Mommy Moments

Sweet potato poop. That’s what I found in my son’s diaper this morning. Oh, the joys of mothering. Starting him on solids has definitely made diaper changes more, um, interesting.

In other news, both bottom teeth have poked through.  If you look closely you can see them in this picture:

Toothy grin

Thankfully, he has only bit me once and he received a light thump to his cheek to get him to let go, along with a stern no. The “experts” say a baby at this age is too young to understand the word “no” and I laugh at them. Since he has been getting more mobile this past month my husband and I have been using the word no more often, as he gets into things he shouldn’t have. He may not fully understand the meaning but it’s not too early to start teaching him.

William is an expert at crawling backwards. He’ll back up into a piece of furniture or under a chair and then look at you and cry because he can’t go any further. He still only occasionally crawls a step or two forward but I know that sometime in the near future he’s just going to take off. I’m excited about the new phase but I do miss the days when I could leave the room for a bit and know he would still be in the same place when I came back.

Backwards crawler

Stuck under the chair

And to my readers, no, I did not forget about Fit Friday last week. My best friend, Krista, was in town. We haven’t seen each other since she was maid of honor at my wedding, a year and a half ago.

My beautiful Maid of Honor

Spending time with her was more important to me than getting a blog post out. It was so good to see her again…now I just have to get her to move up here.

Best friends

We spent the week walking all over Chicago and various museums, so I definitely got a workout in. The exciting news is that I when I stepped on the scale this morning I weighed 139.8! YAY! Let’s keep the weight loss coming.

But for now, I must go, because William just went down for his morning nap which means it’s time for me to get busy cleaning.

Tags: experts, sweet potato

The good news is that my husband stole removed the temptation of the Dr. Pepper I had been looking forward to for 2 days.

However, he also requested a chocolate cake. Which I made and, of course, helped eat. I have a hard time refusing my husband when he asks me to cook something especially if it involves chocolate.

So I’ve lapsed a bit on the healthy eating and only exercised once- briefly. I’m up 1.4 pounds from last week putting me at 143.

It’s been a bit of a trying week. William is teething and though he’s being pretty good, he has been more demanding. He particularly gets fussy when I start fixing supper.

And tonight, being tired from work and grocery shopping, we enjoyed a frozen pizza. Not the healthiest thing. But I have plenty of fresh veggies in the fridge. Here’s to healthier eating this week.

It’s been a week of firsts.
William has his first tooth coming in. He’s been a pretty good baby mostly but Tylenol and frozen teething rings are my best friends right now.

He can also now get into a sitting position all by himself and decided it’d be a good week to start crawling. He went from trying to crawl but always having one leg stuck underneath to pushing up on all fours and rocking to crawling backwards (and occasionally forwards) in just a few days. He doesn’t crawl more than a couple of ’steps’ but he is well on his way to having it mastered.

He also had bananas for the first time this week which he didn’t like so much.  He seems fine when I mix them in with his oatmeal though.

First taste of bananas

My little guy is growing up so fast! I feel that if I turn around he’ll be walking…especially since he seems to start doing everything all at once.

While he’s been making such rapid progress, I’ve been working on things as well but I’m a bit slower. My Fit Friday post is coming on Sunday because we’ve been having internet problems. I have 50 emails sitting in my inbox but as none of them demand immediate attention I’m making sure to get my blog updated while I have an internet connection.

I’ve eaten better this week; mostly. I fixed vegetables every night when I cooked supper; except for when I made chili. I picked up yogurt and carrots at the store so my snacks are healthier. And I’ve had breakfast everyday this week, which is a BIG deal for me. I’m not much of a breakfast eater. Never really have been. It’s good for me to eat in the morning, though, because then I’m not starving by lunchtime and just grabbing whatever I see to eat.

I didn’t exercise this week though. Unless you count carrying around a 20+ pound baby. Or carrying all my laundry down from my 3rd floor apartment and at least a block over to my car (on icy pavement) and then into my friend’s house so I could wash and dry it. I long for the day we have our own washer and dryer so that I don’t have to mess with stairs or going to a laundromat.

