Patience IS a virtue!!

My husband is quite possibly the most patient man on the planet. Ok...so maybe not a patient driver, but he is a patient husband and father. He also is an amazing teacher. Patience and the ability to teach are two qualities that I struggle with in my own life, so I am always so thankful to have married someone who is so good at both in hopes that it will rub off on our children someday.

So let's talk bums...gBums to be specific

As you know, I have been using gDiapers with Little G since his umbilical cord fell off at about 8 days old. But other than my original post about choosing them and a follow up post on how to make sure everyone in your household knows how to use them so you don't end up with toilet water raining down from your kitchen ceiling, I haven't really said much more about them.

I haven't said much about them...because I find there isn't much to say...in a good way. They have become such a part of our daily lives that they seem inconsequential...which is ridiculous...because our diapering choices make a pretty big impact on the environment as a whole as well as our own micro-environments in our daily lives.

So let me start by saying I absolutely, without question, 100% recommend using gDiapers over disposable AND over cloth diapers.

Our Little G at two months in his gPants

Let me also follow that up by saying that while the above is my recommendation, it is based on my experience, with my background, and my daily living needs and in my corner of the world. So if it doesn't seem like it would work for you, or if other options are more practical in YOUR corner of YOUR world, than by all means go right ahead and do what is best for you.

But, to back up my first statement, I would like to present some information on cloth diapering vs. disposable diapering which after all of the research I did is nicely summed up by this statement from www.ahealthyme.com/:

Cloth vs. Disposable Diapers
By Chris Woolston


Before your baby is born, you should take time to make the great diaper decision: cloth or disposable? Both types have pluses and minuses, and neither option is clearly superior. Most parents today opt for disposable diapers, but some parents continue to swear by old-fashioned cloth. You may even go for a combination: cloth diapers at home and disposable when you go out. If you haven't already made up your mind, here are some factors to consider:


*Cost. Disposable diapers typically cost as little as 20 cents each, and deluxe brands can cost as much as 50 cents or more. The average baby goes through about 7,000 diapers before toilet training, so that adds up to real money. In contrast, it only costs about 3 cents in water, power, and detergent to wash a cloth diaper. (If you use a diaper service, it pretty much eliminates the cost savings, though.) Over the long haul, you can save over $1,200 per child by using cloth diapers.

However, you should also consider what your time is worth. Cloth diapers can mean an extra hour of work every week. If an hour of your time is worth $10, those savings will essentially disappear.


*Convenience. Disposable diapers are the clear winner when it comes to convenience. No pins, no pails, no folding, no washing. Disposable diapers are especially handy if you don't have a washer and dryer or if you're traveling.


*Environmental impact. If you don't like the thought of throwing 7,000 diapers in a landfill, you might want to choose cloth diapers instead. A single cloth diaper can be reused up to 75 times, making it an attractive choice for people who want to cut down on trash. But there's a tradeoff: It takes about 50 gallons of water and a fair amount of energy to wash a load of cloth diapers. The Union of Concerned Scientists, a coalition of scientists and citizens dedicated to protecting the world's environment, says parents shouldn't worry too much about how their choice of diaper affects the environment. Other choices -- such as which car to buy -- are far more important, the group says.


*Comfort. Disposable diapers are generally more absorbent than cloth diapers, so they can keep your baby's skin dry. On the downside, it can be harder to tell when a disposable diaper needs to be changed. Some parents get complacent and go for hours between changes, potentially setting their baby up for a diaper rash.

If you decide to use cloth diapers, choose a kind that has several layers of different types of fabric. These will absorb moisture better than a diaper with just a single layer of fabric. No matter what type of diaper you use, check them often and change them when they're wet or messy.


*Leaks. Disposable diapers can soak up more urine than cloth diapers, so they are less prone to leak. They're a little bit better at holding in feces, too.


Either way you go, at some point there's probably a disposable diaper in your future. During toilet training some people opt for disposable pull-ups that fit the baby like underwear -- and they're handy for young children who occasionally wet the bed at night as well.

If you still can't decide, don't worry: you'll have 7,000 chances to find a diaper that's right for you and your baby.

-- Chris Woolston, MS, is a health and medical writer with a master's degree in biology. He is a contributing editor at Consumer Health Interactive and was a staff writer at Hippocrates, a magazine for physicians. His reporting for CHI on occupational health earned him an award from the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists

For me, the two most important factors in our decision on diapering were ease of use and environmental impact. But as for the latter, you can see in the above, the argument isn't so cut-and-dry. And he doesn't even mention the negative affects cloth diapering can have on the water system, especially if people use diaper creams with zinc in them, nor does he talk about the huge environmental impact of diapering services and the vast amounts of chemicals they use to get all of those dirty diapers so clean, not to mention the fossil fuels used weekly for their trucks to go around and make all of their pick ups/drop offs.

But I did wonder where this Union of Concerned Scientists was and if they had anything more to say on the matter. Turns out they do...on their website where it states this:

On what basis do you claim that cotton diapers have no clear environmental advantage over disposables?

Several studies have compared cloth and disposable diapers. Disposable diapers produce more solid waste, but laundering cloth diapers requires more water and probably more energy. Exactly how these different impacts balance out isn't clear. Even if disposable diapers turned out to be marginally better than cloth or vice versa, neither is likely to have a dramatic advantage. Therefore, people shouldn't worry too much about which one is environmentally preferable. Other consumer decisions, such as what type of car to buy, are much more important for the environment.

Ok...so those people clearly think it is a wash (pun not intended) so then I started to wonder about an option that was better than both options, aside from elimination communication which seems like the perfect answer but seriously wouldn't work for my lifestyle.

And then I found gDiapers.


