Fav. Photos: Month 2

Sam is 2 months old now! I can't believe how much he has grown!

Here are my favorite photos from the last month:

some tummy time

our first mother's day!

he just started smiling

getting sam cozy when he had a cold

sam loves looking at the mirror on his swing

I love his expression

say wha?

chilling after daycare

I'm on Top Baby Blogs!

my banner for TBB

I thought I'd put myself out there and join Top Baby Blogs, a website that has a listing of a baby of baby blogs that you can vote on and push them to the top of the list.


You can click on the button on the bottom right ------>
and vote for me. Truthfully, I'm not about getting votes, just to get the blog on a list, but I guess I DO need votes if I'd like to stay on the list.




If you found yourself here from Top Baby Blogs, HELLO! Nice to meet you! I hope you enjoy my blog: )

Sam & Suzy: 8 weeks

Sam did end up catching a cold last week. It wasn't too bad, just mainly a stuffy nose. He ran a little fever at daycare and I took him to the doctors just to be safe. All was good and I got some great tips to help Sam. I love our doctors! We chose a practice that practices integrated medicine since I believe that pills don't always have to solve everything. Sam just got prescribed time with the humidifier.

Oh and then Sam gave the cold to Rob, which hit him pretty good on Memorial Day. It tried getting to me too, but I fought it off. It knew better.


Sam:
Mornings are now my favorite time with Sam. We prop him up on the boppy while we're getting ready and he's just smiling and talking away. It puts me in a good mood. It's just amazing to see this little guy grow and change in such a short amount of time.


Suzy:
I'm sure it's partially hormones, but if I don't get at least one block of 3 hours solid sleep in a night I am not a happy camper. It really sucks and I try not to be like that, but I can't help it. And when I'm like that, I take it out on Rob, which is not fair. Thankfully, Sam is sleeping a lot more. Like a couple nights ago I got about 4 hours of sleep, fed him and then other 2 hours. Awesome!

Things I Love Thursdays

Ever since I read all the Secret books, my life has completely changed. I am now way more positive. Although I will admit since having Sam and learning to become a new mom, it's hard to stay positive sometimes. Like when you wake up every hour throughout the night and then try to function like a normal person. And I noticed that those days, things don't go so well. But I am trying again to keep up the positivity and one way to do that is list what you're grateful for!

I recently discovered Gala Darling, a great blog written by Gala, a lovely hip chick, that's about living a more positive life. Every Thursday Gala does a Things I Love Thursday post, and she recommended we try it too. So here's my first Things I Love Thursday (TILT) post!

- Sam's smiles and babbling in the mornings

- The digital photo frame at work and when it shows an old photo of me and Rob

- When my dad tells me he prints the photos of Sam from Facebook for my mom to see and in the morning he puts a photo next to her coffee

- The beer app Untappd, and how me and Rob talk smack with our friends through it

- I finally started getting into The New Girl season 2 and it's hilarious

- My new glasses

- Giggling with the office girls, they crack me up

- iTunes radio has some great stations, I've been really digging CBC 3, Canadian indie rock

- While my body can't produce enough for Sam, I still love breast feeding him and having him close to me like that

- I love Rob and all that he does for me. Seriously, this guy works so hard and sometimes has to put up with my negative attitude

- Those nights (which are becoming more common) of 4 hour blocks of sleep

- Taking a shower when Sam's still sleeping

- We work in an awesome area with bars, cool restaurants and concerts (even though we can't really do any of those right now)

- I'm so happy the weather is warm again and all the trees have their leaves. It's so beautiful outside

- Going to bed at dusk, it's so peaceful to me

- Getting lunch from the CommonMarket on Fridays

- Sam's daycare and his teachers

Book Review: Beyond the Sling

image from here

A couple weeks ago I was flipping channels and saw a piece on Good Morning America about how stars like Danica McKellar (Winnie from Wonder Years) and Mayim Bialik (Blossom and Big Bang Theory) use attachment parenting with their kids. Mayim even wrote a book about it.

I thought attachment parenting was some super hippy thing, but after watching that piece and learning more what it's about and how these super intelligent (mathematician and neuroscientist!) do it, I was pretty interested. So I checked out Beyond the Sling by Mayim Bialik, her book about living an attachement parenting life.

I love this book! She's like my bestie! This book is right up my alley on my views on parenting. While I may not want to follow everything that attachment parents do like co-sleeping and elimination communication, that's ok! She even says that's ok. As long as you understand why they do those things and maybe use that philosophy in your own way on how you raise your kids.

The bottom line of the book is you know your kids better than anyone. Do what feels right and instinctual to you. Don't feel you need to follow the norm and pressures of other parents around you. Kids and babies are just that, kids and babies.

