All vaccinated and now we can finally spend sometime with my husbands side of the family. My heart is full because Charlee was able to bond with her grandparents, aunt and cousins. I literally wasn’t sure when and if this would EVER happen and when it did all I could do was snap pic after pic after pic to remember the moments and cherish every bit of the time we have with family.
The pandemic has taken so much from me, but has allowed me to learn to cherish the moments we do have and live in the now. Life moves so fast and COVID has certainly slowed it all down in so many ways. I think human connection is deeper these days. Moments with loved ones seem not only nostalgic, but meaningful, rare and sometimes desperate when it’s been so long. I don’t desire to ever go back to life as “normal” so to speak. Normal for me implies taking moments like last weekend for granted simply because we see family all the time. Normal looks like the fast paced city life we use to live. Long endless nights out with friends spending money carelessly at overpriced movie theaters and millennial type food spots with eclectic menus options of food that I could clearly cook at home. Back to normal means working on the weekends and dragging myself into an office with no window or sunlight, glued to a computer for hours only to realize I missed lunch, but don’t have time to grab a bite because of 2 or 3 upcoming meetings.
Keep reading, I’m not done blabbing…:)
Normal was never really normal. In fact, normal was abnormal, a life I created for myself where Charlee didn’t exist at that time, merely an embryo we knew nothing about as hiked and explored the deepest most lush rainforests of Costa Rica. Life was selfish for us and foolish spending was at the forefront and I worked 7 days a week to justify this spending. Looking back on it all, the pandemic was a bit of a blessing. I spent a whole pregnancy in quarantine and wouldn’t have it any other way. It was relaxing! I was more conscious about my health, aware of all the changes happening with my body, desperate for the hug of family members, craving human connection as opposed to fleeting moments with friends that led to nothing. Desiring peace in the midst of social justice war and political outrage and the overall downfall of a governmental infrastructure infected by greed, racism, painful lies and injustice. The pandemic has allowed me to feel things, instead of being too busy to acknowledge emotions that we as humans should reflect on, deal with and navigate in a healthy way. I feel something these days. I feel change, fear some days, anxiety on other days, but I feel love on the deepest level possible mixed with a sense of newness, new beginnings, a refresh so to speak, healing and peace beyond measure all at the same time.
My to do list is pretty simple these days, live life, be apart of it, be so overwhelming involved in it that you don’t remember a way out and love so deeply that your heart feels like it could explode.
That’s it everyone. That’s all I got for you today. Enjoy the rest of my garden family photos, I know I did.
Let’s face it, 2020 was one of the strangest years to date. In 2019, I never would have thought I’d be at home as much as I am now, but then again, in 2019 I didn’t have an infant to care for and there was no COVID-19 and therefore, my schedule was jammed packed with things to do: graduating from grad school, pageant stuff, traveling, blogging and just living my best childless life, LOL. Staying at home all the time was definitely a foreign concept to me. Staying at home all the time with an infant was something new too. Almost 10 months of quarantine and counting and I can say there is some good and some bad, so here’s my list of pros and cons of raising an infant during a whole global pandemic. Also, these are just some random pics of my sweet Charleekins and hubby Charles and a few home decor upgrades for our bedroom.
Pro #1 FREE DAYCARE
What daycare? I’m not an essential worker and thankfully, I can do my entire job from home. What does that mean, I’m with Charlee at home, that means free daycare. Everyone knows daycare is crazy expensive, so staying home with my child is the most cost effective thing a new parent can do. There are so many dollars we have kept in our pocket because I’m home with the little one and thinking about all the money I’m saving is nice too.
Con #1 WORKING FULL-TIME WITH A BABY IS HARD
I love Charlee, I do, but being at home with a newborn all day is exhausting! As many of you know, newborns require a lot of attention. I didn’t mind too much in the beginning since I was on maternity leave and didn’t have to worry about work, but maternity leave ended in November and trying to work with a baby at home all day is probably the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. I will say this though, now that she’s officially 4 months an eating heavier meals, she’s sleeping for longer stretches so it’s not as bad.
Pro #2 TIME FOR SELF CARE
I have time for self care. Sometimes self care just means having time to just be home. Being quarantined there has been so much of that. I’ve really learned that self care should not only be intentional, but what really defines self care is just doing what you love. I’m doing what I love while Charlee sleeps and when she’s awake, I’m loving on her and that is a form of self care for me.
Con #2 CABIN FEVER
WE’RE. ALWAYS. HOME. I’ve had a few instances of cabin fever. It sometimes sucks being at home all day long and when you finally do leave you realize nothing is happening around you because, well, COVID, ugh. I want to travel again, I want to take Charlee out to see our city, see our family and friends. I want her to start being social with other people besides me and her dad, but again, COVID. Charlee’s health and safety come first, so until this pandemic clears up, I’ll be here, in the house, gazing out the window and reminiscing on life before COVID, LOL. 😂
Pro #3 WE’VE MADE OUR HOUSE A HOME
I’ve had time to make my house look like a place someone actually lives in. Here’s the thing, before Charlee and before COVID, my house was literally a place I just rested my head. Charles and I had the basics in our house and it was devoid of any home decor or items to make our house look lived in. We’ve since then cleaned up our act and started adding some personality to the spaces in our home, mostly motivated by the fact that we had to get rid of a lot of items and make room for the baby. Having a baby really encouraged us to make a space that was welcoming, homey and just an all around good space for her to grow up in.
