 4-6 hours or you can also cook in a Dutch oven the way I do for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. The last 5-10 mins I cook I take the lid off and let it reduce just a little.

Mushroom Barley Stew (E2 Tomato-free version)

8oz Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced

2 carrots sliced (I like rainbow carrots)

1 onion, diced

1 cup uncooked pearl barley

2 cloves of garlic, minced (I am having a strange pregnancy aversion to garlic at this time so I just used about 1 tsp garlic powder)

1/2 to 1 tablespoon of salt (I tend to like it less salty because I use unsalted beef broth that still has some sodium content)

1 tsp of dried basil

1 tsp of preferably fresh black pepper

1-2 tablespoons Marsala or similar wine

6 cups of unsalted Beef Broth (if needing tomato-free for allergy PLEASE watch the label as many, many brands include tomato. I use Pacific organic brand or Field Day organic brand as they have so far been safe for us)
This is a super hearty stew and probably makes between 6-8 servings depending on size/appetite. Moose is a big guy with a big appetite so closer to 6 servings for us.

I hope you my spin on this stew. 

Gender Reveal

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IMG_5798.JPGMy little sister hosted an AWESOME gender reveal for Moose, Lil Bit and I. She is not always the best secret keeper but she was the only one who knew what the baby was and did a great job. We had about 30-35 people over at my parents house where she hosted and we did a live Facebook stream for my family out of town.  As it was just a few days before Christmas she did a Christmas themed party with red and green and gingerbread men.

We had a hot chocolate bar with cups, an Ugly sweater aspect that we voted on with the cutest ugly sweater ornaments and a sweater voting for boy/girl. Boys were 16 to girls 11. Tons of Christmas treats as well as hot food for guests.

My father-in-law has a side photography business including a photo booth that we had a ton of fun with!

My sister tricked us initially by having individual wrapped ornaments and having everyone open them with the stipulation that if you get gold, sorry you don’t have the winner, if you have red its a girl, green its a boy. Well they were ALL gold. Then she had a sack of balloons for us to open. They were also all gold.

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Opening balloons….wait a minute…

So we were taken outside for the real deal and we were literally in the dark about what was going to happen. She and her best friend had decided to be master engineers and create a light display for which Josh and I had the plugs

On the count of three we turned on the sign that said:

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Another sweet girl for our home!

We are very excited to welcome another girl to our family. I will have to come up with a good nickname to call her. Hmm…

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

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I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas! We are sending you love from down south where our air conditioner will literally be running today. A little warm but it isn’t putting a damper on our holiday. My daughter is busy playing with everything Santa brought and that we gave her as fast as she can. My husband is enjoying his new Garmin Vivoactive watch and I’m typing from my awesome new backlit Bluetooth keyboard. But honestly the best thing about today is that we are all happy, healthy, bellies full of delicious (and organic) breakfast. Even the dog seems super comfortable and happy today. I wish you all the best Christmas and a Happy New Year!

And for some cheer, please enjoy this picture of my crazy bulldog snoring on her back with her jowls flapping in the wind. 🙂

Mommy and Me Day: Christmas cookie edition 

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My little one had her first day of Christmas vacation today for which I happen to be off of work. She kept telling me all day how excited she was to have a “mommy and me play day” and it made my heart sing. We played and talked and went to the grocery store together but the best part was baking cookies. We made my “reindeer poop cookies” as my family and friends have gleefully named them. They are a chocolate crinkle cookie with crushed up peppermints (only the ones made with real peppermint oil do the trick) on top while still hot and they do resemble their name sake. I so loved that she is old enough for us to put on our Christmas aprons, sing Christmas songs into our spatulas, and make some love-filled goodies. 

Yummy products of our Mommy and Lil Bit Day


This tradition is especially important to me this year, my first year without my Nana. Nana baked for the holidays like it was her God-given job. My family on that side is very large with even more extended family and friends flocking to my Nana’s small but ever-welcoming home and arms. For as long as I can remember walking into my Nana’s house in the weeks approaching Christmas meant having your olfactory overloaded with the smell of sweets and treats in the oven. Just as many stayed in old-school Tupperware on a small fold out table, in the back of the dining room as were given out to family, friends, co-workers or someone who just looked a bit peckish. And there was my tiny, bespectacled-Nana, all 5 ft-even of her, with one of an assortment of Christmas aprons on and immediately stopping whatever she was feverishly working on to give you a hug and a kiss. 

