Let's Meet Again

Please allow me to reintroduce myself.  I'm Sara.  I'm the same girl who started this blog, and subsequently stopped, almost 3 years ago.  Today I'm going through the same fitness struggles and successes.  I still fluctuate and I still overshare.  Three changes that have taken place are

1.  Now I'm a stay at home mom.

2.  Our family left Florida for beautiful City of Oaks, Raleigh NC.

3.  I've joined the ranks of direct sales like many other stay at home moms along the way.   I am an Independent Consultant for Perfectly Posh.  The products are easy to fall in love with once you try them, and I'm happy to share samples with you at your request,  please just go ahead and holler!  I'm PP3 level and working towards Premier, so I appreciate any and all support I get along the way.

I'm back to blogging again now for 2 reasons.

1.  I recently completed my first race of any sort, Ramblin Rose super sprint triathlon with Team Drea.  Afterwards I was given the honor of writing a race report for Andreas blog.  You should check it out!  Andrea is inspiring and I wouldn't have done the race if weren't for her.  Afterwards I had a lot to say and I realized how much I miss the process of writing.

2.  After the infamous Presidential Election of 2016 I've finally decided that Facebook has joined Walmart as the root of evil.  I don't do Walmart, but Facebook is a work in progress for me.  I still want to follow my friends so I'll still be there.  But I'm not going to spam every thought that crosses my mind there.  Starting today I'm going to focus on more substantial sharing.  No more spouting off 160 character status updates and sharing stupid memes that fuel the fire of our divided county.  I've been unfriended for sales posts, and now for politics.  It's not who I am, or who I want to be.

I'll be posting weekly and I hope you'll come along.  On the right just enter your email address and click "follow".  Easy Peasy!!

Full circle. Nourishing a healthy lifestyle.

It sure has been quite the journey in my life since I started this little blog here. In the beginning I was shopping for mountain bikes and planning spontaneous trips to Georgia to ride. Now I'm shopping for tricycles and balance bikes for 2 children and planning family trips and worried about arranging for pack and plays and high chairs.  

The healthful aspect of the blog had been put on the back burner while I birthed and nursed 2 children. For the past 3 years I've been listening to my body and eating whatever it has told me to. This has usually consisted of snickerdoodles and brownies. The sugar cravings during periods of sleep deprivation are pretty intense for me. But now I've come back around. Now my second and final baby is 3 months old and we are all sleeping better and it's time to get back to my pre first child weight once and for all. 

Being a stay at home mother of a baby and a toddler creates some challenges when it comes to slimming down. First, the 3 month old is still exclusively breastfeeding. He is a big boy and he has yet to start solids or formula, so every calorie he takes in comes from me. So I have to consume those calories. Typically a breastfeeding mother should add 500 calories to her normal diet which puts me at around 2,000 for the day. But in order to feel good those calories all need to be packed with the proper vitamins and mineral required to keep my stores up.  In order to feel good I can't rely on a diet solely consisting of sugar. I gave in to those cravings during the initial 3 months of "survival mode" because my happiness depended on it.  Plus I still have a toddler to take care of and keep up with so I can't deprive myself of anything during this stage.  But now Ben is 3 months old and we're all getting a little more sleep around here (most nights) and it's time to shift my focus back onto nutrition.  

I have a lot of responsibility. I have to keep Amelia healthy. She's a tiny girl, holding strong at the 5th percentile for weight. So she still needs lots of healthy fats in her diet. I, once again, have cholesterol in the 250's so I need to consume a low fat, yet high calorie diet. And my husband works on his feet 60 hours a week so while he's not home for hot meals or to help me in preparing them, he still likes to have satisfying food and leftovers in the fridge. And I need to do all of this on a limited budget because I have stopped working in order to take better care of my family during the first few years of their lives. 

My last challenge in this quest for health is making sure I focus on healthy body images as a roll model for my daughter, and son too for that matter. That means loving my body, or at least not hating it, even with all it's stretch marks and loose skin. That means never ever saying a negative word about the way my body looks. 

So I'll use this blog again to keep up with documenting a positive active and healthy lifestyle for myself and my family. I'll blog about getting my 37 year old body back in shape after having 2 kids in 2 years and I'll blog about the healthy toddler/ baby/ husband/ nursing mother friendly meals I prepare to nourish us. 

Meet Ben.

Between 5-6am every morning is when it hits me that I'm going to be a zombie for at least one more day. I got sleep from 12am-2am and about 30 minutes from 4:30-5. This baby is laying next to me right now with his belly full, his diaper dry, his pacifier moving a mile a minute and his eyes wide open.  He's wrapped all comfy in his blanket and the white noise is kickin.

I wish he could talk and tell me what he's thinking about behind those eyes. Is he thinking about when his sister is going to wake up and start asking for him right away?  I am. Is he wondering what kind of adventures the day ahead has for him?  Is he thinking of the adventures we went on already?  Is he thinking how comfy he is and how awesome this creepy ocean/heartbeat music is?  Is he thinking "my hands are huge!"  Or "Is Santa real?"  Or "I wonder what color my eyes are going to be?" Or possibly "man I should let my mom close her tired eyes for at least one more hour before she starts that pot of coffee?"  Or maybe it's "meh, she can sleep from 12-2 tomorrow night". Actually that would be tonight now, wouldn't it?  


Really he's probably not thinking any of that because he's a tiny new baby 5 weeks old. But these eyes. There's something going on behind these eyes for sure. 

World, meet Benjamin James. The newest addition to the family. 

He joined us on 11/12/13 and made Amelia the best and most loving big sister. He made our family complete. 

A Year in Review

I have a 1 year old girl!  I almost don't believe it.  I should, after all I was there the whole time and I've been witness to all the changes.  I was there for the sonograms, for the delivery, for the first nursing session, the first rollover, the first steps, Easter, Christmas, birthday party, and more.  And now I'm witness to a little girl running to me from across the room to tightly wrap her arms around my neck and give me a squeeze.  We've nursed through a yucky virus, she's fallen down and bit her tongue pretty badly, and now she's sporting a bruise on the bottom of her chin from face planting on the YMCA basketball court (which by chance I sadly got on video).   Her favorite foods started out being moms milk then rice cereal with bananas and avocado, and now she eats entire waffles and pieces of pizza!!  Her favorite things to do are run and play anywhere she can, pull the dogs tail, and move things into and out of and back into again boxes and bags and pails and baskets. She has 8 teeth with 4 molars soon to make official appearances. She's finally growing a little more hair. She sleeps 12 hours at night and takes 2-3 hours worth of naps every day.


