Note Number Two

William,

You are still a really cool baby. Today you are 104 days old.

Turns out you are teething already. It's not unheard of at this age, but it's pretty young to be getting your first tooth. You haven't been too fussy but have had a few epic meltdowns. This might sound weird but even when you cry it is pretty cute.

Your favorite thing to do right now is stand while we hold you up. You post your fat baby legs up and smile so big. It's pretty adorable. You also love being talked to and you make the best facial expressions. You'll be talking before we know it. And you love the show Yo Gabba Gabba. I don't want to melt your brain by letting you watch TV, but this crazy show will teach you all kinds of things. Today we learned how to be polite and say things like excuse me and thank you. Being polite is super important and you are going to hear that from your dad and I a lot.

Right now I am holding you while you nap. You love to grab my shirt while you sleep and I love kissing your forehead. I kiss your forehead because it is giant. Sorry, you got that from your dad and I. You might grow into yours, I wasn't so lucky. One day someone might call it a "five head", but that's ok. No matter how big it is you will always be cooler than all the other kids for sure. Anyway, these moments when we are snuggled up together are good for my heart, knowing that you are happy and comfy in my arms.

This morning we went for a walk with Mamaw and you slept the whole time, then we had a dance party with the Yo Gabba Gabba gang (Brobee is your dad and I's favorite). After that I gave you a bath and you splashed around a lot today. You love baths and hate when they are over. We wrap you up in a towel and once you realize there is no more warm water you usually cry.

Later today we are eating lunch with the Sharp family. They have a daughter, Millie, who is a year and a half older than you. I'm sure you will be friends with Millie since we are so close with her parents. In fact, you will be surrounded by little girls for a while. You met baby Clementine a few weeks ago, and our friends Peter & Vikki and Alisa & Bryan are both having girls in October. But that's ok, you'll learn quick that girls make the world go round. You will have a lot of strong role models in your life, both male and female, and I'm very thankful for that.

Right now we are trying to get you to sleep on your back more, you are doing ok but aren't quite sleeping through the night yet. That's fine, because I know soon enough I will have to drag your butt out of bed in the mornings for school/practice/games.

I'm rambling. Once again we love you so much, even when you throw fits and even when it is 2am and you want to be awake. Your dad and I slept a whole lot before you came, so it's all good.

Love,
Mom

P.S. You drool a lot right now because you are teething. You drool worse then Ricky the dog. And if you have been drooling all day your cheeks smell funky. Yesterday your dad was holding you and kissed your cheeks, then pulled away because you had baby stink face. Of course you just smiled the whole time. You thankfully like having your face washed. And yes, you still fart a lot. Our house is a bucket of farts between us three and the dogs.

What I think that maybe I might believe

I've found a few mom blogs that have made posts about what they believe. It's kind of like a declaration of the things that they believe about being a parent. How they think a child should be raised and what they believe about some of the hot button issues. After reading a few I was a little put off by the whole thing. Some of the bullet points I agreed with, others I did not. These moms seem so sure that their way is the right way.

I decided I wasn't going to write a "My Beliefs" post because I have only been a parent for 12 weeks. 12 weeks isn't enough time to get up on my soap box and talk about how a child should be raised. If there is one thing I've learned about being a parent it's that things are always changing. Therefore what I believe today may not be what I believe tomorrow. What I know I don't want is to look back on a post I've written and be embarrassed by sounding close minded or set in my ways. What I do want are friends and role models who are content to watch me raise my child, faults and all, and give advice only when I ask for it. Every time I turn around there is someone talking about attachment parenting or letting your baby cry it out and it seems like moms are ready to battle it out without knowing each special circumstance. I feel like moms should be supporting each other as long as the child is healthy and happy.

