BEAUTIFUL weather!!

What a whirlwind week its been and I'm happy to report today has made up for the previous few days. First of all, Aidan had his first cold and it was miserable!! The poor kid had the terrible sniffles and ended up with a fever yesterday. The night we spent on the la-z-boy was not fun, but the fever finally broke last night and he was back to his old self today, just in time for the most amazing weather!

I also managed to send in a draft of my completed thesis. I can hardly believe it, but looks like I might be graduating ;) Of course I'm still waiting for my advisory to send me his edits, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed the worst is over...and I've got great stories for Aidan when he complains about homework in 8 years, I'll just remind him I wrote my thesis on no sleep and typed with one hand while he slept!

Finally, I hope everyone was able to enjoy this incredible weather! We headed to the park like the rest of Philly and enjoyed the sunshine. Aidan loooved it as much as we did, so here are some pictures...

exhaustion setting in

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and didn't make yourself sick eating too much chocolate like I did!

Things in our house have been very busy as I realized I have 3 weeks of class left. I'm super excited but feeling stressed because my thesis still isnt done (its due next Friday!!!) ughh and because I still have other projects and classes to worry about. Oh, and I'm hoping to get a job too. I'm trying not to worry about it because over the last year things have just worked out better than I could ever hope... and I have enough to worry about right now.

I cant believe I'm actually graduating with my masters!!! Unfortunately, no one in my field is hiring so I'm probably going to be an office assistant again, which stinks, but it will be great to have some income, especially as my loans repayments are going to start soon.

However, before I can get too excited about graduating, I actually have to get my work done... Lately Aidan has not been sleeping well and Mr. F and I don't know what to do. Its like he's reverted to being 4 weeks old again. We were up 6 times on Saturday night! This has been going on for about 3 or 4 weeks...try writing a thesis on such interrupted sleep with little to no caffeine (I'm trying to avoid it cause Aidan gets a rush when he nurses). The poor kid also has his first cold and keeps choking at night:( coincidence that he started daycare last week? probably not.

Last night I was up till 2am doing homework, just in time for Aidan to wake up so I could feed him. I think I got about 4 hrs of interupted sleep. Awesome. that could explain my professor said, "Jenna, you look exhausted." when I walked in this morning.

My plan right now is to just keep swimming and remembering, "this too shall pass."

If you have a chance, take a nap for me! :)

separation anxiety

Today was a big day for the Little Man and I... the first day of daycare. It was so hard to drop him off, and yes, I definitely cried, Aidan didn't cry, but I sure did. The feelings of guilt about having someone else take care of my baby is terrible. I think its what every mom must feel at one time or another. But, I have to believe that giving myself this time to finish my masters and get other things done will make me a better mother. Don't get me wrong, this daycare has come highly recommended and I'm sure he's going to be just fine, the kid is very social so I'm sure he's going to love playing with the other babies...but, well, its just hard. Then to add insult to injury, I had to wait almost 20 min for a bus to come I now have take 2 buses to get to class. ughhh.

This weekend was pretty great too, I was actually very productive and got 5 pages done of my thesis yesterday. The weather was STUNNING and I settled in a coffee shop nearby and put on my "paper writing" playlist. I think I've only got about 12 pages of text left to write and while its ambitious, I'm hoping to get my draft done by Friday. That gives me 2 weeks to get it all straightened out and edited etc.

On Saturday evening Mr. F and I went to my school's Beaux Arts Ball at the Mutter Museum. The theme was "Gatsby's Prohibition" and it was great! People went all out with their outfits including some spats on the guys and 1920's flapper dresses on the girls. I will post a few pictures when get them uploaded. You may know the Mutter Museum as the medical oddities museum... or the American Physician's College.

obsession

It has been awhile, but I have a good excuse... my thesis is due in less than one month and I'm doing my best not to freak out. I've got about 27 pages together without images, only 22 to go. UGHHH. However, I have an interview with the architect who did the renovation at my case study architect, so I'm planning on getting lots of direct quotes from him. Of course I still have other classes with projects due in them, like the exam I took this morning. Lets just say I think I passed and leave it at that.

Despite the craziness of our lives academically, we've been doing lots of fun things too, like going to a banquet at the Union League, visiting our families and enjoying our baby. The weather turning warmer is also a real mood booster.

I've also got to admit, I'm obsessed with my son. He's just so darn cute and even though he's reverted to waking up several times a night, he gets cuter by the day and more and more active and interactive. I'm absolutely loving being a mom seeing Aidan grow...and I have to admit, I'm getting the baby jones again. Although there wont be any babies for a couple of years, I think there might be quite a few kids in our future :)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Did you know that St. Patrick was actually Italian?! Yup, and to celebrate here is my own little Irish, Italian, Egyptian delight! :)

insomnia

Ughhh... I.CAN.NOT.SLEEP. and its driving me crazy! Everyone in my house went to bed 1.5 hrs ago and I know I'll be up with the baby in just a few short hours, but I can't sleep. My mind is racing with a million things that need to get done and I just can't relax. I'm sure listening to my loud neighbor's bed hitting my living room wall isnt helping nor is the jerk who laid on his horn for a solid 3 minutes because a cab wasnt moving while letting someone out. This guy seriously got so close to the cab's bumper the cars were touching and he just kept laying on his horn. This is just one of the many reasons I hate this city. Its after midnight and because a cab wasnt moving fast enough, its appropriate to lay on ones horn until someone finally yelled at the guy with more profanity than I care to repeat. Some days I wish for this whole place to get swallowed up by the earth. But I digress...

Today and yesterday were super productive and I even took Aidan to the library with me today. The kid was a real champ and I felt like super mom scanning readings into the computer with one hand and nursing him at the same time. I even made a little bed of blankets under the table and let him take a nap! Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures. And dinner was on the table when Mr. F got home tonight. Not a bad day at all:) Now the mess in my house is another story, but that will have to wait.

Also, one of my favorite shows is back on... Dancing with the Stars! I LOVE it and am super excited Melissa from the Bachelor is on this season. She is a great replacement for Nancy O'Dell and I'll be rooting for her to go all the way!

And finally, I'm getting that itch to get my hair cut. Of course it could be because I havent had a hair cut since last March...yes that is a year ago. I'm thinking about going to the aveada school because who can resist a $16 hair cut, and maybe a $10 manicure? :)

Egg Rolls!

Ok, this post is really more about rolls than eggs...but I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, but Aidan has finally rolled over! He was trying sooooo hard but only getting 3/4 of the way there, but he finally figured it out! Mr. F and I were watching with baited breath as he kept trying and boy did we celebrate when he finally got it. Then, just to see if he could do it again, we put him back on his play mat and he rolled the other way!! The wonderkid hasnt stopped rolling since! Of course he's only rolling from his back to his belly, but this newfound movement has thrilled him, and us, beyond belief! I know its only a matter of (brief) time before he's really moving around. Its unbelievable to watch another little human develop; yesterday he couldnt roll and today its like he's always been able to!
I'm working on getting a good video of this new skill and will post it soon.

This past weekend was also a great one for us as my mom and dad come to babysit while mr. f and I attended a ball put on by his school. The icing on the cake was that my mom and dad sent us to a hotel for the night! It was hard being away from Aidan overnight for the first time, but we had a blast and of course were happy to come home too. Ohhh and did i mention it was open bar? 3 words my friends: PUMP AND DUMP :)

So now my thesis is due in about 1.5 months and i've got about 20 pages down, 30 to go and its tough, but the end is in sight!

Things are going very well here and I hope everyone else is doing as well!!