Back in the Belly

I have 6 different friends all in various stages of their pregnancy. I am so happy for them, yet part of me feels just a little bit left out. Like I used to part of the club, and now I'm not. Nobody comes up to me anymore to pat me on the belly or ask me how I'm feeling. I'm part of a new club now...the one where my entire life revolves around this little guy.I love talking about Ryan....I could do it all day long! But there is a tiny part of me that wishes I could stick him back in my belly just for a day.
Ok maybe not. I was a cow!

Ryan: 4 Months

Baby Ryan you are 4 months old today!!

This month was full of changes for you! You love to roll over all the time now, especially from your back to your tummy. I can't lay you down without you immediately flipping over onto your tummy.

You still haven't slept through the night since last month. I'm hoping the Dr. says you can start eating rice cereal soon. I've heard it helps to fill up your tummy, and therefore help you sleep longer!

You weigh just over 13 lbs now, and you're finally starting to look a little chubbier now. I love my chubby baby! Your hair is finally starting to grow back in and sometimes it likes to stick up.

You are constantly using your stomach muscles to try and sit up. You support your head really well, but can't hold your upper body up for more than a couple seconds before falling over.

I bought you your first toys last week. I am hoping you will learn to chew on them once you start teething. So far you still prefer your hands.

You've started "talking" and now you jabber all the time! You make the G sound a lot, kind of like "gaaah".

I Love you Baby Ryan!

PS: It is VERY hard to take good pictures of a squirmy 4-month old!

I Love Lucy Lemons

I had an I Love Lucy moment yesterday. Have you ever seen the episode where she's in Hollywood and she tries to pick a grapefruit? It's growing in the yard of some movie star and Lucy jumps up on the yard's surrounding wall and tries to pick the grapefruit. Of course she ends up falling in his yard and is almost eaten by his dogs.

In my case, the fruit was a lemon growing in our neighbor's yard behind us. I've noticed they have tons of ripe juicy lemons just dying to be picked. And these are not just your ordinary lemons. They are meyer lemons. Super tasty.

So yesterday I pulled a chair up to our back fence, hopped up, and stole some lemons. Ryan sat in his little lamby chair near me. I told him to cover his eyes so he wouldn't get any ideas about climbing fences or trees when he's older. I don't think he listened.

Look at those beauties. They were worth risking my life for.

Ryan Rolls Over!

Just in case you didn't believe me.....Ryan rolls over all the time now!

And yes, I still call Ryan "baby" instead of "Ryan".

Weighty Wednesday: 3 Months!

I can't believe I've been doing this weekly weigh-in for 3 months now. During the past 3 months I've lost 21 lbs, leaving only 9 left to lose. That's single digits! This week I did pretty well with the "no snacking" rule. I tried to eat intuitively and therefore only eat when I'm actually hungry. I slipped up a few times, but I'm human! And eating is fun. haha

Stats and Goals for Week 12:
Lbs Lost This Week: 2
Lbs Lost So Far: 21
Lbs Left to Lose: 9

Food Goal: I want to slowly incorporate dairy back into my diet without going overboard on the cheese. I love me some cheese!
Fitness Goal: I finally found a stroller boot camp class that is offered in Fremont. Only problem is that it's $150! I still walk Ryan every day in the stroller, so maybe I can do my own little boot camp, doing squats and lunges while I walk.

On The Move

Ryan is on the move.
And he loves it!He can now roll over from tummy to back, as well as back to tummy. I'm such a proud mama!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Yesterday I planted a mini-garden with my mother-in-law! I've always wanted a vegetable garden and now I finally have a starter garden! We were limited in the types of veggies we could plant, since the summer is almost over. We ended up planting a basil and cilantro plant, radish seeds, and string bean seeds.

Isn't it cute? I can't wait until something starts to sprout! Here it is next to my sage and rosemary. Now that I look at this picture, I'm thinking my rosemary needs to be trimmed down. Anyone want some free rosemary

Eventually I want this whole corner of our yard to be a vegetable garden. We just need to get rid of the ugly brick fountain first.....

And do some more weeding!

A big thank to Jan, my mother-in-law for helping me out so much. I'll keep you all posted on the progress of my little seeds!

Too Busy Playing

Hi Everybody....Ryan here! I'm too busy playing outside with Mommy today to blog. Be back tomorrow!

