1 week down, 8 to go!

It was a crazy week, but I did it. I completed the first week of C25K. I knew it was a good sign when I did it last Monday, but the fact that I managed to do all three runs this week is amazing for me -- I've started this program in my head (and on this blog!) more than a few times but never followed through. With this first hurdle done, I'm feeling confident that its going to be different this time.

On an eating front I was a rock star Monday through Thursday. I kept track of what I was eating and stayed within my Weight Watcher points. Things were looking good. And then the weekend came and I ate non-stop. It wasn't even anything good. I just couldn't stop snacking. I need to come up with a better plan for dealing with the weekends.

All and all I feel good. I'm thrilled that I finished the first week and I'm looking forward to doing Day 1 of Week 2 tonight even though I know it's going to be harder. There is no lose on the scale this week, which is a shame because on Friday morning there was, but apparently my non-stop snacking this weekend had some collateral damage.

I did this week on the treadmill because my husband was traveling, but would like to venture outdoors this week. If anyone finds their selves here that is doing it on a treadmill I'd be curious as what speed you are doing the walk vs. run. I'm intentionally doing the running a bit on the slow side because I want to make sure I stick with it and I think keeping it manageable will be key.

Have a good week!

C25K or bust!

Today's the day. And I'm ready. Well almost ready -- there have a been a few wrenches thrown my way, but I'm determined to make this happen.

Quick recap: I have a beautiful baby boy. He turned one on October 1st and he loves chocolate cake -- who doesn't, right?
And I want to be healthier for him and losing some weight and getting in shape plays a big role in that.

I started McFatty Monday late January and lost some weight, but put some of it back on the past few weeks. But luckily just when my motivation was running a bit low, the C25K challenge came out. I've always wanted to be able to run. I'm convinced that if I ever started running it would be the key to maintaining my weight. I've tried C25K before, and gave up somewhere around week 2 or 3, but I'm hoping that doing it with a bunch of virtual friends from McFatty Monday that I'll find the inspiration to keep with it this time.

I seemed to have gone off track from my quick recap. I'm about 12lbs less than my pre-pregnancy weight which is great, but that was higher than I would have liked. I'm 12.4 lbs off from my goal weight, but I'm really just going to focus on making it through the program and toning up. I've even taken my measurements! ::gasp!::

And to prove that I mean business this time I'm doing the unthinkable. I'm posting a "before" picture ::double gasp!::



Hello there ! And note to self, get some new workout clothes.

My plan is to start today and do a weekly check-in on how I'm doing. The program is nine weeks so I'm also planning on posting a progress picture after completing 3 and then 6 weeks to see how I'm doing.

And now that the child is sleeping, I'm going to go for a run.

Have a great week!

McFatty Monday - Starting Over...

So I lost motivation... I fit back into most of my clothes. I was under pre-baby weight. Maybe I hadn't lost all that I wanted to, but I was doing ok. I was feeling good and for the most part I was maintaining my weight. And then I did what I always do. I started eating. And I'm talking non-stop. If it's bad for you, I ate it. Sure I had good excuses -- a vacation with the family, work was busy so we needed to order take out, 4 birthday parties in 3 weekends -- but the truth is I just wanted to eat delicious junk food. So I did. Pizza, buffalo wings, chips, ice cream....

Normally I would have caught this after a couple of weeks, but my safety net wasn't there. For some strange reason, during a cleaning frenzy (which in itself was strange!) my husband decided to put my scale in the basement. When I asked him why, he said he didn't think I used it. Didn't use it?!?! I use it all-the-time. I know you should only weigh yourself once a week, but I weigh myself a few times a week. Sometimes daily. Sometimes a couple of times in a single day. I know this isn't healthy so I thought that I would try life without a scale. Big mistake. Strike that. HUGE Mistake.

Now I'm starting to feel my stomach when I sit. My clothes are not fitting as well. And most importantly I'm not feeling as good as I used to.

How much damage did I do during my downward eating spiral? No clue. I'm afraid to step on the scale. It's still in the basement. But I need to get back into control. I'm recommitting to McFatty Monday. I'm starting today/this week with focusing on eating. Next week I'm start with exercise.

Some of the ladies (and maybe gentlemen? not sure) on McFatty are going to be starting C25K. I've always wanted to do this. I've even said in past weeks here that I was going to start it as my exercise program but never did. But I'm going to this time. If we start next Monday we'll complete the program (9 weeks I think) right before Christmas and I think being able to do a 5K is a very good gift to myself and what a great way to close out the year.

Not having a scale didn't work well for me, but I think I'm going to try measuring success a bit differently this time around. I'm going to put more emphasis on getting through each of the weeks and not the number on the scale and I'm also going to take my measurements. Like many others I'm hoping some regular cardio will help tone and firm things that haven't been firm and tone in quite a while!

Things to do by next Monday (I do like a good list!): buy a measuring tape, get the scale out of the basement, download the C25K app from iTunes (there are a couple, any recommendations on which one is best?) and go shopping for new sports bras.

Have a good week!

So things I'm going to do to prepare for next weekUntil next week.... Enjoy!

Stay-cation: Days 1- 4 -- FAIL!

We're allowed to take two weeks off from daycare without paying as long as they are in the months of July and August. We took a week off at the beginning of July and used the time to do a road-trip to visit family and decided to take the week of August 30th and just stay at home and be a family. Sounds great, right?

Today is day four and amount of family time so far? Zero. Well at least zero with the three of us.

Right after we picked the week we get an email from MIL asking if she come for a visit that first weekend. Not quite the way I wanted to kick off my vacation, but fine. She doesn't get to see the baby that often and it's important they spend time together. She arrives, everything is going great and then my husband gets a call Friday night that he has to leave the next morning for a last minute business trip. Fan-freaking-tastic. Don't get me wrong, I get along with my MIL, but I hadn't planned on hosting the visit by myself. Plus I had plans to get together with my sister on Sunday for a bit and had to cancel... Bleh!

Monday, my MIL leaves and I get the great news that my husband was able to cut the trip short and would be home late that night. Perfect! Until Tuesday morning that is. During breakfast the phone rings and he has to go into the office today. Fan-freaking-tastic again!

So here I am on day four and nothing has gone the way I've wanted it to. On top of that I needed to get one project done before leaving work last week and I didn't get it done. I had hoped to get it done over the weekend while my husband entertained my MIL and baby, but because of his trip I haven't been able to find time to do it. Urgh!