Her dad is a great father. They love each other so much. He has to work long hours but on his days off when I have to go to work he takes her to the aquarium and to the park and texts me pictures.

Me. I'm a mom now.  I'm still finding the balance.  I work about 10 hours a week outside of the house and take care of the house and the baby full time.  Keeping the house working, playing with my girl and keeping our 2 dogs exercised could easily be all I do, but I am learning to make time for myself too. Amelia loves our trips to the YMCA now.  She no longer hates being in the car and rather I would almost venture that she might even enjoy it, so we are going more places without anxiety.

I'm still breast feeding which kind of blows my mind. My "plan" in the beginning was to rent a pump from the hospital for 3 months, then return it and that was it.  But when she was 6 weeks old I went to the hospital store to rent the pump and things changed. I met with the specialist and she said that from seeing me with my daughter and talking to me she was pretty convinced I would nurse longer than 3 months. She introduced the possibility of purchasing one instead. I can probably thank this woman for the majority of our success. I used that pump until Amelia reached 9 months. Once Amelia was 9 months she a very good crawler and my free time was lessened and I retired the pump. She only took 2 bottles a week on the 2 nights I was working so we decided a little formula wouldn't be such a bad thing anyway, especially for the extra iron. Turns out she doesn't like formula. Or cows milk, now that she's a year. She will drink small amounts of almond milk on occasion but not near the 16 ounces she needs, so I still nurse. I never thought we would still be sitting in the glider for an hour each night still, but alas, that's where we are. She is not ready to stop and I'm not ready to tell her she has to. I feel like its mean to tell her no, "no baby I know that this makes you feel safe and comforted and that its good for your brain and your immunity, but its not socially acceptable so you have to just deal with it". I can't. She is a petite girl, only 11th percent in weight, and if thats the milk she wants than dammit I'm giving it to her. When people outside of my family and groups of friends hear that I'm still nursing they often tell me "you need to stop that". And I ask why and there's never a real reason other than they just think so.  But its just so easy for someone else to judge.   We will get there. But for now we are going with "I'm the mom" and "I said so".

I might not blog again for a while so I'll leave you with a little clip of my girl at the beach.   Enjoy!

SAND!

YMCA

Well I'm back in the gym!!  I can't believe how long it's been and how out of shape I've gotten.  But it feels GREAT to be sore again from working out.  So far I've gotten in a couple of 20 minute sessions on the treadmill, a pilates class, a yoga class, and a bodyflow class and I swear I'm already seeing a difference in the way I wear my clothes.  When Brian is at home he keeps Amelia home with him for the hour long classes so I can just pop in and pop out.  When he's at work I bring her to their nursery so I can do 20 minutes of cardio.  I'm hoping to get that up to an hour of workout time and a 15 minute shower eventually, but she's new at me leaving her and she's starting with that mean ole separation anxiety so we are starting small and increasing our nursery time by 5 minute increments until we have a setback like we did last visit, and then back to 20 until I know she will be OK.
In the meantime we had a bake sale at work to fund our annual peanut butter drive, and I made snickerdoodles, so I don't expect to lose any poundage this week, but I am definitely feeling stronger and that's what I'm looking for. 

First Day Back on the Trails

The last time Brian and I rode a trail together was the last day we woke up not knowing we were about to be parents.  That day we drove to Balm Boyette and did about 8 miles before I whined enough for him to let me head back to the car.  It was so hot out and I felt really abnormally shaky and a little queasy.  On the way home we stopped at CVS for some home pregnancy tests, and that afternoon our lives changed.  Now it's 15 months later and we have a person!  She is a beautiful, strong, determined little baby who will be pedalling with her mom and dad in no time!
 
In the meantime, Brian and I got a chance to go back out on Sunday.  This time we were easier on me and went to Wilderness Park to do the full loop.  Grandma came over and we headed out.  My first inclination of what I have in store for me in getting back into the groove was when I went to clip my camelbak at the same setting it was the last time I put it on, 15 months ago.  It was just a little tight.  OK fine, I could barely get it to snap on both the top around my chest and the bottom around my waist.  I made Brian take a pic of me squeezed into the same setup as the old days as motivation to get back there, but no one else will ever lay eyes on that photo.  So then I loosened up the straps, buckled in, hopped on the ol Mamba and off we went.  The first 5 miles were pretty awesome.  We went through some mud and I got to get dirty.  My left foot was covered in mud and I thought "I can't wait to get a pic, this is awesome!!"  Then the next 5 miles were more mud.  And more.  We made it to about mile 10 before the storm hit and I got exhausted.  It was a "12 mile loop" Brian swore to me, so I toughed it out and paced myself for 12 miles.  Then we were at 12.5, then 13, then 13.5, WTHHHH?  It was pouring so hard I could barely see.  Any mud I once proudly wore was long washed off and I could have left the camelbak behind because I was sucking in so much rain water.  I was worried about my phone getting ruined in my camelbak, but that minor worry was soon replaced with fear of death by lightning as the cracks of thunder were directly over our heads for a short time.  I wanted to walk my bike through some of the mud but the water was about 3 inches deep and I felt safer on the bike because at least the rubber tires grounded me a little better.  So I popped in in lowest gramma gear and plugged away.  The good news was that the 3 inches of water sitting on the sugar sand made that part of the ride a piece of cake and the easiest part of our whole day.  I definitely felt the 25 extra pounds I'm carrying from last time I rode that loop.  But it was still super awesome to get out and feel free again.  I didn't start missing my baby girl like crazy until around mile 11.  Brian was awesome as my lead for the ride.  We decided I was comfortable at around 9 mph and he stuck to my comfort level.  A couple times I told him it was cool it he broke out for a bit or tagged off with some guys who passed us as long as he just waited for me at the road, but he stayed with me and warned me of each deep patch of mud, and keep up my spirits with jokes like "are your feet wet?"   Even at the end when I as exhausted and barely pedaling he still stayed with me.

The last .5 miles are on the pavement back to the parking area and the rain had finally stopped.  Everything was so fresh and green and the air didn't feel so hot on our wet clothes.  I felt so accomplished (even if my quads were unbelievably sore and tight).  I can't wait to do it again. 

