Fitness Friday

I couldn’t think of any other “F” topics to write about today so sadly, this is just about fitness. 

I actually hit my prepregnancy weight this week.  It was hard to get too excited since my weight still fluctuates a few pounds (and hitting my prepregnancy weight consisted of having just pooped and breastfed) but it was nice to see the number on the scale.

I’m still doing p90x 3 times a week and running 3 times a week.  This past week wasn’t great for running.  I wasn’t feeling great on Sunday and only managed a 3.5 mile run (not the 4 I was hoping for) and then fell behind schedule (due to traffic) on Tuesday and could only squeeze in a 2.35 mile run around my parents’ neighborhood (and that is always stressful because I worry about people from high school seeing me shuffling along and thinking I look like crap).  Yesterday (my anniversary) was a decent run – I ran a 5k around a hilly park but felt like I was going to vomit the entire time.

While these runs weren’t great – what was great was my new sports bra.  I really love the Moving Comforts Fiona sports bra.

The thing that is great about this bra is the adjustable straps.  You can control just how much support you want and I basically make the straps ridiculously tight so that nothing moves. 

I realize I’m not the best resource for a good sports bra since I’m only a B cup right now – but I’m a heavy B cup and this bra works miracles.  It was definitely worth the $45.

And just because…

I finally managed to get a photo of Annie smiling!  While the photo isn’t very clear – it still melts my heart because she is the cutest 12 week old baby girl in the world!

4 Years (And in that time we made a baby!)

Tomorrow is my 4 year wedding anniversary.  Holy cannoli!  I wish I could say that my wedding feels like it was yesterday but honestly – I sort of don’t remember much about the day anymore.  Perhaps that is what having a baby does?  My brain can only hold so many memories.

4 Years ago tomorrow, I was doing this…

and then some of this…

and then some of this…

And in those 4 years, we’ve traveled to some great places like…

The Maldives (our honeymoon)

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Scotland (where I got to drive on the opposite side of the road… and we lived to tell the tale):

London

Paris

And some other places (Turks and Caicos, The Outer Banks 4 times! and I’m sure I’m forgetting something because I forget everything these days…)

While I loved all of the places we’ve been and can’t wait for all the places we’ll go, our biggest adventure to date (cue sappy music) was having a baby…

and watching her grow and change everyday (this photo was taken on Sunday… can you believe she’s gone from the picture above to this?!  she’s frickin’ huge and adorable!)

(okay – sappiness over!)

Parents Just Don’t Understand (Why are Grandparents so Annoying?)

I know I’ve complained about unsolicited parenting advice before but here I go again.  This time, I’m focusing on grandparents (you know, your OWN parents). 

Grandparents are THE worst when it comes to unsolicited advice.  Even worse?  Many of them refuse to accept many of the changes that have happened in terms of standard child care.  The hardest one to convince some grandparents of (most notably MY parents) is the idea that babies are put to sleep on their backs now.  Annmarie has a bit of a bald spot on the back of her head:

My mom criticized me and said that I shouldn’t put her to sleep on her back.  She and I have actually had the “back to sleep” conversation a number of times but she apparently refuses to believe me.  I tried to explain how the American Pediatric Association recommends putting babies to sleep on their backs and that it is a HUGE thing now.  She refuses to believe me.  This time my dad was in on it and said that it was garbage as well.  They both point out that Jeremy and I were put to sleep on our stomachs (as nearly all babies were when we were tiny tots) and that we both survived.  I tried to point out that since starting the whole “back to sleep” campaign, the rate of SIDS has dropped.  He just wouldn’t buy it.  Apparently my dad got a medical degree when I wasn’t looking.

Jeremy and I have recently figured out that Annmarie doesn’t seem to like when other people hold her for extended periods of time.  She’ll let someone hold her for a few minutes but then starts to cry.  It seems, however, that grandparents don’t like this and refuse to think that perhaps their own grandchild just doesn’t want to be held by them.  Instead I get bombarded with…

“She’s hungry.”

