Workin' It Out!

I don't know what Moms did before there were workout DVDs and videos (for the old-timers...) Seriously, they're a mom's best friend! No need for a trip to the gym, you can take 30min to an hour (if you're lucky) and get your workout on whenever you get a chance to squeeze it in during the day. Yay!

Lani & I got P90X. Part of our New Year's resolutions (check them out here and here) is to whip ourselves back into the skinny-zone. Having a buddy that's doing the same workout as you, makes it easier to motivate each other. Not that we're terribly competitive (HA!)...but when she tells me she already did her workout DVD for the day, I'm ready to pop the disc in right then because I don't want to let her get ahead of me.

And let me tell you...it is tough. The very first DVD is very misleading because...it really wasn't that extreme while I was doing it, but the next day, I felt it. Then Tony Horton (the trainer dude that does P90X) threw the Plyometrics DVD at you, and you're basically jumping around for 40 minutes. INSANITY! But actually really fun! Will enjoyed jumping with me. He thought it was pretty funny. After a week of the P90X, I am in my pre-preggo William Rast jeans (size 30"). The thing about these jeans is that they don't have a lot of stretch in them like most of the jeans I buy now, because back in the pre-preggo days...I didn't need all that stretch!

Also in my workout regimen is the Kinect for XBOX 360. Hubby & I put it on our Christmas List, but we weren't planning on getting it right away. Well, Hubby got some gift cards for Christmas, so we ended up getting it for around $40. Sweeeeeeeeeeet! The Kinect Adventures game that it comes with is really fun. We played it for probably 2 or 3 hours after Hubby brought it home and set it up. I was totally sore the next day and that was just from playing. We decided to get the Your Shape Fitness Evolved game, too. Again, working out when I have someone else's score, aka calories burned, to compete with is motivating. The great thing about this game/workout, is that it's like having your own personal trainer showing you what to do.

That's the trainer on the left, and me on the right.

The cool thing, just like you'd get if you had a real personal trainer, is that since it's a sensor, it tells you if you aren't matching the trainer just right. "Widen your stance" or "Lunge lower" are the usual corrections I get at the end of my training session because I'm tired! You can pick the length of your workout, all the while seeing how many calories you've burned so far (bottom left of the screen).

There are also great "Classes" like Yoga and Boxing, as well as mini-games like Hula Hooping. You can also download Zumba, which I'm looking forward to trying.

And to top off my workout options, I got these Nike Free Run awesome kicks for Christmas. If you are a runner, these are ahhhhhh-mazing! I actually found out about them from my sister, because she had them on her Christmas list. She got them for Christmas, and I got another pair I had asked for. Christmas Day, I stole her shoes (love that we wear the same size!) and ran around outside with Will for a few minutes, I was hooked. It's like you're running barefoot! Genius!

You can check out the genius behind the shoes here:


How incredible is that? I have a bum knee, and I don't even notice it when I wear these. And usually this time of year, I can't go as far as I'd like because my knee joints start to ache...these are cushioned so well that it doesn't bother me. So cool! Not to mention, they're SUPER SWEET looking! I have a thing for shoes, so when I see a pair that is particularly spiffy, I have to have them.

I'm hoping that keeping my workout options open and varied, that I will also keep my interest in it. So far...it's working. Knowing that if I just couldn't drag my butt out of bed in the morning because Will decided to get up 5 times that night (his 2 year molars are coming in...ah...teething. Ain't it grand?), there is still hope in getting one in later on thanks to a DVD or game I can pop in. And now that he enjoys doing some of them with me (or laughing at me while I'm doing it), it's something I can do while he's awake. This is a definite plus because then my "free time" I get during his nap time isn't spent on just a workout and a shower. Sometimes I get to clean house, prep dinner, or work a little! What a concept!

The Fickle 10

...or maybe 15. I've been able to be pretty steady at the 149/150 lb mark. Ugh... not ideal, but not totally awful either. I expressed my love for these daily deal websites (here) and yesterday, Plum District had a deal I couldn't pass up. After 3 weeks of whining that I couldn't find time to go for a run on my own, and then it decided to get ungodly hot here in SoCal...I was annoyed with myself. $70 for a month's worth of Boot Camp at Total Training by Tammy. Regular price is $179. Hello Deal!

I discussed it with Hubby to make sure he was on board. In an ideal world, I would be gone and back from my boot camp before anyone was awake, but we all know how that goes... And he said if I thought I could get up that early, go ahead. Are you doubting me? He proceeded to say that he wouldn't be happy about paying money for something I wouldn't actually do. Oh no you diiiin't!

So I got out of be at 5:08am. Threw my workout clothes, that I lovingly laid out for myself last night, brushed my teeth, filled up a bottle of water and was out the door by 5:15am. I arrived at 5:30am, right on time. And I proceeded to get my butt kicked. And all the reasons why I hate working out came flooding back to me

1. I don't like to sweat.
2. I don't like to be out of breath. It probably stems from having bad asthma and having some scary asthma attacks when I was a kid... I like to breathe.
3. Running? Ugh... I'd rather be cooking or reading or doing anything else.
4. The day after soreness of death...

