Weaning

I've been thinking a bit about weaning the baby.
She's 4 months old, and I'm going back to work when she's 10 months. In that time I would like to slowly wean her to a bottle and nurse only at night. The reason for this? I know it will be hard enough to go back and I don't want to spend my last few weeks at home dealing with the emotional turmoil of weaning.
And she seems to have a stubborn streak.
The girl seems to hate formula.
Doodle hit the same point. Except with him I kept nursing until he was old enough to eat and to drink milk. But, I still nursed a lot. And by the end I didn't enjoy it.
With this baby I'm loving it. It's easy and it's bonding and it hasn't been a struggle. So maybe I'm pushing it a bit. Or maybe not. Who knows. I'm not really stressed about it so much as I am thinking about it.
Yesterday I made a bottle and was attempting to give it to her. She was not having any of it, and Doodle was watching and trying to help. I turned to him and asked what would make the bottle more appealing to her.
His response?
"Just give her some chocolate milk, Mommy. And if she doesn't like that I can finish it for her."
Excellent advice.
Except as much as I would love to take it, I have visions of my daughter rejecting that bottle and my 4 year old son newly addicted to a bottle.
Fun times!
I think we'll just keep persisting with the bottle. I've still got lots of times, and if all else fails, chocolate milk it is.
Just kidding!

A Look in the Mirror

Despite taking a week off of Weight Watchers (both the meetings and the plan) I went back to my meeting on Monday night.
I didn't want to go because I ate like a pig on vacation. Every time I looked in the mirror I could see the extra 5 pounds I had surely gained and I hated myself. But I went, and I got weighed, and learned I had lost half a pound. As weight loss goes that's not the biggest amount in the world, but I was surprised. And happy.
And then our leader spoke about Body Image. I realized on Monday that I had forgotten my whole reason for being there, for eating healthier, exercising and taking vitamins. I wanted to be proud of myself, to like myself, to walk past a mirror and hold my head high because I like who I am. I want to be a woman who is proud of her body, flaws and all, so that my children to obsess about theirs.
For awhile there I lost that.
I'm not sure what happened. On the quest to hit a certain weight by our Disney trip I started to focus more on the numbers and less on myself. And that has to stop.
With the whole body image thing combined with coming down from the high of being on a super fun vacation I was beginning to fall apart. Summer, and trying to fill the long days, started to stress me out. I had nothing to plan for or look forward to. So I started to think about what I can do to make things better. The one thing that has always worked for me is running.
I know I'm not a marathon runner. But, for some reason, even the benefits of a short run perk me up. I think the fact that I completely zone out and focus only on the music I'm listening to and pushing myself to make it a little further seem to clear my mind.
Let me tell you, it was not easy last night. I hadn't run for ages and my breathing was all off. I came back tired and today I'm stiff and achy. But, I feel GREAT! I feel like I accomplished something. And I feel happier and better about myself today. And, I'm going to take a nice hot bath and then go out for a run tonight. As I was running I kept thinking that if I keep this up I could sign up for a 5k. And suddenly there was something new to look forward to, to push me on and give me a goal.
Who knows if I'll do it. But, I want to. I want to like myself, and be proud of myself. And today I'm feeling that way.

Our Heroes

We've been back from Disney for a couple of days now. We've done some laundry and some unpacking, but the truth is that we're still all a little tired, and not quite willing to concede that our trip is over and it's back to reality.
Okay. Maybe Phat Daddy is, but Doodle keeps talking about monorails, the baby keeps cuddling her baby Cinderella and I've been online looking at package deals for another Disney trip. Yes. We loved it that much. Yes, it was totally do-able with a baby.
I've got lots of stories of the magic of the experience, but sometimes pictures say it better.

My Princess with Cinderella.

To Infinity and Beyond

Doodle's Hero - Buzz Lightyear

We're Back!

We're tired and sunburned and want to go back.
But it was wonderful!
And I've lost my voice! (see picture above - this was me on every ride!)

I'm going to Disney World!

I'll be back in a week... try not to miss me too much :)

(and, yes, there are people watching my house and the cats.)