The cloth outer and nylon liner have no plastic (aside from four small snaps to attach the liner to the outer) and the biodegradable inserts have three processing options. 1) If they are poopy, they flush down the toilet and go where poop is supposed to go; instead of into our water systems. 2) If they are wet, they are compostable; so not only are you choosing to not throw something out, but you are creating a soil amendment. 3) If all else fails and you do end up throwing one out, you can rest easy knowing that less petroleum went into creating the insert than into a conventional disposable diaper and while nothing truly biodegrades in a landfill, they certainly won't last 500 years like a disposable.

gPants nylon liner is plastic free (except for four mini-snaps)

gInserts slide right into the liner for easy use

There is so much more written over at the gDiaper site about the great debate on the environmental impact of cloth vs. disposables, how the composting of gDiapers works, what they are made of, and their 100% Biodegradable Claim. And yes, I know that it is all marketing copy, but I do encourage you to read it if you are in the process of choosing your diapering system.

As always, there are a million factors that go into everyone's personal decisions about what systems they plan to use for their children; and what works for one person may not work for someone else no matter how much they want it to. For instance, someone in a dry, desert-like climate who wants to use cloth diapers may find that due to their water circumstances, disposables are a better option for them. What matters is that we look into these options and make choices that are responsible and practical within our means.

So to all my pregnant and new mom readers...what diaper system will you be using/do you use and what went into making that decision for your family?

Monday Morning (uh...make that Tuesday Afternoon) 20in20 Tracking

Starting date: December 1, 2009
Ending date: April 20, 2010
Starting weight: 222 lbs
Goal weight: 202 lbs
Current weight: 217.2 lbs
Weight loss this week: +1.2 lbs !!!
Total weight loss: 4.8 lbs
Pounds left until goal: 15.2 lbs
Weeks left in challenge: 11

Whoops...I blame...uh...full fat Fage yogurt, our annual after-the-holidays meet-the-neighbors party and my newfound muscle mass from all my working out at the gym?

Oh dear...guess I don't have any true excuse...but I'm not about to let this get to me. We can't be perfect all the time, right?

Crazy...I was crazy once...

So wish me luck because I seem to have fallen off the crazy horse and plan to join some others over at the Crazy Train for a sew along. Mind you, I can't even sew a straight line...so this could get messy...but nothing ventured nothing gained...right?

Words of affirmation

I tend to be pretty self depreciating and sadly, I sometimes extend that humor when talking about my husband.

Recently, I have been thinking about how important it is to affirm him and our marriage instead of taking pot-shots at it.

So I thought I would periodically mention some of the (many) things I love about my husband...it will take a lifetime to complete the list...so we'll start off slow for now.

• Every morning, my husband gets up before the sun to go to work and after showering, shaving and getting dressed, he cleans all the baby bottles, empties the dishwasher, gets a bottle ready for Little G, defrosts solid food for Little G's breakfast, takes out the trash and does some general tidying up so that all I have to do when I get up is start taking care of our son. This morning he did all of that AND folded all of Little G's laundry from the night before!
  
  So often I am witness to women complaining about their husbands and their lack of involvement with the every-day running of the household and I take pause when I hear those things and think how blessed I am to have this extraordinary person and wonderful man in my life.

Show me your drawers!

Ok...so this isn't a drawer...it's a cabinet...but I just had to show you all my newest accomplishment!! All of my spices used to be on a lazy susan on the bottom shelf (now being used for salts, peppers, spice rubs and baking soda/power/cornstarch) and I never knew what spices I had or didn't have and I could never find what I needed when I needed it so finally I went to The Container Store and got myself some spice containers and a tiered spice rack.

Turns out it was a good idea because I had quite a few double-spices - some of which had never been opened! Those have all been donated to Goodwill and/or given to friends in need of spices and finally, order has been achieved in the spice cabinet! (can you see....they're even alphabetized!!)

I realize this just lets on to the crazy-side of me...but I have a good defense. My defense is that I work really well once something is organized...but getting organized is sooooooo not my forte! Which I think is pretty normal. Right? Tell me that's normal.

Other areas of our kitchen that have been organized and working well for us for a much longer period of time include our everything drawer (which my husband periodically sorts through and reorganizes - who's the crazy one now...right?):



A drawer for all of my small kitchen gadgets...graters, whisks, corn-cob holders, measuring cups and spoons, etc.:


And our silverware/knife drawer:

So...what type of 'crazy' drawers do you have? Care to show 'em off?

Badger Baby Creme

I wanted to share some of the things that have come into my life specifically because I have a baby that I unabashedly endorse to all my friends*. There are lots of great things that I will share about here, but the first thing that came to mind when I was thinking of something that I use EVERY DAY was Badger Balm's Diaper Cream and Baby Balm.

Badger is a wonderful company that was started by a family in New Hampshire back in 1995 when the father, "a carpenter by trade and an herbalist by avocation" whipped up a simple, but effective healing balm for his cracked, dry hands out of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Beeswax, Castor Oil, Aloe Vera and Essential Oil of Sweet Birch. You can read more about how the company started here.

Their diaper cream is made with a similar ingredient list but has 12% Zinc Oxide; which most diaper creams have to help with diaper rash. But most diaper creams don't use PURE mineral Zinc Oxide like Badger does, rather they combine it with other chemicals which may or may not be good for baby's skin.
I try hard not to be too arbitrary with my attempts to use natural products for Little G...but this stuff just makes the choice so easy! The other ingredients in the diaper cream are Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Castor Bean Oil, Natural Beeswax, Organic Calendula Extract and Organic Essential Oil of Roman Chamomile. The latter two really combine to make a heavenly, light scent.

The Badger Baby Balm is made from the same exact ingredients...it just omits the Zinc Oxide. But most importantly, this stuff really works.

Little G has had his issues with diaper rash and the Badger Diaper Cream always clears it up. And we have used the Baby Balm for everything from helping clear up his cradle cap, soothing his dry skin on *all* his cheeks :P, and even as a massage cream. Little G seems to really like when we put some on his face, so my guess is it feels good to him too.

We are actually running low on the Diaper Cream and my husband pointed out the plethora of other diaper creams that we received with various gift baskets...but I plan on donating them to our local Good Will....I figure it is silly to mess with what works!

-----------------

*I hope to write about these things at least once a week and it is super important to note that I am not being paid for these endorsements. The companies represented in my endorsements have no idea I am writing about them and I am only writing about them because I personally use the products and want to share the experiences and tips with my readership.

