Weekend Recap in Photos

This past weekend we took our first road trip with Jeanette and of course it was full of surprises!  We left around 8am on Saturday since we were attending a family reunion for my mom's family at noon.  We had a good two and a half hour drive ahead of us and knew we would be stopping for at least one diaper change.  We filled up the car and hit the road, Jeanette passed out quickly.  About halfway there she woke up and we found a good exit to pull off at for snacks and a diaper change.  I should have just changed her in the car since the hand dryer scared her to death in the bathroom.  I ended up sitting in the back with her the rest of the way to keep her calm.

As we got closer to our destination, the car started making a funny sound.  It was still running fine, but something didn't sound right.  When we arrived, Andrew left it running and crawled around, opened the hood and tried to figure out the noise.  He determined it was an engine issue.....not what I wanted to hear.  Side note: the week before, Andrew got strep, Jeanette had a cough for three days and our cat got a bad UTI (when it rains, it pours).  We spent the afternoon visiting with family and enjoying the beautiful day.  We decided we would still stay the night and prayed the car would make it home.

We headed back to my mom's brother's house to stay the night after the reunion.  It was great visiting with everyone, including my cousin who was in from Arizona for the week.  She had not met Jeanette or Andrew and I was so happy she finally could meet them both.

We were up early Sunday to head to church and then met up with the rest of our family for breakfast afterward and did a little shopping as well.  It was great to see my cousin's three kids who are now 17, 14 and 10.  Abby, their youngest who is my god daughter LOVES Jeanette and did not want to leave her side the whole weekend.  I was 18 when she was born and I remember being that in love with her too as a baby with her bright red hair and sweet personality.

With some of my cousins from PA

Even mister tough guy Garrett couldn't resist Jeanette's charm. 

Jeanette and her Great Aunt Kathy (one of my mom's sisters). 

Everyone at breakfast Sunday morning.

We hit the road around 2pm and once again Jeanette zonked out till we got about halfway home.  We stopped at the same exit and I opted to change her in the car to avoid the hand dryer meltdown again.  It rained on and off the whole way home, including some awesome downpours that flooded a construction zone on the freeway.  And three exits from home,  Jeanette decided to have a blow-out......needless to say we were happy to get home!

Once we did, Andrew determined the car would need a new engine.  It made it home fine and we followed my mom and dad just in case, but he found metal flakes in the oil.  I am so thankful to be married to a mechanic who can fix all of these things!  I'm also glad we decided to wait till next year for a family vacation.

Jeanette was very happy to be home again and squealed in delight when Andrew took her out of the car seat.  She's been practicing drinking from her new Nuby sippy cup and loves having her veggies and cereal at night.

She really needed a good nap yesterday after a long and busy weekend!

Jeanette - 6 months old

Has half a year really gone by this quickly?!?!  I cannot believe that my sweet little girl is 6 months old!

Height: 28 inches

Weight:16lbs, 3oz so almost double her birth weight! 

Clothes/Diapers:  Jeanette is mostly wearing 6 month clothes now and 9 month pajama's because she's so long!  She's still in a size 2 diaper and I finally switched to Luv's since she no longer has explosions.  They are so much cheaper and I like the fit.  I wonder how they will do once she starts moving more, but I'm always willing to switch back to Pampers.  

Sleep:  Bedtime has moved up a little bit and Jeanette is in bed most nights between 9 and 9:30pm.  She still wakes up around 6:30 or 7 though once in a blue moon she will sleep till 7:30 (usually on the weekends).  She is still taking a good morning and afternoon nap, although she has had some napping issues recently.

Feedings:  Still getting a 5 ounce bottle about every four hours and eating cereal at lunch and around 7pm every day.  We also started trying veggies this week and so far have only tried butternut squash which she loved!!!!  I have been making my own baby food and freezing it.  The pediatrician told us to start with veggies so that she doesn't just like sweet stuff.  I think in a few weeks I will make some fruit baby food as well.  

Best Moment(s):  It seems like there were a lot this month - watching Jeanette play with her future husband Ryan, her sudden obsession and fascination with the cat and dog (she loves to laugh at them any time they do something), watching her explore the world around her is also really fun!  

Worst Moment(s):  Jeanette and Andrew both had colds over the weekend, thankfully Jeanette's wasn't too bad but Saturday she was a hot mess, lots of crying and snuggling.  I ran the humidifier in her room for a few nights and rubbed some Baby Vick's on her chest and she seemed to perk back up again by Monday.   

Development:  I was hopeful that she would be sitting up unassisted by now, but she's not quite there yet.  We practice in the evenings with the Boppy and she can pull up her head pretty well when laying on her back.  I imagine she will be able to sit up very soon.  She has also lost her tongue thrust so feedings are much easier now and she loves to sit in the Bumbo which works out great for feeding time.  I bought a high chair that works better for an older child (mostly because I wanted one that was wood and not plastic) so I think we will use the Bumbo for feedings for a while.   She has also been trying to drink from a sippy cup.  I bought one with a bottle nipple on it and she's starting to get the idea of how it works, we just put a little water in it and let her figure it out.  

Jeanette Loves:  Watching the cat and dog, rolling across the room, trying to drink out of cups, playing with her rattle and taggie blanket, screaming, splashing in the tub, sucking her thumb (I have gotten a little flack for letting her do this, but I think it's pretty cute and I don't really like pacifiers), holding up her arms when she wants you to pick her up and smiling! 

Jeanette Dislikes:  When you don't feed her fast enough, man she's a good eater! 

