When Styles Smiles....

Being a working mom is hard.  But when I walk in the door and and Styles looks at me and smiles... somehow everything is okay.  When Styles smiles.... I am reminded of what really matters.  When Styles smiles.... I feel a love like no other.  When Styles smiles.... the rest of the world seems to just melt away.  When Styles smiles.... it makes me want to be the best mom I can be.

Here is a little video of Styles and this is what really matters.

A Week of Firsts

Wait.... didn't I just give birth like 5 minutes ago? How is it possible that sweet baby Styles is 6 months old today? It is all going by WAY too fast. And everyday things keep happening to remind me just how fast. It has been a week of firsts. Styles had his first music class. He got his first TWO teeth. He sat in a highchair for the first time. And today I swear he said "ma-ma".  If things keep on like this... he is going to be graduating from high school like next week.
And KUDOS to my amazing husband... who takes Styles to his music class and sits there with all the other moms and sings the songs and teaches him how to hold the instruments. He is truly incredible.

Now it's time for me to go back and enjoy the day with my family.  Happy first half birthday my sweet baby Styles.  We love you more than you could ever imagine....

Wordless Wednesday

What's in a Name?

Styles: A set of stairs placed over a wall to allow people to cross over it.  This is the Old English meaning of our baby's name. Everyday we work to overcome obstacles in our lives. If there is one thing that I would love for my son, it would be for him to learn how to be true to himself.  When obstacles do arise, I want him to have the tools and the confidence to be able to overcome them.
There are many different opinions on how we should be raising our children. With all these different "raising styles", how are we supposed to know what is right and what is wrong? When I was telling my husband that I wanted to start this blog and why, we were discussing parenting and how we won't always be right and that we were surely going to make some mistakes along the way. But one thing we knew, was that we were going to raise Styles in a loving and supportive environment.  That's when Aaron said "you should title your blog "Raising Styles".  It was perfect.  So what's in a name?  Apparently a lot.


And with mistakes comes guilt.  So whenever ANYTHING is in question... from trimming fingernails to curing cradle cap.... my first instinct is to run to the computer.  Google it.  I just don't want to make any mistakes. But isn't there a learning curve here? Can I get an extra 10 points because other moms are making the same mistakes as I am?  I hope so.  We just need to learn to cut ourselves a little slack.  And most importantly I need to learn how to trust my instincts and have confidence to overcome my obstacles. The same thing that I want for my son.  And I need to remember.... Google doesn't have kids.

The Nitty-Gritty

     In the last post I introduced you to sweet baby Styles.  The love of my life.  Now lets get down to why I am here. The nitty-gritty.  In case you haven't read my profile, or the subtitle of this blog for that matter, my family dynamic is a little different.  I am a working mom and my husband is a SAHD.  He is incredibly good at it and I feel so blessed that while I am at work my sweet baby is in the best of hands. The only problem is, these hands aren't mine. It has been almost 2 months since the day arrived.  The day that I had dreaded.  The day that I had to spend away from my precious little boy knowing that this was going to be the first of many.  It took everything I had to keep telling myself that it was all going to be okay. I had a plan.  Of course I had a plan. Don't I always? I am a very dedicated nursing mom, and no matter how hard everyone told me it was going to be, I was going to continue nursing.  I had scheduled out my day to go something like this: Wake up, pump. This will the baby's morning bottle.  When the baby wakes up, nurse him.  About 2 hours after arriving at work, pump. At lunch, drive home, nurse the baby, drop off the milk so he can have it for his afternoon bottle, drive back. About 2 hours later, pump again. After work, drive home, store the milk and nurse again. But at least now I am home for the rest of the night to play, feed, bathe, cuddle, and put to bed my precious little guy. And somewhere in between all of this I have to remember that I have a VERY demanding job to do and need to do it well. Plus there is the other love of my life... my husband.  I want to spend quality time with him. He has been with the baby all day and of course I want to hear EVERYTHING down to the last detail.  Sound exhausting? Well.... it is. And this is the way my workdays have been.  I know there are other moms out there whose days are similar to mine.  I think for the first few weeks knowing that I was doing everything I could to continue nursing was what was getting me through.  I felt like this was all I had left to contribute to my son.  My milk. Since I couldn't physically be there for him because I was working, the only thing I could do to keep the connection was to make sure that I could continue nursing. And I know this sounds selfish.  But this is how I felt.  My husband got to be with him all day and I felt like I was missing everything.  This has gotten a little bit easier.  But I still feel like I am missing out.  I no longer feel that all I have to contribute to "Raising Styles" is my milk.  I am his momma.  And he loves me and he needs me. I know that I am SO lucky to have such an AMAZING husband and that baby Styles is in the best of hands.... even if they aren't always mine.

The Game Changer

Here he is.... the love of my life. Baby Styles. Everyone told me this was going to be a game changer. And boy were they right. Let the games begin.... :)