“You put her in uncomfortable clothes.”

“What did you do?!”  (as though I somehow pinched her when a grandparent was holding her when they weren’t looking)

… and a slew of other just as annoying things.  The one that is most irritating, however, is the “she is hungry” comment.  A part of me dies a little whenever someone says this to me.  And that part only dies because it is taking everything in my power not to scream.  Look at my child – she is not going hungry, I can promise you that.  The comment is even more annoying when the commenter knows I just finished nursing her. 

The part about marriage that really sucks is dealing with 2 separate families around the holidays.  I’m not sure how parents of infants get the shaft and are expected to cart their babies all around the state.  Just thinking about upcoming holidays fills me with dread and it just enforces the idea that WE NEED TO MOVE! 

Okay, rant over.  Check out this cute picture of Annmarie from yesterday (see that cute bow?  My mom accused me of hurting Annmarie because it was “too tight”):

Like her drool?  She is drooling a TON lately.  It isn’t very lady-like. 

Fitness and F’n Friday

Sorry – I have no fashion news this week.

Fitness

I’m still running!  But I am happy that I am now up to 4 miles jogs and each jog outside keeps getting faster and faster.  I’ve already shaved about 30 seconds off of my pace from when I first started about 5 weeks ago.  I know that isn’t fantastic but I’m pleased.

However, I did learn and very hard lesson this week.  Although I’m able to run further and faster – my sports bras just aren’t cutting it anymore.  I am still the president of the tiny ta-ta’s club but my tiny ta-tas are now MUCH heavier due to milk production.  I’ve been sporting some very flimsy sports bras from Old Navy and Target because I’ve never needed good support in the past. 

After my Tuesday treadmill run, my girls were bouncing up and down and after 4 miles – I wanted to DIE.  My boobs were SORE.  I’m not sure why I thought my Thursday run would have been different but I was nearly in tears after 1 mile.  I pushed through for another .25 miles and had to stop.  My boobs felt like gravity’s punching bags. 

So based on the recommendation from a friend, I bought a $45 sports bra (and this is a big deal to me because I’ve never spent more than $10 on one).  I bought the Moving Comfort Fiona bra.  While I haven’t tested it out on a run yet, I did some vigorious jumps in the dressing room and was pleased. 

F’n

This topic isn’t as fun as you think – this is about my potty mouth.  Now that I am a mom, I think I really need to reign in the cussing.  I mean – it is pretty bad.  I don’t just cuss when I’m angry, I use cuss words as regular adverbs and descriptors to everyday conversation.  I don’t want Annie’s first word to be FUCK.

While I think I can stay in check for most of the day – it is my road rage that gets me.  And since Annie is usually with me while I’m driving, it means that she hears “motherfucker” at least 10 times a day.  I need some sort of device that shocks me everytime I cuss.

I was cuddling with Annie the other day at a friend’s house and I got a little sappy.  I rattled on about how I loved holding her when she was so small and I didn’t want her to grow up.  My friend noted that she wasn’t used to seeing this side of me.  And then we went for a drive to the mall and the expletives all came out and she said that THAT was the Kim she knew.  Ha!

Any tips on kicking the cussing out of your vocabulary?

The Scoop on Poop (addressing the cloth diapering poop question)

Meredith reminded me in her comment yesterday that I never answered the big question about how I handle poopy cloth diapers.

First – we were told that we needed to pretreat the cloth inserts prior to use.  The instructions on the packaging also said we had to pretreat.  Pretreating consists of washing and drying the inserts.  Apparently this helps the cotton inserts to absorb more.  I didn’t quite understand that so I googled it and it has something to do with removing the oils that were used to treat the cotton.  Whatevs.

So – how do we handle messy cloth inserts?  Well, the pee soaked ones don’t really need any special treatment.  You can just toss them in the washing machine.  As for poop, we can actually do the same thing.  Because Annie is only eating breastmilk, her poop is still quite liquidy and washes off easily.  When I change her diaper, I just throw the soiled cloth inserts into this wet bag. 

