The New Normal

It is crazy to think that as of this past Friday I am the mother to a beautiful, healthy 6 week old baby boy! We have spent the last few weeks adjusting to our new normal of life with an infant. Our new normal consists of diaper changes, round the clock feedings, and spending every one of Micah's waking minutes cuddling and playing. These days "playing" is very regimented for a baby, who knew? According to all the latest research Micah should get at least 5 minutes of tummy time every morning and evening, introduced to something new each day (textures, sights, sounds, etc.), and read to at least once a day. Now of course as a teacher I would be a hypocrite if I didn't say that I full-heartdedly agree that all of these brain stimulating learning activities are very important to the development of a child. And you better believe that I want my child to be the smartest kid on the planet so I am doing all those things and then some. However, I often wonder if he must think we all look ridiculous putting on this dog and pony show of brain activities for him each day, because he often seems way more focused on the person delivering the activity than the activity itself : ) 

As we have settled into our new normal I have found myself with a little bit more energy and time than I had a few weeks ago. Perhaps it is because Micah is now waking up only once during the night so I am able to sleep for longer stretches, or that I have finally become more efficient with our routine so instead of running around getting things prepared for the next time he wakes up I am able to catch up on things around the house. Now at first this new found energy and time was welcomed and I spent most of it napping, getting things organized, and browsing the net. My sister Emily jokes that over the last few weeks I have read the entire internet, because every time she shares an article, comments on a mutual friends status update, or shows me a funny video odds are I have already seen it!  However, after almost two weeks of this I feel mostly caught up on rest, I have organized EVERYTHING I could possibly organize, and I truly have seen all that I need to see online. There are only so many cat videos a person can watch. I am extremely fortunate that my maternity leave worked out perfectly so I do not have to return to work until the start of next school year. But I must admit that I am beginning to wonder what I am going to do with myself for the next few months ?! Now I know most of you must be thinking (sarcastically in your head) "Poor Andrea, getting to take naps and actually having the time to get things accomplished, must be rough!" However, considering my old normal consisted of engaging and corralling 19 energetic ten-year-olds, lesson planning, and often putting in 10+ hour work days; being at home with a mostly calm baby that enjoys his sleep is a definite change of pace. So since "idle hands are the devil's workshop" or so the saying goes I have decided to make an action plan for myself. My plan is simple-CRAFTING & DECORATING. Those of you who know me could have guessed this was going to be my action plan without having read this post and are wondering why you just spent the last five minutes of your life reading all the build up to my action plan. I'll tell you why you stuck around, because you knew that there would be adorable Micah pictures to go along with my babbling and you would be right : ) But until then bear with me as I share a few projects and ideas I have for the new house.

The growing pile of house decorations that I have been collecting over the last several months

The windows are left over from our wedding and will be used to create a window mirror to go above an entryway table I found at an antique store down in the Kansas City west bottoms (shown below), with another window we are going to make a family photo collage to go in the upstairs hallway. The black trunk was used as Emily and I's toy chest growing up, and when I stumbled upon it in my Mom's garage she was happy for me to take it off of her hands. We are going to clean it up and use it as a TV stand in our living room. 

I have been on the hunt for good deals lately and found a metal and laminate wood baker's rack along with a matching corner shelf . All it needed was a new coat of paint (the turquoise color shown above) and knobs (from Hobby lobby shown below). There is a large shelf on the bottom that I am going to hunt down some rustic crates to use as storage that I think will complete the update to this piece. I can't wait to assemble it and see how it looks all put together : )

Micah and I enjoying the beautiful spring day while Daddy painted our new treasure.

My Pinterest boards have exploded with these new crafting and project ideas that I am hoping to implement in the house over the next few months.  Those of you who follow me on Pinterest either must be annoyed at the sudden intrusion to your Pinterest feed or impressed with the amount of projects I am attempting to tackle. We will see how many projects actually get accomplished once warmer weather calls my name poolside but until then I am on a mission. 

As I am finishing up writing Micah is beginning to stir from his nap and it is time for our "new normal" routine of eat, play, and sleep. It is amazing to see how much personality he has developed over the last few weeks. He enjoys cooing, kicking his legs, batting and talking to the animals on his activity mat, and most recently smiling. He is especially "smiley" in the mornings which softens the blow for the hardest part of Mommy's day- getting up at the crack of dawn! As promised I will leave you with some adorable Micah pictures : )

-Andrea-