Have You Missed Me?

Okay, I would love more than anything to say that I am back but let's be honest.  I tried that once only to disappear almost immediately following.  I will not promise, as my life has a way of consuming me, but I will hope to try to post once a week?  Twice a week?  I guess what I am trying to say is I will certainly do my best to post more often than I have been...which has been not at all.

For a while, I was so busy doing that I didn't have the time to write about it.  Nolan and I went through a faze in which we walked the lake every day, rain or shine.  That very productive train was derailed by a ridiculous knee injury caused by my attempt at running.  (Hopefully I will write an entire post on THAT even though it was months or so ago.)  In case I do not post about that experience, let me make a long story short and say that I happen to run more like a dinosaur than a gazelle.

Project Baby Weight has not been the only thing that has taken a back burner these last months; my world revolves around Nolan.  I don't just mean that in an "he's my son and I love him way;"  I mean that in an "everything about my baby consumes every ounce of thought and strength I have just to make it through the day" kind of way.  I know this sounds very dramatic but I am serious.  On more than one occasion I have contemplated calling the doctor for large doses of Zoloft and Xanax.  Perhaps if I just exercised I wouldn't feel the need for prescription meds but finding the time and energy to exercise is almost tantamount to exercise itself, of course without the caloric burn and health benefits.  Therefore, I have discovered a new form of self medication that has caused me to go in the opposite direction on weight loss and overall health.  Red Wine and Salt and Pepper Kettle Chips only to be consumed whilst watching trashy, time-wasting reality television (IE The Bachelorette) any time after 10 pm in the evening.  At my house we just call this Mommy Time.

Thanks to Mommy Time, I have gained 5 pounds.  I think it's finally time to reconstruct Mommy Time into something more beneficial both mentally and physically so I can move the scale in the other direction...fingers crossed!

About My Disappearence...

So about my gross negligence with my blogging....

Things in my life have been a little crazy. When I say things, I mean everything. When I say a little crazy, I mean street rat crazy. I won't give you the lengthy play-by-play because, quite frankly, no one has that kind of time or would be bored enough to want to read it, and so I'll spare you.
It all started with a fussy baby...a really fussy baby. It was like my precious little guy had developed colic over night at four months old; he just cried all the time. He would wake up every two hours during the night to cry. There was so much crying going on that at some point I started to cry. My husband would come home from work and Nolan and I would just be sitting there crying. Or even more likely, walking and bouncing while listening to John Mayer and crying (my son seems to be a big fan of the singer-songwriters. Listening usually calms him right down). We thought he was teething so we administered Tylenol and frozen washcloths to suck on. When none of that helped, I took him to the doctor but they couldn't find anything wrong so they said, "he's just teething." The crying just went on and on and the bags under my eyes continued to get bigger and darker as the house got more and more cluttered and Laundry Mountain reached epic heights. I barely had the time or energy to brush my teeth let alone blog!
About two weeks later, Nolan and I returned to the doctor's office for his 4 month (growing so fast) well baby check-up with a laundry list of questions and a journal detailing our tear soaked last few weeks. I was already discouraged just knowing that I was going to be told my baby just likes to cry and that I could go to a support group for moms who what to pull their hair out. I was wrong. The wonderful and fabulous Dr. Tolby (who happened to be my pediatrician back in the day) took a quick glance at my journal that detailed diaper changes, crying bouts, and feedings, and said to me, "it appears that the crying has increased as Nolan gets more formula and less breast milk (I just dried up). Let's switch his formula and see what happens." So we did. And it worked. Of course this new super hypo-allergenic formula is ridiculously expensive but you can't put a price on sanity.
Things in our household are slowly getting back to normal. We once again have a happy, smiling baby who rarely ever cries, the house has been de-cluttered, and Laundry Mountain conquered. My evening free time will once again be filled with gym trips and workout DVDs instead of wine and Desperate Housewives reruns. Oh! And of course blogging.

Food for Thought

Given all the effort I continually put into exercise, it is now necessary for me to put more effort into paying attention to the food I put into my body.  Casey and I actually eat very well; I make just about everything from scratch and we barely ever purchase anything boxed, processed or pre-made aside from snacks for his lunches.  That being said, not everything I make is always healthy.  While we eat tons of fresh fruit and veggies on a daily basis, there is a lot of room for improvement for some of the dinners I whip up.  I used to be very conscientious about making healthy decisions but every since pregnancy I have had much more of a devil may care attitude.  The home made macaroni and cheese that used to be a once a month or so indulgence turned into a once a week staple because I wanted it; I was pregnant and I was going to have whatever I wanted.  Now that I am not pregnant, I don't necessarily have that same mentality anymore but the habits have kind of stuck around.  I am not saying I am going to give up eating anything I want, it's just going to be in moderation, a treat if you will.