Monday Morning 20in20 Tracking

Starting date: December 1, 2009
Ending date: April 20, 2010
Starting weight: 222 lbs
Goal weight: 202 lbs
Current weight: 216 lbs
Weight loss this week: .4 lbs
Total weight loss: 6 lbs
Pounds left until goal: 14 lbs
Weeks left in challenge: 12


Only a slight loss* this week which is more realistic. We did finally join the gym last weekend so I have spent some time there this week. I have been meeting with a personal trainer and so now I actually do have an exercise plan.

Little G has been doing relatively well in the nursery there. It is a bit difficult to time our visits so that he isn't tired or needs food or a diaper change. (They won't change a diaper and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't put him down for a nap.) They will feed him a bottle, however, so I try and go when he is on the cusp of needing one, that way they can feed him and by the time he needs a diaper change I will be done.

Ok...gotta run...baby is up!

*I may or may not have talked some trash to my father-in-law this week which I think could REALLY be the reason why my loss was so small...no really...I bet that's it.

Monday Morning (uh...make that Tuesday Afternoon) 20in20 Tracking

Starting date: December 1, 2009
Ending date: April 20, 2010
Starting weight: 222 lbs
Goal weight: 202 lbs
Current weight: 216.4 lbs
Weight loss this week: 2 lbs
Total weight loss: 5.6 lbs
Pounds left until goal: 14.4 lbs
Weeks left in challenge: 13

Sitting up!

So I shared with you all in Little G's 6 month post that he has been sitting up unassisted...but I didn't have any pictures to share until I finally unloaded them from my camera this morning.

Enjoy...

Other fun activities of late have included peek-a-boo which always gets a host of squeals and giggles...especially since it is so dry in here and his hair gets all static-y!

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Supporting the girls (and boys)

I was on the receiving end of some pretty nice words from one of my favorite mommy bloggers over at OMG I'm a Mom. Her daughter, Mia, is a bit younger than Garrison and it has been so comforting to know that whatever funny bits about mommy-hood I have failed to find the time to write down for posterity, are being accurately, and funnily, recorded over at her blog.

Today she wrote about her daughter Mia's sleeping issues that popped up around month two and how she reached out to me at that time since I had recently shared that Little G was a champion sleeper. Here is part of what I wrote in response to her posting:

Oh how I wish I was the baby whisperer, in which case I could get my lovely lad to nap...sadly, that is sooooo not the case. The sleeping through the night thing we sort-of lucked into with our consistent routine and the fact that we have a big, formula-fed baby who loves to sleep at night (probably because he hates napping during the day so much).

I remember your email from so long ago and I truly think that although my advice did end up working for you, the true value was being able to talk to another mom and know that you could say what you needed to say without judgement and receive an answer in return with love and understanding. At least that has been the true value in the conversations I have had with other mommies regarding all the lovely things Little G is or is not doing.

The truth is, if we are addressing the non-mommies here with this blog, that not everything works for every baby. And not every method needs to be followed by the book. But every parent needs to believe in themselves and know that by the simple act of loving their child (which in actuality is not that simple when they are screaming bloody murder at you) they are automatically a wonderful parent.

One of the things I have been blessed with living here in an urban area is the wealth of resources available to Little G and I to get us out of the house and to support us. From just three weeks old we have been attending a free drop-in class every Monday morning at the hospital where he was born. That same hospital also has a free breast-feeding support drop-in class, and a free drop-in class for kids slightly older than him who are moving a bit more.

Additionally, we took some new-mommy classes at Isis Maternity; a store here in the Boston area where we also took our prenatal classes. While these classes have a fee, they ensure that you meet with the same mommies every week and that the age ranges of the children are all within a few weeks of each other. I can't even begin to describe how important the instant bond I had with the women and babies in our classes lifted me up and carried me through those first few months.

We also go to a mommy group once a week at the church I attend and childcare is available so I have been able to meet with other mothers and have intellectual and emotional conversations (as well as some killer refreshements) without having to worry about Little G.

Lastly, there is a listserv here in my area of Boston that I belong to, and from what I know it is one of many for this area, where parents can ask all sorts of questions and get all sorts of support...it truly runs the gamut. Everything from advice posts on sleeping, eating, schools, daycare, nannies, temper-tantrums, etc. to borrowing car seats for visiting relatives, or baby paraphernalia so that you can try it out before buying it; to community notices about playground maintenance or lost-and-found or even off-topic items like are-there-any-beach-towns-in-CT-with-an-actual-beach? They even have weekly gatherings at a local community center for people to have an outlet to go to.

These resources, along with my friendships with other mommy bloggers that I know from my days as Mrs. Corn over at Weddingbee, have been the glue that have held my life together over the past six months. So it was downright shocking to me when I went to the Cumberland Valley area, in South Central Pennsylvania for a month and couldn't find a single mommy/baby support network/program to save my life! The only thing I found was a reading at a library for half an hour over 45 minutes away!

Now, I am sure Central Pennsylvania has these support networks, but they really aren't easy to find. And it makes me wonder how it is that the place I identify most with down-home, family value driven communities doesn't have a SEARCHABLE network of parent support groups? It really is something to think about, because while I found myself consumed with things to do while visiting the area, I am not sure I could make it on a day-to-day basis without some-sort of parent support network. And it makes me so incredibly grateful for the resources that I do have here in Boston.

Whether it be the classes we have taken, the drop-in groups we have attended, the posting of questions on a listserv or the ability to reach out to internet friends going through similar challenges, Little G, my husband and I have been fully supported as we transitioned from a couple to a family. A blessing that we hope all new families have the opportunity to have.

What about you? Do you have the support you need in your community? And is it searchable?

