February 2012

Why do I still look 3 months pregnant 7 months postpartum??

by Courtney on February 26, 2012

Back in July 2011, as I was sitting on the couch dropping a small fortune on Beach Body DVDs that promised me the skinnies post-baby, I swore I’d be back to my pre-baby weight by Christmas — if not sooner. I was so over my whale-ish figure that I just knew I’d bounce back in no time. I mean, that’s what vain girls do, right? Yes, I’ve definitely lost a lot of weight since giving birth — 47 lbs to be exact, orrrr about the average weight of a 6 year old child. EWWW! Fast-forward 7 months and 4 uses of those Beach Body DVDs later, and I still look 3 months pregnant! WHY! WHY! WHY? Sadly, I still have 10 lbs more to lose!! WHAT!

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I gained WAY too much in pregnancy, namely in my 3rd trimester where I was so uncomfortable that the only thing that brought me comfort was yummy food. I totally overindulged. My bad. And now I’m paying the price for those daily Wendy’s Frostys. I’m so sick of these 10 lbs hanging on for dear life. I try to blame it on breastfeeding; since I read somewhere that breastfeeding can keep on about 10 lbs to aid in milk production. But I know it’s really just my inability to eat healthy and make time for going to the gym. It is SO hard eating whatever you want for a year and a half and then suddenly trying to say no to French fries and eat healthy again. Not to contradict what I just said about breastfeeding, but thanks to nursing, I’ve been able to eat whatever I want and slowly shave off the preggo pounds for the last 7 months. Unfortunately, now I’ve plateaued and it’s going to be up to me to do the rest. Hmph!

I never thought I’d say this; but I wanna look like Jennifer Hudson!

I’m strongly thinking about joining Weight Watchers. Have you seen Jennifer Hudson in those WW ads? Geez! I did WW before my wedding and lost 13 ½ lbs and never looked better. I know it works but it’s definitely a commitment and if you want to be successful, you’ve gotta stick with it. What makes WW even more successful is working out. And since going back to work from maternity leave, I’ve been terribly inconsistent with exercise. I work in the office 3 days a week and half days at home on Mondays and Fridays, so it kind of forces me to get all my gym time in on the weekends, and that’s when I want to be out doing stuff, I don’t want to be on the treadmill! Of course I’m just making excuses.

My problem is that I’ve gotten complacent about my weight loss. But I def don’t want to keep these pounds on and then add the poundage from baby #2 on top of it. What’s frustrating about this weight is that it’s all concentrated right in my tummy, making me STILL look 3 months pregnant! DRATS! Can’t it be nice and evenly distributed throughout my body? I feel like I need a personal trainer to lean out this gut of mine. My 90 crunches once a week aint cuttin’ it. I’m so sick of wearing the same 4 outfits to work; just rotating what days I wear them. They’re the only things that fit! I want to get back in those skinny jeans — and with no muffin top! Pipe dream?

So this is my dilemma. It’s time for me to change my lifestyle if I want to get the skinnies. Am I ready? I don’t know. I’m ready to feel confident again; to look good at my friend’s wedding in May. But can I give up the mindless eating? I mean….I guess I can. Where the heck is my motivation? Where’s that vain girl within when I need her? Did she get a sweet tooth too? *face palm*

Any suggestions on how to lose these last 10 lbs of baby weight? Success stories?

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When your baby inflicts pain on you comparable to labor, and you still can’t hug them enough — you know it’s love.

by Courtney on February 22, 2012

Don't be fooled by these cute little fingers, they inflict PAIN!

Little by little, my 7-month old baby’s hands are becoming like painful weapons at the end of her arms. When I’m nursing her, she now utilizes several torture techniques brought on by those cute little chubby fingers; such as pinching her mama’s arms and chest. OUCH! Seriously, she leaves little purple pinch marks all over my chest! Um, HELLOOOO, doesn’t she see how nice I’m being feeding her from my own body??! I want to scold her and tell her; “NO PINCHING, ANNABELLE!” But how scary does this sound in a cute little baby voice from mama? She just cheeses at me with those five little baby teeth and I simply cannot be mad at Little Miss. When she’s not pinching me, she’s swatting at my chest mid nursing session. She’s obviously becoming very tactile with those weapons hands, and she loves to swing them and make placement on something that makes noise. Babies love cause and effect. They’re clearly thinking; I hit this and that slapping sound happens – HAHAHA! They’re harmless little humans, but who knew they were capable of inflicting such agony? Well, I found out first hand this past weekend how capable they really are….