Another awesome thing that she said in the book, which doesn't have anything to do with attachement parenting really is to slow down. Life is super crazy these first few months and you won't and can't do everything. And I've heard it many many times before, but for some reason hearing "slow down" rather than, "don't try to do everything" just really resonated with me.

Anyways, I really enjoyed reading this book. It makes me excited to be a parent. It made me feel good too because I've had plenty of people give me advise already and while I do honestly listen to what every tells me, sometimes it bothers me what they say. I've actually cried about some of the things people have said because it's like they are telling me (in a nice way) what I am doing as a mother is wrong. 'Specially when people tell me that I'm spoiling Sam by holding him. I spent 2 1/2 years trying to have a baby (tough years too) and 9 months carrying him inside me...I'm going to hold this little miracle as much as I want to.

Sam & Suzy: 7 weeks

getting ready to go to daycare*

Sam started daycare this week! And you know, it went way easier than I thought it would. When we dropped him off, he was just looking around the room and he didn't cry when his teacher held him. Sure I cried a little, but because he seemed fine and his teachers are super nice, it made it easier for me. I worked from home that day and it was so nice to be alone in a quiet house. I think I would've felt different if I went straight back to the office. I went and visited Sam at lunch and he was just chilling in a bouncer and then fell asleep as I held him. And when we picked him up, he was totally asleep. He slept so good that night too! I think that is a successful day!

A couple days later and he's still doing great. Only cries when he's hungry they say. Again, such a relief for me. I'm enjoying my time back in the office, being around the girls again. We get home and I snuggle with Sam and play with him. Then we all sleep for a good few hours until the next feeding. I couldn't be any happier!

Only bad thing...he already got the sniffles. Last night his nose was all stuffy. He hasn't gotten worse, which is good and he only got a little fussy during the night. It was inevitable, after all is it daycare filled with snotty kids.

Sam:

He's changed so much this past week. He looks more like a baby now, rather than a tiny newborn. Sam's much more alert and awake during the day. He likes being in the swing now, whether sleeping or awake. His hands have more control which he uses to rub his eyes or punch me while I breastfeed. He's starting to make more noises.

And the best of all...Sam smiles now! When he wakes up in the morning is when he smiles the most. It's the sweetest thing ever. Even this morning after sniffling all night, he woke up and gave me some smiles.

Suzy:

I'm doing pretty good. I've been dealing with back pain, which sucks when trying to pick up a baby. I need to start strengthening my core again and pay another visit to the chiropractor. I haven't had a chance to do any exercising since we're still getting used to our new schedule with work and day care. 

I started pumping at work. Now that's interesting. Currently I have to pump in the nice bathroom on the floor above us. It's not so bad. I just put a little sign up saying I'm pumping, but still come in. We're going to have a bigger new office later this summer, so I'll get to pump in one of the storage rooms, which will be much nicer and not like a crappy regular storage room. I pump twice a day. Which you'd think I'd pump a lot of milk, but nope I still pump the same amount as if I pumped and breast fed throughout the day. That's pretty frustrating since it's bit of a hassle to pump, at least reward me with a lot a milk! Oh well, the main point is to keep going that way I can continue to breast feed Sam at home. I have to say, I love breast feeding Sam, I love the closeness and he's so darn cute when he's feeding. I'm grateful that I can do it at all. I'm curious to see how long I can keep it up, if I can make it past 6 months, that would be awesome.

*I'm going to start doing the bear photos once a month now

Shaping Up Month 1

I passed my postpartum appointment with flying colors! Ha ha. Since I'm now back to "normal", I can finally start getting my body back into shape. Now, I'm not expecting myself to be exactly how I was before I was pregnant. My body went through way too much for that. Instead I'm just going to work on getting into shape and losing the weight I am meant to lose.

Also, starting soon I'm going to start running again. My goal is to run a half marathon in 2014. That right there will help me get into shape and stay motivated. Thankfully I have Rob and friends who are runners and that always inspires me to run.

And since I have a blog, I have to document it! Besides, it'll help me keep track of how I'm doing. I plan to check in once a month. Even though weight is not really what I want to focus on, it's the easiest to measure.

Pre-Pregnancy Weight - 118 lbs

6 weeks

Pregnancy Weight - 153 lbs ( that's +35lbs)

37 weeks

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May 20th:
Weight - 130 lbs
Exercise Plan - Post natal yoga dvd, walking
Feeling - I'm feeling so ready to get started! Unfortunately I threw out my back pretty good and I have to take it very easy. Going to the chiropractor later today. I did manage a very gentle post natal yoga session and I walked the dogs. Bodywise, when I wear maternity clothes, I feel great, those belly bands hold and smooth everything out. When I wear normal clothes, they just fit weird and my mushy tummy sticks out.

crappy bathroom pic