When I got home a smidge before 7am, Hubby and Will were just getting up. They just woke up and I had already been up for 2 hours. I got to take a peaceful shower since Hubby was home & didn't have to be at work for 2 hours. I even put lotion & makeup on! Lookout world! Then I proceeded to make breakfast for everyone, dessert for this evening (it's fruity, so it's not too bad), clean up the kitchen, run the dishwasher, throw in a load of laundry... all before 9:30am! I could get used to this!

The instant gratification of being able to have a little more pep in my step, being able to accomplish a little more around the house before noon, and being able to shower quietly is all worth the 5am wake up call. Long term, hopefully my aches and pains will lessen, I'll shed a few pounds and/or inches, and gear up to start training for a 1/2 marathon. - Yes, I did just say I don't like running, but a 1/2 marathon is doable, I think. And again, if I'm paying for something, I will be motivated to do it because I will be pissed at the waste of money if I don't.

My goal is to shed these fickle 10 lbs by Christmas. That's more than realistic. I want to be able to pull out my skinny clothes out, not just the pre-preggo ones! I would love to go into 2011 with NO weight loss goals. Just a goal to maintain what I've got.

What are you doing to get and stay fit?
Do you have a favorite workout DVD?
Do you just hit the gym?
Any tips for marathon training?
I'd love to hear them! It's good motivation to know you're not the only one out there trying to get and stay fit and healthy!

So this is why God gave me hips...

Will is terrified of the vacuum. We're talking blood curdling screaming with sad, pathetic face that says "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME, MOM?!". It's torture to listen to him scream bloody murder as soon as I turn it on. Normally things that are loud don't bother him to much. In fact, in most cases, the louder the better for him. But the vacuum just strikes the wrong cord with him and it's meltdown city. Sometimes I can get away with plopping him in the playpen, giving him a bottle, turning on some MMC, and vacuuming all of the rooms he's not in. I can hear him crying once in a while, but it's not quite so constant. And then there are other times where he starts screaming the second I pull the vacuum out of the closet. Maybe this whole situation is why I don't vacuum as much as I should...it really is the definition of a chore...

Probably 75% of the time, I give up on the playpen/bottle/MMC routine and just pick him up so I can get the job done in some kind of peace. Let me tell you, it is quite the workout. 20+ wiggly pounds on one arm, while trying to push another 10 lbs around on the floor with the other arm. I usually have to switch sides with him a couple times in the course of vacuuming the house, but at least the job is done with no meltdowns.

So your hips get bigger while your pregnant to make room for the baby's exit, but they stay bigger so you can tote that kid around while you clean up his mess. Thanks God. You're so thoughtful. Now if only we could make an amendment to his rule and have them shrink a little bit once your kid is too big to cart around on your hip... That would make fitting into my pre-preggo jeans that much easier, even if it is 5 years from now...

Resolution Check In

It's a little over 5 weeks into the new year, and I'm not doing too shabby on my resolutions. [patting self on back] Here's how I'm doing so far:

1. Eat better - I have only had fast food maybe twice a week for lunch, and that's on a bad week. That's good! I have also made dinner just about every night of the week. I was off to a little bit of a rocky start, but now I'm going pretty strong. We have only been eating out for dinner about once or twice a week, but I am cooking at least 5 days for sure. Hubby's even been doing great at taking his lunch to work, too!

2. Lose weight - With a big thank you to #1, I am down FOUR POUNDS since the 1st of the year! Hallelujah! I'm not doing anything too crazy as far as diet goes, but limiting soda, not eating fast food, and cooking at home helps A LOT! I'm sure it doesn't hurt that Will is much much much more mobile these days, and is maybe a week away from walking. Chasing around a kid will help keep the pounds off. Plus, I've been trying to get us out of the house and go for at least a 30 minute walk everyday. It's usually closer to 45 -60 minutes. Go me! Hubby has also lost a noticeable amount of weight. I'm not quite sure of an exact number since he didn't do a weigh in at the beginning of the year, but his pants are definitely looser!

3. Spend less - I was $2.37 under budget for the month of January! I think I told everyone I talked to last week about my $2.37 feat. Chalk it up to limiting my Target runs to once a week or less if I can swing it, cooking at home so I'm only making one grocery run a week, and good old fashioned self control. I took my credit cards out of my wallet, so even if I found a crazy awesome deal, if I don't have the cash for it, I don't buy it. Plain and simple! I told Hubby that I am incredibly proud of us for sticking to our guns. Now we just need to stay motivated to keep up the good work. We've set a goal to have all of our debts paid off by Will's 2nd birthday. Then all of next year we'll be saving saving saving! It makes me smile in my heart that we have this plan, since I am the plan woman. :)

4. Pay off debt - Well, since we were on track this month for budget, payments towards debts were on target too. This puts us that much closer to our goal. If we stay on track, we'll be pretty close to paying everything off by the end of the year, but definitely by Will's 2nd birthday. Hip Hip Hooray!