This was our loop.

This is him cleaning off our bikes

And this is me afterwards.

I'm only showing this pic because in another 15 months I'll show one where I'm 25 pounds lighter and muuuuch less tired.  (with much smaller milk jugs).

Eh What's Cookin Doc?

In light of a recent discovery that even nursing mothers can gain weight, I have started to take what I said about eating healthier to heart.  When I go to my OB for my routine well woman exam next month I will get a proper weight.  Then I will give myself until Mothers Day next year to get back to my pre pregnancy weight.  On Mothers Day 2013 I will run the Mothers Day 5K with Amelia, my friend Carolyn, and her incoming baby girl.  This gives me about 12 months for about 24 pounds which should be pretty doable without going overboard since I plan to nurse until around Amelia's first birthday in December. 

So.  My body is working hard to make milk to feed my baby.  For anyone who hasn't nursed before, it makes you hungry.  Ravished really.  Top that off with the fact that you don't get much time to sit and eat in the day, and it becomes very easy to eat a bunch of crap, simply because it is easier and the sugar rush is satisfying because by the time you get to eat your blood sugar is low and all you crave (or at least all I crave) is carbs and sugar.  I first realized I have a problem when I was at work and tasted a tiny bit of sugar to make sure it wasn't salt before making a batch of simple syrup.  I knew it wasn't salt, but it didn't taste like it should.  It didn't taste like sugar at all.  It tasted like crunchy air.  I've been doing this simple taste test for 9 years now and the sugar always tastes like sugar.  Now it's like I'm immune to it, and I think it is a combo of lactating and also just eating way too much friggin sugar. 

So starting this past Saturday I am writing everything I eat into a notebook. I am going to monitor what goes in and see what comes out on the scale, aiming to lose 2 pounds a month.  It is important for nursing moms to get in enough calories for your body when it is making milk, because if you don't than your body knows it and starts going into protective mode so the milk will keep coming.  We are amazing creatures.  Our body will start storing fat and keeping it in reserve, and in return start burning muscle.  Our metabolism will go to basically a complete halt and everything we do eat turns to fat.  No one wants that.  So I am shooting to eat a lot of food.  Every 2-3 hours I will eat something.  I'm trying to just make healthy decisions.  Rather than brownies for dinner, I am having turkey chili tonight.  Rather than a cinnamon bun for breakfast I had a bowl of Cheerios with non fat milk and a banana.  Instead of potato chips for a crunch with my lunch, I had raw sugar snap peas.  For ice cream I substitute Greek yogurt.  For cookies I substitute an apple with peanut butter or an orange with a handful of almonds, blueberries with a handful of walnuts, a low fat mozzarella cheese stick with a bowl of chickpeas and balsamic vinegar. 

This is not to say I won't enjoy my deserts on occasion.  Tuesday night at work someone accidentally rang in a Nutty Marshmallow Chocolate Milkshake.  Well please don't think I would let that monstrosity go down the drain.  No sir.  There were almonds in that milkshake, and almonds are healthy!  Last night I enjoyed the heck out of a piece of Tiramisu also.  But tonight I will be good and have yogurt again, and maybe some popcorn, and I will drink another gallon of water by days end.  Moderation.  And I will not deprive myself.  It's just better for everyone that way. 

Tonight's dinner is

Guilt-Free Turkey Chili 

This is a great source of protein and very low fat, disguised by tasty flavor and a beautiful colorful appearance.  Plus it makes a huge batch so you will have an easy snack and lunch from the leftovers. 

In a large pot mix the following...

20 ounces ground turkey breast, cooked

large can diced tomatoes, with juice

2 cans black beans drained and rinsed

1 can corn drained

1 sweet onion, chopped and sauteed with EVOO until slightly crunchy 

1 large zucchini, chopped and broiled

lots of cumin, chili powder and red pepper to taste.

Simmer for an hour to let tastes blend, and serve over brown rice

You can use whatever vegetables you want to get more veggie servings, and you don't need the rice.  I usually have chili with Saltine crackers, but now I'm going for the brown rice for a serving of grains. 





My baby is 4 months!

Well actually she was 4 months on the 27th so technically she is 4 months, 1 week and 5 days.  But she had her 4 month checkup yesterday.  Her Dr is great, the best actually, and if we ever have to leave the state I think we will fly back here for our pediatrician appointments because I can't imagine seeing someone else.
Amelia's growth is perfectly in line with where it should be.  She is thriving and is very very strong.  If I didn't already know (which I do), he told me so.   We talked about food and decided that she is ready to try cereal and then some veggies.   She did rice cereal today and there is loves it and then there is LOVES it and that was my girl!  Just like her mama!!

I've got a couple things to do so forgive me if I'm scattered and rushed.  I want to get this blogged anyway though so her ya go, some pics of my sweet girl!!!

Yesterday after her well visit with her Dr her new toy was waiting for her in the mail.  So my sweety and her 2 Scooby Doo band aids played with her new toy for a little while.

Then her dad and I put her and Stifler in the car and drove to Westchase so we could take a nice walk and go to Starbucks and sit outside and drink our Frappacinos because it was Frappicino happy hour, half price at participating Starbucks this week from 3-5pm.  We came home after and took a fantastic 2 hour nap then had dinner at the Ale House.  (by the way, when I worked there 11 years ago that would have been a much more edible meal then it was last night, but the company was good).

Today I decided was the day we would start our rice cereal.  I broke the soft tipped spoons out of their package and got them clean and ready.  I mixed a little rice cereal with some pumped breast milk and put her in her high chair wearing just her diaper.  I started eating my apple and got her interested in eating and wanting to put something in her mouth.  Then she got her first bite.  She wasn't too sure at first but by the end she was licking her spoon!! and chewing at it, and talking to it.

Here's my sweety on YouTube

We did a nice warm bath after

and now while I blog about it between loads of laundry, dishes and general cleaning, she takes a nice nap in her swing.  We are going to go for an awesome walk later.  I plan to blog about our new exercise initiative one of these days but today the cuteness of the cereal victory won!

