Teething is a bitch...

There’s not if’s, an’s or but’s about it, teething is a bitch for infants. Seriously, it’s horrible and frustrating and yes, this mom is pretty much at her wit’s end!!!

Currently, the only time that my son Ryan doesn’t cry is when he’s sleeping. Otherwise, it’s tears and screams and I just want this tooth to break through his swollen gums so he can feel better. I mean like, holy buckets, he has cried more in the past four days than he has during the four and a half months of his entire life.I'm not kidding, he cries so much that it almost makes me cry. :(

Ryan's arsenal of teething toys!

He’s typically a happy and chill little dude, but not now, nope, he’s all over the place and it’s been crazy to try and handle. It makes me feel like I’m a bad mother given that I can’t help ease his pain. Sure, we’ve tried the teething toys along with giving him some weird Oral gel stuff to put on his gums, yet, it just kind of masks everything that he’s going through for a few minutes and we end up right back where we started with him being uncomfortable. It’s a vicious cycle and I just try to comfort him the best that I can by holding him and doing the momma bounce all around the living room. Sometimes it helps, other times not, and one thing that I’ve found out is he really loves it when I sing to him, so, if he’s totally going off crying with the whole lip quiver thing, I start singing and he actually likes it. It makes me smile to see him kind of happy when he’s dealing this sharp little razor blade breaking through his gums. 

Oh and one thing that I forgot to mention with how much teething is not fun is all the snot that has been pouring out of Ryan’s nose and the drool that has been ooking out of his mouth. I had no idea that one little kid could produce so many bodily fluids. We now have two separate burp clothes to clean up the mess so we don’t cross-contaminate because we don’t want him to end up getting a cold, which he kind of has already. We know this because Dave and I took him to see our pediatrician due to the fact that Ryan was running a fever and that we thought he was teething. The pediatrician told us that Ryan had a bit of a cold and that he was in fact teething. He said that we had to really watch everything we do with him so the cold doesn’t get worse. That means, sucking out snot from his nose (which he hates), standing in a hot, steamy bathroom with him with the shower with him to help with the snot drainage, running a vaporizer in his room, and giving him cold medicine every once and awhile to keep his fever in check. So far, it all seems to be working. :) 

What’s keeping me from going off the deep end and going completely insane during my son’s teething is Dave. Without him, I don’t think I could take Ryan being so unhappy and his support has been pretty outstanding. We take turns holding and comforting the little man, taking over for each other when it becomes too much. I’m going to be honest here, having our son scream and cry and snot and drool and cry and drool and cry and scream and cry and snot can be a bit much at times. However, because we are doing it with each other’s help, it’s been way easier to deal with. Thanks honey, love you!

With that, I’m going to end this post for the day! Hopefully the next time I blog, it will be about Ryan officially getting his first tooth! :) Geez, I’m hoping it happens soon!

I want to be able to provide for my son.

Okay, the last few weeks have been tough for our family, reason being, I was recently laid off from my job. This is the third time in my professional career that I’ve been laid off for budgetary reasons and what’s worse, is that it’s the second time I’ve been laid off during the holidays.

Being laid off is not a fun experience and now that I have a child, it’s even more stressful. I want to be able to provide for my son and give him everything that he needs to be successful in life. But, now that I don’t have a job and have had to file for unemployment, I feel like a complete failure and that I’m not a good parent. My family and friends have told me that I shouldn’t feel that way, yet, for some reason I can’t stop beating myself about what has happened. None of the lay-offs that I’ve been through have been my fault and despite knowing that, I still feel pretty down about it all.

So I guess you could say, I’ve been in a bit of a funk since I’ve lost my job and that’s why I haven’t really been blogging as much as I have before. Being able to be with Ryan day to day has cheered me up, however, at the same time, it makes me sad since I should be going to work to get him what he needs. It’s a catch-22 to say the least and given that it’s challenging to look for a job with him around sometimes, he’s still been going to day care so I can scour the Internet to find places to apply and submit resumes to. Nothing has popped up yet and I’m trying to stay positive that something will. It’s hard though, it’s hard to stay positive due to the fact that during this time of year, no one really hires. I’m going to keep plugging away though in hope of that my hard work will result in a new opportunity. Fingers crossed.

