All the Sun For You

A mom, two boys, a husband, and a whole lot of adventure!

Category Archives: My Free Time


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I Cheated

This post is one big confessional.  Get ready.

Confession 1:  I cheated on my paleo diet – just two days in.  I honestly tried not to, but here is what happened.  I packed a 100% paleo lunch to take to the pool yesterday.  Raspberries, nuts, paleo trail mix, and a peach.  Wonderful, wholesome snacks.  When I got there, there was a huge sign saying, “no outside food or drinks.”  I am a rule-follower – to a fault, quite honestly.  I don’t like to rock the boat – rules exist for a reason (you can imagine how much fun it was being my mischievous friends growing up!).  My friend asked if I thought that rule applied to our kids and I said, “hell no!  What can I possibly feed a baby from their menu?  Sure, most babies eat chicken strips and fries, but not my baby.  They can shove it if they tell me I can’t feed him his real food.”  But for myself – I just can’t be that bold and disregard their rules.  I gave some raspberries to Matthew while nibbling them myself but I was starving.  STARVING.  I had a chocolate chipwich.  If you don’t know what this is – you’re probably better off!

I then continued to blow the entire day since, you know, it was already messed up by the chipwich.  I stopped at McD’s as Matthew napped in the car for an hour+.  Holy hell – this is one big, fat FAIL!  Surprisingly, for dinner, I was good and ate nuts and berries since I was pretty full from my sinful lunch.

Confession 2:  I am not making Matthew’s birthday cake.  (I cringe as I type that!)  Here’s why.  I was going to order cupcakes anyway, and just make the two-tier cake myself.  However, I am not a baker – I am a cake decorator.  Why spend the time making and frosting a cake when I can better spend that time making decorations and tasty food?  When I was picking out cupcakes, I saw their “adult flavors” for cakes and figured this is a good opportunity to get a freaking AWESOME cake for the adults and then simple cupcakes for the kids.  It’s easy, then, to say, “kids, you can’t eat that cake but the cupcakes are all yours – knock yourselves out!”  The adult cake has one tier of orange mimosa and one tier of strawberry daiquiri.  Oh yummy!  They are not decorating it at all – it will arrive as just white cake – white frosting, white piping.  I have my cake toppers to make it beautiful, yet tastefully simple!

Confession 3:  I was struggling with the SAHM thing.  Don’t get me wrong – I was always loving it – but holy hell – I was pretty bored.  I just need to put that out there because I don’t think that feeling is uncommon.  We spent time with my friend and her daughter last week at the indoor pool, then went to baby gym on Saturday and Monday, then the pool yesterday, and we’ll have play group tomorrow and the outdoor pool again on Friday.  I am much happier with this type of schedule and fun interaction for both Matthew and me.  Today is my “chill day.”  We may go to the indoor pool, we may go to the mall, we may go to the park.  I have no idea – but we will get out of this house.  We must get out of this house every single day.

Confession 4:  We are cancelling the Seattle trip.  I put the decision on B since he was the one who was sort of down about our last trip.  I said that I wanted his expectations to be met with his next trip and I feared that if Matthew and I came along, that he would be let down because of limitations.  I was not going to make the decision for him – I don’t believe in doing that.  I would have fun no matter what we did out in Seattle, but I know that it can be hard to have fun when you have a baby with a strict nap schedule and bed time.  I don’t need to be busy on vacation.  B does.  So I left it up to him to decide.  Secretly though (and here’s the confession), I was hoping he’d cancel.  Here’s why.  1)  I would be traveling back with Matthew on a plane by myself, and given how he screamed in the car coming back from Minnesota, I feared for myself and everyone else who would be on that plane.  2)  We would only have a hotel room (not a cabin or suite) and that would mean silence for us during nap time and bed time.  That isn’t fun for anyone.  3 – and this one is a little crazy)  I am not comfortable traveling on a plane without B – knowing that if something happened to that plane and us, that B would be left childless and a widow.  If we’re going to take a family vacation, then we travel together for the entire trip.  If the plane goes down, we all go down together.  This is insane, I know, but it freaks me out.  It works the other way too.  If B’s plane would go down without us on his way back, that would be awful.  Just awful.  I know he travels often for work and that’s always a possibility (even in cars) – but it would be different as he came back from a family trip situation.  B cancelled the trip, as I knew he would, and I confessed all of this to him upon that cancellation.