Working On My Fitness

For breakfast this morning I had a cup of coffee with cream and 5 Cadbury mini eggs.  I have a carton of real eggs in the refrigerator that I could have used to make a healthy breakfast, but those eggs are just for making brownies and cookies.  This is getting out of hand. 
I'm not going to get on the scale until I finish breastfeeding my baby.  I refuse.  I give myself until next May to be back to my prepregnancy weight.  But right now, right this minute, I really need to start making some healthy decisions.  The milk I give my baby lately has zero nutrients in it besides my prenatal vitamins.  It contains zero vegetables, and when it does, they have been simmering in a crockpot for 8 hours.  Today I resolve to eat more protein and fresh veggies every day.  I resolve to stop considering a walk around the mall with a stroller as exercise.  And I resolve to stop ordering from menus by saying "I'll take whatever you have with the most calories possible, please, and supersize it, thanks".   
Today my big plan was to go to Macys and pay my credit card and return a shirt.  Now I'm going to become more ambitios.  Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, here I come!!  And then I'm going to Publix to get veggies and I'm NOT going to put them in a crockpot.  I will eat them fresh and ready, even if it means dousing them in fattening dips and sauces.  Baby steps.  Today I will begin relearn my former love for the taste of a healthy lifestyle.  I will attempt to find a balance. 

"honey will you make me blueberry muffins for my birthday?"

Happy Birthday to my Amazing Wonderful Husband. 

I love you!

Here we are celebrating his 27th birthday in 2005.  I will let you do the math :)

last year in 2011 with our BFF Paxton

And 2012, The Happy Family. 

We took Amelia to her first Rays game today.  She's already seen her cousin Wyatt play baseball and her cousin Molly play softball too, so she's pretty well versed on the rules of the game, so she decided to sleep through most of this one, but still got to chat with lots of nice people.  Fun to see what a baby will do to even the most macho man sometimes  We had fun  :)    

To Die For Blueberry Muffins  from allrecipes

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
3/4 c white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 c milk
1 c fresh blueberries
1/2 c white sugar
1/3 c flour
1/4 c butter, cubed
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease muffin cups
Combine 1 1/2 c flour, 3/4 c sugar, salt and baking powder.  Place vegetable oil into a 1 c measuring cup.  Add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup.  Mix this with flour mixture.  Fold in blueberries.  Fill muffin cups right to the top and sprinkle wit crumb topping mixture.
To Make Crumb Topping:  Mix together 1/2 c sugar, 1/3 c flour, 1/4 c butter and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon.  Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
Bake for 20-25 minutes in preheated oven

Crockpot Curry

Well my first attempt at crockpot curry didn't turn out half bad.  I just winged it and it was so good that I want to get the recipe written down now so I have it for later.  Eventually I want to get away from canned soups, but I'm new to the crockpot and like the convenience.  Maybe I can substitute heavy cream instead one time to experiment, but in the meantime, I'm too hungry to risk not having anything edible after 6 hours of waiting.  (By the way, the house smelled so good while this curry was cooking that I filled up on snacks while waiting for it, and it was still delicious when I was full)

1 1/2 lb boneless chicken breast, frozen
1 can coconut milk
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
2 Tbsp curry powder
1 heaping tsp Thai spice from my favorite Thai restaurant Sukhothai (I like it hot!)
1/2 pkg chicken bouillon
lots of cracked pepper
1 chopped white onion
5 stalks chopped celery
1 10oz pkg frozen spinach
5 small red potatos peeled and chopped into 1/2" pieces
Combine and cook on high 6 hours, then shred the chicken and serve over brown rice. 

Next time I may substitute chick peas for the potatos for more protein and less starch.

Transition

I am about to transition back into a working mommy in T minus 2 days.  Saturday at 5 I step back into the real world.  We are sure to be very busy and I am sure I will be very rusty, so hopefully I won't have too much time to dwell on how much I miss my peanut.  I'm doing a short night and will be home by 10:30 so hopefully my boobs don't explode during that time.  I've gone for longer periods before but always while sleeping.  I have a feeling that running around at work the entire time is going to feel a little different that laying in bed exhausted and comatose.  I went and got measured for comfy nursing bras (you don't want to know what size they put me in, which turns out is one size too small after a few hours with a sleeping baby) so that should help out. 

Grandma will be driving from Orlando every Saturday to stay with my angel, which is quite the hike for her, but I think she is so excited to spend time with her first granddaughter that she would drive to California and back to do it.  And words can't express how thankful I am to have someone Amelia and I both love and trust to take care of her!  THANK YOU GRANDMA! 

While I transition back to work my girl has a transition of her own to make.  Up until this week she has been sleeping in her bouncer seat every night.  I've tried to put her in her crib or bassinet but she will only tolerate them for short naps during the day.  At night she is not a fan of laying flat on her back.  And she rejects the swaddle like I reject poached eggs so that's no help.  But a few days ago I woke up to this.

I don't know how to post the video without making it a link.

So it is time for my big girl to learn how to sleep on her back.   A couple of baby steps later and I am ecstatic to announce that I have a back napper!!!

Now I need to transition to becoming a better picture adder because there is too much cuteness to fit into such a small picture but I can't figure out how to make the iphone pic bigger on here. 

Food

Becoming mom has changed the way I eat.  I can't just hop in the car and pick up Thai food every day anymore.  And I no longer have time to buy a variety of fresh ingredients for a recipe and spend time preparing a nice dinner in the kitchen to serve hot and fresh.  I shop, prep, cook and eat all around her schedule now, not mine.  It is important that I do this well because I am exclusively breastfeeding so essentially all her nourishment comes from me and what I eat.  I have to make sure that not only do I eat enough even though I don't have much time, but that I eat enough of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff.  I will swear to my grave that part of the reason she's so stinking cute is because of all the snickerdoodles I ate when I was pregnant with her.  But now that I see her and actually watch her belly grow instead of mine I have more motivation to snack on healthy things like cheese and fruit.  Don't get me wrong, I still indulge a lot, after all, I am supposed to eat 600 calories above a typical prepregnancy diet.  The key is balance. 
Amelia was born 2 days after Christmas so 2011 was the last year we celebrated as a couple and not as a family of 3.  I was huge and uncomfortable, but still had an amazing holiday shared with family and with all the excitement of what was and is to some.  Brian and I received the best gifts for expectant parents from everyone in our family. Among lots of other things we got a camcorder to record her milestones, and an iPad to store those videos.  We got worlds largest bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee which kept Brian functioning during those first few weeks when he had to do all the housework and diapering while I recovered from surgery.  And I got the best gift of all for a new mom, a crock pot.  (Insert here the heavens opening up, a chorus of angels, and light shining down on my amazing new kitchen gadget!!)  The crock pot has become my lifeline.  Brian broke it out first, on New Years Day, and made black eyed peas .  I've since made pork tenderloin and lots of other delicious meals, at my convenience.  I just kind of search recipes and pick my favorite parts of them based on what I have handy, and see what I come up with.  I've made stroganoff, chicken chili, london broil, beef stew and lots of other stuff.  But my favorite is the best breakfast ever, from my new favorite blog, The Yummy Life.  I put this in the crock pot before bed and wake up to a delicious healthy breakfast.  The leftovers (if there are any) go in the refrigerator and I have a delicious healthy snack for later.  If possible it's even better warmed up with a little milk in the microwave. 
So anyway, from time to time I will put on here some of the dinners I manage to prepare that are the best successes, but for now it's time to go feed my beautiful little girl.  This morning she will have steel cut oats and a delicious orange with her milk.