She’d ask about your day in front of your momand then conspiratorially whisper to question if you wanted to help bake–and lick the spatula with a glimmer in her eye after making you wash your hands and pull your hair back. I always thought of her as one of Santa’s helpers as a child as she moved about the kitchen in a magic way. I know Lil Bit will never get these cherished memories with her “Nanny”, but I can give her as close to an experience as possible with all 5’1″ of me, finding some holiday spirit inside and patience which I do not normally have for a special day of cookie-making. I hope we get to do it every year and I hope she looks as forward to it as I did with Nana. And yes, I gave her the spatula to lick. 😉

Nana and I circa pregnant with Maddie so 2011?

Gestation and Christmas Vacation

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Sorry I’ve been absent from the blogosphere for a bit. I had both lost some enthusiasm and been sick and exhausted from being pregnant, work and my busy 5 yr old. Those two things are definitely not mutually exclusive. It’s also sick season. Cue dramatic music.
We’ve been busy reorganizing our house but I need to get back to writing as it’s both good for my soul and eventually would love it to substitute my income especially when I’m on maternity leave. Let me explain, I ended up on bed rest at 34 weeks due to preeclampsia and preterm labor with our first. The problem lies in the fact that our hospital doesn’t offer paid maternity leave, you have to use FMLA instead which is only 12 weeks. This sounds like a lot if you went full-term and popped the baby out with no issues but if you get put on bed rest it’s not a lot, and it’s unpaid. I have to buy up my Short term but that doesn’t kick in until 15 days after and only covers 6 weeks total (so 4 weeks at 70% of my salary). Better than nothing I suppose and I have PTO (personal time-off) but that is not a large amount either due to running from 2 hurricanes and holidays this year (if office closed we have to use PTO).
I won’t get into how I feel about this being stressful for new moms and I feel is likely correlated to the US having high PPD and low breastfeeding rates (how can moms bond well with their babies when they have to hurry up and get back to work?) but I will say I will be looking for a way to supplement and any suggestions are welcome, preferably something flexible like writing. To be honest, if given the choice I’d stay home for at least 6 months with this one and take a leave of absence. I love my job most days but I missed a lot with our first one between working and grad school and this will be our last one. I’ve even considered taking a part time job at a minute clinic or something for now to have a little less work responsibility so I’ll have more of me to give at home.

Any of you out there know in the medical field somedays you just don’t have a lot of give left when you get home, I also went to school with a few kids whose parents were NPs or docs and they were kinda assholes. Most of them grew up to be ok but they were not exactly little angels behind their working parents’ backs. I’m not saying it’s always this way but having been in high school with these people and working in the hospital system since I was 16, I know how often the parents were stuck at work and I knew the trouble the kids were getting into. I’m not saying I was perfect but I’ve always been an old soul and my parents were around or knew where I was 99% of the time. I am not saying they weren’t good parents but I don’t think they could always put their kids and families first and I DO NOT want to live that way.

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I’ll jump down from my soapbox now. So what’s new on the home front? The holidays have been interesting this year. Despite my hormones raging and my threshold for bursting into tears being pretty low, I have felt more like shopping, wrapping and decorating than I have in the past 3 years. I think it’s because Little Bit gets into it so much now. She’s so excited and it’s contagious. I’ve also taken a lot of pressure off myself. First holiday season without the family matriarch, I’m pregnant and tired…if it gets done it gets done. If not–too bad, so sad. As a result, I’ve been less stress than expected and I’ve looked forward to more things that require that holiday-worker-bee-energy instead of with trepidation.

Due to impending arrival of baby 2, we are not going on traditional Christmas travel we had planned on. I’m saving leave and so is hubby. We are however doing a Christmas gender reveal that my sister is hosting. I’ll post some pics from that exciting event.