I'm doing a happy dance and spinning around...can you tell?! I'm sure we won't be able to stay on budget every month, especially with Will's 1st birthday around the corner, but the closer the better! I'm trying to soften the blow of 1st birthday party planning by buying things slowly and with my weekly Michael's and/or Joann's coupons. Every little bit helps!

Wordless Wednesday - Pooped

I guess Will was a little tired after spending the afternoon walking around outside at the Irvine Spectrum and a jaunt to Target.

We Need To Get Out More!

I was tired of sitting around every weekend doing the same thing we always do on Hubby's days off...catch up on housework, maybe go out to lunch and wander around Target. We live in sunny SoCal. We better take advantage of it! (or Lani might punch us... ha ha!)

So I got the bug up my butt to arrange to meet up with some of our friends at a local park yesterday. Some of them have kids too and it's just dumb that we don't hang out with them more often. Thanks to Fun Orange County Parks! I hopped on there and quickly found a park that was in the general area I wanted. And what a great park! We ended up at Valley Oak Park in Irvine. I think we might have WEB's 1st birthday party here. It's a fairly small park, off the beaten path a little bit, but it's nice and clean and just perfect. Hubby and I were pretty impressed. There's a tennis court and a basketball court along with some nice green belts for kids to run around and adults to go play catch. The bathrooms are even pretty nice and clean! What a concept!

Most importantly, they have swings!-my favorite! I sat in many a swing throughout my elementary school years, to the point when other kids would get annoyed and stand there and start counting before they told on me...Of course I would wait until they were about to walk away before I got out. Anyways...WEB went on his 1st swing yesterday. He loved it! He sat in the little bucket seat like a pro. He was in there for quite a while and didn't seem to get sick of it as quickly as I thought me might. Yay! He also went down a slide while Hubby held his hands. WEB didn't seem to care too much either way about the slide. He definitely liked the sand next to it though! He ran his hands through it and sat in it for a while. Surprisingly, he didn't stick it in his mouth. He shoves everything in his mouth and I was shocked that sand wasn't one of them.

We got to the park around 12:45pm and didn't leave till a little before 5pm! Hubby and I picked up some waters & sodas to put in a cooler, and easy snacks before we went to the park.  I think it was nice to just sit and chat with some other parents and friends for a while too. It's in the 70s in January! Why the heck don't we get out of the house more often!

Suck it in!

First of all, get your mind out of the gutter!

I've told you how my new office is my car. WEB usually falls asleep or at least just hangs out pretty quietly in the back seat while we're en route, so I get a chance to make phone calls for Dr. appointments, bill problems, etc. Well, my car is also my little bit of work out for the day. In the neverending battle to be thin again, I try to do little things while I'm chasing my speedy crawler around the house to help aid the process. While I drive, I figure it's also a good time to crank up the tunes, sing along, and suck in my gut. After a good 20-30 seconds, you can start to feel a good burn in your abs, and you know you're on the right track. It's even better when you can feel each little group of muscles and can suck the bottom, more troublesome, ones in further. You up the technical aspect of it when you try to sing and suck in your gut at the same time.

I'm also trying to work on my posture in hopes that this will both strengthen my abs and help my back problems. Sitting up nice and straight in my cushy car seat is perfect for this too. I don't always remember to do it, but I try to remind myself every time I hit a red light. It seems to help. We'll see, I guess.

FF: Gym class for little ones!

Sonny and I took a while to enroll Hunter in a class. Mainly for financial reasons, but also because we didn't want to bombard him with "school" so early! I know that it's the hip thing to do to enroll the kids in music and learning and mommy and me classes...but we held off a little. But really, the classes are ridiculously expensive too. And for kids younger than one....come on. $175-$200 for 10 weeks? Holy mother that's alot of loot when you add up classes for a year! We saved that money and went to Disneyland (yay churros!)

But we now have him enrolled in a gym class at a place called Little Sport and I must say....it is awesome. We signed up with our girl, Ella, who is still a dear and does everything perfectly in class. The first class was not so fun, for me anyway. Hunter was having a great time, until we had to do something as a class. Circle time! Not so much for H-man. As soon as I picked him up to join the group he was kicking, screaming, arching his back, no no no no! I was dripping sweat....I had no idea what to do. He plays so well independently that this was the first experience we had with "organized play" and he just wasn't having it. I was quite embarrassed, needless to say, and was almost happy that another child had a breakdown in the middle of class. Normally I feel bad for moms....but I am ashamed to say that I was glad that kids breakdown was worse than Hunters. Took a little attention off of us....