As my husband was handing little Annabelle to me to start our morning nursing session on Sunday, my Little Miss’s hands and fingers just happened to be at the wrong spot at the wrong time (or maybe it was my face?) and her little baby finger with razor sharp nails poked me in the eye, effectively slicing my cornea, sending me straight to the ER!

O-M-G, I was BLIND, literally walking around my house like Stevie Wonder, with a bandana around my head trying to keep my right eye shut, as my left eye strained to stay open to lead me through my house and to the hospital. In the ER, they pried my eye open and gave me numbing eye drops so they could examine my condition, and sure enough, baby Annabelle wreaked havoc on my eyeball, slicing my cornea (the black center of my eye) from end to end! They gave me a vision test, and I couldn’t see anything below the giant ‘E’ on the top of the vision chart. I was having shooting images of myself blinded for life, not being able to see my little girl grow up and I was feeling utterly sad and sorry for myself! Annnnd then the numbing drops wore off, and I was bent over in pain, feeling sick to my stomach and wondering if this pain was worse than getting that Foley Balloon inserted into my vajajay to induce labor! It was THAT BAD. Not gonna lie; I literally cried like a baby on the car ride home!

It may have been one of the longest days of my life. Just picture a day where you can’t watch TV, read a book, surf the Internet — or do anything visual. You’re basically stuck in your head ALL DAY, and the clock moves at a snail’s pace. Fortunately, the eye is the fastest healing body part, so by day two my eye was back to about 80%, and by Tuesday as I returned to work, I was good to go. Man, what a freak thing! Despite my painfully shitty Sunday, the only thing that brought me happiness and forced me to pry that damn eye open was to feed and play with my little AnnieB. Yep, despite her little fingers debilitating me for 24 hours, I still couldn’t hold her, hug her, and kiss her enough — now that’s love! I’ll just be A LOT more careful about those chubby little Edward Scissor Hands from now on! They’re deadly!

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Feeling happy AND sad over baby’s growing independence

by Courtney on February 16, 2012

All new moms get caught up in baby milestones. Whether we get weekly Babycenter emails that tell us what our babies should be doing each week, or we’re in mom’s groups sizing up the other babies – we want to make sure our kids are developmentally on track. If little Suzie is already crawling, and my baby isn’t even sitting up on her own, I might start wondering; is Suzie a freaking genius? Or is MY baby falling behind?

I’ve recently had my own insecurities about keeping Annabelle on track when it comes to eating solids. I’d talk to other moms who already had their same aged babies on two solids a day and here I couldn’t even get Annabelle to open her mouth and close it on a spoon. Every Gerber baby food I offered her she made a sour puss face. I imagined she was thinking; “Ugh mama, DISGUSTING! Gimme that milk!” I finally got off my lazyass and opened the Baby Bullet puree machine that I got for Christmas and made my first homemade baby food – avocado. And TA-DAH – she LOVED IT! Big open mouth; leaning towards the spoon, giddy excitement with each bite while kicking her feet in glee…it was so cute that I almost ate HER up with a spoon! Yay, my baby was eating people food!! HORRAY!!! Who knew she’d prefer the bland taste of pureed avocado and water over applesauce, but I’m guessing she likes the freshness of homemade food. I even got a call from the daycare today saying she was upset because she wanted more sweet potatoes and they’re all out of what I brought! Before I know it, she’ll be eating off my own plate!

Slow down baby!

When it comes to getting Annabelle mobile, I’ve never been in a rush. That just means I’ll have to baby proof my house sooner and I’ll have to watch her like a hawk so she doesn’t get into anything she shouldn’t. I’m good if she takes a little extra time! And up until a few weeks ago, Annabelle couldn’t quite sit up on her own without the support of a Boppy pillow or someone holding her. But then I blinked and she’s not only sitting on her own, but she’s now scooting on her little bum bum! And tonight while we had her on her tummy, she was lifting herself up on her hands and knees!!!! You know what this means – crawling is around the corner! Like, probably a few weeks from now. (OMG!)

On the one hand, it’s always a sense of relief when I get those Babycenter emails and I see that Annabelle is on track with what they say she “should” be doing for her age. But on the other hand, I feel a little sad at her rapidly growing independence.

I’m still nursing, so she gets three bottles at daycare and the boobie when she’s home. Since I rarely feed her a bottle, I was so surprised to see recently that when she takes a bottle she can hold it all by herself! How long has this been going on??? So now I guess I don’t need to cradle her and feed her a bottle while we gaze into each other’s eyes – she can lay on her Boppy pillow and drink away like a big girl – no mommy needed.