Well, I feel much better now!  Thank you, internet, for listening!


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A Confession

I am putting this out there – because it needs to be said – and then released forever.

I used to be a runner – I ran a LOT.  If there was a 5K, 10K, 20K, or half marathon in my vicinity, you were sure to see me there.  Hell, we’d travel for the right race.  We also got really into adventure racing which B and I agree were the best days of our lives before Matthew was born.  You would expect an avid runner to have a decent amount of running clothes.  I mean – I ran almost every.single.day.

I am embarrassed.  Truly, truly embarrassed.  I went down to the basement to dig out my old fitness clothes since I’ve shrunk a bit lately and I was horrified at what I found.  Piles of running shorts and shirts.  Those things are thin and compact, so when I opened up a tub labelled “Courtney summer fitness,” I expected to find all sorts of things (like camping and hiking gear, for example).  No – the entire tub was full of running shorts and shirts.

How is that even possible?  I had an obsession back then, and I bought running gear like it was going out of style.  I won’t reveal quantities because it’s that embarrassing (and I didn’t count them because that would have upset me even more) – but it’s appalling.  I remember waiting with great anticipation to see what the latest Ad.id.as Sup.er.nova shirts and shorts would look like each season because I thought I needed new stuff each season. I was the Ad.id.as marketing machine’s dream come true.

The only good thing about today’s finding is that I will not buy running shorts or shirts for a long time – and maybe forever.  I have shorts and shirts for every “version of Courtney” and as I change shape and sizes over the years, I’ll just go shopping in the closet of “that’s too small” or “that’s too big” to get the latest running fashions (well… the latest fashions as of 2010!).


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Relief!

I didn’t pump last night.  I nursed Matthew pretty late (8:45) and then went to bed earlier than normal (10:45).  That’s only two hours so I figured there wouldn’t be much worth pumping.  Of course I went to bed worried that I had just messed up my body’s supply and demand for milk.  I worried about it all day.

It’s 11:22 tonight and I just pumped.  THREE ounces!  I guess I’m still producing.  Why do I worry so much about messing up my milk supply?  I have 55 days worth of milk in the freezer which will get Matthew to 14 months of age on nothing but breast milk and homemade, natural, WHOLE food.  What is my problem?

So in other news, I weighed myself today.  (Truth is, I weigh myself every day.  Before you get all “that’s not healthy, crazy woman,” on me, please note that I’ve always done this and I find that it keeps me from eating like a cow.  The minute I stop weighing myself daily, I get out of control because I love BAD food.)  I am very happy – I am 34.6 pounds less than when I got pregnant.  I have lost 10.8 pounds since starting our Paleo/primal lifestyle 6 weeks ago and that’s without doing any exercise (which I’m really not proud of).  I have lost 3% of my body fat.  I weigh almost as little as I did at my prime 5 years ago.  I am happy about this!

I would recommend this lifestyle to anyone.  I am SOLD on this!  I have never felt better!  No bloating, no fullness – just comfort and satisfaction all the time!

You know what I thought about today?  I thought that the next time I get pregnant, at the end of that pregnancy, I won’t even weigh what I did before I got pregnant with Matthew.  That is a relief!  I only gained 18 pounds with Matthew but I was super chubby – the chubbiest I have EVER been.  A year’s worth of fertility drugs and 2.25 years of TTC depression will do that to a gal.

At the rate I’m going, in another 6-8 weeks, I may hit my all-time adult low.  I’m not holding my breath.  However, B and I are going to take Matthew for a run tomorrow and we’re trying to get serious about exercise again (we used to be insanely fit) – so if I can actually pull that off – I may be able to hit that low before 6-8 weeks from now.  I have never felt so motivated!

