Work, Work, Work it out!

Welp, I've decided it's time to get serious about working out. I'm in this awkward in-between stage where my maternity pants stopped fitting a week or two after giving birth, but all of my pre-preggo jeans (save for one pair) now give me horrendous muffin top (it's truly a scary sight). I feel like ounces are slowing creeping off (and yes, I mean ounces not pounds - its that slow!!), but I'm still softer than I used to be. I refuse to buy new pants for financial reasons and for plain stubbornness - if I buy pants in the next size up, that basically says I plan to stay this size. No way - I'm not giving up without a fight!

I've run a few times, which is my favorite exercise. However, it is getting frickin' freezin' over here now! While I do have tons of sweet cold weather running gear (thanks to my wonderful husband and his former job at Nike!), it's hard to go for a run with an infant and a husband who works crazy hours. It's usually dark by the time he gets home, and dark + cold + evening = time to get cozy, not run. In my book, anyway. I may look into a jogging stroller once Little Guy has better neck control and it warms up a bit (say, around May).

Until then, my best option is workout DVDs. My wonderful parents gave me P90X and I finally dug it out yesterday. I'm going to do the lean workout. I started with CardioX yesterday and did pretty well. Little Guy sat in his chair and watched Mama jump around like a fool...I think he was pretty amused until he dirtied his diaper. Once that was take care of, he let me finish the workout. I feel pretty good today...not too sore...so on to Core Synergistics!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our second Thanksgiving in England has passed. Even though we didn't share it with family back home, we had a great time with our friends at the Steinkellners' place. There was a ridiculous amount of food: turkey log, spiral ham, mashed potatoes & gravy, sweet potatoes, pineapple, green bean casserole, biscuits, cranberries and appetizers galore. Did I mention there were only 6 of us that could actually eat the food? The babies just kind of looked at everything. :)

This was the first real time Colt and Nolan met. Nolan turned 3 months yesterday - he's about 2 and a half weeks older than Colt. They weren't that interested in each other. I'd have some cute pics to post, but I left the dang camera at the Steinkellners. After dinner, we played Dance Central on the Kinect...so freaking fun. Colt even fell asleep while watching Mom make an ass of herself with it. I told Bryce that if it soothes the baby to sleep, we HAVE to get it. ;)

Today, we woke up to a light dusting of snow. I really hope it stays that way, even though the weathermen have been saying we could get heavy snow this weekend. I'm such a weenie when it comes to winter driving - even more so now that we have a baby in the car! These tiny British roads are treacherous enough on a sunny day - forget about a snowy, icy night!

Thanksgiving is past, but I still give thanks for my life. It's not always the easiest right now, but I'm still very fortunate. I have my husband, who gives me strength when I don't have any. I have my health. I have wonderful friends, both near and far. I have an incredible family who has always supported me. I have a sweet and super fluffy kitty who loves me unconditionally. I was able to finish my Masters degree this year, something I wasn't so sure about last year. I have a warm house and plenty of food. Last but not least, I have a healthy, handsome baby boy, who can melt my heart with a single look. I am truly blessed. :)

Giveaway over at The Rogue Milspouse

Laura at The Rogue Milspouse has some super cute prizes to give away! Check it out!

http://mysilentranks.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-giveaway.html

A few recent pictures!

Hanging out with his owls - Nov 10 2010

He loves his daddy! Nov 12 2010

Quack, quack! Nov 1 2010

Baby yawns! Nov 2 2010

First vaccinations

Colt had his 2 month well baby visit today...and boy is he well! My big strapping guy is 25.25 inches long and weighs in at 13lb, 15oz. He's in the 95th percentiles for both length and weight. The visit went well - no problems for him. I got scolded (basically) for not following up with EDIS about getting his left ear checked (it didn't pass at birth, though the nurses said their equipment is old and this happens often). I kept waiting for the call and eventually forgot about it - he seems to hear just fine. Well, apparently they like to have all babies checked before 1 month and now he's missed that mark. I feel bad enough that I haven't followed up on this - I don't need the guilt trip from someone who I suspect does not have any children of her own. Maybe I'm wrong for blaming my forgetfulness on the fact that I've been learning how to parent an infant for the past 2 months, but it hasn't exactly been easy! I don't think I really like that pediatrician - she's a good doctor and she's great with him, but she's not as good with the parents, in my opinion. Hopefully we'll get someone else for his 4-month visit!

