Mama Laughlin

What I wish "they" would have told me about having a second baby...

2012-01-26T09:11:00.003-06:00

Okay, don't get me wrong, I LOOVVEE LOVE LOVE my boys with all my heart.
They make me happy and shoot rainbows and glittery hearts out of all my orifices daily.

But I'm going to let you in on a little secret...

This whole Mother-of-Two thing ain't no walk in the damn park.

I wish I would have known the following:

The time you had to yourself no longer exists.
-Remember the time you had to yourself with just one child? (yeah, that little 15 minute break you got while your 2 year old played by himself?) Well, that's gone.
Yeah, time for yourself? What the hell is that?
It doesn't happen. EVER.
My "time for myself" is my 8 hours a day when I'm at work.
And I hardly call that "time for myself". I have to share that time with clients and co-workers.
Really, the only time I have all to myself is the 30 minute drive to and from work every day. And I share THAT time with my car and the other idiots on the road. But it's the best hour EVER.
I totally jam out with my clam out in a real single-white-girl-dance-in-my-car kinda way.
Here's what you need to know:
Make time for YOU. Even if it's to go sit in the closet by yourself for 5 minutes. You will thank me later.
Disclaimer: this time to yourself will NOT come the first few weeks- it will take a while to fit in 5 minutes to yourself, but it needs to be done sooner than later.

Your ass better learn how to multi-task.
-You thought you could multi-task with one baby pretty well, huh?
Well adding another one in there is going to test the shit out of your patience.
Wait, patience? Yeah, practice it... you will need TONS.
I was good at multi-tasking with Big T at my feet while cooking dinner or running to the store. I knew what to do to get him to leave me alone for 5 minutes so I could do whatever quick thing that needed to be done.
But with 2 kids comes 2 sets of needs.
2 sets of totally DIFFERENT needs.
Big T wants to put on his boots. MJ is crying because, oh who the hell knows why?, Big T is whining because he wants us to get his damn police car that's hidden because it makes so much noise down from the poor hiding spot we had it in. All this while I'm trying to cook dinner so the hubs can have a hot meal when he gets home from work/class.
The first couple weeks that I had both boys by myself I thought I was going to pull all of my hair out and then move to pulling out the boys' hair, too.
Here's what you need to know:
THE FIRST FEW WEEKS ARE THE HARDEST.
It does get easier. Promise.
But it's never EASY... just EASIER than those first few weeks when you feel like becoming a cutter.

"Hang on a minute" will become your new favorite phrase.
I can't tell you how many times I have to tell Big T "hang on a minute, I'm feeding MJ" when all he wants is for me to get his hat down from his dresser, or to get that damn police car down so he can rape my ears with that annoying siren.
But he gets "hang on a minute". He'll even repeat it "Okay, hang on a minute".
We understand each other. It's great.
Even if it does only buy me 10 seconds until he asks again and I have to repeat it for the 12th time.
It's better than listening to him whine until I'm done doing 'x' activity.
Here's what you need to know:
Adapt a saying that your older one will understand to buy you time. Even if it's saying "Wait please" or "hold on" or "chill out damn it!" (Okay, maybe that last one isn't the best- especially if you have a child like mine who repeats EVERYTHING).

You will need to build up your arm muscles for all the shit you're going to have to carry for 2 kids.
Holy balls I never knew 2 kids needed so much crap.
On Monday when taking both kids to the sitter/daycare for the first time I had the following bags:
-MJ's diaper bag
-a bag full of bottles, wipes, diapers for the sitter
-Big T's backpack
-my purse
-the carseat containing MJ
-all while holding Big T's hand
Yeah, it felt like my arms were going to fall off.
Here's what you need to know:
Get a big enough bag to keep both kids stuff in on outings.
I usually don't even bring my purse out places on the weekends. I just throw my wallet and chapstick in the diaper bag along with all of MJ's stuff and a few extra toys and diapers for Big T.

You're going to be late to EVERYTHING.
It's inevitable. With all the crap you have to pack, make sure both kids are fed and dressed, clean diapers, teeth brushed, hair combed, jackets on, formula, diapers, wipes, pacifiers all packed.
No wonder we're 2 hours late to everything.
I used to be able to sleep until 7:30am every day when I had Big T. I'd get up, get ready, then go wake him up and get him ready and we were out the door at 8:15am every morning.
Now?
I wake up at 5:45am just so I can get a shower in before MJ wakes up. Feed MJ at 6-6:30, put him in his bouncy seat, go finish getting myself ready, get Big T up, get him ready, and we're out the door at 7:30am after I've packed and done all that crap.
Here's what you need to know:
Give yourself an extra hour. That way you'll only be ONE hour late to everything instead of two.

Silence is a thing of the past.
Many time both kids are wailing at once. It's a madhouse.
My house is never quiet. The hubs has the TV up to a volume of 25 (I keep it around 9) just so he can hear through the noise. Big T is whining and playing with that mother effing police car. (Video of police car whining below)
MJ is talking or whining for some reason or another.
The dishwasher is going.
The washer and dryer are going.
MJ's bouncy seat music is on.
Big T is playing with his musical guitar that he got for Christmas that I want to chunk out the window.
Here's what you need to know:
Buy a good pair of earplugs.

That baby is gonna shoot outta there.
Okay, I pretty much knew that really. But I was not prepared to push TWICE, for a total of maybe 3-5 minutes and have that baby come out!
Here's what you need to know:
With each child your uterus becomes an even bigger rockstar.
Read my birth story from Big T {HERE}, and my birth story from MJ {HERE}.

You're going to love him/her just as much as your first.
I remember when my sister was pregnant with her second (way before I had kids) and saying to her "how are you going to love this one as much as your first?"
I just couldn't understand it. First of all, I didn't know the love you have for your own child at that point. But when I had Big T I remember thinking the same thing "how will I EVER love #2 as much?"
And I can't explain it. But you just do.
I never thought my heart was capable of loving anything more than I love Big T... until the second I had MJ.
Your heart just expands even more with love for them. It's crazy and awesome.
And I know, if we EVER had another (don't count your chickens, however) that I'd love the 3rd just as much as Big T and MJ.
Here's what you need to know:
It's hard being a mom.
It's hardER being a mom of more than one child.
But it's also the best thing in the world, and no matter if you have 2 or 20 kids, you will love them all the same!
Especially when they are as cute as these two:

I didn't even have to prompt Big T for those sweet kisses... he did it out of brotherly love all on his own! :)

And if you want video proof of Big T whining for the police car, here you go:

Some Eats

2012-01-25T08:56:00.021-06:00

Since y'all have been asking what I eat, I've been trying to take pictures of most of my meals to show you.
Here are a few of my meals:

Breakfast
Breakfast is usually coffee and a Luna bar of some sort. My favorite Luna bar right now is the Chocolate Peppermint Stick:

(that particular Luna bar I was not a fan of)
I also usually have one bottle of water in the morning (I drink 3-4 of those bottles a day at work, and an additional 1-2 bottles at home after work- nearly a gallon a day) I can't stress the importance of water consumption ENOUGH!!:

If I have time at home, I may have a bowl of Special K Vanilla Almond w/ 1% milk:

The key to eating cereal is to MEASURE!
1 serving is usually 3/4 - 1 cup. It is WAAAAY less than you think!
I still don't "eyeball" it- I always break out the measuring cups.
Another one of my faves if I have time in the morning is a big Green Monster:

Here's how I make mine:
1/2 frozen banana. - I cut it into slices and then freeze it.
1/2 cup frozen mango chunks
1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
1 cup 1% milk
1 heaping handful of baby spinach (this is what makes it green)
2 Truvia packets
Blend in blender until you see no more spinach pieces.
Big T even loves this, y'all! I know it looks kind of gross, but it tastes really good and has a serving of veggies and fruit already in it!
Sometimes I'll just grab a banana in the morning with my coffee.
I've heard so many great things about oatmeal, and I've tried it, but I can't get into it. It's all chunky and nasty. It makes me want to gag.

Lunch
For lunch I try to eat fairly small. Little to no carbs is good, too, because I typically consume a lot of carbs at dinner.

That was a carb-lunch day. A frozen Smart Ones and a yogurt.

Salad & 2 clementines. I liked this salad a lot because it had the calorie count readily available and it tasted good! I got it at Tom Thumb.

That's one of my favorite lunches. A piece of grilled Tilapia and green beans. And a decaff tea packet that you just add to your water.
I season my fish with a little bit of lemon pepper and that's it.
That was taken while I was on maternity leave and had access to a stove at home. But at work I buy the frozen tilapia that you can microwave.

Turkey wrap on wheat tortilla with reduced fat cheese, green beans and light sour cream. And a decaff tea.
In the wrap is just turkey lunchmeat and reduced fat shredded cheese. Easy peasy.

Dinner
This is where I typically consume most of my calories/carbs. So I usually cook a meal for the family using all low fat or fat free recipes and just watch my portions. Again, don't be afraid to bust out the measuring cups!
Pizza casserole. Recipe found {HERE} via Pinterest.
I subbed the following ingredients to save calories:
extra lean ground beef
reduced fat mozzarella cheese
turkey pepperoni

Cheesy Skinny Enchiladas (recipe courtesy of me)

Corn tortillas filled with reduced fat cheese, topped with 1/2 can of 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup mixed with 1 can of original Rotel. Topped with reduced fat cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
How easy is that?
I also made mexican rice to go with it for the boys, but I didn't have any rice, just 2 enchiladas.
The secret to mexican food is corn tortillas, reduced fat cheese and PICANTE sauce! (I like to cook with Rotel).
I make several mexican dishes and substitute almost everything for a "healthier" version.

Much unlike THIS:

Chili's nachos.
Give me a break, this was a pregnant eat, taken back in September.

Like I have said, you can make almost any meal at least a LITTLE healthier by substituting most of the ingredients.
But the key is, and always will be, PORTION CONTROL!
I get a lot of my recipes from Pinterest.
You can follow me on Pinterest {HERE}.
My "Skinny Food" board is {HERE}.
But I don't only cook skinny foods. I get a lot of recipe ideas and turn them skinny.
My "Fat Girl Food" board can be found {HERE}.
I found a great baked potato soup recipe {HERE} that I turned skinny by substituting the following:
1/3 less fat cream cheese
98% fat free chicken broth (i actually think it all may be like that)
98% fat free cream of chicken soup
reduced fat cheese
I usually make this on Sunday and it lasts us a few days.
Big T asks for it almost every day, he LOOOOOVES it.

I am also really digging {THIS} recipe right now.
It's super easy and already pretty healthy! I use 1/3 less fat cream cheese, no salt added corn, and everything else isn't too bad for you!

Snacks
I usually have a snack between lunch and dinner (before leaving work) so I stock the fridge/cabinets here with some tasty, low calorie stuff:

100 calorie packs, yogurt, bananas, apples & peanut butter, celery, carrots or cucumbers.

Another great tool is to use a calorie counter website or app.
I have one on my phone and I use it to track everything that goes in my pie hole.
It's all about consistency and making better choices!

I also updated my "So you have an idea" page. Check it out {HERE}

I didn't sit down 'till 8pm

2012-01-24T09:09:00.003-06:00

Yeah. So this whole working-mom-with-2-kids-while-training-for-a-half-marathon thing is like way hard.

I didn't sit down until 8pm last night.

I got up, showered, got both kids ready and myself ready and out the door by 7:30am (rockstar status).
Drop MJ off at sitter.
Drop Big T off at daycare.
Drove to work. Got things back in order.
Went to lunch (had sushi- twas amazing).
Worked.
Left at 4pm, picked up MJ, went home.
Immediately put on my tennis shoes and went for a run.

KNOCKED OUT 4 1/2 MILES... OUTSIDE!
Almost shit my pants when I mapped my run upon returning home 55 minutes later when I realized I had just ran for 4 1/2 miles! WHO IS THIS GIRL??
Got home, fed MJ.

Cooked the hubs & Big T dinner (I made them enchiladas. I ate a salad)
Picked up the kitchen. Packed the hubs lunch for today.
Gave MJ a bath. Big T "helped".
Gave Big T a bath. MJ watched from his bouncy seat (hubs was running errands).
Sat down at 8pm to feed MJ.
Put him in his bouncy seat and did arm weights while sitting on the floor with both of them.

Watched Alcatraz. Anyone watching this new show? I am liking it.... from what I've seen. Kind of hard to really focus on a show with 2 kids at home.

Big T to bed at 8:30pm.
MJ to bed at 9pm. (slept 'till 6:15am without waking at all!)

Yeah... tough.

I figure this would be so much easier if I didn't have an hour a day I needed to carve out for working out, but that brings me to a saying I love:

MILF Monday: Back to work

2012-01-23T09:09:00.004-06:00

Today is my first day back at work in 10 weeks.
Gone are the days where I lounged around in my pajamas all day hanging out with my little guy.
I will miss him, but I'm ready to get back into a routine.

This morning I weighed in at 161. (no pic, sorry, I had to get 2 kids ready this morning)
A loss of 4 lbs. this week.
I'll take it!

That was taken Saturday before we went out for the hubs 30th birthday.

I'm looking forward to the 150's next week! :)

I Love My Boys

2012-01-20T09:36:00.002-06:00

I love how Big T loves his little brother.
It warms my heart and fills me with such happiness.

Have a great weekend y'all!

4 MF'n Miles

2012-01-19T16:49:00.004-06:00

That's right.
Today I ran
4 EFFIN MILES!

I even got photographic evidence.

Ok, so it's really just a picture of me mid-run holding up a number 4... HARDLY evidence, but still.
I wanted you all to see where the magic happens.
It's right there, in that small corner of our master bedroom. Where my "goal jeans" are hung right by my treadmill. (They are a size 6 by the way)
My treadmill faces the wall. I know, boring. But I get my best thinking done there.
I focus on a spot and run.
And today, even though my training schedule said to run 3 miles, I went for 4.
Because I KNEW it could be done, and I wanted to push myself.
The sense of accomplishment I felt after the distance reader went from 3.99 to 4 was unbelieveable.
I am continually impressed with what I am truly capable of when I push myself.
Especially considering when I started running 2 years ago I couldn't even run for 20 seconds without stopping.
I have come a long way.
To call myself a "runner" is still funny. I started off just like any other overweight person with a dream.
I dreamt of skinny jeans and pictures I could be in and be proud of.
When I started running, I looked like this:

I remember when I started being so disgusted with how I physically felt while running.
My thighs rubbed together and I could feel the fat in my ass and stomach jiggling with every step.
It enraged me and I hated every second of it. It almost reduced me to tears several times while running because I was just so disgusted with myself.
But I kept going.
I pushed back more tears than I care to remember, and I kept running.
Because I knew the only way to fix it was to keep going.

And that's what I intend on doing this time.

Q&A Part 2

2012-01-18T09:19:00.003-06:00

Q: Did you limit yourself an amount of calories when pregnant?
A: No. I just used good judgement when pregnant. If I craved a cheeseburger, I ate one, but I ate healthy the rest of the day. I did not deprive myself of anything I wanted. Some days I'd do really bad, other days I'd do really good. I just tried my best to balance it out and not grab a bowl of ice cream every night.

Q: What kind of arm workouts did you do while pregnant?
A: I did a lot of free weights. I do them while sitting in front of the TV. I focus mostly on "the wings"- you know, the floppy underneath part on your upper arm, yeah, that guy. This is my favorite arm workout:

I also focus on biceps and shoulders.

Q: What workouts do you do every day and what do you only do somedays?
A: Well, when I was doing The 30 Day Shred (this time last year before I got pregnant) I did it every day. Since I'm not quite there yet in terms of my fitness goals, I haven't taken the plunge to do the Shred again every day. I'm focusing now on fat loss (mostly cardio) and once I get to a good spot (around 140 lbs) I'll then start the Shred up every day again.
Currently, I have started my half marathon training, so THIS is what I am following as far as my workouts go.
I am on week 1. Yesterday I had my first 3 mile run... it was tough. I continually doubt myself that I can run farther than 3 miles since that's the farthest I have ever run, but I know I'm capable of anything I put my mind to.