We got a lot of work done on the house today.  B power washed the deck and I trimmed up the front plantings.  I have a lot of work to do still, but hope to finish it this weekend.  I have cake toppers to make and I can’t do that until my front plantings look good!  We are out of town next weekend and the following week (hello, North Shore of Minnesota!!!!), so the weekend after that will be busy with more house/yard work.  We have a long list, but I feel confident that we’ll knock most things off of it.

Matthew got in his little pool for the first time today!  So cute!  I took tons of pictures, many of which are posted below.  After he was done, we let him run around the house totally neck-ed, which he enjoyed too much!  Tomorrow?  He gets to try out his new water table for the first time.  SUMMER IS HERE!!!

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An Offer!

I am ready to jump into business with my sis – she even changed her Etsy store name so she’s ready for me to jump in as well!  Anyway, we are going to be offering cake toppers similar to what I made for Matthew.  We have not found anything quite like it on Etsy and we’re getting lots of feedback that it’s a great thing to offer.

So – what this means is that we need samples to list.  This is where you all come in.  I’ve already reached out to a few of you who I know have birthdays coming up, and I was about to reach out to one more when I thought, why not just post it?!  So here’s the offer – I need sample work and would LOVE to create toppers for real babies versus just making them up!  So please let me know if you’d like one (FREE, of course!!!) and I will get it started.  I will need to know your color scheme/idea and theme.  If you don’t like what I make for you, you most certainly don’t have to use it.  HA!

These are 100% custom – I will design around what you’re doing for your party.  I am doing one right now where there is no particular theme but a color scheme – and that’s great!

You can either email me, or comment below.  It’s up to you!  I will do up to 10 free toppers (and maybe more – we’ll see!) so please let me know ASAP!  Two are already gone!

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Here’s a tidbit of news on the sleeping/nap front.  This kid gets it!  Holy hell – we are now putting him down WIDE awake and he doesn’t get upset.  The other night at bedtime, he couldn’t get comfortable so he crawled around, stood up, babbled, etc. all without crying for us.  He finally fell asleep totally on his own.  Today for his nap, I put him in his crib with his Boo (monkey), lovey, and a soft book and he played for 10 minutes and then laid down to sleep.  ON HIS OWN!  Now, I know this may be normal to many of you – but this is amazing for us!  I am so happy!  So very, VERY happy!!!!!  The best part?  His naps are now running from 1.25 – 2.5 hours EACH!!!!!  I can’t remember the last time (besides vacation or a cat nap in the car) when he slept for less than an hour.

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We played outside today for a few minutes.  It’s warm, but windy, so we only stayed out for about 15 minutes.  You all know I can’t help but photograph Matthew out in the yard no matter what kind of mood he’s in!  I love being outside, and so does he!  Today, he was introduced to the rocks around the foundation of the house.  Good times!

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What I’ve Been Up To

This is what I’ve been up to.  OMG – this thing took forever to figure out (I’m a perfectionist) but once I had it figured out, it was a snap to do!  This will go above the table during the birthday party, and then up in his room afterwards.

On a side-note, my little sister found my blog.  No biggie – I’d mentioned it to her but hadn’t sent the address.  She found it via her Etsy store – apparently someone clicked the link to her store from my blog.  She hadn’t seen the referring link (my blog) before, so clicked it to check it out.  So hello to you, Lewis, in case you’re still reading!!!

Back to my little project – I am doing this same type of thing for my friend’s baby shower.  Now that I know what I’m doing, I’m going to get started!  I am estimating that each one of these little dandies takes about 3 hours of time, start to finish.  This one took much longer, but because I was figuring it out along the way.

Next up for the big birthday?  Cake topper and animals for the forest scene on the cake.

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And another side-note… but really this deserves much more than a side-note (but it’s not my news to share, so I’ll keep it a blurb here).  I still want to post about my first Mother’s Day because B went all out!  However, my day was devastated with the news of the passing of Ainsley Knepper.  If you don’t know her story, please honor her memory by clicking over to her mom’s blog and offering a bit of love and support.  Jen is the very first blogger I ever READ, let alone followed.  I’ve been following her for over 3 years now.  I don’t know her IRL, but I sure have known and loved her story.  I do not love this part of her story – it is rather heartbreaking  😦


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My Drivel

Someone is having a birthday at this very moment in our house – my DH!  I am sitting right next to him (he’s doing some prep work for work tomorrow) and just looked at the clock and realized that it’s officially his birthday right now!  We aren’t doing anything too crazy for his birthday due to this paleo/primal lifestyle we’re living.  I’m not even allowed to make him a cake!  He would rather cook here at home than eat out so that’s what we’ll do.  We are going to get a smoker for his birthday present – goes well with this new lifestyle we’re living.