A Day in the Life of a New Mom

This might be fun to look back at in a few months to see how life changes. 

At 7 am I hear sweet little noises coming from the nursery so I crawl out of bed and sneak in.  I pick her up out of her bouncer and nurse her for about 15 minutes, burp her, and tuck her back in.  I head out to the living room, have a glass of water and hop on the computer and chat with my brother in NY about how I managed to get her to sleep last night by driving her all over town in the truck.   Then I decide to go lay back down in bed but I hear more sweet noises so I go get her and bring her to bed with me and we snuggle and she nurses again for about 10 minutes and we both doze off until hubbys alarm goes off at 10.  He's got to go to work because it's Valentines Day and it's the most important day of the year at the Cheesecake Factory!  So we go into her room and I pump 5 ounces while holding the sleeping baby and playing Scramble With Friends on my iPhone.  Hubby comes in and kisses us goodbye (what a sight he sees here).  Once done with the pumping I put her back in her bouncer to doze off and I go label and freeze the milk, wash the pump parts, and put dinner in the crock pot.  Slow Cooker Pepper Steak ,  (I'll let you know how it turns out).  Get the kitchen cleaned up and sanitized and go peek at the baby.  She's content.  OK good, I have time to go to the bathroom.  I pee, wipe the sink free of hubby's shaving remnants, straighten up the bed, pick up the clothes off the floor and bring them to the garage where our washer and dryer are.  Peek at the sleeping baby.  Then out to the living room to pick up our glasses and blankets and things from last night. Peek at the baby.  She's asleep.  It's noon.  I snap a picture.  I will blog for a few minutes, hop in the shower, throw clothes on and put hair in a ponytail and feed and change the starving baby.  We'll put on her Valentines Day outfit and hop over to CVS to print out dad a surprise Valentines Day card (shhh!  Don't tell!).  Then we'll come home, she'll have some milk, I'll have some pepper steak, and we will dance around the living room and play and wait for dad to come home and hang out with us.  Bedtime is unpredictable still so I will leave that part blank.  Right now I'm at the part where I hop in the shower.  Happy Valentines Day from me and my beautiful sleepy baby girl :)

Bathtime!!

Amelia had a bath today and as promised, here is a blog post devoted to my little sweetheart.

And no one wants a cold peanut after a bath so she asked if she could wear her cute hat to keep her warm.  Of course I said yes!

Nursery Updates

Yesterday Grandma came over and me and her and Dad popped Amelia into her Baby Bjorn and took a trip to Ikea. (Mom didn'[t have a lot of time yesterday for hair or  make up, or to lose 20 lbs, so this is what we are dealing with right now)... but doesn't baby look SO CUTE???  She slept the entire time!

 We had a fun afternoon.  Ended up spending more money than we planned, and Dad wound up spending more time putting stuff together and hanging up safely in the nursery than he planned, but this morning it all paid off, because Amelia has the coolest room ever now. 

We'll start with the gate.  Since Stifler has been marking his territory there he has been banished. I understand his jealousy, but Amelia and I enjoy tummy time in her room and do not appreciate the smell of jealous dog pee.  So we got her rug properly cleaned and sanitized, and dad installed a gate that opens like a door so we don't have to step over it.



Then he hung some shelves to give her teddy bears more room to play.

He got mom a night stand to put her pump on and with drawers for her to keep her photo book materials to work on while she's pumping or has any down time.  (Can't forget the pink knobs). 

He also installed our internet camera so we can monitor her while (if) she sleeps in her crib.  It's pretty awesome, you can even watch her from his Android phone and my iPhone.  AND he hid the cords in the wall so it's not an eye sore. 

Wonder how long it will be before she makes us remove the camera from her room?  I really hope she doesn't grow up too fast, because look at all these cute tiny things  mom gets to dress her up in now!! (All stored in the new drawer organizers we picked up at Ikea)

OK that's enough about her nursery.  I  promise the next post will be all about the SWEETNESS that is Amelia!!

Baby's First Day!

It's a Girl!!  Amelia Quinn, 7 lbs  7 ounces, 20.5 inches

My baby is 2 weeks old today and I'm going to start her birth story today.  It might be a few months before I finish it though, because time has taken a different dimension now that my little milk drinker is here. 

December 27 2011.  We arrived at the hospital as scheduled at 6 a.m. freshly showered and well rested (well me anyway...Brian woke up around 1 a.m. and couldn't fall back to sleep.  I managed to get a good nap that afternoon and still sleep right through until my alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m.)
**I guess I should preface this by explaining why the scheduled birth.  At 30 weeks we found out the baby was in frank breech position.  Mom (me) was disappointed because I was looking forward to the excitement of going into labor, timing the contractions, driving to the hospital, swearing at Brian, delivering naturally, tears of joy, instant skin to skin with my girl, you know... the ideal baby story.  I found a great chiropractor and had her perform the Webster Technique on my 4 times.  I tried different yoga positions, inversion board, frozen peas and hot compresses.  This baby didn't want to flip, as was determined at our 36 week sonogram.  So we scheduled our date, at 39 1/2 weeks, and I came to grips with it.  Come to find out, as you will read, not so bad after all.  I have a beautiful healthy perfectly happy baby with personality, and I was up and moving 12 hours later.  Not the terrible painful experience I expected. 