Q: How do you keep your motivation?
A: Great question! My biggest source of motivation is this blog. Knowing I have to "report" to you ladies every week keeps me going strong. I don't want to disappoint the women who are coming here for motivation. So YOU looking for motivation from ME, in turn, motivates ME to stay motivated. Ya dig?
It's a great cycle.
My suggestion to anyone looking for motivation is to put it all out there. Be honest about your goals and what you want to accomplish. Possibly start a blog for accountability or write it down. It will help more than you know.
Oh, also, another motivator for me is my skinny jeans... I have some hella cute jeans I want to fit back into!

Q: Where do you find yourself shopping the most?
A: I did already answer a question about my favorite places to shop, but that's different than where I find myself shopping the most.
Honestly, it's gotta be Target. I go there once a week for groceries we need for meals for that week, diapers, formula, and I browse the sale racks for myself. I rarely find anything, but it's where I currently shop the most.
If I'm wanting to find a piece of clothing I will make my first stop at Kohl's and if I find nothing, then I'll go to Charlotte Russe, because I'm apparently 17 years old.
Really it's just cheap and cute.

Q: What make-up products/hair products are your favorite?
A: I am currently loving Makeup Forever foundation.

I also still love my Urban Decay Naked Pallette.

As far as hair products go, Aussie 3 Minute Miracle conditioner rocks my face.

My all time favorite leave in conditioner is Unite 7 Seconds.

But at $30 a bottle, it's a little steep. So lately instead I've been using this:

It's like $2 a bottle and it makes my hair smells like freaking rainbows. SOLD!

Q: How much weight did you gain in your second pregnancy? How much did you lose right away in the hospital?
A: I gained 31 lbs. and lost 13 lbs. just by giving birth.

Q: What is your goal weight and how do you plan on getting there?
A: My ultimate goal weight is 120. Though, the more I think about that and look at pictures of myslef at 145, I think 120 may be too small. I definitely want to get to 130, and then if I feel I need to lose more from there, I will.
My plan is to count my calories daily, train for my half marathon, and get in movement at least 5-6 days a week. It's all about consistency.

Q: What is your typical day of eating?
A: I will be doing a post with pictures of what I eat shortly, but until then I'll give some examples of what a typical day may look like for me.
Breakfast:
coffee & a Cliff bar
Lunch:
grilled fish & green beans
or
turkey sandwich on low cal wheat bread with mustard and carrots
Dinner:
chicken enchiladas, taco soup, casserole of some sort, etc.
Dessert:
Weight Watchers ice cream bar

Q: What does your family, co-workers and husband think about your blog? Have you been recognized by your readers?
A: My family reads my blog and use it as a tool to see what's going on in my life. My husband rarely reads, but he has no problem with it. My co-workers I'm not sure if they read it or not.
I have been recognized once or twice by strangers, but mainly it's by people that secretly read and don't really KNOW me, but know OF me. Like through mutual friends or whatever.

If you have any other questions for me, feel free to email me at brandi(dot)laughlin(at)gmail(dot)com.

MILF Monday & Part 1 of Q&A

2012-01-16T08:42:00.010-06:00

I have a visitor from my monthly friend this week.
My first since having MJ. Ugh.
Therefore my weigh in this morning wasn't pretty.
165.
Gag me.
It doesn't really help that I didn't get much running in last week. I was sick so I didn't feel like getting off the couch much.
But I'm back at it this week and feeling better.
Hopefully I'll see those 150's soon.
I want to get back into the rest of my pre-pregnancy jeans.

I had a lot of questions from you guys on my Q&A post, so I thought I'd break it into two posts.

Here are a few of your questions answered. I'll get to the other half of them sometime this week.

Q: Boobs! I'm getting breast implants in April & I want to know what to expect. Any & all info?
A: Yes, I have breast implants. I got them back in 2005. It was a simple procedure and I had minimal pain. But I'm a rockstar when it comes to pain. They are 550cc saline implants placed behind the muscle. Honestly, I now think I got them too big. And I wish I would have waited until AFTER I was done having kids, but I was young and dumb.
When I hit my goal weight (and save up some money) I'll be getting them re-done... smaller.

Q: Babies! Are you wanting to try for a girl?
A: Nope. I am just fine with having two boys. I'm done having kids on purpose!

Q: Make-up! If there was one thing you couldn't live without, what would it be & why?
A: This is a tough one. I'd have to say good ole fashioned Chapstick. Cherry flavored.

Q: What do you eat when you want a sweet treat?
A: I recently found these AMAZING Weight Watchers Dulce de Leche ice cream bars. They are my new fave! I also like 100 calorie pack cookies and Nature Valey Granola Thins with chocolate.

Q: Where is your favorite place to shop?
A: I'm a jeans freak. I LOVE a good pair of jeans and my favorite brands are ReRock by Express and Miss Me (found at most western stores like Sheplers, Cavenders, etc.). But for all other clothes I like boutique shops like Apricot Lane, Francescas, and of course Forever 21.

Q: Owl onesies. are they stickers or ironons or did you buy them that way. and where did you buy them?
A: The owls are stickers. I just cut them out and put them on a white onesie. They were a gift I got at my baby shower. The girl that bought them got them off of Etsy.com

Q: What do you and the hubs do for a living?
A: I am an exotic dancer and the hubs slings dope on the streets of downtown Dallas.

All kidding aside, I work at a graphic design company and the hubs is an electrician.

Q: What kind of music do you workout to?
A: Oh, my taste in music is all over the place. I have everything from Steve Miller Band to Justin Timberlake to The Cars to Britney Spears on my Ipod. I really like songs that make me want to run faster, longer, and harder. My all time favorite running song is Remember the Name by Fort Minor.

Q: What's your daily diet?
A: I got a lot of questions about what I eat and if I could do a post with pictures on my typical daily menu, so I'll be doing that soon.

Q: Do you cook for everyone or do you have to cook yourself something and the boys something else? What are some easy, quick and healthy meals you cook for your family?
A: Usually, I cook one meal for everyone. The hubs can't tell the difference in my "skinny dishes" and the full fat versions. So in all my recipes I cut calories wherever I can. I substitute almost every ingredient in every recipe for a reduced fat/lower calorie version. Even if the recipe calls for a full fat version, I like to "skinny it up" any way I can.
I make a lot of Mexican dishes like chicken enchiladas, Mexican casserole, taco soup, etc. I also cut my portions way back when eating dinner since that's when I usually consume most of my daily calories. You can make almost any recipe a healthier version by substituting all the ingredients, and you still get the same taste 99% of the time.
For example, last night I made Pizza Casserole but I substituted a few things:
I used reduced fat Mozzarella, turkey pepperoni, and extra lean ground beef.
And it was still just as awesome.

Q: Favorite thing to do with the kiddos?
A: Big T loves to play outside. He loves his new trampoline, loves to take walks in the double stroller (that I LOVE by the way- it's a Joovy Scooter x2 for those curious)

and do anything outdoors really. MJ is still little and I haven't really taken him out a whole lot of places. I also work full time (with the exception of the past 9 weeks I've been on maternity leave) so that leaves little time for play dates, storytime and things like that. Big T does love to go four wheeling (our family activity) and I'm sure MJ will love it when he starts riding too.

Q: Favorite date night activities?
A: Date night? What's that?
Seriously, with a newborn and a 2 year old, we haven't been on a "date" in a long time. I am all for alone time with the hubs, but lately we've been stuck at home for the most part. We rarely go places our kids can't go. But if I had to answer, I guess I'd love to go to a movie and out to dinner. We also like to cut up and have a few drinks, so maybe out to a bar. But then with that comes hangovers + babies= NOT AWESOME.

Q: How do you count calories for the new recipes you find online?
A: Again, I usually substitute all the ingredients for lower fat versions, but I also rarely count calories on new recipes like that. I kind of "wing it" and just watch my portions.

Q: Do you like being a working mom? I know all moms work, but do you work outside the home because you have to, prefer to, or both?
A: Honestly, we need my income, so I guess I work because I have to. But I also don't think I'd be able to stay home full time with the boys. I need my adult time, a reason to get up and get dressed every day. I believe it keeps me sane and thriving to look and feel my best when I have to go out and face the world, so to speak.

Q: What's your favorite workout?
A: Oh man, I haven't done it in a long time, but I LOOOOVE spin class. I have been wanting to join a gym simply for the class benefits and so I can start spinning again. It is the BEST workout! I also really enjoy Zumba.
Sure, I'm a runner, but I don't look forward to it like I do spinning or Zumba. Running is just something I can do easily- just lace up my shoes and go.

Q: What 3rd trimester workouts did you do?
A: I really just kept doing what I did pre-pregnancy, but I modified anything that didn't feel right.
I did a lot of interval running, lifting free weights, and Lindsay Brin's DVD's. I did whatever I felt like I could without feeling like I was going to piss myself.

Thank you for all your questions, and if you have any others, ask away and I'll get to your question in Part 2 later this week!

Q&A

2012-01-13T12:14:00.002-06:00

So I've gotten a lot of questions in the comments lately about different things, and when I try to respond to you guys I get a no-reply message saying that you don't have your email address linked to your blogger account.
SO... I'm going to do an installment of Q's & A's.
What do you want to know about me?
If I'll sell you one of my rockstar babies?
(the answer to that one is HELL NO)
What I eat?
Where I get MJ's owl onesies?
Do I plan on having more kids?

Whatever you want to know, ask away and I'll answer them in a post next week.

Ready, set.... GO!

10 Pound Weight Loss Pics

2012-01-12T08:44:00.006-06:00

Well, officially my starting weight was 171.5 and these were taken this morning at 162, but what's half a pound?

162 lbs.

And comparrison shots:
FRONT:
171.5 lbs.

162 lbs. (-10 lbs.)

SIDE:
171.5 lbs.

162 lbs. (-10 lbs.)

I can tell most difference in my lower stomach and hips.
And for those curious, here are my measurement differences with a 10 lb. loss:

171.5 Measurements:
Waist: 34.5"
Hips: 46"
Arm: 12"
Thigh: 22.5"
Bust: 42"

162 Measurements:
Waist: 32.5" -2"
Hips: 43" -3"
Arm: 10.5" -1.5"
Thigh: 20.5" -2"
Bust: 39" -3"

Total inch loss: 11.5"

I'm happy with that!

Now on to the next 10!

stuff

2012-01-11T11:32:00.007-06:00

MJ's 2 month checkup was today.
Here are his stats.
Weight: 10 lbs. 5.5 oz. 10th percentile
Height: 23" 50th percentile
Widdle guy!
Big T was always in the 75th percentile. But maybe now since MJ's no longer sick he'll catch up.
Regardless of their weight differences, they are still very similar looking at this age:

Whoa, I just realized...
I was bigger weight wise when pregnant with Big T and he was a bigger baby than MJ.
With MJ I was smaller when pregnant and he's a smaller baby...

Coincidence?
***********************************
We went to a local pizza place last night for my nephew's 8th birthday.
They had a "skinny pizza".
My sister described it as a sheet of paper with cheese on it. Haha.
That's fairly accurate...

It was really good though!
I have looked for nutrition info on it and can't find it, but I'd have to guess that each slice of cheese (I always get cheese because less toppings= less calories) would be about 100 calories. That's just my guess.
Much better than about 350 calories for a slice of regular cheese!
***************************************
I am dreading training for this 1/2 marathon.
I have a few runs left in my C25K until it is completed and then I will begin my 1/2 training, but I have to be honest and say I'm not looking forward to it.
Running and I have a love/hate relationship.
I almost have to talk myself into running every day. Mentally prepare myself.
It takes almost 1/2 a day. I wake up and KNOW I have to run every day, but I put it off until around noon or so every day, just because I have to talk myself into it.
I run because of the reward I feel AFTER each run. But making myself do it is the hard part.
What will I do when I have to go back to work?
When will I get my runs/workouts in then?
When do you find it easiest to workout?
With Big T I worked out after I got home from work. I'd put him in his bouncer in front of my treadmill and go at it.
With 2 kids that will be tough.
I may just have to bite the bullet and start doing morning workouts. VOM.
***************************************

MJ's 2 Month Pics

2012-01-10T10:32:00.003-06:00

I have a 2 month old. Wow, this is flying by!

He is so handsome and has started smiling and cooing... LOVE it!

And here's how he's changed in the past 4 weeks:

UPDATES:
-He has been sleeping through the night for about a week now.
Last night he didn't even wake up fussing for his paci. He slept from 9:30pm-7:30am.
Yeah, I'm pretty lucky.
-He is wearing 3 month clothes and is in a size 1 diaper.
-He's eating 5-6 ounces every 3 hours during the day.
-He loves bathtime.
-Doesn't seem to be a fan of the swing. Big T LOVED his swing.
-He stays awake about an hour after each feeding and then takes about a 1 1/2-2 hour nap after each feeding during the day.
-Smiles and coos.

His 2 month checkup is tomorrow and he gets his first set of shots.
I am guessing he weighs around 10 lbs. Big T was weighing in at 13 lbs. by his 2 month checkup.
But I'm sure he'll catch up soon enough!

MILF Monday: Truth

2012-01-09T08:25:00.007-06:00

It's MILF Monday and I've got some news!
Last week (around Tuesday after I posted) I decided since I wasn't aware how much I weighed because of all the hospital eating and slacking I'd done the week MJ was in the hospital, that I'd better go get my fat ass on the scale.
I saw 172.
VOM!
I hadn't done TERRIBLE the week prior, but I definitely wasn't on my game. And for me to ACTIVELY lose weight, I have to pretty much stick to a plan. A set number of calories. For me, it's 1200 right now. And I wasn't NEAR that the week prior, so I can't say I was shocked to see that, I wasn't.
But I dusted myself off and got my ass back in gear all last week.
And I'm happy to report I lost a significant amount because of it.

Yep, an 8 lb. loss in one week of hard work.
I'm talking 1200 calories consisting of lean meats, veggies, fruits, and a very small amount of carbs. I try not to overdo it on the carbs.
I also ran 6 days last week and did the Just Dance Wii game, 30 Day Shred, and free weights 4 days.
So, clearly, that 8 lbs. was well deserved.
I have just 3 lbs. to go until I post my first set of -10 lb. progression pictures.
I'm sure you'll see those this week sometime.
See that? That's confidence. KNOWING I can knock out those 3 lbs. in a weeks time.

I am OFFICIALLY back in my pre-pregnancy jeans.
Well, the 2 pairs that I previously stated I could wear, but had a crazy muffin top in.
The muffin top is barely noticeable now.
I actually wore them out for girls night on Friday night:

Okay, girls night:
I truly belive every mom/woman needs girls nights' ever so often. This was my first once since having MJ.
I KNEW I'd be drinking that night so here's how I handled it on the weight loss front:
I am a beer drinker. It's a sickness.
Not really. I'm not talking that I drink beer every day, MAYBE once a month... MAYBE.
But the thing is, beer is not the most calorie friendly drink. At around 100 calories for a 12 oz. can, I knew I'd be consuming at least 500 calories that night in alcohol.
What? I'm being honest!
So I ate well that whole day, sticking to no carbs and eating 600 calories in food. That way when I drank 5 beers, (okay, and maybe 2 shots) I'd still be around 1200 calories for the day.
That's just how this beer drinker does it.
And like I said, it's not like I do that all the time or every weekend, I DON'T!
I really believe drinking EVERY weekend will actually help you PUT ON pounds instead of losing them.
MODERATION is key!

So that's what I got for you today.
My goal is to be at 150-155 by the time I go back to work on January 23rd!
Until then, stay tuned for my 10 pound loss pictures sometime this week!

Could it be true?