And I failed to weigh myself last week when I started all of this so even though I know I was around 145, I don’t know exactly. So I can’t say if I’ve lost anything but as of right now I weigh 141.6. (Which is making me think my estimate of 145 was WAY off).

So my goals this week are to continue eating well, to start exercising and to finish getting my apartment baby- proofed from my suddenly mobile son.

I was concerned at how good I would be at keeping up a blog. I think the fear of the time commitment kept me from starting one for a long time.

Though I haven’t been blogging very long I’ve surprised myself with how well I’ve done. It’s been much easier than I expected. However, I still don’t wish it to become something that monopolizes my time, so I’ve been mulling over ways to make it simpler for me.

Starting tomorrow I will be doing my first Wordless Wednesday post. It probably won’t be a weekly theme but for the times I am really busy it’s something simple and fun for me to do. I’m excited about the post for this Wednesday and look forward to sharing it with you!

I was never really a football fan. I “watched” my first Superbowl in 2007 when my college set up a projector and made it a campus event. I didn’t go for the game, I went for the free food. The best way to attract college students to an event is to offer to feed them.

In 2008 and 2009 I watched the game with friends and enjoyed it; mostly for the company and the commercials. I don’t really have a preference for a winning team, I just cheer for who my friends want to win.

This year I actually picked a team to cheer for: and it turned out to be a different team than who my husband cheered for. Sorry dear.

The only reason I cheered for the Saints is because my mom is from Louisiana. Maybe not a good reason to pick a team but it’s what I did. And they won. Sorry to all you Colts fans.

Still, I like the commercials best. Though I don’t think there were many very good ones this year. My two favorites were for Doritos and NCIS. Doritos certainly had the best improvement in their ads this year. I hated the ones they had last year. And I’m an NCIS addict so of course I liked that ad but I think I would’ve found it funny even if I didn’t like the show.

I agree with and echo Mandi’s recent sentiments to lose weight and get back in shape.

After my first trimester and the horrible morning sickness disappeared my appetite increased. Normal, right?  I mean I was eating for two…at least that’s how I justified it. I only gained about 33 pounds during pregnancy so I didn’t feel too bad about it.

Then after giving birth my appetite actually increased again. Since now I was a feeding machine for a very hungry little boy I was still able to justify my appetite. After awhile though I realized I was eating more than my husband and that bothered me.

Even though 25 pounds dropped off after having my son I still had an extra 8 pounds of baby weight hanging around. Plus, I weighed about 145 when I got pregnant. 145 may not sound so bad but it was the most I had ever weighed in my life.

I have now lost the additional 8 pounds of baby weight putting me back at 145 pounds, which is good. But I’m not happy with it and unless I change things I’ll never lose those extra 10 pounds I have. I should be between 130-135. I have some really cute skirts and pants I can no longer wear. I want to fit back into them.

My goals are to:

• Eat more vegetables/salads
• Eat smaller portions
• Plan healthier snacks
• Eat breakfast everyday
• Limit coffee and sodas
• Desert  only once a week
• Exercise 3 times a week

This week I’ve tried to fix a vegetable to go along with our supper each night. I know it’s awful but sometimes I let us go way too long without eating vegetables. Having veggies each night means less filling up on meat and carbs.

So since I’m a pro at saying I’ll do things and then procrastinating, I’m joining Mandi in her Fit Friday theme. It’s a little embarrassing to talk about my weight on here but since I know I’ll need to write about my progress, I hope it helps me stay on track- and to not be like the guy in the comic I posted at the beginning.

I am definitely not the cleanest person who ever lived. I like having a clean house but it is hard to keep it that way. I learned after marriage that cleaning a whole house was much different than cleaning a dorm room. And now I’m learning that keeping a clean house when you have a baby is even more of a challenge.