So we got to the hospital and checked in at the information desk.  They gave us a cell phone and sent us to admissions.  We filled out our paperwork and chatted with the admissions clerk.  We found out that she also had a breech baby 4 years ago.  She tried manual inversion with her Dr at 37 weeks and it was successful, but baby flipped back during labor and she ended up with a c section anyway.  Also, the day before we were there, a woman with a breech baby arrived for her cesarean section and found out her baby positioned itself properly and she was sent home to go into labor naturally.  I wondered if that would be good news at that point, I was so uncomfortable and psyched to meet my little one.  I wanted to keep her in to thrive as long as possible, but that morning in particular she was beating me up, and I was ready to pop! 

Brian and I went to the lobby after we were all checked in and waited.  We saw my Dr walking in and she saw us and waved and asked if we were ready and I felt at ease as soon as I saw her there.  She is my favorite Doctor, I've seen her for 11 years and have a very trusting relationship with her.  One good thing about the scheduled section is I got Dr B for my delivery.  I would have been sad to have someone else, especially for the surgery.  Not long after Dr arrived they came and got me for prep and told H that when they were ready for him the phone would ring.  So I gave him a smooch and off I went. 
The nurse told me to go in the bathroom and empty my bladder and go back to curtain #1, take off everything, put on the gown, opening in the back, and lay down on my fancy cot.  Then she came in put on my bracelets and started my IV fluids.  She explained every step.  Then the anesthesiologist Grace came in and explained everything she would be doing.  Basically she was my wing man.  She would be with me every second until I was well into recovery, and by the time the delivery was over I loved her so much that I briefly considered  changing Amelia's name to Grace.  So after I got 2 bags of IV fluids they wheeled me into the operating room.  There were what seemed like dozens of people and everyone introduced themselves and told me what part they would be taking.  Everyone was really nice and comforting.  The baby nurse explained what would happen with baby after delivery so I knew exactly what to expect and wouldn't be upset when they took her to check her out. 
The Dr started the spinal which was what I was the most nervous about.  I told everyone I was nervous for that part so I had about 3 or 4 people to support me through it.  The Dr behind me explained that there would be a small pinch from the lidocane injection.  It zinged a little up my spine but it was instantly over and I was relieved that the worst of what I would feel was behind me.  He told me not to move and I've never sat so still in all my life.  I didn't feel a thing when he injected the spinal.  As soon as that was done, everyone went seriously to work. They laid me down, started shaving my nether regions, and did some tests to make sure I was numb.  Once the answer was yes they put up the sheets and I started panicking about when they were going to bring Brian in.  I asked for him and Grace said she was just about to ask me if I had someone waiting.  I was getting very anxious.  I remember saying "he's really exited, he really wants to be here" and next thing I knew, there he was in his scrubs with cap and face mask and I hardly recognized him, but was instantly at ease and ready to go.  He sat down and looked into my eyes and asked how I was feeling and I said "weird".  They called the time and it was 8:12.  Next thing we knew they held a baby up over the curtain and we were parents!  They called the time again and it was 8:20.  It took 8 quick minutes to get my beautiful baby out for me!  I heard a little cry and I instantly knew she was healthy and the baby Dr took her over to her station and took Brian with her to check her out, like they told me it would happen.  Then Brian carried her over to me and put her in my arms and took a few pics.  He took her back and gave Grace our camera and she took some shots of the 3 of us together in our first few minutes, and then the baby Dr took Brian and Amelia to the nursery and left me and Dr B to stitch me up.  This is when the very uncomfortable pressure on my chest started happening like they told me it would.  I started feeling a little nauseous and Grace put a cold towel on my forehead and blocked the bright lights for me so I could concentrate on breathing through this uncomfortable part  It wasn't long before it was over and they were wheeling me to recovery.  Whatever medicine they put in my spinal was pretty good because this part was kind of blurry, but with Brian's texts we are able to trace back that when they finally brought her to me and we got skin to skin and I got to feed her it was 9:55 am and we were in our room around 11.  A nurse was there in recovery to assist us with the initial latch and we both picked it up pretty quickly.  In recovery I kept asking for a drink.  I don't like to ask for things, I'm usually pretty easy going, but I was THIRSTY!!!  I kept imagining chugging a liter of Gatorade.  The nurse assured me I could have ice chips soon and they finally gave me some when we got to our Mother/Baby room.  Best.Ice.Chips.EVER. 

This post has taken me a week to do so I am going to end it now and move on to our wonderful lives together.  My baby girl likes to move which is odd since she wouldn't budge from 30 weeks on in my belly, so I spend a lot of time carrying her around and don't get to type much on here.  BUT last night we got her a swing and she is so happy in it!!  So now I blog :)  For now, until next time, enjoy a few pics of Amelia's first week!

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Here's mom ready for surgery.  No make up, no deodorant, no jewelry.  No more room in the belly:)

Here's the beautiful girl just as she was sitting in mommy's belly.  Oh my can you believe she fit in me???

Our first family picture!

Here is the beautiful girl after her Mommy was able to feed her and be properly introduced, sleeping soundly, getting ready to receive so much love that her heart will be full forever, just like her mom and dads are now thanks to her. (silly cell phone pic, but you get the idea of how beautiful she is!) 

Baby Shower Surprise

The best times you have are usually the times you are having too much fun to take pictures.  This was the case with our baby shower.  So I borrowed the pics from others, and if anyone else has any, we would love love love them!  I don't ever want to forget a single detail from this very special day!

It was December 3rd, 2011, and Brian and I spent the Saturday afternoon together.  I was 36 weeks pregnant with our first baby.  Around 3 or 3:30 we drove the Xterra to Lisa's house in Brandon that I haven't seen yet and when we got there we saw lots of cars besides Lisas that I have seen many times before.  The Reids van, Paxtons Bronco, Aly's Philliphied Honda, and lots more.  We were so excited we left the camera in the truck and started up her walkway to the entrance of her home.  There were squares of different colored glittery steps lining the walkway, and candy canes on either side.  Brian asked me "do you know what it is?" and I immediately said "Candy Land!!!!".  Then I looked up and saw my niece Molly and remembered the million games of Candy Land her and I played when she was a lot smaller.  Entering Lisa's home we were greeted by many friends, balloons, and a large display of candy of all shapes sizes and colors, and cupcakes!!!  The theme was very clear then.  "Sara Land". 