I used to think a lot of things. I used to think that I could let Will cry it out, but now I can't imagine letting him cry until he fell asleep. It's just not for me, not at this age at least. I also don't think that you can spoil a baby by rocking them or holding them too much. I rock Will to sleep (or Brent does) every night because we both enjoy it so much. I don't think that I want Will to sleep in our bed, but he is still in a bassinet in our room. I thought I would move him from our room to his nursery by the time he is three months old but that is only days away and I know I'm not ready to do that yet. I also wasn't sure if I could breastfeed for long due to lack of knowledge and confidence, but here I am, master of the boob.

Some people might think I should take a stand and not be so wishy washy, but how silly is it to take a stand when I have no idea what the future holds. What I think now may be completely different next week or next month. What I will say is that us parents have to stick together. We have no right to judge or make passive aggressive comments about what other parents are doing. Aren't we all just winging it anyway? We won't know if we are doing it right or wrong until our kids grow up to be turds. Then we will look back and think "well maybe that didn't work." Until then I'll just keep on trucking and hope that my sweet Baby Will will grow up to be a great kid and a respectable adult.

Damn. I wasn't going to get on my soap box, yet here I am. I'll get off now, just wanted to say that we are all going through the same milestones and events with our children. And while they are the same there are many different approaches to handle them.

Alright, can someone help me off this thing?

The Transition

The transition. Every parent knows it, that moment when you have to transfer your sleeping baby from your arms to their sleeper/crib/bed without waking them up. I've gotten quite good at doing this since I rock Will to sleep every night, but it wasn't easy at first.

When Will was younger he was a lot easier to get to sleep at night. Now that he is super interested in everything it has gotten slightly more challenging. I have found that if I rock him to sleep in the glider he will pass out pretty quickly, usually no more than 30 minutes of rocking and he's done. I sit and stare at him and wait for my signal. There is a difference between barely asleep and completely out. I know Will is out when he begins to open mouth breathe or his eyes quit fluttering. At that point my parent ninja skills kick in. I position my arms in a way that is supporting his whole body so that when the boppy pillow slides out from under him he won't be startled. Sometimes his giant man head has cut off the blood flow to my arm and it's asleep as well. If that happens I have to pump my hand a few times so I don't feel like I am going to drop him. Then I slowly begin to sit up. I get myself to the edge of the chair, then stand straight up without Will moving. As long as he is still motionless I begin my awkward shuffle walk to his sleeper. At this point I hope that the dogs don't follow me. I always think it is cute that they want to sit by the glider while I rock him, that is until Maki starts dancing around toe nails first. I stop and give her a stern look and mouth "no!". Surprisingly she knows that I am mad and stops walking. I always feel bad because she has no idea why I am telling her no, but she knows I mean business. As I slide my feet across the floor I can here Maki taking a few steps at a time behind me. Click....clack....clickity clack.....click...I shoot her another look and she freezes. Sometimes I am mid shuffle when I look down and Will is just staring at me. Noooooooooooo! I always freeze, hoping that he will shut his little eyes again and drift back to sleep. Sometimes he will. Other times he just stares and I know my transition has failed and it's back to the rocker.

The transition can be difficult, but it is very rewarding when it goes smoothly. You feel awesome when your baby is asleep and you can walk away from their bed and have a moment to yourself before you crash too.

Review: Graco SnugRider Stroller

I never realized there were so many stroller options. When we registered for our shower we got a Graco Travel System which comes with a tank of a stroller and car seat. While I love the big stroller for our long walks I hated lugging it around and going into stores with it. The stroller alone weighs a whopping 27 lbs, so getting it in and out of the trunk is a task. I remember going somewhere with my mom when Will was only a few weeks old. I couldn't lift anything because of my csection so my mom had the task of loading the stroller into the trunk. While she was doing so I was sitting in the car with Will and I began to feel the whole car shake. I looked back and there was my mom trying to shove the stroller into the trunk to no avail. I couldn't help but laugh. It was the same story trying to get the stroller out of the trunk, my poor mom tugging and pulling. I began to search the internet for small foldable strollers that also fit newborns. The only ones that I could find were very expensive and I couldn't bring myself to pay over 200 dollars for another stroller. Eventually I gave up.

