Here comes date night!

Our last date night around the New Year!
It would be great to replicate the fun!

Since Ryan has been born around seven months ago now, Dave and I have only been out on “date night” maybe three or four times. The last time was probably right around the New Year when we went bowling and needless to say, we really, really need some alone, non-parenting time together. So tonight, we’ve secured our first ever babysitter who is not family and we’re going to go out!

I’m both excited and nervous because it’s going to be weird to leave him with someone in our house we’re not related to for an extended period of time. Sure, we take him to day care during the week at KinderCare, but that’s a bit different from having someone come into our home. I think the babysitter we chose it totally capable, especially since she’s watched him before at the YMCA when we drop him off at Kid’s Corner. Everyone there does a great job and whenever we pick him up, he’s always smiling and happy. Plus, they always are sad to see him go when we pick him up after working out and I’m assuming that must mean he’s easy to take care of, right? Well, I'm hoping anyway!

I know that I’m being a bit overprotective at this point, yet, that’s what mommies do and I just want to make sure that he’s well happy and well taken care of. I think what’ s going to help me get through it is knowing that the person we hired is very excited to babysit for us, loves kids, and has a good personality. On top of that, I can always call or text and check up on how he’s doing. If things aren’t going well, then we can always call it a night and head home. 

If all goes well though, then there is a good possibility that more nights out on the town are in our future! We’ve been promising some friends, you know who you are and we haven’t forgotten :0), for a while now that we’re going to get-together and I’m totally looking forward to that too just like having an evening kid-free with my husband. It would be really great that it all’s going to work out and that all of us, Dave, Ryan, myself, and the babysitter, will have a good time! My fingers are crossed that it does!

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!

OMG, I go back to work next week!

I'm going to miss this little guy when I go back to work.

I can’t believe it! Next week Wednesday, I go back to work and this chic is completely freaking out about it! No longer do I get to sit at home and chill with my little baby boy. Nope, no more spending the whole day together because now I have to reenter the real world and I have no idea how this whole thing is going to pan out.

For starters, I’m a little apprehensive about taking Ryan to day care. Sure, he’s been to kid’s corner at the YMCA a few times and has handled it beautifully, but that still doesn’t ease my concerns. Oh, side note here, the ladies who work at the kid’s corner at the East Side YMCA are totally awesome and Ryan just loves going there! They hold and oogle over him, so, when I pick him up after my work-outs, he’s nothing but happy! Thanks ladies! With that said, back to my concerns about day care. I’m not sure why I’m so freaked out about it since the place, KinderCare on the east side, we’re going to take him is clean while the staff is very, very friendly. When I stopped in this week to get his paperwork, everyone was on the ball and the kids in the infant room looked happy. Basically, I don’t know why I’m freaking out so much given that I know he’s going to get great care. I think what’s bothering me about it, is that I feel like they’re not going to be able to take care of him as good as Dave and I have. It’s rather annoying to be honest and I think it’s just my motherly instinct kicking in. I hope that my overprotectiveness goes away.  In time, I think that it will.  One thing that’s easing my concerns is that my mom is going to watch him one day a week and he just loves Grandma! :o)

Something else that I’m worried about is actually returning to work and being able to get back into the groove of everything. I think the first hurdle that I’m going to have to overcome is being able to work eight hours straight. Plus, there’s all that grown up thinking that’s going to need to be done and I hope my brain can handle it. Seriously, going from talking and playing with Ryan along with watching Teen Mom on MTV back to handling customer questions and complaints is going to a shocking daily shift in activities. At first, I have a feeling that it’s all going to be overwhelming and I’m sure there might be some tears. Ughh, tears??? I’m such a girl. However, when I’m able to get into a routine, I’m praying that it will all be fine and that I’ll be able to handle it. Fingers crossed! One thing that I do have going for me is that I did do some fall preview stories for the De Pere Journal while I was on maternity leave. It was a bit of a challenge since I had to squeeze the work in between Ryan’s nap, yet, I was able to get it done. That gives me a little bit of hope that going back to work won’t be super horrible. We’ll just have to see I suppose.

Now, probably the biggest thing that I’m concerned about when it’s time for me to go back to work next week is that I won’t be with my little man all day. I’ve gotten used to his company and to not have him by my side is going to be super strange. I’m going to miss him so much, but that’s a good thing due to the fact that it means that we both bonded a bunch like a mom and a child should. And yes, I’m trying to be positive about having to leave him because if I don’t look at the positives right now, I get a little sad. So, happy thoughts, happy thoughts, HAPPY THOUGHTS! One happy thought I’m going to always come up with when I think of him is his little grin, he’s such a happy baby, even when he wakes up. Not sure where he got that from though, neither Dave nor myself is a morning person! LOL!

Anyway, as I look back on my 10 or so weeks with Ryan at home, I realize how special our time was together. This Tomboy learned how to become a mother and whoever thought that would happen? Not me at first, but with Dave’s help, I was able to do it. Thanks dear! Something else I realized during my maternity leave was that family is most important. Ryan brought our family closer together and the relationship that I have with Dave and his kids has only grown stronger, especially my relationship with Emily who still lives at home. She’s been so awesome and cares so much about Ryan that seeing them together brings a smile to my face! 