This class....genius!! He did everything wonderfully....and even if he chose not to crawl through the tunnel or bounce on the ball....I didn't stress that much. He loves to wander off by himself...and this time I let him....except for the circle time and group plays. He eventually realized that everyone was doing something much more fun than he was so he sauntered on over. And he does saunter. Most kids toddle or run....he kinda has this swagger and this look that says "hey guys....whats goin on?"

The best part about the whole class? It tuckered the child out to no end!! He slept for 4 hours today! I felt like I should be doing more! I showered, ate, did laundry, and kicked myself for not working out, vacuuming, cooking dinner, and whatever else all in that time! But it was amazing to have 4 hours to myself and be able to actually sit and watch the Martha Stewart show for an hour! Martha bugs now....but that's a whole 'nother rant.

I would highly recommend gym class (and music and whatever) to every mom....but....my personal opinion....wait until they can really enjoy it. I'm sure the wee ones love the music and such, but I feel like Hunter is REALLY learning in this class. He's getting more attentive there and at home, and he's learning manners, to share, colors, sign language, and how to play some sports (today was hockey BTW....and he's got a wicked awesome slap shot!) Truly a great investment at his age!

Friday Fave : What else, but DISNEYLAND!!!

There aren't too many places that hold special memories that you remember for a lifetime, let alone a single place that holds several. Disneyland is my place. Some of the best family times I can remember were at Disneyland during the summer when my Dad had company picnics there. After our wedding, we went to Disneyland and took pics. The day after our wedding, our closest family and friends spent the day with us at Disneyland - That was fun because many of them hadn't been to Disneyland in decades!

There aren't too many people that share my affinity for Disney culture. Over the years, a few have come out of the wood works, but it took a while to break them down, and I am shocked that they now have annual passes of their own. Lani is one of those few people. Her eyes well up with tears just like mine when Mickey pops out of the top of Tom Sawyer's Island at the end of Fantasmic - our favorite Disney show of all time. She gets too excited for words like I do over new scenes in The Haunted Mansion when they reopen it after the holidays. And when the snow falls after the fireworks, forget about it!

Needless to say, I am stoked to have my original Disney crew back in town for the weekend. It is a new crew since we both have kids now, but I think it will be that much more fun to see some of this stuff through their eyes. In turn, it will be a new experience for us. The beauty of having annual passes is that we can come and go as we please. If WEB and H get tired and cranky, we can head home, or maybe head to Lani's hotel room for some air conditioning and a nap. There's no pressure to get to the park the second it opens and stay until it closes to make sure that you get your money's worth.

I can't wait to see you, just around the river bend!

Heat Wave

You know it's hot when the consistency of your hand soap in your bathroom turns to water...

First of all, I don't know what we were thinking buying a condo in Lake Forest without any air conditioning two years ago. We bought it in late May/early June. A few times while we were here prior to escrow closing, we opened up the sliding glass door in the living room and the large window in the kitchen and there was a nice wind tunnel cross breeze so we figured we would be fine. Um...what about when there isn't a breeze? Granted there are only a few weeks during the summer here and there that are utterly unbearable, but it would still be nice to have some A/C.

My little WEB-man was born at the end of March. We had a nasty heat wave in the middle of April or May that was just torture. Thank goodness for the A/C fairy - aka Poppa - that came knocking on our door the second day of the heat wave with a portable A/C unit. We would not have made it this far in the summer without it. We had lower than normal temperatures for the majority of August and then this last week we've been slapped with the 92 degrees but feels like 104 degrees according to my right hand man, http://www.weather.com/. The humidity here has been up to 70% or more some days, which is unheard of in Southern California. It's sticky and yucky like we were in Florida or something.

My little guy sleeps in his diaper most nights, and unless we are leaving the house, rolls around in his diaper too. It's just too dang hot

Some ways we've been trying to keep cool:
- Hang out in the shade in the pool. If you don't have a pool, crash a friend or relative's house that has one. We've been at our friends' pool and at my Grandma's pool. WEB loves playing in the water so it's a bonus that it's a super fun time too.
- Go to the mall. You can walk around in the nice air conditioned mall, get some exercise and window shop. When you're on a budget, window shopping is about the extent of my shopping experience, but I can at least grab an inexpensive snack or beverage.
- Check out local kid's museums. I haven't taken WEB to any of these yet since he's too young to get anything out of it, but I know we will be frequent visitors next year. There's a new one right by us, Pretend City (www.pretendcity.org/), that just opened this weekend. I already went on their site to be put on their mailing list and will probably get us passes for the summer next year to save us some money on admission.
- Wander around Target. Often times we head over to our second home, Target, at around 3pm and beat the heat at the hottest part of the day. You don't have to spend any money, even though it's hard to stay away from temptation there...
- Keep wet washcloths and ice packs in the freezer. These are good to take out and put on the back of your neck to cool off. WEB is teething, so he likes to chew on them.