On a fun and happy note, yesterday was Thanksgiving and I was able to enjoy it with Ryan and my entire family. My husband Dave, my mom, dad and brother, and Dave’s kids and grand-kid. It was a nice break from the job hunting pressure and I’m thankful for having all of them in my life.

In the end, I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason and that’s how I’m approaching this recent lay-off. I keep telling myself that it will all work out and that something good will come out of this challenge set before me. God works in mysterious ways and I can’t wait for what’s going to happen next!  :)

Thinking about the holidays...

I’ve always loved celebrating the holidays, but this year, I’m even more excited for them because I get to share them with my son. There’s something about it that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, which is pretty cool and something I'm not all that used to.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve felt happy and excited about things in the past and have had warm and fuzzy feelings before, yet, now it’s at a whole other level that is quite surprising to me. It’s a good surprise though and I’m so blessed to have Ryan bring so much happiness into my life. I knew that he was going to have a positive effect on things, however, like I just said, it’s been so eye opening how much joy and positive energy he has brought into my life that I can only help but smile about it all. Thanks little man.

Pumpkin Ryan!

Now back to the holidays and why I’m so excited to be able to celebrate them with Ryan. Basically, he just makes them a whole bunch of fun. Case in point: Halloween. I was pretty indifferent to Halloween in the past. For me, it was just another day that involved some candy so, no big deal. The thing is, this year, it was a day that I really, really enjoyed due to the fact that I got to dress up Ryan in a fun little pumpkin outfit. I was almost rolling on the floor laughing since he looked so cute and I even took him over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to show the little guy off! That in itself was super fun since Grandma was smiling even more than I was when she saw him! Seeing her expression was totally priceless and it was nice to be able to share that happy moment with her.

After how much fun I had during Halloween, I can’t wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s going to be a great time being able to spend the time with Ryan along with the rest of my family. Presently, I’m looking for some kind of turkey outfit to dress him in for Thanksgiving and for Christmas, the sky is the limit to what this little guy might have to wear. I’m thinking maybe a Santa or reindeer outfit or a little elf or maybe a Christmas tree or a snowman or a candy cane or a misfit toy. Man, the sky is the limit and I can’t wait! If you readers out there have any ideas, just let me know! I would be more than happy to hear them all!

That’s about it for today! Until next time, this is Carla the tomboy and new mom saying, Happy HOLIDAYS! Yes I know, it’s a bit early, but oh well! :)

Oh, my poor hair....

It was going to happen, but I wasn’t quite sure when and now that it’s happening, I’m a bit mortified to be honest. What am I talking about you ask? Well, my hair is falling out and it’s seriously grossing me out. What sucks is that mothers everywhere go through this all the time after their pregnancies and what’s even worse than that, is when people have cancer and go through chemotherapy, all of their hair falls out. I can’t even imagine going through that since I’m freaking out when it comes to what I’m dealing with right now. So to all of you cancer patients out there, props to you and I admire your courage. It must be hard, really, really hard. :(

With that said, I'm going to write about why mothers lose their hair after they have their babies. During pregnancy, women have higher estrogen levels so the hair stays in the growing and resting stages longer and does not fall out. Then, when a woman has her baby, those estrogen levels pretty much plummet and instead of her hair staying in the growing and resting stages, it goes right into the shedding stage and falls out. (Information courtesy of the Babycenter.com) For most mothers, this happens about three or so months after giving birth, yet it can be different for each individual and for myself, it’s been about four months now.