2012-01-06T09:27:00.003-06:00

Do I have TWO rockstar sleepers??
As most of you know, Big T was the easiest baby on the face of the planet.
He was sleeping through the night in his own bed in his own room by 6 weeks old.
We followed the Babywise method with him and he just adjusted really well to it.
MJ had been sleeping in our bed with us the week after we got home from the hospital.
And since he's back to normal, I moved him to his room 2 nights ago.
I bought a sound machine and turn it on for him at night, swaddle him up tight and put him to bed around 9:30 the past 2 nights.
The first night he woke up at about 2:30am fussing, so I just got up and walked across the house and put his pacifier in his mouth and he went back to sleep until 6:30am! That's 9 hours!!!
I woke up at 6am freaking out because he hadn't woken up yet and went in his room and he was snoozing away.
Last night I put him to bed at 9:30pm and he woke up at 3:00am fussing, so I, again, walked across the house and put his pacifier in his mouth and he slept until 7:30am!
10 HOURS!!!

It's like since he turned 2 months (HOLY HELL!) that sleeping has just clicked for him!

Upon getting pregnant with him I just KNEW I was going to be in for it. I was so blessed with such an easy baby the first time that I just thought FOR SURE I wouldn't get so lucky the second time.
So far, I have!
Of course, I did implement the Babywise method with MJ as well, but with him being sick and our stint in the hospital, it was hard to stick to that for awhile. But now we follow it daily.

I am so glad he is sleeping because I go back to work in 2 weeks and this mama NEEDS her sleep!
Just goes to show you that even when you are exhausted in the first few weeks after having a baby, it DOES get better, and you WILL sleep again! So hang in there!

I did it!

2012-01-04T11:03:00.003-06:00

I am officially registered for the Big D Texas Half Marathon on April 15th.
This will be my first ever half marathon.
I am nervous. Running 13.1 miles is a little intimidating.
I am currently almost finished with the C25K and then will be moving onto the Hal Higdon's Half Marathon training schedule.

Here's to accomplishing one of my goals of 2012!

My biggest goal? To be a size 4!

MJ Updates

2012-01-03T11:15:00.002-06:00

MJ had his post-hospital checkup today. He is doing great! Dr. said he sounded good! He weighed in at 9 lbs. 7 oz.
This past week he seems to be going through a growth spurt. He will now eat 4 oz. and still be hungry, so I'll feed him an ounce or two more.
Last week he was only eating about 3 ounces. So it seems he's feeling better!
This whole week he's slept in our bed. We decided he'd sleep with us until he was 100% better.
He has slept like a CHAMP this past week. Last night I put him down in our bed at 9pm. He woke up at 4am. That's 7 hours!
We have eliminated the middle of the night feeding because of this. So I'm hoping when we move him back to his own bed that he continues to sleep this good!
I go back to work in 3 weeks so hopefully he's sleeping at least that long by then!
As far as the congestion goes, it's very minimal now. He's mainly only congested late at night or early in the morning. But he seems to get better every day.

He does seem more high maintenance than Big T, but that's not saying much because Big T was the easiest baby on the planet.
He goes back next week for his 2 month checkup and first set of shots.

As for me, I am going to continue MILF Monday on this coming Monday, the 9th.
So stay tuned for a big update!

Fake it 'till you make it & Happy New Year and junk

2011-12-31T14:28:00.004-06:00

It's New Years Eve and the hubs and I don't have a whole lot planned.
We've got a sick baby so it looks like we'll be boozing it up at home this year.
Hey, that's part of being parents.
To make our stay at home a little more interesting I have purchased Just Dance, the Wii dance game, and I'm hoping to get the hubs drunk enough to participate.
If not, it looks like I'll be shakin my ass alone.
Ain't no shame in my game.

And since I haven't posted a full body shot in a while, here you go:

Around 165 lbs- or hell, I don't know, I haven't weighed myself, I've been a little preoccupied.
But that's what I like to call "fakin' it 'till you make it".
Because quite honestly, I don't think I look like I weigh 165 lbs there. But that's the trickery of it, hence the "fakin' it".
And those jeans?
They are my filler jeans. NOT maternity. HALLELUJIA and all that jazz. (I always eff up spelling Hallelujiuauaua - see, I never know when to end it).
I digress.

Point is, I'm making progress. No more maternity jeans, and that makes this mama one happy lady.

Happy New Year Bitches!

Christmas Goodies

2011-12-30T09:09:00.007-06:00

I thought I'd post about something less 'Debbie Downer' today.
I always like seeing what other people got for Christmas, so I figured I'd share my goodies with you all.

Ahhh, my new UnderArmour shoes- IN LOVE.
A new purse! Thank you Jeebus!
That little black beaut is my new Kindle Fire! LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Gift from the hubs!
He gave it to me a few days early because he was so excited about it. When I asked him why he wanted to give it to me early he said "because you are such a good wife and mommy and I know you've been working your ass off lately."
He can be sweet when he wants to be. :)
Also from the hubs:

My new "Masen" charm for my necklace! Now, I'm complete!

And a close up of the other stuff:
'
My favorite scent EVER- Warm Vanilla Sugar. Mmmm, it smells like I just got done baking cookies!
New perfume- Ed Hardy Born Wild- yum!
New earrings, lotion, a pocket mirror and gift cards!

And CARDIGANS, CARDIGANS, CARDIGANS!
I can't have enough of them!

And with Christmas money, I have ordered this guy:

Oh man, it will make going out with the boys SO MUCH EASIER!

What goodies did you get for Christmas?

The Scariest Day of My Life; Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T12:39:00.007-06:00

Thank you all so much for the prayers.
We are now back home and out of the hospital.
MJ gave us quite the scare on Christmas Day.
Before I can get into the story, let's rewind to 2 weeks ago:

A note was sent home with all of Big T's class saying that there was 7 kids in his school with RSV and 4 with strep throat.
He had had a lingering cough for about a week at that point, but had no other symptoms. I decided to take him to the doctor just in case.
Basically, he looked great. The doctor said even if he did have RSV there was nothing she could do about it. It is a viral infection and can't be cured with antibiotics, it just has to run it's course.
In older kids and adults RSV acts like the common cold. So he could or could not have had it, but I was told to keep him away from MJ because it could really be serious if MJ got it.
Easier said than done, of course.
But we did our best to keep them apart.
Since babies airways are smaller than the size of their pinky, you could imagine how such congestion could be so serious.
Of course, the hubs and I could have most definitely gotten it from Big T and given it to MJ, there is just no telling. So I don't want to blame it on Big T, or the daycare or anything. Stuff just happens, no matter how hard you try to avoid it.

So fastforward to a week ago:
Big T's cough is better, yet still not gone completely, and now MJ is throwing up after every feeding.
I chock it up to him being a little congested. I just figured he'd gotten a little congestion from Big T (remember, at that point I didn't know Tucker had RSV, I still don't know he did, and since we'd been to the doctor and he checked out OK, it wasn't a thought in my mind).
So I bought a humidifier for MJ's room, sat with him in a steamy bathroom and tried to keep him as comfortable as possible. But he was still throwing up after every feeding.
I also thought it might be him just adjusting to being on 100% formula and no breastmilk, and that he might possibly have reflux.
I'm no doctor, those were just the thoughts going through my head.
He seemed okay, though, other than the throwing up, he wasn't running a fever and was acting just fine. So we just kept an eye on it.
On Christmas Eve we went to my parents house and the last bottle he threw up was at 6pm that night.
Every feeding after that he kept down, but he wasn't acting as interested in eating. He'd only eat about 1.5-2 oz. per feeding, when he normally eats about 3-4 oz.
I was just happy he was eating again and not throwing up.
So we came home Christmas Eve and I put him to bed in his crib.
He woke up a few times in the middle of the night, but he was keeping his food down and still had no temperature.
I could also hear no more congestion at this point. So everything seemed normal to me.

Christmas Day:
We woke up and I went to get Big T up and we did the Santa gifts. MJ had just gotten up a few hours before and eaten and was still asleep.
After Big T saw his trampoline and Santa gifts, I went to get MJ up and dressed so we could leave and head to our Christmas Day activities.
When I picked him up from his bed he was limp. I just figured he was tired and worn out from all the throwing up he'd been doing.
But the hubs and I researched taking him to the hospital anyway, because something just wasn't right.
We decided since he was having no fever and keeping his food down, that we'd just watch him closely and if at any point we needed to head to the hospital, we'd do so.
So off to my sister's house we went.
MJ slept a lot, Big T opened his gifts and we headed off to our next destination, the hubs grandparents house.
We got there and I immediately fed MJ. He ate maybe 2 oz.
We had lunch ourselves and I frequently was checking on MJ. Still sleeping.
It was time to open gifts and the hubs and I were taking turns holding MJ and helping Big T with his gifts and opening our own.
I was snapping pictures and got this one of MJ.

After I took that and looked at the screen is when it hit me.
We needed to go to the hospital.
Hubs was loading up the gifts in the car and we were going to the hospital.
Then I unwrapped MJ from his blanket, looked at him, noticed his eyes had rolled back in his head and he wasn't breathing.
I yelled for the hubs, told him he wasn't breathing and yelled out for someone to call 911.
Tears streaming down my face, I held him, tried to get him to respond.
My father in law took him, put him on the kitchen table and we began chest compressions.
The 911 operator was speaking to my mother in law and she was telling us orders.
See if his chest was moving up and down, it wasn't.
I have no words to describe what I felt at that moment.
Panic. Fear. Helplessness.
It was the absolute worst moment of my life.
He was blue and unresponsive. And there was nothing I could do but hold his lifeless body.
He was limp and I held him and talked in his ear, repeating to him "it's okay baby, mommy's here, stay with me Masen!"
I felt empty and like the world stopped.
We ran out to the car and drove down to the bottom of the hill, me still holding MJ in his blanket, talking in his ear.
We got down to the road and waited what seemed like forever for the ambulance to get there.
They finally arrived and got him started on oxygen.
He coughed once and I could hear all the congestion in his chest and after that cough he could breathe a little better. The oxygen helped too. And by the time we got to Children's Medical Center in Dallas, he was breathing again.
It was still very slow breathing and he was still quite unresponsive.
In the ER the team worked on him and began hooking him up to all the machines and started the testing.
He was weighed, poked, prodded, taped, suctioned, spinal tapped, catheterized, had blood taken, and temperature taken.
His temp when we got to the ER was 95.9 degrees.
He was blue and cold. So under the warmer he went.
He pinked up quickly, but it was still very apparent he was very sick.
All the nurses crowded around our room door and were peeking inside while the other nurses worked on him. I knew that wasn't a good sign.
The doctor came in to talk to us and told us what was happening.
She said he was going to be there a minimum of 48 hours. They were testing for everything under the sun and most test results wouldn't be back for 2 days.
The first RSV test they did was negative. They decided to send in the results again because all the symptoms he was having were consistent with RSV.
After a few hours in the ER we were sent up to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit).
That was a scary place.
We had to wear surgical masks, gowns, and gloves upon entering his room.
I got no sleep that night. The monitors went off and I got up.
The nurses came in to check on him and I got up.
I checked on him every 20 minutes.
The next morning the doctor came in and said he had done so well throughout the night that he would be moved to a regular room that day.
She also said that the RSV test did come back positive and that there was really no treatment other than making him as comfortable as possible.
Suctioning him before every feeding, and continuing oxygen until he was able to breathe on his own without any help. All things that could be done on a regular floor and out of the PICU.

That day we were moved to a regular room and he continued to improve from there.
I got more sleep that night, just being out of the PICU I think put my mind at a little more ease. It was one step closer to going home.
There was one point when we first got moved to the new room when they decided to take him off oxygen and see how he did and his levels plummetted, so back on oxygen he went.
They slowly turned it down from there, and he eventually adjusted.

The hospital is a lonely and scary place. Especially when you have such a small baby in there. I can't imagine what the parents with children who have more serious ilnesses go through. The 1 day in the PICU was scary enough for me.
I stayed there alone at night, as the hubs had to be with Big T.
But MJ continued to improve and I was thankful for that.

We came home yesterday at about 3pm.
MJ is still congested and sick, but we are doing what we can to keep him as comfortable as possible, which is about all we can do.
It's a viral infection and it just has to run it's course.

He slept in our bed last night and did ok.
He does cry out at times, but I think it's just because he doesn't feel good. Poor baby.
It breaks my heart to see him sick and know there's nothing I can do.
But I know he's getting better every day.
I have to suction him before every feeding, and that's about all I can do.
As I sit here typing this MJ is laying in my lap looking up at me with his big blue eyes and I can't help but fall in love with him all over again.
He is my precious little man and I'm so grateful that he's here with me and that I was blessed with him and Big T.

That Christmas Day was one I will never forget. It taught me that the most precious gift we can recieve is the love of our children.
So while it was the scariest event of my life, it was also the most eye opening.
I'm grateful and blessed beyond words can express.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and were as enlightened as I was. Hopefully in a much less scary way.

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas.
Christmas Day before the hospital:

Big T getting up Christmas morning:

MJ melting all the nurses hearts at the hospital:

Seriously, every nurse commented on how adorable he was. He was a chick magnet up there.

Right after eating for the first time in over 12 hours. He was a hungry boy:

Hooked up to all the machines in the PICU:

Sweet boy:

Milf Monday: on hold

2011-12-26T16:47:00.003-06:00

Milf Monday is on hold this week because we have been in the PICU with MJ since yesterday.
He stopped breathing on Christmas Day and after a frantic ambulance ride to Children's Medical Center it has been determined that he has RSV and bronchitis.
Hands down the scariest thing I've ever been through.
I'll have the full story soon, but for now your prayers are welcomed.

MILF Monday: The Scale is a Filthy Whore

2011-12-19T08:51:00.007-06:00

That's right, a whore I tell ya.
I have not lost a single ounce in 2 weeks.
Now, I know this is bullshit for a few reasons:
1. I have been tracking everything I eat.
Seriously, I haven't been over 1200 calories in 2 weeks. Not once.
2. I have been running 5 days a week and doing the Shred 6 days a week.

This is what I think.
I think that my body still thinks I'm breastfeeding and is holding onto the extra weight.
Why do I think that?
Because I can still feel a "let down" sensation and I'm still leaking.
Not engorged at all, but there are definitely still signs that my body thinks I'm breastfeeding.
I'M NOT! LET GO OF THE FAT FOR GOD'S SAKE!

Now I've never said I was a weight loss expert. Hardly. But I do believe I know how to make MY body lose weight.
There is no secret, it's calorie counting and working out. Period.
So for awhile I was a little discouraged.
Okay, that's a lie. I was pissed. Enraged that I'd been putting all this effort in, and seeing no results.
So I thought I'd take my measurements again.

Here are my measurements as of November 21st:
Waist: 34.5"
Hips: 46"
Arm: 12"
Thigh: 22.5"
Bust: 42"
Weight: 171.5 lbs.

And my measurements as of December 16th (nearly 4 weeks later):
Waist: 34" -.5"
Hips: 44" -2"
Arm: 11.5" -.5"
Thigh: 21" -1.5"
Bust: 40" -2"
Weight: 168.5 lbs. -3 lbs.

So while I've only lost 3 lbs. in 4 weeks (UGH!) I have lost 6.5".
Just a reminder that the scale is not always going to be your friend.
Weight loss is hard.
It's sometimes a bitch and doesn't reflect your hard work.
But the key is to not give up, because I know eventually it will come off.
In the meantime, it is frustrating though. I am glad I decided to measure again so I don't go completely insane.

So there's your weekly update.
I can fit into 2 of my pre-pregnancy jeans... albeit, not comfortably. I have the muffin top working and it's not cute.

********IN OTHER NEWS********

Big T is now in his big boy bed!

We converted his crib to the toddler bed on Saturday night. He screamed and cried for awhile, but eventually fell asleep.
He hasn't gotten out of bed or anything. I don't think he realizes he physically can. I'm sure it's only a matter of time though.
But he seems really excited about it and walks around saying "Cucker (that's how he says his name) like big boy bed!"
So cute!

We also took the boys to see Santa this weekend.
Big T was all excited to tell Santa the he wants a "bounce" (trampoline) for Christmas, but when we got up there he, of course, freaked.
So Santa suggested we do a family picture.

