You guys, I blinked and it’s been almost three months since my last blog post. I don’t think I’ve ever taken that much of a break from blogging in the past ten years. I wish I could say that I had major life updates to fill you in on that kept me away from blogging, but I don’t. Life just hits differently when you have multiple kids, a full time job, and are attempting to run a small shop (more on that below).
Lucy is ten and a half months old (!!!). Due to the global pandemic and the changes that brought into everyone’s life, I’ve had Lucy home with me since my maternity leave ended last July. It was an unexpected pivot we had to make and somehow have made it through. Working full time and caring for an infant is not for the faint of heart. Some days are really hard and other days I’m reminded what a blessing it is to be with her everyday. If the pandemic hadn’t happened, I would have never gotten this much time with her. She starts daycare in a week, I still have to pick what days she will go, and slowly we will transition her to a full week. I’ve delayed the inevitable feelings (guilt, sadness, happiness…all of them at the same time) of sending her to daycare by many, many months, and I know I’m going to have a hard time with it, but just reminding myself how well Jack did with the transition, and eventually I got used to that ‘new’ normal.
I know Lucy will do well at school, playing with other babies, getting used to other caretakers. It’s my own mama heart that isn’t quite ready. Part of me is just trying to figure out logistics. I don’t currently pump unless I need to since Lucy is still nursing, and she doesn’t take a bottle. I’ve been working on her using straw cups/sippy cups with water and she does that fine, but she doesn’t seem into taking breastmilk from any of those cups. She will also go straight to the one-year-old room, where they transition from breastmilk or formula to whole milk and from bottles to sippy cups. Lucy doesn’t have a milk allergy like Jack did (though she is allergic to egg and almonds), so this will be new territory, transitioning her to milk. I’m not ready for our nursing journey to end, I know it doesn’t have to yet, but again, I’m working through so many emotions and transitions coming up as she nears turning one.
Jack, man, three hit us hard. Toddler emotions are not for the faint of heart and some days I swear I’d have 20 newborns instead of 1 toddler. Most days though, my sweet Jack is so fun to be with, seeing his personality shine through. He’s fearless, kind, and more confident some days then I would prefer (he loves to climb and jump over everything). Jack has been at daycare since August, after months and months at home with Mom and Dad due to the pandemic. The return to daycare, socially interacting with his friends and teachers, we all needed it. He thrives at school and we were so happy to give him that sense of normalcy. He still loves Avengers, is newly taken with Raya and the Last Dragon and Give a Mouse a Cookie. I’m so happy the warmer weather is finally upon us to help get us back outside. Jack insists he loves winter more than summer, but the kid lives for being outside in the sunshine. Jack recently challenged eggs again at the allergist and passed. His numbers have gone way down since we tested them last year, and we are hoping that we can keep bringing his milk and egg numbers down. A definite win in our book!
On a whim back in January, I decided to open up an Etsy shop, Finley James. I would say between keeping up with our two kids, this endeavor has kept me the most preoccupied. I needed to do something creative that didn’t revolve around computer screen. This past year we’ve all spent way too much time in front of screens, scrolling, comparing, and my late night nursing sessions never help that situation. I had been making resin letter alphabet sets for a few months. A new ‘pandemic’ hobby, if you will. I sold a bunch of sets around the holidays and also had been making Jack painted wooden peg dolls. I wanted a more streamline way to sell them, and opened up Etsy one day and started the shop. This is how I tend to roll with new projects, I just start and figure the rest out while I go.
The beauty of starting this shop is it brought me back to a sewing machine. I decided to list a third product, knotted headbands. I wanted a few new headbands for myself and ended up making a few prototypes and finally made one that I fell in love with myself. Of all things, the knotted headbands happen to be my best seller! I started dabbling in stuffed animal heirloom dolls, more so for me to see if I could make them for my kids vs. selling them. They are far from perfect, but I learning to fall in love with the process of creating new things instead of just the end result. It’s been good for my soul, abet an investment for all the materials :)
We’ve made it just over a year into this ‘new’ normal since Covid and a global pandemic hit our lives. It’s crazy to think where we were a year ago. I was 8 months pregnant, scared out of my mind, we both transitioned to working from home with a toddler, and then had to welcome our new baby into a world of unknowns. Now, here we are a year later, and I’m so thankful for science and for vaccines. Soon we will all be fully vaccinated and we can finally introduce Lucy to her extended family/ It’s the one thing I still feel so robbed from this past year, celebrating her with our families outside of a computer screen. Of all things ‘returning to normal,’ simply seeing and hugging my family members safely, is the one thing I’m most looking forward to.
So there’s a life update. I’m hoping to blog a little bit more regularly, when life allows. It’s funny to see the ebb and flow of this space. I see more influencers now shying away from Instagram and back to a life of email newsletters and blogging. I feel like most people are getting tired of the constant scroll after the long year of socially distancing and having too much screen time. And with the constant algorithm changes, which to a consumer, might not mean much, but the back end of this business can leave you wanting to pull your hair out. But that’s a conversation for another day! :)
You can always find me on here or here!