Stay cool!

Cheap Summer Entertainment

Tankini for Mom: $30
Inflatable Chair with Canopy for baby: $12
Pool: FREE
This face:











PRICELESS

This was the most fun I've had in a while doing something that is FREE! We took WEB to our friends' pool over the weekend and he loved it. At first he was afraid...he was petrified! But as soon as he got used to the temperature, he was having a blast! His little legs were kicking like crazy in the water and he was starting to splash around a little bit.

I had been wanting to take WEB to the pool for a while, but we were held up by my lack of swimwear. I was procrastinating on trying on swim suits all summer knowing that it would probably be a less than stellar experience. I went to Old Navy and tried on a few tankinis. They would have done the trick but were not as supportive of my girls as I would have liked. I tested my luck with WEB being calm at the mall and headed over to Macy's. I perused the sale racks of swim suits and found a few to try on. I found 2 tanks and a pair of bottoms that held me in at all the right places. I will never understand why department stores don't have swim suits year round, especially in California. Stop rushing me into the next season when it's too hot to even think about wearing jeans and sweaters!

I saw the inflatable chair for WEB at Target a few weeks back but didn't pick it up. I figured I'd get it a little later after I got myself a mom-kini. Since then, I have looked at every Target in Orange County and I haven't seen it. We were at Walmart getting our eyes checked before our pool rendezvous, and found one there. WEB loves the color red, so picking up the crab one was a no brainer.

I stocked up on diapers last week and ordered a pack of swim diapers, too, anticipating this event. I had a coupon so it was a bonus!

The total cost was less than $50 and it will last us for several months and if the crab doesn't spring a leak, we can use it for next summer too. It's a great excuse to get out of the house and partake in an activity that doesn't cost us a dime, which is hard to come by. Plus, I find that WEB does better during the day if he gets outside for at least a little bit at some point during the day. He just loves the outdoors. Even when he was a newborn, Hubby would take him outside on our balcony and if he was fussy, he'd immediately calm down.

I'm glad I sucked it up and squeezed myself into a tankini. I still have quite a few L-B's to drop, but all of that thinking went out the window when I saw how much fun my little man was having. Plus, once you're in the water, no one can see the stretch marks on my thighs. I'm not admitting defeat forever though. Next summer, me and my bikinis have a date!

The Four Letter Word - D I E T

I didn't worry too much about what I ate while I was pregnant, especially the last month or two. I was at a point where I was so big and swollen and uncomfortable that if the double cheeseburger and chocolate shake was going to make me happy, that's what I ate. Then after I gave birth, I was breastfeeding. You can't really diet while you're breastfeeding because you have to maintain eating 200-500 extra calories.

Well, now WEB's nutrient intake doesn't depend on me and what I eat. I've been working out pretty solidly for 3 weeks straight and haven't seen more than maybe a 2 lb loss. I admit that I haven't exactly had the greatest eating habits, but I haven't been pigging out everyday either.

I'm having a hard time changing my brain out of pregnancy eating mode. From the get-go, I had to snack throughout the day during my first trimester because I had morning sickness. The only way to keep myself from getting nauseous was to constantly have something in my tummy. I have eaten that way for about a year now. I had to train myself to eat this way, and now I catch myself snacking when I'm not hungry.

I feel like I can't do my regular diet tricks, like SlimFast, for some reason. I'm trying to cook and eat at home as much as possible, but it doesn't seem like it is making too much of a dent when I jump on the scale. On top of that, I have lost my self control. If we're at my mom's house and she asks if I want some ice cream, I can't say no. I have a severe weakness for sweets. It's hard to stay away because they call my name, taunting me...

I'm not sure what the answer is, other than more of the same. I need to keep eating at home and making meals at home. I need to drink more water and probably cut out my one Coca-Cola or one coffee every other day. And I need to keep up the 30 Day Shred. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah...I know...it took 9 months to gain the weight, it's going to take at least that long to lose it. It just sucks. I have all these cute clothes, but they're in boxes because I can't fit into them. I guess that's motivation enough to keep up the good work - cute clothes.

Friday Fave : 30 Day Shred

I recently discovered this crazyness from my friend who said she was going to do it to lose some weight. I put it on my Netflix list and thought I'd give it a whirl. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. With about 20-30 post pregnancy pounds to lose, I popped the DVD in and figured "How hard can this be? It's only 20 minutes". 5 minutes in, I am panting, and we have only just finished the warm-up! Half way through the workout, I loathe Jillian Michaels for kicking my butt so hard that I am out of breath and sweating profusely. By the end of the 20 minute workout I collapse on the floor and can barely sit myself up to do the cool down exercises.

I have had this DVD for about a month now. The first two weeks I didn't do it as consistently as I would have liked because WEB decided to have a screaming fit or wake up right in the middle of my workout. This is the second week that I have done it more consistently. I only missed 2 days in two weeks. Not too shabby...