Anything else?:   This age is just so much fun, watching Jeanette explore her world and notice new things like the cat and dog is so amazing!  She's so sweet, loves to snuggle, sleeps through the night and is such a pleasant little girl.  Our sitters two daughters who are 6 and 2 are in love with her and probably want her to come every day of the week so they can play with her. 

Happy Half Birthday beautiful girl!!!!

Fitness Update

It's been about a month since my first fitness post, holding myself accountable, and I wanted to update everyone on what has been going on.

I had been working out for about two and a half solid weeks when I started to experience some pretty intense digestive issues.  I will admit, I had changed my diet some but probably not drastically enough to cause my stomach to constantly hurt and me to be unable to sleep due to raging heartburn.  Every night when it was time to work out, I would be doubled over in pain.  I did do some walking but that was about all my body could handle.  I finally caved last Friday and made a doctor appointment.  I explained all of my symptoms, was weighed only to find out I had lost nothing (ugh) and was told to add more fiber to my diet and given a prescription for heartburn medication.  I'm feeling better and got back into my workout routine last night.

As much as I wanted to try Shakeology with the PiYo workout, I found out that it contains sucralose and I am pretty allergic to most artificial sweeteners.  My stomach aches for days and I have the most awful taste in my mouth.  I am hopeful to start making my own green juice and smoothies starting next week.  I need to jump start this weightloss somehow.

I have been better about my eating.  I have been trying super hard to eat breakfast, on the weekends I will make eggs and have a piece of toast and during the week I have oatmeal with fruit, greek yogurt with fruit, or a Luna bar.  I have been drinking a lot of water, I haven't been snacking after dinner and I've been trying hard to cut back on carbs.  I've been taking my lunch to work and I've been resisting sweets and buying candy bars at the hospital gift shop.  I haven't been perfect however, we went out for Mexican food on Friday and I could have made a healthier choice, I had some chocolate and I've eating some chips but that's life and I think it's okay to indulge every now and then.

I did however have a few awful moments over the last month, a nurse I used to work with at the hospital saw me at the gift shop and asked how far along I was in my pregnancy.  When I told her my baby was 5 months old, she looked rather shocked but never apologized.  I wanted to crawl into a hole.  I also have zero desire to do any swimming this summer because I know my bathing suit won't fit and I'm not buying a bigger one.

So I suppose what I am trying to get at with this post, is that I am for once really trying hard but not seeing any results yet is difficult.  I know that it will take time as it took me 9 months and then some to get to this size and weight.  I have been sleeping better since I started working out and I feel great after each PiYo session, the low impact has been great for my postpartum body.

I hope that I can keep this up even if I feel a little down right now.

Image credit
Here's hoping Chalene!!!!! 

My daughter is in an arranged marriage

One of my very best friends and I were pregnant at the same time and our babies are just two weeks apart.  Her son was born on February 12 and Jeanette was born January 23.  It's so amazing to have a close friend with a baby close to Jeanette's age and we got together with them over the weekend for a play date and a cookout for the adults.

When I found out I was having a girl and Sarah was having a boy we joked that our children were already in an arranged marriage.  The even funnier part is if they got married, Jeanette's married name would be my maiden name!

Watching these two cuties grow and change is so much fun, and their outfits even matched a little :)

Jeanette immediately tried to roll on top of R. 

Holding hands already! 

But little R is already in stiff competition with my friend Amanda's little guy who is 2 months younger than Jeanette.  Little A was born on March 23rd.

And just when I thought the competition was over, my friend Megan is due with a little boy in November!  Looks like I'm the only one with a girl for now :) she's going to get along well with boys if nothing else!

Mommy Overload

Jeanette is quickly approaching the 6 month milestone and as I look back at the last six months, I see nothing but MOMMY.  I have become so engrossed in becoming a mother that a little piece of me has been lost, and that is probably okay.  This is a big change, but I am starting to realize that I am a person too outside of being a mother.  All I seem to read these days are books about babies, articles about babies, stories and blogs about babies (okay maybe not ALL of the blogs I read, but most), I still read birth stories, research on c-sections, VBAC and the list goes on.  I used to enjoy trashy celebrity gossip, buzzfeed lists and even an actual magazine like Martha Stewart or Country Living.

I only seem to talk about Jeanette and have maybe lost sight of the other parts of me like my career, my friends and my family.  It has been a hard pill to swallow.

I had lunch with some of my college friends over the holiday weekend and of course the subject of family, babies, motherhood and relationships came up.  I had Jeanette with me and my other good friend is 7 months pregnant, one of the other girls just recently got divorced and the other engaged.  It was a good group to have together because we are all at different points in our lives, but guess what.....we are still good friends!  Sure, it's harder for us to get together now and sure the conversation is taking place over a breakfast at Bob Evans and not a keg at a frat party but we are still, deep down those girls who met in the dorms in college.

On that same afternoon, Andrew and I had our first date since Valentines Day.  Sure we still go out and do things, but we almost always have Jeanette with us.  I can't tell you how wonderful it was to just sit and have a long lunch, to shop and not push a stroller around and to just spend time together.  I love being a mom, but there is still a part of me that needs my "me" time and my "couples" time and my "friend" time.  I was so thankful to my mom for babysitting Jeanette so we could ahve some time alone together.

I think all of us become overwhelmed sometimes no matter our situation.  We become consumed by being mothers, our careers, a new relationship, a marriage, a loss or a major life change.  We often let those moments define us, and at times I think that's okay, but it's also important for us to remember who we are deep down.  From now on, I'm going to make it a point to make a little bit more time for myself, my friends, my family and my husband.