a slice of heaven

Honestly, it still baffles me that I can find refuge in a short run around the neighborhood.  Me, the girl who just a short while ago much rather scrub the kitchen floor than exercise, now is calmed by my feet pounding the pavement.

It is quickly becoming apparent that squeezing in time for a workout is going to much harder than I thought.  As the current sole provider of nutrition for Elsie, I have a max two hour window of time to myself to be away.  Usually a wee bit less.  And the list of things I want to get done in that window is long.  Throw taking care of the toddler and sleep into the mix and there are a million in two reasons why going for a run can take a backseat.

One day last week I debated between going for a run and trying to clean something while Elsie was sleeping, and Chris kicked me out the door.  He told me I'd be a happier person if I just went for a run.  Of course he was right.  The sun was shining, the air was a bit crisp, it was my ideal weather for a run.  Cold enough that you don't get hot, but not so cold that you need gloves and extra crap that get in the way.  When I first started off, my hips and pelvis felt a bit sore from my first postpartum run, but things didn't take too long to loosen up.  And then I truly relaxed.  For 30 minutes there wasn't a pile of laundry staring me in the face.  No dirty dishes.  No strewn about toys.  I wasn't the milk machine waiting for the next feeding.

I was me.  It was a strange feeling.  Really, it was only 30 minutes, and of course I knew I was coming home to all of those things (plus a family I love, but hey).  But for that little span of time I felt free, and I felt like myself, whoever that is.  With the sun streaming threw the tree branches, it truly did feel like a little slice of heaven.

Workouts are going to be hard to come by for a while.  Until we can start going back to the gym, or figure out a better way to slide them into the schedule, it is just going to be tough.  And all of those other things are always going to be nagging me to get them done too.  But that run solidified that I need my workouts.  For a healthier body and mind.  My six week check-up is this Friday, and I've been waiting to do anything besides walk or jog until then, but hopefully my doc will clear me to resume all normal activities (I don't have any reason to believe she wouldn't).  Then I can try to figure out how to toss in some 30 Day Shred workouts when I can, along with some of the short random workouts I'm finding on pinterest.

In regards to my goals for this week?  Yeah.  None of them happened.  I have definitely cut way back on the chocolate intake, but the sugar intake and general snacking are at an all time high.  And that run might have been the only workout from last week.  I think there might have been one other walk run, but that is it.

For this coming week I'm not going to make any concrete goals.  I have a lot on my to-do list that I just want to get done, and we decided to have Ryann's birthday party this coming Saturday, and I have done literally nothing for it but invite people.  And buy a bunch of tissue paper and balloons.  So I'm just going to work on surviving, and putting together a little shindig that will make my kiddo happy.

 

Thank you so much to everyone who has been linking up!  10 posts were linked last week, that is a record for me.  I love reading about your adventures in health and fitness, keep it up!

elsie - one month old

written March 11th

Time?  It's flying.  What everyone says is true.  You thought time went quickly when you had a kid.  When you have a second?  You just can't keep up.  Elsie is already a month old.  I don't even want to think about how fast her first birthday will wind up creeping up on us.

sheesh.  I really need to get better with my white balance!

Elsie is quickly growing and packing on the pounds.  At her one month well visit she tipped the scales at 8 pounds 7 ounces (35%) and measured 21 inches long (48%).  The creepy part?  That is EXACTLY what Ryann was at one month old.  And they were nearly exactly the same when they were born.  How does that happen?  I thought Elsie wouldn't gain quite as much since she is being breastfed and Ryann was formula fed, but apparently I make some fatty milk or something :o).  The doctor was definitely impressed, since Elsie's weight fell into the 6th percentile at birth.  Yep, patting myself on the back a bit.

I honestly can't believe it, but the little miss doesn't really fit into newborn sleepers anymore.  And getting newborn onesies on her can be a tad difficult with those itty bitty sleeves.  Also the newborn pants are too short.  She has got some long limbs right now!  Newborn dresses still work just fine, and I can make the other stuff work if I have to, but I think I'll be packing up all the newborn clothes by the end of the week.  So sad, I can't believe how fast she is growing.  We also opened up a box of size one diapers today.  They are definitely big, as are the 0-3 clothes, but they'll do.