Monday Morning 20in20 Tracking

Starting date: December 1, 2009
Ending date: April 20, 2010
Starting weight: 222 lbs
Goal weight: 202 lbs
Current weight: 218.4 lbs
Weight loss this week: 3.6 lbs
Total weight loss: 3.6 lbs
Pounds left until goal: 16.4 lbs
Weeks left in challenge: 14

The-exercise-place-between-all-or-nothing

As previously noted, my food "plan" for my 20in20 challenge is really just a place between all or nothing where I feel I can safely aspire to. Same goes for my exercise "plan". However, I do have some MAJOR motivation.

The gym we are joining as a family includes childcare.

Let me say that again.

The gym we are joining as a family. includes. childcare.

For up to two hours a day per person (meaning I can take Little G for two hours and then my husband can take him later for another two hours).

This means when Little G is being a total pest (hard to believe, I know, what with all the dimply goodness)I can put him in the car and in less than 10 minutes hand him over to SOMEONE ELSE!!

Also included in the membership: a personal trainer for eight sessions and then the same personal trainer once a month.

The gym has so many really cool features included in the membership (although some you pay extra for like tennis lessons and karate classes) like a slew of classes during the day for us stay-at-home-mommy types, rock climbing, salt water filtered pools, yoga, Pilate's, spinning, weight training, aerobics...you know...your basic gym stuff...as well as two incredibly nice women's locker rooms with hair dryers and towels and beautiful wood and marble lockers; plus a cafe with healthy food and Internet! I seriously may never leave!!

So my "plan" for exercise is to make going to the gym part of our everyday schedule. Can you imagine...enough time away from Little G every day to not only take a class or meet with a trainer...but to also TAKE A SHOWER?? AND DRY MY HAIR?? I have never, ever, ever, ever, ever been so motivated to go to the gym!!

Let's just hope it sticks!

Happy 6 months, Little G!!

Today is Little G's sixth month birthday.

That is nuts.

Nuts because just a month ago seems like it was forever ago...not to even MENTION six months ago!! And how quickly the time has passed. Sigh. Note to any of you who don't like change...don't have a kid. Change is all they do.

We spent most of the month in Pennsylvania with Gram, Aunt K and Cousin W. But most importantly, we spent almost every day for two weeks visiting with Zayde. Zayde wasn't feeling well, so it was good for you and for him that you were there. Most days you would lay on the side of his bed and he would stroke your hair or play with your feet. Below, Zayde decided he wanted to hold you in his harms as well as he could.

The two of you spent lots of time staring into each other's eyes as though you had finally found 'your people'. I know you are too little to remember your Zayde, but I hope that through pictures and stories from myself and your father and your Aunt and Gram and Cousin W, you will be able to know the wonderful, loving man he was.

Amazingly enough, you still have not rolled over from your back to your front...you do however have an amazing ability to spin yourself around in a circle like a pinwheel so that when we come to get you in your crib in the morning, you are usually perpendicular to the sides...which wouldn't be that big a deal if you weren't longer than the width of the crib.

Over the past month you decorated your first Christmas tree...

...helped Santa out by being the World's Cutest Elf...

...got all dressed up and attended your first Christmas Eve service...

...waited patiently with cousin W for Santa to come...

...and enjoyed your first Christmas. Santa delivered a fun ball spinner toy, that you immediately decided to try to eat, and a super-nifty wooden pull train.

After Christmas was over, you were baptised by your Aunt K at her church where mommy and daddy promised to raise you in the Christian faith and the congregation promised to care for you and all other children as you grow up in the church.

You eat so much food these days...avocado, peas, cauliflower, beets, sweet potato, squash, applesauce, pears, bananas, carrots, baby oatmeal, broccoli...basically anything we put in front of you, you will eat! The pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to give you some protein items and grains and I just know you will love them!

Your hair has almost all grown back in...and it happened over a three day span at the start of the month! Your dad almost didn't recognise you when I sent him a picture. You also grew out of every single piece of clothing that we brought you to Pennsylvania in...thankfully Aunt K hadn't sent us the next installation of hand-me-downs yet so we didn't have to go buy you all new things!

You have most definitely found your voice and love to serenade us with babbles...'muh, muh, muh' and gurgling are your favorites, although when you are super tired you squeal and blow high-pitched raspberries...it is super cute :)

Finally, at the beginning of the month, you were still a bit rounded and even by Christmastime you still needed to be held up in order to sit and not slump over and as I write this, you have completely grasped the concept of sitting straight up and not slumping over. We still have to watch you because you don't know how to catch yourself when you topple backwards, but for the most part, you are sitting up!

I can't believe all the changes in just one month and I am so incredibly amazed that you are already 6 months old. The next six months hold even more change for us as up until now you have been immobile and we all know that won't last long.

Happy birthday, Love!!

Mommy and Daddy

The plan

So in light of yesterday's post I guess I should share with you my plan. The problem is...I don't have a plan.

In all actuality, I think this will work better for me than having a plan as I tend to be an all-or-nothing person so if I have a plan and then I don't match the plan, I tend to quit. So, if I have to define one, I guess my plan would be to aim for the-place-between-all-and-nothing.

With that said, I present to you the-food-place-between-all-and-nothing:

Since moving into our home in Boston and having the resources (both monetarily and educationally) and the support (both neighborly and institutionally) to start researching the food that I put on our table, I have come to the conclusion that I would like to provide myself and my family with the cleanest food possible.

To that end, we have participated in our local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for the past few summer/autumns by purchasing a half-share; supplying us with ridiculously delicious veggies and fruits that we devour during the season while freezing the extra so that not much goes to waste and even in the dead of winter we have the most delicious corn and/or veggie stew and/or fill-in-the-blank-veggie-yumminess on the block. We have also participated in the same farm's Meat Share where we have 10lbs of sustainably and responsibly raised meat delivered to us on a monthly basis. We have also gone-in on a cow with friends; supplying us with quite possibly the most delicious beef (as well as the most packed freezer) I have encountered in my life. And we have our milk and eggs delivered to us from a local farm here in Massachusetts.

Now all this isn't too say that I don't enjoy a Five Guy's burger every once in a while, or that you can't find me in the drive-thru of the various Dunkin' Donuts in a square-mile radius because I have once again left the house with Little G and forgotten to eat breakfast.