Probably the thing that gets me the most about my hair falling out is how it has been falling out. I mean, I’m in the shower and clumps of it just roll off of my shoulders. I’ve never been a fan of hairballs to begin with and now when I’m done showering, I have to pull a big junk of hair out of the drain. It’s super, duper gross. I won’t even get into what happens when I brush my hair since that’s even more disgusting not to mention the fact that you can find my hair pretty much all over the house. Dave has even been kidding me about it, telling me to stop dropping my hair everywhere. Hmm, maybe I could make a sweater or something out of all of it? LOL, that would be really icktastic! And yes, I was going to post a picture of one of the hair clumps I took out of the shower, however, decided against it since I couldn’t put all of you through that! :0)

Anyway, from what I’ve ready, it could take almost a year for my hair to get back to normal and in the meantime, there’s really not all that much that I can do about it. So, I’m just trying to roll with what’s going on and hope it stops falling out sooner rather than later. That’s easier said than done mind you given that I’m the type of person who likes to be in control of things and this is something I definitely have no control over. It hasn’t been fun, yet, when I think about people with cancer going through chemo, I tell myself I have it easy and to just deal. Again, props to all of you who have cancer and are dealing with what you’re dealing with. I wear my yellow Livestrong bracelet for you! :)

To learn more about hair loss after pregnancy, check out these websites:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_postpartum-hair-loss_11721.bc

http://www.babycenter.com/404_is-it-normal-to-lose-hair-after-giving-birth_1335883.bc

http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/symptoms-and-solutions/postpartum-hair-loss.aspx

Well, that’s about all I got for today! Have a good one!

Is it wrong that I want my son to play sports?

So this morning, I’m watching Mike and Mike In the Morning on ESPN2 and a thought just popped into my mind and I want to write about it quick. I was thinking, is it wrong that I want Ryan to play sports just like I did? 

I think everyone who is a parent wants their child to take part in the same things that they themselves enjoy and for me, that’s being an athlete and playing sports. For other parents it might be playing the piano or cooking or making movies. However for me, it's sports and I guess the question I’m grappling with is not whether or not it’s wrong that I want my little man to play sports, but is it wrong that I’m doing whatever I can to get him to like them as much as I do? So, I’m slowly introducing things to him and I’m afraid at some point that I’m going to end up just forcing it on him and that’s not what I want to do at all. I want him to decide what he likes and doesn’t like, thus, I’m not sure how much is too much?

For example, one of the first toys that I got him was a football. Sure, it wasn’t a real football since it’s basically shaped like a football and is full of holes so he can grab it. I got it for him for two reasons. The first is because he’s starting to use his hands to grab things pretty much  non-stop, so, instead of reaching for my hair or pulling at my hands when we’re playing, I wanted to give him something else to reach and grab for. He really seems to like it and occasionally he’ll inadvertently throw it. It’s kind of funny and makes us both giggle a whole bunch. :)

Ryan's first football! :)

Now, the second reason I got it for him was because yes, the toy is in the shape of a football and I would like it if someday, he is up for playing sports just like me. So, I’ve introduced him to something sport related at an early age in hopes of that. And for the record, the little guy does have other toys too including a cute little monkey rattle along with a fun teddy bear and a few other toys appropriate for his age.

As a family, we do like watching sports together, especially the Packers on Sunday. It’s just a nice way to for all of us to bond and while we watch the Packers take the team's opponent that week, we generally cuddle, play, and just have a good time. Sometimes Dave and I joke about how Ryan might be a left handed relief pitcher someday or a place kicker, even a professional golfer. It’s all in fun though since him being those things would be cool, yet, it’s ultimately up to him what he wants to pursue in life. Whatever he decides to do, as long as it’s positive and productive, is something that I’ll be proud of him for!

To be honest, I guess I don’t see anything wrong with trying to get him to like sports at an early age and I am going to do my best to keep things balanced to open his eyes to other things as well. I read to him every day, we also listen to music, and my goal is to introduce him to as many other activities I can as soon as he is able. The biggest thing that I’m worried about is if he doesn’t like sports and I just force him into it anyway. I just do not, repeat, do not want to do that and I think because I realize now what I don’t want to do that I’m not going to do it. I do not want to be one of those overzealous parents that burn out their children with things their children don’t really want to do. It’s pretty sad to say the least. To make sure I’m not one of them, I’m preparing myself to be ready just in case Ryan doesn’t want to play sports. It will break my heart, but I need to be ready if it happens.