Speaking of the lifestyle, it is going great!  I continue to shed weight.  I’ve lost 8 pounds in 3 weeks.  Not bad!  We have found that eating the way we do, that we rarely feel hungry and never feel too full.  I mean – NEVER.  I have not felt bloated in over three weeks now.  That is remarkable to me!  I was constantly bloated prior to this change.  For the record, I have cheated a couple of times, but that’s because I had good reasons.  No it’s not.  I did not have good reasons!  HA!  I went to Wend-y’s once with the intention to get the grilled chicken sandwich and not eat the bun.  It was too slippery that way, so I ate the bun.  I then proceeded to D-Q for a blizzard since I’d already ruined the day.  See how I think?!  HA!  It was the best damned blizzard I’ve ever had!  I did notice a slight decrease in my milk supply when we went to this lifestyle, so I do eat dairy (cheese, sour cream) a couple of times a week as I’ve found that that helps.  Don’t ask me why – there is no legitimate reason.  I did not use the milk supply excuse for the blizzard.  I used the, “Matthew is sleeping in the back seat and he really needs his sleep and I need to keep the car moving so I’ll go to D-Q for an unnecessary blizzard,” excuse.

Big things happened over the weekend!

WE BOOKED A TRIP!  I am a homebody – I don’t have to travel.  I like to travel, but I want it planned out for me and you’ll rarely hear me say, “let’s take a huge trip to such-and-such a place.”  Unless it’s Lake Tahoe or Utah (which are both at the top of my list), you’re just not going to hear me say that.  I think it’s because trips were always so stressful when we were kids – my parents just did not make it easy to get to places.  Once there, we had a ball – but getting there put both of my parents on edge and now I’m like that too.  It’s really too bad.  Anyway – so where are we going?  B works for a big company based out in the Seattle area and he goes out every July for annual technical briefing.  We are going to go the week before his briefing and travel around the Seattle, Redmond, San Juan Islands area.  I am so excited!  We booked a really neat hotel in Willows and we did it without even thinking – just called them up, asked what the corporate rate is for B’s company, and booked it!  I now need to buy plane tickets.  I am not at all stressed about this trip.

Matthew put on his swim trunks for the first time and played in my friend’s sprinkler.  He loved it!  She also filled a storage tub up with water for him to make a tiny little “Matthew pool” and he thought that was just too much fun!  I have TONS of photos but not on my computer.  I’ll try to post them for”Almost Wordless Wednesday.”  There were four little girls there between 7 and 11 who could not get enough of him, so he put on quite the show for them!  He continues to be a very social, happy baby.  We are so lucky!

We saw both B’s and my parents this past weekend.  That was nice!  The visit from my parents was planned, but our visit to B’s parents was not planned and I think that makes it fun!  We were driving up their direction and decided to see if they wanted to get together.  We did go to the Farmer’s Market before seeing his folks but that was sort of a bust.  The only food available to eat was pastries and sandwiches, and the produce was not that great – it’s just not the right time for fresh produce in Iowa yet.  So – we walked around and got some vitamin D before heading over to my IL’s house for lunch.  Matthew played with a super fun train set while we were there and we now think we need to get him one for his birthday  😉

My younger sister asked me to join her Etsy business this past weekend!  SO EXCITED!  I, of course, asked B his thoughts first but was so thrilled when he was on board!  We are working out the kinks and I’m going to pitch her/our product to a local store here.  We’ve also come up with lots of other ideas and directions for the business – so we’re in full-on creative mode right now.  We are renaming her store and are trying to think of catchy names.  This little business won’t be a major income, but it could provide the monthly college fund savings we’ve committed to and that would be nice!    More to come on this.  I’m joining her slowly so that we make a smooth transition.  I’ve already found a local partner to help pitch the product(s) to her own clients and I’m really excited about (and grateful for) that!