Bragging Rights

Last night I had my weekly Weight Watchers Meeting.
Since it was our anniversary I just went to weight myself and then Phat Daddy and I went for dinner. But, I have committed to doing this, and following the plan so I went for the weigh -in.
I was nervous because the prior 2 weeks I lost a total of .2 lbs! Not so much.
This week? I lost 1.8 lbs.
Though I'm not about to reveal numbers (partly because I think everyone looks different at every number) I will say this ... I'm now officialy lighter than I have been since I got pregnant with Doodle.
I'm thrilled.
It's not easy doing this. But, it's so worth it. I'm feeling better about myself. I'm enjoying what I'm eating. And I feel like I'm making some progress. Most imortantly, I don't feel like I'm sinking into that pit of stress and despair and therefore weight gain that I fell into with Doodle. To me that's the important thing.
Yep. I plan to go on vacation and enjoy food and not stress if I gain a pound or 2. But, I fully intend to journal everything I eat, stay on Plan as best I can, and get righ back into it when I get back.
When I get back I'm going to jump back into running and put some more emphasis on trying to get rid of my gross tummy. But for now, I'm enjoying my progress and giving myself a pat on the back!

Seven Years

Today marks 7 years for Phat Daddy and I.
It's hard to describe the past 7 years. We've grown up a lot in 7 years. The years have been filled with 2 incredible children, 6 different residences, 3 different pets (not including the fish), 3 cars, and many many ups and downs.
But, when I look where we are now I realize I am more in love now than I ever thought I could be.
Life hasn't been perfect. We've argued a lot. We've learned to put up with each other's quirks and to accept each other's imperfection. But, we've also discovered some pretty great things about each other that we never knew 7 years ago.
So, happy anniversary to the man I love. the one who knows how I take my coffee (and knows to just hand it to me and not bother talking to me till it kicks in), who stays up till all hours finishing the craft projects I start, but can't complete, who makes sure that our computer, tv, and every other electronic device works properly and who makes the world's best mac and cheese, apple pie and scrambled eggs.
I love you!

Counting Down and Caught in the Act

We're getting soooo close to our Disney Trip!

It's less than a week away, and we're almost ready to go. I've been making lists and shopping for everything. And as each day goes by I get more and more excited.

All the kids are excited too - it's so cute to hear them discuss the airplane ride which they are far more excited about than Disney World at this point. So so cute.

So in order to add to the excitement I asked Phat Daddy to download Disney music for the car. I figure if we listen to it all week and the whole time we are in Florida the children will be fully entrenched in the Magical World of Disney! I love it.

So, after much hemming and hawing, Phat Daddy finally went online and found TONS of Disney music for me. 

I should explain at this point that every day I insist on getting in some sort of workout. I try to have a 30-minute brisk walk once a day and if I haven't gotten around to it by about 8 or so I put the baby in the Bjorn and walk in place watching tv. But, with the Disney music playing and Phat Daddy being a little grumpy about the Disney Music and more grumpy about me singing along to the Disney music (while dancing with the Baby in the bjorn) he decided to go outside for some fresh air while I enjoyed my music.

And enjoy it I did. With Phat Daddy out of the room and a baby enjoying me raucous singing and dancing I went a little crazy. I had some unique dance moves happening and I was singing along to the Siamese cat song from Lady and the Tramp, arguably not the best song in my repetoire.

What I did not know is that my parents, who live 5 minutes away from us, had driven up to our house to stop by and show us something. And, rather than ringing the doorbell had bumped into my husband who quietly let my mother in. So there I was hips swinging, singing at the top of my lungs, and when I did a (not-so-graceful) spin I turned around and my mom was killing herself laughing. 

It was a site.

Keep in mind I was wearing green lulus, a white tank top and bjorn. It was hilarious.

So yes, the countdown is on. Our bags are almost packed and we're all pretty excited. I just have a few last minute things to organize (I need someone to check our cats one day, need to get earphones, a couple little things like that) And then we're ready.

The question is ... is Disney ready for us?

The nice thing about being a parent with small kids, is that you can look as crazy as you want there, and sing and dance along to everything, and everyone just assumes you're doing it all for your kids. NICE!

Question: I'm going to the Cinderella lunch with my niece, mom and sister & the baby. My niece is dressing up. Would you? My niece (6) said she doesn't care either way, but I want to get into the spirit

New Neighbours, New Hair, New Discipline WOW!