Elsie Joann, four weeks / one month old

It is looking like Elsie is going to be similar to Ryann in a couple of other ways that I'm not quite as keen on.  Elsie spits up like crazy.  Like we go through one to two burp clothes per feeding.  And she is falling nicely into that category of 'well, it might be reflux, or it might be gas, or she might just be a spitty baby.'  I hate how uncertain it all is.  E has definitely been uncomfortable after most of her feedings, and you can hear stuff come up her little throat.  But she is gaining weight like a champ.  And sometimes when she is super uncomfortable, she'll eventually fill her pants and that seems to help, so maybe it is in her belly and not reflux?  I don't know.  I don't want to medicate her if she doesn't need it, but I also hate doing nothing if she is in pain.  She isn't always crying or inconsolable, but she isn't always comfy either.

The other similarity they share?  A difficulty getting to sleep.  Seriously, I swore up and down that I would do it differently this time, and that Elsie would be able to put herself to sleep and we wouldn't do anything crazy to help her fall asleep.  And yet, this morning I spent over an hour trying to rock, bounce, walk, sway anything I could think of to help her fall asleep.  I swear God is testing me.  He is giving me a semi clone of Ryann to see if I can do it right this time (not that there is anything wrong with Ryann, but you get my drift).  It is even tougher this time with having a toddler to take care of.  It is hard to give Ryann the attention she needs when I'm spending so much time trying to get Elsie to sleep.  I have to figure something out, I'm just not sure what that something is yet.

Of course the thing everyone always wants to know about when you have a small baby... how does she sleep at night?  Well, for the most part she has been waking up every 3 to 3.5 hours around the clock.  Over the last week we've had a few 4 to 4.5 hour stretches at night, so I'm hoping we are heading towards longer and longer bouts of night time sleep.  I know the rest would do everyone some good.  The good news is at night she tends to fall right back to sleep after nursing.  For the most part anyway.  Of course if we have a good amount of spit up and a poopy diaper that can totally throw a wrench in things, but I have a feeling I'd have a tough time getting back to sleep too if I had to change my clothes and got the hiccups and yadda yadda... I get it.

Sheesh, enough of the debbie downer stuff!  I love Elsie to pieces.  She is the cutest, even with her continuously goopy eye (clogged tear duct) and her receding hairline (looks like we've got another blondie in the works).  We are getting super close to social smiles.  The random ones are happening more and more often, and sometimes when I look her right in the eyes and say 'I love you' a huge grin spreads across my face.  Makes my day every single time.

We're trying to work on incorporating more and more tummy time into our day.  The spit up kind of hinders that a bit, and Elsie doesn't love it, but she is getting stronger.  And we have to do it, the doc said she is getting a slightly flat spot on the left side of her head.  Don't want any of that!  So sorry E, you'll have to suck it up and do some more tummy time.  I tried laying her on my chest yesterday to try it that way, and wouldn't you know she just passed out.  So apparently it isn't always super tough to get her to sleep, and I loved the snuggles, but...

Besides tummy time, other things that Elsie dislikes are having her diaper changed, getting her clothes changed, taking a bath (although she is warming up to them), being swaddled (I think, but she definitely hasn't shown me she can sleep unswaddled!)... So pretty much what we do all day long.  Sorry kid.  Things that Elsie does like?  Boobs.  Girl loves to eat.  If she is the slightest bit hungry, watch out.  She will be searching for a boob like crazy, and no matter if she doesn't find it.  She'll just go ahead and attempt to latch onto whatever is closest.  An arm, shirt, my face.  No big deal.

Miss Elsie Joann I am so excited to watch you grow, see your personality emerge, watch your relationship with your sister develop, but please, please don't grow too fast.  Ok?  I love you bunch

a day in the life - justine

I'm a little behind on getting it up, but today Justine has written about a day in her life.  Enjoy!

***

Hello! My name is Justine and I'm a first-time mom to Henry, who is 8 1/2 months old. I became a stay-at-home-mom two months ag0 (my dream come true) and my husband, Ryan, works from home. We currently live in downtown Chicago with our dog, Beck. I blog over at You're So Martha, which started as a way to share my love for interior design, diy, crafting and cooking/baking, but has admittedly has become more of a photo dump for Henry recently.

Here's a look into a fairly typical day (last Tuesday), with my iPhone camera along for the ride (apologies for the low-res/grainy pics! My big girl camera doesn't get out as much anymore).

7:00 am: Henry's awake and now so am I. The last few weeks he's been waking up around 6:30ish (used to be 7:30ish), which is much too early for me, so I'm glad he slept in a little later. Diaper change & a snot suck (he has a bad cold) for Henry - and he hates both. Then it's play time for a bit (I'm hoping he'll start waking up later again if he doesn't nurse right away).

 

(yes, we are still rockin' the santa pajamas in march. hey, if they still fit...)