Yes, I realize my husband looks like a prison inmate. He claims he smiled right before that picture and the photographer missed it.
He is seriously like the hardest person to photograph.

Then Santa waned another picture with MJ. He did NOT cry like his big brother did.

Cute, right?

We also got a new bed this weekend. A king size! HOLLA! We've wanted a king for awhile. It's heaven.
We have no headboard currently, that will have to come later. I'm actually debating making one.
The downside is we have our old queen size bed laying in our living room right now..

Yeah, so MJ is taking a nap on it currently. I gotta be honest, it does seem quite practical to have a mattress in the living room. At least with a newborn it does.
I'll have to move it later today to get my workout in, but it's nice for nighttime feedings.
Speaking of feedings, MJ slept for 5 hours one day last week!
So it hasn't happened again (last night he slept for 4 hours), but it was awesome.
I felt so refreshed that day!
Hopefully it just keeps happening more often!

One more thing- I went to a play last week. Now, I'm not the type to go to plays. But this was pretty awesome!
We went to see A Christmas Carol put on by the Dallas Theater Center.
So if you have a chance, GO SEE IT! I promise it does not disappoint!

Okay, I'm out for now.
Have a great Monday!

Merry Christmas from Us!

2011-12-15T09:37:00.001-06:00

Hittin' It Hard

2011-12-13T14:33:00.002-06:00

Update on the boob front: I pumped out the engorgement yesterday morning and since then I've had no pain.
I got 4 ounces when I pumped (a full feeding for MJ) and it was bittersweet, knowing it would be the last breastmilk he will get.
But I'm confident about it. I already feel better.

Yesterday (after I pumped) I strapped on 2 sports bras and my tennis shoes and started up the 30 Day Shred again.
I am proud to say I got through the first day with no breaks. I did day 2 today (while MJ was napping in the swing) along with week 3 of the Couch to 5K and I am feeling good.
I have also started back to counting my calories and am sticking to a strict 1200 calorie diet right now.)I downloaded an app called Calorie Counter by FatSecret to my phone and am tracking everything I put in my mouth. That's what she said.
It keeps track of my exercises, food intake and even has a barcode scanner that I can scan the food I eat and it automatically inputs the nutrition info.

So I'm back to hitting it hard and determined to get into my skinny jeans again.

Check back Monday for a big loss (hopefully!)

MILF Monday: It's Over

2011-12-12T10:12:00.004-06:00

Okay, no weigh in today.
Why? Well because after much deliberation, I have decided to quit breastfeeding.
First of all, SPARE ME your comments on how it's so much better for the baby and all that. I KNOW.
It is a personal decision and I do not need you judging me for it.

From the beginning, I have hated breastfeeding. I don't get the warm fuzzies from it, and it's hard as shit.
When I was strictly breastfeeding I was having to feed every hour around the clock because my child was NEVER satisfied after a feeding. And I'm sorry, but I HAVE to sleep SOMETIME.
And since I'm a big Babywise believer, and believe in putting a child on a schedule, feeding around the clock would not allow that.

SO, all that to say, I DO feel a little guilty and sad about it. I know breastmilk is nature's perfect food, but I have a healthy, thriving 2 year old who was formula fed, so I know it's not the end of the world.

And on a side note- breastfeeding didn't melt pounds off of me like I'd heard it would.
Not that that is the reason I'm quitting, but I'd be lying if I told you it didn't have anything to do with it.
Call it selfish, but for ME, to be the best mom I can, I need to feel good about myself.
And feeling like a flubbery milk maid is NOT my idea of feeling good about myself.

I know how to lose weight without breastfeeding. I'm good at it. But I didn't know how to lose weight while breastfeeding. Hell, it is suggested you don't TRY to lose weight while breastfeeding! Sorry, but no thanks.
I worked hard to look like I did before I got pregnant and I want that back.

So, I didn't weigh this morning because I hadn't breastfed or pumped since 6am yesterday morning and I woke up looking like Dolly Parton and in some pain.
I'm pretty sure there was 5 lbs. of milk in my boobs, so I didn't want to get discouraged by getting on the scale.

So it's back to doing what I know works with no side issues to worry about (like breastfeeding).
Again, I am sad about not breastfeeding anymore simply for the benefits of it, but I am ready to get my body back and be the best mom I can be... a HEALTHY one.

*Please leave your rude and hateful comments about breastfeeding to yourself. Like I said, this is a personal decision and I don't need or want your negative criticism.

One Month

2011-12-08T11:54:00.005-06:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I had MJ.
It seems like yesterday he was shat out of my womb.
(Bad Santa, anyone?)

This month has been one of sleep deprivation but also much love.
I know I won't get these moments back and soon, one day my little guy won't be so little anymore.
So I'm taking it all in stride, not taking one second for granted and loving on my sweet boy.

Here are some one month pics of my tiny little guy.

I set my 6 week checkup for December 22nd.
I look at this appointment as a solid "starting point" as far as my weight loss goes.
I was hoping/really expecting to be back around 155 lbs. by this time, but I'm not sure that's going to happen.
We'll see.

Also, I was looking through old pictures last night and I wanted to show you all something.
First, THIS GAL:

That's me in November of 2009, when Big T was about 10 weeks old.
I'd already started to lose weight at that point and was around 190 lbs. there.
HOLY BALLS! BIG MAMA!

And then there's THIS GAL:

That was in February of 2011, right before I got pregnant. I remember thinking I looked huge in that picture, so it never got posted. CRAZY!
Aren't we are own worst critics?
I would DIE to look like that right now!

I'll get there again... You can count on it.

Adventures in Baby Wearing

2011-12-07T12:47:00.005-06:00

Big T had his very first Christmas program for school last night.
It was the cutest thing ever.
I cried. I'm such a loser. I have been to that Christmas program (for my niece and nephew) for the past 5 years and I ALWAYS cry.. even when it's not my kid. I don't know why, I guess I'm just overjoyed and proud of the kids.
He did so good and was SOOO stinkin' cute!
I wore MJ in my Moby wrap and he slept the whole time. It was my first time to "wear" him and I loved it.
What I don't love is all that extra fabric on that Moby wrap.
I have ordered another sling, so I'll see if I like that one better.

Practicing with the Moby:

Big T "performing":

PS- at one point during his performance I stood up to get a picture of him and my seat (it's like a movie seat that folds up when you get up) had folded up and I didn't realize it, so when I went to sit back down, without looking for fear of taking my eye off of Big T, I went into the sitting position expecting my chair to catch me and fell right on my ass.
Wearing MJ and all.
Everyone else was sitting down so I'm pretty sure the entire audience saw me.
AWESOME.

A Day in the Life of a Mom on Maternity Leave

2011-12-06T12:00:00.003-06:00

7:00am- MJ starts crying from his room (he's previously been up at 1am and 4am for nighttime feedings)
I roll over and stumble to his room, exhausted. Get him and bring him to our bed.
Try to breastfeed in the laying down position. MJ can't seem to get this position down, so I end up sitting up in bed. Now, I'm awake.

7:30am- get Big T up. He sits on the couch, eats his banana and drinks his milk while watching Toy Story 3 or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. (shoot me)
Meanwhile, I am chaning MJ's diaper, and getting him in the carseat.

7:45am- get Big T dressed, teeth & hair brushed and ready for daycare.

8:00am- drop Big T off at daycare. MJ in tow.

8:15am- get home, tend to MJ. He's still hungry. Like always. Feed him another 2 ounces of pumped breastmilk or formula. Yep, I'm supplementing because my child is probably the hungriest child on the face of the planet and I'm not a damn milk maid. I like to have a life outside of breastfeeding, so Similac Sensitive it is.

9:00-10:00am- MJ is up and squirming. I hold him, watch Live with Kelly (ps- it's not the same since Regis left. However, my favorite co-host thus far is Neil Patrick Harris)

10:00am- Feed MJ. Keep him awake as long as possible. This usually lasts an hour.
(all the while I have the Wendy Williams show on and I'm secretly thinking that woman is a BEAST!- but I do love her honest/raw attitude)

11:00am-1:00pm- MJ naps in his crib. This is my free time. I get a shower/blog/do laundry/respond to emails/grab some lunch/pump/etc. It is rare I get a nap. Speaking of responding to emails- I have been getting a LOT of emails lately on my weight loss. I am trying to respond to them all in a timely fashion, so please bare with me.

1:00pm- MJ wakes up. Feed him. I typically breastfeed/feed pumped breastmilk during the day and formula feed at night. Don't judge me. It's whats working best for me right now.

1:30pm-2:30pm- keep MJ awake with tummy time, playtime, attention, etc.

2:30pm- MJ takes a nap in his crib. I try to take a nap. I am not successful, my brain won't shut off thinking about all the things I have to get done. I get up, research dinner options, get dinner started in the crockpot, pick up the house, pump, etc.

4:00pm- MJ wakes up. Feed. Hubs and Big T come home. Start the process of telling Big T "no" a million times, try to keep him entertained, fight with him over everything. Basically, get worn out and beaten down by my 2 year old, all while trying to entertain/keep my 1 month old happy.

5:00pm- MJ falls asleep. I play with Big T, get the rest of dinner ready. We eat. More playing with Big T. I run on the treadmill and do weights. I pump.

7:00pm- MJ wakes up. Feed. Keep him awake by giving him a bath. We all hang out in the living room, watching TV, playing, etc. Hubs gives Big T a bath/shower.
Try to keep MJ away until 9:30pm-10:00pm for his next feeding.
Big T goes to bed at 8:30pm, but not before throwing a fit first. Wears.Me.Out.

9:30pm- MJ eats. Put him to sleep in his crib. Sometimes he'll go right to sleep, other times he will want to stay up.

10:00pm- I fix bottles for the night and get in bed.
Up at 1am, 4am and then do it all again.

It's worth every second though... no matter how tired I am!

MILF Monday & MJ's Newborn Pics

2011-12-05T09:32:00.007-06:00

Today's weight is 168.5, so I lost 3.5 lbs. this week.
Not bad.
I'm happy to be in the 160's.

I jumped the gun a little bit and started running again last night.
I was going to wait until 4 weeks post, but I have been feeling great and thought I'd try a run out.
I started out slow and did Day 1 of the Couch to 5K.
It went well. I felt good and was slightly challenged.
I am going to continue to run 5 days a week, and starting next week I'll be starting up Lindsay Brin's Postnatal Boot Camp DVD.
I'm excited to get to sweating again!

And here are some of MJ's newborn pics.

Everything and Nothing

2011-12-01T13:59:00.003-06:00

First of all, hello and welcome to all my new readers here via Pinterest. Thanks for reading about my boring ass life, as you'll witness below.I have everything and nothing to post about these days.
I have started impletmenting the Babywise method.
Don't know about it? Google it. Shit is awesome.
MJ has been sleeping in his crib in his own room at night which is all the way on the other side of our house.
And again, I don't own a video monitor, so I get up to walk the 19 steps across our 1500 sq foot house approximately 23 times during the middle of the night.
Last night I got a total of probably 3 hours of sleep.
And why the hell am I up blogging and not napping while MJ naps? Well I did actually TRY, but my brain wouldn't shut off, so here I am.
MJ's sleeping about 3-4 hours at night, with the exception of last night, that is.

Breastfeeding Is.
That's all I have to say about that.
It's a pain in my ass and he's never satisfied after a feeding. It's kicking my ass and draining my life force.
But I'm hanging in there.

I can't get enough trail mix (the fatty kind with the M&M's and peanut butter and chocolate chips) and Honey Graham crackers. So that's no bueno.

Today I went to Target in my pajamas.
I didn't even brush my hair before I went. I DID brush my teeth though, so there's that.
Most days I don't get out of my pajamas and I'm lucky if I get a shower daily.
I'm exhausted.
However, I know this is temporary, so I try not to focus too much on it.
This too shall pass.

Speaking of showers, I can't wait until I can take baths again. However, I don't think I can do that until I stop leaking from my orifices. TMI?
Hey, that's the reality of it baby.

I live in my maternity sweat pants and nursing bras daily. I'm sure my husband is so totally attracted to this hot mess. SIKE!

We got our picutres back from MJ's newborn session, so I'll be sharing those soon.

Is anyone watching American Horror Story?
What the Eff? I totally gasped out loud when I learned the deets on Vivien's babies!

That's all I got for now.

Peace, Love & Breastfeeding Blows.

MILF Monday

2011-11-28T09:19:00.004-06:00

It's Monday again!
And this week I don't feel very MILF-y at all.
Thanksgiving did a number on me... or I did a number on it. Whatev.
Today's weight is 172. So I gained 1/2 a lb. over the weekend.
Hey, I'm pretty happy about that because I ate more than any one person should have.
Hopefully next Monday I'll report back to you in the 160's!

Our Thanksgiving was great! I hope you all had a good one as well!

I did go Black Friday shopping early Friday morning and ended up pumping in the car that afternoon, so that was an experience.
While shopping on Friday I decided it would be a good idea to try on some jeans.
WTF is wrong with me?
My sister tried to talk me out of it, but I didn't listen.
I am sick of wearing my maternity jeans. I know, I'm only 2.5 weeks out, but that panel just disgusts me.
So I grabbed a 12 and a 14 to take into the dressing room.
I tried the 14 first. They fit, but were a little big.
12's fit perfectly.
But they were so uncomfortable and I didn't feel confident in them at all.
So again, I was disappointed in the dressing room. Defeated. You know the feeling. I used to feel like that every time I tried something on.
I HATE that feeling.
Around this time last year I remember being excited about trying things on. I went into Ann Taylor one day and picked up a pair of size 4 shorts and thought "aww hell, I'm gonna just try them and see"...
The second I got those shorts zipped up was one of the best feelings ever.
I was cheesing so hard in that dressing room mirror.
THAT was a good feeling.
Trying on the 12's and not feeling confident in them was NOT.
Oh well, part of it.
I've got a lot of work to do, that's for sure.

I find myself getting so excited about running and working out again.
Anytime I hear a good song on the radio I immediately want to dance to it, or take a run. I'm really itching to get out of the house and get to sweating!
I have read that it is okay to start working out at 4 weeks postpartum if you are feeling up to it, so I may start then.
Of course I'll start off slowly and will listen to my body, but I am craving movement!

Here are a few pictures of our Thanksgiving.

And one from this morning (looking 4 months pregnant) with my sweet little guy.

Womp womp.

MILF Monday

2011-11-21T08:47:00.007-06:00

It's MILF Monday up in this bitch, and you know what that means?
You get to see my fat ass today! I know you are so excited you can barely contain yourself.
Seriously, I really hate doing the first set of progression pictures. I hated it even more when my starting weight was 198.
But today, I am okay with my starting weight. Sure, it's not great, but that's the reality of the post baby body- it ain't great y'all.

So here are my beginning stats:
Weight: 171.5

Waist: 34.5"
Hips: (my biggest problem area) 46"
Thigh: 22.5"
Arm: 12"

And here you go. These are so eerily familiar it's not even funny...

171.5 lbs

My Thoughts:
Maybe the breastfeeding really is living up to it's promise because I haven't done much in the eating department. I have upped my calories like some of you suggested and low and behold, I lost 3.5 lbs. since Thursday. Weird. And it doesn't really seem fair. It totally goes against everything I know about weight loss, but then again I've never really exclusively breastfed before so I'm in all new territory here.
I walked 3 times this week and did arm weights 3 times as well. I have noticed when I walk I get a little sore in the uterus and groin area the next day. It may be my body's way of telling me to slow down... Ugh.
I am still wearing my maternity jeans and up until yesterday I was still rocking the mesh panties from the hospital. Yes, I asked for extra pairs upon leaving, sue me.
I hate getting dressed and change a hundred times before I'm just mildly happy with what I have on.
That's all part of it though and I know I'll be in my pre-pregnancy jeans in no time!

That's all I got for my first MILF Monday. This will be a weekly occurance so stay tuned.

And just to show you all the extreme cuteness I witness on a daily basis:

At least my boobs are working.

