Chaos Continued...

Reader-Mommy,

How has your week been?  That's fantastic! Let me tell you about mine...

It all began last Monday when my cousin (who is more like my sister) and her two kids, 3 and 1, flew in for an 8 day visit.  We had a wonderful two days of chasing kids around, wiping snotty noses, kissing whatever booboos resulted from three boys playing, and just being moms together.  The their visit was going as good as we had hoped, then Thursday came. 

That morning, my son had woken up with a bit of a cough, but nothing attention worthy.  We all went for a walk and the boys played at the park the same as the day before.  However, upon waking up from his nap, my son's little cough had turned into that dreaded bark that any parent who lives at higher altitudes with extreme temperatures as come to know.  He had croup.  Normally it can be handled by taking the infant outside in the cold then into a steamy hot room, usually a bathroom with a hot shower on.  Unfortunately, the temperature outside was not cold enough to play it's part in breaking the cycle, so his little throat continued to swell shut.  By the time my husband got home from picking up my cousin's husband who flew in to join us for the weekend, my son's temperature a risen to 103 and his cough was getting worse. Long story short, my husband took him into the ER at 3 a.m. where he stayed until 8:00 that morning (I had to stay home since I have a newborn who is still breast feeding).  

Over the course of the next 36 hours, 24 of them were spent in the the ER, ambulance, and pediatric intensive care unit.  My husband and I took turns staying with our son while juggling company and a breast feeding infant who we did not want to bring into the hospital for fear of her catching one of the illnesses that had brought any of the other hundreds of patience. Thankfully, my cousin and her husband were extremely understanding and even more helpful and were able to watch our baby while I was at the hospital and my husband went home to sleep.  

Before it was all over, we met every nurse, doctor  and respiratory specialist on this side of the Rockies, we freaked out both set of grandparents (or they just overreacted when they heard, I am still not sure which it was), we broke the cardinal rule of hosting, sorry Martha Stewart, and fed our company Roman noodles, and we successfully proved that a human being CAN survive on 4 hours of sleep in 4 days.  

Today I learned that no matter how much you reorganize, there is always way to much stuff!

Controlled Chaos...

Reader-Mommy,

I do apologize for my negligence in the area of daily postings this week.  I will write tomorrow and explain the reasons...

Today I learned that lime green is a great color for a bathroom!

Saturday night...

Reader-mommy,

Ever feel like no matter how much you fight the mess you will never win?  There is always one more article of clothing, piece of garbage, scrap of paper, binky, bottle, or toy that remains on the floor.  What's really fun is when someone purchases your child that toy that won't shut up and every time it is bumped it rings out a tune at a volume that would rival an entire matching band in full chorus!  It is never a pleasant song that soothes your otherwise frazzled nerves.  No.  It is one of those song that you heard, no doubt, as a toddler when one of your toys belted out the same tune in your tender little ears forever branding it on your forming memory.  Until you had children of your own, you had forgotten this little melody.  However, now it plays on and on throughout your day.  You could call it the theme of your life.  

I have come to the conclusion that in order to get the upper hand on the various toys that inevitably end up decorating floors of my ENTIRE house, I must capture and cage the things.  This is done in any variety of ways.  They can be placed in a temporary holding pen (otherwise known as a toy basket), they can be put out to pasture (better known as storage bins) until such a time that the current toys are no longer interesting.  If these are not enough for any given toy,  more drastic action can be taken, in which case you slaughter the beast (or snatch it up off the floor, march it out to the garbage can and victoriously toss in the toy).  As you stroll back into the house you hear it helplessly playing that maddening tune one last time.  This is, of course, an extreme action reserved only for special toys, toys that were invented by a non-mommy, purchased by a non-mommy that somehow made it into the home of a MOMMY.

Today I learned that everyone wants to hold the baby until she cries. Then I get her.

So...

Thursday came way sooner than I would have liked.  However, it is here and that means it is "weigh day"!  I would love to be able to say that I lost 3 more pounds and am not only feeling good, but I am starting to look like Barbie with my skinny little waist and massive boobs.  Don't get jealous, reader-mommy, that is not the case.  I didn't lose any weight, I am still 131. I also don't look like Barbie.  I guess that means I still have work to do.  

Because I am trying not to lose weight too quickly, I have to modify my lifestyle one small step at a time to lose the last 15 pounds of baby weight that is still desperately clinging to my body.  Since I am no longer losing weight, I will now start to modify one weight related habit at a time.  I modify one thing after until I stop losing weight, then I'll add another modification.  For instance, I start by cutting back on sugar.  When that no longer works on it's own, I'll also cut back on carbs and so on.  Note that I don't cut OUT anything.  I only cut BACK on things.  I have found that when I cut something out completely I end up obsessing about it and inevitably break down resulting in guilt and a few extra pounds.  Modifying one habit at a time also gives me stronger will power.  Instead of going after the whole bee hive, I just smash one bee at a time...sorry Berry B. Benson.

Now, it's time to start modifying habits.  The first thing I will modify is my sugar intake.  I find that when I am not really hungry, just trying to satisfy the munchies, I eat mostly sweets (containing both high fat and high calories, neither being conducive to losing weight). So, cutting back on sugar allow me to eat better and less.  After my last pregnancy I lost most of my weight just by cutting back on sweets.  We'll have to wait and see if it still works!