Matthew’s banner is coming along so well, you guys!  I am so pleased with it!  I connected it together tonight and hung extra, decorative ribbons on it as well.  I took a photo but B is in it and even though I’m not anonymous here, we try to keep him anonymous.  HA!  The banner is stored away now until show-time.  I did not attach the letters/animals yet for storage reasons.  I will put it fully together a couple of days before Matthew’s birthday and I’ll post photos then.  I am now moving onto his other party items which include the cake topper/decorations (I changed gears on the cake), cupcake toppers, the mobile/chandelier (the base is made and it worked out great after a few trials and errors!), centerpiece animals (hard to explain), party hats (I will buy the plain hats and simply stick on a couple of things), felt animal weights for the balloons, and possibly a tag for the party favors.  Which brings me to a question:  party favors or not?  I hate them – but thought of a cute idea.  I do think it’s stupid though to have to do party favors.  What do you guys think?  I’ve already gotten one vote and she’s in my corner (don’t do them).  The only reason I may do them is if I have time to make the custom tags for them.

What else?  Oh – this.  I’ve read a TON of wonderful blogs over the weekend.  I think Friday was a very profound day for so many bloggers!  I read so many meaningful things and it made me question my own “fluffy” blogging.  I wondered, “why does anyone read my drivel when there’s all of this good, thought-provoking stuff out there?”  That thought lasted just a split second, but I thought it nonetheless.  I still need to read a particular “non bucket list” but have been wanting to save some good down-time for it.  I read the intro and have already decided that I’m going to do one too (as challenged by the author) but that I really want to put some thought into it.

We go to “the cabin” in less than two weeks now!  No – it’s not our cabin, but it’s a nice one that we rented a month ago and we’re going to treat it like “our cabin” and try to get there a few times a year.  I cannot wait!

(side note – I just spell-checked this post and it appears that I like to use, “a couple of times,” quite often, lending itself well to my description of my posts as drivel!)


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I Do Love My Crafts (and the Parties that Go With Them!)

B has been out of town for three nights, which means I’ve had time each night to work on Matthew’s birthday banner!  What a load of work this thing is!  I’m still not done, but it’s really close now.  All the detail work is done and I just need to string it together (not sure how I’m going to do that just yet) and then glue the letters on.  I probably won’t do those things until just before his birthday because storing it fully constructed would likely ruin it.  When I set out to do this, I didn’t think it would take too terribly long.  I forgot that I’m a perfectionist when it comes to crafts and parties.   I have re-done many of the letters because they weren’t perfect.  Some still aren’t – but I’m going to let them go!

Next up?  I’ve decided to make a mobile for my friend’s baby shower with all of the advice cards that people fill out.  I am very pleased to say that I came up with this idea on my own!  I am not an original crafter – oh no!  I’m a WONDERFUL copier of great craft ideas, but this one came to me with no prompting from Etsy or Pinterest.  I AM SHOCKED BY THIS.  I’ve gone to lots of showers (even my own) where people write very heart-felt notes and advice on some cutesy form or die-cut, and then you never look at them again.  I loved what people wrote to me, but they’re now sitting in a box in Matthew’s cupboard.  So what I’m going to do is make die-cuts of bees and honey combs (her theme is bees) and have people write advice on those.  I will then take them all and make a mobile out of them.

I’ve never made a mobile in my life.  I did scour Etsy and Pinterest for instructions or examples and found several – so I bought my supplies today.  I am going to make a practice mobile to see if I’m even any good at it – I’d hate to ruin her advice cards on an ugly mobile.  S0… I will make one that matches Matthew’s birthday theme and hang it above the table where we set up the food.  Then – it will go into his bedroom after the party.

I don’t know where this crafting desire came from all of a sudden.  I’ve always loved, loved, LOVED making invitations (can’t wait to make the shower invitations for my friend!!!) but beyond that, I usually start projects and never finish them.  I’ve got to finish these projects – I don’t have a choice.