After the first 3 or 4 days I could definitely see a difference in my endurance. I could hang a little bit longer and wasn't out of breath quite as much, but she was still kicking my butt. I have also progressed to using 5 lb weights the whole workout vs. cans of chili. I can feel my abs getting stronger, they're just covered by an inch or two of chub. When she says "I've got 400 pound people that can do jumping jacks, you can do them too", I want to punch her. But at the same time, I love her. I really hope this thing whips me into shape and I start to see some drastic results. I really need a jump start on losing some of these L-B's because I'm really tired of this muffin top. I'm also tired of the 4 outfits that fit me. It would be nice to work some of my pre-prego wardrobe back into my life.

I haven't weighed myself since my initial weigh in two weeks ago, but I'll keep you posted on my postpartum weight loss. I think I'll wait until Tuesday to weigh myself again to see my progress. I need to work on my eating habits too, but I figure one thing at a time. I'm still re-training my brain that I don't have to eat all the time like I did when I was pregnant. I'm slowly getting the hang of it...

Rolly Polly

Gone are the days of leaving WEB in the middle of our bed while I take a shower or on the sofa while I make him a bottle. My showers are about to become much shorter and/or revolving strictly around nap times. WEB is officially a rolly polly. He's rolling from his back onto his belly and from his belly onto his back. I put him down on his back on his activity mat, leave the room for 5 seconds while I get something, come back and he's on his belly. I leave again for 5 more seconds and he's on his back again. A couple minutes go by and he's completely off of his activity mat, onto the carpet, and just keeps on truckin'.

He was rolling from his belly onto his back very early on. It's only been in the last week or two that he's progressed to rolling from his back onto his belly (which is the harder way to roll according to the Dr. and all of the books). It started as just rolling on his side and before we knew it he was all the way over. I think it helped that he was getting momentum from grabbing his toes and rocking back and forth. Ha ha. That's a funny sight to see.

Aw...my little guy is growing so fast! In the last two weeks it seems like he's decided to advance by leaps and bounds. He's also squirming around on the floor. If I put him on the floor and he's not facing the TV, he'll maneuver himself around so he can see the TV, especially if Spongebob or another cartoon is on. He really liked watching Shrek the other day. If he's on his belly, he'll put his feet to the floor and push off so his butt is in the air. He's giggling a lot more now. Apparently banana, what?!, and noodle are some really funny words. He's even starting to hold his own bottle while we feed him. He'll push your hands out of the way almost as if he's saying "You're not doing it right! Give it to me. This is how you do it!". He's 16 weeks going on 5 years!

Motherhood is a contact sport...

Bumps, bruises, scrapes, cuts....all a part of childhood right? But I thought it was the kids who get beaten up....not the parents! I seriously don't think that in all my years of playing softball, basketball, cheer leading, and dance have I EVER gotten as many bruises and cuts than i have in one year of motherhood.

Let's just take this weekend for example. The baby had to sleep in bed with us and I got repeatedly kicked in the ribs all night. Then when he wanted me to wake up with him he thought the best way to wake me was to slap me across my face....raking those little razor sharp nails across my eyelids. Note to self, cut baby nails. I groggily take him downstairs for breakfast where I misjudge the turn and ran my shoulder into the corner of the wall. I proceed to cut some fruit for his breakfast and end up cutting my finger. THIS IS IN A MATTER OF A COUPLE HOURS PEOPLE!!

H is learning to throw the ball....but his aim is not spot on. No need to put a phone call into the majors yet. So...who ends up getting pelted with, not just the ball, but trucks, blocks, bears (those are soft...i can handle those), sippy cups, and shoes? Yup...I'm apparently a magnet for hard toys.

NAP TIME!! FINALLY! oh...but i have to hurry and rush cuz you really only get about 2 hours to do everything. So i work out (thank god no accidents), but as i rush to take a shower i stub my toe on the lip of the shower door, cut myself shaving, and TOTALLY bruise the SHHHHH out of my shin running around trying to fold laundry (I hit it on the corner of our bed...again...i misjudged where it was).

Getting the stroller out of our SUV for our walk later it landed on my flip flopped foot (which already had the stubbed toe and the bruised shin....joy!!) and then at dinner....i dodged a sippy cup. HA! YOU DIDN'T GET ME WITH THAT ONE CHILD!!!

I guess as long as i intercepted all the accidents from the hand of fate for my little guy, I can live with a few war wounds. At the end of the day I look at every one of my bumps, bruises, cuts and scrapes, and chalk each one up as a successful attempt at being the best mom i can be. Well....except for the shaving. After nearly 15 years of doing it, you think i'd get the hang of it...that was just pure accident prone stuff.

The Ants Go Marching...

