Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Mighty Milo

Just a bunch of random pictures of our last few days::

Game night at friends' house and I got the sleeping baby. Neener neener.
That one time when we strapped our swaddled Milo into his carseat and laughed about it for a good five minutes before we pulled ourselves together and actually left. Sometimes Trevor and I just think we are hilarious. 
Church! And please appreciate the wide open field to the side (it's a small airport) and behind our apartment. I'm in love.
 And I'm even MORE in love with this munchkin.
 Who is, as of the 15th, 4 months! 24 inches (10% and 11 lb 14 oz (3%). Doctor was impressed with his rolling skills and strength. Milo was impressed with the paper on the table. Not so impressed with his shots, however.
Sleeping off the trauma of 4 month shots.
 The cuddliest boy. Heavenly. Also, please note that the mark on my neck is, in fact, a curling iron burn. I'm not lying this time, I promise.
 Look at this guy holding his bottle like it ain't no thang. Secretly it lasted like 5 seconds. 
My little helper, doing my work with me. Glad I had his input today.
Also. Please don't think I'm conceited for posting a zillion pictures of myself and my child. I want to have a lot of pictures of me with Milo to go back and look at in the future. I also like my blog to show the reality of the ins and outs of our extremely exciting and glamorous life that I love so much. So, we all know he is the star of all these pictures, but I love to document our days together, so you're a little stuck with me too, bare faced and sweatpants and all :)

Friday, July 19, 2013

Healthy Mommy, Happy Baby

*Disclaimer: this is a candid post is about weight and periods and breastfeeding and things like that. TMI again, as per usual on this blog. And I'm a little scared about it because it's a lot of personal details. So here you go- even more about me than you ever cared to know.*

My pregnancy was really hard. By the time I went into labor, I felt completely depleted in every way. Since I was so sick, any nutrients and energy I had in my body went straight to Milo.
A few days before Milo was born
When I got pregnant, I weighed 107. I was running a lot and eating pretty well (I used running as a way to cope with the fact that I wasn't pregnant- which probably didn't help me get pregnant- not my best coping mechanism in retrospect). I find that when I'm exercising and eating decently, I can maintain about 105-110 without overworking, so this seems to be my healthy set point. I dropped about 10-15 lbs that first trimester because I could literally keep nothing down. It improved some as the months went on, but minimally. When I checked into the hospital to deliver, I was 110. My arms an legs were all bones and I was dehydrated and weak. When I was in the depths of my pregnancy, I just took everything a day at a time. I was so indescribably tired and sick that I didn't have the mental capacity and energy to advocate for myself the way I should have. I was also just so happy to be pregnant that I knew I would and could handle whatever it took to get my baby here. I expressed concern every time I went to the doctor, and they told me that as long as I could handle it, I was ok and that some women are just this way when they're pregnant.

I'm spending time now educating myself about what I can do for my subsequent pregnancies to avoid having it take such a toll on my body, because at this point I realize that it's probably pretty unlikely that I'll have easy pregnancies in life (but a girl can dream!). I'm pretty sure I should have been on IV therapy a few times a week because I was so dehydrated, and that probably would have helped the residual constant nausea.
The point is, I was far from being in fantastic shape after delivery. I could finally eat again and it was (is) glorious. I started gaining weight back pretty fast, as I had expected, but it hasn't quite stuck, and I'm going to chalk that up to breastfeeding and exercise. I love being able to feed Milo and have that mandatory cuddle time for hours every day. However, I want to be a good, healthy, strong, energetic mom. I also want to be able to have lots of babies.

So I'm starting a thing. A health thing. I don't want to quit breastfeeding, so here's what I'm doing instead.

 First of all, I'm toning down on running. After years of 6 miles a day just because I could and I had the time, I'm done being an ocd workout fiend. I love running and I'll still jog daily since it's good for my sanity and my health, but less. And in moderation. And I'll even miss days and be ok with it! I think getting exercise helps me be a better mom, but too much is going to take away from my energy and time with my family, and that's not ok with me. 