On the brightside, I have been able to have the past two days alone with my son and that has been wonderful. I'm just annoyed that my husband is missing it and I have no faith that the next few days will be any different.

I know that this is just a whining mess, but I needed to get it out. Ok. Whining over. Time to work on my project while the little one naps so I can enjoy my alone time with him the rest of the afternoon.

And crossing my fingers that we can salvage the rest of the week...

McFatty Monday Week 32: No loss, but doing better

So two weeks ago I had a little breakdown and got some wonderful, supportive comments. While I don't want anyone to feel so... how should I say it... tired, overwhelmed, mediocre, behind at life -- pick any or all of them really! -- it was great to know I wasn't alone. So a big thank you to everyone!

A lot of the suggestions were to take it slow and make some small changes. And I sort-of listened. I made some small changes, and the amount of changes were probably more than I should of taken on at once , but it's been going ok. I've focused on getting in my water which has also helped with my dwindling breast-milk supply (bonus!) and I've also tried to get more exercise in. I managed to walk the dog three times last week and we spent some nice family time this weekend walking around the zoo.


And I also made an effort to get out from under the backlog of work that I've let piled up. I figured this would help with feeling so overwhelmed, and while there is still a lot to do with that one, but at least I made a dent which is a good start. These are all good things. But I also decided to start training for a 5K at the end of October, but then promptly did nothing about it. I'd still like to do the race, so maybe I'll start training for it this week. And I had planned to start eating better and I didn't... So a lot a good and some stuff that still need work...

I didn't lose any weight these past two weeks, but I also didn't gain. I'm 8lbs away from my end goal.

Our very honest and open McFatty leader Blair asked about our summer vacations and if they were everything we dreamed them to be. I was lucky enough to have two so far this summer and one more planned for next week. The first was a trip to the "House of the Mouse" or WDW where I had a wonder week with my family and my sister and her family. Since the little man was only 8 months, we only went to the parks one day, but it was a busy one! He got to see the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and ride the monorail. The rest of the week was spent playing with his cousins and splashing around in the pool with his dad. Doesn't get much better than that!
The next vacation week was we spent mostly in the car. We did a week-long road-trip to visit family. My sister and her family in CT for one night, three nights in Gettysburg to visit my husband's family and then two nights in Ocean City, MD to introduce my son to his Great-Gram. This trip was mixed. Some of it was miserable, some of it was great, but the time at the ocean spending it to my son was fantastic! He loves the beach and I loved showing it to him and just spending the time with him.

The vacation next week is the one I'm looking forward to the most. We're doing nothing! Well we may do some day trips, but it's just going to be the four of us. Me, my husband, the boy and the dog. My brother-in-law has been living with us for the summer and just went back to college, so we'll have the house to ourselves and it's going to be fabulous!

Have a great week!

McFatty Monday Week 30: Lacking motivation...

I wasn't going to post. It's been three weeks since my last McFatty post or any type of blog entry and I was going to skip it. Again. And then I read Blair's entry and she makes me want to be motivated. I want to take control of my eating. I want to be healthy. I want to want to be in pictures with my son and not cringe at how I look at them. And yet I don't control my eating. I don't exercise. I drink beer on weekends. I need to do better. I want to do better. And yet I still have a hard time motivating myself past a couple of hours, maybe a day. I think I just get overwhelmed by everything.

I marvel at how some women seem to balance it all. Time just isn't my friend these days. It seems to evaporate before my eyes. I go non-stop all day long and yet accomplish little. This is both at work and at home. I'm behind at work. My house is dirty. My dog rarely gets walked. And could someone tell me how did my son become 10 1/2 months? I'm not sure how people fit in nutritious meals and make time for exercise (I can't even fathom how people find time to get to the gym!). How do you do it, because I'm tired! I'm tired and my child sleeps through the night! I can't even imagine what it would be like if he didn't.

But I'm going to try and motivate myself to do this because it's important.

I'm 9lbs above my goal weight (wedding weight) and I'm not going to lose it by my4th anniversary this coming Thursday which was my goal. And that will have to be ok. Instead I'm just going to commit to losing it. How long it takes is how long it takes. I will goal myself on moving more this week and drinking water. Maybe I'll get my self a pedometer. Gadgets make me happy.

I look forward to some of the fun, small challenges coming our way through McFatty Monday. I can use all the motivation I can get!

Have a great week!

McFatty Monday Week 27: Body Image

Wow! Has it really been 4 weeks since I checked in? Yikes! The good news is that after two vacations, a week of cookie craziness and enjoying summertime libations, I've managed to get back to my birthday goal weight and am now only 6 lbs away from my final goal of Wedding weight! I only have 3 1/2 weeks to do it which may or may not be doable. When you are that close to goal 2lbs a week is a long shot, but I'm going to try for it!

So I'm close. And right now I'm at a number that I can usually maintain pretty easily while fitting into clothes. But I'm not happy. Even though all the baby weight is gone and I've lost all of the pre-baby weight I had put on for various reasons, I'm not happy. I should be ecstatic, but I'm not. I don't think I look good. In fact, I don't see a whole lot of difference than I did pre-baby even though I'm somewhere between 15 and 18 less than I was there. I've been saying I was going to post before and after pictures and I'm going to once I take them. Maybe that will help. But right now I just feel doughy. That's probably because I am doughy, but that's besides the point. I don't think I've ever been happy with how I looked. Maybe, and that's a big maybe, about 8 years ago, but it was seriously for like two months. I've just never had a good body image.

I know I should exercise, but truthfully I'm not sure that even if I wasn't doughy I'd have a better body image. Maybe that's my excuse for not exercising - I hiding behind finding the truth that I'll just never be happy with myself. This may sound awful, but sometimes I'm happy I didn't have a girl because I'm afraid I would pass along my unease with myself/body. While it can still be an issue with boys I don't think it's as prevalent. Maybe I'm wrong about that though so I'd love to hear thoughts.

Last week people posted pictures of themselves in bathing suits. I thought to myself that never in a millions years would I do that, but maybe it could be my first step. I don't even know what it would be a first step to. Exercising? Feeling better about myself? I don't know. But it's a picture of my little family having a good time at my son's first trip to the beach. I want to look at that picture and remember how much fun we had and not that I think I look terrible. (I seriously had no idea how droopy my boobs looked! - I'm blaming it on the fact that the suit was a size too big. See! There I go fixating on it again!) . So here it is, straight from the beach in Ocean City, MD.