It's been a busy day. A very busy one.
first we had to say goodbye to our neighbours. It wasn't terribly sad, but we liked them and they were good neighbours. So, it was still kind of weird to say bye. But, the good news is that we have new neighbours! With a baby! And they seem nice and normal!
They've been slowly moving stuff in since about 5:30 (quietly) in preparation for their move on Saturday. Doodle has been watching all the action from his bedroom window. And though he's a little excited about new neighbours he's a little miffed that they have a baby and not a 4 year-old. I'm sure he will adjust.
The other excitement in my day was that I got my hair done. I know I usually go to my beloved Bill, but I don't like to go there for colour. I'm sure it would lovely, but it would also cost me a ton of money. And it's a long way away. And it takes a long time to do colour. I like to just relax and read magazines and I'd be so stressed that I was at Bill's. So I found somewhere closer to home. Not only was it not a bad price.
But ... I love it!
And I have bangs! Okay. A fringe. But it's a change. And I love it. And most importantly she showed me how to do the front myself and style it so that if I let it dry mostly on its on it will look nice wavy not scrunched wavy.
Of course, the final topic of the night is Mr. Doodle himself. He's a handful. And lately timeouts just don't work. Today I put him in time-out and he laughed at me. I was furious. So what did I do? I took the closest toy I could see, a spongebob backpack, and threw it in the garbage. Actually, I put him in a clear garbage bag adn told Doodle that if he didn't behave out it went. I have to admit that I'm a little surprised by how shocked and upset he was.
I felt kind of bad. Especially when Spongebob was staring out at me from a clear plastic bag. It was pathetic. So, now he's in the process of earning back a toy and keeping his other toys out of the garbage.
I didn't come up with the idea alone. My sister did this once with my niece and she still tells me about it. So, I think I may have something here. As long as I follow through. And who wants to throw out toys. But, whatever works. It's a lot easier than a garage sale :)
Oh ... and one final thing. I'm afraid to jinx it, but the baby is sleeping through the night some nights and other nights only wakes up once. Life is good.

Baby Borrowers

Last night Phat Daddy and I turned the tv on for a little bit of mindless tv.
The show Baby Borrowers was on. I was curious, and Phat Daddy didn't care. At first I was interested, but as the show went on I got more and more annoyed. The premise is that a few sets of teen couples get to live in a house and see what it's like to have a baby. All of these couples (I think there were 4 couples) expressed interest in having children young. So, this was a trial run.
It's not that I don't agree with the idea.
In fact, my high school had those dolls that cry at night and you have to take care of. It's a great idea. You get an idea about parenthood without actually being parents.
But ... WHO LENDS OUT THEIR BABY???
Okay, so I know you leave your child with teenage babysitters. I'm a working mom and I leave my child - and will leave both kids - with a caregiver. But, I would never ever lend my baby out to a couple of teenagers who think they are ready for a baby.
Now, granted the parents are allowed to watch their baby on the tv. But still.
It would kill me.
Two of the couples were HORRIBLE. One of the couples kept swaring at and in front of the baby and calling it a brat. Another couple were arguing about who had to get up to take care of the screaming baby. All the while the parents were observing this over the tv.
Seriously. I was angry.
The worst, in my opinion, were the parents who left their teething child. The poor kid was miserable. Yes, he gave the teenagers a run for their money. But it was awful. They were annoyed and angry and frustrated.
When Doodle was teething he wanted me more than ever. Sure I was ready to scream most of the time, and I handed him off to my husband and parents and sister a lot. I did not hand him over to teenagers to see if they were ready for a baby. Really.
And then in the middle of the show the moms of the teenage girls were allowed to visit. Serioulsy. what about the mommies of the babies. It made me feel terrible. The whole time I kept turning to Phat Daddy saying "who would let their kid go?"
I just do not understand. Sure, I watched. But it was more like watching a car wreck. I really don't believe that watching this show will prevent teenage pregnancies. You know why? Because as one teen put it - their child would be different.
Stupid stupid show.
Some parents just really piss me off. If you want to do a reality show, fine, but don't involve you innocent little baby. At the end of the day I just wanted to hug my baby and my preschooler more.