C25K/Eating Well/What's Going On

I finished week 2 of Couch to 5 K! My blisters are better. My legs are more tired. A 5k seems somewhat more attainable. I have 5 more weeks until I'm supposed to run a full 5k. I'm keeping my eye on the prize.

Eating cleanly is going pretty well. Because it is summer, we are able to utilize the nearby farmer's market. This week, we stocked up on zucchini, squash, onions, tomatoes, goat cheese and some Texas honey. Yum.

There are lots of days where we seem to end up eating out (either with friends or family ). I'm glad to say that this happens very rarely due to laziness on my part. I've kept up with meal planning, grocery shopping and food prep. It's going well so far. I've got to get this under my belt before I head back to school in early August.

Miss A is just getting so big. I can't handle it. She is such a smiley, content baby most of the time. She's very friendly and will flash a gummy grin at just about anyone. She loves to observe and look around. In fact, she gets fussy is she's in her car seat too long because she so desperately needs to know what's going on around her. She loves, loves, loves her mat and she is SOOO close to rolling over. Such a big girl! I can't explain how proud of her I was when she got so close.

Father's Day was pretty calm. We're going to a baseball game later on in the month to celebrate so Sunday, we celebrated with cupcakes and burgers. And reading.

C25K Week 1

So, I started Couch to 5K. I've done this before. I have a hate/hate relationship with running. I really do hate it. People talk about this mystical "runner's high". I'm pretty sure they're lying. Misery loves company, I guess. If I'm being totally honest, I want to like running. 

BUT...Running is cheap. It's easy to do with a baby. And C25K makes it pretty easy. This first week wasn't bad at all. I have some mean blisters but that's ok. 

I have baby weight that I want to lose but more importantly, I want to make sure that we raise Miss A to be active. I want her to enjoy being outside. I want her to enjoy sports. And I want her to see parents that enjoy activity as well. 

There's a 5K the first week in August that I'm considering signing up for. It will be SO hot. There's another one Labor Day weekend, as well. It will also be hot. 

Anyway, I'm going to try and blog my progress to keep my honest and accountable. I don't want this to be something that I start and flake out on (which is usually how running goes for me). 

Stuff Going On/Eating Well Part 4

1. Miss A was baptized this last Sunday. It was the first sunny day we'd had in awhile and it was gorgeous. To top it off, we sang two of my favorite hymns which happen to be two of the songs I sing to Miss A every night. She had a beautiful dress (if you follow me on Instagram, you saw it. I loved it.) and she behaved wonderfully. 

The most special part was that so many people came to celebrate with us. Miss A is a loved little girl.

2. I met the teachers at my new school today and they seemed great. It made me feel much better about next year. I also turned in the summer reading assignment for the kids. It's long but it's a solid assignment. It will definitely show me which students can read at a high level and which can't. 

3. It occurred to me as I was unpacking my groceries that if I put whatever it is in the pantry, I probably shouldn't eat it. I mean, most of my groceries should belong in the fridge. I know this is probably common sense but that seems like such a good rule of thumb. I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me before. This week, I'm planning on pork chops, "healthy chicken carbonara" from here, or maybe Moroccan Chicken stir fry (here). Basically, I'm still trying to stick to cutting out grains as much as possible. It's a lot harder than I expected, not going to lie. It's especially hard if you go out to dinner. I'll keep trying. 

4. Cutting down on chemicals is going pretty well. I LOVE Meyer's Clean Day Basil scent. My house smells awesome. I won't lie, though, it had not occurred to me all of the things that need replacing. It might take a lot of time but that's ok. 

5. I watched season 4 of Arrested Development. I need to watch it again, I think. I didn't love it as much as I love the rest of the show. I also started watching Parks and Rec. Jury is still out on how I feel about it. 

6. Miss  A discovered her toes and it is beyond precious. Her smiles makes me melt. 

Eating Well: Part 3

Last week was sort of a failure. I made a few pretty good dinners but then R went out of town. While he was gone, Miss A's godmother came to stay. While she was here, she repeatedly proved why she's my favorite person. First of all, she arrived at my door with Tiff's Treats. If you live in Texas and haven't experienced these, do it. Right now. I suggest the snickerdoodle. She also ate with me at all of the places R doesn't like which meant sushi and Blue Mesa and a coffee called "Sweet Caramel Kiss". It was awesome...but not the best for this lifestyle change.

So, this week led us back to Whole Foods. My friend pointed me to a great blog (wellnessmama.com) that has recipes and tips. I really enjoyed it and got a couple of recipes to try out this week. She's full on paleo and I'm not ready to make that commitment but I do want to cut down on grains and sugar so it definitely can't hurt. I tried out her chicken marsala tonight.

This is R's plate. I coupled the chicken with asparagus and a green salad with tomatoes and goat cheese. I was pretty proud.

 

Schedule

You know how when you decide to lose weight, there are 8 million ways to do it? You can go carb free. You can go vegan. You can cut out white sugar. Eat lots of fruit. Eat no fruit. There are too many choices. Parenting is a lot like that except that what I see as the two big choices at this point are schedule or not to schedule. 