However, in the spirit of aiming between all and nothing, I think I am doing a fairly reasonable job of providing clean, good food for my family.

So, what does that have to do with losing weight? Well....just like with over-processed foods, there can definitely be too much of a good thing...but at least I am starting with a good thing which makes me feel better.

With a base of good food, then my next step towards aiming between all and nothing is to be aware of what I eat throughout the day.

A while back I participated in the first long-term study that was ever done on the four major diets. The diet I participated in was the high protein, moderate fat diet. A big part of the study was entering in every item of food that we ate into a computer database so that our calories could be tracked along with our weight loss. I lost 20 pounds on that program...not because of the specific diet I was on (as was proven by the results of the study) but because I tracked my food intake.

Again, with the intent to aim between all and nothing, rather than forcing myself to write down every stinkin' calorie I consume, my goal is to just be aware of what I have eaten throughout the day. Which means, if I have a large breakfast or lunch, than I know to have a healthier dinner. Conversely, if I know I am having a calorific dinner, than I plan ahead by eating moderately for breakfast and lunch.

As lackadaisical as this may seem, it works for me, as that is the only way I can figure how I made it through the past month without gaining 400 pounds.


So there you have it...the food "plan".

Next up....the dreaded exercise "plan"....

Fatty Resolution

I have "struggled" with being overweight for most of my life. I put struggled in quotes because truly...there are other things that really warrant the word struggle more than a small, consistent obsession with being more attractively thin while denouncing the power of exercise and pretty much eating what ever I want whenever I want it.

My biggest frustration is my body image. As you may recall my stating prior to this, when I was pregnant, I felt the most proud of my body than I had ever felt in my life. And it was so powerful to feel that way. Yet, as soon as my son was born the self depreciation started. Which is so ridiculous. Because there are plenty of women out there who would look at my body and would never consider me anything other than beautiful...so why shouldn't I?

So my resolution this year is not to lose weight, but to stop being fat. I figure I am only fat if I call myself fat...which means that I resolve to look at myself with honesty and respect in hopes that I can love the body that I have and I resolve to not call myself fat by which I will stop being defined by it.

That said....

...I do need to lose some weight. I was clinically obese before getting pregnant and I gained over 40 lbs and thus far have only lost 20.

So, to motivate myself, I challenged my father-in-law to a 20 in 20. Here's the gist:

In 20 weeks, I vow to lose 20 pounds. At the end of 20 weeks, if I have not lost 20 pounds, than I vow to give up my iPhone until I HAVE lost 20 pounds.

In 20 weeks, my father-in-law vows to lose 20 pounds. At the end of 20 weeks, if he has not lost 20 pounds, that he vows to give up his Penguin tickets (at which point they will be in the playoffs, which really makes this a tough one to lose) until he HAS lost 20 pounds.

Our challenge to each other is that in 20 weeks, whomever of the two of us has lost more (as long as it is over 20 pounds) receives a prize. If I win, he buys me a Garmin. If he wins, I buy him a Kindle.

How's THAT for motivation?!

The 20 weeks started on December 1 and I was pretty distracted all last month, so although I didn't make any true progress, in light of the events of the past month I am rather proud to say that I started the challenge at 222 pounds and four weeks later, I was still at 222 pounds.

So, now I have twenty pounds to lose in 16 weeks...which is still totally doable.

Wish me luck...I could REALLY use that Garmin and if nothing else, I can't even imagine life without my iPhone.

Gone

My dad died last month.

There...the words are out on the screen. Can't be taken back. Can't be forgotten. They are here forever. Or as forever as the internet is.

My mom called the Monday after Thanksgiving and said that he wasn't doing well and that she thought it was time for me to come. Little G and I packed up our things and headed out the next day and drove for what seemed to be an endless time.

If you are ever wondering if it would be fun to take a road trip for 10+ hours with an almost 5 month old, my advice would be don't. do. it.

The entire ride my mind would wander to the fact that my dad was dying and I would start to tear up. And then I would admonish myself for being dramatic and literally yell, 'STOP Crying!", or "I will NOT cry...I will not cry...I will not cry" until the tears went away and I could see the road again.

When I got to Pennsylvania it was night, so I didn't go to see him until the next day, Wednesday. He was so lucid and 'normal' I didn't even think about what was going to possibly be happening soon. Little G and my mom and I spent time with him and then my mom took Little G so that I could talk to my dad alone.

I sat next to him and grasped his hands and cried, "Oh, dad".

And he put his large, heavy hand on my head and whispered, "It's ok...it's ok".

I looked up at him and found it impossible to find the right words to say. So I said, "I am finding it really hard to put into words how much I love you. But you know I love you."

Then I asked him, "Are you scared?"

"No", he breathed out.

"Do you need anything...or want anything? Is there anything we can do for you?"

"No".

So we sat together silently for a bit while I wiped the tears from my cheeks. And then I left.

Little G and I visited with him almost every day until he passed away on December 15, but that was the last time I spoke to my dad on my own.

Maybe it is because I am so far away from where he was and because I had only seen him once from the time he had his knee surgery (which kicked off this whole health scare)until this past visit, but I have had a difficult time wrapping my brain around it.

We returned to Boston last Thursday and as of yesterday life is 'back-to-normal' and I just feel weird. Like if I felt like it, I could convince myself it was all a dream.

But it wasn't.

My dad died. On Wednesday, December 15, 2009. Nine days prior to his 76th birthday. Four months after his knee surgery that was supposed to enhance his life. Five months after his second grandson, who looks a lot like him, was born. Twelve days before that grandson's baptism which had been his goal to attend.

Twenty days ago.

5 Months

Happy Five Month Birthday (a few days late)!!!

Birthday:

1 Month:

2 Month:

3 Month:

4 Month:

5 Month:

This past month you started solid foods and you LOVE them! Your first taste of oatmeal really opened your eyes to a whole new world of culinary goodness!

You have become so much more of a happy, giggly baby in the past few weeks. I knew you would come into this phase eventually and we are ALL so glad you have finally arrived.

Napping is starting to be an easier endeavor and they are even getting a bit longer!