After the mobile – I will practice his birthday cake!  The friend whose shower I’m hosting is a FABULOUS cake decorator – especially with fondant – so she is going to help me.  She even reminded me last night that we have to do that soon – like within a couple weeks.  I will post photos.

Here is the banner so far… it is different from what I posted last night because each card now has ribbon around the edges (in case you were wondering!).


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The Difference a Lightbulb (or 10!) Makes

Seriously – we had 10 burned out light bulbs in our house.  We have this chandelier in our entry that is just a tad too high for B or me to reach to replace the bulbs (I’m 5’7, he’s 5’8) – and we didn’t have a stable enough ladder to get to them.  Our step stool is not tall enough because the light is mounted on a vaulted ceiling.  We would con my dad into replacing a bulb or two whenever he’d be in town (he is tall enough to use the step-ladder).  The bulbs that came with the house were total and complete crap, so they were burning out left and right.  We would just get done having my dad replace a couple, and then another one or two would burn out.  It was driving us nuts – but not nuts enough to go buy an expensive extension ladder to replace them ourselves.  This morning, there were 5 bulbs burned out in that thing – and only 4 remained lit!

Then there are the recessed canned lights in the kitchen.  Over a year ago, I decided to replace a bulb while B was out of town.  We have one of those super long extension rods with special light bulb attachments.  I used the nifty spring-loaded one and when doing it, I ripped the can right out of the ceiling.  Our ceiling is 16 feet high, so you can imagine how easy that was to fix.  We didn’t even try to con anyone to come over to fix that for us.  We were going to have a handy man come out to fix it, but never got around to it.  Of course, every time my dad was in town, he’d mention it and tell us to fix it.  (Why do dads always feel compelled to tell us what we need to do, according to them?) Another canned light burned out in the kitchen last week – so we had two to replace and one can to fix.

Then there is the light at the bottom of the stairs in the basement that burned out last week, that B didn’t even know existed!

And finally, there are a couple canned lights in the basement that were burned out that neither of us noticed.  I only noticed them when the previously mentioned light burned out.  Neither of us spends too much time in the basement (cat-related) so they truly went unnoticed by us both.

Today, we bought that super fancy, expensive extension/step ladder.  You know the one – it’s like the Little Giant but cheaper.  What’s really stupid about this story is that the ladder isn’t that expensive – it was just expensive enough that we’d rather spend the money on a new suit, or clothes for Matthew, or eating out.

In a matter of 60 minutes, the ceiling canned light was FIXED, all bulbs were replaced with CFL’s (so they should last longer but we’ll see – they also advertise that they’ll each save us $44 a year in energy bills – yeah right!), and my mood was completely elevated.  I HATE burned out light bulbs.  I cannot stand them.  I am one of those people who will get depressed when it’s dreary outside, so you can only imagine what I’m like when my house is dimly lit ALL THE TIME.

I walk around the house in complete awe of how beautifully bright it is.  I am so happy!  I honestly think that the bulbs being burned out can explain about 90% of my rotten mood when I’m irritable.

There are still 3 bulbs to replace in the bedroom, but we got the wrong size.  We didn’t even know that there were 3 lights in that fixture until the last one burned out this past week.  I wonder if the two bulbs have been burned out since we bought the house.  I can’t wait to see how bright the room is tomorrow when I get those replaced!


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Lots of Good News!

I have lots of good news to report!  Some of it is significant but most of it is only important to me  🙂

Good news #1:  I stopped up at the NICU today to deliver a gift to my friends.  I wasn’t going to stay, and wasn’t even going to bother them to say, “hello.”  I just wanted to drop off my gift at the front desk and be on my way – and out of their hair.  The nurses kept insisting that I see “her,” and by “her,” I think they meant the baby.  I kept saying, “no, no, I don’t want to be a bother.”  They would not take my gift and picked up the phone to start dialing their room!  I was just appalled!  The last thing I wanted was to bother these poor parents when anything could be happening at that moment, good or bad.  I sighed and turned my head, and there they were in the room right next to me.  I told the nurse to stop dialing, that they were right there and then I asked, “is that their room?  I can’t go in their room.”  I was explaining to B tonight that I just don’t want to be that person who parades in to see their little baby.  She’s their baby, not a spectacle.  I don’t want them to feel like they need to explain a  single thing to me about what’s going on with her, what the tubes are for, etc.  I want her room to remain quiet and still – and I am not a quiet person even if I try.

