Love from Minnesota

A few weeks ago we took Audrey to Minnesota. She got to meet her Uncle Anders, Aunt Kristen, and cousin Anders for the first time. She also got to meet Auntie Cookie and lots of our friends. It was a great trip! It involved flying and sleeping away from home for the first time, but doots did great.

We planned both our flights so they would be during nap time. But, of course, both were late. So Audrey was ready to go to sleep before the planes were ready for us. Fortunately, both times she broke character and fell asleep while I was holding her so we were able to keep the crying on the plane to a minimum. She was a travel trooper. She nursed during take off and landing and slept in between. Thankfully the flight is only about an hour and a half long.

Baby's first flight.

Made it to Minnesota.

We weren't sure how things would go in Minnesota. Audrey was still sleeping in her bouncy chair at home. She was in a pack and play at grandma and grandpas' house. She did great! So great we moved her to her crib when we got home. 

We had a great time hanging out with the Nelson side of the family. Doots loves her aunts and uncles and really liked watching her big cousins play! Her cousins think she is alright as well. Especially Luke, he really loves her. It is super cute.

 Luke loved sitting with Audrey. Well, he loved it until she got heavy. Then he was ready to be done hanging out with the baby.

 Grandma also loved hanging out with all her beautiful grandbabies. Anders loves grandma to pieces. Audrey does too, but she loves most people equally at this point in her life. As long as you don't snuggle her too tight she a pretty happy lady. I'm sure that will change eventually.

Seth also took a turn holding Audrey. Such a big kid.

I got to see some of my best lady friends (and Justin) while we were in town. It was super great to see them and they were all super excited to meet Audrey!

Audrey decided to show off while we were there and rolled over from her back to her tummy for the first time. She has been going as far as her side for quite awhile but she usually gets stuck on her arm. But she made it all the way over. She was just rolling from side to side on her blanket and then, boom, she was on her tummy and not at all happy. She still hates being on her tummy for more than a couple minutes. If she rolls over we know pretty much right away cause she starts screaming for someone to flip her back to her back. Eventually she will figure out how to do that on her own too.

Derby Baby

Last weekend I had my first home bout post Audrey with my team, The Lansing Derby Vixens Capital Corruption. We took on the Glass City Rollers Killer Bees. Audrey and JT came to cheer me on while I tried to make it around the track without dying.

Having a baby really killed all that endurance I had. I feel so out of shape, but I suppose making and birthing a human will do that to a lady! Seriously though, it felt great to be back skating in front of our home crowd. There is nothing like hearing the crowd roar when you get lead jammer. It definitely helps me skate a little faster and harder.

Unfortunately JT and doots didn't get to see the end. Doots only made it to just after halftime before she was too tired to carry on. It was way too loud in there for her to fall asleep so she went home to bed.

She was a big hit while she was there. She got loved on by the A-team, which she loved. Even the photographer taking bout pictures managed to get a cute picture of doots and Rock of Shove! She was a good little dude while she was there, hopefully next time I can sneak a quick picture with her. Derby mama and baby pictures are the cutest. It also felt awesome to have my little lady there seeing her mama be an example of a strong woman. I know you won't remember this doots, but it still means a lot to me.

The bout was AMAZING! I did alright, I need to keep working on my endurance as mentioned above and I had two penalties which is two too many. But, the important part is that we won by two points!!

Which is exciting in itself, but it is even more exciting when you know we were down by three points going into the last jam (which only occurred because our smarty pants coach called a timeout with one second left on the game clock).

So, going into the last jam we had to get lead jammer, score at least four points, and call off the jam before the other team scored. NBD right? Oh, also we only had two of our four blockers on the track as two were in the box, they had all four. Seems like an impossible feat but my amazing teammates made it all happen. Actually, we scored five points before they scored any. 'Cause that's how we roll.

Rome is Burning and Veronica Quake blocked the S*#@ out of those four ladies and Criss Cross Slaughter Sauce zipped right through to get lead. Then Rome and Quake kept the other teams jammer back until our other skaters got out of the box and saucey could come cruising through to score five points, call off the jam, and win the game! It was intense and amazing! Obviously Saucey got MVP.

I feel it is important to mention the logistics of participating in derby while being a breastfeeding mama. This is important because (1) it is awesome how supportive the Vixens, and derby as a whole, are of this and(2) it is awesome to empower breastfeeding women. 'Cause let's face it team mom jeans rocks.