7:30 am: Nurse

7:45 am: We have a couple minutes of cuddle time (my fave) and Henry plays while I get our breakfast ready. He doesn't last too long playing by himself until he comes to find me.

8:00 am: Breakfast - today's it's cereal for me and cheerios, yogurt and 1/2 a banana (Henry's favorite) for him. Henry gobbles it up and then I clean up.

8:30 am: We get bundled up and walk a couple blocks to the grocery store for ingredients for dinner. It's so convenient living so close to a grocery store, we're there all the time. We'll miss it when we move to the suburbs (we're house hunting now). It's beginning to snow pretty hard.

9:05 am: We're home and I put the groceries away and then get Henry ready for his nap. He gets his sleep sack on, the shade goes down, his white noise machine on, and I sing him a couple songs.

9:20 am: Henry's asleep after only five minutes (that's not always the case unfortunately). While he's sleeping I shower, put in a load of laundry, check emails and Facebook, and look at a baby registry online to choose what I want to buy before we head to the store later.

10:20 am: Henry's awake, after a full hour - that's good for him. He usually only naps for 45 minutes on average. He gets another diaper change and snot suck. He hates life at this point ;)

10:30 am: Nurse

10:50 am: Henry has a couple minutes of 'naked time', then I get him dressed. While I'm getting dressed he plays with Beck on my bed.

11:15 am: We head to Bed, Bath & Beyond for a quick return, then to Buy Buy Baby for a baby shower gift (of course I don't stick to what I planned on buying - too much fun stuff - and spend too long making decisions) and finally stop at the bank.

(picking something out from the registry)

12:30 pm: We're back a bit later than planned, and Henry is hungry. He snacks on some freeze dried fruit while I make lunch. We eat - a wrap, chips and blueberries for me; blueberries, 1/2 banana, previously steamed cauliflower and some homemade veggie puree (previously made and frozen) for Henry - and then I clean up.

1:15 pm: Play time!

1:30 pm: Another diaper change, and Henry nurses. While nursing he falls asleep - which I always try to avoid because he thinks that counts as his nap and doesn't usually stay asleep if I transfer him to his crib or fall back asleep.

2:00 pm: I transfer Henry to his crib in hopes he'll stay asleep. He does wake up and cry, but only for a minute and falls back asleep. Unfortunately only for about 5 minutes then wakes up again, crying. I let him cry hoping he'll fall back asleep (for us, crying it out is the only method that works. For the most part now there isn't much crying unless he's being stubborn and doesn't nap.)

2:35 pm: He is back to sleep again, phew. I realize I haven't put the laundry in the dryer and do that (why I hate laundry: never ending, and I always forget about it). While he sleeps I watch some recorded Fashion Police, review the recipe I'm making for dinner to scale it down and make changes and manage to read a couple blog posts.

3:05 pm: Henry is awake and unhappy, since his nap was not sound or long. We have more snuggles and watch cars and the snow come down until he's in a better mood, then read a couple books and play. We would normally take Beck on a walk with Ryan, but only Ryan takes him today since it's cold and snowing hard.

4:30 pm: Henry nurses

4:50 pm: Henry plays with Ryan while I make him some potatoes for dinner. I also start making the turkey meatloaf that Ryan and I will eat. Ryan has to get back to work, so Henry joins me in the kitchen making noise, but then starts to fuss so I finish what I'm doing with him on one hip.

5:45 pm: Henry eats his dinner of potatoes, homemade meatballs (previously made and frozen) and butternut squash puree (previously made and frozen). After he finishes his dinner, I give him a mum-mum (lifesaver when I need him occupied for 10 minutes) while I finish the meatloaf (please note that me actually cooking dinner is an accomplishment lately. I'm lucky that Ryan is a good cook!).

6:20 pm: Henry plays in his room while I clean the mess in the kitchen, put in the meatloaf and run his bath.

6:35 pm: Bath time! Henry loves it, until he is told he can't stand up. Then it's lotion, pjs, saying goodnight to dad and book time.

6:55 pm: Henry nurses and falls asleep so I transfer him to his crib (bedtime transfers are usually not an issue).

7:20 pm: While dinner is still cooking I check emails and edit Henry's 8 month photo for a blog post.

8:00 pm: Dinner is finally ready (turkey meatloaf, roasted potatoes and salad). Our oven sucks. It was the first time I made the recipe and it was delicious, so at least it was good after all that waiting.

8:25 pm: Dinner is cleaned up, and after I remember to get the laundry out of the dryer (I will fold tomorrow) I'm on the couch with ice cream, finishing Henry's 8 month post while watching the last available episode of Dexter with Ryan. We've been obsessed with Dexter, watching at least an episode a night of the last seven seasons, and can't believe we now have to wait until June for another one and see what happens.