Have a good week!

Wordless Wednesday - my whale!

McFatty Monday Week 23: And a McFatty one it is!

Week 23 of HeirToBlair's McFatty Monday (they are on week 25)

Confession time. I have a love/hate relationship with McFatty Mondays. I'm sure you can guess when I love it, but let's state the obvious. I love it when I had a great week and can report a loss. But I also love it because it forces an accountability that reminds me to course correct and this is one of those moments. Two weeks ago I came back from vacation with a small expected gain and claimed I was ready to work towards my next goal. I lied. Vacations are like a gateway drug for me. It reminds me how fun it is to eat and drink anything I want and then I spiral out of control. I'm a little more than five feet tall and my metabolism has never been my friend and is even less so as I've gotten older. I simply can't eat and drink anything I want and remain the size I want to be. Especially since I don't exercise regularly (read: at all). Watching what I eat is all I've got (unless I start exercising ::shudder::).

So it's Monday. And I have two choices. Not post (like last week - in fact I didn't even step on the scale last week because I knew it wouldn't be good) and continue to enjoy hamburgers, pizza, beer and cookies* to my heart's content or I could step on the scale and see where I was and start over. So here I am. Hating McFatty, but loving it at the same time.

*In my head I was able to justify the cookies because they were lactation cookies. I made a batch last weekend and ate pretty much all of them in one week. Almost 6 dozen cookies. I couldn't get enough of them. Oh and did I mention that I'm not really having supply issues? I just wanted cookies and knew my husband wouldn't even bat an eye since they were lactation cookies.

The results: Up 4 lbs since my lowest point while doing McFatty Mondays and I'm now 9 lbs away from my goal of being back to wedding weight.

Goals for the week: 80 oz of water a day. Salads for Lunch. And try to get out and walk the dog, but since the husband is traveling this week that will be a stretch goal.

Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday -- Pool Time!

From last week's vacation to the House of the Mouse (aka WDW).

McFatty Monday Week 21: It's been a while

Week 21 of HeirToBlair's McFatty Monday (they are on week 23)

So I haven't posted since Week 18 and usually that would mean that I'm in a downward (but probably delicious - hey, you know I speak the truth!) spiral where I'm gaining my weight back. I'm proud to report that it is only 1/2 true and the other 1/2 was a planned break from dieting. I was just super busy -- in fact I don't know how you all keep up with your blogs, but that's a post for another day. Back to McFatty Monday.

Three weeks ago I was working towards my goal of getting to a certain weight by my 35th birthday. I was only 1 lb away and I promised before and after pictures if I hit it. Not only did I hit it, but on May 28th I was 1lb under my goal! WooHoo! I fully planned on taking the after pictures, but ran out of time as I was getting ready to go on vacation. And the best thing about hitting this goal was I was able to reverse the horror that I revealed back in week 9.

I no longer weighed more than my mother! WooHoo!


So I was under my b-day goal and off to vacation where I had no intention of dieting. And I don't feel bad about that. I drank lots and lots of beer, ate cake/cupcakes four or five days in a row (we celebrated two birthdays while on vacation and it would be a shame to let left over cake go to waste!), had a special outing with my Godson to celebrate his 5th birthday where I introduced him to mint-chocolate chip ice cream... the list goes on and on. I had a great time, but now it's back to reality.

I gained 3lbs on vacation. Could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse. This puts me up 2 lbs from by birthday goal weight, but I'm done using that as a yardstick. I'm now tracking to my final goal of wedding weight which is only 8 lbs away.

The results: Up 3 lbs since my birthday. 8 lbs to wedding weight goal.

Goals for the week: Water. Aqua. H2O. And lots of it! Need to flush out some of these toxins!

Answer to Blair's question - what's your favorite diet food at the moment: A Jello's chocolate pudding cup -- the one that's 60 calories and made with Splenda -- topped with a dollop of fat free ReddiWip whipped cream. It's my dessert most nights and gets me through my chocolate cravings.

Have a great week!

P.S. And to prove that I'm not a fibber, I will work on getting the after pictures taken and get them posted. Not sure if I should wait until I'm back to birthday weight to take them, but I will post them eventually.

McFatty Monday Week 18: Woo-Freaking-Hoo!

Week 18 of HeirToBlair's McFatty Monday (they are on week 20)

First off I want to say hello to the first guest host of McFatty Monday, Diana from Hormonal Imbalances. Diana is nice enough to help Blair out this week and totally upped the ante by working out during her McFatty vlog. Check it out of you haven't already.

So there wasn't a Week 17 posting. In fact I haven't posted at all in the past week or so because I was busy getting ready for and then attending a tech conference. Sorry about that! The conference played havoc with my schedule and I never got a chance to weigh in last week so I didn't know how I was doing. And for those of you that have been to tech conferences you know what can they bring. Food and lots of it. Breakfast & lunch buffets. Mid-morning snacks. Mid-afternoon snacks. Plus many open bar receptions with appetizers. Appetizers that aren't good for you. Granted the food isn't very good, but it's there and it's plentiful.

I tried to be good, but I wasn't always, so I didn't know what to expect this morning when I stepped on the scale, but the results were good!

The results: There was no week 17. And week 16 I didn't lose anything. So I'm down 3lbs from week 15, which was three weeks ago so I'm averaging a pound a week.

But what this really means is that I'm only ONE POUND AWAY from my birthday goal weight and I still have 11 days to go before my birthday! Woo-freaking-Hoo!

Goals for the week: Lose that damn pound!

Have a great week!

Oh and to try and tempt you back. If I hit my goal weight next week, I'm going to be posting some before and after shots.

Wordy Wednesday - 6 month photo attempt

So I've been planning on doing milestone photos of the little one. 3, 6, 9 and 12 months followed by 18 months and 2 years. At the three month point I was very prompt. We went the day before he turned three months. The six month? Well let's just say he was 6 and a couple of weeks when we went the first time. That's right there was a first time as well as a second time (the same day he turned 7 months -- oops!) because the first time didn't go so well. It wasn't his fault though - or mine really. We timed it as well as we could. He had a nap, was fed and all around in a good mood, but the place was running behind. It was almost an hour before we got in there and we quickly ran out of happy baby time.
So we got pictures like the drunk baby, the sad baby and the oddly huge head baby:


The second time they were also running behind (note to self, consider going to a new place or at least not going on the weekend), but not as bad and we had more happy baby time to work with and as a result we got better pictures:


And my favorite:

And then the sales campaign comes in where they start making fancy enhancements to the pictures so that you'll spend more money. I was very firm with them. I told them not to bother. There is no way I'm going to purchase any of them, but yet they still make them.