It took us a little while to get all the way through the house because we were so surprised to see our friends and family all standing around and snacking, drinking Sangria and beer, and waiting patiently to greet us!  Lisa and her husband Carl welcomed us all to their home and showed us where to help ourselves to food.  Besides the several veggie trays and cheese platters, Lisa made huge platters of chicken marsala, a vegetarian pasta, a gigantic Caesar salad, and bread.  I feasted on pasta, then moved on to cupcakes and Lemonheads, and after everyone left I definitely pigged out on lots of chicken marsala, YUM! 

There was a beautiful diaper cake from Grandma, at the shower it was wrapped up with a Gund teddy bear hugging it.  As soon as I got it home I unwrapped the tulle off it and took off the teddy bear so I could use it to practice with my Moby Wrap from Carolyn.  I left the diapers and goodies attached because it was too sweet to take apart, but last night I finally went for it and stocked up her diaper drawer with well over 100 diapers from the cake!

At the shower wrapped...

At home, minus the bear...

And it's so sad, but here is the after effect of my nesting episode from last night...

Lisa and my cousin Molly ran the games, and my cousin Wyatt was in charge of the timer.  We played the most difficult game ever where you find safety pins in a bowl of rice.  We played the "dirty" diaper game with different melted candy bars in diapers.  I think I guessed one correctly.  Brian did well.

By the looks of us in this picture you would think I would be the one who is good at distinguishing different candy bars :)

We played the spoon the cotton balls from a bowl to a plate and Brian was amazing at that one (not really...haha!!)

Then we moved on to gifts.  We are blessed (and spoiled)

The Aftermath...

We received many thoughtful, practical, extravagant, and generous gifts.  In fact we are still receiving gifts in the mail every day.  We officially have everything we need for this little girls arrival to the world, as well as all the cherished memories of the friends and loved ones who shared the celebration with us! 

As we left Lisa gave us the last of our souveneirs which was one of my most favorites, Amelia'a first Candy Land game!  We are going to have so much fun!

Weekly Check In

Weekly Check In

How far along?  38 weeks, 5 days

Weight Gain/Loss?  34 pounds.

Maternity Clothes?  Are there any other kind of clothes?

Sleep?  Pfffft.  No.

Best Moment of Week?  Watching Up with Brian and him putting his head near my belly.  It's not often at 9 months pregnant that I feel completely comfortable and at ease but at that moment in time all was perfect. 

Movement?  All the time.  You can feel it too if you put your hand on the belly but she is facing my back so I don't get the visible jabs from her hands and feet, but the occasional head but will stick out and shock me. 

What I Miss?  Movement and flexibility.  Exercise endorphins.  Life without heartburn.  I kept this answer completely the same as my last check in 10 weeks ago.  Hasn't changed. 

Looking forward to...  Hearing the Dr say she's perfect. Please please please. 

Milestones.   Baby's now the size of a watermelon!The last bits of vernix caseosa (the white goo keeping baby's skin moist) and lanugo (downy hair) are slowly shedding into your amniotic fluid. Baby's head is about the same circumference as her abdomen, and her head could be covered in an inch or so of hair.

Labor Signs..  Nope.  And if I did I would lie and tell you differently.  I am not going into labor before her scheduled eviction date of 12/27.  If I am going to have to have a section, it will not be before then, promise!

Picture...

Welcome to Amelia's Nursery!

Well the nursery is not finished quite yet, we are still waiting for a BABY!!!  But I am ready to do a sneak preview of what we have done.  Hope you like it!

Come on in friends!

Now that you are inside our room, this is your view of the crib from the door...

Brian and I put a lot of blood sweat and tears (literally) into making these butterflies work to our satisfaction.  I still see a few spots that could use one more but if you knew how many layers of paint are already on that wall you would not believe me.  I think it's good.   Have a closer look.

Brian and I had a hard time agreeing on whether the butterflies should be light pink or dark.  I wanted light, he wanted dark.  We started with light.  They looked cute in the daytime but at night, when they only had artificial light and no natural light, they disappeared.  So we painted over them with dark pink, the same color as the bottom border of the walls.  Then as an after thought we decided to do letters in the middle of all the butterflies so I had to paint over the group of butterflies in the middle with  3-4 more layers of yellow.  Then we couldn't agree on dark or light pink for the letters.  Since he was right about the butterflies needing to be dark, I agreed the letters could be darker also, but not as dark as the butterflies.  And I was at least going to get to paint the sides of the letters light.  If you are sitting in the glider chair you can see my amazing mastery of adding depth to the name.  And you can see the depth we accidentally added to the butterflies when we didn't line up the stencil perfectly when painting the dark over the light.  I like the effect. 

Here is a shot of most of the supplies it took to accomplish this butterfly wall. 

Trust me, you don't want a tutorial for this wall.  It was the most hit or miss project I've ever attempted.  (Unless you want to talk about my "card box" I tried to make for my wedding, but we won't go there, it wasn't one of my prouder moments...)

OK, so...here's our beautiful Graco crib that Grandma on dad's side found for us on Craigs List and immediately went and got and drove over from Orlando.  And our beautiful bumper and quilt that Grandma on mom's side got for us from Land of Nod (once baby transitions from her bassinet to her crib the bumper will come out, don't worry I know about the recall and will not put the innocent girl in danger).  Also in this picture is the mobile from Great Grandma Fefe.  We are in love with this mobile and hope Amelia loves it too.  It is so fun to watch the little critters dance around to the music and the night light feature is a definite plus. 

Here is the changing table we picked up at Ikea, open box.  It is the Hemnes convertible changing table and we changed the knobs from the black ones it came with to pink ones.  It was a great find in the open box area because Brian was so sore from painting and installing the Pergo floors all by himself that he was not looking forward to putting together yet another piece of furniture that day.  Plus it brought the price from $157 to $107.  And we love that it is convertible so the top part comes off and it is then a night stand.  Score! 