The other night Brent came home with exciting news. He was working at Whole Foods when he saw a couple with the SnugRider stroller. He asked them what it was and they explained that it is a stroller frame that you snap your car seat into and it has a large basket underneath to store things or stash groceries. The best part, it only weighs 12lbs. I immediately did the research online and knew that we had to have one.

We ordered ours for $60.00 online. I'm not sure if they carry them in store at babies r us, but we have free shipping through Amazon Prime so that was more cost efficient for us. It took less than 5 minutes to put together out of the box, just snapped the wheels on and it was ready to go. Very easy to fold up and put in the trunk, it weighs less than Will for crying out loud. 

This is it with the car seat hooked in. I took it on our trip to Whole Foods today. The basket underneath was great for grocery shopping and I was able to fit 3 bags worth of groceries in it. Obviously you could also just put your car seat on the shopping cart, but there are some places you will need to go that won't have a shopping cart. Plus carrying the car seat through the parking lot is such a pain in the butt for me since my baby weighs a ton. 

After our shopping trip I was able to put Will in the car, then fold up the stroller and put it into the trunk with one hand. 

Will enjoying his new set of wheels

The only con is once Will outgrows this car seat we will be unable to use the stroller. I wish I would have known about this product to begin with. However, once Will can sit up and hold his head up we can upgrade to a small foldable stroller. 

A Note to Our Son

William,

Today you are 72 days old.

You arrived on a Tuesday on the first day of May. Since then our lives have been a whirlwind of emotions and diapers. I wanted to take a moment and tell you some things that are happening right now, because one day I won't be able to remember the little things. There will be many more notes that follow.

I love rocking you to sleep. I sit in the glider in your nursery and we snuggle up together. Sometimes you stare into my eyes sleepily and smile. Other times you are overtired and you cry as you fight sleep. Either way I hold you close and rock you until you drift off. Your dad and I call it going to sleepy town. We will talk to you and say "don't miss the train to sleepy town!" or, if you are fighting sleep we say "don't miss your stop at sleepy town, it's a wonderful place to go!" Your dad is quite fond of telling you that you are taking a rocket to sleepy town, because your dad is a space nerd. No matter what mode of transportation, you eventually get there. It's a time of peace and quite around the house. It gives your dad and I time to hang out together while you rest and grow.

When it's time to wake you up and feed you one last time before we sleep your dad rushes over to be the one to do so. He slowly unwraps your blanket, smiling the whole time. You stretch and sleepily open your eyes and your dad's smile grows larger as both of your eyes light up. It's wonderful to watch. When you wake up and see us you smile so big, you're never upset. You start squirming and smiling and my heart about explodes with love.

I love when you make your little noises. You look at us and get all worked up as if you want to talk so badly, then you squeal or say "Ngyu". That's your favorite and ours too. If we repeat the sound back to you you stare in amazement and begin to work on your next sound while you squirm and kick. I can't wait for you to start talking, but I'm sure when that moment comes I will still miss your little noises. Your dad and I talk to you all of the time. Your dad talks about the universe and other science news. I talk to you about things you can be when you grow up and what happened while I was at work or what I am doing at that time. You listen bright eyed, you're always happy when we are talking to you.

Yesterday you grabbed and held onto a toy for the first time. I freaked out about it and yelled at your dad to come see. And last night you slept in your room for 4 hours all by yourself. Your dad and I told you how proud we were of you when we got you up. What a big boy.

We take you for long walks in your stroller on the days that I am off of work. We go around the Seneca loop and you always take a nap while we walk. You seem to enjoy it even though when it is hot out you are a big ball of sweaty baby.

Time has already gone by so fast. On one hand I am eager for you to grow and learn, and on the other I want to hold on to these moments when you let me hold you and kiss you. Everyday you are changing and everyday we are changing too. I'm writing this too you so that I can remember the feelings I had in these fleeting moments and so that you can see how excited and amazed we were as new parents. When you are old enough to read this you will have already learned that life isn't always easy, but I hope you will also have learned that your dad and I are here to support you and love you unconditionally.