PS: Aren't my camo shorts cute?

Foodie Friday: AllRecipes

I try to plan my meals out at the beginning of the week. But by the time Friday rolls around I am often left with random leftovers from the week. We're too poor to order takeout every Friday, so I try my hardest to put together the leftovers into a delicious meal. My secret is http://www.allrecipes.com/

If you click on "ingredients", it allows you to type in the ingredients you want to use, as well as any ingredients you do not want to use. This morning I typed in "ricotta" and "bacon". Here is the recipe I chose from the results: Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta

Raw

Cooked

I had all the ingredients on hand, so it was perfect! On the side I made some whole wheat gnocchi, which I surprisingly bought from Cost Plus. Did you know they have all sorts of weird foods there from other countries? I have memories of going there as a child with my Dad before Christmas to buy stocking-stuffers for my mom. I'm just like her; we both like trying new and unique foods.

Anyways.......the point of this post is to tell you about AllRecipes. Try it!

SLEEP (or a lack thereof)

Help! Seriously I'm on the verge of losing my mind.

This little guy won't sleep.

I've talked about this issue before, but it's only gotten worse. During the day Ryan will only sleep in the Baby Bjorn (as long as I'm moving), or in his carseat (sometimes). I would say he averages 1.5 hours of naptime per day.

Nights are even harder. I used to sit in bed and nurse Ryan around 9pm until he fell asleep. I'd gently place him in his bassinet beside me, and he'd sleep for at least a few hours before waking up to eat again. Now he won't even fall asleep.

I nurse him and he just wiggles around, wide awake. I try singing to him, rocking him, giving him a pacifier, letting him cry. Nothing works! Finally he will fall asleep if I lay down in bed next to him and nurse him that way. But by this time it's usually close to 11pm. Problem is, he will always wake up if I try to move him once he's asleep. So for the last 3-4 weeks he has been sleeping in bed next to me. He wakes up every 1-2 hours and I simply nurse him back to sleep. But Ryan is a very restless sleeper, kicking and punching me all night long. By morning I often have a headache and bloodshot eyes. I'm not getting any sleep. What to do??

He did sleep through the night 3 times around my birthday last month, so I know he's capable of doing it. But ever since then things have just gotten progressively worse. I feel like I've done something wrong along the way and now I'm stuck with a bad sleeper forever. What should I be doing differently? Help!

Weighty Wednesday: Plateau!

I didn't post anything last week because a) I didn't lose any weight, and b) I had nothing interesting to say, and c) I had no time.

So here we go with week 11 of my weight loss! This past week I lost 1 lb. I've been seriously slacking with the whole exercise, eating well thing. I think I've hit a plateau because it's getting a lot harder to get the numbers to drop.

Stats and Goals for Week 11:
Lbs Lost This Week: 1
Lbs Lost So Far: 19
Lbs Left to Lose: 11

Food Goal: No snacking! Unless of course I'm actually hungry. If I am, then I will eat. But otherwise I'm going to try and limit the in-between meals munchies.
Fitness Goal: I'm actually going to look for my ankle weights today and try to wear them every time I take Ryan out for a walk. (Usually between 30 and 45 minutes each day)

1.5 Little Lines

Exactly 1 year ago today was a big day. A day that would change my life forever. I woke up and took a pregnancy test before work. The results were very misleading. There was one dark line and one very very very faint line that really wasn't a line at all. I called Adam on my way to work to tell him. In retrospect I kind of wish I had waited to tell him in person, but I was too excited at the time to care.

I spent all morning at work googling phrases like "What does 1.5 lines on a pregnancy test mean?" By the time lunch rolled around I couldn't stand the suspense anymore. I drove to Safeway and purchased another test. I was so anxious to find out that I went straight into the Safeway restroom and took the test. Same result......1.5 lines.

After work I drove straight to the lab at Kaiser and got a blood test done. Later that night I was e-mailed the results. I was pregnant!

Here I am 1 year later with an adorable baby boy and a new house. So much has changed! God has truly blessed Adam and I this past year.

Reason #873.......

