Happy New Year everyone! I know, I’m about two months too late, but better late than never, right? I’m still enjoying my “mommy break” even though I am back at work now. My time with Ayla is even more precious now that I am away from her all day. While I’m loving every minute with her, I wanted to check in to update my blog family and friends.
I hope you are still following me on Instagram (@sweetmelissa_blog) so you can see a little glimpse of what mom life is like. I know, I know, I’m still terrible at posting ALL. THE. TIME. I promise I will try harder. It’s just… ya know… I have a 7 month old. Can you believe it!? SEVEN MONTHS!! I owe you five months of updates, so here goes…
October
Every year we try to go to Rhode Island to visit with friends and reminisce about the good ole days of college. We took Ayla for the very first time for a weekend getaway to her future school 😉
October marked my golden birthday. The big 3-0. I turned 30 on the 30th and it was awesome. I celebrated with my family by going out for dinner. Shane also surprised me by taking me away for the weekend! Baby free! My parents graciously stayed at our house to take care of Ayla and Rocco while Shane took me to Washington DC for my birthday. DC is one of my favorite cities. Not only is it beautiful, it’s easy to get around and clean.
We arrive late on Friday and headed over to the rooftop bar at The W hotel for drinks. The view is spectacular! It overlooks the White House and the nearby area. We sipped our drinks as the sun was setting and it was just like being in a movie.
Saturday was jam packed with activities. We visited the Newseum, walked the mall, and hung out at the Lincoln Memorial (my favorite). After a quick rest at the hotel we headed to Escape Room Live where we had to discover and figure out clues to escape from a Titanic themed room. Spoiler Alert: We didn’t sink with the ship. We made it out with seconds to go!
Sunday I went to the hotel spa for a relaxing massage before we headed home. Awesome birthday. Thanks Shane! 🙂
November
I joined a group called For You Two that involves activities for moms that we can bring our babies to. Instead of doing baby things each week, the sessions were for the moms. We had a few workouts, met with doctors/therapists to ask our questions and had a photo shoot. It was great to hang out with other adults and have real conversations instead of baby babble!
We also had Ayla’s baby naming, a Jewish ceremony where Ayla receives her Hebrew name (which is Ayla 🙂 ).
December
December was tough for me. I started getting anxious about going back to work. I tried thinking of every possible solution where I could be a stay at home mom, but none of them were realistic. I get emotional writing about it. You spend almost every waking minute of the last five months with your baby and grow such a strong bond. In an instant, your time together is cut drastically and you have a million other things to worry about in addition to your baby. I LOVED every minute of my maternity leave and bonding with the best person that ever came into my life. As it was nearing an end, my December days quickly went by.
This didn’t stop us from celebrating Ayla’s first Hanukkah, though!
And Christmas! We took our annual drive to Florida to visit Shane’s family for the holiday.
January
I started work January 2nd and Ayla started daycare the same day. Those first few days were extremely emotional. Jumping back into work felt like I never left. But having to be away from Ayla was the hardest thing I’ve had to do. Fortunately, Ayla loves daycare. I receive daily reports of how her day went and can see that she is growing and learning. Unfortunately, Ayla had to go to the doctor almost every week since she started daycare. I guess that’s what comes with being around so many other babies and germs. No worries… she is healthy 🙂
We also started solids and I think it’s going pretty well. I’d say her favorite food is sweet potatoes and her least favorite is peas. Surprise!
February
Not much has happened this month. Shane and I had our 8 year (dating) anniversary on Super Bowl Sunday. Ayla can sit up by herself. Rocco is… well, the same…
The weather throughout my maternity leave was unusually nice and warm, even into early December! I took daily walks with Ayla and Rocco.
We also visited my grandparents (Ayla’s great grandparents) weekly, joined a weekly support group for new moms, started swimming lessons, and spent lots of time with family.
I want to thank everyone again for their support and for sticking with me through this hiatus. I don’t know how long it will last but I will make sure I at least send these updates. For now, I’m loving every minute with my baby (edit: babies… Rocco is always my firstborn!).