Love,
Mom

P.S. You fart a lot. Farts are funny and even though I am an adult and your mother I still laugh at farts. Sometimes I have to leave the room to laugh when you fart in your sleep because I am afraid I will wake you up.

Just a big head

This is my follow up to my post "2 Month Check Up". We went this past Tuesday to have an ultrasound done on Will's head. Here's a picture of him in the waiting room. When he gets sleepy his little jaws droop and he looks like a bulldog to me. He looks pretty pitiful, especially with his little ankle bracelet on.

He did great for the ultrasound. After waiting for a while and nursing him before we went back he fell asleep when the technician put the warm goo on his head. They were able to get good shots since he was out for the whole thing. It went way better than I was expecting. We didn't get the results that same day. but instead had to wait a few days for a call after the results were sent to a radiologist to review.

The doctor called while I was at work and left me a voicemail. When I saw that it was the doctor's number I could feel my heart beat a little quicker in anticipation of what the message might say. I listened and heard the best words ever, "the ultrasound results were normal." A huge weight was lifted from my shoulders and I couldn't help but smile. My baby just has a big head! As long as he is healthy I don't mind having to stretch out the neck holes on all of his onesies.

Sleep

All that I heard while pregnant was "get sleep now because once that baby comes YOU WILL NEVER SLEEP AGAIN." followed by an evil smile. I hated when people told me that. Mostly because I love sleep very much, and also because that's not what I wanted to hear. So I thought I would break it down for the soon to be new moms out there. And of course please remember that my experience is just one of many. You could have a baby that never sleeps, or one that sleeps all of the time.

If you are going to breastfeed you need to understand how often breastfed babies eat. Although I read a ton of information about breastfeeding prior to Will arriving I must have missed that chapter. In the beginning it is every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Now take a minute and think about how much sleep that affords you.

Did you do the math? Are you sad? Yeah, I was too. I wish I could be positive here, but that first month sucked for me. So just be prepared.

After that things get better. I promise it gets better! Will started sleeping for long periods (4-5 hour stretches over night) around 4 weeks, so hang in there. When your baby does that for the first time you wake up and feel like a new person. It's amazing.

Slowly your baby gets into a routine and you have this new mom power where you know you should be tired but you don't care anymore because you have shit to do. All of the time there is shit to do.

So I won't sit here and say annoying things like "you don't understand how tired you will be" or "get your sleep now!" because no, you don't understand and even if you sleep everyday all day until the baby is born you will still be tired once they are here. I will say this though, having a baby is amazing. Seriously. Yes they cry and you will get up at 2am and be like "dammit baby!!!" while you angrily get out of bed. At 2am this morning Will decided he was hungry and I found myself huffing and puffing to the nursery saying things like, "oh really? wake up at 2 am when I have to work in 5 hours? is that funny to you?". I'm not proud of it. Then you will see them and take it down a notch because they are a baby. And this is what babies do. If I was laying in bed and woke up hungry but had no means to feed myself I would cry too. In fact if I am hungry now I get pretty upset until I am fed.

One day your kid will be grown and you will get to sleep in and a part of you is going to miss getting up during the middle of the night and having that moment when it is just you and your baby. It's as if you are the only ones for miles around and it is beautiful. The exhaustion will pass and it is those moments that you will remember.

2 month check up

In my last post about Will's 1 month doctor check up I discussed how taking your kid to the doctor makes you feel like a parent. It makes you feel like you are responsible and an adult. It seems like not that long ago that my mom was taking me to my doctor appointments, and now the tables have turned. So what does it feel like in that moment when they tell you something may be wrong with your baby?