It makes clean up easy because I can just toss the soiled inserts into the washing machine with the wet bag.

When Annie moves on to solids, we’ll have to rinse off the cloth insert prior to throwing them in the wash.  Many cloth diapering bloggers use a diaper sprayer:

It attaches to your toilet and you just rinse the cloth insert over the toilet bowl.  I also read that you can just dunk the insert in the toilet bowl.

We’re not there yet so I can’t say if dealing with pre-rinsing stuff is a pain in the ass or not.  Currently – cloth diapering is still very easy for us but the 8 cloth inserts aren’t really cutting it.  It doesn’t account for the nighttime.  I’m trying to determine if I want to just keep disposables on hand for night changes.  I don’t know.  Baby steps, I suppose.

I found this great site that outlines what is needed to clean cloth diapers.  Hopefully this answers your questions!

Oh – and I guess I should add that I generally wash all the inserts and diapers separately from other laundry in hot water.  However, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t sometimes toss some of the inserts (if there are only 1 or 2) in with a regular load.  Having 2 dogs and now a baby has pretty much made me immune to poop.  It doesn’t gross me out and I have no issues with throwing them in my washing machine that I use to wash my clothes.  I wash poopy things in hot water to hopefully kill off the bad stuff.  And I also periodically clean out my washing machine by using Tide Washing Machine Cleaner (although in an effort to go “green” – I’ll probably just clean it with vinegar).

So, there’s the scoop on poop.  I hope this answered your questions without grossing you out.

El Cheapo (How Getting Older and Having a Baby Has Made Me Cheap)

Last week, Jeremy accused me of being super cheap.  I had told him about a super cute baby dress I saw at a consignment sale (it was a little sailor dress) but that I was appalled that it was $8.  It was a used dress.  And a used novelty dress at that.  $8?  I wasn’t buying it on pure principal.  And then Jeremy said I was cheap.

I realize we can afford $8 but in shopping for baby clothes, I can’t get over the prices some places want to charge for stuff that will essentially get stained with poop or that will be outgrown in like a month.  It drives me crazy! 

Today I reminisced about the days where I’d drop $150 for a pair of jeans and not think twice about it.  Now I won’t pay over $30 for some dresses and tops.  My friend said that it probably has to do with the fact that we are now aware of how hard we have to work for our money.  For me – it is just taking into consideration my myriad bills and now I have a baby and can’t even justify spending X amount of dollars on some poorly constructed top (I’m looking at you Old Navy, Banana Republic and H&M… your quality has gone to shit and yet your prices continue to go up.  Not cool.). 

At the mall today, I noticed the Easter Bunny was there.  Even though I found the bunny to be as creepy as the thing from Donnie Darko, I considered taking advantage of getting Annie’s pic snapped with it since there wasn’t a line.

I was trying to find a sign with the pricing listed and the nice employee handed me the sheet with the prices.  And I nearly died.

The cheapest package was $25.99 and it included:

• 1 – 5×7 Portrait
• 1 – 4×6 Portrait
• 2 – 3.5×5 Portraits
• 4 – Wallet size Portraits

Oh and it also included a “free visit with the bunny”.  How kind of them.  I realize $25.99 isn’t exactly breaking the bank but this was a crap looking bunny on a crap looking set.  And what the hell does one do with all of those pictures?

What made me laugh out loud, though, was the little section that was denoted “Free”.  What did that include?

• Free smiles
• Free hugs
• Free wish taking
• Free hand holding
• Free Surprise Gift

Now is it just me or does that sound like a package a pedophile would offer to a child?  What the crap is the free surprise gift?  Yikes!

So maybe I am getting cheap but I am totally okay with that.

Fitness, Fashion and Fussy Friday

I love alliteration! 