Basically like I said, I think things are all about balance when it comes to wanting your child to do something whether it’s playing sports or an instrument or whatever. By doing that, then I believe that you open up different options for him or her and then he or she can decide what he or she wants to do. I’m going to go with that approach for now. I think it's a good one. We'll see what happens! :) If you readers out there have any tips or suggestions, please let me know! And with that, this is Carla the new mom and tomboy signing off!

It’s the little things that make me happy…

I’m not going to lie, the last week or so has been tough and I’m not going to go into why because one, there’s no point in complaining about it since I’ve done that already and it doesn’t really help, two, it’s a bit personal and three, it’s time to move on and focus on the positive. Being negative just doesn’t make things any easier or better. 

With that said, what I’ve figured out is that it’s the little things that make me happy and that dawned on me a few nights ago when Ryan and I were playing on the living room floor. He was doing what he does best, being all cute and junk, flailing his little legs and arms around like nobody’s business. It was hilarious! Then during tummy time, he kept lifting his head up and looked all around the living room with a big, huge grin on his face. Occasionally, he would try to crawl and when he wasn’t making any headway, he would pout, which was equally cute since it wasn’t real pouting. It was more like him not being able to do what he wanted to do and it would only last for about five seconds because he would start grinning again and he even giggled a few times. Our play time was so much fun and to see him so content was completely rewarding as a parent. At that moment, I realized it’s the little things that make me happy. Seeing him grin during our play time for example, just something as small as that grin made me melt inside and it was more than enough to help me forget my troubles and be positive again. Thanks little guy for how much you help me and to mark the occasion, I snapped some photos. At one point, him and the dog were even getting along!

Ryan and the Beave! :)

The thing is, I think I’ve known all along that it’s always been little things that make me happy and it just took me seeing Ryan be his fun little self to remember that. Looking back, it’s always been those moments, even before he was born, like when he kicked for the first time or when he had the hiccups for the first time and Dave and I would watch my belly jump, laughing the whole time. I guess I just didn’t put two and two together for whatever reason. I had another moment last night when Dave and I were feeding him. We gave him some baby food mixed with formula. It was apples and cinnamon I believe. I was holding him and every time Dave gave Ryan a spoonful, the little man grinned and couldn’t get enough of it. The fact that Ryan was so happy with his food made us both smile. It was cool!

Now that I get it, I feel pretty good again and I’m going to start holding onto those little moments like I did before. It’s those moments that make life worthwhile and I’m going to do my best to never forget that again. :)

Umm, this is hard to admit…

Well, it’s official and I must say, it’s hard to admit. I mean, extremely hard to admit. But, I’m going to do it, I’m going to come clean. What’s the big secret you ask? This tomboy, gulp, actually likes to go shopping, however, it’s not the shopping for myself that I’ve fallen in love with. Nope. I’ve fallen in love with shopping for stuff for Ryan!

Okay, I guess it’s not that big of a deal to admit that I like to shop, yet, for me it kind of is since I never really like going shopping before I had Ryan. Now I can’t get enough of it and I think it’s because I like seeing him in all the cute little outfits that I get for him. And yes, this is the proud mommy coming out in me for sure! The cutest outfit to date that the little man has been seen in definitely has to be this one:

His daycare teacher said he looked like he was all ready for the big dance that night!

I mean come on, just look at the little guy! :) A Facebook friend also bought a similar outfit for her little man and what I thought was nice about it, aside from it being completely adorable, was how it was a pretty reasonable buy at Target. When Dave and I bought the tie onsie with the khaki pants to match, we also bought another onsie and another pair of pants and the total was $20 for all four. Sure, not a super steal, yet, it was way cheaper than some of the outfits that I’ve come across and believe me, if you are not careful, you can spend all sorts of money on clothes for newborns and babies only to have them wear them only a few times. That's basically a waste of money and something I try to avoid at pretty much all costs, which is why I've learned to become really, really thrifty when it comes to how I shop.