To help me put healthy dinners on the table are few very special cookbooks.  What makes these cookbooks special is not that they are "diet" cookbooks in any way, shape, or form; their recipes are for the same kinds of delicious foods you would find in Rachel Ray or The Barefoot Contessa (two of my favs) but for all of their recipes, they provide the nutritional information.  Everyday Food from the Kitchens of Martha Stewart has two cookbooks out, Great Food Fast and Fresh Flavor Fast that I turn too often.  Not every recipe in these cookbooks are low calorie by any means but at least the nutrition info is provided  so that I can make an informed decision about portion size or whether or not I want to try and tweak the recipe to make it healthier.  Having the nutrition info is also a very helpful for my husband who also wants to eat healthy but needs to hit a much, much larger number of calories a day than I do since he not only has a super fast metabolism but he is very athletic as well.  He may need me to fatten up his portion of dinner or he may just need to eat 2-3 portions.  My other two go to cookbooks are Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave and So Easy.  Both of Ellie's cookbooks provide very nutritious recipes, as she is a nutritionist, with the nutritional info but they also include the vitamins and minerals that are found in that particular recipe.  I really like that her books aren't all broiled chicken and steamed broccoli.  She puts healthy spins on favorites such as mac and cheese and even French fries.

*It is my personal opinion that all cookbooks should provide this same convenience of containing nutritional info so that we as consumers have a better understanding of how much and what we are putting into our bodies, therefore allowing us to have a healthier, more satisfying, relationship with our food.*

Armed with the help of these four cookbooks, I am adding eating healthier to my mission to loose these last stubborn bits of baby weight (plus a little extra).  I will certainly not be outlawing any food I may want to eat, however I will be getting rid of the devil may care attitude and exercising control over what I put into my stomach, as well as exercising my stomach.

Girl, Interrupted

First and foremost let me apologize for my recent lack of posting.  It was a very busy weekend here at our household (postings to follow shortly, I hope) followed by some Internet issues.  Posting on the weekends is rather difficult but I will continue to give it my best.

Yesterday was an awesomely productive day!  Following the suggestion of my dear friend and fellow blogger, Kisha, I made my list of all things that needed to be done and set about doing my chores; One by one I crossed  them off my list as I went instead of my usual haphazard method of insanity where I start doing one thing but get distracted by another accomplishing nothing.  My productivity was almost derailed when I opened my mailbox only to discover that all of my favorite magazines had arrived.  There they were, Every Day with Rachel Ray and Food Network Magazine, among a few others, with their shiny glossy pages inviting me to stop what I was doing to flip though them.  I stayed strong however, because underneath that wondrous pile of recipes and advertising was a little cardboard package from Amazon.  It was here, my Tracy Anderson Post-Pregnancy Workout DVD.  I knew that as promised I was going to have to make time for myself to actually do this today and could not afford the distraction of silly magazines.

I went on with my cleaning until I could put it off no longer; it was time to workout.  I'll be honest, after scrubbing and mopping all day long I really just wanted to sit on my couch with a glass of wine and watch Desperate Housewives reruns while flipping through my magazines but I knew I could not.  So I put Nolan in his swing for his nap, busted out the yoga mat, and moved the coffee table.  I really didn't know what to expect from the video.  Everything I've seen from Tracy Anderson on youTube is really intense so needless to say, I expected to get my ass kicked.

The workout started off easy enough, just some simple crunches to "wake-up your muscles."  It progressively got more and more difficult as it started to incorporate a little weight with arm movements but nothing I felt I couldn't handle.  Don't get me wrong, it was certainly challenging, but the pace was nice and moderate and the whole workout is set to soft soothing classical music.  It was at this point in the workout that things stopped going so well.  My dog began whining. First a little and then so intensely that I had to press pause on my video to let him outside.  I no sooner got back to my mat and pressed play when my dog started barking at the front door because he now wanted back inside.  I pressed pause again and let Cam back inside.  I gave him strict orders to lay in his bed and be quiet so mommy could finish her workout and he complied like a good dog, but it was too late.  Cam's barking had awoken the baby.  Usually Nolan waking up from his nap isn't a big issue.  When he naps in his swing he is more than happy to hang out in for a short while once he has woken up.  Not this time.  Baby Nolan woke up angry and screaming.  I picked up my discontented baby and soothed him into the happy, smiling baby he usually is.  I propped up in his Boppy so he could watch me as I exercised and went back to my video.  I was able to make it through the next few minutes of the workout, which was not only getting more and more challenging, but certainly more acrobatic as well.  What started out as crunches quickly turned into unusual balancing and contorting that I don't yet have the strength for.  Nolan found it quite hysterical as his mommy grunted and exclaimed "oh my God" while trying balance in a plank position on my forearms as I attempted to lift and bend my leg and twist up my torso in a valiant effort to mimic the pretzel Tracy Anderson had turned herself into.  The laughter from my sweet baby quickly disippated into tears and I was forced to prematurely end my workout session.

I spent the next twenty minutes trying once again soothe my angry baby but this time was not so lucky.  He cried and carried on until his daddy came home and provided new and exciting forms of entertainment that only a daddy can.  By this time I was so over trying to finish the last ten minutes of acrobatic body contorting so I turned off the DVD and went about making dinner.

