~MIL and spending spree~

Why oh why do I stress so badly whenever my MIL calls and says she will be coming over? It's not that I am not grateful for her watching Madelyn, as errands can get done so much faster when you fly solo but I swear, every time she calls it feels like the DM is coming and the vacuum cleaner just broke, my merchandise hasn't come in for my floor plan and one of the registers was inexplicably $100 short even after looking through the journal tape 3 times.

Why do I have to constantly remind her to change Madelyn's diaper too? Even Scott told her to do it today as she called him so he could tell her how to turn on the tv. Score for Madelyn though seeing when MIL took off her diaper to change her (5 minutes before I got home from my 2 hours of doing errands mind you) she peed all over her! Muahahaha! Good girl!

I also dropped $136 at Kohl's today as I realized yesterday the little stinker had almost nothing to wear besides a few short sleeved onesies I randomly bought. For some reason we forgot all about that 9 month window..oops...and so that void had to be filled. Gotta love Kohl's.."You saved $99.90 today" Hell yes I did. So we got some workhorses (the 5 packs of Carter's onesies with the 2 packs of matching pants) and loads of other things.

And speaking of clothes..after this pee fiasco (giggle...) MIL brings Madelyn downstairs wearing a turtleneck..um..what..it's 65 degrees out you numb skull! By the grace of God she decided to have a drool fest (Madelyn, not MIL) so I was able to change her into something more weather appropriate without stepping on MIL's pride too much.

~Calling Esther Williams on set!~

Oh so we had out first Parent/Child swimming lesson this past Saturday and it went pretty well. It was at the High School and was taught by what seemed to be a member of the High School swim team. All it was really was an open swim sort of thing and the ages ranged from Madelyn at 7 mos to what looked like 3-4 yrs old. The class was open to any child who did not yet feel comfortable being in the water without a trusted adult. At first Madelyn seemed a bit unsure as the water was a tad chilly compared the the sauna like air surrounding us, but after a bit she relaxed and seemed to have a little fun. Little Miss Serious checking things out around her and cracking only one smile. Well, at least she didn't cry.

I have no idea how I would have pulled this off if Scott wasn't with me as bringing an infant to swim lessons is definitely a 2 person job.

~When I think I have heard it all from her...~

Seriously...

You think my radar would be up at Red Alert with this woman at this point and when I hear something "evil" I'd be poised and ready to strike, but yet I remain with shields down coasting along..maybe blindly hoping she will not say something derogatory and ignorant to me.

Alas, I am wrong. This might be the best MIL comment to date:

"I think if you have to go back to work after having a baby you shouldn't have had children in the first place."

Well..I guess since my mother had to go back to work after I was born I guess she never should have had me then, huh.

Oh, and I am a stay at home mom. Whew...glad to know she at least approves of her grand daughter's birth.

~Weight...~

I am a full time stay at home mom..and UGH..I had a horrible moment this past weekend when we went to the shopping outlets. I was in J Crew drooling over the cutest seek-sucker shorts with pink anchors on them, and when I asked about a certain size, they sales lady said, "We only go up to a 14."

..ok so I just weighed myself..I am 5 foot 4 and I am at 182 lbs..my BMI is 31..yup..OBESE.. Gross! I gave birth 6 mos ago, and the whole "I just had a baby" excuse is starting to sound feeble.

I was an on again off again "weight watcher" prior to becoming pregnant..that program does work if you stick to it..the problem is..when I was doing that I ate lots of dairy; fat free yogurt, string cheese, baby bell, cottage cheese..those were all great snacks and salad add ons..now I replace dairy with carbs carbs and more carbs! It's horrible. Not only that, those great microwavable no-brainer meals they sell, which I used to pair with a salad..no more..99% of them contain some kind of dairy. So when I am hungry I reach for some crackers, a slice of bread...not the usual yogurt and string cheese/apple combo..fruit alone does not do the trick either. I'll wolf down 4 healthy clementines and think, "Oh that was 8 points..I could have had a slice of bread with some jelly on it and a cup of oj instead..which would be less healthy but much more filling.."

I know I need to get more active..once the weather changes I will be able to, as right now I go to yoga (Baby and Mom Class) once a week..and that is all I can do because I can't get a sitter during the day to go to any more classes, and my Madelyn nurses exclusively so I can't go at night while Scott gives her a bottle. And I'm not pumping..it just does not work for me.

I need to make some food changes but I do not know how. I'd be happy to lose 30 lbs..thrilled to lose 40, but if I can't lose 40 I won't beat myself up over it either. I just do not know what to do.

~6 mos well-visit, car seats and more!~

So we had our 6 mos visit to the Pedi on Tuesday. She weighs in at 16.9lbs which puts her in "big girl" status according to the Pedi. And she is 26 inches long. I think we are finally leveling off...or not. No tooth buds yet, but we are acting like they are coming that is for sure.

