Saturday Morning Motivation – Writing an Action Plan for Resolutions

From theawkwardyeti.com:

I hope that gave you a good giggle. If you’re looking for more giggles, browse The Awkward Yeti – very cute!

Ok, now to make a fitness plan for the year…

Gym Membership!

Last week, I finally signed up for a gym membership! What was my motivation to actually go there and do it? Honestly? I forgot my license there when I went as a guest. Oops! Since I had to go get it, I decided I had to sign up while I was there.

Now, I just need to go use it! In my defense: it snowed on Saturday (which moved all of my plans to Sunday – the day I had slated to go to the gym) and it snowed so hard Tuesday that there was a driving ban for 24 hours. But I WILL get there this week!

Also, I’m directing a high school play at night right now, so that uses up my “nights away from the baby” during the work week, but I’m hoping to re-purpose them once the play ends on March 1st. I know that I can figure out running on lunch breaks and weekends – I just have to put my mind to it.

Here’s a picture of Baby Girl shoveling this weekend to distract you from my lack of running:

The Pain Wasn’t Bad, Why Did I Fear it?

Oops, I forgot to hit publish on this on Jan 16th!

As I mentioned in my last post, I finally went back to the gym this week after missing/avoiding it since May.

I need to actually get a membership – so really I’ve only been once. But it was better than I expected. Sometimes, I think that going back to a gym and a workout regime can be intimidating for 2 reasons: realizing you’re not as in shape as you were and really FEELING that delta but also feeling all of the sore muscles!

I’m so happy to report that my muscles haven’t been sore! I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to move the next day, but I’ve had no issues! Yay!

When it comes to not being who I was… well… I’m still dealing with that. Going back to the gym and not knowing how far I can run is sad when I know I could run 10 miles for fun before. Luckily, for me, the first time back, I didn’t hit the treadmill (which I would have done if I were on my own). Instead, I followed my coworker to my second favorite cardio machine: the arc trainer. I wasn’t at the same level I was before. I used to use the “interval” option on level 6, this time around I was back to level 2 (Clearly, neither of these are a brag, just being honest). It was a bummer and my leg muscles were still on fire. But I really think starting with the arc trainer made me feel more “ok” with not being at my past fitness level than starting with my favorite: running.

So if you’re like me and thinking about going back to working out, I wish you luck and for no fear! It wasn’t as bad in reality as it was in my head. 🙂

Back in the Saddle Again!

I haven’t had much to blog about lately. Mainly because when I first started to write this blog, I wanted it to be about all the silly little tricks I use and what I tell myself to motivate myself to stay busy. But I haven’t had anything to say because I wasn’t very motivated. I’ve been floating through life lately, I haven’t been propelling myself, but I think that needs to change.

Also, I wasn’t ever going to be a good “mommy blogger!”

So what has motivated this sudden change back to blogging? I had time off from Dec 24th – Jan 5th and I decided that I needed to clean out my clothes closet and dresser drawers. I like to do organizational projects when I have significant down time. I’ve lived in three apartments/homes in the last 8 years and every time I move, my storage space gets smaller. I haven’t purged clothes in a LOOOONG time (let’s just say that I still had about 40% of the clothes I wore in high school).

1) I was motivated for the need for space! The clothes I wear all the time had nowhere to live.

As I was going through my clothes, purging them, I realized how few of them fit. In all fairness, some of them were originally tight, belly shirts or pleather shorts from high school – but other things should have fit and didn’t. (In the end, I donated about 80 pieces of clothes – I stopped counting at 63. I also threw away a bunch of old clothes – like over-worn bathing suits, again from high school – but I didn’t count those.)

My drawers and closet have so much more space! Now, I just wish I felt that way in my clothes.

2) I want to fit in my clothes again!

Trying on so many pieces of my own clothes really made me aware of how much I have gained since buying most of them.

I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday and I learned something sad. I gained 38 pounds when I was pregnant. I lost 32 of those pounds by her first birthday. Since June, I’ve gained 5 pounds!!!! That’s right, I lost most of the “baby weight” and then gained 5 pounds for no good reason! Ugh! Where are my running shoes?

I went to Planet Fitness yesterday as a guest of my coworker who is a member there. I liked it well enough, so I’m going to sign up this weekend.

And here is my plan: I need to go to the gym a few times a week during lunch (I’m directing a high school play so my wonderful man, T, is already on full-time parent duty 2-3 nights a week. I feel bad making him do every night so I can go to the gym. Especially because he’s just signed up for Daily Burn so that he can work out and be at home at the same time. I’m excited for him but I want a treadmill. Also, I would miss Baby Girl’s face too much if I was out 4-5 nights a week (plus working full-time).

Playing with hats at Target around Halloween

Next, I need more lettuce in my life. I used to eat salads with almost every dinner as a kid. I almost never eat salad now! So that’s going to change!