Lani gave me the advice early on to sing to WEB when I'm trying to get him to go to sleep. He enjoys the sound of my voice (as most babies enjoy the sound of their parents' voices) but he also loves music (as most babies do). I found it hard to remember old nursery rhyme songs to sing to him, especially ones that were long enough, so I didn't have to repeat them 10 times while trying to get him to sleep. I'd often run through Mary had a Little Lamb, Row Row Row Your Boat, Three Blind Mice, and then would maybe throw in the Boom Boom Pow chorus.

Then my mom came over one afternoon and was putting WEB down for a nap. I heard her in his room singing this song that I had totally forgotten about. I remember her singing it to my sister when she was a baby. Hallelujah for The Ants Go Marching! This seems to be the perfect song for putting WEB to sleep. It's the perfect amount of time. In case you're unfamiliar with the song, you can check out the full lyrics here: http://bussongs.com/songs/the_ants_go_marching.php

Here is the gist:
The ants go marching one by one.
Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching one by one.
Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching one by one;
The little one stops to suck his thumb,
And they all go marching down into the ground
To get out of the rain.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!

Then you just count up from there, two by two, tie his shoe; three by three, climb a tree (or "take a pee" if my mom is singing it...). I can't always remember what words are supposed to rhyme with eat number, so often times I make them up. The ants go marching six by six, the little one stops to take some pics (it's supposed to be pick up sticks, but that's hard to say when you're tired sometimes...). Then I found some interesting variations when I looked online to check my accuracy:

The ants go marching eight by eight,
The little one stops to roller skate - or - shut the gate

The ants go marching nine by nine,
The little one stops to scratch his spine - or - check the time - or - pick up a dime.

It's not like your child is really listening to the lyrics, so you can be as creative as you want, I suppose...

It cracks me up how this works so well with WEB though. By the time I get to four or five, his eyes are rolling back in his head but he's still trying to fight it just a little bit. It's freaky to see the whites of his eyes sometimes because he's just fighting closing his eyes that much, but it cracks me up. By the time I'm at seven or eight, I'm laying a blanket out with one hand to wrap him up in. On the rare occasion he really fights a nap, I'll run through all ten and then start over, but I usually don't need to do more than two runs.

I guess when he starts to understand what I'm saying we'll have to switch to reading a story because he'll be too busy laughing at some of the ridiculous rhymes or none rhymes I make to fall asleep. ;)

Getting your groove back...

Yes, I'm talking about sex. I know it's this taboo thing that people tread lightly about, but I feel like it's something that sometimes we should. I wish someone would've told me just an inkling of what to expect postpartum, so here you go.

While I was pregnant, I was one of those women that lost her groove - if you know what I mean...somewhere between being 7 and 8 months pregnant and carrying around 30 extra pounds I just wasn't feeling that sexy. It didn't help that by then my Hubby was worried about there being a live human being in my belly, and his head was awfully close to the goods.

So then the baby came, and so did lots of pain and discomfort for me. Once the pain and bleeding started to subside, I got a yeast infection. The hospital nurses just tell you to use pads and witch hazel pads, but they don't tell you for how long... and even though I kept things as fresh as possible down there, it still happened. So after 7 days of some invasive creams, that went away. Then! my body decided to overproduce bacteria down there. So after a Dr. visit I got another dose of a 7 day antibiotic. Needless to say, things have been less than kosher below my belt.

Now that the discomfort is gone and the creams have done their job, we have a battle between the horny and tired. WEB goes down for the night around 9 or 10pm, Hubby and I stay up for an hour or two after he goes down, but half the time we fall asleep on the sofa and drag our bodies to bed. If we don't fall asleep on the sofa, then the second our heads hit the pillow, one or both of us passes out. We both want to get busy but this tiredness is kicking our butts, and our sex life.

Yes, it has only been 16 weeks postpartum, and I've only been cleared by the Dr. to get busy for 10 of those. And have probably only been really up and running for maybe 6 of those 10 weeks, but it's still a little frustrating and disheartening. I know that I wasn't the best lover while I was pregnant since I was swollen, crampy, itchy, and uncomfortable, so when I'm trying to make up for it now, we fall asleep. We are obviously going to keep on trying and we will get our groove back ... eventually. It's just a more drastic change than either of us would've anticipated from our sex life pre-baby and while we were trying to conceive. Not to mention the focus of our lives now revolves around this adorable little collaboration of the two of us, which is pretty exhausting at times. It's ironic that the one thing that "got us into this mess" in the first place, is the thing we're trying to get back to.

To Sleep, or Not To Sleep....

My poor little H-man is teething....constantly. Every shirt he wears is soaked with drool, his little fingers are pruney from being in his mouth all the time, and I swear he's eating my couch....seriously....I caught him chewing on a pillow the other day.