Annnnd that’s where the hint of sadness comes in: no mommy needed. I used to feel guilty taking Annabelle to daycare when I went back to work, but now I feel like she probably has way more fun at daycare than when she is home with me! She loves to play with the other babies. She likes to mimic what they do and this is where she gets all these “big girl moves.” I’m sure this is all loads more exciting than sitting on the floor at home playing with a stack of cups with mommy.

Obviously I want my baby to develop on track and be a big girl, but does it have to happen so fast??? Mommy is missing those days where she was Annabelle’s everything! I mean, I know she still needs me, but it’s all happening too fast and I just want her to stay my baby for a little bit longer. I’m already getting anxiety just thinking about a back talking toddler and a bratty know-it-all teenager!! I suppose when the passing of time sucks every last bit of baby out of my little Annabelle, it’ll be time to start thinking about baby #2!

The baby phase is such a sweet, sweet time in parenthood. One minute you’re wishing it away so you can sleep through the night and have some of your independence back, and the next minute you’re clinging to it for fear of losing it right when you’ve finally started appreciating it! Ahhh….

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Pinterest makes me want to be a better person

by Courtney on February 3, 2012

I’ve discovered a brand new way to waste loads of time: Pinterest. As if Facebook, Twitter and blogging weren’t enough, I now have one more place to leave my mark on the Internet — and it has sucked me in like a vacuum.

What is Pinterest, you ask? Well, number one: get with it. And number two: It’s the closest thing to being like Oprah, where you get to post your “favorite things” to your “pin boards” all day and people care and suddenly want what you want.

But why, you ask? Well, do you ever need a little inspiration for home decorating, or your wedding, or your wardrobe? Pinterest inspires you. In fact, in the last three days of being a Pinterest member, I’ve literally decided it’s time to be a better person on all fronts in life that matter: better style, better home décor, better baby clothes, better nail polish, and better recipes (not that I cook).

Pinterest has made me realize that since having a baby, I’ve become lazy on basically all things in life, outside of motherhood. Here I am pinning all these super adorable wardrobe ideas, and I realize I haven’t worn high heels in a year — so how am I going to suddenly dawn a mini dress and 4 inch peep toe heels? Essentially, Pinterest makes me want to lose the baby weight. Nothing else has inspired me to lose the weight more than looking at all these super cute wardrobe ensembles that I currently cannot wear in good conscience.

You know when you first move into a new home, all you want to do is watch HGTV 24/7, and spend your weekends at Pottery Barn and Target trying to fill space in your new abode? And then you live there 3+ years and you’ve stopped updating it and all your shit starts to look worn out? Well that’s my reality right now. But having a 6-month old baby makes me forget all other “nice to haves” in life, and so my house just sits here, looking the same as it did 3 years ago. But Pinterest makes me want to upgrade mi casa. From cool vintage wall art/frame ideas, to ways to decorate a hideaway bathroom toilet — there’s literally something for every room. And I want to poop in style.

I love that my husband is the cook in our household, but Pinterest makes me want to be a regular ole Marath Stewart. I find myself fantasizing about dawning an apron and making lemonade layer cake, baked French toast, and the “best mac ‘n cheese in the world,” courtesy of Pure Flavor cookbook. Hey, it could happen.

I’ve got it: the only way to ensure that Pinterest isn’t purely a waste of time; I need to actually turn all this inspiration into action and results:

  • Lose the baby weight and improve my wardrobe.
  • Out with the old and in with the new on worn down home décor.
  • And cook like my mama always wanted me to.

I’m sure there are areas on Pinterest that I haven’t even gotten into, such as fitness, pop culture, and blogging. So that will only further tie up my evenings and lunch breaks to be pinning away. Ay yi yi! I’m getting exhausted and inspired just thinking about it. Really, what fuels my pinning obsession is seeing all the emails flooding my inbox telling me people are following me and re-pining my pins! Suddenly, discovering that all these casual friends are into lot of the same things I am, such as fashion, funny quotes, toilet decor, etc., makes me feel like I should really try to get to know them better!

Pretty much, Pinterest is life changing. You should join, but know that there’s a *waiting list* to get in. You’ll need an invitation to join from a current member. Something tells me if you weren’t interested before, knowing that its so *exclusive* is making you crazy and you are pounding your keyboard typing in pinterest.com! And of course, when you get in, be sure to follow me and all my ‘better person’ ideas. :)

Follow Me on Pinterest

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