I was good. I held my ground. Ok, fine. I did walk away with one little collage, but I intended to get one for my desk at work so I don't feel bad about it.
So even though it took two attempts, we got it done. And it was a win/win on both sides. I got some photos I was happy with and they got more of my money than I wanted them to!

So for those of you out there that go to get your little ones pictures taken, do you stand firm? Or do they always sucker you into spending more money than you intended? Or am I alone in this?

McFatty Mon..., err Tuesday Week 16

Week 16 of HeirToBlair's McFatty Monday (they are on week 18)

What? Today's not Monday? Huh. Yeah, ok. I totally slacked yesterday, but at least it wasn't because I gained weight and didn't want to admit it. But then again I didn't lose weight either so I wasn't in a rush to shout it from the rooftops. I stayed the same this week which is fine. I had a very good loss last week (4 lbs!) and this week I indulged in two high calorie days. The first was an attempt to be strategic. I figured I'd throw in a high calorie day mid-week to shake things up a bit metabolism wise. And it probably would have worked if two days later I didn't follow it up with a fantastic date night with the husband. That's right! For only the 2nd time in seven months (the first being my husband's birthday in late December), my husband and I went out by ourselves. We had gone out a couple of other times with my sister and her husband, but this was just the two of us and we had a fantastic time. Good food, great drinks and time to talk about anything and everything. Well worth a zero gain/loss week!

But damn babysitters make a nice night out expensive!

The results: zero, zilch, nada. But not a gain!

Goals for the week: Hmm.... Behave at the BBQ we're going to on Saturday. And continue with the 80 oz of water a day.

Blair's Question of the week: What do you do in an emergency and/or on the road? Umm... I plead the 5th. (This may also be correctly interrupted as I go balls out with a quarter pounder with cheese & fries)

Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday - Handsome Devil

Karma bites back

A couple of weeks ago I decided that on Tuesdays I would post what I would consider my "bad mommy of week" moment. I think most moms have these moments. Times where you dropped the ball (like not bringing backup clothes to daycare) or you did something with your little one that you instantly realized was a bad idea (like giving them a baby spoon to play with which they immediately try to shove back deep in their mouth/throat). I thought this would be a fun little series where I would record my silly little mistakes for people to chuckle over or chime in with similar mistakes and it would also help me get into the regular rhythm of blogging. Mondays I would do the McFatty posts, Tuesdays the bad mommy award, Wednesday a cute picture for Wordless Wednesday.... Good idea, right? Sure! Well, that is until my bad mommy moment resulted in tears - his and mine, but more importantly his. And suddenly my funny little series isn't so funny any more.

A couple of weeks ago I was scrambling to get out the door to take Fussy Gus for his six month check-up. Weekday mornings are hectic at my house -- we're not very organized, but it was even more hectic that day because my husband was away on a business trip and I was doing it solo. We were just about to leave the house, I put the baby into his car seat bucket thing and realized I forgot something in the kitchen. What I forgot, I have no clue. I remember thinking to myself that I should buckle him in, but he'd be fine for a second so I choose not to and went into the kitchen which is just a few steps away. I wasn't gone a couple of seconds when I heard the awful noise of Fussy Gus hitting the floor. He flipped himself out of the car seat and landed face down on the hardwood floor. Worse, the car seat had been on the ottoman, so he fell about two feet. My heart stopped. He immediately cried. I scooped him up and was able to comfort him so that he stopped crying pretty quickly. Shaking I righted the car seat, got him into it, grabbed the diaper bag and rushed to the doctor's office. On the way there I called my sister and started bawling about how I dropped the baby. She assured me he'd be fine and luckily he was.

I don't know if I would have taken him to the doctor's since I knew what to look for with a head injury, but since we had the appointment I damn sure was going to have look at him. The doctor probably would have asked since he had an angry red mark on his forehead from the fall, but I told her what happened and she examined him. He was fine and then I got the lecture and rightfully so -- I screwed up. From there we went to daycare and I had to tell them what happened and they had to document that he came in with the mark on his head so that they wouldn't be held responsible for it. And then I told my husband. Each time I told someone I was just reinforcing the feeling that I was the worst mom in the world.

I know accidents happen. I certainly never meant for him to fall and thankfully he wasn't hurt, but ever since that moment I feel sick that I had using my little mommy mistakes as a source of content for a blog. I felt like it was karma getting back at me. Am I being a bit over dramatic? That's the thing -- I know I am. But I can't shake the feeling, so while I'll continue to share my experiences of things that I do right, wrong and ass-backwards, it's not going to be in the form of a weekly series. It just feels like I'd be tempting fate too much. (And by now you've obviously guessed that I'm a bit superstitious)

Oh and just so you know, I did learn from my mistake. I do not put the car seat bucket thing anywhere but on the floor and the car seat base.

McFatty Monday Week 15

Week 15 of HeirToBlair's McFatty Monday (they are on week 17)

Wow! What a difference a week makes! Especially when you actually stick to the plan you outlined for yourself. I'm down four, that's right, FOUR-freaking pounds this week. I drank my water, walked my dog, ate salads for lunch a few times and even once for dinner. I said no to the bagel my very kind, but very sabotaging co-worker bought me. And I lost 4 lbs. I even had a sugar-free jello pudding cup most nights for dessert and remembered to limit myself to one beer Saturday night.

The results: down 4 lbs and am now 4 lbs away from my birthday goal weight. I have 4 and 1/2 weeks to lose the 4 lbs. Totally doable!

Goals for the week: Same as last week since they worked so well. Walk the dog 5 times, drink 80oz of water a day and have salads for lunch.

Question of the week was around bathing suit plans for the summer. Last year I bought a suit I loved right before I got pregnant, because I couldn't fit into any of my old ones. Now that I'm down 14lbs pre-pregnancy weight, I'm thinking my old ones will fit, but they are bikinis. And while I think I'll be able to pull it off (well, as well as I've ever been able to pull it off - which was never great), I think it may be more practical to go with a tankini since I'll be sitting around in a splashy pool and not lying out anymore. So I think I'll be shopping...