And maybe less ice cream…

*Having just reread this, I realize I sound like I’m freaking out over 5 lbs, but I was a little heavier than desired before I got pregnant so this is actually about 20-25 lbs. I’m really just bumming because my weight is moving in the wrong direction. And I miss running!!!! I miss my lovely running trail that I moved away from and I’ve yet to find another good one. I think that might be some spring motivation.

Happy Halloween!

I LOVE Halloween! (Along with Christmas, they are my favorite holidays – because I love decorating!)

This year, I bought a giant pumpkin so I thought I would get creative with carving. Instead of doing my regular, standard jack-o-lantern face, I searched pinterest for some fun ideas. What do you think of my finished project?

The glowing is just because of a candle lit inside

Also, I enjoyed dressing Baby Girl up. She’s a cheeseburger!

She put herself here after seeing the big kids do it. (At Santa’s Village in NH during Halloween Day)

I went with a theme and tormented the cat (Anne Geddes, I am not!)

They didn’t really want to participate in this photo. Also, Baby Girl INSISTED on laying with the cat instead of sitting with him.

Finally, did you hear about the new Teal Pumpkin Project? I wish I had learned about this earlier and shared it with everyone sooner, but here is an explanation from the Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) group

I have the poster hanging on my house and will be giving out vampire teeth. (next year I’ll plan better and choose something that doesn’t go in the mouth… just in case!) And in case you’re wondering, teal is the designated color for food allergies. Check out the FARE Blog for more info.

Happy Halloween to all!

Cha-Cha-Changes!

Hello again! Since my last post, I’ve had a major life change. Ok, maybe not MAJOR, it certainly wasn’t this major:

I can’t believe she’s already 16 months old!

and I didn’t go through “the change,” I’m only 32. But I got a new job! I was at my last job for 7.25 years (so leaving it feels pretty major). It was my first, real, adult, corporate job. But it was starting to feel like this:

So I ventured out and found a new job! The new job has a commute that’s 35 minutes shorter (in each direction) and offered almost double the pay… so obviously it was quite appealing. It’s the same type of job tasks but a completely different industry. I have a lot to learn and my miss my last set of coworkers, but I’m really excited. I’m really hoping to feel like I have more free/fun time. And more time to blog! I hope you’ll be hearing more from me soon! 🙂

Baby Feeding – Nursing

This is another ones of those I wrote months ago and never published…

This post is for any pregnant woman looking for odd tips on breastfeeding or anyone who is struggling with a newborn and feeding. If anyone else wants to read about my odd trials and tribulations, feel free!

When I was pregnant, I was certain I wanted to give the nursing thing a real shot. I knew it would be hard (thanks to friends and BabyCenter.com) and I think that really helped going into it. However, I thought it would be hard because everything was painful (and it was) but I didn’t realize that the hardest part would be that the baby wouldn’t know what she was doing. I thought at least one of us would have a clue on what was going on. Nope! Not the case. She was just as lost as I was.

My wonderful boyfriend came up with some clever ideas to convince the baby to latch and I want to share them with anyone else who might be struggling. First though, I feel that I should mention a few things:

• The baby was perfectly healthy without any issues (she wasn’t tongue-tied, she wasn’t preemie, etc.)
• I had no physical issues (i.e. my nipples were big enough and I didn’t need a shield or anything like that)
• We have a doula in the family and she HATED our technique. She would tell you not to listen to me. She feared our technique would lead to the dreaded “nipple confusion!” (Note, it never did… but maybe we were just lucky. Or maybe you’re like us and right now you’re so desperate you don’t care and you’re willing to try anything.)
• Also, I’m not a doctor or a lactation consultant, so this is just anecdotal advice from some an amateur. 🙂

The baby came home with us from the hospital on a Thursday. In the hospital, with the lactation consultants around, feeding her seemed possible. Being at home was another story. By Friday night, with no substantial luck in feeding her, the baby was losing her mind. She was frantic and inconsolable. She was sobbing from hunger and frustration and I was also crying from frustration. It all seemed so hard for something that is supposedly natural! Meanwhile, my wonderful boyfriend, T, was constantly by our sides, trying to remain patient and put us together like puzzle pieces.

Eventually he talked me into trying to pump (luckily my health insurance had covered a Medela breast pump and it had come home with us from the hospital as well). I pumped maybe an ounce (which now seems paltry but it felt like a gallon back then). We fed the baby with the bottle – problem solved! She was a happy baby!

On Saturday: I would pump and then we would feed her a little bit with the bottle until she was calm (really just a few sips). Once she was calm, we’d get her to nurse. (swapping the bottle out for me)

On Sunday: We’d offer her both the bottle and me, at the same time, side by side. She’d get the idea and we’d slip the bottle out of her mouth before she’d start eating.

On Monday (she was one week old): We would drop some of the pumped milk on my nipple, and she would take to nursing right away.

On Tuesday: We were no longer pumping and using that milk to convince her. We were just nursing and getting better at it day by day.