Will's second month check up started out great. The nurse came in and measured him. We weighed him, a whopping 14 lbs. Then they measured his head, entered the numbers, and left the room. When the doctor came in we talked about the basics. I had no complaints or concerns, Will has been doing great. I asked about his head size since at his last visit we were concerned about him being in the 100th percentile. She showed me his growth on a chart and explained that he was still 100th percentile but he is following the curve and his growth is consistent. I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. After we discussed his growth she began doing her exam. Will was smiling and being really great for everything. I was proud of him for being so brave while this stranger moved him around to check ears, eyes, mouth, and reflexes. She then lifted him up, flipped him over, and studied his head shape. I was waiting for her to say something along the lines of "your baby wins the most awesome baby prize!", which might not be a thing but it should be. Instead she furrowed her brow and said, "you know what mom, I'm concerned about his head shape, it's triangular". I felt my heart sink. She scooped him up and told me she wanted to consult with the other doctors and just like that she was out of the room with him. I stood, alone and unsure, letting her few words sink in. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. It hit me out of nowhere, I wasn't prepared for anything to be wrong with Will. And just as quickly as it came, it left. I took a deep breath and decided what kind of mother I wanted to be. I wanted to be logical and strong. I was getting upset about something that may or may not be a problem. Will was growing and developing normally and was a happy and curious baby. There was no need to break down over just a concern. The doctor came back into the room with Will, who was smiling with his big fat cheeks. I held him while she explained that the other doctors agree and they would like to image his head. Time to use my medical knowledge to ask the right questions. What exactly are we worried about? What imaging will be done? When will the tests be run? What do I need to watch for until our appointment? Turns out some babies with his head shape have brains that are growing too quickly. As the brain grows it pushes the skull out, and when the suture lines (the lines between the bony plates) begin to seal it can can cause increased pressure in the skull. The doctor went on to tell me that in her gut she feels that he just genetically has a large head, but she would much rather be safe than sorry. I agree, it is probably nothing, but lets check it out.

After our talk the nurse came in and gave Will his vaccines. He got 2 shots and one oral for the rotavirus. He did great for one shot, then cried his eyes out for the other. Once again he was easily consoled and was asleep by the time we were out to the car.

I struggled with whether I would write about this new turn of events. For some reason it seemed too personal. If I put it out there and something is wrong with Will do I keep blogging about it? Will it look like I want a pity party? Then I remembered the whole reason I began this blog. Not to get attention, but instead to help other parents or soon to be parents. Having a newborn can be a lonely time, which is odd considering it is such a common occurrence. Writing this blog has helped me connect with other moms and I am hopeful that it has been informative to many. So why would I not write about something that shook me to my core? Hearing that something could be wrong with my child was difficult, even when I am sure that Will is a healthy baby.

We go for an ultrasound next week. I really feel like everything will be great and we will laugh about this when he is older. I plan on using it to scare his pregnant wife. Telling her "His head was so big that they thought something was wrong with him!", or if he has a boyfriend then we can just give him a hard time about it. Yep, everything is going to be fine.

What We Eat: Kale Pad Thai

Made this for lunch today! It took me 20 minutes from start to finish and is super yummy.

What you'll need:
1 cup roasted and unsalted peanuts
1 cup nutritional yeast
2 cloves of garlic
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp low sodium tamari (soy sauce)
3/4 cup water
Soba noodles
1 bunch of kale leaves
Handful if cherry tomatoes, halved

In a blender (I used a magic bullet) put the peanuts, nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, salt, broth, tamari, and water. Blend, add extra water if the sauce is too thick. Set aside.

Steam your kale leaves. I just ripped the kale leaves up with my hands into small pieces.

While that is steaming cut up your tomatoes and set them aside. Once your kale is done combine that with your sauce and tomatoes in a pan. Turn on low heat and toss.

Boil your noodles. Soba noodles cook very quickly. Make as many noodles as you like, Brent likes meals with less noodles, and I like it to be noodle heavy so I compromised, but either way is fine. Once the noodles are done put them in the pan with your kale mixture and toss to coat.

Ta Da! Super healthy noms.

