Saturday, March 6, 2010
Slacker
I am a complete slacker. The week went by and not a single post was written. I have no excuse. I will make it up to you dear readers. Tomorrow you will hear of baby teeth and made from scratch banana cream pie. For now I have a husband and a baby to play with!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Exercise!
I procrastinate, I make excuses, and I have sudden brief physical ailments- all to avoid exercising. It makes no sense whatsoever, because I always feel SO GOOD when I have finished exercising. I am proud of myself as well as feeling energized and satisfied. When I have worked out, my general behavior is always more healthy- I eat better, I drink more water, I am generally more active. I know I am not alone in this- but it still amazes me.
Before my pregnancy, I had mental and physical breakthrough. With my blood pressure and cholesterol way too high, and the number on the scale beyond embarrassing, I looked my doctor in the eye and said, "I am going to do this". I have said that many times, and each time failed. But in that moment a switch flipped. I wanted to have a baby and I knew my health was reducing my chances of even becoming pregnant, let alone having a safe and healthy pregnancy.
So I joined a well known program online, and began exercising. As anyone who has lost weight in a healthy way knows, the numbers do not just melt off the scale. It was a 2-4 lb a week slog. But for the first time I wasn't discouraged when I got on the scale. Also, I made myself accountable to other people. For the first time ever I was completely honest with my husband, family and friends about my weight and health. It was mortifying, but I knew that my motivation would need to come from multiple avenues, and they would be one of them. They surprised me in their lack of judgment and their abundance of support. I shouldn't have been surprised, but when you are ashamed of yourself you assume others will be ashamed too.
The results were wonderful. In 3 months I lost 30 lbs. I felt fantastic, and I wasn't even to my ultimate goal. I was wearing clothes that had been regulated to the back of the closet and I no longer had to worry about that dreaded double chin in photos. More importantly, I knocked more than 100 points off of my cholesterol and my blood pressure returned to that perfect 120/80. My ultimate goal had been to lose 50 lb before getting pregnant, but circumstances intervened and we got pregnant a little sooner than expected.
All through the pregnancy I worried about weight gain, though my doctors assured me that I was doing extremely well and gaining the appropriate amount of weight. In the last two months I ballooned out but was assured it was water not actual weight gain. I prayed my doctor was right. I was absolutely squishy by the time I had Will. In the two weeks after he was born I literally dropped 40 lbs- a confirmation I that was a walking water balloon for quite a while.
Since Will's birth I have had exercise and weight loss on my mind. At first I was determined I would begin a hardcore routine as soon as I got the clear at 6 weeks. After all, for the first time I knew with absolute certainty that I am capable of reaching my goal. I did not take into account that caring for an infant would take everything out of me. So Christmas came and went and I said, "Great! New Year, time to get on schedule!", and that is when the excuses began. I started eating fairly well, though there were plenty of cheats, but I never really put any effort into exercising. Through the miraculous gift of nursing I have managed to slowly drop a few more pounds, but I haven't really begun the work I need to do. I am still 8 lb from my pre-pregnancy weight, and ideally I would like to lose another 40 lbs before we try for another baby.
So yesterday morning once Will laid down for his early morning nap, I put my exercise clothes on and hoped on our stationary bike. It was a hard 30 minutes, but I felt SO GOOD afterwards. Today, I tried belly dancing aerobics recorded from the Fitness channel. 30 minutes a day is my goal. Less cheating on my food intake as well. I have the time now, and I have the knowledge that I can do it. I am accountable to myself and my little family. I am also making myself accountable to you dear readers. It is time to stop procrastinating and start working!
Before my pregnancy, I had mental and physical breakthrough. With my blood pressure and cholesterol way too high, and the number on the scale beyond embarrassing, I looked my doctor in the eye and said, "I am going to do this". I have said that many times, and each time failed. But in that moment a switch flipped. I wanted to have a baby and I knew my health was reducing my chances of even becoming pregnant, let alone having a safe and healthy pregnancy.
So I joined a well known program online, and began exercising. As anyone who has lost weight in a healthy way knows, the numbers do not just melt off the scale. It was a 2-4 lb a week slog. But for the first time I wasn't discouraged when I got on the scale. Also, I made myself accountable to other people. For the first time ever I was completely honest with my husband, family and friends about my weight and health. It was mortifying, but I knew that my motivation would need to come from multiple avenues, and they would be one of them. They surprised me in their lack of judgment and their abundance of support. I shouldn't have been surprised, but when you are ashamed of yourself you assume others will be ashamed too.