9:15 pm: Henry wakes up. This is unusual; he's been sleeping through the night for months apart from the occasional night. It's probably because of his cold. I let him cry for a while to see if he'll fall back asleep but he doesn't. I go in there and cuddle him, then nurse him since that usually does the trick. It does, but he wakes up when I put him in his crib. Fortunately he falls back asleep for the night after only five minutes.

10:10 pm: I'm in bed, a little later than usual because of Henry waking up. Ryan and I watch some TV that I fall asleep to, by 11 pm.

----------------

What is the most surprising thing to you about being a mom?
Hard question! I don't think I can pick just one. -How immediate and intense the love is. I knew I would obviously love him, but could not even imagine how it would feel to love with every cell of my body, how all encompassing it is. The love is so different than love for your husband, parent, etc. -How much I would like breastfeeding. I always though it was...weird (for lack of a better word), but it worked for me and I'm still going strong eight months later. But it's not without it's hardships. -How hard it is. It's the most important job - raising a human being for goodness sakes - and I don't want to mess it up.There is no manual, and no clear right way, it's constant second guessing.

What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be mamas?
While it is the most important job, try not to take it too seriously and beat yourself up over everything -- they're going to be ok. Even if they drink formula or eat non-organic or skip a nap or cry themselves to sleep -- they're going to be ok. And when you're beating yourself up (even though I just told you not to), think of someone...how do I say this...not too bright,with a kid, and think "i mean, if they can do it, I can too" ;) (I still have to learn to take my advice sometimes)

What are your top three baby products?
This changes as he grows, but overall I would say:
-Boppy pillow: I used this every time I nursed for several months. And it works well for a resting spot for the baby, tummy time and behind them when learning to sit.
-Video monitor: I watch him sleep all. the. time. It's comforting to be able to see them and so cute to see all their positions. And helpful to see if he's on the verge of falling asleep, going back to sleep, or not-gonna-happen-sleep.
-BOB stroller: Living in the city we walk a ton, so having a good stroller was essential. This stroller takes the bad sidewalks of Chicago like a boss and is so easy to push.

Thank you, Ashley, for having me!

***

Thank you for sharing with us Justine!

a day in {my} life

It was a wee bit stupid of me to plan to do a 'day in the life' post right now, but I am also glad I made myself document a day when Elsie is still so small.  Life (and babies) changes so quickly, and I think it will be nice to look back on in even just a couple months.  So here is a peek at my day with a nearly one month old and a nearly three year old!

***

12:15am:  I hear Elsie stirring in the rock 'n play beside me.  It has been three hours since I fed her, but she takes the pacifier and goes back to sleep, so I do too.

1:18am:  This time Elsie is definitely awake and wants to nurse.  I quickly change her diaper and start feeding her.  I can tell she is a bit congested, but it isn't too bad yet.  When I burp her, Elsie spits up all over herself.  And then she poops.  Oh joy.  I wake Chris to go grab me another sleeper, and start changing her diaper.  He also brings back some saline and we try and wet her stuffy nose.  After all of this of course she has the hiccups and spits up some more.  I try getting her to go back to sleep, but all my tricks don't work.  She is starting to get fussy and I am tired.  So I try to nurse her back to sleep.  She latches on for a bit, but obviously doesn't want to eat.  Finally around 2:25am she drifts off to sleep.  I hold her a bit longer before settling her back into the rock 'n play.

5:27am:  Grunty McGrunterson is going strong next to me.  I check the clock and am thankful to see that it has been four hours.  Two longest night stretches yet!  Too bad I didn't get to enjoy any extra sleep since it took her so long to fall asleep.  Based on the amount of grunting, I can already tell this nursing session won't be a fun one.  She is so congested now.  She pops on and off a bunch, and it passing gas like a guy.  Around 6am I see on the monitor that Ry is awake.  Boo.  The only downfall of a 5:30 feeding is that I don't really get a chance to go back to sleep.  Elsie spits up a bunch more when I burp her, but not enough to warrant a change of clothes.  Just enough to give her the hiccups again.  I reswaddle her, and she starts to drift off around 6:15am.  But when I put her down she wakes up again.  So I pick her back up.  She goes in and out of sleep for another 15 minutes or so.