2011-11-17T15:40:00.005-06:00

MJ's weight checkup was yesterday. He is up to 6 lbs. 9 oz. so he gained 1.5 oz. in 2 days, so he's doing well and I am strictly breastfeeding now.
At my breastfeeding class last night I had a lot of questions answered so I'm feeling pretty confident about it moving forward.
This is what my life has become; breastfeeding in the back of the truck in the parking lot of Lowe's.

Where we bought our new, big Christmas tree!

I've always wanted a really big tree, so we finally got one!

Now, what you all REALLY want to know about... my fat ass.
Well, breastfeeding isn't living up to it's promise of "melting the pouds off"... well not yet at least.
I'm stuck at 175 lbs. What is it about that damn number that haunts me?
That's the exact number that I plateaued at last year when I was losing all my weight.
I was there for WEEKS, but the difference is I was able to workout then. Now, the only thing I'm doing is walking and doing arm weights.
So who knows how long I'll be here. And it sucks.
I know, I have to give it time, but I thought with how I'm watching what I'm eating and breastfeeding I'd have no problem dropping the pounds, even without working out right now.
Whatev.

I'll be starting a new thing on Monday's called MILF Monday where I'll start posting about my weight loss again and give you picture and scale updates. So stay tuned for my first set of progression pictures... for the second time.

Until then, here's my sweet little man:

MJ Update

2011-11-15T09:56:00.004-06:00

MJ had his first doctors appointment yesterday.
Dr. said he looked perfect! No jaundice, and he had gained 3 ounces since leaving the hospital.
The dr. did say that she was almost 100% positive that there is NO WAY he lost over a pound in the hospital in a 24 hour period.
She said it's just not possible.
Which makes sense to me because the first time he was placed on my chest is when I thought "there is NO WAY he's more than 7 lbs!" He was just so dang tiny!
So we are thinking now that the scale in the hospital was wrong. I went back and looked at the pictures and I think that the scissors were still clipped on his umbillical cord when he was weighed, so I'm thinking that's what the weight difference is. Which would have made his birth weight lower and less than a one pound loss in the hospital in a 24 hour period.
Regardless, he's gaining now, so that's good.
Dr. told me to quit supplementing and strictly breastfeed and bring him back tomorrow to weigh him and make sure he's still gaining, so I know I'm producing enough.

Okay, breastfeeding.
I'm giving it my all, like I said. And shit is hard.
He wakes up at night to feed, I put him on each breast for about 15 minutes or until he falls asleep. So a total of about 30-45 minutes of feeding with naps included (me and MJ). So I put him back down and an hour later he is hungry again.
But when I was supplementing with formula I would breastfeed first on both boobs and then give him formula as well and he would sleep in 3-3.5 hour stretches.
That was awesome.
This every hour business is not.
So I don't know if he's not getting satisfied or if I'm not producing enough or what.
I'm pretty sure he's not getting full, but I don't want to drag feedings out for over an hour!! That seems ridiculous!
I'm trying not to pump as much as I did last time because I think it hurt more than it helped. But I'd love to be able to breastfeed during the day and pump enough for at least 1 feeding during the night.
Advice??

I'm actually going to a breastfeeding class tomorrow to see if I can get any help and have been talking to friend for advice/tips.
Going to this class is a big deal for me because I was so uncertain I even wanted to breastfeed before MJ was born.
So it's a big step.
I'll keep you updated on how it's going.

Oh, what's this about dark beer increasing your milk supply?
Anyone done this? Had success?
I don't drink dark beer, so I need to know a good one! And by good, I mean a good TASTING one. I haven't had beer in a LOONNG time and I have never had dark beer, so I'm at a loss here.
Help a sista out with any advice or tips!

Thanks yall!

And just for some updates, here is a pic of MJ's ghetto bed.
He wasn't a fan of the pack n play, but loves that bouncy seat, so I combined them and he LOVES it.

Hey, whatever works!

And here is one of MJ on our first outing to the doctor and daddy's work.

He looks JUST like Big T in this picture!
See!! Big T at a week old:

Love my handsome boys!

MJ's Birth Story

2011-11-13T13:51:00.001-06:00

Wednesday, November 9th I had my 39 week checkup. I updated you all about how my Cervix is a Rockstar.
I was dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced.
Then that night I posted about how My Cervix Can Hear Me.
I began bleeding pretty heavily and cramping as I was losing the rest of my plug.
That entire night I had several contractions that were coming every 5, 6, 7, 9 minutes. So they were in no real pattern.
I managed to sleep through some of them as they were just mild.
Thursday morning I woke up at 6:00am to get ready for work and got in the shower, makeup done, etc. All while having contractions.
They were all over the place so I continued to time them and keep a close eye on them.
The hubs had gone to work and I told him I'd let him know if anything happened.
I got Big T up and dressed for school. By this time I had decided I was in labor and made a call to my work saying I'd be staying close to home that day.
After dropping Big T off at shool I headed home to do some last minute errands around the house. I picked up, finished packing bags, ate some lunch, and continued to keep an eye on my contractions.
My mom calling me every hour to see how I was doing.
My contractions were still all over the place but were definitely getting more intense.
By 1:00pm my mom had called and said she thought I should go to the hospital and she was coming to get me.
It was while she was on her way that I decided if she hadn't called, I would have driven myself to the hospital at that point.
I was having to bend over to relieve the pain of the contractions. Though, they weren't TERRIBLE, there were definitely uncomfortable.
My mom swung by to pick me up and we stopped by her house to drop off Big T's stuff because he was staying with my parents that night. She also had to run upstairs and change clothes.
So I'm sitting in the car waiting for her and I'm having contractions every 2 1/2 minutes.
We get to the hospital, I walk up to L&D and say I'm pretty sure I needed to get checked out.
I get in a room, wait on my mom to come up because she had my bag which had my cute hospital gown that I had from Big T (ordered off Etsy) that I was going to wear.
I had told the hubs that I'd call him once I knew what was going on at the hospital.
The nurse came in, taking her precious little time and said "ok, here's the moment of truth" and proceeded to check me.
Her exact words were "Oh yeah, I'd say you're in labor. Your're at a 6. You must have a really high pain tolerance."
No shit, she said that to me. And little did I know just how how that pain tolerance was!

So I said to her "ok I need that epidural now!"
She responds with "well, we have to get you admitted first, and then get your IV in and then you have to go through an entire bag of fluids before we can do that."
EFF!

I'm seriously thinking at this point that I'm not going to have time for the epidural.

I called the hubs who informed me that he was 5 minutes away.

Hubs shows up and in goes the IV and my fluids. I was still feeling every contraction and they were way more intense now. After the bag of fluid is gone the nurse comes back in and says she needs to check me again to make sure we had time for the epidural.
I was at an 8.
I was having to breathe through my contractions and never having been to lamaze classes, didn't really know how to do that, so I just rolled with it.
Apparently I was breathing too fast because my hands began to tingle and the nurse told me it was because I was breathing too hard and needed to slow it down or I was going to hyperventilate.
I was squeezing my husband's hand with each contraction while waiting for the anesthesiologist to come in and save me.
I kept being told "he's on his way, he's on the floor, he's getting prepped, etc."
I was SO NERVOUS I wasn't going to have time for the epidural.
Now remember, I had no pain meds at this point. No Stadol, nothing. I'd only had a bag of fluids going through my IV.
The anesthesiologist came in and the nurse decided to check me one last time to make sure we had time.
I thought "OH SHIT!" I did NOT want her to check me because I just KNEW I was going to be at a 10 and she was going to tell me there was no time for the epidural.
She checks me and says "okay, you're at a 9, as long as you feel like you can sit up for the epidural, we can get it in."
I really thought the second I sat up that his head was going to pop out.
I was still having contractions and feeling every bit of pressure with each one.
It felt like I was actively trying to hold in my pees and poos every time a contraction came, even though I wasn't.
I was feeling the urge to push, and it was not an awesome feeling.
I sat up in bed, got prepped for my epidural and waited for it to take effect.
It took a good 10-15 minutes for me to be feeling no pain.
I was still feeling the pressure, but the pain was gone.
I laid back down in bed and we waited for my doctor to arrive. All the while I could feel his head just RIGHT THERE ready to be pushed out.
10 minutes go by and my doctor finally arrives and we're ready to push.
I pushed 3 times folks.
3 times. For a total of 5 minutes.
After a tiny little snip, he was out.
Placed on my chest and my first words were "HE'S SO TINY!! HE LOOKS LIKE BIG T!"
Tears streamed down my face and I, again, fell in the deepest love I've ever been in, AGAIN.

He was perfect and tiny and he was here!
All 7 lbs. 6 oz. of him.

Recovery has been a piece of friggin cake.
I am feeling a lot of cramping while breastfeeding, which is normal, but otherwise I'm feeling pretty good and having minimal pain.
I've been up walking and getting around really well.
We stayed one night in the hospital and were released the next day, so it's been nice to recover at home.

Breastfeeding is going really good. I have decided to really stick it out and try my hardest to make it work.
So the feeding every 2-3 hours has commenced, and while it's quite tiring, I want to give it my all this time.
And if it still doesn't go as planned, I won't beat myself up about it.

Post baby body is what it is. I'm honestly not too disgusted. Sure, I'm flubbery in all the wrong places, but it's not NEAR as bad as it was last time, so I think I've got a decent base to start working with.
I am down 13 lbs. just from delivery and have already began watching what I'm eating.
Of course I'm living in sweat pants right now, but I hope to be in my pre-pregnancy clothes soon.

MJ is so precious. He's TINY TINY TINY! He actually lost a pound in the hospital and we were pretty much told we HAD to supplement as well as breastfeed to try and fatten him up. When we left the hospital he was weighing in at 6 lbs. 5 oz.
The hubs had to make a run to WalMart today to get a few Preemie outfits because we have no clothes small enough for him.
He was born with REALLY red skin, looking almost like a sunburn. The nurses say it's just because he's got extra sensitive skin and because he could have been gestationally older than anticipated, so the amniotic fluid could be a factor.
His skin is peeling all over the place so we've had to soak him in Aquaphor, poor guy.

We are so in love with our little red skinned, peeling, butt chinned boy! :)

The Birth of MJ: Picture Overload

2011-11-12T14:03:00.009-06:00

Thank you all so much for your well wishes on the birth of MJ.
We got home last night around 7pm and have been settling in ever since.
Here are some picutres from his birth.
Of course the officialy birth story will come when I have time to sit down and write it, but for now, here ya go.

WARNING! Picture Overload!

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Birth Story to come!

Masen James

2011-11-10T21:41:00.001-06:00

Well Masen couldn't wait until midnight!
And mama almost didn't make it in time for the epidural!
(think 9cm before epidural was in!!)
Yes, I was cutting it close!
Got to the hospital today at 2:30pm and was told I was dilated to a 6 and that I had a high pain tolerance.
Progressed to a 9 by 4:00pm, got the epidural at 4:10pm and Masen was born at 4:22pm with 5 minutes of pushing. He walked out, twirling a cane practically.
Yep, total rockstar status.
I'll do a real birth story once we get home but just wanted to give a quick update.

He is beautiful and perfectly healthy.
7 lbs. 6 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long.
He looks just like Big T!
Speaking of Big T, he seems pretty excited but won't yet kiss him or get near him. Haha. Give him some time!

I'm doing good and am trying to get some rest now.
Will update again soon.
Sorry if the pic is sideways Im posting from my phone and can't figure out how to turn it.

My Cervix Can Hear Me

2011-11-10T09:46:00.002-06:00

After I wrote that last post about my cervix being a complete rockstar, it apparently heard me and said "you think THATS rockstar status?? WATCH THIS!"

Thus began my night.

9pm came and I started having some cramping.
Went to the bathroom and (TMI AHEAD) noticed blood.
As in the rest of my plug... and blood.
And did I mention BLOOD?
Not like blood by itself, but like blood and mucous.
I know, vomit.
As beautiful as it is, labor is one nasty nasty thing.

After the blood came more cramping followed by more cramping -aka- contractions.
Started timing them and they are all over the place. 3 minutes, 6 minutes, 10 minutes, 7 minutes, 5 minutes, all over the place.
So not textbook like they were with Big T.
So I stayed up until about 11pm, timing.
Fell asleep. Woke up at 2:30am to pee, more blood.
More cramping, more contractions. All over the place again.
Fall asleep at about 4:30am. Wake up at 6:00am, more of the same.

So up I get, in the shower, get ready, quick call to work to let them know I'm pretty sure labor is around the corner and won't be in today and get Big T up.
Breakfast, Toy Story (shoot me), dress him, all while having more contractions.
They pretty much haven't stopped.
Take Big T to school, come back home, STILL bleeding, so I figure a call to my doctor is the best idea.

Doctor says it's normal since I am so effaced and because he checked me yesterday.
That's a relief.
He also says that I don't have to wait until my contractions are exactly 5 minutes apart for an hour to go into the hospital.
But let's be honest, I've been here before and I know what I'll do in the hospital is lay in a bed and be monitored, so I might as well stay home until I feel I no longer can and THEN make a trip to the hospital.

So here I am, at home, car is packed and ready to go and I have a friend on call in case I need a ride to the hospital. Hubs is at work and is on stand by.

So I'm pretty sure of one thing... Baby Masen will be here either today or tomorrow.
(did you catch that?? Yes, I leaked the baby name! It's Masen James, or MJ from now on out on the blog).

Of course the hubs is hoping he can hold off until midnight... he's crazy about that 11.11.11 date I tell ya!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers for a safe, easy delivery!

My Cervix, The Rockstar

2011-11-09T19:19:00.002-06:00

Just a quick update to let you all know my cervix is a complete and utter rockstar.
I am dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced currently.
Dr. said no induction on Friday (11.11.11). He doesn't like to induce on Fridays because he doesn't like to deliver the baby and then not check up on the patient before she checks out of the hospital and since he is not on call that weekend I'd be checked out by a different doctor. But he did say he's willing to induce any day next week. He wants me to go the full 40 weeks but said he doesn't really think I'll make it that long since I had such a change in my cervix from last week to this week.

So, as I was driving home from the doctor I noticed the full moon, and I'm really starting to think I may just have this baby all on my own on Friday.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Cervical Rockstar Out.

C-Section

2011-11-08T09:18:00.002-06:00

No, I did not deliver Baby M via c-section last night, but I DID dream it.
I dreamt that I had to have an emergency c-section after laboring for hours. I remember being so upset about it in my dream.
So weird.
Obviously, I am okay with that if that's what it comes down to, just as long as Baby and I are healthy, that's all that matters.

So my question is this...

Did you have a c-section?
Was it planned or did you labor for hours before having an emergency c-section?
What do you think is easier? A natural delivery or a c-section?

& Here's your 39 week belly picture. (hopefully the last!)

39 Weeks

2011-11-07T10:04:00.003-06:00

I am still here, and still pregnant.
I apparently spoke too soon about the sleeping great part because last night I wanted to poke my eyeballs out with forks. I slept THAT BAD.
I had acid reflux, kept feeling like I was going to vomit, my throat STILL hurts, I have drainage, my back hurts, my feet hurt, and I had to pee every hour.
So sleep is now a thing of the past.
Oh, not to mention, I have been waking up by myself at like 6am lately. WTF is that all about?
I am really annoyed with this sore throat/sickness I got going on.
I always get sick around this time of year every year, but with a newborn around, that scares me JUST A LOT.

Sorry, no pics. I'll try and get some up this week.
My appointment this week is on Wednesday, so I'll update you all then.

Updates.

2011-11-04T10:00:00.006-05:00

Walking updates:
Every single night I've been walking about a mile. I even ran the other day. But that was short lived because I'm pretty sure I peed myself a little. So thanks for that Baby M.

Contraction updates:
Holy hell, I've had A LOT. I had some HORRENDOUS back cramps the other day on my way home from work. Weird, because I never had back contractions with Big T. They were more like period cramps in the front.
Nothing seems to be in any sort of pattern so I'm not worried about them.
The more contractions I get, the more I remember going through this with Big T, and the less worried I am about labor.
I can honestly tell you I think I have the highest pain tolerance ever.
Please, don't let that come back and bite me in the ass.
But I really think I could go sans drugs with this labor.
Does that mean I'm going to? HELL NO. I'm just saying, I think I could do it.