Even though I was unable to complete my mission, it was not a total disaster.  I did have thirty glorious, yet highly interrupted, minutes of exercise to check off my list.

Quick Decision

Yesterday was one of those days I was so busy I hadn't even thought about what I was going to do for exercise until my husband came home from work and asked me "so....? Are you going to the gym or what are you doing?  Zumba?"  Ugh.  "No Zumba" I responded, "I'm not ready to pour salt in that wound yet."  As he continued to talk to me I tuned him out so I could think of all the reasons why I couldn't go to the gym.  I had laundry, dishes, I was tired.  I think I had about 20 reasons right off the bat.  And I thought, nope, no excuses.  I interupted what ever it was that he was saying and said "YES!"  He looked puzzled, "yes what?" he asked.  "YES, I am going to the gym."

I quickly changed my clothes, grabbed my gym bag and a bottle of water, kissed my guys and off I went.  Sometimes it really is just that easy. 

My workout was nothing special, 45 minutes on the Precor AMT (which is an awesome machine by the way), but the fact that I made such a snap decision to workout is.

Girl Crush

Let it be known that I have a small obsession with Tracy Anderson.  For those of you who don't know, Tracy Anderson is the personal trainer of Madonna and Gwenyth Paltrow.  All of 5 feet tall and 90 pounds soaking wet (I'm guessing) this little gal is FIERCE. 

I bring this up my love for Tracy because I just ordered The Tracy Anderson Post-Pregnancy Workout DVD.  It will be here on Monday and I will make some space in my living room, pop it in the DVD player and give it a try.  Truthfully, I am scared because I know it is going to be super intense.

For more on Tracey check out
W magazine and Cookie

Easter Weekend

My weekend started with me riding high on the immediate success of my new blog.  I was getting great feedback and was even trying to squeeze in activity so I would have writing content.  My high latest about 5 minutes.  Maybe it was the never ending torrential downpours and hurricane worthy wind gusts, or maybe it was that Nolan was stuffy, congested, and not feeling or sleeping well but all of my new found energy was no was nowhere to be found.  Instead I was surrounded by a clean laundry mountain that rivaled Mt. McKinley, a dirty laundry mountain that rivaled Mt. Everest, and tons of other endless, thankless chores that needed my attention.  The shower needed scrubbed, the little box cleaned, the fridge cleaned out and on and on and on.  Needless to say I was entirely overwhelmed and under motivated.  When I get this overwhelmed, a sense of hysteria tends to set in;  I develop what my husband likes to call "The Crazies" and I spend all my time freaking out about everything that needs done and end up doing nothing. 

I really didn't want this to happen so I made a choice.  I really needed to deal with the state of affairs at home even if that meant forgoing exercise.  So Saturday was spent putting the house back together, going to the grocery store, and prepping food for Easter.  I ran around frantically folding this and disinfecting that, so frantically that I am almost positive it counted as exercise.  Okay maybe not but a girl can dream.  At the end of the day I could see a major dent in the madness that was my house but after all I did it was just that...a dent.  I tried to convince myself that it wasn't the end of the world; however, I needed extra convincing so I had a little conversation with Jack Daniels.  Mr. Daniels reassured me that my evening would be better spent cuddling with my husband and son and that the madness would still be there tomorrow.  Of course he was right so I resigned to the couch with my guys and my cocktail.

Sure enough when I awoke Sunday morning the laundry and clutter was still there.  The Easter bunny didn't do me any favors.  In fact, when I began my day puttering around my house while drinking my morning coffee, I found new mess.  The cat left me a present, three presents actually.  She threw up.  Twice on the carpet and once on the linoleum.  Maleficent (the cat) must have felt I needed more on my plate that day and as hard as I tried to keep them at bay, I was attacked by "The Crazies".  The rest of the morning was a whirlwind of hysteria, anger, and depression as I rushed to get my husband,  Nolan, and myself ready to go to my aunt and uncle's for Easter dinner.  I loaded the car up with lasagna Bolognese, beer, a Bumbo, a Boppy, a Baby Einstein playmat, and a baby and away we went.  I was just starting to calm down as we drove to our destination knowing that my dad would "babysit" Nolan while I sipped a lovely glass of Syrah and visited with grown-ups.  My dad, who had been out of town the whole week prior, was eagerly waiting outside for his grandson as we pulled into the driveway.  I stepped out of the car ready to hug my dad and then load his arms up with our carfull of crap when I was interrupted by a very strong breeze.  I had my very own Marilyn Monroe moment; however, not nearly as sexy.  My dress flew up towards my head and my ass, clad in a thong, was hanging out for all to see.  Including my dad.

Thankfully the remainder of the day was much more enjoyable then all the weekend events leading up to it; it was filled with delicious food, good wine, great family and a lot of laughter.  I love how even after a weekend plagued with "The Crazies" a few hours with my amazing family can turn it all around.

*These pictures are not from Easter.  I'm just trying to give you an idea of how fun my family is.*