Why I love my husband. He built me a headboard!It all started Friday morning. Adam had the day off and we were watching some design show on TV. The couple had an apholstered headboard that looked really cool. I commented that I liked how it looked, and Adam offered to make me one! We had originally set aside money to purchase some furniture for our new house, including an actual wooden bedframe with a headboard and footboard. But let's just say that money is long gone, spent on some other home project along the way. So we went out and purchased fabric and lumber on Friday. On Saturday, with help from Jon his friend and John my dad, Adam made a headboard!

Yesterday he anchored it to our wall behind the bed. What do you think?

I absolutely love it! I am amazed that Adam was able to build it without any professional help or instructions. I told him I'm going to hire him out on his days off to make headboards for extra money. Any takers?

Sunday Morning Fun With Daddy

Foodie Friday: Food Network!

I admit it. I am addicted to the Food Network. I DVR my favorite shows throughout the week and watch them while I nurse Ryan. I've even heard about the new network, the Cooking Channel, but can't seem to find it on my TV. Anyone else have any luck finding that station?

Here are a few of my favorite Food Network shows. I get so excited when I see them in my DVR!

Giada At Home: What's not to love about her? She's gorgeous and makes really yummy food. I have one of her cookbooks and everything I've tried has been great. I want to be Giada when I grow up.

Chopped: The concept is simple. Cook something in under 30 minutes using ingredients such as fish, peppermint sticks, parsnips and almond butter. All together in the same dish. Delicious, maybe. Dramatic, yes!

10 Dollar Dinners: I love this show because she gives great tips on how to feed a family on a budget. I've used a few of her tips and they really do work.

The Next Food Network Star: Love love love this show! I really want Aarti to win this season. Her Indian food actually looks tasty, and I'm not a huge fan of Indian flavors.

5 Ingredient Fix: I never used to watch this show. I figured anything made from 5 ingredients or less couldn't be that great or creative. But now that I'm a mom, I totally appreciate the concept. I've recently tried out a couple of her recipes and they are great!

I could go on and on, but those are my favorites. What are yours?

Breast is Best

Ryan has a new fascination with his hands. He's been sucking on them for weeks now, but all of a sudden he prefers them over breastfeeding! He'll be in the middle of nursing and then sneak his hands in his mouth. It's quite frustrating for me. I have to continually take his fingers out of his mouth and re-attach him to me. We fight back and forth like this the whole time.

I've been taking 9 Fenugreek pills every day in hopes of increasing my milk supply. The verdict? I smell like maple syrup. (a common side effect). Unfortunately I don't think it has done much for my supply. I'm still supplementing Ryan with formula after each feeding, and thanks to that he now weighs 12 lbs, 7 oz! He's gaining 1 oz per day on average which is fantastic. But I really wish he could be gaining like this by exclusively drinking breastmilk.

Does anyone have any other tips for increasing my supply? I've heard oatmeal helps so I'm eating that for breakfast every day now. I know pumping is also supposed to help, and I've tried it. But it takes me an entire day to get 1 oz of breastmilk out. Talk about frustrating! Any other ideas? I really want to stick with this breastfeeding thing!

A Leap of Faith

David says in the book of Psalms "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." - Psalms 40:8

I, too, desire to do the will of God. Except when it requires me to exit my comfort zone. Or when it makes my life more difficult. Or when it is scary. Catch my drift?

It's hard to put all your trust in God. But he asks it of us. He asks us to pray and have faith during difficult times. He tells us that his will for our life is always the best. Not always the easiest, but always the best.

Sometimes I think we pray for God's will, but then become distracted by the desires of the world. But if we listen really closely, I think God speaks to us in different ways. If I have a decision to make, I often get this little nagging "voice" in my heart that is telling me what to do. I think that is God.

Will you pray for me as I take a leap of faith and make a big decision?

Danielle's Baby Shower

We had a great time yesterday at Danielle and Jon's Baby Shower!
They got so many great presents. Lots of pink! There were a few other babies there, all around the same age as Ryan. Here is Ryan with his new friend Andrew, who is just 2 weeks younger than Ryan.

Daddy held Ryan for a while.....

And we even took our first family picture!

By the end of the afternoon Ryan was worn out from all the excitement. (And one too many cake pops!)

I can't wait to meet Jon and Danielle's baby girl, Carly, due in September! A possible future girlfriend for Ryan?