A brand new onsie I found at Once Upon A Child!

For example, one way that I’m thrifty when it comes to getting Ryan clothes is to go the second hand route and skip buying new all together. In Green Bay, Wisc., I’ve found all sorts of awesome clothes for him at Once Upon A Child. It is a second hand clothing store for children where people can buy and sell their gently used clothes. One day, I walked out of the store with a huge bag of clothes that included onsies, sleepers, sweatshirts, shirts, and pants for like $40. It was really cool, especially since the majority of what I got for him that day was actually brand new and was never worn before. I also found his bath tub there for $8.50, which I would have paid at least $20 for brand new in the store.

Another thrifty shopping habit that I’ve picked up is to get his clothes on EBay. As you've probably noticed, I love putting him in name brand clothes. And yes, the first outfit he wore out of the hospital was made by Nike, but let’s face it, if I paid full price for all of his stuff we would go broke and not be able to eat regularly. Thus, I’ve gotten pretty good at getting things for dirt cheap on EBay for him. You could call me the master of the online auction. I see what I want, I wait to make a bid on it, and at the last minute. I get the deal. Case in point, I bought his first pair of Nike shoes for eight bucks on EBay and that included shipping since I had a coupon. (Side note here, it's easy to find coupons, just do a Google search and all sorts of options will pop up. You just need to make sure they are legit and that they actually work, which takes some time to figure out, but once you do, it's totally worth the effort.)

Ryan's first pair of kicks! Awesome!

Now sure, the Nike shoes I got him for eight bucks were used, yet that’s not that big of a deal since they look brand new and the kicker is, if I would have got them new from Nike.com, I would have paid around $50 for pretty much the same exact shoes and would have paid for shipping on top of that. I have also found great deals on Nike onsies and other outfits too. Yeah, I guess I’m a little obsessed with Nike, but that’s just how I roll. LOL. 

Along with going on EBay, I’ve discovered that I can save money getting his clothes at different online department stores instead of actually shopping at the stores themselves. You think it would be the other way around, yet, that is not the case at all. Like, the other day I went to Kohls.com and bought him a Nike track suit for Christmas. If I would have driven to the store, I would have spent $45 on it. However, online I was able to get it on sale, plus, I had a 20% off coupon. So, it was like $20 and I didn’t even have to pay for shipping. Oh yeah! I also found some decent deals at Target.com too when I bought him some other clothes and some of his baby stuff like his Boppy and his swing.

Needless to say, I think I’m becoming a bit of a shopaholic when it comes to getting stuff for Ryan. At least I’m getting everything at good prices though, so, it all evens out then, right? :) Until next time, this is Carla the tomboy and new, thrifty mom, signing off!

Go away baby weight! - Part 2

So, I said I would talk about my eating game plan when it came to losing my baby weight and guess what; it’s not going all that well. What I’ve discovered is trying to follow any kind of eating plan is quite the challenge, yet, going into it, I knew that it would be. That’s why when I committed to losing my baby weight, I focused first on getting my workout routine in place. Now that I have a routine down, since I workout four or five times a week, I've turned my attention to eating better.

Mmm, breakfast! Try with reduced fat peanut butter!

Basically, what I’ve been trying to is eat lighter and eat more often. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I start with an Eggo whole wheat breakfast waffle in the morning, have some kind of snack mid-morning like grapes or carrots, then for lunch I go with a turkey sandwich on wheat bread (skipping the mayo and substituting mustard) or a Lean Cuisine, have another snack mid-afternoon, and then at dinner time, I try to eat a balanced meal with a protein, a starch, and some kind of vegetable whether it be a salad or something cooked like green beans or peas. Along with trying to eat better, I’m also trying to drink a bunch of water, cut down on the alcohol intake, and skip high sugary drinks like Gatorade and juice. Occasionally, I will have a soda and yes, I still drink coffee in the morning. I know I should stop, yet, sometimes green tea just doesn’t quite cut it and I need that cup of Joe.

