Back to work

I started back to work on Friday. Everybody keeps asking me how it was and how I feel about it. My feelings are mixed. I feel stir crazy staying home all day and find myself bored often. In that case, going back to work provides me an outlet for my brain and body. On the other hand, going back to work.....is work. Also, I am having to deal with the never ending pumping that has to happen for me to keep up my milk supply. I had to pump 4 times at work on Friday alone! Friday was hard (11 hours), Saturday was easier (8 hours), and Sunday felt like a breeze (5 hours). All in all, it was OK and I'm actually looking forward to this Friday..but just a little! Here is a look at our fridge now that pumping is in full force at work.

Here's Kaitlyn chillin' in her Fall Dress

Let the baking season begin

Ok, so to prove that this blog is not totally about Kaitlyn (but I'll admit, it is about 95% about her) here is a post unrelated to our little tot. In my last day as a stay at home mom, I decided to make some cookies. The fall is a great time to bake, especially with some canned pumpkin. I tried out a recipe from my sister-in-law's blog. You can find the recipe here: http://larissamarks.com. I made some small changes from what was posted. First, I made 1&1/2 of the recipe because I didn't want the excess pumpkin to go to waste. I also used vegetable oil instead of canola oil. I used wax paper to line my cookie sheets instead of parchment paper (is there a difference?) I've never lined my cookie sheets before, but I thought I'd give it a try since it sounded like easy clean-up. I found that the wax paper left a stubborn scum on my cookie sheets that was much more difficult to clean than cleaning them normally. This may be because I used wax paper instead of parchment paper, I don't know???? They turned out ok. If they were less cakey and more sweet, I think I'd like them better. Overall, not a bad turnout for my first (and possibly last) baking session of the fall.

Kaitlyn meets Lodi

Sam, Kaitllyn, and I headed up to No.Cal on Thursday afternoon. We stopped for the night at my aunt and uncle's house in Fresno. There I was able to see my uncle, cousin (Jen) and her family. We were able to play with her adorable sons, however Kaitlyn thought she would introduce herself to them by crying at the top of her lungs. Jen promptly rocked her to sleep. The next morning we headed up to Modesto where we met up with our friends Josh and Edena. Josh and Sam headed over to the bay area for a bachelor party while Edena and I drove to Lodi to visit family and friends. We went to a baby shower and had a BBQ at my parents house. Kaitlyn met all of my dad's side of the family as well as my mom's parents. She met 3 great-grandparents in one weekend! Kaitlyn learned how to play the piano.....(can bat her hands on keys that light up and play music). This was the first time I've seen her touch something on purpose, so we all got very excited. Overall it was a great weekend. Here are some pictures from our time.

Kaitlyn with her mom and 2 grandmas at the baby shower

Great grandparents and grandparents

Who's that masked man?

Liz and Kaitlyn

Great Grandpa Marks

Kaitlyn can now play the piano

Grandma Harper, Edena, and Kaitlyn