25 June 2012


We have had  one hellava weekend with Natalie being sick on Saturday and refusing to eat for hours upon hours. She cried hysterically through the day meanwhile I was at work and could do absolutely nothing.

Come Sunday morning she was back to her usual self. She went for a stroller ride with Mommy, a bike ride with Pap-Pap (Matt's dad), played in her baby pool for the first time, then fell asleep on a nice scenic car ride.

And since Thursday she has pretty much mastered sitting on her own. It is absolutely incredible watching her grow.

Today I took her to the big girl pool at my parent's apartment. She didn't have a huge reaction. She was just so calm and thoughtful. When we first went it literally rained five minutes  later so we left. We came back when the weather was clear and stayed for two hours. All the while Natalie did not make one peep or facial expression the whole time. She was just so serious, taking everything in.

 I enjoyed myself though and given she didn't cry I assume she liked it too.

She's been sticking out her tongue lately and did that a lot this weekend. I have no clue as to why she's been doing it but it looks really cute. After a nap today my sister stuck her tongue out and Natalie focused for a bit. She then poked her little tongue out right back at my sister. They did this once more and I am convinced Natalie was imitating her. That was definitely a first!

I feel like Natalie is hitting so many little milestones so fast. I am so happy about this but it feels like it's all happening over night.

Stroller ride with little tongue.

Such pride on her face


"Alright, I'm looking at the camera. Now what?"

Tasty french fry finger.

"Here's my tongue again, Mommy!"

"Carrots and rice cereal suck, but toesies are tasty."

Matt said she looks like a boy in this outfit and picture. Asshole.

"Oh, you forgot what my tongue looked like? Here it is!"
Mommy and Baby

Three cousins

My sister trying to baptize Natalie

Donate some of your 'fro to Natalie, Bridget!

Drying off. Yes, that's my ginormous man hand in this pic. 

22 June 2012

Fitness Friday











21 June 2012

Miss Independent

Maybe it's the glass of wine I had after dinner, but I am feeling particularly sentimental tonight. Natalie is growing right before my eyes. Today she sat all on her own, without any support from a pillow or cushion or me. This is amazing and I'm so proud. After I shot this video we played some more and then  took a bath together. She then got sleepy so I fed her and sang her "Butterfly Kisses" until she closed her eyes. I used to sing that to her all the time when she was a newborn. I would rock her to sleep while sitting in our glider, holding her close. It worked like magic. Then as she got older she hated being cradled and refused to let me rock her. I haven't sung that song to her in quite some time, so it was nice to do it on a day where she's showing me she needs me less and less. I get that she's only six months and still very reliant on me. It's not like she's running off to college or anything, but this is a big step in her independence.

19 June 2012

Chocolate Banana Nut Popcorn

It's kind of a big deal anytime you find me in the kitchen and something isn't on fire. Fortunately for me the recipe I concocted today doesn't require any skill of any sort. I got the idea from the Dr. Oz show. He featured some healthy recipes and added dried bananas and walnuts to microwave popcorn. That sounded good so I decided I'd try it. Except I added chocolate and used fresh bananas so now this recipe belongs to me. I think it's pretty self explanatory how to make. Just for shits and giggles though I'll insult your intelligence by condescendingly telling you what to do:

1. Open popcorn and microwave

2. Take popcorn out and let cool

3. Chop up bananas and walnuts

4. Place bananas and walnuts on top of popcorn

5. Drizzle chocolate on

6. Enjoy!

If you like sweet and salty then you'll love this little snack. Or you won't. I really can't speak for your taste buds.

Now that you're already reading this, I also want to share with you a new link up that Shannon and I will be doing together. Once or twice a month we will do a "Fitness  Friday." The idea is to help keep ourselves motivated and journal our progress in our journey to get in better shape. I'm hoping others will join in to keep themselves on track and to support each other as well. You can talk about anything you want to: how you're feeling, work out routine, meal plan, any tips you have for other readers, etc and we will also post questions for you to answer. We're going to try and make this exciting (as exciting as talking about fitness and nutrition can be, anyway) and will switch the questions up each time. If you have any suggestions for the link up then feel free to share them with me. Hope to see you Friday!

Chocolate Banana Nut Popcorn

18 June 2012

Lunch Time Fun

I thought the rice cereal I've given Natalie on a few occasions might have been too bland for her to really enjoy it, since each time I've given it to her she seems disinterested. So I decided to give her carrots today. That didn't work out too well either.

She didn't want me feeding her so I finally gave up and just let her dump them all over and mush 'em around. She did put the container in her mouth and might have actually swallowed a little bit of her food though. I really did have a fun time watching her play and I know she enjoyed it too. After I cleaned her up she got fussy and took a bottle so I know she was hungry during meal time. What can I say? She knows what she likes and doesn't like.

Waiting patiently.

"Alright, where's the grub?"

"Hello there spoon."

"Hmm, what's this?"

"Of course. Something tasty for my mouth."

"Uh, maybe not!"

"I'll just play with it."

"Hey, why'd you take it away?!"

"Screw it. The high chair taste better anyway."
"I stand by my last thought."

"I'm six months. I can feed myself Mom."

"Yep, I know exactly what to do."

"See? Told you I could do it alone."

"Check this out! I'm such a big girl."

"Yeah, I got this lunch thing down."
"Aren't you proud of me, Ma?"


13 June 2012

Wordless[ish] Wednesday

Yesterday I celebrated my first birthday as a mama. Matt got me a nice new lens for my camera, Natalie pooped on me. Guess whose gift I liked better?

New lens for my D40. Gift from Matt.