The Ugly Truth

The last time I felt pretty was probably sometime in the early stages of my pregnancy. Ever since Ryan was born I have felt ugly. It's not that my looks have changed that much, but in order to feel somewhat attractive, I need to be able to spend a few minutes each day making myself "pretty". These days I just feel sloppy, saggy and plain.

Despite the fact that I have lost my 35 pregnancy lbs plus another 15, most of my clothes do not fit. My shirts are mostly too tight, thanks to *ahem* the fact that I'm breastfeeding. Therefore I am still wearing mostly maternity t-shirts. And the pants I wore pre-pregnancy are all too loose. So I walk around all day with my pants about to fall off. I don't want to buy new clothes until I'm sure my weight has stabalized. And I don't own a belt (is that weird?), so my pants sag like a 16-year-old boy's. It makes me feel really sloppy and uncomfortable.

I'm lucky to get a shower about every 2 days. When I am able to wash my hair, it's a luxury. My hair is thick and wavy and looks pretty awful if it is not dried and straightened. But who has time for that? By the time I get out of the shower Ryan is usually crying, so all I have time to do is run a comb through my wet hair and put it in a pony-tail. Ugly.

As I mentioned above, Ryan is crying by the end of my shower. By the time I get dressed he's screaming. So putting on makeup is another one of those luxuries that I only get a chance to do maybe 2-3 days out of the week. Without my makeup I feel ugly and plain.

Add to this the fact that I walk around most days with spit-up all over me. I've got dark circles under my eyes from a serious lack of sleep. And brushing my teeth is an after-thought at the end of the day.

Nobody said being a mom was glamorous. I don't need glamour. Maybe just one article of clothing that fits and a haircut?

I Want

Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker

It's basically a really cute mini food processor for babies. But still, I want it.


Baby Dresser

I'm not even in love with this one. I just want to get Ryan a dresser! But for $200? I feel like I could find a decent dresser for much less. Problem is I don't have the time to bargain shop.

In a Funk

I woke up today feeling off. It's been one of those "Woe Is Me" mornings.

Ryan hasn't been sleeping well lately. As in, he just won't fall asleep at night. I end up nursing him in bed and eventually drifting off sometime before midnight. But throughout the night I am awake, nursing him on and off, trying not to roll over and crush him. As a result, I've been waking up feeling like a 90-year old woman who just ran a marathon.

The one exciting outing I was looking forward to this week (lunch with some friends) was cancelled.

I went to Target this morning to get 2 things I needed. Unfortunately this particular Target has new space-age plastic carts that don't allow me to put Ryan's carseat on top. So I put him in his stroller and stuffed all my purchases down below. I walked out of there $75 poorer, having spent the money on about 15 things I "needed".

Ryan is having a bad day as well. He was enjoying some tummy time this afternoon a little too soon after eating. He spit up and then rubbed his face in it. So I did what any self-respecting mother would do.

I grabbed my camera and took a picture. This pretty much sums up our day so far.

Weighty Wednesday

Another successful week! I am attributing my 2 pound weight loss this week to breastfeeding. Because quite honestly, I have not put any serious effort into cutting calories or exercising this week. I've just been existing as a mom who feeds her baby every 2-3 hours. And it's working! I must say, though, that my appetite has been through the roof lately. Weird.

Stats and Goals for Week 9:
Lbs Lost This Week: 2
Lbs Lost So Far: 18
Lbs Left to Lose: 12

Food Goal: I'm going to try to fit in 5 servings of fruits/veggies per day.
Fitness Goal: Crunches! Despite the fact that I'm losing weight, my mid section is still rather doughy. Therefore I think it's time I started doing some toning exercises, starting with crunches.

Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle

Gone are the days when my sweet baby will lie in my arms peacefully while nursing. I can no longer put Ryan down and expect him to remain in one position. He's on the move! Ryan wiggles all day long. He squirms while I feed him, bathe him, change him, etc. If I put him down like this, he's good for about a minute.

Pretty soon he gets bored.

And decides he wants to sit up! Only problem is that he's not quite strong enough to hold himself up. So he sits up and immediately falls over.

This morning I decided to try out the Bumbo seat. It helps babies develop their muscles for sitting up. At first Ryan was doing great. I could tell he felt like such a big boy.

I think he still needs some practice with holding up his head. What do you think?