Logistically it can be challenging to do things and go places when breastfeeding. The baby has to eat, or you have to pump, every 3 or 4 hours or things get very uncomfortable. And really, the last thing one wants when playing derby are tender, full boobies. Ouch. Therefore, I always pump in the locker room right before we warm up and usually after our bout so I can watch the A team in comfort.

The thing that is amazing about this is how supportive and kind all of my teammates are about me sitting in the locker room hooked up to a milking machine. Sure, there are a few cow jokes and such but no one said "gross" or "do you have to do that in here". There was a lot of "oh you're pumping, cool". So, thank you Vixens and derbyverse for being so supportive of all women, including breastfeeding mamas. We sure do appreciate it!

And really that is what derby is all about. A community of women supporting each other in any way necessary. We are a team and we look out for one another. I. Love. That. I love my team. I love the great example it is for Audrey.

There is even a picture of me pumping after the bout. It's more of a photobomb really but it is evidence that derby rocks and being on team mom jeans is the coolest.

Photo credit for the pictures in this post (other than the milking photobomb) go to Walter J. Runway and Sports Photography. Thanks for the great pictures.

Things Audrey Loves

Her monster. She loves sucking on his horns, chewing on his nose, and holding him tight. Loves that little monster!

PSA: Car Seat Safety

I realize I am probably the last to know but...you know the JJ Cole Bundle Me things everyone who lives in the north puts in their car seats in the winter. They look so comfy and warm. Baby is surrounded by nice soft fleece and all zipped up. Turns out they aren't safe. Not even a little bit safe. Unsafe like your baby might fly out of the car seat in a crash. Yep, my baby has been riding around in that thing for the last 3.5 months. Awesome. Seriously though, what the hell? As if being a new parent isn't hard enough, companies have to sell you crap that isn't safe. Come on give us a break. We are sleep deprived and busy, we don't have time to research every stupid baby product to make sure it won't kill our kid.

Don't get me wrong, I am not the safety police. We do questionably safe things a lot. What is life without risk, right? But this one is legit. If you can't get the straps tight enough because of the bundle me, which it turns out you can't, the baby could get chucked from the seat in a crash. Super not cool. Turns out you can make the bundleme safe. You just have to cut it up. Yep, cut up your beautiful $40 blanket so there is no fabric between baby and the car seat. Or you can buy a different product that only goes over the top of the car seat. Of course you can buy something else. I will just cut ours up, or just use a damn blanket it's pretty much the same thing. But seriously, can people please stop selling me stuff that might kill my baby. "You are only supposed to use it when you have the car seat in a stroller." Are you flipping kidding me. That thing is a pain in the butt to put on the car seat. No one is going to put it on and take it off to use the stroller.

I will note that JJ Cole stands behind this product as being safe, and say they have voluntarily tested it with car seats. Though no one knows which car seats have been tested, with what size child, in what positions. So, really it is hard to put a lot of stake in the testing. It seems that car seat companies and car seat safety inspectors agree that it is not safe to have anything between the baby and the car seat. I think I will side with the car seat safety people on this one, but feel free to google it and make your own decision. If people would just stop selling unsafe stuff we wouldn't all have to spend so much time googling shit.

I am done ranting now. Here is a picture of our kid in her not-at-all-safe-for-the-car car seat. Don't make the same mistake we did!

Looks warm and cozy right?

Doots Goes to Daycare

Last week was Audrey's first week at daycare. She went Monday through Thursday and did great. She didn't seem to miss a beat. I think I did pretty darn well also. I missed her a lot, but I didn't cry when I dropped her off and I did actually get work done, so I'd say I did pretty well. It helps that our daycare provider is a friend so we already feel really comfortable with her. I didn't even take a picture when I dropped her off. Thankfully JT thought to take one when she got home from her first day of daycare.

 

In other news, the swaddle free era did not last long. Although Audrey likes to sleep unswaddled, she does not sleep as well. So, we wrapped her back up. Sorry doots. We'll try again in a few weeks. 

 

We also took Audrey out to dinner for the first time this weekend. She's done breakfast and lunch a couple times, but this was the first dinner. She did really well. Sat in her car seat for a bit and then fell asleep on me when she got tired. I had to eat one handed, but I will take that over a screaming baby every time!

 I would like to take a moment to mention how much doots loves her daddy. She loves him A LOT. He can get smiles from her with almost no effort, it is way easier for him than me. It is very sweet to see her face light up when she sees him.

 Big things will be happening for the little girl in the next couple of weeks. Next weekend she will get to watch me play roller derby for the first time and the next weekend she takes her first plane ride to Minnesota. Let's hope the blog post about that is uneventful.