Have a great week!

Baby Bath Time!

I don't know about the rest of you, but now that Fussy Gus can sit up by himself*, bath time has become much more fun with all the splashing and giggling that goes on. All we need now is some bath toys and a better mat for the bottom of the tub. I sense a shopping trip in my future!

Oh and how huge is that baby belly? I love it!

*We always keep a hand on him while he is in the tub to prevent him from falling.

McFatty Monday Week 14 :

Week 14 of HeirToBlair's McFatty Monday (they are on week 16)

So what I swore I wouldn't do on my McFatty journey, I've done. I've fallen into old habits. I've slowed down on drinking water, walking the dog frequently as fallen to the wayside, training for the 5K never even got started and my salads with grilled chicken for lunch are a distant memory. And yet I was still losing* which leads me to what I am most disappointed in myself for: I got within 5 lbs of my goal, was feeling good about myself, and I went into sabotage mode. Don't get me wrong, sabotage mode is delicious, but three Dairy Queen Blizzards in a week is ridiculous (in my defense, my husband bought me one as an olive branch when I was pissed at him so I felt obligated to eat it - ok that's a lie. I was giddy as a school girl when he walked through the door with it and I had to eat it) never mind the large bag of peanut M&Ms that bought on the 50% off post Easter candy sale.

So here I stand, 3 lbs heavier. 8 lbs away from my first goal which I had wanted to hit by April 25th and now I never will . So I'm starting over. Today. And I'm picking a new date for my goal. My Birthday -- May 28th. My (can't believe I'm going to type this) 35th birthday. I will lose 8 lbs in the next 5 1/2 weeks. It won't be easy, but I'm going to do it.

Goals for the week: Walk the dog 5 times, drink 80oz of water a day and have salads for lunch.

I think Blair's question of the week is about what you've learned and how will you make this loss long-term. I don't know if I've learned a lot, but at least I realized what I was doing sooner rather than later and that's something. As for long-term, I haven't thought that far ahead and that's a bad thing. I'm going to noodle on it a bit and get back to you.

Have a great week y'all! (yeah, I really can't pull "y'all" off)

*I credit this to breastfeeding. I've heard mixed things about how BF can help you lose the baby weight, but those 500 extra calories that you are burning really came in handy for me and is probably why I lost some weeks when I shouldn't have.

My Mommy & Me Experience

I'm not really a joiner. I have a lot of friendly acquaintances, but only a few very close friends. So when my two best friends, girls I have known for almost 30 years, started pressuring me to join a mommy and me class after the baby was born, I thought they were crazy. They know me. I don't do things like that. I like to stay in my safe little circle. But they were rather insistent. They told me that I would need to get out of the house after the baby was born and I needed to sign up. So against my better judgment, I signed up and when Fussy Gus was just shy of 3 weeks old we packed up and headed to class.

I didn't know what to expect - and I'm sure each class is a bit different depending on the group of moms that come together - but essentially we were all in the same boat. We went around the room that day introducing ourselves, our babies and we shared our birth stories and maybe something that we were struggling with. Introductions for the nine of us ended up taking the entire two hours of class. It was like we knew it was a safe haven to admit that we were overwhelmed and pretty everything was harder than we thought it would be.

Class ended and I started packing up all of our stuff. I don't know if I would say I loved the class, but I didn't hate it and would mostly likely come back the following week. And then it happened. The group leader thanked us all for coming and told us to go and have lunch together. Huh?!?! I just met these people. I don't want to have lunch with them! And it was time to feed Fussy Gus. I wasn't sure I was ready to breastfeed in public, never mind trying it in front of a bunch of strangers! But I could hear my two friends in the back of my head telling me to do just do it. So I did. Six classes and six lunches later, I was sad that the class was ending. (And did I mention that I'm pretty sure I ended up flashing everyone in the Mexican restaurant during that first lunch?)

Since most of us were still on maternity leave we started planning outings together. We did a cookie exchange at someone's house, a bunch of us plus babies went and got pedicures (us, not the babies!), we had pot luck lunches at houses. One by one we headed back to work and the play dates became less frequent and eventually stopped, until today (now yesterday because I didn't finish this post until today) that is. Seven of the nine of us (plus babies) were able to get together for lunch.

It was amazing to see not only how much the babies have changed, but also the mommies. Besides everyone being out of their maternity clothes, there was a confidence that none of us had back then. And while it had been a while since most of us had seen each other, it was like no time had past. We bonded as a group so much during those early weeks, it was like we were a bunch of old war buddies. Now don't get me wrong -- none of us are experts. We spent much of the lunch quizzing each other how much and how often each baby was eating, who was still breastfeeding, who was or wasn't sleeping through the night and sharing teething tips.

We had a great time at lunch and it was wonderful to see everyone. I hadn't realized how much I had missed them. I certainly never realized that when I walked into that class almost six months ago that I would make so many new friends. I guess I owe my two best friends a thank you - I may not have wanted to do it, but it was definitively worth it.

Oops! I'm being featured today! Crap! I need a witty post!

Hey there!

You may have wandered over here from the d-listed mom blogs. If you did, thank you! Unfortunately I never expected to be featured so quickly and therefore you are probably way under impressed with my last two posts where I complained about wearing oatmeal and the fact that we haven't started our taxes yet. Had I known you were coming I would have posted something much more engaging -- or at least I would have tried to!

I have a number of posts that planning in the next couple of weeks, but since you are probably a mom, I'll share a little of my birth story. Fussy Gus (not his name, but it's a nickname we gave him during one of his fussy periods) arrived via a planned c-section. And while it was planned, we didn't have a lot of advance notice. Most of the time between when we learned we were having the baby on Thursday and Thursday morning was spent getting things ready -- finishing up at work. bringing the dog to my parents, etc. I didn't get a chance to research c-sections -- All I really knew was what they told us in the 10 minute video showed during the childbirth prep class.