6:45am:  I am finally able to get Elsie to stay asleep in the rock 'n play just as I hear Ryann's door open.  Thankfully Christopher doesn't have to leave for work until 7, so he tends to her for a bit.  I go to the bathroom, and come out to see that Chris has turned on Rio for Ryann.  I'm a little annoyed because I don't think we really need to jump straight to a movie before 7am, but he is making her breakfast and I'm too tired to really care or fight it, so I give up.  When breakfast is ready Ry comes to the table, she has blueberries and a waffle with peanut butter, I have a piece of peanut butter toast.  Chris heads out the door at 7:05am.

7:10am:  I want to jump in the shower and rinse off real quick, and of course I can't take a shower without Ryann joining me, so we head to the bathroom.  But then she decides she needs some toy from the family room.  And the damn cat is meowing outside the door.  So I run down to make sure they have food and water (ohemgee he could see the bottom of the freaking bowl.  there was food.  I shook it around).  Ryann found whatever toy it was she was in search of and we finally hop in the shower.  Really I don't mind having her in there too much, except that the hot water tends to run out fast, and she likes to play in the bath when I get out.  But today I don't plan on washing my hair, so it isn't a big deal.  I get cleaned off, hop out and let Ryann play while I put on some make-up.  I head to the bedroom to find some clothes to put on.  After a few minutes I realize it is way too quiet in the bathroom.  When I come back she appears to be playing nicely, but there is water all over the floor... Whatever.  I quickly straighten my hair, and get Ryann out of the tub.  Then we get clothes on her (well underwear and a shirt) and brush her hair.

8:06am:  Ryann tells me she wants to finish Rio as she runs out of her room.  I was going to hold off until I had to feed Elsie, but two seconds later I hear "Mommy I made it go all by myself!  Hooray!"  Well, she knows how to work a laptop now too.  Uh, hooray?  Again, whatever.  I don't have the energy to fight things lately.  I work on cleaning up the kitchen, straightening up a bit here and there, and make sure the diaper bag is packed up for us to leave the house.  When the movie is over Ryann runs to the family room to start coloring.

8:44am:  Time to wake up the littlest miss.  Ryann follows me into her room (I had moved the rock 'n play in there so I could have the monitor on) and proceeds to unswaddle her while saying sweet little things to her.  Too freaking cute.  Then Ryann tells me she wants me to take their picture laying on the floor.  By all means kiddo, if you insist :o).  Of course that only lasts for like two seconds and then Ryann is on to something else.  I get Elsie dressed and take her into the family room to nurse.  Which of course signals Ryann to be extra needy.  She NEEDS me to help her with a puzzle, and she NEEDS me to help her color a picture and she NEEDS to go potty.  I hate telling her no over and over again, but I also don't want to make a circus out of every nursing session.  Sometimes she will just have to play by herself.  Eventually she cuddles up next to me and we have a conversation about random stuff.  I wish I would have written down what.  She helps me out by getting me a new burp cloth when Elsie spews all over the first one.

9:20am:  Elsie is done nursing, so now it is time to get Ryann ready to go.  I grab her a snack (fruit snacks and oatmeal squares) which is really just my ploy to get her to sit still while I put her hair in a ponytail.  I try getting her leotard on, but she catches sight of herself in the fireplace glass and proceeds to have a dance party in her underwear.    Eventually I get her clothes and shoes on.  Then we all head to my room so I can put my clothes on.  A final pit stop in Elsie's room for another diaper change, and then we all get loaded up in the car and head out.

9:55am:  We are on our way to gymnastics, ON TIME.  I swear daily if we make it anywhere on time it is a miracle.  I eat my snack in the car (a protein bar) and try and call my dad.  Of course then Ryann becomes extra needy again.  "Mommy tell me a story!  Mommy I ate all my oatmeal squares!  Mommy talk to me!"  Then there is some trucks painting on the highway and I get flustered and more or less hang up on my dad.  I guess it wasn't a good time to talk.  Ryann keeps pestering me to 'tell her a story', so I finally cave.  She wants one about a horsey and a pony.  I HATE making up stories for her.  My dad started it as a way to keep her calm at restaurants, and now she wants everyone to tell her a story All. The. Time.  Oy.  After the story we get into asking why this and why that and what is that guy doing and why and who and how and ohmygawd it never stops.  Car rides are exhausting.

10:10am:  I get both kids out of the car at gymnastics, and discover Elsie did NOT fall asleep in her carseat like I assumed she would.  Great.  Ry runs into her class.  This session there are only two other little girls, both older than she is, and it seems to be going MUCH better.  I am thankful for that, and Ry loves her class.  I spend the 45 minutes walking around with Elsie.  She isn't super fussy, but I know she needs to sleep.  Just as she passes out class is over.  I load us all back in the car and head home.  Which of course means more stories, questions and ridiculous conversation.  Oh well.