On Thanksgiving at Grammy and Grampy's house, you rolled over from your front to your back for the first time. Most babies get scared when they do that, but you were so pleased with yourself and gave us the best grin!

You scoot around on your back in a half circle as you make attempts to roll over from your back to your front. Not sure when that will ever happen, but my guess is that once you figure out that is the key to getting where you want to go, you will be unstoppable!

You had your first long car rides this month and were a champ about it. And you even outgrew your infant carrier so we had to upgrade to a convertible car seat.

We have been in Pennsylvania staying with Aunt K and Gram and Cousin W for about a week now and the Christmas tree is up. You love to sit under the tree and reach for the ornaments.

We love you, Little G, and are so excited to celebrate Christmas with you this month.

All of the love in the universe,

Mom and Dad

New additions to the nursery

So I never got around to updating you on our nursery and what it looks like now that it is really, REALLY finished.

It was finished for the most part when I wrote about it here, but I didn't want to show the finished product to you since it blatantly showed what we were going to name our son and he hadn't been born yet.

So anyway...what I originally showed to you that looked like this:

Now looks like this:

We really like those fun little woodland creatures...I wish I had it in me to have been more creative with their placement rather than just stick them up on the wall in the same arrangement suggested on the packaging...but who has the time, right?

Of course this fun bird did find its way to a perch over by the crib:

We also decided to break up the big sailboat mobile and put part of it over by the bookshelf and the other two pieces over his crib. I realize they aren't as exciting as a crib mobile, but considering babies can only have crib mobiles for a couple of months before abandoning them because they are sitting up, I figure these will at least be appreciated for a longer amount of time.

Lastly, there is this fun banner above Little G's closet. We know it is a bit ridiculous to have his name so prominantly displayed twice in such a small room...but I made the banner before we got the wooden letters, so even though Tim Gunn would definitely encourage us to edit...we put it up anyway.



I am particularly proud of the banner even with its raggedy edges and poor stiching as I made it from remnants from some pillow projects. In all...it cost me $1.49 because the only thing I had to purchase was the binding tape used as the string that holds it all together.

So that's Little G's crib...snicker snicker...

A year ago

A year ago today, on November 19, 2008, I showed up at my OB's office for what I thought was another opportunity for me to pee on a stick and have them confirm I was pregnant. Instead, because my HcG levels had been low, they...uh...for lack of nicer terminology...sent in the probe (sorry) and we got this picture of our some-day-to-be baby.

Smaller than a grain of rice.

I remember trying to imagine that in a year from then, my semi-grain of rice would be a four-month old baby. Never, did I ever imagine just how amazing, and beautiful, and big, and happy, and coo-y, and all-around lovely he would be.

I love him so much.

Solids

Little G had his four month pediatrician appointment last Monday and when we told the pediatrician that he was up to 8oz a serving of formula she immediately suggested we start him on solids...so that night he had is first serving of baby oatmeal...mmmmmmm...


First, we had to get his new, nylon bib on and get him in the high chair...as you can see, he was none too pleased...
Then daddy fed him his first spoonful and all the way up to when it was actually IN his mouth he was a very unhappy camper...
Until he realized it was food...

Looks like solids aren't such a bad thing after all, huh?

Waiting game

In case any of you are waiting on baited breath to see what we ended up doing with our master bedroom, know that the painting is finished, the furniture has been moved back into place, the accessories have all been purchased and put in place and the only thing we are waiting for are our window treatments.

Sadly, they aren't due until the end of the months...so you will just have to keep waiting.

Tragic, I know.

A picture a day...and other myths of having a baby.

I happen to know quite a few people who are currently pregnant and in that wonderful state of pre-baby bliss where you have no idea what is coming next no matter how much you think you might know.

I was there once...it was a great place to be, but I wouldn't trade my current place in life for the world.

Anyway...back to the point.

One of the things I promised myself I would do was take a picture of our little boy every day during his first year of life. Then I was going to put them all together in a photo-montage so you could see how he grew every day.

I was being realistic (or so I thought) by not requiring that the picture I took be in the exact same chair/pose/lighting/etc.

But let's REALLY be real here....somedays...a picture just ain't happening. In fact...some WEEKS a picture just ain't happening!!

God help my second child because I can't even get it together enough to have even purchased a baby book for my first child, not to mention fill it out and happily keep track of every milestone in matching pen with fun anecdotes and quotes.

I like to consider myself a pretty creative and together person...I have scrapbooked for years....but this having a kid thing REALLLLLLLY kills your free time.

So I quietly keep tabs on my pregnant friends and read the lovely things they have to say about their intentions of photo journaling their children's lives and I just keep my mouth shut...because dreams like that are what get women through pregnancy and who am I to stomp on anyone's dreams.

Bedtime hilarity

Every night when we put Little G to bed, we change him into his jammies and read him a story and then lay him in his crib, swaddle him and he drifts off to never-land.

We used to feed him a bottle right before bed as well, but these days, he doesn't need the bottle, so we have had to come up with other ways to keep him occupied while one of us reads a story to him. It might be bouncing him on our lap or rocking him back and forth or making faces at him on the changing table.

The past few nights it has been mommy giggling incessantly at daddy while he attempts to read one of MY favorite stories from when I was a kid. It is a book that my parent's sent away for that in 'Mad-Lib' style uses my name for the main character, my friend's names for the character's friends' names, my school name, my local mall name, my sister's name...etc, etc.

The biggest problem for my husband in reading it is that the name of the main character in the book's best friend is actually my name spelled backwards. I am not exactly sure if my parent's just couldn't come up with a name or if the book company did this for everyone...but my first name, is ALMOST a palindrome. Which means through much of the book, my slightly dyslexic husband had to decipher which name was which while reading an unfamiliar book upside down (so Little G can see the pictures). To complicate matters even further, towards the end of the book, the sad clown in the story is no longer sad and therefore needs a new name and my character gladly let's the clown share my name.

People...I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time...and let me tell you...Little G was fascinated by mommy's face turning red, her eyes rolling back in her head and her huge belly laughs and chuckles and wheezes while having his story read to him.