For the most part, I’ve been sticking to the meal plan during the day, but what’s really been killing me is trying to follow it at dinner time. At the end of the day, I’m tired and I just want to relax with a beer and fill my belly with food that tastes good. Yes, I guess you would say that I am an emotional eater and if I’ve had a rough or long day, I typically want to eat and drink things I like to feel better. Therefore, it can be hard to eat chicken, rice, and a side salad with water when my head and belly want a grilled cheese and a Miller Lite! What I’ve come to the conclusion with the dinner time meal is to just kind of go with the flow. If I want to indulge a craving, I try not to go overboard and overeat. Like, if I want a grilled cheese and a beer, I try to eat just one grilled cheese and be done with it instead of eating as many as I can. Or, if I want a beer, I just drink one to savor it. I’ve also discovered my love for wine again and will substitute a beer with a glass of Cabernet or Merlot. Both are tasty and in moderation, are actually good for you.

Me giving into a craving, oh well, you live and you learn!

There are times though when limiting myself at dinner doesn’t work either and I end up eating and drinking too much, however, I try not to beat myself up over it and tell myself that tomorrow is a new day. I figure it’s all about taking tiny, positive steps in the right direction and I keep telling myself that it’s a process and that I’m not going to be able to change overnight. A Facebook friend helped me realize that. She said that it took me nine months to put on the baby weight and that it will take some time to lose the weight too. I thank you for the advice and the support because sometimes I forget that I need to be patient and not get discouraged. We all know that when it comes to weight loss, if a person gets discouraged, he or she generally gives up and I’m not prepared to do that, not at all. I want to feel and look good again and I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to make that happen. :)

Well, that’s about all that I got for today when it comes to eating and weight loss. If you’re interested in some low fat meals along with workout tips and routines, check out a few of these sites:

Places to find low fat recipes

• http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/mealplanning/u/easyrecipes.htm 
• http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/healthy-living/low-fat-recipes/main.aspx
• http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/low-fat/index.html 
• http://www.sparkrecipes.com/

Workout routines and tips

• http://www.workoutbox.com/workouts/ 
• http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/10-workout-secrets-expert-exercise-tips 
• http://www.health.com/health/fitness 
• http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles_list.asp?iSel=17

With that, I bid you farewell and until next time, this is Carla the new mom, and tomboy, signing off!

Having a sick baby is no fun :(

The sick little guy trying to nap.

I know, I know. I said in my last post that I would talk about my eating habit game plan when it came to losing my baby weight this time around. Well the thing is, that was before Ryan got sick so talking about weight loss is going to go on the backburner for the moment. Instead, I’m going to focus on what it’s been like to experience being a mom with a sick baby for the first time.

In three words, it is rough. There is snot flying everywhere not to mention the occasional urpage when he can’t hold down his Similac formula and then there was the mother of all poop blow-outs that had both Dave and myself gagging in disgust on Sunday. I mean, the little guy first pooped in his diaper, which was fine since that’s what babies do. But then when we went to change him, that’s where things got nuts because he projectile pooped when we got his diaper off, proceeded to poop more after I tried to wipe off his bum, and then thought it would be fun to kick his feet all around in it. He was giggling the whole time, so, he wasn’t feeling all that sick, but it was so gross that we both almost puked. Needless to say, Ryan immediately got a bath, his clothes were thrown in the laundry, and after changing the garbage in his room that was filled with his poop aftermath, we even had to plug a Glade air freshener in the wall since the smell wouldn’t go away! Ahhh!

Ryan is not a fan of the snot sucker!

Other than the blow-out of all blow-outs, the hardest thing to deal with is not being able to help him feel better. Since he’s still so little, he doesn’t know how to breathe through his mouth yet and that’s been a big problem for him given that his nose is almost plugged shut. So, we had to bust out the nose sucky thing and he hates it with a passion. Every time we use it on him, he screams bloody murder and it’s hard to keep cleaning out his nose when I know that it bothers him so much. Once we’re done, he calms down, but geez, it’s like his world is coming to an end. I’ve never felt so sympathetic for someone who has had a cold before, which is a bit out of character for me since I’m sometimes not a very compassionate person. It’s a character flaw of mine, so, I apologize to everyone who I’ve come in contact with who has had a cold in the past and have not show compassion for. That was pretty crappy of me and it won’t happen again, but I digress and back to Ryan.