Work updates:
I'm still here and I'm still annoyed with it.
I'm grateful, however, to have such a low-stress job, because I'm pretty sure that would be 20 times worse right now.

Big T updates:
He's a handful, but oh so sweet.
He's big into telling me "no" these days, which I'm not a fan of. He's also big into throwing himself on the floor, running and hiding from me in the morning when it's time to get him dressed, and just defying me in anyway he can.
And as big as I am, it's tough to bend over to get him, chase him around the house, etc., and still get to work on time.
Another reason I'm looking forward to some time off with Baby M who won't be able to defy me (yet, anyway).
He also repeats EVERYTHING these days, so mama only cusses here on the blog.
All other times you can hear me using words like "dad gum" and "aww shucks". Yeah... I know, so lame.

Food updates:
Can't get enough milk and cereal.
My favorite cereal of all time is Reeses puffs. I know, shocker.
I ONLY eat it when I'm pregnant.
Halloween candy is kicking my ass. Reeses, Snickers, Kit Kat & Laffy Taffy (all flavors but yellow- SICK!) wrappers fill my trash can. Lord help me.
Decaf Green Tea is another one of my new faves. SOOO GOOD.
I've been off caffeine for weeks now. I don't miss it, but I'll occasionally have a sweet tea or a Cherry Coke. I do try and make a conscious effort to only have about 1 caffeinated drink per week.
I bought Toaster Strudel's the other day. I haven't had a Toaster Strudel since middle school probably. Shit is the bomb.com.
I still want to make a few recipes and freeze them for after I deliver, but that sounds like such a pain in the ass right now.

Body updates:
I'm fat. and I waddle. It's not awesome.
But I do still fix my hair, put on makeup and try to look somewhat fashionable.
I get a lot of my outfit inspiration from Pinterest. And just make do with what I have. My belly button has half way popped out. I'm still constipated all the time. I still have acid reflux and I still am exhausted 80% of the day. My throat has been killing me the past 2 days, I hope I'm not getting sick. The hot tea has been helping.
I got a manicure and pedicure the other day because I know I won't have time to do my own for awhile. It was heaven.

Show updates:
I don't watch much TV, but my newest show obsession is American Horror Story. Shit is crazynuts. Anyone else watch this freakshow? I'm so confused and left hanging every week!
PS- I don't watch it when it comes on at 10PM.. I have to watch that craziness during the daytime!
I also watch The New Girl. Holy pennie and bubbles, I laughed so hard I cried at the latest episode where Jess saw what's his name naked.

I think that's all the updates I got for now.
Have a great weekend!

Annnnd it's here

2011-11-02T15:05:00.003-05:00

The "annoyance".
That I'm still working. The "I'm over it" attitude.
If you've ever been pregnant, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

I'm so glad that I lasted 9.5 months without that feeling, but now I'm just done.
My feet swelled today while sitting at my desk.
This is the first time my feet have swollen during this entire pregnancy. I've also been having a lot of cramping and pressure today.
I can't get in a comfortable position and sitting in an office chair for 8 (okay, 7, who's counting?) hours a day isn't helping.
I'm tired. No, exhausted. And I'm just annoyed.
That's how I felt pretty much my entire pregnancy with Big T, so I'm glad I was able to ward it off for this long the second time around.

If you asked me (which I think 3 or 4 people actually DID) how I was doing before noon today I would have told you "doing great!"

I don't know what happened between noon and now, but I've hit the wall.

I have 10 weeks of paid maternity leave that I plan to take once Baby M gets here, and while I took off 2 weeks BEFORE I had Big T last time, I said I wouldn't do that again this time no matter how hard it was.
It was wasted time, time I felt like I should have been with Big T, not waiting around for him twiddling my thumbs.
So, I'll stick it out, because I'm a trooper like that.
But I gotta tell you, this is the part of pregnancy that sucks THE MOST.

...at least I'm still sleeping pretty good at night, so there's that...

1 is better than none...

2011-11-01T11:16:00.003-05:00

So weird typing that title because I typed the exact same thing {HERE}, after my 38 week appointment with Big T.

So I'm dilated (again this time) to a 1 currently... nothing to write home about.

I gained 1 lb. this week, bringing me up to 32 lbs. total.
I asked my doctor about possibly inducing me next Friday (11.11.11) and he said no.
It's truly not because of the date, even though it'd be cool, but mainly because it's a Friday and that would be a perfect day for the hubs so he could be off work that day, all the next week, and then return back to work on that Monday.
Plus, it'd be nice to have a set schedule so we could have childcare in place for Big T and everything.
But we'll make do and play it by ear. Our families are on alert, so it shouldn't be a big deal to schedule childcare for him.
My dr. said that unless there is a miracle and I'm at a 2 or 3 and at least 50% effaced by next week he will not induce.
All in all, I understand that and don't really want to go through an induction if I don't have to.
I know Baby M will come when he's ready.

In other news, we took Big T trick or treating in our neighborhood last night and it was so fun to watch him!
He was hesitant at first and didn't really get the concept until we went to a few houses but then he was literally dragging us saying "C'mon Mommy/Daddy!" to the next house saying "knock door!"
He'd go up to the door, like all up in their personal space standing up on the door frame and shit and he'd knock and yell "TRICK TREAT!" without even giving them a chance to answer first!
Then when they'd answer he'd freeze and not say anything. Haha.
It was pretty cute.

Here are a few pics from last night.

After we got home around 8pm from trick or treating I did what I always do and went though Big T's pumpkin and picked out all the nasty candy (Tootsie Rolls, brown tootsie pops, random off brand crap, gum, etc) and tossed it in our candy bowl to give out to the trick or treaters that came to our door.
Please don't tell me I'm the only one that does this??
We buy the good stuff like Reeses, Snickers, and Kit Kat's, but I'm just going to throw that nasty candy away and maybe some weirdo kid actually LIKES brown tootsie pops... who am I to judge?? ;)

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Taking a Look Back

2011-10-31T09:22:00.011-05:00

38 Weeks and feeling good.
I have been having contractions lately. Last night I timed them and they were 7 minutes apart for about an hour... but then they went away.
I downloaded this cool app on my phone that times my contractions for me, so that's pretty helpful.
Sleep has been good and my working out has tapered off a bit.
I'm mainly taking walks/runs now a couple days a week.
The last run I did I felt as if I was going to die afterwards. Of course, I was pushing Big T in the jogging stroller, so that always makes it a bit harder.
I get checked for progress tomorrow, so I'll update you all then.

Until then, let's take a look back at this pregnancy, shall we?
12 Weeks

18 Weeks

22 Weeks

27 Weeks

31 Weeks

32 Weeks

34 Weeks

37 Weeks

38 Weeks

My bags are all packed and we are just waiting!

Oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

My Humps, My Humps, My Lovely Baby Bump

2011-10-27T10:22:00.007-05:00

I used to jam OUT to that song.
Aaahh, back in the single days. Days of bar hopping and drinking Malibu & Diet Cokes. (gag me)

I do have days when I get dressed for work and think "I look good. I mean, REAL GOOD! HEY EVERYONE! COME SEE HOW GOOD I LOOK!"
(and if you seriously think that's a statement from ME and NOT Ron Burgandy, please quit reading my blog now)

Today is one of those days.
I am rockin' this bump till that baby falls out. (wish it were that easy)
And then? Well, then I won't be rocking much of anything but a spare tire for awhile, so I better embrace it when I can, huh?

I will have you know, the only thing I'm wearing today that is maternity are my leggings.
Making full use of what I've got peeps.
Sure, I need a tan like nobody's business and my hair is dull and flat, but all in all, I'd say NOT BAD.

I'm gonna rock this shit till the wheels fall off.
And then I'm gonna have to work REAL hard to rock anything after that.
Womp womp.

Big T's Halloween Carnival & 37 Week Appointment

2011-10-26T11:06:00.005-05:00

Big T had his Halloween Carnival at daycare last night.
The kids dress up in their Halloween costumes and get to play games and get candy and stuff.
He had a good time and looked sooo cute in his Woody costume!

We got so many compliments on his costume!
I hate how little kids costumes are so cheap looking, so I went a different route with Big T's.
I bought the shirt off Etsy and just bought an accessory kit from Party City that included the badge, vest, bandana and hat. We paired it with his own jeans and boots and THIS BELT that used to be my dad's from 20+ years ago.
(That picture of me in the belt was a proud moment because my dad was SKINNY and I had never been able to wear it until I lost over 60 lbs.)

But now I'm ~~fat again~~ pregnant, so let's talk about fat stuff.

I had my 37 week appointment today. No checking for dilation, my doctor says it's rare to dilate before 38 weeks, so he spared me the torture of that.
Even though I didn't really think it was "torture", just more uncomfortable than anything.
I gained no weight, so I'm still at 31 lbs. and baby looks good.
Everything is right on track!

Now, we wait...

2011-10-24T10:50:00.003-05:00

Baby is officially full term today and can come any time he decides.
This is a bit nerve wracking.... the last few weeks, not knowing when I'll go into labor.
I had some pretty strong contractions Friday night.
Crazy that I now have to really pay attention and start the whole "timing" thing.

The hubs and I bought a carseat and another pack n play yesterday so we are all set and ready for him.
**Side note** You can never own too many pack n play's!
The pack n play is set up next to my side of the bed, just like Big T's was.

I'll be updating you all if anything happens, how doctor's appointments go and so on.
And yes, I'll be posting while in labor just like I did last time.

YOU ARE WELCOME!

Stick with me guys, I've only got a little while longer!

9 Months Pregnant Weight = Pre-Babies Weight

2011-10-21T08:50:00.003-05:00

Yes, that's right. I'm as fat right now as I was right before I got pregnant with Big T in 2008.
Fat & Just Sperminated (as in I didn't even know yet) in December 2008.

Okay, so I'm pregnant this time, ERRONEOUS!
I still weigh the same.
And I gotta tell ya, this trip down memory lane is an ass whippin'.

Before I got pregnant with Baby M in February of this year I was in pretty damn good shape. I had just finished the 30 Day Shred and my weight (per my home scale) was around 149 lbs.
Up from my all time low of 135, but yet in the smallest size (a six bitches, SIX!) I've been in YEARS.
I thank Jillian for that.
That 30 Day Shred + lean eating did WONDERS!
You can check out my results {HERE}.

Then the hubs and I were doing the Horizontal Mambo quite frequently trying to get Big T a sibling, and BAM, I was pregnant that next month.

Per my doctors scale my starting weight was 154 lbs.
Those doctors scales are the devil I tell ya, THE DEVIL!
And at my 36 week checkup last week I was 185.
Are you calculating in your head right now?
That is a total gain of 31 lbs. thus far.
I am really hoping that these last few weeks go much like the last few weeks I was pregnant with Big T in that I lose a few lbs.
But if not, no big deal.

At this point I don't feel like losing the baby weight is going to be an issue for me.
I'm pretty sure I'll be back at my pre-pregnancy weight of around 150 by my 6 week checkup.
I plan on counting my calories again and getting in walks with Baby M if I'm up to it in those first 6 weeks.
Then once I am released to workout I will work on shedding those last 30 lbs.
That's where I'll need to really push it.
So I'll be doing Lindsey Brin's Postnatal Boot Camp, The Shred, and training for my first 1/2 marathon in April.
YIPES! My goal for my first 1/2 marathon is to finish!
I will be only 5 months out so I'll be happy with crossing the finish line.

And my ultimate goal is to see that 120 on the scale by my 10 year high school reunion in August!

I've always ~~been jealous~~ hated those girls who spit out babies and the next week look no different than they did pre-baby. I am not one of those girls. I have had to work hard for the scale to move and while yes, it has SUCKED and is not fair, it's all been worth it.
And I really think it's made me appreciate my body a lot more.
Knowing I am capable of something like losing 60+ pounds after having a baby makes me feel strong and powerful.
I can't wait to feel like that again!

Maternity Pics

2011-10-19T17:27:00.006-05:00

Are you ready for some eye candy??
I got my maternity pictures today and thought I'd share them with you! I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out and highly recommend Eleven Thirty Six Images to EVERYONE looking for a great photographer in the Dallas area!
Tell Allison I sent you!

These were taken at 34 Weeks. Enjoy!

Pregnancy Comparison : 36 Weeks

2011-10-18T09:11:00.004-05:00

I officially suck. I've been spelling 'comparrison' this whole time with 2 r's.
Today for some reason when I typed it out it looked funny so I spell checked that shit and sure enough, I'm a dumbass.
Whatev.
Blame it on the pregnancy.
Speaking of, are y'all sick and tired of my pregnancy updates? I know ~~most~~ a lot of you read this blog for the weight loss aspect and you're probably like "Jesus lady, spit that baby out already so we can get back to the important shit like lettuce and running."
Well hold your pretty little horses for a couple more weeks and I promise we'll get back on track.
Because this mama WILL BE a MILF again by the time summer rolls back around. FACT.

Until then, it's more pregnancy pics and updates.

In this particular comparison I can tell the most difference in my face (read double chin) and ass.
And just for reference, that dress from the 2009 picture was a size XL and the dress I'm wearing in the 2011 picture is a size small.

So while I'm still fat, at least I'm not as fat as I WAS.

Oh, and I got my diaper bag in the mail yesterday.
I LOVE that it looks more like a purse than a diaper bag! And that it's big! that's what she said.
(disregard the dirty bathroom mirror, that's my husband's doing)

State Fair of Texas & Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-17T09:45:00.011-05:00

To say I've had a busy weekend would be a complete and utter understatement.
First of all, Friday my wallet got stolen out of my purse at work.
The dumbass went to Kroger and charged up cartons of cigarettes and some chicken on my debit card.
Then they went to Chevron and got gas.
So $200 later, I have to go through the pain in the ass that is canceling cards and getting a new drivers license and so on.
So that was awesome.

Friday night the hubs, Big T and I went and had burgers at a little burger joint. It made me realize I'm going to miss eating pretty much what I want after this baby is born.
Oh well.

Saturday we got up bright and early and got ready to head to the State Fair of Texas.
I was quite apprehensive about going, being 9 months pregnant and with a huge group and all, but I did really well considering.
I only had to stop for breaks a few times and I did it with no bitching. That's a success people.

We rode the train to the fair. Big T might have liked riding the train more than the actual fair...

Some of our large group we went with:

Big T had a chocolate covered banana:

I had the Fried Salsa. It was AMAZING! Best thing I put in my mouth all day! (that's what she said)

I saw this sign for FRIED CHICKEN SKIN and almost threw up in my mouth!!!

Then I had some Fried Mashed Potatoes which were really good:

Big T & Daddy:

The Ferris Wheel (which I've never ridden):

We had a lot of fun and hope to go back before it closes next week!

Saturday night we had some people over at the house and cooked some steaks and watched the Rangers win the ALCS and head to the World Series! It was awesome.

Sunday we got up and headed to a pumpkin patch.
Big T was not a fan of the goats.

We went on a hayride:

Big T picked out a pumpkin:

Last time I tried to carve a pumpkin I almost cut my thumb off so I may be leaving that up to the hubs.
Or hell, we may not even carve them. We're lazycool like that.

Hope you all had a great weekend!
Ours was good... minus the stolen wallet part!

