Milk Machine

I was looking back through old photos, and as the milk machine has grinded to a halt, I realized I never posted these photos we took back in January, when I was in the midst of peak production.  And I was a Machine.  So without further ado:

I'd pump into bottles.

Pre-label bags.

Measure.

Pour into bags.

Get all the air out before closing.

An overview in process.

And end up with a lot of milk for freezing.
(I always bagged several days at once, because I found the bagging process so labor intensive, but I didn't like pumping into bags because The Overachiever/Exsanguinator produced so much more than The Slacker that I needed to even it out for storage.  Well, that, and The Overachiever actually produced more in one session than a bag could hold.)

 For the record, the dropping of the mid-day pumping this week has gone well.  I'm not sure how many oz I had frozen when I was at peak capacity - my guess is several hundred - (definitely enough to necessitate that we buy another freezer!) but as of Zoë's final daycare bottle last week, there were 7 oz, read it, 7 oz remaining frozen.

It just turned out absolutely perfectly - I couldn't have possibly planned it this well.  Z was exclusively breastfed for 12 months (even through the assassination attempt and my tooth issues), and all bottles from 12-15 months contained breastmilk, even after we added cow's milk from a cup and that shifted to her primary beverage.  And I still have 7 oz in case I need/want to go on a date one night. ;-)  And we're still happily breastfeeding mornings and nights.  I really, honestly couldn't have asked for more. :-)

Do You Know What Today Is?

No, Not Christmas Eve Eve Eve.  (Well, yes Christmas Eve Eve Eve, but that's not what I was going for.  (Even though I cannot WAIT to get my Kindle for Christmas!))

Today, dear reader, is THE VERY LAST DAY that I will be pumping at work. (Unless my mom comes to town and I get to come in early and have to pump the morning feed.)

Oh yes.  The last day.  EVAR. (For this kid.)

Do you know what that means?

No more lugging 80 pounds of pump and corresponding cooler back and forth to work.  No more panicking that I've forgotten bottles or bottle caps or an ice pack for the milk.  No more worrying that I'm not producing enough for tomorrow's bottle.  No more pump parts to clean.  No more husband to bug to clean said pump parts.  No more closing my door and feeling the creepy-wrong feeling of being topless at work.  No more forgetting that I have a meeting and then not having enough time to pump beforehand and getting all engorged in the meeting.  No more not taking breaks because I'm pumping instead.  NO MORE PUMPING!!!!!  WahooooooO!!!!!!!

*doing a little dance*

No more pumping.  No more pumping!  NO MORE PUMPING!!!!!

It Finally Happened

Dear Zoë,

Yesterday Daddy claims that you were asking for me as soon as y'all got home.  You were all, "Mama, mama?"  He claims.

Then I got home and I reached out for you and you DENIED me.  Ouch.  Daddy said, "Zoë, do you want to go to Mama?"  And you said, wait for it, "NO!!!"  While shaking your head no.  Emphatically.

Mommy had a sad.

So I went about my business, putting away the milk that I SQUEEZE FROM MY BODY every day at work for you to drink, and then without looking at you directly (It's like a kitty - don't look at you directly, and somehow you don't know I'm coming), I snuck you into my arms from Daddy.  Daddy promptly vacated the premises, and I was left with you yelling at me while I tried to quickly get you some dinner.

By the time Daddy rejoined us, I was almost glad you love him better.  (But not really.)

With you fed, I read to you while we waited for Daddy to get the shower ready (you still prefer me for reading), then y'all headed off to the shower while I made your meals for the next day, our little nightly ritual.

So I'm at the cutting board cutting up grapes for you when I head Daddy call for me, and you start crying.  I ran to the bathroom to see what happened - how you got hurt.  And, oh, little girl, Mama had a big laugh, because it finally happened, the thing I've been worrying about: you had dropped a GIANT deuce in the shower.  Complete with visible corn and spinach in it.  Nice.

All I can say is THANK YOU for giving that lovely gift to your favorite parent!

Love,
Mama

A Little Fall

Last Friday I was headed out to my car in a dark garage (light burned out) with Zoë on my hip when I tripped (I think?) and fell.

It was literally the most terrifying thing that has happened to me since I fell when pregnant.

I landed on both knees, my right hand, and my left elbow.  I looked down into Zoë's face and she was laying on the concrete.  We just looked at each other for a second, and then her little face crumpled and she started crying.  Not wailing, like she normally does when hurt, but a scared crying.  And then I started crying.  I apologized over and over as I got up and very painfully made my way back into the house.  I wasn't sure if she had hit her head.  By the time I was on the phone with Preston I was panicking so badly that I could barely speak.  Zoë actually calmed down very quickly, perhaps in response to me extreme reaction?  Preston calmed me down, and after a few more minutes of mutual cuddly comfort with the Z, I cleaned myself up (I tore my jeans!), and we headed to daycare.

Where I had to tell Miss Mary what happened in case Zoë started acting funny, and I cried again while telling her!

Long story short: Z is fine.

Behold the physical carnage:

Golfball ankle.

This actually looks worse now with a nice big scab.

Ditto this with its scab, and it hurt way worse than this photo looks!

Elbow bruised so badly it hurts to put it on my armrest at work.

5 days later and the ankle is still tweaky, there is a giant bruise on the non-scabbed knee, and scabs all over the place.  And the mental scarring is worse than everything else!  (At least the baby is ok.)

Breakfast with Daddy

Imagine a photo booth.

Qurl! (Squirrel.)

Nana. (Banana.)

Issa! (What's that?)

Brr! (Bird.)

(Signing "bird".) Tweet tweet. (Tweet tweet.)

Fredericksburg Fotos

While we were in Fredericksburg over Thanksgiving, we were whiling away some hours until the rest of the world woke up, and we ended up alone in a little winter wonderland on Marketplatz. With a camera.