In OTHER bedtime hilarity news...as with most of the light switches in our 100 year old house, the light switch for Little G's bedroom is out in the hallway. My husband and I now HAVE to announce who had turned off Little G's light (which is thankfully on a dimmer) because for FOUR nights out of the last seven Little G woke up early because his light was on. The first three nights were because my husband would turn the light off and then I would also turn it off (which at that point was turning it back on). Last night, it was because we both thought the other one of us turned the light off.

Geniuses we are not...

Four months old

Little G turned 4 months old this past Sunday and my what a whirlwind it has been! You may have noticed there was no post for his 3 month birthday...and now...looking back, I can barely remember the time between two months and three months. I guess that's why we're supposed to be writing this stuff down, huh.


Let's see...in the past two months, you have gained four lbs...going from 14 something to 18.5. You have outgrown everything that you ever received as a gift except for the stuff from Miss. Christina since she got you stuff for all the way up to your 1st birthday.

You've gone from this:


To this:

You traveled to Pennsylvania on a plane and met your Zayde and cousin W for the first time.

You giggled for the first time and gave us many more consistent smiles.

You went through a non-napping phase that almost killed your mother.

You attended and graduated from the second of three classes in our new mommy/baby series.

You lost most of your hair in the 'Cradle Cap Eradication Day '09' event.

You took your first long car trip to Saratoga Springs, NY and proved that even the car can't make you nap.

You celebrated your first Halloween as the cutest pea-in-a-pod ever.

And you have gone from 5+ oz of formula 6 times a day to 8+ oz of formula 4 times a day.

Physically, you are able to blow raspberries if you really, REALLY try...although they are quite messy and may or may not include a ton of drool.

You drool...a lot.

You can hold your head up at a 45 degree angle if not more when on your belly doing tummy time...and speaking of tummy time...you will at least tolerate it now for up to 5 minutes.

You reach out and grab the things you want to grab and as soon as you get what ever it is in your hands you put it directly in your mouth.

You gurgle. You squeal.

Especially when the Yankees won the World Series!! (oh wait...that was your dad...)

You have a blood curdling scream that you aren't afraid to use.

You are so much more a little boy and so much less a baby even in just these two months.

Your dad and I love you very, very much and are so proud of all of your accomplishments.

Love,

Mom

Happy Halloween!!

This past weekend was Halloween (in case you have been hidden under a rock and didn't know). I had procured a pea-in-a-pod costume for free off our local mothers' list-serv, so a pea-in-a-pod is what Little G was. We originally planned on attending a party at a friend's house, in which case I was going to put black eye makeup on and go with Little G as the Black Eyed Peas...but we ended up going out of town for the weekend so my genius costume plan was thwarted.*

Poor kid didn't even get to show off his costume to anyone; these pics were taken in our dimly lit hotel room while my husband was in a meeting all day.

Oh well...at least I got to marvel how cute he was :)

*Since not a one of us could go to the party I told the hostess that we would be there, but that Little G was going as the Balloon Boy and we were going as his parents...which meant that Little G was off floating somewhere and we were out looking for him. Truthfully, I feel that was probably the most realistic costume at that party...but apparently others felt we were cheating.

Master Moods

Well, with the paint on the walls and trim, it is a bit easier to imagine the possibilites for the room as far as decor goes. It is difficult, because the big pieces need to stay...i.e. the blue quilt (wedding gift), the medium tan bed, the black dressers, nightstands and mirror...

So...to help figure it all out I created a mood board and I think I have got it pretty figured out.

I found a great cream/black ceiling fixture that I think will go great with the room and I really like the rattan room darkening shade paired with the airy white curtains. The picture of the window treatment was lifted from a picture at the bottom of this post over at Young House Love.

So now I am questioning myself on the table lamps. The hubs and I have two different bed side tables...a product of one of us (who shall remain nameless) who is obsessed with having everything as close to the walls of the room as possible deciding he needed a bed side table, but not one as big as mine...so they are the same exact style...but mine is about 20% bigger than his.

This means that if we were to get matching lamps, they would be lopsided in the room. To combat that, I figured it would work to have a smaller lamp on my table and a bigger one on his and that would even out the scale a little bit...but before I buy them, I want to make sure I'm not just crazy...

...so what do you think...should I go ahead with the mismatched lamp idea or not? And it is crazy of me to have such mid-century modern lamps in the room with other details that fall to the more classic side?

And what should we do with the great big expanse of wall to the right of my bed? It isn't above the bed, it is on a free wall...so how do you anchor it?

Lastly...our bed is up against the two windows (and that is where it will stay)...so do we put full window treatments on both windows or do we do half on each and try to frame out the bed? Would that look unfinished?

Oh how I wish I was more confident and could just TELL the husband what we are doing instead of feeling like I need to convince him.

Now that's a room of a different color...

I am not sure where I got it in my head that once we made it to three months, things would be easier...but they aren't. In fact, they are more difficult than ever.

Little G isn't napping well and he has by far the loudest, most piercing, scream on the planet...seriously...I have had other people comment on it, so I know it isn't just me.

Annnnnnnyway....compounding the stress around here is that the hubs and I have been painting our room...remember this?

Well now...after four weekends of hard work sanding all the trim, dusting off the radiator, painting primer on all the trim and the walls, painting three coats of trim color on the radiator, three coats on the trim and two coats on the walls....I am proud to say we are done* painting!!!

Which is the biggest and hardest part of the project.

Initially, way back when I thought I was going to have lots of time to blog I had gone to the Benjamin Moore website and uploaded a picture of our room and used their handy-dandy room preview feature to see what the color would look like.

But I never got around to posting it until now...so here is the preview from BenjaminMoore.com...

...and here is the big reveal!

The room is SOOOOOOOO much brighter and feels much bigger too. I can't even begin to tell you how glad I am that this part of the project is over.

Now we get to decorate. Weeeeeee

*So the painting actually isn't done-done...we still have to paint the doors and one windowsill that we have been repairing...but we can at least move back in since we have been living in the guest bedroom since sometime last September

Congrats to our FLOR Winner...