36 Week Pregnancy Comparison post is coming up next!

Exhausted

2011-10-13T10:03:00.006-05:00

Let me tell you a little how my mornings have gone this past week:
Alarm goes off at 6:15am. Snooze that bitch till 7:45.
Wake up realizing "SHIT! I should be almost ready to leave right now!"
Go wake up Big T, fix him breakfast, let him watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (his newest obsession) while I throw on some clothes and try to make myself look presentable for work.
Exhausted.
Fight with Big T about getting dressed. He wants to hang around the house in his diaper apparently.
Chase him all over the house, still half asleep (me, definitely not him- he's already had his baby crack in milk form) and fight him to get dressed.
Exhausted.
Big T throws fit because I'm such a mean mommy and won't let him take his blankie to school.
He gets over it.
Then tries to take teddy bear to school.
Another fit ensues including throwing himself on the floor.
Me, in heels, sweating, tired, OVER IT, trying to get him off the floor and out the door.
Exhausted.
Distract him with Hammy tactics- "Big T, go get Hammy and put him in his cage!"
Big T falls for it. Gets Hammy in his cage and says "be good boy Hammy!"
Success.
Set alarm and out the door.
Exhausted.
Talk with Big T the whole way to daycare. All the while he's telling me "Aunt Winny slide down. Bady, Booky house! Peeese mommy!"
Clearly telling me he wants to go to his aunt's house and play with his cousins instead of going to daycare.
I distract him asking him about the cars passing, the sun, ANYTHING.
He sees school and screams out "YAAAYYY! CHOO CHOO SCHOOL!"
Success.
Take him inside and out the back door of daycare where his class is playing. Hugs kisses, be a good boy, etc.
Go get in my car and drive to work.
Exhausted.
Get to work 15-30 minutes late. Thank God my boss is awesome and "gets it".
Check emails, work, blah blah, lunch.
REALLY REALLY EXHAUSTED.
I'm talking, 1:00pm rolls around and I'm almost falling asleep at my desk.
Never realized I could be this tired.
4:00pm time to leave work.
Still Exhausted.
Get in my car, drive 30 minutes to Big T's daycare.
So ready to see him that I have now found my 2nd wind.
Exhaustion gone.
Wrangle 2 year old for the rest of the night.
Play, go for a walk/run, let Big T ride his four wheeler outside, cook dinner, clean the kitchen, pick up the house, etc. Mom shit basically.
Daddy takes care of "bathtime" which is really just a shower because he's impatient/lazy, I don't know. All that means to me is I have approximately 5 minutes to sit down and BREATHE. I'll take it.
SHIT, can't breathe. My allergies are killing me.
Take 2 Benadryl- wait for the magic to happen.
5 minutes is up and Big T comes running naked into the living room screaming "mommy! diaper!"
Get him in his jammies (which sounds like 'damnit' when he says it- so we now call them 'PJ's').
He "winds down".
Drinks milk on the couch as we all sit and watch the Ranger game.
8:15pm the magic is starting to happen.
Exhausted.
Tell Big T it's bedtime. Fit ensues. Ask him if he wants to go rock or wants to go to bed. (The glider is now in the baby's room and I don't think he likes the baby's room at night- he's not familiar with it). He says "night night bed" and we get his blankie and teddy bear and walk to his room.
Bedtime.
Hugs, kisses, back rubs, bedtime shit.
I go sit on the couch and try to watch the rest of the Ranger game.
Exhausted.
Head to bed at 8:45pm.
Turn on the Ranger game in our bedroom, watch as Nelson Cruz hits ANOTHER 3 run bomb in the 11th inning. Cheers, claps, hollers, etc.
TV off. Try to sleep.
Can't get comfortable.
Finally fall asleep.
Toss and turn (and SWEAT!!!!!) until about 3am.
Exhausted.
Can't get comfortable at all.
Finally, when I do get comfortable and am "in the good sleep zone" my alarm goes off and it's time to do it all again.
Exhausted.

So there you have it.
Point is, I'm tired.
I find myself looking forward to weekends and more so, maternity leave and not having to go work.

I am just exhausted.

No, that's not a cool new way to do your makeup... those are bags under my eyes.
Womp Womp.

I'm still here

2011-10-11T10:43:00.007-05:00

I am still alive and still ~~fat~~ pregnant.
Not much has been going on in the Laughlin household.
More of the same, working, taking care of Big T and the hubs. I am rocking this pregnancy y'all.
I am still cleaning the house, doing the dishes, taking care of bathtime, cooking dinner, doing laundry. All things (minus Big T related stuff) I wasn't able to do last time.
I remember bitching and moaning to the hubs for help last time because even standing on my feet for more than 10 minutes made my back hurt. So he picked up the slack and did all the household chores while I sat around on my ass getting fat(ter).
This time I am craving movement. I want to constantly go on walks or for runs. This weather has a lot to do with it. Yesterday it was 76 degrees. Beautiful.
We kept saying we were going to go for a walk after the Ranger game ended, but 11 innings later (and a Ranger victory) it was too dark to go.
Man, that game was intense. I love baseball, and games like that are what make it such an amazing sport.
I played softball for 15 years and have played in more games than you can fathom. I've been pushed down, scarred up, black eyes, twisted ankles, skinned up, bruised up and beaten up. And with all that, I learned more on that diamond than anywhere else.
So I have a special place for baseball and games like that.
Ones that make your adrenaline go wild. That have you clinging to the edge of your seat.
I have played in games like that. Obviously not as important as an ALCS game, but games where it felt like that was the only thing in the world that mattered at that moment.
Where all eyes are on you.
Sometimes I choked, and sometimes I was the hero.
"That's the way baseball go."

Enough of my butchly-ness. Bet you didn't know I was so hardcore did you?
Well now you do.

I have been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions lately.
This gets me all worried/anxious about labor.
What if my water breaks while I'm at work? My water didn't break last time, I had contractions first and then while at the hospital and after epidural and pitocin my doctor broke my water.
Do I need to pack my bag for the hospital and take it with me to work every day?
Since I plan on working up until delivery (last time I took off 2 weeks before my due date as advised by my doctor because I had high blood pressure and edema) I'm now worried I will go into labor at work.
And I feel like this baby is just going to shoot out with the quickness.
I guess I need to have a few towels and an extra pair of pants in my car at all times.
Thank goodness I have leather seats if it comes down to that!

I still have things I need to get for baby M.
Since we didn't get a video monitor (and that bad boy is $200) I guess we'll be using the regular monitor we used with Big T.
Big T was sleeping in his room in his crib at 2 weeks old. And I had no video monitor.
Don't ask me how I did it, I have no idea.
But I'm all about getting that baby used to their crib as soon as possible, so I'm hoping baby M copes just as well as Big T did.

Today we had our last sonogram to check on baby M.
He is indeed still a boy and is weighing in at 5 lbs. 9 oz. So he's right about the same size as Big T was at this point. I'm guessing his birth weight will be around 8 lbs. even.
It was so great to see his little face and know that everything is going smoothly.
He has hair, now what color we won't know until D day!
He's also got chubby cheeks like Big T had.
I can't wait to meet him in person!
Take a look at Baby M at 35 weeks:

Looking just like his big brother at 34 weeks:

It was really cool because we got to bring Big T with us this time so he got to see Baby M.
When we'd ask him "Big T, is that your baby brother?" He'd say "no". He wasn't impressed or interested in Baby M really.
Womp womp.
I think he understood the concept however, which is what I was shooting for.

The sonographer gave me an estimated due date of November 15th, (my due date is November 14th) but that's not to say he won't come early ... or late for that matter.
Everyone cross your fingers for November 11th!
I need me an 11.11.11 baby! Especially since Big T was a 09.09.09 baby.
I really don't care when he gets here honestly, just so long as he's healthy!

And one last picture to hold you over until next time of Big T and daddy waiting to see Baby M:

Stay tuned for state fair pictures, maternity pictures, and a 36 week pregnancy comparrison- all coming up in the coming week.

Later bitches.

34 Week Appointment & Updates

2011-10-06T09:26:00.007-05:00

Had my 34 week appointment yesterday.
I gained another 3 lbs. bringing my total to 27 lbs. so far.
My goal was between 25-30 and it's looking like it's going to be closer to 30, which is fine.
I'm not too worried about it.
I have my last sonogram scheduled for Tuesday. I am very excited/anxious about this.
One, because I haven't seen him (if it's indeed still a boy!) since 19 weeks, and two, I want to see how he's laying and how much he's weighing!
I feel most of all the movement on my right side so I kind of feel like he's laying sideways... who knows.

Falling asleep last night was a nightmare.
I couldn't get comfortable in any position. But once I fell asleep I was out.
My allergies have been terrible lately so I've been taking Benadryl at around 7pm and that always knocks me out. On the days I workout/walk/run/whatever I notice I sleep better.
I'm going to up my walking/working out to 5-6 nights a week now because of this.
Sleep is precious these days. I know what life with a newborn is like, so I better get all the sleep I can now!

I'm still dealing with heartburn/acid reflux. I have gone through a bottle of Tums in a week if that gives you any indication.
I am back to peeing every 30 minutes.
And I'm constantly constipated.
What? You didn't want know know my bowel status? Too bad.
Pregnancy is fun, huh?

I snapped a picture for you today in the bathroom because I know pregnancy updates with no photos are BORING.
So here I am, 34 weeks 3 days.

And PS- that whole outfit I'm wearing is all less than $30. Yeah, I'm pretty awesome like that.
Maternity jeggings $9.99
Green tank from Target- non maternity $7.00
Gray/Blk cardi Charlotte Russe - non maternity $8.99

I did have to stop at CVS on my way to work this morning because I apparently forgot to put on deodorant before I left the house.
I blame it on the pregnancy brain.

In other news, I haven't watched Toy Story in 3 days!!! Big T is now obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Whatev.

***OH ALSO!!!***
Have yall heard of Kidd's Kids?
Kidd Kraddick is a radio DJ here in Dallas and every year he takes a group of sick kids to Disney World.
Today is Kidd's Kids day and they are taking donations. I can't listen to them on Kidd's Kids day because it's too much for this pregnant mama to handle, but I DID donate $10 by texting the word KIDD to the number 52000. It's that easy. Or you can go to the website {HERE} to donate more or less. Every little bit helps! Let's be thankful for our healthy kids and give to those who aren't so fortunate.

Can I hug you?

2011-10-03T09:25:00.014-05:00

Hope you all had a great weekend.
Saturday was probably one of the best days EVER.
It started off with our maternity pictures.
The weather was beautiful and after seeing a sneak peak from the awesome photographer, I am confident we got some great shots!
If you live in the Dallas area and need a good photographer, message me and I'll send you her info!
Here are a few I've seen so far... I'll post more when I get them.

Then, after our pics we headed to breakfast. Big T drove us there.

(Not really, this was sitting in the truck before our pics - the truck was off)

We had some great breakfast and headed home to take naps.

We had a wedding to go to that night and since it was in Fort Worth (about an hour away) Big T was going to be staying with his Aunt Winny & Uncle Dan.
He hasn't stayed the night away from home in a long time, and even then, it only happened a handful of times, so needless to say I was nervous about how he'd act.
He has been SUPER clingy to me lately (we're trying to break him of this) and he seems to only want me when he's whining or fussy or when there are a ton of people around.

So as we dropped him off and were leaving he didn't fuss once, or cry, or anything!
My sister said he was a perfect angel all night!
I'm sure being with his cousins helped a whole lot and kept him occupied.
This gives me some hope about him having a little brother to play with.

The wedding was beautiful and we had a great time.
At one point during the night a server came up to me and said "I can't believe you are wearing heels! You are like the sexiest pregnant lady ever!"
I was like "You are SOO sweet! Can I hug you?"
I'm pretty sure she made my whole year with that comment!
I had several people come up to me and tell me how great I looked and they couldn't believe I was wearing heels with how far along I was.
It was quite possibly the sweetest thing ever.
And yes, I'm bragging, but if you knew how I felt/looked the last time I was pregnant, you'd understand.
No one EVER said nice things like that to me when I was pregnant last time!
So I'm gonna bask in those glorious comments uhthankyouverymuch.

We got home from the wedding around midnight and went to bed.
I woke up at 7:30am ready to go get Big T, but we were heading over to my sister's that day anyway for a tailgate football party so we just went over early.
Basically what we do at a tailgate football party is bring a shitton of food, set up the TV outside by the trailers all white trash like, dress in our Cowboys gear (even though Romo sucks a fat one and tends to lose our games in the last quarter)

and sit in lawn chairs of the awesome no gravity variety and watch the game while the kids play.

This was us at a tailgate party last year:

I wore that same jersey yesterday... yeah, it looked a little different on me this year!
I did take a pic but the sun was all up in our faces and it turned out terrible so another time.

I did make two awesome dishes for the party though that I thought I'd share.

Paula Deen's Corn Salad

recipe found {HERE}, but here it is anyway:

INGREDIENTS:
* 2 (15 ounce) cans whole kernel corn, drained
* 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 1 cup green pepper, chopped
* 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
* 1 (10 1/2 ounce) bag coarsely crushed Fritos chili cheese corn chips
DIRECTIONS:
Mix first 5 ingredients together. Chill. Then add in Fritos before serving.

SOOO GOOD!

& the other one:

Crack Potatoes

recipe found {HERE} but here it is:

INGREDIENTS:
*2 (16oz) containers sour cream
*2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
*2 (3oz) bags real bacon bits
*2 packages Ranch Dip mix (They were a bit too "Ranch-y" for me, so I suggest using only 1 packet)
*1 large (28 - 30oz) bag frozen hash brown potatoes - shredded kind
DIRECTIONS:
Combine first 4 ingredients, mix in hash browns. Spread into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes.

There you have it. Hope you all had a great weekend!

September Favorites

2011-09-30T09:36:00.019-05:00

I started to post today about strippers.
Yes, the kind that take their clothes off for money. Then I realized, well shit, I may have some strippers that read this blog and I might be offending some people.
Then I thought "since when do I give a rats ass about offending some damn strippers?"
So if you'd like to see that post, let me know and I'll get it up soon.

Until then, we'll do a September Favorites post. Because those are JUST as fun as reading my opinions on strippers, right??

Can I first just say that Holy Shitballs, I can't believe it's October!!
Ok, so tomorrow is October, but regardless. HELL YES! Pregnant in the heat of the Texas summer is brutal. I am ready for boots, scarves and cooler weather!
And October means we are ONE MONTH away from meeting the little one! YAY!!!

So without further adieu, here are my September Faves:

Full Panel Maternity Leggings

I own 3 pairs. They are my absolute favorite thing to wear right now. SOOO comfy! I do get into a pinch sometimes because I only have a few shirts that cover my butt when wearing them, and I feel like a pair of leggings that show your buttcrack are not okay for work attire. But I wear them pretty much everywhere else!
The ones I have are from Motherhood Maternity and were $19.98 per pair.

Pinterest

I'm obsessed. Here is some cool shit I've pinned lately:

YIPES!

Case and point about buttcrack showing in leggings at work.

Dumble Door... get it?? I laughed for a solid 9 seconds when I saw this.

Photos taken in the middle of Olympic dives. haha

I immediately sent this to my husband when I saw it... like it was my idea. I got no response.

Those are just a few. Get your ass over to Pinterest and follow me. I pin cool shit.

Etsy

Ok, so I really love Etsy every month, but I love that I found a bright orange crib sheet at this shop and that it makes such a difference in the nursery!
Before:

After:

Unite 7 Seconds Leave In Conditioner

This has been on my faves list before. It is the best leave in conditioner EVER. It is about $25 and you can only get it online or at high end salons. I ordered mine on Amazon.

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle

Another hair product. This stuff is awesome! It smells soooo good and it's CHEAP! I think I paid $4 for it!

Milk

I know that's totally random, but I can NOT get enough milk! I crave it!!!
Pregnancy side effect I suppose!

Well that's all I got for now.

What are your September Faves?

Toy Story? AGAIN??

2011-09-28T09:28:00.003-05:00

Big T is in a Toy Story phase right now.
Has been for the past 3 weeks.

I.AM.SICK.OF.TOY.STORY.

The first thing he says in the morning when I wake him up is "Woody? Fock-art? Milk? Duckie?"
That translates to "Where's my Woody doll? I want to sit on the couch, watch Woody & Buzz, eat my poptart (fock-art) and drink my milk. And make sure you bring my blankie (duckie) too."
So every morning he sits on the couch while I finish getting ready and eats his breakfast and watches Toy Story.