11:20am:  We're home from gymnastics.  Thankfully Elsie is sleeping so I leave her in the carseat.  I'm starving so I grab some string cheese and join Ry in the family room.  She wants me to do a puzzle.  After we get the puzzle put together I set up the aqua doodle in the kitchen.  I planned to cut up some strawberries and get some lunch near ready before Elsie wanted to nurse again but...

11:41am:  Elsie starts fussing in the carseat letting me know it is time for her lunch!  I guess instead of a strawberry spinach salad I'll be having some microwaved leftovers.  I grab Elsie and sit at the dining room table to nurse.  Surprise surprise, cue the neediness from the older one.  "Mommy help me with my aqua doodle!  I want to take off my leotard.  I need help.  Play with me!"  After Elsie finishes the first side I try to awkwardly help Ry change out of her leotard with Elsie in my lap.  But midway through Ry decides she needs to color a star on the aquadoodle.  Who knows?  She she takes her completely sans clothes self to the kitchen to work on her art.  Oy.  At some point we got her clothes back on, and she decided to play by herself.

12:23pm:  Elsie is done nursing so I lay her in the rock 'n play so I can make some lunch.  That lasts for about two minutes before little sister is screaming.  She most likely is just tired from not really sleeping much earlier.  So I quickly put together Ryann's lunch and get her situated at the table, and then swaddle Elsie and cuddle her until she falls asleep.  Which is easier said than done because after Ryann is done eating it is more of the 'play with me look at me watch me!'  I try calmly explaining that if she will just quietly give me two minutes I can get Elsie to sleep and play with her, but apparently Ry is a bit too dense to understand.

1:04pm:  Elsie is finally really asleep so I lay her down and make good on my promise to do another puzzle with Ryann.  I usually start the process of getting ready for nap at 1:00pm, but figure she deserves a little attention too.  After the puzzle we start to get ready for nap, and of course she drags it out as usual.  I start getting incredibly frustrated and short with her, and then feel guilty because obviously nothing Elsie was doing is truly her fault, and it isn't her fault I couldn't pay attention to her.  Therefore?  Fighting back tears while I'm reading her books before nap because I'm tired, hungry, annoyed AND full of guilt.  Oh motherhood.

1:37pm:  I close the door to Ryann's room and breath a sigh of relief.  Both kiddos are sleeping (well, I guess Ry isn't sleeping yet, but close enough).  Thank goodness for a little me time.  I throw some leftover pizza casserole in the microwave and do a quick clean up of the kitchen.  After I eat my lunch I pick up around the house a little bit more, and wind up sitting down on the couch with my laptop to start this post.

2:34pm:  The front door creaks open, Grammy (my mom) is here!  Score.  Cue another sigh of sweet relief.  Elsie has a doctor's appointment at 8:30 in the morning, so my mom is staying with us for the night so that I don't have to get both kids plus myself out the door by 8am.  We chat a little and I continue working on my post.

3:04pm:  Elsie starts stirring so Grammy jumps up to get a little snuggle time before I feed her.  Of course the little miss proceeds to fill her diaper like it's her job (I guess it is).  After I get her all changed and cleaned up I feed her.  Then we spend a little time playing on her blanket.

4:01pm:  Ryann has been asleep for nearly two hours, so I head in to wake her (or she'll be up forever).  She pops her head up as soon as I say her name, but she looks incredibly out of it.  So I give her a few to really wake up.  Chris arrive homes shortly after that (hooray!  we finally made it to paternity care month!).  Everyone snuggles on Elsie a bit, and then Ryann sits down for a snack with Daddy and Grammy while I attempt to get Elsie back to sleep.

5:00pm:  Elsie is out, thank goodness.  When Grammy is around she tends to do all the stuff I should be doing, so she gets started on cooking dinner.  That frees up Christopher and I to both spend some time playing with Ryann.  First things first though, I eat the rest of the yogurt that Ryann didn't finish at snack time.  Ry puts some necklaces and a bracelet on me and tells me we are going to a party.  With Santa Claus.  Of course.  And then suddenly we are the characters from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  Chris gets deemed 'mean Captain Hook'.  Ryann is Izzy, and I'm Jake.  Grammy gets to be Mr. Smee :o).  Eventually Ryann decides that I'm Mrs. Captain Hook.  And then we turn into a gymnastics class.  And somewhere in there I end up with a pet unicorn.  The things that kid comes up with never ceases to amaze me.