Oh but the worst part.....the sleep. H is usually such a GOOD sleeper (12 to 13 hours a night! Woot!), that when he wakes up crying I have no problems with letting him sleep in our bed. But for the past 2 nights...it's been torture! I have a feeling that, although he shows signs of teething, he just wants to sleep in our bed. The look he gives me when I come in to get him is like he's saying "Finally! Now take me to your bed so that i may stretch out and cause extreme discomfort to all but myself!" He even giggled and laughed when I set him down in our bed like that's what he wanted. I love it when he's with us, but only every now and again. The child is so big now, and I'm just a little tired of getting kicked in the ribs constantly throughout the night. He likes to sleep sideways in the bed...so in addition to us teetering on the ends of the bed to accommodate our wonderfully sweet and hurting little boy, Sonny is constantly getting whacked in the face by little hands, and I get to have the feet of fury.

So this morning, Sonny and I decided that we can't let him get the best of us tonight. It's heartbreaking, but yes, we are going to let him cry it out. Now, let's be real. If he's still crying after 20 minutes....I'll go in to calm him down. Ok? I'm not just going to turn down the monitor and shove towels under our door so I can't hear him. But....I'm not going to let him in our room. This probably means another night of no sleep for me....but I have to get him back to the way he normally sleeps....heavy....and long. I've not been a huge supporter of the CIO method, but, I do think it works. I did it once before when I was trying to get to a point where I could just put H down for his nap instead of rocking him asleep. He was getting way to heavy to put down smoothly, so my choices were let him cry and put himself back to sleep, or have him nap in my arms. Even the experts say don't let them nap in your arms.....so.....

I think that kids like to test their limits, mainly because they are trying to figure out what they are, and crying is just a tool to see how much they can get out of you. I think that there are times when you have to let them cry to teach them what their limits are, especially when they are at that in between stage where they don't fully understand you're words. I can't tell H to lay down and go to bed, he just doesn't understand. Letting him cry is the best non-verbal way to get that point across.

I know a lot of hardcore moms out there are super against this method, but, I just think that each mom has to do what's best for her and her child, and this method may be the best way to teach them to fall asleep on their own. We're going to try it tonight and see how it goes, and hopefully my little guy will realize that laying back down and going to sleep is a much better option than crying it out....

SOOOO BIG!

H got his one year checkup yesterday. The doctor's visit is always such a duality of feelings....you love it and hate it. I Love love love seeing how big he's gotten, getting the percentiles (90th percentile!! Big Boy!!!), but I HATE having to ask the questions. My doc, Dr. Scott, is wonderful. He never makes me feel like I'm asking the wrong question or doing the wrong thing....but I always feel a little uneasy, like I'm a "bad" mom, for asking questions. I feel like it's my kid....I should know the answer. Then I feel like what if i didn't ask the right questions. Am I a paranoid nutcase or what??

Anyway, Sonny took off and accompanied me to the doctor, which I am SO thankful for cuz as soon as I laid H on that paper to get his clothes off....he was wailing! I think he's getting much more aware of what goes on when he's in that office. Then...he was just not having it with the scale...so the nurse had to put him in a bucket scale. Basically it's a bucket that you sit them in so they can't go anywhere. I cursed that I didn't have my camera. 25 lbs!! He's a big boy! His 2 year old cousin weighs the same! HA!

After Dr. Scott examined him....it's like he knew what was coming. Those painful little pricks in those wonderfully chubby little legs. But I have to say...I was so proud of my little guy. He didn't scream....just cried...like "Why must you people torture me!? What have I done to deserve this??" Heartbreaking....but his daddy whisked him right up and we were DONE!

The Dr's office can be so traumatizing, for H and for me. I told Sonny that he really should take off every Dr's visit. I think that I need a shoulder to lean on sometimes more than the little guy....

Livin' in a Backwards World

While at our usual Sunday breakfast at our favorite bagel joint this weekend, I noticed something odd...I finished eating my bagel when my Hubby had still had a whole quarter of his bagel left to eat. Let me just give you a little background...this has NEVER happened.

When I was a kid, I was a slow eater. My family would take bets on who would finish their dinner first, me or Aunt Lois. She was the kind of lady who opened Christmas gifts extra slow so she could save the wrapping paper she didn't rip. As I got older, I didn't eat quite as painfully slow, but I was usually the last one to finish my meal, still.

Then my Hubby and I got together. When we started eating together and making meals in our home, he would scarf them down in no time flat, be cleaning up the kitchen, while I was still eating and not even half way through my meal. It didn't really bother me until I was pregnant, but when you're as big as a house and full of hormones, what doesn't get under your skin?

Well, since WEB was born, I've learned how to do things a lot faster, including eat. It wasn't a conscious decision on my part whatsoever. It just sort of happened. I guess unconciously I recognize that I have a limited amount of uninterrupted time to do certain things, so you get as much done as possible in that small amount of time. I now eat faster, can vacuum the house in no time flat, do the dishes like lightning, unload the dishwasher in miliseconds, and so on. I would've never thought that I would finish eating before my husband, but then again I never thought I could function on less than 8 or 9 hours of sleep a night either.