I'm also seeing this as a golden opportunity to start being a good wife and cooking for my husband! It's only taken me 3 and a half years to get here. Oh well. He's a good sport :). I'm going to take a good look at what we're eating and incorporate more healthy fats into my diet so that I can boost my energy and ability to be a good mom. If I want my periods to come back and regulate (takes a while when breastfeeding but I'm hoping they'll be back sooner than later), I'm going to need to put some effort into it. 
Right now is about taking care of myself so I can take care of my family. As much as I hate to admit it, actively trying to put on weight goes against everything I feel as a woman. And I'll be the first to say I've always had a REALLY easy time putting on weight historically. I've spent many years of my life being the pudgy one. I had a hard time with it, so when I discovered about myself that I was, in fact, capable of exercise and eating healthy and not being the pudgy one, it became a hobby when I was first married (I had to do something when Trevor studied!). Health is a big passion for me! But sometimes you just need to take a step back and look at the big picture of what health truly encompasses. I'll give you a hint: it's not all about fitting in old jeans, and for me- and I'm guessing lots of women- that's a hard one to internalize. I know I'm a little below were I should be right now and that Milo deserves a mom who is energetic and happy and healthy and able to give him brothers and sisters!!! I would rather be a kind of squishy, happy mommy of a big brood of kids than a bony, tired mom of less babies than want to be in my family. Also, if I'm going to survive another pregnancy, I now know I need to start out in a good place so I can get through it with a healthy babe.

So, here's to being fat, happy, and fertile!

And please, by all means, share your recipes! Being healthy and taking good care of my body should be a fun thing and I'm excited about learning more and getting better at it! I'd love your feedback and experiences on this one!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Redneck Fever

Sometimes I feel like a redneck mom.
I'm singing my own personal theme song in my head as I type this.
(I'm a red red red red red red red red redneck... love me some Blake Shelton).

My baby has never worn shoes. 
He has worn socks maybe once in his life.
Seriously though, how could I hide those perfect pudgy feet? Then I couldn't kiss them all day!
I regularly change diapers on the floor in public.
I nurse him anywhere and everywhere.
Sometimes Milo stays up until like 10... 30... with us. My theory? If he's happy till that late, keep him up so he sleeps longer into the night for goodness sake!

He takes naps swaddled up on my lap or the floor or in bed with me all the time
I generally have spitup stains on my shirt.
Milo never wears pants.
I'm pretty much always rocking the dark eye circles.
He's pretty much always making some kind of sound. Luckily they are usually happy sounds. I love my squeaky, growly boy!
Let's be honest. As much as I like to seem put together, we're usually more messy than anything else.
I think I prefer it this way. :)

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

My Wiggle Worm

It's official. Milo can now escape any swaddle/sleep sack/straight jacket I put him in.
Exhibit A:
Sleeping Milo
Angry Milo
 How we get from point A to point B is a mystery, but he always starts out horizontal and on his tummy, and somehow rotates 90 degrees and rolls over a few times. My own little roly poly.

Seriously though, this new rolling thing is a whole new ballgame. Gone are they days when I could leave the room for 2 minutes and know he'd be right where I left him. I now spend the day setting him in the lower right side of the carpet so he can roll over and over to the right. We're still working on the left side apparently :)



He's also been doing lots of super mans. This boy is going to have the tightest little buns in all the land!

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Dallas Take 2

Have I mentioned how much I love living near my sister/bff in Dallas? Because I do.
This week is full of finally getting tan at the pool, 4th of July barbecues, and cousins! We're in heaven. 

Trevor left today to go back to San Angelo and we miss him already. Long story short, I was going to drive back up next week with just Milo to go home for the weekend and send my little brother off on his mission to Brazil (!!!). We reconsidered that decision during the super fun 5 hour drive on Wednesday and decided I'd just stay through and fly home in a week and a half. So now... first time for Milo to be away from daddy... separation anxiety... and it's all making me really happy that I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've been away from my boy for more than an hour. Also I might be the crazy attached mom that throws a fit when her kids try to move out. Oh well, they can deal.

This boy is so much fun. He's starting to giggle! Only a tiny bit. But there is something about every new interaction that just makes my crazy inner mommy show. IloveitIloveitIloveit. 
I mean. 
 Yeah yeah. This is what most of our days look like. Especially when Milo decides to wake up all night long. Not cool.
 4th of July cousins! It's true, Milo is the tallest. He gets that from me.
 This is just everything I love summed up in one picture.
 Colton LOVES his baby "Miwo". Good thing he is getting his own baby brother soon!
 My boys.
 4th of July! 
Staking his claims on his bouncy chair. And eating his hand. Yum.
Snuggle bug at the pool.
This smile!!! Wahhh!!!! See. I told you. My crazy is showing. I love babies. I could sniff him and kiss his little cheeks and lips and tum all day long. Oh wait, I do.

Stay tuned for many more cousin adventures!
We miss you and love you, daddy!