Now, after we suck his nose out with the sucky thing, he could breathe for a little bit and would get comfortable enough to fall asleep in either my or Dave’s arms. However, the sleeping has always been short lived due to the fact that his nose would get plugged up again and he would snort and wake himself up. It’s a super vicious cycle that I’m hoping will end soon. The fever/pain reducer we got for him seems to help a bit with the congestion and we also bought him a warm steam vaporizer, something that has helped him sleep in his room by himself for a little while the last couple of nights.   

I must say through this whole thing, Dave has been SUPER DAD. He has been taking care of Ryan the last two days while I’m at work and has been doing an awesome job. He’s so patient with him and cares so much about him. Without Dave, I don’t think I’d be able to handle dealing with Ryan’s cold, especially since I’m getting sick myself. What really sucks is now Dave is sick and we’re basically all miserable. Hopefully, we’ll all get better soon and can get back to our normal routines…FINGERS CROSSED! 

Go away baby weight! – Part 1

Not all that happy about the way I look.

I’ve never been a skinny person. Let’s get that straight. I’ve always have had some muscle and yes, some fat on my bones. That’s just my make-up and I can’t change it. I’ve learned to accept the curves, for the most part, and have always just tried to be happy with the way I look. However, now my body has a whole bunch of extra baby weight on it and quite frankly, I’m fed up it.

Yes, this tomboy is insecure at the moment and it’s killing me. I want the baby weight off and I’m trying to do everything I can to lose the weight sooner rather than later. When I was pregnant I did work out and that helped me avoid gaining a whole bunch of weight, around 35 lbs in total, but after I had Ryan, I wasn’t allowed to work out or do pretty much anything for six weeks in order for my body to recover. And believe me, it’s not like I wanted to work out at that point anyway. I mean, it was painful to even sit down and stand back up after I had Ryan so needless to say, I wasn’t going to try to do squats or run five miles! Like, super OUCH! So, for those six weeks, I did basically nothing in terms of exercise and I ate and drank whatever I wanted. I mean, I had pizza, cheeseburgers, ice cream, cookies, cake, brats, cheese (mm, I love cheese) and yes, I did indulge and had some beers. Well, more then some. Honey Weiss is my favorite and boy did they taste good going down! Especially with a lemon, yum! Okay, I digress, but I figured I deserved to treat myself and go a little nuts  since I did push a watermelon out my va-jay-jay! :)

Peter as a blob!

Well, all of the inactivity and treating myself has pretty much left my body in shambles. Sure, I did lose about 20 or so pounds of the baby weight, yet the problem is all of the muscle I had before has pretty much turned into fat and my body is a big pile of dough. I feel like Peter Griffin on Family Guy when he made a wish and his bones disappeared. (That was a funny episode by the way, especially when he flushed himself down the shower drain) He slushed around and that's how I feel I am at the moment. I know, it’s not a pretty picture as you can see to the left.

Basically, now I have to start from scratch when it comes to getting my body back into shape. For the last three or so weeks I’ve been working my butt off to make it happen and I must say, it’s been extremely difficult. There are all these obstacles standing in my way when it comes to working out and overcoming them hasn't been all that easy. One, it’s hard to put Ryan down. When he's awake, all I want to do is lay on the floor next to him and keep him happy and occupied. His little smile is the best. Then when he's sleeping, I know that I should l lay him in his crib and go on the exercise bike or do some yoga or something. Yet, I find it hard to do since now that I’m back at work, I don’t get to spend as much time with him as before and I want to make the time I have with him count. Being able to hold him and keep him comfortable is the best feeling in the world as a mom. And, he’s so darn cute when he sleeps too and makes funny little sucking noises. His cuteness makes it that much harder to put him down due to the fact that I just want to watch him and smile. :)

I think I have to realize that my health is important along with his well-being. Therefore, I’m just going to have to force myself to put him in his crib when he’s napping so I can work out. I did that two days ago. It killed me to lay him down, but I did it anyway. When I was done working out, I scooped him up and we cuddled. So I managed to get through it (Yeye me) and still was able to get in some cuddle time with him!