Then after that, he had his first set of vaccinations. I'm a firm believer in and supporter of vaccinations, so I'm happy that he got them. But hearing his screams when the needles went in nearly killed me. This was the first time I've seen tears come out of his eyes. Usually when he cries, his eyes get really bright and wet looking, but I'd yet to see any tears fall. Today, there were some damp spots under his eyes. Heartbreaking. He also does this thing where he holds his breath until his face turns different shades of red and then lets out a huge scream - it terrified me the first time he did it. Now it still scares me, but I can handle it (except today). I didn't get to comfort him right after it as much as I would have liked, 'cause I had to get him back in his seat before I could leave (I was on my own; Bryce was sleeping since he works 11p - 7a now). He nursed when he got home, which made us both feel better. He's been crankier than usual, but I don't know if that's due to the vaccines or the fact that he hadn't taken much of a nap today. He's sleeping on Dad right now, which always makes him happy.

Tomorrow we start trying to get him to sleep in other places besides Mom or Dad's laps during the day (since we could be forming bad habits by letting him sleep there all the time). I didn't want to start today 'cause I figured he'd had enough stress without letting him cry it out at naptime. That's something I'm really not looking forward to, but I guess it's a necessary evil. I'm sure it'll be worse for me than him. :)

Midshift sucks; baby's voice does not

Bryce is on midshift for at least the next 2 weeks, which means he works 11p - 7a. UGH. It's hard on him to be up all night and try to sleep during the day. Today he slept from 8a - 2p. Only 6 hours, but not bad for the first time. Colt actually slept better than I did on our first night alone. I kept having weird dreams and waking up all freaked out, while he slept like a log until about 3a. I like to think I'm a strong woman, and I am, but I really don't like being alone at night. :)

Colt will be 8 weeks tomorrow...in 6 days he'll be a full 2 months. He's still sleeping like a champ (which I'm so thankful for). He's been pretty fussy during the day lately, but today was a good day. I'm slowly starting to see a routine emerge. He likes to eat, play a little bit and then fall asleep (well, he doesn't like falling asleep but it happens). Repeat. :)

He's starting to find his voice, which is so darling. His little gurgles and coos just melt my heart, especially when they're paired with his big, enthusiastic smile. We have several conversations throughout the day, usually shortly before he goes to sleep. I'm so excited that this will continue and increase as the days go by!

7 weeks!

My baby boy is 7 weeks old today! We measured him the other day and think he's about 24 inches long...not sure how much he weighs, but he's firmly in 3 month sizes, so he's at least over 12.5 lbs! He's even grown out of some companies' 3 month sizes (there's even a pack of Gerber 3-6 month size onesies he never got to wear - they were already too small for him shortly after birth!).

Happy Halloween! Oct 31 2010

He fights sleep so much these days. I can see the signs of sleepiness - droopy eyes, rubbing his face in my shoulder (as if to rub the sleepies out!), but it's a fight to get him to actually close those eyes! I've learned what true panic is: when the sleeping baby in the swing spits out his pacifier and starts to wake up. You have about 10 seconds to get the pacifier back in before the baby wakes up and the nap is history. Luckily, Mom moves quickly! :)

My little prize fighter :)

He's becoming more alert these days. When he's not fighting sleep, he's such a smiley, happy boy. He's so curious about the world - he'll be still and study something new for so long. He tracks faces and things with his eyes and head, and turns his head towards the sources of noises. The first time he did that was on a Skype date with Grandpa Tom. Colt was super fussy, so Grandpa started whistling. Not only did Colt stop fussing, but he looked over at the computer to find the source of the whistling! That was at almost 6 weeks.

Smiley, happy boy in the mornings

Another note about the swing: when the music shuts off, you have about 3 seconds to turn it back on before baby wakes up and doesn't want to go back to sleep. Ergh. :)