So here we are in the hospital that morning and it's time to get the show on the road. I was a bit surprised to learn that I would walk into the operating room. But I did and then I hopped up on the operating table. Have I mentioned that I have never spent a night in the hospital, had an operation or even an IV before? This is all new territory for me. My husband is waiting down the hall while they did the spinal block. The first attempt fails but luckily it works the second time. So now I'm lying on the table and can't feel anything. I'm looking around a bit, wondering when they'll get started and I smell something. What's that smell? Smells like something's burning? Oh wait! I think that's me! Apparently they had started and apparently I was being cauterized! Oh. My. God! And where is my husband?!?!

So I looked at the anesthesiologist and was about to say something, when I hear him say "Is anyone going to go get the husband?". What?!?! They forgot?!?! Was he going to miss it?!?! Luckily he arrived in plenty of time, but the poor bastard walked into the room and got a straight on view of all the glory that is my innards. And squimish does not even begin to describe my husband when it comes to blood and medical stuff. He was a trooper though (albeit a bit green in color) and it wasn't long before we heard the announcement that we had our beautiful son (we didn't know the gender ahead of time) and life hasn't been the same since.

The post was a bit rushed, but hopefully you'll stop by again sometime and hear about our life as parents while juggling work, a disobedient dog and a house which will always be under construction! And thanks to the d-listed Mom Blogs for featuring us. If you haven't already, check it out!

Have a great day!

Trials of a Working Mom...

Not sure how, but this morning when I got to work I noticed some type of gunk down the leg of my pants. Other than walking to the car and then into my building I didn't go anywhere and I didn't have anything to eat this morning. Upon closer inspection I realized it was oatmeal and while I didn't eat anything this morning, the little man did. And somehow he transferred it to my brand new work pants without getting a speck on himself. Fan-freaking-tastic! And so the day begins....

Oh and the taxes still haven't been started yet, but I was told not to worry about it. I'm smelling an extension in the air...

Can this week end soon? Please?

That time of year again...

It's slightly after 10pm on April 14th and Mr. Tall Guy has not started our taxes yet. I offered to do them, but he said no, he would take care of it. So I tried a different approach. I tried sell him on the idea of how cool it would be check off that we have a dependent this year for the first time. Lame I know. And he obviously didn't fall for it. So now I'm sitting here trying to wait trying to figure out how long I should wait until I mention it again.

I have a feeling that the next 24 hours at my house are going to be miserable.

McFatty Monday Week 12

Week 12 of HeirToBlair's McFatty Monday (they are on week 14)

Happy belated Easter! It was a great weekend here in New England after what seems like weeks of torrential rains. Seriously, I wouldn't have been surprised if I saw Wonder Mutt heading up a gangway with another Brittany in tow!

The weather was fantastic and we were able to take a long walk as a family and spend some time just playing in the grass with the little one. And with great weather weekends came some tasty beverages! My new favorite spring/summer drink is going to the Spiked Palmer -- an Arnold Palmer made with Firefly's Sweet Tea Vodka, but never fear, I am not abandoning my first love of ice cold beer. Beer and I spent a fair amount of time catching up together Thursday night after the babe went to bed and also during (gasp!) Easter dinner on Sunday. And the Palmer visited my house Friday evening. Now what does any of this have to do with McFatty Monday you may ask?

The Results: 0lbs. My goal for the week was 2lbs and I stayed exactly the same. Strangely I'm ok with this because I think it sets me up pretty for next week where I really will hit 2lbs down -- I'll just have to lay off the sauce to do it and work in a little bit more exercise.

Distance to Goal: 5lbs in the next 3 weeks to my 1st goal and still 11lbs off from wedding weight.

Question of the week was have you changed anything about your line of attack and the answer is no, but I would like to. I really would like to do Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem to help with the last 5/11lbs, but I'm still breastfeeding (just hit little man's six month birthday- WooHoo!) and you can't do either program while BFing. So until then I'm just going to have to try and be better about my choices and pick up the pace on exercising.

6 Months Old - Happy 1/2 Birthday!

My how things have changed in six months.

Six months ago today (26 weeks exactly) I left the house knowing that in just a few short hours I was going to be given the greatest gift I could imagine. I was going in for a scheduled c-section (a story for another day) and we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl. I would love to describe how I felt on the drive to the hospital but it's just a blurry jumble. There was anticipation, excitement, nervousness, being scared shitless... You name it and I think I felt it. And at 8:48 that morning I was blessed with a healthy 8lb 4oz baby boy (who remained nameless for the next 48 hours).



Fast forward six months and I'm amazed with everything about him. How he has changed and really become his own little person. And all that he has accomplished - it is truly amazing how much we accomplish during the first year of life. In the beginning it was all about getting him to breastfeed and boy what a struggle that was, but once that was worked out (five long weeks and a frenectomy later) he was off and running. His first real smile, his first belly laugh, reaching out to grasp objects, mastering head control, cooing, rolling from belly to back (which first happened away from me at daycare - so sad), the first time I saw him rolling from belly to back, sleeping through the night and now the latest of tasting food for the first time and starting to sit on his own... And through it all getting to see his personality start to form and shine -- it's just fantastic. Especially seeing traits that come from me, traits from his dad and traits that are all his own.

Oh Lord. I'm gushing. I'm really not the gushing type. And not all of it was rosy. Fussy Gus and I have had/have our moments, but I'm choosing to have selective memory when it comes to that. And then there are the times that no parent looks forward to. Times when your child is sick and nothing you do makes them feel better or when they have to get a shot at the doctor's. All and all it's been a wild ride and I have a feeling that the next 6 months will be just as crazy. I can't wait!

Happy 1/2 Birthday little man!

Wordless Wednesday - My favorites

Cue music! (And imagine really bad singing)

These are a few of my favorite things... Ah, I mean favorite people. Ok, that doesn't work either. Favorite boys? That works!

Husband, Fussy Gus and Wonder Mutt all curled up together for a little snooze. Does it get better?

Bad Mommy Award Nomination of the week March 29

Oh no, am I sensing a pattern? Last week's nomination involved Fussy Gus' daycare bedding and this week it's the daycare backup outfit.

Bad Mommy Award Nomination for the Week of March 29th: My baby looks like a gigolo!

If only I had a picture of it because it was a sight. It's Thursday afternoon and I'm coming up to the part of the day that I look forward to the most - picking up Fussy Gus from daycare. Things were going as they normally do. I entered the infant room and gave it a quick scan to see where my little man was and on Thursday he was in the exersaucer which he loves, loves, loves. But something was different. He was in a different outfit. This isn't uncommon, but something was off. And then I realized that while Fussy Gus was giving me the huge smile that I adore he looked like a baby gigolo! And then it got worse...