Right now, the future looks bright for us and I can’t wait for what’s to come. One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be a fun adventure and I’m ready for it. I hope that you are too since I’m going to write about it all as much as I can! :)

Working out makes me happy!

Just like the subject line of this blog post indicates, working out makes me happy and it’s one of the things I’ve been trying to do on a daily basis during my pregnancy.

What’s been hard about working out is that sometimes I just don’t feel like doing it, especially as of late since I’ve been getting bigger and find that I’m totally self conscious about doing it in front of other people. I feel like they’re staring at me. And who can blame them, I have a big belly and I’m sure that it looks pretty damn funny! Especially when I lose my balance and almost fall off the machine I’m on! J So to combat that, when I work out at the YMCA I go back to their little private workout area that’s somewhat shielded from the rest of the world. However, then what ends up happening is I’ll be the only person back there minding my own business, and then someone else will show up to work out and plop right down on the machine next to me. It’s like, really, out of the 15 or 20 machines back here, you have to pick the stupid one next to me. What’s even worse is that person ends up being completely annoying, like they fart a bunch or talk on the phone or something and then I get annoyed and don’t want to finish my workout. I try to power through, but it can be hard. And to those people who are annoying, get a clue and stop being annoying! And yes, I just ranted and feel better.

Anyway, another thing I do to combat my not wanting to workout is to make sure my IPod has new music on it, giving me something motivating and interesting to listen to. Or if I’m working out at home, I make sure that I digitally record shows in advance so I can watch them when I’m working out. It keeps my mind busy and prevents me from thinking about how long I have yet to go, how tired I feel, or how much I would rather be sitting on the couch eating Cheetos!

I’ve modified the workouts that I do now too and instead of cycling outdoors, which I’m sad that I can’t do, I ride the stationary bike in the house. Or, if I lift weights, instead of going all hardcore and pushing myself to lift as much weight as possible, I lift less weight and do more repetitions. I find that using the elliptical is a good alternative to running and that walking the dog up and down a bunch of hills makes for a good workout as well.

One of the 1980's weights I use when I lift! LOL!

Like I said before, I have found when I do workout, I’m much happier afterwards and that’s why I’m committed to doing at least a little something each day. My OB said that I can work out as long as I feel comfortable. I’m sure at some point I won’t be comfortable working out, yet hopefully that happens later rather than sooner.

If you’re pregnant and looking for some modified exercises or workout tips, check out: http://www.babycenter.com/0_the-best-kinds-of-exercise-for-pregnancy_7880.bc.

Or, if you’re not pregnant, but need some motivation, another good site to check out is: http://www.sparkpeople.com/

That’s about all I have for now, so get moving! I know that as much as I don’t feel like getting in a workout today after I post this, I’m going to make myself do it because it’s going to bring a smile to my face!

Sometimes, my mind just races...

Being pregnant can be a little stressful, well, a lot stressful at times and you’re probably thinking to yourself, well, duh? It’s a life changing event, so what do you expect? The thing is, if my mind starts racing about what’s happening and what’s to come, I’m finding that I’m having a hard time shutting it off. It’s been a bit annoying to be honest and I’m hoping that it will get better, but lately it’s only gotten worse. :(

Take the other day as an example, I was just sitting around watching a little television and then little Billy Bubba started rolling around and kicking up a storm. It was super kewl to feel him, but then my mind started going about different things. Like, I wondered about how he was doing and if he doing okay or not along with thinking about if the amount that I was feeling him move was normal or not enough, and then I jumped forward to my due date and thought about whether or not he was going to be healthy when he made his way into this world. Then, my mind got on all the stuff my husband Dave and I needed to get done before he came, the stuff we had to buy, and how much everything was going to cost. It wasn’t all that much fun and after doing this for about an hour or so, I finally decided the only way that I was going to stop was to quit watching TV and take my pooch Beaver for a walk. After getting some fresh air and enjoying the sunshine, I was able to finally clear my head.

Walking Beaver is just one of the ways that I’ve learned to get past all my thinking and over-thinking given that I’ve also learned that going to the YMCA and working out helps as well. Basically, I just find ways to distract myself so I don’t ponder anything and everything over and over again. Some of the better distractions I’ve come up with include:

• Baking 
• Taking a nap
• Cleaning
• Shopping
• Going on a drive with Dave and just talking
• Painting, and not the lame kind, but like with water colors and acrylic paints on canvas
• Listening to music 
• Playing fetch with the pooch or just making him run in circles :)

The distractions I’ve mentioned about are what have helped me through my stressful moments and I’m sure there are other great options as well. If you have any ideas, please let me know because I’m more than willing to try them.

With that said, I do understand that being pregnant isn’t easy and that being stressed while pregnant is something that all of us pregnant ladies have to deal with, yet it still can be a bummer from time to time. My hope is to just be able to get past it and not have it affect me too much. So far, that hasn’t been the case, but I’m doing my best to get better and right now, that’s about all that I can do. What has really helped is thinking about my little boy, he brings a smile to my face no matter how crazy I may be feeling. :) Thanks BB and until I post again, this is Carla the pregnant Tomboy signing off!