We still have zero desire to roll over, but that is ok because now we are distracted with trying to sit up all by ourselves. We sit in the Boppy some days and some days we don't. Sometimes she does well, other times she is a complete weeble that does fall down. I bought her some stacking cups and she LOVES playing with those when she is practicing sitting. I think it takes her mind off of the sitting part, you know?

We also got ourselves a new high chair after observing the Fisher Price ones our friends had. After using it I will never use my full sized one again. Although we are keeping it set up for when small people come over and we need an extra.

Another thing we purchased recently was the convertible car seat. We opted against the Britax and went with the new Safety 1st Air Protect, and after all was said and done it came to $187. I knwo I know..Britax this and Britax that..well we have our reasons, and cost was not one of them, so I'll just stick to that.

Today we start our Stage 2 food..Pears and Mango..mm...who wouldn't want that for breakfast?

We are still a little stopped up, so Mineral Oil is on our daily regimin now according to the Pedi. I just mix a small amount into her food at each meal..trying to see what the minimum amount is we need to have a smooth move.

Saturday Mommy gets her hair cut..hallelujah! I have to get is short enough where it is semi-out of Madelyn's reach but long enough where it still looks feminine. She has this uncanny ability, as I am sure most all babies do, to grab on to ONE hair and pull on it with just the right amount of pressure where it still stays in my scalp but yet feels like it is about to come out any second. Very painful.

~Dead kittens and popp..or lack there of~

So this morning I looked down and saw with such dismay that there was what looked to be a dead kitten floating in the water of the shower. Then I realized with equal dismay that it came from my head. Gross. I'm finally at the hair loss stage of pregnancy..all that thick glossy goodness that was mine is now no longer and self sacrificing to the shower Gods. If I didn't know better I'd swear I was on the route to early baldness.

Now to the other end of the spectrum, as I am dropping from the top of my body Madelyn can't let loose from the bottom of her body to save her life. She was fine until she discovered how much she loved carrots. In fact she loved them so much she devoured an entire jar in one sitting. And me, being the ever dutiful pleasing mommy allowed her to indulged, happy she found a jarred food we both could depend on.

Nothing has worked to unplug the dam. Prunes, warmed pear juice, peas, peas and prunes together, all 3 together, pears, warm compresses, belly massage, warm baths, baby calisthenics, etc..I'm at a loss. I even cut out her cereal. The good thing is she does not seem to phased by this ordeal and in fact is in as good a mood as any, so things could be worse. Today we will try the prune/pea combo with warmed prune juice..if that doesn't work I suppose I will cut out solids all together and go back to straight nursing until she self-regulates. Although I must admit I'm a bit scared, as she has been eating peas in some combo for the past 4 days and what little does come out is still bright carrot orange...so the back-up when released will not be pretty. Any one have a Haz-Mat suit I can borrow?

~EDIT: Pedi just called a few minutes ago and told me to give her Mineral Oil 2 times a day and then if I do not see a poop in 24 hours I give her a lengthwise halved suppository..and NOT to stop feeding her solids. I was goign to make a Chiropractic appointment for her (and me) this week to see if Marla could help, but she is on vacation, so I guess I will have t wait until next week for some other kind of intervention if it is needed.

~MIlestones and mom-woes~

So we still can't seem to get the hang of rolling over. Madelyn gets ample tummy time every day and ample practice time with both mommy and daddy at different times of the day, but for some reason just can not grasp it. She did roll from front to back twice one morning, but that was it. Never to be seen again. Every morning I give her what I call "Diaper Time". Before her first nurse I strip her down to her diaper and plop her on the floor on a blanket belly down while I tidy up her room and get things started for the day. She tummy surfs and sways from side to side all while lifting her butt up and carpet swimming. She is definitely gaining more upper body strength as I caught her doing push ups yesterday, but no more rolling. Although she has no issue rolling when we give her a little jump start. Go figure.

We also began eating jarred baby food last week. We began our adventure with squash and now this week we have moved on to sweet potatoes. Honestly, the stuff isn't that bad and she does seem to enjoy it as she opens her mouth nice and wide to receive the offering, it just needs some salt if I was to be eating it.

Oh and when we have her in a sitting positions, as she can't sit unaided yet, she tries to get up and stand..lol..it is so funny because she gets SO mad that she can't. Oh how frustrating that must be!

Now my woe. My period. It is so heavy. I have no idea why and it sucks. I'm thinking though that this will be my life from here on out. It was never this heavy before I gave birth so I'm figuring this will be one of those things that is never the same again. I bleed right through super tampons in a few hours..thank God for panty liners. It's nasty when you can feel yourself bleeding, especially when you have a tampon in! So I went out and bought Super Plus tampons..dear Lord those things look like they can suck up Lake Superior. Let's hope they do!