Another obstacle standing in my way of working out is finding time to do it. There’s always so much to get done and not enough time for it all. When I think of working out and then all the laundry that needs to be washed or the cleaning that has to get done, I get overwhelmed and end up doing the housework before the work out. I need to balance things out better and I’m getting close thanks to the art of multi-tasking! I will sometimes throw in a load of laundry and then head outside with Ryan and the baby jogger for a run/walk. Then when I get back, I switch the laundry and do some weights or something while Ryan is content and sleeping in his car seat that can be removed from the jogger. It all gets done and I feel accomplished!

There are other obstacles that have stood in my way when it comes to working out too like the weather given that sometimes Ryan doesn’t want to sleep and we can’t go outside to run/walk because it’s raining. Or, sometimes it’s hard to find someone to watch Ryan when I want to work out if kid’s corner is booked up at the Y. Plus, I’m really good at finding excuses to keep me from working out like if I’m sore or something or don’t feel like driving to the Y. Stupid, I know, but I’ve done it before. And finally, sometimes I’m just tired. There are times when I just want to sleep instead of working out and it can be soooooooooo hard to not fall into bed and nap! Oh, the thought of the pillow beneath my head and being able to shut my eyes. It's glorious! I can’t give in to sleeping all the time though when the opportunity arises and I keep telling myself that I have to press on given that these pounds won’t magically leave my body. 

Along with it being difficult to get back into a work out routine to get my body back in shape, I have found it to be a challenge to change my eating habits. Since this post is getting pretty long, I’ll save talking about that for next time. I do have a game plan that I want to follow and will write about it soon. Until then, this is Carla the new mom, and tomboy, signing off!

I’m not sure if I want to read this or not…

So as I was making my three minute commute to work this morning, the newswomen on the radio talked about this book: ‘Confessions of a Scary Mommy’: An honest look at motherhood during her broadcast. I was intrigued by the title and decided to check out what the book is all about. So, I went online and found an excerpt from it. If you want to check it out for yourself, go to this link:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46942778/ns/today-books/#.UFM9VIH4JtI

I must say, the excerpt was both funny and disturbing all at the same time and I’m on the fence about whether or not I want to read it. The reason being is because I can just see myself obsessing about trying to avoid some of the not-so-good things that other mothers have confessed to doing and then hating myself for ending up doing those same exact things anyway. Kind of crazy thinking I suppose, but that’s just how I roll sometimes. The one thing that I could see myself doing from the excerpt is taking Ryan to daycare at the gym and then heading off to surf the Internet instead of actually working out. However, since I really enjoy working out, I’ve actually used the daycare like it’s intended, especially at the YMCA, which I’ve talked about before. I love working out and being able to have someone to watch him for an hour or so has been awesome! Thanks again ladies! One thing from the excerpt that I couldn’t see myself doing is trying to get sick at 6 pm so I have an excuse to go to bed. How stupid is that? Getting sick sucks and to try to do it on purpose just sounds lame.

Anyway, books and reading aside, I want to talk quick about going back to work. It’s been interesting to say the least and I’m surprised by how much I really don’t want to be at work. I honestly thought it would have been a lot easier than it has been. I really miss being with Ryan and just chilling together during the day. I’m just hoping that things will be better next week and that I won’t be so down about it. It just gets me how much he changes from the time that I leave him in the morning to the time that I see him at night. It’s not a long time, but long enough. I hope I don’t miss anything when I’m not around him, like more smiling or his first words, that would make me even more sad. At least the weekend is here and me, Ryan and Dave get to have a good time together! So, I’m going to stop writing now and go enjoy it. I hope you enjoy your weekend too!