Why Does My Baby Need His Own Blog?

I got some books on homeschooling from my local library and have been devouring them like cans of diet coke. I know it's early to be thinking about Henry going to school, but when you think about it, we are sort of home schooling right now anyway. With babies, almost everything they do is about learning. When Henry plays with toys, or the vacuum cleaner, or a Brita filter he finds under the sink (for a whole week), it's really all just education for him.

So in most of the homeschooling books they talk about how to document your learning, and many kids who are homeschooled create journals or "lapbooks" about the different subjects they study. This way they have a record of their achievements and can look back at them later for reference. Well I started thinking. How can I keep a record of Henry's educational development for reference and for my own sentimental reasons without creating more clutter? A Henry blog, of course. This way I can keep track of all the things that only a mother really cares about and still keep my personal blog for reflecting on other areas of my life.

So here it is, Henry's Learning Blog.

I hope to use it now to keep track of milestones, and later to plan out how to educate him more formally, then someday as a place for Henry to add his own acquired knowledge.

Fall/Newborn Pictures

Two babies + two outfits each = chaos at the photo place.






I made the tutu in about 20 minutes with some ribbon, a spool of brown wedding tulle, and a giant fake mum.


We grabbed Henry's outfit from Old Navy on the way there. It was a lot cuter with the hood, but he refused to keep it on. Kind of a trend with him lately. Hats, shoes, socks, pants - it all comes off as soon as he gets the chance.

WhY aM I WrItInG LiKe tHiS?

After about 2 weeks of staying home with Henry while Greg goes off to work, I can honestly say that I'm lovin' this housewife life. Sure, the chores are repetitive and sometimes I long for someone to talk to (who will talk to me in actual words). But spending all day with my son has given me the opportunity to do some of the things I really love. I don't feel guilty when we take a long walk. I don't feel rushed when he hands me the same book three times in a row. I can sleep in as late as Henry does (which is sometimes 10!), and better yet, I can stay up late writing. I'm not too exhausted to cook dinner, and I don't feel the need to eat junk food to deal with the stress in my life. In fact, without any plan to diet or work out, the weight I gained in law school is practically melting off. I even get to read a book now and then, just for fun. While my house is usually in a state of chaos, I know that it won't be a month before I have time to clean the bathroom. I know that I won't have to worry about telling someone else every detail about how to take care of Henry, because I make the bottles, I change the diapers, I put him down for naps.

I guess the bigger question is: will I ever be able to go back to the world I left?

P.S.
Because Greg just fixed my shift key. Henry pried it off a couple of months ago and we just found it under our bed. It feels good to be able to capitalize at whim.

In which I complain about the law some more and try not to forget the baby

I haven't posted, not because there is nothing going on, but every time I want to I'm just overwhelmed with everything that is going on.

Right now I'm studying over 12 hours a day. The bar is July 26-28, but we have to leave Mon. morning to drive to Albany, so really I only have a week left to cram all of this law into my brain. The first day is NY. It consists of 200 multiple choice questions on NY law, 3 thirty-minute essays, a lunch break, then 2 more essays and a 90 minute practical task, like writing a memo, brief, or will. Day 2 is the multistate day, which we'll also take in Albany. That's just 200 multiple choice questions. That night we drive down to Secaucus, and the third day is just NJ, which is 7 essays.

NY tests Torts, contracts/sales, NY Practice, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, Constitutional Law, Mortgages, Commercial Paper, Secured Transactions, Federal Jurisdiction, Corporations, Agency and Partnership, Conflict of Laws, Personal Property, No-fault insurance, Worker's Comp., Wills, Trusts, Professional Responsibility, and Domestic Relations. The multi-state day and NJ pretty must just test Fed. Jur., Contracts, Torts, Crim. law/pro, Evidence, Real Property, and Con. law.
So that's why I'm kind of a zombie right now.

In other news, Henry is still long and skinny. He crawls very fast, pulls himself up to stand wherever there is something to grab onto, coasts between furniture, eats cheerios and teething biscuits, responds to "jumpin' jumpin' jumpin'" by complying, stops when I say "no", and claps his hands. He loves songs and books and likes to watch Sesame st. for about 10 minutes before he is ready to be on the move again. He also loves to play in the sand on the beach and go for walks with Grandpa.

Right now Greg and Henry are at a pool party with some friends from church, and Mommy is supposed to be home studying, so I'd better get to it!

Doing it All

There's no such thing.

Today I saw Henry for a groggy hour in the morning, during which I tried to coax him into drinking some formula, put Sesame street on for as long as my mommy-guilt would allow, then did my best to persuade him to go back to sleep. I then saw him for about an hour before he went to bed.

Now I'm up studying and while I'm glad that Henry is asleep, I'm also feeling so unfulfilled with how today went. How do those moms do it? The ones that wake up before the baby, make some fresh homemade baby food, do their hair, and go off to work, all before the time I'm pulling myself out of bed in the morning. At this point, I can't even imagine having the wherewithal in the morning to nourish my spiritual side.

I think I'm just going to have to face facts: I'm no super-mom. If I'm going to survive next year, it's going to have to be by forgoing my plan to work. I know. I could get child care. But every job that I would have wanted is not an 8-hour a day, get home in time for dinner sort of gig. Before I got pregnant I was looking into working for tax firms, corporations, maybe even the IRS. While there are tax jobs out there that aren't as bad as the Big Law jobs, none of them are quite flexible enough for the kind of mommy that I want to be.

I might be able to do it all, but I certainly couldn't do any of it very well. So it looks like things are about to get interesting as we plan to become a one-income family of three.

BUSY!

Finished up finals, graduated from law school, had great graduation party.

Started BarBri classes.

Henry turned 7 months, sits up, stands holding onto something, eats cookies.

Bathing Beauty

In which Henry discovers his feet

Left foot,




Right foot,




Feet, feet, feet.




How many many, feet we meet!

Delicious

Henry's Third Meal

Sittin' Pretty Handsome

Baby Cheers Everybody Up!

Trying out iPhoto

Still not great, but way better than the almost black that they were. I want to try some real software soon, but figured I use what we have to try and fix some badly lit pictures of one cute babe!

Henry Thomas Byrd

born 7:59 A.M. on Nov. 9th, 2009.

6 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 inches long

I knew it.

How did I know that this one wouldn't come until after his due date?

I don't know, I guess I just had a feeling...

This last month has been crazy busy. I stopped doing research for the professor I was working for, which freed up a little time to do everything else. We had our 4th and final baby shower, at which we were given absolutely everything a baby could need or want.

We also had a Halloween party, which was a lot of fun. Greg dressed as Crocodile Dundee and I made a kangaroo costume complete with baby kangaroo head coming out of my pouch. No need for a body, of course.

I've been frantically cleaning, doing homework, washing baby stuff, etc. And now, waiting. I've read all the books cover to cover, organized the closet, done my reading for class for the next couple of weeks, narrowed down the names to just a couple. All I need now is the baby!