This makes it all sound so easy, but it still wasn’t perfect. I would say it took us until she was about 10 days old to really get into the swing of things and even then her latches weren’t perfect. But it really helped me to stick with it when I knew she was eating and wasn’t maniacal from hunger pains. Now she’s almost 8 months old and nursing is a breeze! (She’s over a year now and I’m trying to wean her! She won’t give it up! Funny how things have changed.)

10 days old and passed out with a full tummy!!! Also, I LOVED “My Brest Friend” – the green pillow in the picture.

Good luck!!!!

If you have any questions, I’m happy to answer anything I can.

 

The Cat, the Baby, and the Gate

I am the worst when it comes to writing drafts and never publishing them! This was originally written in March!

The baby has been crawling for about 2 months now. This is both exciting and frightening (ah! we need to baby-proof the house!). We put up a baby gate in our living room to create a barrier from the front door and the stair case. Oddly enough, the activities around the gate are hilarious.

First bit of silly behavior is with the cat, well… one of the cats mainly. We have 2 cats: Chewie and Prissy Pants. My wonderful boyfriend likes to equate them to Pinky and the Brain:

If you’ve never seen the show before, Pinky is an idiot and the Brain is always plotting to take over the world. Don’t get me wrong, I love Chewie. He’s the sweetest cat… but he’s not planning on taking over the world. In his defense, I wouldn’t go so far as to call him an idiot really. But he’s happily coasting through life, unphased by most things. Heck, he wore that Halloween costume for HOURS! Prissy Pants on the other hand is always working some angle, she is trying to take over the world. She even figured out how to wiggle out of her costume in about 10 minutes.

We put up the gate and Prissy Pants immediately understood that she had to jump over it to get into the room. Meanwhile, Chewie is the better jumper. He literally catches birds in flight! But he couldn’t figure out how to jump over the gate. Instead he spent a solid 5 minutes trying to figure out how to crawl under it! It’s only a few inches off the ground! He eventually managed to squeeze under it while dislodging the side not screwed into the wall. I wish I had a video for you – it was so ridiculous. I couldn’t stop watching him.

Prissy Pants, sitting on a chair in the living room, watched the entire thing. 20 minutes later, she went to the hallway side of the gate and tried to burrow under as well. It took her about 4 seconds to realize it was ridiculous and quit.

 

The second piece of silliness around the gate involves the fact that Chewie is afraid of the baby. Normally, he is the most mellow cat. I could wear him like a scarf and walk around the house if I felt like it. But if Baby Girl LOOKS at him, he’ll run away.

He loves the gate because it’s clear plastic so he can sit in the hallway and see into the living room, but still avoid Baby Girl. So of course, she’s obsessed with sitting on the other side. She bangs on the gate and squeals at him, begging him to come sit with her.

Her constant banging on the gate is basically saying: “Please come play with me, kitty!” Please!”

His refusal to even look at her should be sending a clear message of “NO!”

 

So that’s the constant entertainment we have with the gate.

Happy Father’s Day

“When I hear people talk about juggling, or the sacrifices they make for their children, I look at them like they’re crazy, because ‘sacrifice’ infers that there was something better to do than being with your children.” — Chris Rock

I found that quote  on The Huffington Post’s The Truth About Being a Dad, According to 14 Really Funny Famous Guys

Daddy makes the best mattress/napping buddy

 

Kisses for daddy

Happy Father’s Day!!!

Not Balancing It All (and I kind of don’t want to)

 

I found this on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/thebrainstore/

As you may have noticed, I don’t blog much anymore. Please don’t take it personally though, I also don’t often respond to e-mails, texts, phone calls, or Facebook messages.

For the longest time, when someone asked why I didn’t write back to an e-mail or missed something on Facebook, I was saying “I haven’t figured out how to balance everything now that I have the baby.” But then one day I realized, I don’t want to “figure it all out.” Because in reality, I basically have figured out what I want. I want to spend time with Baby Girl not my computer. I like paying complete attention to her when I’m around her and work has been too busy for me to post/e-mail/message during the work day… which may have been my previous M.O. Shhh, don’t tell my boss that’s how I was spending my lunch hour… or slow Friday afternoons… (hopefully work will slow down again soon and I can go back to that).

I work full-time and with commuting, dropping her off and picking her up, and working, I only spend about 2 hours per day with her awake (when we’re not getting dressed or are driving in the car). And for a long time, she and I had the same bed time – now she goes to bed at 9 pm and I got to bed at 10:30. Theoretically I could spend that 90 minutes e-mailing, but I usually spend it relaxing with a book or some TV. I’m a tired, selfish jerk; I admit it! 😉

And on weekends, I clean the house during her naps and play with her when she’s awake.

So, yeah, it may be unpopular, but I would rather push her on her little musical car for hours than play on Facebook…

“Hey mom, let’s do this!”

 

So that’s my truth. I’m madly in love with hanging out with my daughter! And I simply don’t get enough time to do it!

* In the triangle above, I have picked “happy kid” and “my sanity” – my house is a mess!

** Yes, she’s wearing a tutu in the picture above. She took off the socks that look like ballet slippers though. 😉