The recipe also calls for seaweed flakes as a garnish. I LOVE seaweed flakes because they are yummy and very good for you. I usually buy them in sheets and just tear them apart, but I found these at the grocery last week:

They are perfect for sprinkling on dishes like this or in soups....or on sandwichs or salads. Here is the finished product :)

Review: Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper

I can't believe I haven't already blogged about this product. The Rock and Play Sleeper is probably one of the best things I have right now for Will overall. It's also what anyone who invites me to a baby shower is getting from Brent and I, it has made that much of a difference for us (Surprise Vikki and Alisa....).

We heard about this product from my mom. One of her friends used it for her twins and gushed about how wonderful it was. We didn't get it at our shower but used gift cards to buy it at Target. It was around $50.00, not too bad for what you are getting. I bought it before Will came and tucked the box into the closet in his nursery. When we came home from the hospital it wasn't one of the things we started using right away. In fact, my mom is the one that came over and put it together for us one afternoon (which takes 10 minutes, tops). Either she knew it would be amazing or she saw that I was a mess of exhaustion and felt sorry for me. She put it together, I laid him in it, and he slept for 2 1/2 hours straight. This is him the first time he used it:

If that's not a comfy baby I don't know what is. Prior to this he was up every hour and would spit up large amounts even an hour after he ate. He doesn't have reflux issues but he stopped spitting up so much after sleeping in this sleeper. I'd imagine it's perfect for babies with reflux. 

This is not me or my baby. 

If you go through the pictures on my Facebook page you will notice that a TON of them are while Will is laying in this thing. He doesn't only love sleeping in it, he also loves just hanging out in it. Plus, it's so lightweight that I can move it from room to room and keep him around no matter what I am doing around the house. It also folds up so you can take it with you anywhere. We take it when we spend the day with family and it goes with Will when others watch him during the week. I can carry it with one hand and it slides into my trunk easily. 

Folded up

I recommend this for any mom with a newborn. Oh yeah! Duh, forgot to tell you it rocks, hence the name. If Will gets fussy I can rock it a few times and he is out again. I can also rock it with my foot while I am doing other things. It meets all of the safety requirements for a bassinet and the cover is machine washable. And if your baby sleeps in it they will be a genius. Well maybe that last part is made up, but there really haven't been studies to disprove that either. I would kiss whoever came up with this product right on the mouth.

It's even Ricky approved

You can buy it at Target or Babies R Us, or of course you can order it online. I don't recommend going to the fisher price website to get it because they have a video that starts instantly playing on their home page and it's all loud which leaves you scrambling to mute the volume on your computer. It's not conducive to a sleeping babe.

Inside my head space

When you are pregnant you are supposed to have crazy dreams. I was actually excited about this. I like dreams because it's like having a funny story to tell without actually having to do anything. Your brain is giving you a free story to entertain people. Granted sometimes your brain gives you nightmares or those dreams that you wouldn't share with anyone because they are super weird and kind of creepy and you realize you might have some serious issues. Unfortunately while I was pregnant I only had one dream about having the baby. I was in labor and delivery pushing and out came "my baby". Turns out I had just given birth to my dog Ricky's head. It wasn't severed or anything, just his head wrapped in a blanket. I was so proud of my new dog head baby! Brent and I were smitten and with our new bundle of joy.

Brent had a dream that we were in the delivery room and they took my uterus completely out of my body, sat it on the table next to us, and pulled Will out. Once again we were so happy that our baby was here! Grody.

I'm telling you this because last night I had a good one. I was picking Will up and his shoulder dislocated. As I was laying him down to pop it back into place (because that's what you do...) I realized that his arm had come completely off. Once again, nothing was severed, no blood, it had just popped off like a Barbie doll arm. I panicked (finally) and ran to get Brent. He came in and said "oh yeah, that happens all of the time" and popped it back on.

When I woke up Will was completely intact. Not that I checked.....but yeah I did check. Silly dreams.