Fitness

Sunday was my first official race post-baby.  In fact, it was my first official race since the marathon in November 2009!  I was happy to join my friend‘s team and race for a good cause.  Plus it gave me the motivation I needed to start running again.  I’m a big believer in having a goal to work towards.  It really gives you the kick in the pants you need sometimes.  While I’m more of a jogger/shuffler than a runner, I was satisfied with my time in the race (it was a 6k and I finished in 38:45 according to my Garmin).  Even Annmarie participated in the race!

My friend’s wife was kind enough to walk Annie through the course.  Here’s everyone admiring what a ridiculously adorable baby I have:

And here’s what Annie really did throughout the race (a whole lot of sleeping):

I’m still continuing my running on Tuesdays and Thursdays (at the gym on a dreadmill, unfortunately, but the gym has daycare!) and in the great outdoors on Sundays.  I’m also still keeping up with the p90x strength training on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. 

Fashion

I really need to get my fashion mind focused on work stuff but it is just so difficult when Spring and Summer styles are all over the stores.  I just keep daydreaming about fabulous sunny weather and beach vacations.  Here are some things I am loving (as listed in People Style Watch magazine):

I adore that caftan in the upper left corner.  But I’m a bit thrown off by the term “caftan”.  But seriously – how cute?  This line is coming to Target May 1st.

I think this dress is such a cute summer dress and you can’t beat the price.  However, I can’t remember the last time I stepped foot in a JC Penney.  Anyone ever buy this brand before?  Any good?

I’m super into this striped boatneck tee trend right now.  This is a part of that whole nautical thing I’m loving.  But alas – I need to focus on tops that are easy to nurse in.

I love the dress on Lauren Conrad but I also really adore that striped blousy top from Alloy.  But again – can I nurse in it?

Fussy

This week has been a rough week.  It hit me that I am down to the last month of my maternity leave and I am riddled with guilt over it.  I was walking in the park today and saw a ton of parents with their small children and was hit with a wave of sadness.  Soon – I’ll only get a limited amount of time with my baby and I just can’t shake how awful that makes me feel.  However, I don’t know if I can hack it as a stay at home mom either.  Oy – the guilt.

Annie also had a bit of a growth spurt this week.  Wednesday was particularly rough because she wanted to nurse every hour to hour and a half.  My nipples felt like they were going to fall off and I felt like I couldn’t leave the house at all.  Then I felt rundown with housework.  My friend asked me if I felt like I had to be productive everyday since I’m at home and I told her that I do but not because Jeremy makes me feel like I should.  I just can’t stand a messy home.  When things start to accumulate (dust, laundry, dishes, miscellaneous stuff out of place and crap on the floor) – I start to feel CRAZY.  But because I was just feeling so worn down, I just had a mini meltdown and pity party for myself. 

But then Jeremy sent me these:

with this note:

… and I felt like the world’s biggest bitch because I had literally just snapped at him minutes earlier on the phone when he told me that I should relax.  He sent the flowers prior to my admittance to a pity party so these were really just sent just because he wanted to make me smile.  Have I mentioned how awesome Jeremy is?  But I’ll admit – while I was touched by the flowers and note, during my pity party/meltdown evening I was annoyed that I had to deal with flowers on top of everything else.  Have I mentioned that I’m a super bitch sometimes?

Now that I’m down to my last 3 weeks of maternity leave, I’m going to try to make the most of it.  Friends – let’s meet up for lunch!  Or walks around the neighborhood.  Or shopping trips.  Or whatever!  I know that when I go back to work, I won’t be going out anymore because I’ll want to spend all of my free time with just mah baby.

I Feel Like a Leper

You know – when you’re pregnant, people treat you wonderfully.  It is one of the things I miss most.  Everyone goes out of their way to hold doors open for you, compliment you, assist you, etc.  It is a beautiful thing.

But then you have a baby.

Want to know how people treat women with babies?  Like they’re disease-ridden burdens to society.  While I realize I’m exaggerating just a tad, it is astonishing to me how quickly politeness goes out the window once you’re no longer sporting a basketball under your shirt.  Nobody holds doors for me.  In fact, people do everything in their power to speed by me as though I’m moving super slow through aisles.