Having a super messy house (or even a halfway messy house for an extended period of time) drives me crazy. I don’t function well with a messy house. When it’s messy, it is just one more thing piling on top of all the others things and I get stressed out and overwhelmed and then nothing gets done. Which just leads to more stress. It’s not pretty.

So how do I fix this problem? I organize and I take baby steps.

I love organization. It hows I keep track of things. I get excited about calenders like this one that I picked up at the store yesterday:

My new calendar

I also love lists. Here are just some of my pads of paper:

Lists, lists and more lists

I used to make lists that said “Clean kitchen, living room, bathroom, etc.” Then at the end of the day I would have done a few things but gotten nothing checked off my list. Not only was I unproductive, I felt unproductive and that was discouraging.

I now make lists like this:

Living room- Clean off coffee table, pick up William’s toys, dust, vacuum
Bathroom- Sink, toilet, floor, tub
Kitchen- Dishes, counters, trash, sweep and mop

By breaking every area down into smaller tasks or ‘baby steps’  it made the jobs seem less overwhelming to me. Then as I finish each part I check it off my list. Before, when I told myself to clean the kitchen, I would look at it and feel I didn’t have time to finish. Now I may not have the time to do the whole job at once but I can easily find the time to finish one part of it.

And at the end of the day the whole job is usually done without stress or any overwhelming feelings.

If you have any secrets or tips for how you accomplish tasks/housework, I’d love to hear about it!

Tags: housework, organization

Six months ago today my husband and I were given a wonderful gift; our son William. It’s gone by so fast and he’s growing up so quickly. Here are some pictures we took today.

His first taste of solid food

Happy Boy

He really wants to crawl

William meeting his great-granddaddy

My Granddaddy died this last week.

Thankfully, William and I were able to fly to North Carolina to see him. We had to get special permission but they let me bring the baby into ICU so he could meet his great-granddaddy. My grandfather’s face lit up and he became the most animated and active he’d been since being admitted to ICU.

The next morning, at 6:15 am, surrounded by family and with hymns being sung, he peacefully slipped away.

My Grandfather was a great man; well known in his community. He served with distinction from 1942-1973 in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. When we visited, my siblings and I were recognized around town as “Colonel Joe’s grandkids.”  My husband wrote an wonderful article that gives great honor to my Grandfather and more details about his service to America. His obituary is here. My memories here will be more personal ones.

Before his death, many friends sent letters to be read to Colonel Joe. One man who had served under him described him as a man with “the steel of a Marine and the tender heart of a shepherd.”

As his granddaughter, I can certainly attest to his tender heart. He loved having his grandchildren around. He also loved to eat and ice cream was one of his favorite foods. One day when I was about 5, my brother, sister and I were running errands with him. He took us to at least 3 different places and got us ice cream. Then he bought ice cream at the grocery store and gave us some more once we got home. The truth came out when my mom and grandmother wondered why we weren’t eating our dinner.

My Granddaddy was a wonder at making buttermilk pancakes. He heap them high on our plates and keep them coming. He also made us snow cream one year. We went to visit for Christmas and they received an unexpected 18 inches of snow. Practically surrounded by woods, there was a good deal of fresh clean snow, which was gathered up and brought inside. Add a bit of vanilla and some banana, blend it all together and it was the most amazing treat.

My Granddaddy spent the last 20+ years of his life confined to a wheelchair. Never once did I hear him complain and it barely slowed him down. He’d scoot all over his neighborhood visiting and talking, staying so long that on numerous occasions, the battery would die and he’d have to be pushed back. My younger brothers would be given rides around the house on his wheelchair and he let them honk the horn all day long.

He loved to fish, and even when he was no longer physically able to, he still made sure we knew how to properly clean a fish. Neighbors would take us fishing and he would supervise the cleaning process. He introduced us to fresh honey from his own beehives and taught my older brother all about beekeeping.

I have many special memories. My Granddaddy is greatly missed but he no longer has pain and is walking with his Savior. And I’m pretty sure that he and Jesus have already been swapping fish stories.

Colonel Joe

Standing on his the wing of his Corsair