Only problem is that a standard changing pad is about 1- 1 1/2" too large to fit comfortable in the top area where it belongs.  We may just cut an inch off the end of the pad and put the cover back on it, or we may end up going to Ikea to get one of their changing pads that will fit it.  Stinks that I spent $25 on this one and assumed it would fit and took it out of the wrapper and threw away the packaging and receipt.  It feels snug enough to me, it doesn't move and I would never leave her unattended anyway, but Brian is not having it not fitting perfectly, which is understandable.  See how it's just slightly too large?  Sigh. 

Here's her closet, closed (above). And open (below). 

I would like to teach her how to be neat and organized, but one look at this picture of her closet and I know I don't have a leg to stand on here.  The best part of this closet in my opinion is that it is PINK.  Brian and I went back and forth.  Pink or white.  I searched for Google images of pink nursery closets and came up with nothing.  So I took it upon myself to create one.  I am in love with the color.  All the wall colors are bright, cheery and stimulating.  Don't worry, we invested in good heavy blinds that take out the light, and those curtains are black out curtains, so even when the sun is shining directly into the room, we can take out all of the light for nap time!  But in the meantime, when you open up the door to the nursery, it is cheerful and happy, yet sweet and soothing at the same time, and everytime I peek in it makes me instantly happy.

My mom sent Brian and I a set of ottomans for the living room for Christmas.  The bigger one opens up and the top flips upside down to become a tray table.  The inside can be used to store whatever you want.  Your knitting supplies, an extra blanket, some magazines, or brushes and other grooming supplies for surprise attacks on unsuspecting fluffy Pekingese.  The larger ottoman came with a smaller ottoman inside, which I put in Amelia's room the other day to sit on, and it just seemed to fit in there, so it stayed as an extra seat.  On top of said ottoman is the small Carter diaper bag that we got free with the purchase of her stroller (more on the most amazing stroller in the world later).  The bag is packed and ready for the hospital trip with a few onsies for her to wear, her take home outfit, some mitts, nail clippers and file so she doesn't scratch her little face, and some socks and booties. 

Oh and Stifler wanted to say hello. 

Here is a better shot of her dresser.  It is the Ikea Malm chest, and as you saw in my last post, Brian installed pink knobs on it which give it just that little bit of pink and personality it needed.

Just a small amount of the many many goodies that friends and family got for us at her baby shower... There are lots and lots more that I need a shelf to put on.  Next project!

And here is the shadow box that Mom (That's ME!!) put together of some of the souvenirs from the most amazing thoughtful and well put together shower I could have ever imagined thanks to my dear friend Lisa and my amazing sister Diane, and all the awesome friends and family who were able to take time out of their busy schedules to attend, even right smack dab in the middle of the holiday season.  I will post pics of the shower in my next post.  For now, the shadow box.  It contains onsies that served as our guest book, some candy from our candy table (the theme was Candy Land!!!!), a bottle that served as a take home favor for guests to fill with candy for later, clothespins and cotton balls from a couple of the games (I decided to leave the "dirty" diapers at Lisa's) , and the string that came the closest to being the size of my belly circumference (which has grown significantly in the 18 days that have passed since then)

Here's just a few more details of the room...

This is the acrylic painting that Great Grandma Fefe passed on to us.  Not exactly where it came from originally, but it can at least be traced to 1973 in Tennessee.   It is just the right touch for behind the glider.  It adds a little softness and gentle charm to a bright modern room. 

The cute butterfly light switch plate from Grandma on dads side

The beautiful quilt that my friend April's mom quilted for our baby is on the back of the glider.  The glider chair is from Grandpa on dads side and Grandma Mo, and the Amelia's first real teddy bear from Grandma on dads side.  (We need better names to get all these grandparents straight, but are thinking they will happen naturally when they happen)... Also in these pics is the pink knitted blanket that a kind woman who works for Brian brought him, folded up on the ottoman. 

(Next to the ottoman you can see a little part of the pink cat bed that Aunt Diane (that's my sister!) gave me to give to Stifler.  See he thinks he's my baby so when I sit in the rocker his ideal place to be is on my lap.  So we gave him the bed to lay in when I have the baby on my lap and he just won't fit on there with us.  I hope the color and the fact that it's a cat bed don't insult him too much, but it has to go with the decor :)

And this is the stunningly beautiful heirloom blanket that we are honored to have passed down to us from Uncle Ken's (that's my brother in law!) parents.  Uncle Ken and his brother Buck both used it when they were babies.  Now it is passed on to Amelia.  It is such a beautiful blanket (and smells so good) that we are afraid to use it and get it dirty or pulled.  So it will likely stay in a special drawer until her cousin Wyatt has his first child and then it will go to him.  I know he's only 16 and it won't be tomorrow that he has a baby, but it seems like just yesterday he was born and already he is car shopping on the Internet!!!  Is my baby going to grow up just as fast??  Here's the blanket...

I could show a million different pictures of all her awesome toys and special gifts she's received from different friends along the way, but for now I will end the longest photo heavy blog post ever.  OK OK one more cute pic of a gift, even though it's not technically a nursery photo.  

This is the faucet cover from my friends Chad and Yurise so when she is big enough for baths she won't bump her head.  LOVe.  And in the tub is her own little baby girl tub for her to take her baths in, which I got with my WalMart gift card from Loca Marissa.  I don't typically like to shop at/deal with WalMart, but with the gift card I made a trip there and got quite a few things I needed for really good prices.  I guess it's not that bad to take a semi annual trip to the land of Always Low Prices to stock up on a few things.  I also met a really nice lady in the checkout who also happened to have a breech baby girl who turned out just fine and was in fact graduating from college that very afternoon.  Without further ado, the faucet!

Baths in this tub (the actual tub, not the pink tubby) have eased many back pains, round ligament pains and groin pains this third trimester, and looking at the frog while soaking has been good for my soul.  

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OK I'm almost done, I just want to leave with some pictures of Dad (that's Brian!!!!) and all his hard work making the nursery perfect for the arrival of little Amelia!

Here is the most extreme before picture I have.  Terrible blue walls and ripped out floors.   Dad has his work cut out for him!!

Who needs all of these useless power outlets anyway?  Not us!

After patching the old nail holes and retexturing is done, and starting the 5 coats of yellow it took to cover the blue.

He is so patient with my request for a pink border.

and then my afterthought / request for a pink closet.

Finally getting going on installing the flooring. 

And this is the stage where we were going to alternate light pink with darker pink butterflies.

Well that is going to do it!  Thanks for visiting Amelia's nursery, and come by any time!