Granted – there are some annoying parents with babies whose strollers take up entire aisles or who walk SO SLOW.  I am not one of those people.  However, I’ve been lumped into a group of bad apples.  And I don’t think people believe that this is happening to me.

Even worse?  I live in a city where aggressive driving is a necessity.  Since I’m now carting precious cargo, I thought displaying one of those dorky “Baby on Board” signs in my back window would at least garner some limited aggression on the roads.

I’ve apparently made things worse.  More people seem to do everything in their power to get away from my car.  Keep in mind – I’m still a pretty aggressive driver but now I’m dealing with assholes cutting me off.

What is it about carting a baby that makes strangers so mean?  I honestly want to start punching people in the face. 

And speaking of punching people in the face, you’d think being a parent would make me love children more but I find myself hating the children of my city even more than I did before.  I was driving into my neighborhood and witnessed 2 10-12 year old boys yelling at an older woman.  One even called her a “stupid bitch”.  And she just stood there.  I looked at Jeremy and said, “I don’t understand why people don’t just punch these little kids in the face.  If they said that to me, I wouldn’t hesitate to hit them.”  Then Jeremy blabbered on about lawsuits and stuff but really.  Why do adults take this abuse from punk kids?

Wow – this turned into a ranting post where I just admitted to wanting to punch lots of people in the face.  The only person that I don’t want to punch?  Annmarie.  So no need to call the Department of Social Services or anything.  But since I’m on a roll – here are other things people have done that have made me want to hit them:

1. Thrown food into their back “yards” and into MY back area.  We live in the city, motherfuckers.  We are home to RATS and feral cats!  Stop attracting them with your nasty food scraps.  If I catch my neighbor doing it, I’m going to FLIP OUT.
2. Wearing their shoes throughout my house.  You see my pile of shoes neatly by the front door.  You see that I do not wear shoes in my own home.  Why do you think it is okay for you to traipse around my house in your shoes?  I accept walking in the living room and even into the kitchen… but don’t go up my light-colored carpeted stairs in your dirty shoes.  I don’t care who you are.  We had roofers come by the house yesterday and I didn’t hesitate to ask them to take off their dirty boots.  And they politely obliged.
3. Bad parkers.  You know who you are.  Living in the city means that most people have to park on the street.  I don’t understand people that park in such a way that they are taking up more than one potential parking space.  Sometimes parking on my street is ridiculous because people are such bad parkers.
4. People who don’t stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk even though there are SIGNS POSTED that you’re supposed to.  This is especially infuriating when you’ve got a stroller and 2 hyper-active dogs.  It is even more infuriating when one of the people that does not obey this traffic law is a police officer.
5. Litter.  Oy.  Why can’t people throw their trash in a trash can?
6. Getting a bill from my dentist whose office has fucked up my crown TWICE.  It was determined in February that I needed a crown.  I made an appointment to get it done and have gone back to the office three times (once was because I broke the temporary crown… since I was pushing 3 weeks with it instead of 2 weeks like I should but the office fucked up my temp). 

Rant over.  What’s pissing you off lately?

The Countdown Begins (Returning to Work Soon)

I have less than one month left on my maternity leave.  While I oftentimes tell people that I think my lack of adult interaction has turned my brain to mush – I can’t stand the idea of returning to work.  I didn’t think I’d be one of those weeping moms (and I wasn’t when Annmarie got her 2 month immunizations and screamed like I’ve never heard her scream before), but the idea of me potentially missing a bunch of her “firsts” really breaks me heart.

And then I’m plagued with other crazy questions like…

(1) Will she love her daycare provider more than me?  Will she confuse her as her mom?

(2) Will the daycare provider actually do a substantial amount of tummy time with her or will she just stick her in a swing or bouncy chair all day?  I’ve recently become obsessed with flat head syndrome.  I’ve seen a number of babies recently with some very large flat spots on their heads and unless the baby has a medical condition that keeps them on their backs, I worry when I see these in other babies.  At a shower, I saw a little boy whose head was totally flat in the back and as far as I knew of this baby – he was perfectly healthy.  So how did that happen and how can I prevent it?   At Annie’s 2 month visit, the pediatrician noted that she had “mild flatness” but said it as a completely normal “don’t freak out” thing.  But I’m sort of freaking out.  And she’s recently started hating tummy time so this is tough.