6:20pm:  Dinner time!  My mom made us pork, carrots and rice with strawberries.  My mom is seriously the best.  Ryann is having pizza chips (tortilla with pizza sauce and cheese), pickles and strawberries.  Someday we will force that kid to eat normal food.  Of course there are lots and lots of negotiations to get her to stay at the table and at least eat some of her meal.

6:40pm:  After we are finished eating my mom takes over cleaning duties, Christopher and Ryann sit down to watch a movie and I go in to wake Elsie.  It's been a little over three hours since she ate, and I want to make sure I can feed her by 10, so I can go to bed before 11.

7:28pm:  Bath time for little Miss Elsie.  She absolutely hated sponge baths, but since we've been able to give her a 'real' bath she has tolerated them much much better.  Once she is clean I take her to her room for lotion and pajamas while Chris bathes Ryann.  I get Elsie all swaddled and started toward dreamland, and once Ryann is out of the bath I exchange kids with Chris.  He finishes getting Elsie to sleep while I put pajamas on Ryann, brush her hair, read her books, and do everything else that exists in our much too long always drawn out bedtime routine.  I wish it didn't take so long, and that Ryann would let someone besides me put her to bed, but for the most part it isn't worth the fight.  It is only unfortunate when Elsie wants to nurse when Ryann needs to go to bed.  She freaks out of anyone else tries to tuck her in.

8:30pm:  Ry is in her room for the night so I head to the family room to relax for a little bit.  I'm still starving so I grab a handful of cashews and a frozen strawberry bar.  And then move on to some cookie butter and vanilla wafers (blaming that on Christopher, he is the one who bought it!).  I sit with my laptop and chat with my mom a bit more.  She shows me this video she found on facebook, it's a cat video.  Kinda funny.  I try to keep typing out this post.  Elsie has been kind of squirming the whole time, and finally around 9:00 she wakes up and poops.  Darn digestive system, never letting that kid sleep soundly.  I'm not ready to feed her right then, so my mom snuggles her and she falls right back to sleep.  I finish the section of the post I was working on, eat a little bit more and get ready for bed.

9:40pm:  I take Elsie back to our bedroom for the night.  I do my best to get her diaper changed without rousing her too much, which apparently worked pretty well because she doesn't really stay very awake to nurse.  The session isn't quite as long or productive as I'd like right before bed, but she is so sleepy, and I'm so sleepy so I just swaddle her back up and lay her down.

10:16pm:  Pretty much as soon as Elsie is asleep, I am too.  Good night.

11:48pm:  You have got to be kidding me.  We just went to sleep!  Apparently my swaddle job was crappy, and Elsie busted out.  She seems hungry, and it wouldn't surprise me too much I guess, or something, so I feed her.  I guess I could have tried reswaddling her and getting her back to sleep, but at the time feeding her seemed like the best option.  So much for starting to sleep longer stretches...

***

I've been incredibly lucky to have someone around almost every day since Elsie was born.  Be it my mom, Christopher, or just a short visit from a friend, I've been proactive about making sure I wouldn't have to spend an entire day by myself.  I was worried I would go through postpartum depression and/or anxiety again, and I knew the best way to combat that was to make sure I wasn't by myself for too long.  I think between that, being a much stronger person now, and the fact that I have Ryann and couldn't really dwell too much on stuff has kept the PPD away.  Thank goodness.

So my advice to new or soon to be moms?  Never ever be afraid to ask for help.  You may feel needy, or like you want to do it all yourself, but just ask for help.  If someone offers help, take it.  If you're feeling depressed, talk to someone.  Don't hold it all in.  Adding another child to our family has been difficult, and dealing with Ryann's emotions and feeling has been taxing on me, but I am in a much better place than I was when she was born.  Even with two kids.

And let's see, the three baby items getting the most use right now?

1. Boppy Pillow - Some people love it, some people hate it.  I can nurse without it, but really I think it makes it more comfortable.  And we used the boppy a ton with Ryann when she was a baby, just for propping her up and keeping her from rolling too much after she ate.  Oh spitty babies.  Which brings me to...
2. Burp Cloths - We use a minimum of four a day.  The joy of spitty babies.
3. Fisher Price Rock 'n Play - My friend let me borrow hers, and I am obsessed with it.  The first few nights we were home we tried having Elsie sleep in our room in the Arms Reach Cosleeper (which we used with Ryann and really liked) and she just never seemed to settle, and always ended up sleeping with me.  She seemed to nap pretty well in the rock 'n play, so we tried it at night.  I no longer had to sleep with her.  Score.  I'm already dreading trying to wean her out of it.  But it is so easy to move around the house, and folds up relatively flat so it is easy to get out of the way.  I'd definitely recommend it.  Thanks so much for letting us borrow it Steph!