The results were wonderful. In 3 months I lost 30 lbs. I felt fantastic, and I wasn't even to my ultimate goal. I was wearing clothes that had been regulated to the back of the closet and I no longer had to worry about that dreaded double chin in photos. More importantly, I knocked more than 100 points off of my cholesterol and my blood pressure returned to that perfect 120/80. My ultimate goal had been to lose 50 lb before getting pregnant, but circumstances intervened and we got pregnant a little sooner than expected.
All through the pregnancy I worried about weight gain, though my doctors assured me that I was doing extremely well and gaining the appropriate amount of weight. In the last two months I ballooned out but was assured it was water not actual weight gain. I prayed my doctor was right. I was absolutely squishy by the time I had Will. In the two weeks after he was born I literally dropped 40 lbs- a confirmation I that was a walking water balloon for quite a while.
Since Will's birth I have had exercise and weight loss on my mind. At first I was determined I would begin a hardcore routine as soon as I got the clear at 6 weeks. After all, for the first time I knew with absolute certainty that I am capable of reaching my goal. I did not take into account that caring for an infant would take everything out of me. So Christmas came and went and I said, "Great! New Year, time to get on schedule!", and that is when the excuses began. I started eating fairly well, though there were plenty of cheats, but I never really put any effort into exercising. Through the miraculous gift of nursing I have managed to slowly drop a few more pounds, but I haven't really begun the work I need to do. I am still 8 lb from my pre-pregnancy weight, and ideally I would like to lose another 40 lbs before we try for another baby.
So yesterday morning once Will laid down for his early morning nap, I put my exercise clothes on and hoped on our stationary bike. It was a hard 30 minutes, but I felt SO GOOD afterwards. Today, I tried belly dancing aerobics recorded from the Fitness channel. 30 minutes a day is my goal. Less cheating on my food intake as well. I have the time now, and I have the knowledge that I can do it. I am accountable to myself and my little family. I am also making myself accountable to you dear readers. It is time to stop procrastinating and start working!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Will at 5 Months
In two days, my son will be 5 months old. I honestly have no idea where the time has gone. I feel like the 40 weeks of my pregnancy took at least 3 times as long as they should have, but the time since Will was born has been on fast-forward. My little newborn (well, as little as a 10 lb newborn can be) has transformed into such a big strong guy. He has almost doubled in weight and grown almost 9 inches in length since he was born. His eyes are beginning to change color, and much to my amazement I can feel his first tooth about to come in. He was born with a fair amount of dark hair, of which he lost most in the first month, and has since grown back a full head of hair the same color mine was as a baby.
He looks like both Eli and me. He has Eli's forehead, eyebrows, eyes, duck feet and strange bottom rib. From me he gets his hair color, cheeks (dimples included), mouth and chin. And yet he also looks uniquely like himself. I can dissect the various features easily, but when I look at him I see Will, no resemblance to anyone, just my beautiful son.
He can do so many things already. It was just a short time ago that we needed to carefully cradle his head because his neck wasn't strong enough to maintain stability. Now he pushes himself up with his arms to look around while on his belly. He can roll both from his back to his belly and vise versa. He stands with help only to balance and he is desperately trying to sit up without help. He reaches for and plays independently with his toys, and loves to stand in his activity center and intact with everything it offers. He is occasionally mesmerized by his mobile, and board books are beginning to hold his interest from start to finish.
He is such a problem solver! For example, he constantly wants to taste his bath water, which we of course try to keep him from for the most part. He started by just licking his fist after dipping it into the water, or catching droplets that ran down his face. When that wasn't enough he tried to get the washcloth in his mouth for a taste. Next he tried to swiftly slink down into his tub trying to get his mouth at water level, and when that didn't work he moved on to slowly lowering himself into the water and then casually turning his head to the side to try and lap the water up like a cat. The next thing we know he will be employing simple machines to achieve his goal.
Will's personality is also starting to take shape. He is a happy baby. He is very easy to please as long as he isn't left alone for too long or allowed to get too tired. He loves to be played with and talked to. He smiles at strangers almost as easily as he smiles at me and Eli. Even when he is upset, he just wants to be cuddled and soothed, very rarely crying for more than 5- 10 minutes. He cranky occasionally and when he is he scratches his head over and over in big strokes and grabs the hand or hair of whoever is holding him and pulls it towards him irritably. He is stubborn, and gets frustrated when he can't do something he desperately wants to do. He wants to be where ever we are if he is awake, even if that means sitting in his high chair when I do dishes or playing on the bed when I fold laundry. He thinks Daddy is the funniest guy on the planet, and Momma is the best at tickling him.