(3) What if the daycare provider is mean to Annie?  How will I know this?  I imagine watching a couple of babies is difficult.  What if she’s mean to her? 

I realize I’m crazy.  I think I’m just starting to feel an overwhelming sense of guilt.  Is that what motherhood is about?  Constant guilt? 

I’ll tell you another thing motherhood has brought out in me.  Cheapness.  I went to a local flea market/consignment sale type of event for children’s gear (TotSwap).  While I was digging through baby girl clothes, I was appalled that people were asking for anything above $5 for USED clothing.  I saw the cutest (and dorkiest / potential blackmail material for when Annie gets older) little sailor girl dress but it was priced at $8.  It was used!  Jeremy accused me of being cheap and I realized that I totally am when it comes to baby clothes.  It probably doesn’t help that I’m currently on unpaid maternity leave.

Whoa – this post is a little ramble-y, isn’t it?  Here’s my last ramble for today.  I watched both Tron movies this weekend.  I’m not into these types of movies by any means but it was funny to see how different special effects have become since 1982.  The original Tron was SO bad and they really tried to sexy-fy and update the sequel in some hip-modern way that it also seemed corny to me.  What the sequel really lacked was Tron Guy.  I wonder how bad special effects of today will look in 30 years?  Will our kids laugh at how lame our movies are?

Fitness and Fashion Friday

I’m still able to fit into my pre-pregnancy stuff (yippee!) although probably not as easily as I did before.  And I still prefer wearing leggings right now (because who wouldn’t choose elastic waist band pants?). 

While I’m trying not to focus too much on my weight, I still weigh myself about every other day.  My weight has pretty much stabilized around a certain number (that is about 5 lbs higher than I’d like it to be) but this morning it appeared that I had dropped some pounds.  I won’t get too happy about it.  I attribute that sort of weight loss to poop.  But – I thought it was time to snap another belly photo to see if I see a difference from my previous belly photo.

Here I am (photo taken this morning by Jeremy):

Here I was 3 weeks ago:

I think there is a slight difference.  It isn’t much but I’ll take it.  And I guess the fact that I can fit into pre-pregnancy jeans is proof that my belly has gone down. 

I’ve kept up with running 3 times a week and was pretty stoked when I ran 4 miles on Sunday.  My Tuesday and Thursday runs were on a treadmill (a 5k and 3.5 miles) so nothing exciting there.

Now back to fashion.  I kind of rushed through my last fashion post because I didn’t have much time to blog (I’m on the schedule of an infant now!).  But right now I’ve been loving maxi dresses.  However, I don’t know if I could pull this off.  Maxi dresses are tricky.  I feel like you have to be model thin to look fabulous in one or you risk looking like you’re wearing a tent. 

I really like this dress from Old Navy:

I worry about the fact that I couldn’t wear a bra with it.  Who would have thought that the president of the tiny ta-tas club would ever find herself in a position that she required a bra?  That’s what breastfeeding gets you.  Boobs.

Oh and Old Navy keeps sending me sale notices on maternity clothes.  Do they think that women are pregnant FOREVER?  Seriously, Old Navy.  I was ordering maternity clothes from you over the summer.  It is time to stop sending me maternity promotions.

I also kind of love this junior’s dress from Target.  However, the fact that it is a junior’s dress makes me think that I’m a bit too old for it.  But I like that you can wear a bra with it.

Do I risk looking like a middle school art teacher in these dresses? 

Oh and off topic – I’m in search of a good sports bra.  Previously I didn’t need to worry about good support (you know, since I’ve got tiny ta-tas) – but recently my boobs having been HURTING during my runs.  I need a good sports bra.  Recommendations?