Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Diets Stink

So lately we've been on this diet. I still have about 23 lbs to lose and Kevin put on a little sympathy weight with me during the pregnancy. My appetite has definitely gone down, but I'm annoyed that I can't seem to lose weight as fast as I put it on. I think I gained 7lbs in the span of a week and a half at one point in my pregnancy.

Anyway... with a kid now I dont have a lot of time to work out so we've just been trying to eat well. Kev's old boss lost more than 100 lbs on this diet (lean meats, fruits and veggies mostly) but none of it has been "quick" to fix for dinner, etc. Tonight we're having chicken and frozen peas. Not sure HOW its being prepared, but that's what's for dinner. The frustrating thing about all this is that I was fairly proactive before Natalie arrived and made dinners for such a time as this so that we'd have quick meals we could just throw in the oven and warm up. However, they're things like baked spaghetti and beef enchiladas and they didn't quite make the diet cut. Anybody have any alternatives to chicken and frozen peas? Because that's what I think we're having for dinner. *sigh*

Out With Obsession...

My kitchen floor is dirty... and I dont know when I'm going to clean it. To be honest though, its not even on my list. My ironing board has been in the middle of our living room for 4 days now and the shower curtain really could use washed or tossed because it's turning colors. I think I've turned a new corner for me. Who know's if I'll go back to the obsessive list-making, die-hard clean freak that I had turned into pre-baby, but I realize right now that I could literally be busy round-the-clock with chores and it's really not worth it. I'm taking a break from my obsessive self and it feels good!

Back to Work

Well yesterday I went back to work full-time. Despite how difficult it was to be away from her all day, it really was quite smooth. Thanks to all who were praying for me. Please continue to pray for me, as I continue to work full-time,
that the Lord would direct us and reveal what His will is for us. This is a tough one.

Natalie came down with an eye infection over the weekend. How do you know when your child has an eye infection? You go to pick your darling baby up out of her crib to discover Ugly green gook crusted to her eye. Ahh... lovely. The doctor phoned in some antibiotic drops for us to start on Saturday morning and told us it was probably a blocked tear duct. When I got the prescription filled the pharmacist told me that this medication was not recommended for children under 10
months old. This had both Kevin and me really concerned so we decided to wait. By Sunday the gook still hadn't gone away so I called the doctor again to ask about it. I'm sure he was probably annoyed that I questioned his judgement,
but he was very gracious and assured me that they use this stuff all the time in young babies. Well, come to find out her infection was also VERY contagious. Lovely. Just the day before I had wiped her eye and then rubbed my watery eyes
right away. Kevin opted to stay home with her yesterday since she couldn't be at the sitter's. That made my first day back to work a little easier since I could go home for lunch and see her - but it was still hard. Thank goodness I have a good sitter who I trust. That DOES help.

A lot of people ask how she's been sleeping and the answer is...it depends on the day. Sunday night she slept 2.5 hour intervals. I think the Chinese used to torture their POW's by not letting them sleep longer than 90 minutes at a time - close. It made them go C*R*A*Z*Y. That's how I felt yesterday. But then last night she slept like a baby... hmmm, that phrase doesn't make sense to me now. Anyway, she slept from 10:30 to 3 and then from 330 to 6. I felt like a new woman this morning! Amazing that I get excited about a 4.5 hour stretch of sleep like that, but I do.

Kevin's got a business trip next week and my mom's coming to town to help me out - is she fabulous or what? I can't WAIT to see her.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Tales from Week 5

Well not a LOT has changed around here, but we thought we'd post some pictures for those of you who would like to see. When I think about what I've got to write about, poopy diapers and sleep schedules hardly seem like big headlines, but I guess those of you with kids can appreciate just how momentous those things are at first.

Natalie seems to be growing like a weed and we can actually see the beginning of a few fat rolls starting to sprout. Why is that so cute on babies anyway??

It's been so nice being home, but next week I'll be returning to work full-time. Please pray for us that the transition goes smoothly. I wasn't offered a part-time position at work and its going to be hard doing full-time right now, but who knows what the Lord has up His sleeve. We're still praying.

I got my flu shot yesterday as Natalie is too young to get one this year. I asked the nurse how common it was to feel achy and generally "yuck" after a flu shot and she said it was really rare. Well, do I get a gold star? I officially have felt like crap for the past day now. Hopefully it will pass soon and I'm guess I got it out of the way before next week, but geez. Luckily for me, I'm married to a pretty wonderful guy and he came home from work to watch the kiddo so I could take a much needed nap. I slept 5.5 hours before Kev had to wake me up because he was out of bottles and soothing techniques. Its been a LONG time since I've had that much sleep all in a row and its AMAZING what it does for a person. I feel on top of the world at the moment... I can't wait for her to sleep this much at night!

Oh... speaking of looking forward to more sleep, I ran into this lady at Target yesterday who has a baby about Natalie's age. She's nursing but at night she has been supplementing with 1.5 oz of formula so he'll sleep 5-6 hour stretches. I did the same last night and only got 1.5 hrs of sleep before the next feeding. I DID switch bottle types when I gave it to her, but 1.5 hours? Come on, kid!


Left Pic: Tummy Time (she normally hates it)
Middle Pic: Smile for the camera!
Right Pic: She's balding in front and looks like a friar!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

One Month Old

It's hard to believe, but Natalie just celebrated her one month birthday yesterday. It seems like its really gone by fast. She's weighing in at 6lbs 15oz (she's been gaining about .5oz per day). She's STILL not sleeping very long stretches at night (3.5 hours max) but hey... she's only a month old so we'll let it slide. Here are some of the latest pictures of her.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Tired...

So our new little addition has been awake a bit more lately. Hence, no blogging as I try to get used to the mad repetition of wake, feed, burp, diaper, sleep. We've all been doing well, although I (Lauren) could use a little more sleep. Natalie seems very adept at sleeping for 2 hour periods at night and teases us with 3 and 4 hour naps during the day. Ahh... if only I could get her to turn that around. I finally had to move her to her own room yesterday because I was getting no sleep in the wee hours of the morning when she insists on grunting quite contently. Geeks that we are, we set up the web cam in her room complete with night vision so we could peer in on her as she slumbered away. I still didnt get a ton of sleep, but I guess that's normal for a parent of a almost 4 week old.

Anyway... enough about that. A good friend of ours Meggan took some pictures of Natalie at 9 days and did a brilliant job. She's just started her own photography business (www.sweetcaptures.com) and I know she'll be successful. She's very driven and has a good eye when it comes to portraiture. Here are some of the awesome pictures she took:






Oh! Update for any of you that have been following our blog. We got a FANTASTIC letter in the mail two weeks ago and I forgot to mention it here. My credit card has decided to make permanent the conditional credit they gave me for the dresser nightmare (reference this post). PRAISE THE LORD! I love happy endings!!