The Taylor Family

I resigned from my job. It was a good two years. Last day is October 1 – seemed right to give plenty of notice under the circumstances. The circumstances are complicated. That’s not true. They are very simple. I don’t want to talk about it. Please send all librarian jobs my way, and all web [...]

I love feeding Cadie her bottles. She tends to get a bit worked up in anticipation of her bedtime bottle, and she tenses and strains in an attempt to reach it as it makes its way to her little mouth. Her eyelids flutter as she takes her first drinks, she sighs, and she melts into [...]

It’s so fun to be home with Cadie during the day, because she’s so happy. She gives huge grins all morning, and lots of “happy spasms.” Last night was fun, too – Kristi visited this week and once Cadie got over her initial terror, she loved her. Cadie smiled all evening yesterday, which was a [...]

I dropped a few things off last night for some friends with a new baby, and I was reminded of how overwhelming it is to have a newborn. Cadie’s not yet six months old, but taking care of her is now a completely different thing than when she was just a few days or weeks [...]

So, I have over 5 gallons of breast milk stored in the freezer. And 5 gallons is a very conservative estimate. Chris thinks we might need to start throwing it out, but I can’t bear to do that! I’ve inquired at the Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa about donating, but I’m almost positive that I’m not eligible, [...]

It is amazing to me now that there was ever a time when we had to supplement Cadie’s feedings with formula. The top rack of our freezer is now completely full of breast milk. I’ve been so paranoid about not being able to feed her, but now I don’t know where to put all the [...]

I’m really having a difficult time adjusting to the idea of not being Cadie’s primary caregiver. On the one hand, I like that Cadie will see her mom out supporting the family and know that she can do that too. But on the other – I want to be home with my baby! While I [...]

While it would be wonderful to have a European-style maternity leave, I was still luckier than many people. I was able to afford 6 weeks off, followed by 6 weeks of part-time work after Cadie was born. I didn’t have enough paid vacation/sick time to cover all this at full pay, but it was manageable. [...]

We have tailgates at work during the football season, and certain departments go all out. Today’s tailgate was held by those departments, and they had cheerleaders and Herky come to liven things up.
Well, someone told the mascot guy that he should change in the lactation room. WTH? That is NOT what that room is for, [...]

She’s a bit young for trick-or-treating, but we dressed Cadie up for Halloween anyway. The UIF has an annual trick-or-treat hour for employees’ kids, and we brought Cadie in her little dalmation outfit. Everyone thought she was the cutest little boy cow they’d ever seen! We definitely should have brought the pink pacifier instead of [...]