All of this makes me wonder how fast the rest is going to go. I have caused myself plenty of restless nights thinking about how quickly he is going to grow up and start dealing with issues that I currently feel completely unprepared to guide him through. The most loving, prepared and well-intentioned parents can manage to really screw something up with their kids, and I know we will not be an exception. I think about how I grew up and what I DON'T want to do with my children, but also some of the things I do want to pass on. I am writing some of these things down in the journal we are keeping for Will. Hopefully doing so will be helpful for us as well as him.
In the meantime I am trying to focus on Will in the present, and look forward to his immediate future rather than too far down the road. This past Saturday, Will tried his first rice cereal, and decided he likes it just fine. He has had very little trouble figuring out the concept of the spoon, and has eaten his daily portion consistently so far. It won't be long before he is trying his first vegetables, learning to crawl, and figuring out his first words. Lord save me when he learns to talk because he is already a loud mouth like me without knowing any words.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Follow-up on Meal Calendars
A couple of you (of my wonderful six readers!) asked me for some more information regarding the earlier post about Groceries. Below is a copy of both my February grocery list and calendar. This calendar of meals is not my most creative or adventurous, but it is the one we have followed this month. Because my grocery list is so long I have taken to putting it into an excel sheet as well, and organizing it loosely based on where I would find it in the store. I have also added a coupon column to help me remember that I have one for specific items. This is a work in progress, and I am making adjustments month to month where necessary. For example, I realized this month that I did not plan for enough healthy snack options for an entire month, nor enough drink options.
Looking at the calendar there are many repeat meals. This is mostly because the meals are only shared by two people at the moment, and one batch of soup or one casserole is definitely enough to last several days. For a family of four I would assume that a standard casserole would be enough for one meal only (with perhaps some leftovers). And a batch of soup or stew would probably only last 2 nights instead of 3 (or 4 as sometimes happens for us).
I hope this is helpful and if anyone has questions or would like some easy recipes that I actually use pretty regularly, just let me know!
Looking at the calendar there are many repeat meals. This is mostly because the meals are only shared by two people at the moment, and one batch of soup or one casserole is definitely enough to last several days. For a family of four I would assume that a standard casserole would be enough for one meal only (with perhaps some leftovers). And a batch of soup or stew would probably only last 2 nights instead of 3 (or 4 as sometimes happens for us).
I hope this is helpful and if anyone has questions or would like some easy recipes that I actually use pretty regularly, just let me know!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Nap Time
I am taking a pass today as there is an incredibly cuddly baby boy who very much wants Momma to nap with him. Who could refuse?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Reading Project
Eli and I both love to read. I would bet if you did an analysis of our spending, you would find that our biggest non-household/baby/bill expenditure would be for books. We also patronize our local library, but we both much prefer to own books. We actually tend to read them over and over again. We currently have 6 bookcases filled with books, not including all of Eli's reference books which are currently packed in a rubbermaid storage container. Every couple of years we go through all the bookcases and make a donation either to Goodwill or the local library, but honestly we don't usually give up many of our books.
We both have our favorite authors, and our collection is heavy on their writing. What we both realized a few weeks ago is that we haven't done much reading outside of our favorites list in a very long time. This discussion led us to a mutual desire to read books that have earned the label of "classic". We both began looking for lists on the internet; lists of AP reading suggestions, college book reviews' top 100 novels, even lists of the new modern classics. We were both amazed at the number of books we had not read. We both took AP English and several upper level literature classes in college, and yet only manage to take a tiny chunk out of a huge list. In reviewing the lists and marking those books we had read, we realized in many cases we'd had to pick one of two books for a class assignment, and the other book was never read. This led to what we feel are some major holes in our reading resumes.
We have each created a list of 10 books to begin our project. We expanded our selection to include Time's 100 novels of the 20th century as voted on by their board, and also their list as voted on by the public. This means that we have included some novels that you might never read in a classroom, but have been given recognition by the public as something special. We also have included volumes of poetry and some plays.