Con #3 NO SPACE
Space is limited at our house right now. Charlee’s baby items take up so much space and because of the pandemic, we’ve opted not to move to a bigger space until we see economically, how things will pan our here in the US. We’ve chosen to stay put, pay off some debt and just purge the house of items we collected over the years that we really don’t need to make space for the items that Charlee uses regularly.
Pro #4 NO MORE FOMO
I feel less pressure to entertain these days. Pre COVID, I was dealing with some serious FOMO, Fear of Missing Out. That being said, I was going all over the place, celebrating major milestones with friends, going out every weekend with the girls, traveling here and there, attending this event and that event and blah blah blah. When COVID shut everything down, I felt this hidden anxiety melting away. Having Charlee slowed me down even more too. My life pre COVID would have never been practical with a newborn. Honestly, I’m not sure how I was functioning pre pandemic with all the things I was doing, LOL, but here we are. I’m resting, relaxing, reflecting and enjoying my little family.
Con #4 WE MISS FACE-TO-FACE INTERACTION
I. MISS. MY. FAMILY and FRIENDS. Being at home with an infant all day is a lot of work and some days the only social time I have. I love Charlee, I do, but I do miss interacting with people my own age. I do Zoom calls with my friends and family, but honestly, nothing will be able to replace face to face interaction and human touch. I for one am not a hugger, but being able to hug my friends and family would be priceless right about now.
Pro #5 WE SAVED A LOT AND REALIZED WE WERE BEING WASTEFUL
We have saved a lot of money. This has helped Charles and I realize that our lifestyle pre COVID was wasteful and not practical for a baby. When Charlee finally arrived, we had a nice nest egg saved up for her to get the things we needed to care for her on top of what was given to us by our amazing family, friends and coworkers. We’ve been extremely blessed and we are so grateful for all the financial blessings we received to welcome our sweet baby girl into the world this past August.
Con #5 NO REASON TO DRESS UP
Shopping is therapeutic for me and I love being able to go out and show off my outfits at work and on the weekends with my friends, but with COVID I’m not dressing up to go anywhere except to my kitchen and other places around the house and even then, I’m extremely careful about what I wear these days because baby spit up is real and will ruin your clothes, LOL. 😂. This is life with an infant. This is also life with an infant during a global pandemic.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my list. Here’s hoping this pandemic ends soon. I know we are all wanting to get back to some sense of normalcy and while I truly don’t believe it will ever truly be “normal” again I have hope that our country and the world will be able to recover from this and most importantly learn from this. There is beauty in hard times. Even during a pandemic, our sweet baby girl has been a light and while I have admitted it’s hard, nothing worth having comes easy. Okay, I’ll stop with all the cliches now and end by wishing you all a happy new year. Please stay safe out there and I wish you all good health and lots of happiness. Happy 2021!
By the way, our newest home project has been decluttering the upstairs and getting rid of items that make our space look less appealing. We’ve been adding little knick knacks here and there to spruce up our bedrooms upstairs so peep the pics from our master bedroom. More pics of the other rooms to come.
It’s been awhile since my last post. Taking care of an infant and back from maternity leave so I guess life just happened and I’m just living it. Just dropping by to share a few of my fall photos at the pumpkin patch with one of my faves. This was such a fun day and one of my first times out with friends since having my little Charleekins. Don’t worry, we were masked up the entire time with the exception of when we took photos. Every year I head out to DJ’s Berry Patch to capture some fall shots with a few of my blogger babes and I also shoot a lot of fall sessions out here for clients. This has been a strange year and the first year I haven’t shot a client at this location. I had a family session booked at this location, but because of COVID, the pumpkin patch closed early for the season and we had to relocate. If this isn’t a small description of what 2020 has been like, I don’t know what is. 2020 is the year of changed plans and improvising. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos. We had a lot fun shooting them and what’s fall without a visit to at least one pumpkin patch, right? 😊
Coming soon to the blog, I’ll be counting down Christmas with a few of my fave holiday looks I put together for 2020. Also, later this week, I’ll be sharing a few of my fall family photos. For those who have been following along for awhile, you know I take one family photo with everyone at my house in the back yard every year on Thanksgiving Day. Well, COVID means the only family photo I got this year was one of me, hubby and baby C, so needless to say, Thanksgiving was a little different this year, but happy to have shared it with the two loves of my life in a safe and healthy way.
See you all back here soon! Stay safe and healthy y’all!
Coils Curls & Coffee 