At some point I'll touch on the baby gear we are loving this time around.  If you want to see what we used with Ryann, and how I felt about it, look here!  

one month postpartum

Somehow my baby is already a month old (I've taken her one month pictures, just have to somehow find the time to write the post!), which means my body is one month post baby.

Still no change in my weight in the last three weeks, but my belly has definitely gotten smaller.  For the most part I can fit into all of my pre-pregnancy clothes, they just don't look quite the same.  My body is soft, and I'm not so happily rockin' a muffin top.  Yes, yes, I know.  It has been one month.  I've got plenty of time to get back into shape.  I'm not stressing too much.  Day by day it just gets a little harder to accept it and not try and change it right away.

sleep deprivation plus no make-up isn't my best look...

I've done so much better about my chocolate intake this past week.  I've still had a lot of sweets, but I'm taking baby steps.  However I'm thinking doing some sort of sugar free challenge or whole eating challenge might be good for me to curb the sugar addiction.  If you've done something like that I'd love to hear how it went, and what sort of plan you followed!  The hardest part might be convincing my husband to participate with me.  I don't think I could do it alone...

The good news?  I sort of started working out this past week.  It was only three days.  And two days were just a 30 minute walk, but I actually put on my running shoes and moved my body.  And yesterday?  Yesterday I RAN.  Not super fast, but I ran.  I covered just under 3.25 miles in about 36 minutes.  I was surprised how easily my body and legs fell back into a rhythm.  I had to convince myself to walk a bit, and remind myself it is not yet the time to push it.

Today I'm feeling a little bit sore in my pelvis and hips.  No doubt I think I over did it a bit.  I just didn't notice at all while I was running.  My lungs were burning before my legs showed any hint of being uncomfortable.  But getting out there was a HUGE boost to my spirit right now.

My goals for this week are to get in another three workouts, even if they are just walks, and to continue to work on my sugar intake.  Well, and also get some more vegetables in my life.  I'm not sure I ate an actual vegetable all day yesterday.  Probably not good.

 

Link up your health and fitness related posts below!

that's what she said

Ryann:  "When you shrink and I'm big like you I can drive you around in a car."

Me:  "Whoa!  We just drove right over the train tracks [on a bridge].  Did you hear the train?"
Ryann:  "Yes... Can we drive on the train tracks?"
Me:  "No.  The tracks are made specially for the train's wheels.  The wheels of our car are made to drive on flat roads and streets."
Ryann:  "Well, we could ask Mickey Mouse for some super wheels and then we could drive on train tracks."

Ryann:  "Can Elsie drink milk from my boobs?"
Me:  laughing "No, she can't."
Ryann:  "It's NOT FUNNY!!"
Me:  trying to stifle laughter  "You're right.  It's not funny.  But no, Elsie can not drink milk from you."
Ryann:  "Why?"
Me:  "Because it just doesn't work like that.  You won't make milk until you get big and you have a baby."

I felt really bad about laughing at her when she asked that.  Because it really was an honest innocent question.  But it was funny to hear her say it.  So far only once has she mimicked me nursing, trying to nurse her baby doll, but that was pretty funny too.  She was wearing a dress and was having issues trying to get it to stay up.  She frustratedly said "How do I get all the way up to my boobs?!?"  We wound up tucking the dress up into the neck so she could 'feed' her baby.  Then she told me she was a good mommy.  It was pretty cute.

whoops.

Well, I realized that I hadn't received a day in the life post for this week, so I got out my schedule to see whose turn it was.

Mine.

Uh, oops.  That certainly isn't going to happen by tomorrow!  So I apologize, there is certainly not going to be a day in the life post tomorrow, and you'll probably be lucky to get a post at all.  Since I'm sure you are all hanging around waiting for me to post something absolutely amazing.

HAHAHAHA.  Just kidding.  Anyway, you get pictures of my kids.  Because currently my days consist of trying to manage my high maintenance toddler while taking care of my semi high maintenance infant.

This weekend my mom took Ryann back to their place for roughly 36 hours so it was just me and Elsie (Christopher was working, duh).  Honestly?  I can't believe that I thought taking care of a baby was so hard when it was just Ryann.  I mean it is still time consuming, sort of.  But mentally the toddler is so much more exhausting.  It was ridiculous how relaxing it was to just have Elsie to take care of.  So of course we had a little photo op.

Seriously.  I know I'm her mom, but I can't get over how cute this kid is.  Love you Elsie Jo!