Here are our lists:
Sam
Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
The World According to Garp, John Irving
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Animal Farm, George Orwell
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway
Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Persuasion, Jane Austen
Eli
Dracula, Bram Stoker
Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Ulysses, James Joyce
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
The Wild Duck, Henrik Ibsen
Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy
Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman
Paradise Lost, John Milton
The Divine Comedy, Dante
We both have our favorite authors, and our collection is heavy on their writing. What we both realized a few weeks ago is that we haven't done much reading outside of our favorites list in a very long time. This discussion led us to a mutual desire to read books that have earned the label of "classic". We both began looking for lists on the internet; lists of AP reading suggestions, college book reviews' top 100 novels, even lists of the new modern classics. We were both amazed at the number of books we had not read. We both took AP English and several upper level literature classes in college, and yet only manage to take a tiny chunk out of a huge list. In reviewing the lists and marking those books we had read, we realized in many cases we'd had to pick one of two books for a class assignment, and the other book was never read. This led to what we feel are some major holes in our reading resumes.
We have each created a list of 10 books to begin our project. We expanded our selection to include Time's 100 novels of the 20th century as voted on by their board, and also their list as voted on by the public. This means that we have included some novels that you might never read in a classroom, but have been given recognition by the public as something special. We also have included volumes of poetry and some plays.
Here are our lists:
Sam
Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
The World According to Garp, John Irving
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Animal Farm, George Orwell
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway
Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Persuasion, Jane Austen
Eli
Dracula, Bram Stoker
Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Ulysses, James Joyce
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
The Wild Duck, Henrik Ibsen
Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy
Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman
Paradise Lost, John Milton
The Divine Comedy, Dante
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sunshine in the Morning
There is no sunshine this morning outside my house. There actually hasn't been a sunny morning in quite a while- instead gray skies and the deceiving brightness of light reflecting on snow have greeted me each morning. But there is plenty of sunshine inside my home in the morning. That sunshine radiates from my son. Will, to our immense delight, is a morning person. I am a moderate morning person, and so is Eli to a slightly lesser degree, but Will is a full-blown "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" kind of guy.
If he has been awake for a little while before we come to get him out of the crib he might give a "Hey! Where are you!" kind of cry, but the moment he sees us come into his room, he is all smiles. When we pick him up he either curls up towards us for some cuddles, or if he is feeling particularly spunky, starts kicking his legs and talking. The first order of business is a diaper change, and once he is on his changing table we are treated to a sort of Elvis/ Riverdance combination of hip rolling and fast footwork. (This particular behavior actually happens every time he is on the changing table, prompting our babysitter to ask if he is always so happy to get his diaper changed- yes, indeed he is.) He calms after a few minutes of his dance routine, and just looks up and us and smiles like we are the best thing to ever happen to him. Eli and I know that we love him more than we knew we could love, but to see the pure love in his eyes when he looks at us is beyond anything we could ever hope for, and fills me in a way I can't put into words.
His happy mood continues through his morning feeding and the little bit of talking/cuddle time we have before he goes back to bed for a couple of hours. The miraculous thing for me though, is that he repeats this joyful behavior pretty much every time he wakes up. He might wake up sad or occasionally scared from a bad dream, but as soon as he has had a minute or two with Momma or Daddy, all is right with the world again and he lets us know it.
We would love him just as much if he was a complete sourpuss in the morning, but the fact that he is such a happy baby is a blessing for us. No matter what, we always have sunshine in the morning.
If he has been awake for a little while before we come to get him out of the crib he might give a "Hey! Where are you!" kind of cry, but the moment he sees us come into his room, he is all smiles. When we pick him up he either curls up towards us for some cuddles, or if he is feeling particularly spunky, starts kicking his legs and talking. The first order of business is a diaper change, and once he is on his changing table we are treated to a sort of Elvis/ Riverdance combination of hip rolling and fast footwork. (This particular behavior actually happens every time he is on the changing table, prompting our babysitter to ask if he is always so happy to get his diaper changed- yes, indeed he is.) He calms after a few minutes of his dance routine, and just looks up and us and smiles like we are the best thing to ever happen to him. Eli and I know that we love him more than we knew we could love, but to see the pure love in his eyes when he looks at us is beyond anything we could ever hope for, and fills me in a way I can't put into words.
His happy mood continues through his morning feeding and the little bit of talking/cuddle time we have before he goes back to bed for a couple of hours. The miraculous thing for me though, is that he repeats this joyful behavior pretty much every time he wakes up. He might wake up sad or occasionally scared from a bad dream, but as soon as he has had a minute or two with Momma or Daddy, all is right with the world again and he lets us know it.
We would love him just as much if he was a complete sourpuss in the morning, but the fact that he is such a happy baby is a blessing for us. No matter what, we always have sunshine in the morning.
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