Many congratulations to commenter #5, HisBirdie (Ali). The winner of my very first bloggity blog give away and a 5x7 rug (12 tiles) from FLOR.




You will have to send us some pictures of what you do with your new FLOR!!

Congrats again and thanks to all who commented!

--Coastin anon

Now you can be FLOR'd

As you know from my various posts, I am a big fan of FLOR, the modular flooring tiling system that is easy on your budget, your time and the planet.

Now, I am excited to announce my very first ever bloggity blog giveaway....

dun-dee-dee-dun........

a 5x7 FLOR rug from their new fall collection!!

How exciting is that???

Here's how it works...comment (once only please) below on which of the following styles listed below you would like to win and include how you would use it in your home...i.e. would you customize it further? What colors would you choose?

The contest closes next Friday, September 25, 2009 and the winner, who will be randomly selected using the fascinating system over at random.org, will be announced on Monday, September 28, 2009.

Here are the rugs that are eligible for the giveaway:

All Square
All Bark No Bite
Arachnophobia (Martha Stewart collection)
Best of Both Wools
Fez
Pop Tartin
Squared Silly

Best of luck to you all!!

Coasting anon

Rearranging

We spent the better part of the afternoon the other weekend moving around our furniture in our room while the little guy napped. Of course, this is all part of The Great Master Bedroom Redo of '09.

Neither one of us wanted to move things around multiple times, so we took advantage of the Pottery Barn Room Designer Tool to help us map out the current furniture in our space. Since the pre-measured furniture they have in the tool was a bit different from ours, I used my trusty scale rule to measure out furniture that was the correct size.


So here is what we came up with:

If you go back to the original post, you can see that we basically just moved the bed and side tables 90 degrees to the left. The bed is blocking two windows now, but there is no choice, you either are off center and block one window, or you are centered and block two.

This has really opened up the room believe it or not. When you are in bed the room seems to go on forever and when you look at it from the entrydoor, the same effect takes place.

Our next task is to tape and paint...we are painting the trim a light vanilla color and the walls a light cream. We already know what the colors will look like because they are the exact colors that my Mother-in-Law has in her living room. Hopefully that will really help lighten up the space.

We're floored...again!

If you recall, when we did the nursery for Little G, we used FLOR tiles because I had seen a demonstration of them on the Martha Stewart show. If you will also recall, I had grand plans for cutting my FLOR tiles into an intricate pattern and once I tried cutting the tiles I decided to go with plan B.

Plan B has worked well for us, so we decided to get some FLOR tiles for our great bedroom redo of '09. FLOR has some really awesome new styles that they have introduced this Fall including:

A La Mode with its lovely blue and brown tones installed in a parquet pattern:



Or Best of Both Wools shown here in Dorset Stripe and Suffolk Stripe in alternating rows...or below in Dorset Stripe in a parquet pattern:





In the end, we decided to go with the 5x7' Martha Stewart Collection Landscape Rug Kit in Acorn shown below:



Since we opted for only a 5x7 rug, that meant we were working with only 12 tiles and I didn't think the checkerboard pattern would match our style in an area rug, so I decided to have the shaggier rug in the center surrounded by a 1/2 tile border of the shorter shag.

Our tiles were shipped right after placing the order and were at our door in only a few days.



Upon opening the box, there were instructions, an introductory letter from Martha Stewart and an envelope of FLOR Dots, which are the adhesive you use to stick the tiles to each other:

Here you can see that the back of each tile has a sticker on it with the name of the tile and the color as well as some arrows to indicate the pile of the rug. This way, if you are putting the same tiles all next to each other, you can make sure the pieces all flow the same direction:

Here are some of the velvet twist FLOR tiles as they arrived out of the box:

Also in the box was a handy metal ruler. I hadn't purchased the ruler the last time I got the FLOR tiles and I should have. Since it is a metal ruler, you don't have to worry about the carpet knife getting caught on it when you are scoring your tiles:

Also, the back of the ruler has these convenient markings for 1/4, 1/3 and 1/2 tiles...thereby eliminating any math you might have to do to split the tiles...which are 19 inches and change (rather than a nice, easily calculable 20" even):

The Short Shag tiles came out of the box a bit squished:

You can see the pile a bit better once I ran my hand through it:

So now it was time to get down to the business of cutting these things...I was a bit nervous because last time it was a disaster and I didn't have any extra tiles this time to work with. I placed the ruler on the back of the tile and marked the half length:

Then I took my trusty carpet knife:

And promptly cut the square inaccurately. You can see here that my knife skipped a bit so I had to go back and fix the cut. This worked out ok in the end because I was abutting the cut edge to a short shag rug with a taller pile that could hide my mistake...but if I were lining up the shorter piles squares next to each other, I would really have to make sure my cuts were exactly perfect:

I, thankfully, got the hang of cutting the tiles and was able to move on to separating the cuts. Once you score the cut a few times, you fold over the tile and separate the carpet...it's as easy as that:

The entire process of cutting the 6 tiles I needed for the border of my rug took about 20 minutes...then I was ready to lay them out on the floor and get ready to put the rug together:

I was working by myself so I don't have a picture of me attaching the FLOR dots to the tiles, but it is super easy. Since I had a custom design, I did need a few extra dots, but I had them from my last project so I was all set. One of the great things about the FLOR tiles is that they attach to themselves, not to the floor, so you don't mar your floor and you can easily move the area rug around once you have put it together:

One quick go over with the vacuum cleaner and you could barely tell where the seams were!

In all, from the moment I opened the box until I had vacuumed the rug and taken this picture, the process took me less than an hour...and that includes a 10 minute phone call from my sister-in-law who was coming to visit that day. I should also say, this project was completed in the time Little G took his morning nap!

I think it looks great and I am really pleased with the quality of the rug and how once I knew what I was doing, the ease of customizing it to my needs. So guess it is safe to say that THIS time, I really AM floored! (sorry, I couldn't resist).