My body: Pre and Post Partum

I've never been the super skinny girl. I have more of an athletic build. Now, when girls say they have an athletic build it usually means they are a little stocky or chunky, but seriously, I'm athletic. I played every sport you can imagine growing up and now run to stay in shape. When I became pregnant with Will I was running a mile everyday after work and three miles on Sunday to keep my bod hot. I was feeling good about my body and was trying to mentally prepare for what was about to happen to it. I remember asking the doctor when I would need to stop running and she gave me a shit eating grin and said "you'll know when you need to stop". Boy was she right. It was around 3 1/2 months in. I started running and my joints felt like jello and it would seem to a passerby that I had never run a day in my life. I was gasping for air while my knees felt like they were going to just fall apart mid run. Alright, done with that.

I knew I still had to keep my body in check so I began doing yoga. I loved doing pregnancy yoga. It got my heart rate up just enough and stretching really helped my aching hips. Plus it kept my butt from sliding down into my thighs, which turns out is totally a thing.

The last few weeks of my pregnancy I began preparing myself for what my belly might look like after the fact. To be honest when I really thought about it I would get freaked out. I didn't want to look like a melted candle. I didn't want to be all jiggly. Not because I wanted to impress others, but my body is one of the one things I can control. It's mine and I can determine how it looks, that is until I had a giant preggo belly. Luckily I only gained 25 lbs total while pregnant, despite my obsession with Nords doughnuts. I know other pregnant women may hate me for that, but I made a conscience effort to eat healthy and am proud of myself for doing so. And also, while you are hating me, I didn't get any stretch marks either, except on my boobs. And no heartburn....and no back aches. And oh yeah, since Will was planning to stay in utero forever I didn't have one single contraction. But I'm a really nice person so please don't hate me too bad.

After my csection I had a lot of air in my abdomen that made me feel like a balloon. Not that I cared, I was knee deep in baby and boobs at that point and couldn't have cared less about how I looked. When we got home from the hospital I remember getting out of the shower one day and Brent was saying something that made me laugh, as he often does. I looked down at my belly while laughing and noticed the loose skin jiggling about, and surprisingly it made me laugh harder. The belly that I thought would bum me out was instead like a right of passage. If anyone said anything (which they wouldn't) I could just point at my 9lb 9oz healthy baby. I made that in my body. A whole person. So suck it.

Breastfeeding helped get me down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I was eating like a crazy person and still losing weight. A woman can burn up to 500 calories a day while breastfeeding. Yet another plus for boob milk.

My body still isn't where I would like it to be, but I'm happy. My belly is still saggy even at my pre pregnancy weight, things are just different. And working out with a newborn around isn't easy. Especially with it being in the 90's and 100's outside. I can't load up my baby and take him for a walk or run without worrying about cooking him. So now I carry him around and do squats and lunges. He's like a 13 lb kettlebell. I also lift my actual kettlebell when I get the chance.

A good way to look at your post partum body is as if it is a clean slate. You've just spent 9 months making it a home for your baby, now you get to make it into whatever you want. If you didnt work out before baby now you have a good reason to. Don't work out because our society has serious body image issues, but do it because it is going to make you feel great, and feeling great is going to make you a better mom. Plus, when your kid is old enough to understand you can teach him about the importance of exercise to keep your body healthy and happy.

And with that being said I would like to announce that I will be running the Mini Marathon in 2013. If I announce it on my blog then I can't back out. I ran the mini in 2010, look, here is a picture of me doing it.

That's me looking all happy and fit about 50 yards from the finish line. I couldn't walk for about a week and was sore for about 2 months afterwards (I wish I was joking), but it was a great experience and really pushed me out of my comfort zone. Some might laugh at me and say it is going to be hard to train for the mini now that I have Will, but when I was training for the mini in 2010 I was in school full time finishing up my business degree and working full time. I want to be super mom and this is one way to get started. It's the week of Will's first birthday, so I'm hoping it will be a fantastic time in my life.