It turns out that the room they were in was just the family waiting room, and I was happy to go in there!  So I did – and I am so glad I did!  We chatted and it was really great to see them.  There were tears exchanged but the good news is that they keep getting good news!  This baby is unbelievable – and is on very little breathing support and has no bleeding on the brain.  The one thing that isn’t going perfectly is the hole in her heart and she has surgery for that tomorrow – so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  The surgery is routine, but as I said to my friend, as routine as it is, this is their  baby and of course it’s worrisome.

I didn’t stay too long, but you could tell that they would have been fine if I’d stayed a while.  I think the visit was a nice, welcome distraction.  I got a very nice text message later from one of them and I think I’m going to take lunch to her this week.  I am so glad I stopped up and SAW them!  Those nurses know what they’re doing!

Good news #2:  Matthew is consistently sleeping through the night!  I mean – THROUGH.THE.NIGHT!  He goes to sleep between 8 and 9 and sleeps until 6 – every single day!  He even had a rough bedtime last night and I thought that it could be a rough night for us all but no – he slept until 5:56!  Of course I brought him into bed with us and he slept with me WAY TOO LATE until 8:30.  He wakes up crying from his night-time sleep.  I think that has to mean he’s not getting enough sleep.  We put him down tonight at 8:07 and I’m curious to see how he wakes up tomorrow.  Anyway – that is FIVE nights in a row of continuous sleep!

Good news #3:  Paleo/Primal lifestyle is going well!  I did try some things this week because my milk supply was pretty low when I pumped at the end of the first week of the diet.  It got progressively less and less each night.  I dabbled with limited grains and dairy this week and the supply went up – but it was also up on the days that I had no grains or dairy.  I think the milk supply drop was a fluke.  I’m back fully on primal/paleo which means gluten/grain/dairy free.  I only lost one pound this week.  For the two weeks combined, I’m at 5.6 pounds lost so far.

Good news #4:  Matthew fed himself for the first time tonight!  Yes – I know – this is late in the game.  However, when you don’t feed your baby puffs or cheerios, they’re very limited on what they can really pick up and get to their mouth without mashing it all up.  He tried really really hard with peas tonight and got one pea into his mouth successfully!  Now that I’ve seen him do it, we can go back to me feeding him and keeping him clean.  HA!

Good news #5:  Matthew has learned how to get himself down from standing positions all over the house.  WHAT A RELIEF!  This started yesterday and it could not be any cuter.  He does not lower himself with his knees.  No.  He very carefully holds onto his support (me, a table, the sofa, whatever) as he steadies and lowers his tush a little.  Then he lets go with both hands and falls on his tush.  It is adorable!  Of course we cheer him on over and over again!  He stands up at his table just to plop himself back town again for practice/show.  He has not pulled himself up in his crib all week so I’m not sure if he can do it in the crib or not.  I have to believe he can and will if he does it everywhere else!

Good news #6:  I am making progress on Matthew’s birthday banner.  It is getting out of control.  Had I stuck to my original plan, I would have been done by now.

Good news #7:  I am working on planning my friend’s baby shower.  Nothing makes me happier than planning a party!  I am now planning TWO parties (birthday and shower) – so I am really excited!

Good news #8:  Now that naps are back on in the crib, I have been able to do my hair EVERY day this past week.  AHHHH!!!  It feels so good!

See – I told you that most of it wouldn’t be important to anyone but me  😉


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Hypocrite

B and I have been feeding Matthew based on the paleo lifestyle, with the exception of a little bit of oatmeal early on and sweet potatoes.  Paleo allows sweet potatoes for those who need extra calories (like tri-athletes or NBA players), but we figure that Matthew is a growing boy and sweet potatoes are a nice source of some important nutrients (iron being one), so we let that one slide.  I quit with the oatmeal after the geothermal incident, so he is very much a paleo kid with the exception of his beloved sweet potatoes.  We have run this lifestyle by our pediatrician who is 100% on-board and says that he’s getting everything he needs from what we’re feeding him, and that humans are consuming way too many carbs so it’s just fine to cut all grains completely before he even gets started (have I mentioned that I LOVE this doctor?).

