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!