Stone Mountain Trip

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This is something that I should’ve posted a long time ago but I’m trying to get back guys so just bare with me!
Lil Bit and I semi-unexpectedly decided to join Moose on a conference trip to Stone Mountain. I’ve been before with friends that live in the ATL area but not as an adult. I think I was a grumpy/bored teen last time I went which was long enough ago that I’m sure the place has changed drastically. I’m eager for little bit and I to go explore while The Moose is busy networking and learning about park stuff.
I will keep a little photo log and diary for both sentimental purposes and in case anyone is thinking of taking a trip with a preschooler. As of right now, if the weather stays nice, I hope to take little one on a hike and hopefully have a picnic. But lately this has been the case in at least our neck of the woods:

Wish us luck! 

Stone Mountain Adventure part 1

Lil Bit and I mainly spent the first afternoon by the pool at the very lovely Evergreen Marriott Resort while Moose attended his conference. (Let me just clarify, I’m not getting paid anything for this review, nor was I comped anything, this is mainly for my memory and in case of curiosity on your behalf.) The service was phenomenal, something we had heard prior to our visit but always take with a grain of salt. That evening they hosted a mock casino that Lil Bit and O excused ourselves from and went back to the room to rest and talk about our adventure the next day.
The second day began with us waking up to perfect temperatures for GA (high 70s) and partly cloudy skies. There was a chance for rain so I wanted to start our day off outside while it was nice. We went for a hike by the Old Grist Mill.

  

Next we decided to explore the Granite Quarry. Lil Bit loved both areas and I tried to let her explore a little more freely than normal because it was not crowded at all and relatively safe. 

  
She kept telling me she wanted to lay down and stare at the clouds 🙂

  

Finally we headed over to the main attraction area, the Crossroads. We paid for the adventure pass and the duck boat ride and the total for the 2 of us was $78. Had we been planning to go back I would have spent the little bit extra to buy the upgraded year pass. I’m also now aware that it’s a little cheaper to buy it all online. 
The Crossroads area was really aesthetically pleasing to wander through and explore. While we waited on time for our duckboat tour, we watched Rio 4D which was cute and Lil Bit actually really enjoyed. 
The duck boat tour was cute, a little cheesy but perfect for kiddos who are preschool and elementary school age. I highly recommend our tour guide/driver Captain Hollywood who made the experience even more fun. He played with the kids and even let them drive the Duck. The souvenir quackers were also a fun surprise and our Captain led us all in song a few times. It allowed for a great view of the lake and he shared a few facts about the park including many Hollywood movies that had been filmed in the 3200 state park. The boat ride also gave us a great view of the relief carved into the granite; supposedly the largest in the world. 

  
 The duckboat was worthwhile for us, although I’m not sure older children would be as excited as the little ones.

  
The next bit of fun was the Candy Shoppe, Glass Blowing Shoppe and lunch at the Marketplace. Both of the shoppes have demonstrations which Lil Bit enjoyed watching with many “look at that momma”s. The food was pretty good but I do wish we would have just gotten the meal deal because it would have been cheaper. We meandered through the village and because it was getting uncomfortably warm, my sweet girl and I walked over to The Great Barn for some air -conditioned fun. The barn is full of fun slides and “harvesting” activities involving foam-ball “fruit” everything from “storing it” in vacuum powers granaries to putting it in the harvester the fun way like shooting it with an air-powered gun (like Nerf). There are even fun places to climb, slide, and bounce. We spent probably a good hour here before Lil Bit started having a meltdown and I knew it was time to go back to the room. Some activities we want to do but didn’t quite make it to (this trip was a child-led adventure) included the train ride, sky lift and plantation house/farmyard. I totally feel that we had our money’s worth of fun but would really love to come back in the fall when the pumpkin festival is going on and the weather is more cooperative. 
That night we went to the laser show and fireworks. We very much enjoyed it as it was included in my hubby’s conference and we had VIP seating, popcorn during the show and shelter for when it decided to rain briefly. The show is a little cheesy but the kids love it and the lawn area was packed. We bought dippin’ dots ice cream before hand and danced to some music they had playing for the guests waiting on the lawn. 
We had a great time but must return to reality!