Matthew is a tremendous kid who eats everything you put in front of him.  All of his food is 100% natural  and hormone-free,  and most of it is organic (I subscribe to the thought process that you buy organic for at least the dirty dozen).  We only use 100% grass-fed beef and free-range poultry.  Thanks to Cathy, I think we’ll be making Matthew’s yogurt once all of his YoBaby is gone.  I slave away in the kitchen so that he has healthy food that we know is good for him.  If we are out-of-town and can’t take his  homemade food with us, we buy organic baby food and read the labels closely to ensure that all he’s getting is the veggie/fruit, and water.  No additives.  I’m fanatical about it.  When people offer Matthew baby puffs, I politely say, “no thank you,” but think to myself, “are you kidding me?  There is nothing in that of any nutritional value!”

Why am I telling you all of this?  Well, you would think that B and I are tremendous, healthy eaters as well, right?

Not so much.

B is much better than I am – but even he isn’t a poster child for healthy eating.  He tries really hard to eat well, but how can he when he’s married to me?  I have been a poster child for pathetic eating habits my entire life.  I will feed my baby his 100% natural lunch, and then put him in the car so I can go to Mc.Don.alds.  I’m serious.  I kid you not.  French fries are a food group to me and I love nothing more – NOTHING MORE – than Diet Pep.si.  I would be perfectly happy if you hooked me up to an IV of DP and fed me French fries all day long.  The worst part?   I’m not even ashamed to say it!

I was never able to get away with this lifestyle without serious repercussions.  I have always been heavier than I should be.  In 2006, I decided to make a change and got my ass into shape.  SERIOUS SHAPE!  I ate healthy, gave up the soda, and exercised like a crazy woman.  I kept this up for 3 years.  I was, for the first time in my life, lean and trim.  Then – IF happened and I got depressed, I couldn’t run or exert myself too much during IVF cycles (due to my huge ovaries), and I was just totally and completely over it (my health kick, that is).  I thought about nothing but getting pregnant.  I gained 25 pounds.  I was at my highest weight EVER when I finally got pregnant with Matthew.

Today, I am almost 30 pounds less than my pre-pregnancy weight.  No – it’s not due to exercise.  Or healthy eating.  I think it’s due to A) not being on fertility drugs, B) breastfeeding, and C) being insanely happy with my life!  I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight 8 days after giving birth – but let’s face it – that’s not hard to do when you were at your highest weight ever when you got pregnant.  Dropping the weight has been effortless.  I hate saying that, because so many people struggle to lose weight after having a baby, but it is the truth.

So what did I do when I dropped all of that weight?  I started eating like crap again.  I went to McDon.alds 2-3 times a WEEK, indulged in Blizzards from D-Q because I needed somewhere to drive to keep Matthew asleep in the back seat, and found that Wend.y’s new fries are REALLY GOOD!  I took for granted how easy it was to drop the weight after having Matthew and I kept this manner of eating up for 9 months.

That all ended on Sunday.  It’s time for us to live the lifestyle we’re expecting our child to live.  It’s time to stop being stupid with food and get back to smaller meals, healthy meals, satisfying meals!  We started Paleo on Sunday.  We started it two days after my farewell lunch at McDon.alds didn’t even taste that good (but the one at Cul.vers the next day did!).

I am relieved.  I am relieved that I’m taking control of my body back.

I feel great.  I’m never stuffed to the gills.  I’m not experiencing caffeine highs and lows.  I’m not missing French fries (yet).  I’ve already dropped some weight.  I will admit – I had a Diet Co.ke today out of weakness and it was divine – but I will be better tomorrow.

I made a Paleo dinner tonight – out of ingredients we had in the house and without a recipe.  It was satisfying and really, really good!

I feel like I’m off to a good start – and for the first time in the past 9.5 months, I don’t feel like a hypocrite when it comes to food!