I have friends who attachment parent. They don't schedule at all. Baby eats and sleeps when wants. They pick her up immediately when she cries. They don't want her to feel abandoned. We know another couple who schedules out every minute of their sons' days and always has. As they put it "The boys are on our schedule, we're not on their's." We also know people that fall in the middle. The day isn't scheduled but their little boy is in bed at 9 every night no matter what. 

Right now, we have no schedule but I feel like we need SOMETHING. I had read a lot about Moms on Call so I bought their book. I don't know how I feel about it. Right now, Miss A sleeps in a cradle in our room and I like that. Moms on Call says that she HAS to be in a crib in her room or their system won't work. I think my current plan is to try the other parts of their book. We'll try and set her up on a schedule with the times and feeding but won't worry about where she sleeps as much. I also feel like she's too young to "cry it out" but Moms on Call definitely advocates it. I might need to find another system for us entirely.

Does anyone have any experience with setting up a schedule or advice about schedules in general? 

Two Months

Miss A is two months old!

We haven't been to her check up yet but I'm betting that she weighs a little over 12 lbs. I have absolutely no idea how long she is. I do know that some of our 0-3 outfits are getting to be a little too short. We're getting a bunch of shots at this appointment which makes me sad for her. I know she'll hate it.

New things this month:

She smiles and coos ALL the time.

Giggles when she sneezes. 

Sleeps! Sometimes as long as five or six hours at night. Who hoo!

We celebrated our first Mother's Day with a trip to the arboretum. 

Things she loves:

Her play mat. She thinks this thing is wonderful. She really likes looking at herself in the mirror and REALLY loves the stuffed octopus that's connected to the mat.

Blowing bubbles.

Baths. 

Music! She absolutely enjoys music. It calms her down. She especially likes music with french horns. A little weird? Maybe.

Things she hates:

Being cold. 

Socks.

Things we're looking forward to:

Christening. 

Our first swim!

We just love her so much! I love picking her up in the morning and she grins at me because she's happy to see me. I love her snuggles. I love her giggles. She's such a doll.

On Feeding Miss A

I've seen a couple of different bloggers share their stories about breastfeeding recently and I thought I would share our experience. Now granted, we're only about two months in to it but I feel like even though it hasn't been that long, I have something of value to share.

First of all, I think that people do not do a good enough job of explaining how hard breastfeeding is. When I interviewed pediatricians, ever doctor I talked to started the conversation with "Are you breastfeeding?" When I explained that I was going to try, they went on and on about how wonderful it was and then said something to the effect of  "Don't give up." While this was encouraging, it wasn't enough. What they should have said was "It's REALLY hard. It won't be what you think it will." And then they should have added on the encouragement. I just knew I would love it and it wasn't going to be that hard. Ha.

Anyway, I started feeding Miss A right away in the hospital. I felt like things were going pretty well but our lactation consultant did not. She was a tough lady, which is fine. I would also say that she was very passionate about breastfeeding, which is great. BUT....She was totally overwhelming and I don't get overwhelmed all that easily. When Miss A would lift up her head, the consultant snapped at me that Miss A was hungry and wanted to know why I couldn't see that. When I let the nurse take Miss A to the nursery (I was in labor for over 30 hours, hadn't slept in 48 or eaten in over 24), the consultant barked "Why did you let her go to the nursery? Every time she leaves you, you're taking a giant step backward." She basically shoved Miss A's head in to my chest and then, when a nurse gave me a nipple shield, took it away from me, telling me I was doing more harm than good. She warned us that if we EVER gave Miss A a pacifier, I would never be able to breastfeed. Like I said, totally overwhelming. ( I want to say that other than this, we had a great experience at our hospital and the other nurses were Godsends. Honestly.)

Anyway, when we came home, I was totally freaked out. We started having a hard time. There was a lot of pain and a lot of blood and a lot of tears. And, out of my own stubbornness, I would NOT call that consultant. I wasn't going to do it. (Yes, this is dumb. I know)    my biggest issue was that I didn't love it. I even resented it which made me feel SO guilty. How could I not love this? Why was this so hard? I was sure I was the worst mother ever. I'm pretty sure I said that repeatedly.

 When we went to the pediatrician, Miss A had lost a little too much weight and I felt TERRIBLE. I eventually decided that I was going to pump for a day or two, give myself a break and if nothing else, maybe we'd just exclusively pump. This worked.  My milk came in. We went back to the doctor and Miss A had gained her weight back plus 5 ounces.

It's still a struggle.  Only I can feed her which means only I get up. It is time consuming. I don't know that I'll ever feel comfortable feeding her in public. I don't know WHAT will happen when I'm back at work.

I can say that what made me feel better was when other mothers told me that they experienced the same thing. It was hard. It wasn't what they thought. I think this message should be shared more. Yes, there is wonderful bonding and it is special but if we don't talk about the  struggles, other moms will feel alone like I did. I think that expressing difficulty in conjunction with support is SO important!