Today I learned that it's much easier to get poop out of CROCS than sherling slippers.

Time to Eat...

Ok...

I am starting to think everything in my life is somehow related to food.  If I am not planning the menu for food, I am buying food. If I am not buying food, I am preparing food. If I am not preparing food, I am feeding someone food.  If I am not feeding someone food, I am cleaning up whatever mess was made either preparing the food or from the person who ate the food.  Even if everything is clean and everyone is fed I still don't get a break from food.  This is when it is time to sit down with a cup of coffee and a muffin to feed myself (in order to ensure that I am able to make milk to feed the baby) while I make a list of all the food item I need to go out and buy so that I can maintain this whole ridiculous cycle!  

The craziness does not stop there.  I have to consider the collateral damage of food. Once the food has done it's duty to my has-been physique I spend more time and energy working out in hopes of somehow redistributing the lumps, bumps and unwanted extra so that I look sexy when we go out with friends to enjoy, what else, FOOD!  And the list goes on...

Now I have to go put together my menu for this weeks so that I know what food I need to buy.  At some point maybe I'll figure out how to stop the insanity.  When I do, you, reader-mommy, will be the first to know. 

Today I learned that just because she spit up her body weight in fluid less that 2 minutes ago does not mean she can't do it again right away!

Weigh In...

Reader-Mommy, 

Okay, here's the deal, I am now 7 weeks postpartum and am setting out on my expedition to find my post-baby body.  The exciting part is that you-mommies are going to be my traveling companions.  Wether or not you have just had a baby,  or if you-mommy just have an extra pound or two to lose, you-mommy are my workout buddy.  

Thursdays are going to be dedicated to fitness.  Every week, I will weigh in and post my weight for all the world to see!  I have taken before pictures (one of the front and one of the side, both full body shots, yikes!).  Once I get this post-baby body back to my pre-baby weight I will take the same pictures and post both sets together.  If you-mommy would like to lose weight as well, I would encourage you-mommy to give your weight each week in your comment to Thursdays' blogs so that we can be accountable to each other.  Sound good? Okay, ready or not, here we go...

My final pregnancy weight was 163 pounds (give me a break, I did have a 9 pound 9 ounce). As of today, 7 weeks later, I weigh 131.  My pre-baby weight was 116-119.  Do the math and I have 15-18 pounds to lose.  Because I am breast feeding I can't lose the weight to fast or my milk production will go down and my poor little angel won't get enough to eat, it really is a vicious cycle.  That being said, my goal is to lose 2 pounds a week for the next 8 weeks.  Obviously, weight loss is never a seamless endeavor and some weeks will be more and some weeks will be less.  At the end of the day it will probably take more like 10-12 weeks for me to lose all the weight.  For those of you-mommies that want to get in on this weight loss action, do what I just did to figure out your own timeline (current weight - desired weight /2 = weeks losing weight) and put that in your comment so that I know how long to keep you-mommy accountable.  

Today I learned that 2-year olds have the ability to say "mama, mama, mama..." at least 12,000 times if you don't respond. 

A Four Letter Word...

Reader-Mommy,

Let's talk about a four letter word that is, in fact, a six letter word.  That word is budget.  I am not sure if it is an American thing or if the rest of the world has the same negative feelings about a budget. I think we think that a budget is only for poor people when the fact of the matter is not having a budget is what makes or keeps people poor. People can never afford to not know where their money is going. The rich either do it themselves, or have someone do it for them. Either way it gets done. 

I would like to discuss the whole idea of a budget because I feel it is an integral part of mommy-hood that is very often ignored.  We as mommies have a responsibility to our households.  I am not talking the whole 1950's checkered apron, beehive hair do, paste on a fake "my world could not be better" smile and hum while making a five course dinner kind of idea.  I am saying that as a woman, we-mommies have abilities that our husbands don't have.  Those abilities are not only necessary in the raising of kids, but in all other aspects of running a successful home (and, yes, there is a huge difference between a successful home and an unsuccessful home). One of those responsibilities is helping to manage the home's finances.  I am not saying that we have to do everything with the money, I would be terrible at that, but we-mommies do need to be a part of the monthly planning, or budgeting, of the household's income.  We need to know how much is coming in, how much is going out, and where it is going.  To do this, my husband and I take the following steps:

First, we have a monthly "meeting" to go over those three specifics.  Because my husband is the nerdy one of the two of us, he gets way more into the finances with Quicken and calculators and so on, but I still have a responsibility as his wife and as a co-runner of the household be educated in the area of our finances.  

Second, once we have gone over the how much and where to's, my husband and I set up a BUDGET (calm down, we do survive and live happily ever after).  Basically, we are telling our money where to go and making sure it goes there.  It is much like potty training. You point the kid in the direction of the bathroom and make sure the pee gets in the potty.    

Third, we make sure we spend the money according to the budget.  If we have allocated $300 for car maintenance, I can't decide to buy a new handbag with that.  If I have $250 for clothes, he can't buy the latest "must-have" in technology with that.  It's great because then I know that when I am spending money, I can afford to be purchasing that thing or those things. This gives me, as a women, such a sense of security and that makes me a better mommy!

Today I learned that you can, in fact, be in two places at one time.  Just learn to use your feet as hands.