The outfit they had changed him into was a one piece that had a collar and three buttons down the chest and then it snaps at the legs. And there he was in the exersaucer with all three buttons opened and no onesie underneath. That's right, my baby looked like a gigolo showing off his chest. The daycare teacher quickly explained that this is the second time they changed him that day and the remaining outfit didn't quite fit. Well that was an understatement because when I picked up from the exersaucer I realized that only 1/2 of the leg buttons were done! They essentially had to wrestle him into the outfit, couldn't snap all the buttons and apparently it was tight across the chest as well, hence the open buttons!

Note to self, when your child outgrows their clothes at home, it also applies to the daycare emergency clothes so you need to swap them out as well. Oh and onesies don't grow on trees, so you need to bring them in as well because let's face it -- the onesies are the first line of defense when diaper incidents happen!

My saving grace for the week? In my rush to get him out of there before the other parents saw him (judge if you must but yes I care about what they think), I didn't think to take a picture of him while he was still wearing the outfit nor did I think to do it when we got home. I can't believe I'm going to admit it, but yes, I contemplated putting him back into it for a photo op for the blog -- but only for a second and promptly decided against it.

There you have it. My bad mommy moment of the week...

McFatty Monday Week 11

Week 11 of HeirToBlair's McFatty Monday (they are on week 13)

I feel good. It's been a while since I could say that. I don't look quite the way I want to yet, but I'm on my way and it's a good feeling. Some of this may be that Fussy Gus slept through the night twice in a row, but I think it may be more than that. I felt good enough about the progress I have been making that I wanted to have a picture taken of me and the little man, which says a lot. It actually makes me a little sad because I've been avoided many a Kodak moment since Fussy was born because of my own self-esteem issues, but I'm hoping to change that starting now.

Oh and did I mention that I wore size 8 jeans this weekend?!?!?! And not only did I wear them, they fit! Not fit like 45 minutes after you have been wearing them and they've stretched out a bit, these fit when I put them on and I wasn't dying to get out of them at the end of the day. Such progress!

The question of the week is around favorite work-out gear. Working out is not a strong point with me. Most of my activity is walking the dog in the mornings so most of that gear is sweatpants that doubles as pjs so getting out for the walk is as easy as possible. (I know, with sweatpants as pjs it's a wonder there is a little one to write about!) Favorite sneakers is probably New Balance. I don't have a sports bra that I love, so I may have to check out the Jockey recommendation. A thought just occurred to me, maybe if I had pretty work-out gear I'd be more likely to work out... Shopping trip anyone?

The results: Down 1 pound this week for a total of 6lbs in 11 weeks. In the beginning I made a goal to get to my first weight goal by April 25th, so in four weeks I need to lose another 5lbs. Looking at my past history it doesn't look good, but I'm going to be more positive about it and say that 5lbs in 4 weeks is doable and I am going to make it so with that I'm going to try for 2lbs this week! Oh and I have 11lbs to go before I hit Wedding weight.

Have a great week! (Oh, and I'm using the pictures we took this weekend for my post on Thursday, so come on back if you'd like to see what an Apparently P & a Fussy Gus look like)

We have a sitter!

Fussy Gus has been working on this for a couple of weeks now but we're at a point where we're going to call victory! To celebrate we did a little photo shoot this morning and Wonder Mutt decided to help out! Don't my two boys look cute together?

First we have Wonder Mutt gets ready for the camera

And then we finally get close to the pose that I was waiting for

Wonder Mutt may not look too excited, but Fussy Gus is one happy baby!

Congratulations little man!

Do you go the extra mile at your job?

I love getting a paycheck. I like my boss and most of the people I work with. I'm pretty good at what I do (except on days like today when it's Friday and I don't feel like working anymore). But do I love my job? Nope. Can't say that I do. Do I go the extra mile at my job? Sometimes. Less now than before Fussy Gus. Not sure why. It may be the lack of sleep. Or maybe it's because it seems less important next to him.

I work in the computer industry, so it's not like I working on curing cancer. (Fine. Computers play a role in curing cancer, but you know what I mean!) But today in the bathroom I realized that even if your job isn't on the scale of curing diseases, you can still try to step it up a bit and do the little extra. And I'm guessing it brings you a little bit more satisfaction when you do it. I know, I know -- the bathroom? Stay with me for a second.

As I said I work in computers and I sit in cubeville in a decent sized building. And like most office buildings we have cleaning people to take care of things such as cleaning the bathrooms. Look at the picture. One of the cleaning people goes to the trouble of making a flower on the toilet paper. We're not talking about a hotel triangle here people. A flower. This must take at least a couple of seconds to make. Is it required? Hell no. But she (or he) does it as a little extra. I'd like to think they did it to brighten someone's day. And today it worked for me.

Will this make me go the extra mile? I'll be honest, probably not all the time, but maybe a little more often then I have been.

Bad Mommy Award Nomination of the Week

I'll be honest, several times a week -- it's really several times really a day, but I'm trying to be more positive -- I'll do something that puts me into the running for the bad mommy award. Of course none of these things are harmful to Fussy Gus, but are things that you'd never see Marion Cunningham, June Clever or Donna Reed do on TV. (If these name don't mean anything to you then damn I've gotten old!) But since there are so many, I'm going to try and narrow it down to one bad mommy award nomination a week to share. Unless I get better at parenting, this will most likely be a running post. Here we go!

Bad Mommy Award Nomination for the Week of March 22nd: Dirty Sheet on Daycare Crib

Background: Fussy Gus goes to daycare and every Friday at pickup the parents are to strip their child's crib and take the sheet and blanket (if you use one) home to launder for the next week.

Confession: I picked up Fussy Gus on Friday, took his sheet and blanket home with me. The blanket and sheet went down to the laundry room. But then the weather was gorgeous on Saturday and I didn't get around to laundry. And Sunday was also nice and the short visit to my parents turned into a full day thing and I didn't feel like doing laundry Sunday night. So what do I do Monday morning? I go down to the laundry room and retrieve the sheet and blanket and put it back in the daycare bag. I my defense I did check to make sure there isn't any spit up or anything on it.

Granted they weren't really that dirty, but still...