"Poppy" perfume and lotion. This stuff smells amazing. Has hints of creme brulee and marshmallows. Mmm... Gift from my mom.

My friend's son wanted to bake me a cake because he knows I'm awesome.

This is what happens when a four year old designs a cake.
She always looks a little perplexed when taking a picture with me.

09 June 2012

Body Blues

From the moment I found out I was pregnant I knew my body would forever change.

No one ever told me just how soul crushing the results of my post baby body would be. I won't describe the horror in great detail, but to give you an idea my stomach looks like it was mauled by a tiger and my tits can be compared to pancakes. Not to mention the extra weight I'm lugging around.

Call me shallow for not treasuring how the miracle of birth has changed my outer appearance, and self-centered for not just enjoying my little one, but I'm sick of the way I look.

I'm sick of seeing pictures of celebrities six weeks after having a baby and prancing around in a bikini. I know those expectations aren’t realistic. I know average women don't look like that. I know these women have chefs and nutritionist and trainers and nannies to help them. I know it takes time and effort to get back into shape. I cannot help but compare myself to moms I encounter everyday though. And it seems almost every mom is doing better than me with their physical appearance. I feel like the excuse of just having had a baby is rapidly diminishing as she is now six months old.

I might be being a bit hard on myself but there are moms out there with multiple kids who have abs of steel. That isn't my personal goal but I'd like to do better. I felt amazing when I was pregnant. Everyone told me how great I looked. I loved that my ginat belly made everything else on me look a lot smaller. I didn't think I had gained that much weight either. I kinda assumed I would lose most of it when I gave birth. Boy was I wrong.

I have a lot of weight I need to lose. At least 20 lbs before I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight and 30 lbs before I'm at my goal weight. Why go back to before I had a baby? Why not do better? I feel like I can. I just need to keep on the right track and stay motivated. That's a lot easier said than done. I have been eating better and excising. It's encouraging when I start to see results, no matter how small the change is. I can't do anything about the stretch marks or sagginess but I'll change what I can.

I have no excuse not to be getting back into shape. Sure, I get tired and busy. Mostly I'm just lazy and don't really care what other people think. I want to do this for me though. To feel better about myself. I know that looks are not the most important thing in life. I am comfortable with who I am. I'd like to be more comfortable and more confident and this is what I must do to achieve that.

I just want to end this post by saying that in no way am I fishing for compliments by openly discussing my insecurities. I just want to hear from moms (or anyone) who can relate and maybe offer a few tips on fitness or nutrition.

05 June 2012

Random Topic Tuesday

I won't commit to doing Random Topic Tuesdays on any sort of schedule, just when I feel like it or have something to talk about. Feel free to join in on your own blog! Hope you guys enjoy.

Today's Topic:  Share an embarrassing moment.

I've mentioned this particular embarrassing story on here before, but I was recently reminded of it and thought I'd share it again. A few weeks ago a Robin made her nest on the ledge of my parents apartment window. Laid eggs, birdies hatched and then flew away. It was so neat watching the whole process first hand. As I looked at those beautiful blue eggs sitting in the nest, waiting for life to be born, I flashed back to a memory right after Easter when I was a child.

I loved Easter. Finding plastic eggs and candy and being greedy was all it was about to me. While playing in a neighbors backyard one day, I saw that someone had missed one delicious piece of candy from the holiday. It was planted right on the back of the house near the drain pipe. I swiftly ran over before anyone else spotted it. Just to be extra safe that no one would eat it before I did I shoved it in my mouth and bit down. I thought it was an unwrapped  piece of chocolate shaped like an egg. What I got shocked me. It was a real Robins egg. I can only assume it fell out of a nearby nest somewhere, unless some higher power was seriously screwing with me. I immediately spit it out and started crying. The other kids laughed and ridiculed me. I was only like two years old but it mortified me. I ran home still sobbing. I learned a valuable lesson that day though. Don't eat candy from off the ground... it's much safer when given to by strangers.
See the wrath in my eyes? Never come between me and my candy.

Tell me about something stupid you did as a kid. What was your most embarrassing moment?

04 June 2012

Six Months

Today my baby is half way to one year! Six months honestly isn't too much different from five months, it just feels like she's so much older.

I've thought for the longest time she might be teething, but now I'm almost certain of it. The reason for that is she has been going through some major crying spells. I'm not trying to boast or anything but she really, truly very rarely cries. When she needs something or is tired, she just yells and squeaks. Sometimes if I put her down and she's in a bad mood she makes the sound like she's crying but no tears are actually shed. On certain days she seems completely miserable. She cries like she's in so much pain. Friday my sister called me because Natalie was inconsolable. I heard her in the background and my eyes filled with tears. I was scared and felt so helpless. I had no idea what was going on with her and there was nothing I could do, not even comfort her. I knew something had to be causing her physical discomfort. My sis said she thought it could very well be teething and my in laws said the same thing.

Not too many milestones are happening other than that. She seems a long ways from crawling but is hopefully close to sitting on her own soon. She likes standing up (not on her own) and putting one foot in front of the other while you hold her hands. She thinks she's big stuff wobbling around like a little tiny drunk.

Sleep is still a bit of a challenge. Most days she only takes two naps which vary on length day to day. As long as she doesn't nap passed six o'clock in the evening she'll usually fall asleep around nine, sometimes ten. The amount she wakes up to eat at night changes all the time too. Lately it's been two or three times, which is a slight improvement. Somehow I'm managing just fine though. I would probably do a little better if I didn't stay up past midnight writing blog post though.

Oh well.

Happy six months Natalie! I love you so much.