And what's worse is that I keep an extra blanket and two sets of seats at daycare in case of an accident, but instead of putting those on his crib Monday morning I put the dirty ones back on so they (the daycare teachers) didn't think I was too lazy to do my son's laundry (which I totally was).


So here he is. Fussy Gus, asleep at daycare yesterday afternoon, lying on his dirty sheet and tucked under his dirty blanket. Doesn't seem to mind, does he? But it's still a bad mommy award moment...

McFatty Monday Week 10

I'm down two lbs from last week which was up one lb from the week before where I lost nothing. So I'm really only down 1lb and I finally undid the damage that was done from my road trip to Atlantic City. Did you follow that? Me either.

Seriously though some good stuff happened this week. One, I'm in the process of getting a fancy new look for blog - you like? Great. But wait, that isn't weight loss related. Ok then, I guess I'll start over.

One, I realized that exercise doesn't have to be torture. I spent a few hours on Saturday enjoying the 70 degree weather in the state park with the family and it was fantastic. The dog got to romp, the baby got some fresh air and I walked off some of the St. Patrick's Day corned beer I indulged in. And Two, I realized that I pretty much taste anything that passes by me which is edible. At Weight Watchers they always talk about avoiding the BLTs - Bites, Licks and Tastes because they can add up and to be honest I always ignored them because I don't do that. This week I realized that yeah, I do that.

Fussy Gus started cereal this week and every time I heated it up for him I stuck my finger in it to see if the temperature was ok and then promptly licked my finger. This is gross on a couple of different levels. For one I'm sticking my finger in his food and the other is that I've now tasted breast milk which I had avoided up until now. The first time I did it and realized what I had done, I swore not to make that mistake again. And guess what? I repeated the mistake. With. every. single. bowl. I. made! Breast milk and all. And now I have noticed that I do this with pretty much everything. I'm a taster! Have I stopped? No, but now that I know I'm trying to stop and that's a start.

So far that's what I've learned so far on my McFatty journey which isn't bad considering I wasn't trying to learn anything, just lose some weight.

And under the TMI category, the breast milk and oatmeal combo has a surprisingly sweet taste to it. I know -- Gross!

And now what we've been weighting (ha! - yes, I'm a dork) for:

The results: 1 real pound down this week for a total of 5lbs in 10 weeks. Doesn't sound like much, but I don't have a lot to loss so it makes sense that it's a slower weight loss. 6lbs to my first goal. 12lbs to Wedding weight!

Have a great week!
-Apparently P

At last! Spring is here!

As winters in Boston go, this one wasn't that bad. We had snow, but not ridiculous amounts like other parts of the country -- hell, other parts of the Northeast! And it was cold, but not as brutally cold has it has been in recent winters. All and all we got lucky, but nonetheless I'm I'm still glad to see it go.

So goodbye winter and let's give a warm welcome to spring! My little man has been cooped up inside the house for too long - his entire life really. It's time to take him for long walks with Wonder Mutt, point out the birds, chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels (no matter how much his father hates them -- more on that another day) and other animals that scamper by our house and let him enjoy the fresh air. And what better day to do this than the first day of spring.

Today our little family went to the neighboring town's forest for a bit of a walk/hike. This is certainly not Mr. Tall Guys cup of tea, but he suggested it to make up for the long hours he's been working. He carried Fussy Gus in the Baby Bjorn and its an area where Wonder Mutt is allowed to run around sans lease. For two hours it was just the four of us no cell phones, no laptops, no television. It was fantastic. A great way to kickoff spring!

And speaking of kickoff, notice the fancy new look of the blog?!?! I'm loving it!

McFatty Monday Week 9 -- The Horror!

Those of you quick on the take will notice there was no Week 8 posting. Week 8 started after the Atlantic City road trip where I was supposed to alternate water with beer. And while that did happen occasionally, it didn't help. On the plus side it was a trip enjoyed by all. There was some quality time spent with Granny (my mom) and my sister (aka Mrs. Big Dubya) when we snuck off to the casino for a few hours one morning and started the day with either coffee with Baileys and whipped cream or hot chocolate with Baileys and whipped cream (Mrs. Big Dubya gave up coffee for lent). Granny got to spend quality time with her four grandkids and my sister and I got to go out with our husbands not one, not two, but THREE nights in a row for a couple of hours after the kids went to bed! Let's just say I decided not to step on a scale for McFatty Monday #8.

So where does Week 9 leave us? Up a pound, but I'm sufficiently scared straight. Strike that. I'm absolutely horrified at this moment and will be utterly fantastic at exercising and watching what I eat from this moment forward until I can correct this awfulness. What is the awfulness you may ask? It hurts me to type this, but....

I weigh more than my mother

And before you say that it's not a big deal, you just had a baby, blah, blah. Nope. Not cutting it. I've lost all my pregnancy weight. I'm about 10lbs less than when I got pregnant, I was just bigger when I got pregnant than I wanted to be. My mom weighs less than I do. Ugh! I typed it again! I need to fix this! Now! Ok, well it won't happen immediately, but no more doing this diet half-ass!

We're vacationing with Granny again the week of Memorial day and as long as I'm not pregnant again I WILL weigh less than her by that vacation. I will NOT be sitting by the pool with her knowing she weighs less than I do.

How sad is it that I'm in competition with my own mother? (and she does not know this by the way so don't tell her, ok? thanks!)

Blair asked a couple of questions over at her week 11 posting that are quite timely given my new poolside goal. Are you a bikini girl or a one-piece? Tankini? At times I had been a bikini girl although I probably never should have been. While I've weight less than I do now, I've never been in shape. I definitely prefer a tankini over a one piece -- when drinking by the pool or on the beach, one eventually needs to break the seal, so convenience is key for frequent bathroom breaks. On my last vacation which was just prior to getting pregnant with Fussy Gus (fine, it was when I got pregnant with Fussy Gus, but that's probably TMI), I was feeling a bit self conscious about the extra weight so I bought a tankini with a skirt bottom to try to cover up the extra weight. For the upcoming Memorial vacation I'm going to at the very least ditch the skirt and go back to a regular tankini, but I won't rule out a bikini if my new found inspiration to exercise goes well.

Have a great week!
Apparently P (trying out my new signature)

P.S. I have a fancy new blog layout coming your way. Hopefully it will be up for my Week 10 check-in where I'll have been kicking ass in my competition against Granny. Dear Lord I have so many issues....