Toy Story was on TV a few weeks ago and I recorded it on our DVR. So that means, there are commercials. Big T does NOT like the commercials. And I have it down now where I know when the commercials are coming so I'll go to the living room when I hear it's coming and fast forward through them.

Let me state something. My child has NEVER been a TV watcher. EVER. Not until he discovered Toy Story. And now, he wants to watch it ALL.THE.TIME.
We usually end up watching 1/2 of it in the morning and then the other 1/2 at night before bedtime.
He has been sleeping with his big stuffed Woody doll for nearly 2 weeks now. It's pretty cute how he tries to feed Woody his milk. It kind of gives me a glimpse into how he'll (hopefully) be with his little brother.

I'm pretty sure we've got our Halloween costume picked out, though!

Did your child go through a certain phase like this where he/she was obsessed with a show?
I'm hoping it doesn't last much longer because I think I'd rather lick the pavement than watch Toy Story every day for the next few years!

33 Weeks & Feeling Pretty Damn Good

2011-09-26T10:40:00.003-05:00

I'm still quite fortunate in that I'm not TOO uncomfortable yet.
I think I hit the "uncomfortable" stage at 25 weeks when I was pregnant with Big T, and the "miserable" stage at 29 weeks.
Looking back at old posts I sure did complain a lot. I am trying not to do that this time.
It's helped that I don't really have anything to complain about though.

I am still feeling great and at 33 weeks, I think that's pretty damn good.
I am over my sickness now and the only thing I'm really dealing with is heartburn/acid reflux at night, some minor lower back pain, and waddling.
Tums have become my new best friend. I take 3 right before I go to bed and I'm golden.
Sleep is still pretty good. I toss and turn a little bit, but it's not bad at all.
I will take a Tylenol before bed if I've been on my feet all day or am having some worse than normal back pain and that seems to help.

I can still prop my leg up in the shower to shave my legs and paint my toenails, two things that I remember NOT being able to do at all last time.

My working out has slowed in intensity a little. I am still walking or doing running intervals 4-5 times a week. The weather has cooled here a little (high 80's- low 90's) so at night we are taking family walks with Big T in the wagon.
Have you pulled a wagon with a 30 pound child inside for about 2 miles? It's a workout in itself. So on those days I typically add in some arm weights when we get back and call that a day.
Other days I'll do the mile or 2 mile loop around our neighborhood doing running intervals.
That's about the extent of my workouts these days.
Still getting in movement, but nothing too intense.

We plan on going to the State Fair of Texas again this year which I'm totally excited about (I LOVE the fair and all the fried goodness) and nervous about (all that walking all day is just asking for back pain).
This year some of the fried foods they have are:

DEEP FRIED PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE - sounds good!
DEEP FRIED TEXAS SALSA - I'm undecided on this
EL BANANARITO - YES PLEASE!
FRIED AUTUMN PIE - eh
HANS’ KRAUT BALL - I'm gonna vomit
WALKING TACO - OH YES!
BUFFALO CHICKEN IN A FLAPJACK (won best taste this year) - Sounds good to me!
FRIED BUBBLEGUM (won most creative this year) - vomit

I'd like to try a few of those! I'll definitely let you know how they are!

And just because no post is truly complete without a picture, here's one of Big T and I this weekend at his grandmas birthday lunch on the lake.

Crockpot Baked Potato Soup

2011-09-23T10:50:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, while home sick for the second day in a row, I thought I'd try out a crockpot meal.
I don't cook anything but queso in there. Not because I can't, but because I'm scared to.
I burned one meal one time and refused to try it again.
My crockpot is apparently really powerful though. It usually only takes about 1/2 the time to cook anything, therefore making it hard for me to leave a dinner in the crockpot and then leave for work. Hence what happened the first time when I burned said dinner.

But since I was going to be home all day anyway, and I was still sick, I thought I'd scour my Pinterest recipes for a good soup to try out.

Enter Baked Potato Soup.
Recipe found {HERE}, but I'll re-cap for those who are lazy clickers.

INGREDIENTS:
1 30oz. bag of frozen, shredded hash browns {I used Ore Ida}

3 14oz. cans of chicken broth

1 can of cream of chicken soup {I use the fat free kind}

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

1 pkg. cream cheese {I use 1/3 less fat- don’t use fat free. It WON’T melt!!!}

DIRECTIONS:
In a crockpot, combine everything EXCEPT for the cream cheese.
It will look like this:

Cook for 6-8 hours on low heat. {My over achieving crockpot had this done in 3-4 hours}.
1 hour before serving, add in the cream cheese and stir periodically.
Top with shredded cheese, bacon, or green onions {puke}.
When done, it will look like this:

Hey, I didn't say it was the PRETTIEST thing you'd ever eat, but it's right up there with the best tasting!

Your 2 year old may even eat 3 bowl fulls like mine did!

And he may even say "YUMMMMM!" after every bite... can't beat an easy, kid tested, mother approved meal like that!

To see what other awesome recipes I like on Pinterest, click {HERE}.

32 Weeks & The Big Nursery Reveal

2011-09-21T13:35:00.015-05:00

Man, y'all are in for a freakin double whammy treat today.

Before I get into the nursery pics, I wanted to share how my 32 week appointment went this morning.
I gained another pound bringing my total to 24 lbs. So I'm pretty happy with this.
Sunday I woke up feeling achy, having hot and cold flashes and just feeling really sore. Thought nothing of it and went about my day. Monday I woke up with what I thought were allergy symptoms and this morning I woke up with a full out head cold.
Coughing, sneezing, stuffy nose, you name it. Not awesome.
So I haven't really had much of an appetite the past few days which is I'm sure what lead to my low gain this week.
Other than feeling like death, everything looks good.
At my appointment on October 5th we will schedule another sonogram. My first since 19 weeks. I keep having these thoughts like "what if it's not a boy?" I've gotten so attached to the thought of having another little man. I am of course, almost certain it is indeed still a boy, and again, am not wishing for the latter. I've just heard some crazy stories about people finding out the sex only to realize it's the opposite. We will be happy with either.

I snapped a picture for you today, even though I have no makeup on, am in workout gear, and my hair is dirty. So YOU'RE WELCOME for that.

(trust me, it looked better in black and white- I am a hot mess today!)

Since I am home sick today I got the urge to finish the nursery.
And then I got the urge to photograph it and show off what I've been working on for the past ... oohhh.... 6 months.

The curtains were the first thing I saw that I just HAD to have. At $50 a PANEL I wasn't willing to spend that much (I'm cheap), so after talking with my boss about how awesome they were, he decided to buy them for me as a baby gift! :)
ZGallerie panels found {HERE}.
The wall decal I got off Amazon. Found {HERE}.
Paper lanterns I got {HERE}. - they were CHEAP and add so much dimension to the room! I originally thought I got them too big, but they are growing on me.
Bookshelf is old and used to be in our junk room.
Crib was bought at Babies R Us from the hubs mom as a gift.
Crib bumper, crib mattress, and crib sheet were gifts I received at my baby shower last weekend, also all came from Babies R Us.
I am, however, waiting on an orange crib sheet I ordered from Etsy to come in to give the bed more of a pop of color.
The crib skirt I am pretty proud of, I made that bad boy myself.
I bought the fabric off Etsy and used this tutorial to make it. I did it all without a needle and thread! Super easy and I TOTALLY recommend it!

Top Shelf:
Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil owls are a gift from my shower. LOVE THEM.
Scentsy burner (burning Newborn Nursery- the only scent acceptable for a nursery!) from my Scentsy dealer. I used that burner in Big T's nursery when he was little to mask the smell of the Diaper Champ- which you will notice is missing.. not sure if we will be reusing that smelly thing or not.
Middle Shelf: Picture frame gift from baby shower, green "M" is from Hobby Lobby, and the other picture frame is recycled from another room.
Bottom Shelf: The hubs, mine, and Big T's baby books, owl monthly onesie stickers were a gift from Etsy, owl clutch looking thing holds my owl nursing cover I got as a gift at my shower. It's from Etsy. Bear announcing birth stats we got when Big T was born as a gift.

Dresser is from Babies R Us and was a gift from the hubs grandparents.
The frame still needs to be hung, but my husband hates when I put holes in the walls and says I can't hang things straight, so I thought I'd wait for him to get home to hang that.... so just imagine it's hanging above the dresser/changer.

Frame was an old picture I had lying around. I spray painted it white, gutted it, bought the MJL (M.J.L.- babies initials) and paint at Hobby Lobby and used left over fabric from the crib skirt to make it. Lots of hot glue and some (wo)man labor.
I don't know if you can tell, but that lamp shade is gray with owls on it. It came from Canton, a gift from my mom. Love it!
Glider is recycled from Big T's room. It was a gift from my boss when Big T was born.
Green and white polka dot basket is from Hobby Lobby.
Owl on basket you may recognize from this...

My good friend, Laurin, made it as my cupcake topper last weekend for my shower! I just hot glued that bad boy onto the basket.
Changing pad and changing pad cover were gifts from my shower, both from Babies R Us.
I need to get an aqua changing pad cover for another pop of color.

Close up of my flawless crib skirt. I'm pretty proud of that since I'm not much of a DIY'er.

So there you have it. I am really happy with how it turned out. It is bright and fun and the total opposite of Big T's nursery, which is very calm and classic.
Now, let's hope he's not the total opposite of his big brother in the sleeping department!
God can bless you with 2 good babies...... right??

Baby Shower

2011-09-18T19:33:00.013-05:00

My baby shower was this Saturday. It was beautiful and I got a lot of great stuff! Thank you to everyone who came and thanks to my awesome hostesses for putting it all together!
Here are the pics.

The decor:

My good friend, Laurin, made those cupcakes from scratch and they were TO DIE FOR!

My amazing hostesses, Tiffany & Laurin:

32 weeks:

Gifts:

Yep, I so did that. M is all you need to know for now! :)

I know I promised nursery pictures and I swear they are coming, but I have a few last minute things to do before I reveal it.
I'm really excited with how it's turned out so far!
Stay tuned!

EXCUSE ME!?!?!?

2011-09-15T09:45:00.002-05:00

Big T loves him some poptarts.
But there is a problem (aside from them not being nutritious- shoot me).
He can't say "poptart" right.
Instead he says "fock-art". Which, in all reality, sounds more like "F*ck it".
Don't believe me?
See for yourself.

Yes, it's a problem. Hopefully he doesn't go to school telling the teachers he wants a poptart!

Wordless Wednesday: Pregnancy Comparrison

2011-09-14T13:51:00.001-05:00

Okay, I lied. I do have two words:

HOLY SHITBALLS!

Big T's 2nd Birthday Party

2011-09-12T09:32:00.015-05:00

Well Big T's party was a great success!
We worked all weekend on getting things ready and I think it turned out great!
He got a bunch of new clothes and toys that I have NO IDEA where I'm going to put!
We tried to scale it down this year, but somehow it still turned out to be a whole lotta people in my crowded house!
I'm thankful, however, that we have such great friends and family to celebrate such special birthdays with!

The decor:
We did a train theme. Not so much "Thomas", but trains in general.

PRESENTS!

CUPCAKES!

Mommy, Daddy & the Birthday Boy

Well hello Double Chin... been awhile since I've seen you... :(

Daddy & Big T in the bounce house

I love that picture!

We had a lot of fun and mama is worn out!
Happy Birthday to my big 2 year old!

Here's a video of me singing Happy Birthday to Big T on his actual birthday:
I'm thinking of making this a tradition!

(Don't mind my amazing singing!)
To see last year's video, click {HERE}.

Oh, and it's official, we have picked out a baby name! :)

Nursery pics to come soon!

30 Week Dr. Appointment Update

2011-09-08T09:43:00.003-05:00

I had my 30 week checkup yesterday.
All went well and my doctor even referred to me as "the model patient" because I never have any complaints when he asks.
Well, sure, I HAVE complaints, but nothing out of the ordinary.
I'm not going to go in my doctor's office at every appointment and complain about how my back hurts and I feel pressure and all that, BEEN THERE, IT'S NORMAL. NO CAUSE FOR CONCERN!

My doctor said I have another sono in about 4 weeks to see how big he's measuring. He did say that my amniotic fluid was a little on the low side (which I wasn't aware of) but that he wasn't concerned because it only goes up, not down.

At my last appointment I had gained a whopping 8 lbs. in 4 weeks. I about lost my shit. Moved the candy bowl that was stocked full of Heaven bars -aka- Reeses & Kit Kat's and never looked back. I started eating much better, watching my portions and even stopped drinking my morning coffee. I upped my workouts and got in more movement. I was NOT going to gain like that for the rest of this pregnancy.
So yesterday at my appointment I had gained 1 lb. in 2 weeks. SCORE!
See, it really DOES pay to be consistent! Even when pregnant!
Total weight gain to date: 23 lbs.
My goal is to only gain another 5-7 lbs. for the duration of my pregnancy. Totally doable.
If that happened I'd still weigh less than I did BEFORE I even got pregnant with Big T. And that would be full term this time!
Crazy, huh?

I'm getting more and more anxious to meet the little dude. I wonder if he's going to look like Big T. What color hair he's going to have, if he's as good a sleeper (please Baby Jesus!), etc.

Last night the hubs picked up the dresser and started putting it together so I'll be stocking it with his millions of clothes tonight. I still have a ton of things to do in the nursery, but it's coming together slowly.

Tomorrow is Big T's 2nd birthday. Holy smokes. I am taking off work and we are going to take Nana to lunch for her birthday as well (it's on the same day) and hopefully try and get some last minute things done for his birthday party this weekend.

Hope you all have a great weekend! I'll be back with a birthday party post in the next few days!

Baby Gear Advice

2011-09-07T09:56:00.004-05:00

When Big T was a wee little lad (I'm CLEARLY Irish) I did several posts on what baby gear/crap/pointless shit I loved.

That was back when I had like 6 followers. And they were all my family members. Womp womp. So I didn't get much feedback/advice.

Now, that I have a few other moms opinions, I want to know what baby gear you LOVED that you couldn't live without!
A certain carseat? A kickass baby magic soother?
Tell me what it is that I MUST have for this baby!

Can't wait to hear your recommendations!

Pregnancy Comparrison: 30 Weeks

2011-09-06T11:11:00.003-05:00

Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend. We sure did!
We got a lot accomplished on the nursery. Hubs hung the ceiling fan, put up blinds and changed out all the sockets to childproof sockets.
We are waiting for the dresser to get in so I can stock that baby up with all of the baby's clothes.... he's got A LOT. More than I know what to do with actually!
He's got all of Big T's old clothes, AND all of his cousin's old clothes, so I'm set on clothes!
The things I need/want are a few things that I didn't get last time. Like a video monitor, yes, I made it through without a video monitor! Don't ask me how I did it! I remember getting up and running to Big T's room anytime I heard a suspicious noise!
Bottle drying rack, bottle warmer, crib sheets, a bassinet (last time we used the pack n play for Big T's newborn days and while it worked great, it took up a LOT of room), a double stroller, things like that.

The Baby Jogger City Mini Double
I have researched this bad boy and I'm in love. It is my "big ticket item" on my registry.
Anyone have this stroller? Do you love it?

In Big T news, he will be turning TWO on Friday!
Holy Birthday Turds! I will have a 2 year old!
And my mom will be turning another decade older on Friday, too!
Two of my most favorite people!
Can't wait to celebrate their birthdays!!!

Calling All Moms!!!

2011-09-01T09:34:00.003-05:00

The lower abdominal pressure/slight pain has started.
It hurt to move last night. And this morning I'm sore.
I feel like the baby is going to fall out. I remember feeling this last time and it's not fun.
This got me to thinking.... I've only got 10 more weeks of this! (give or take)
Then I REALLY have to birth this baby.

I got lucky with Big T. My labor was the easiest thing EVER.
You can read that story {HERE}.

I'm worried I won't even make it to the hospital on time this time. I've heard each baby comes quicker than the last!

So I'm just wondering, how was your second labor compared to your first?
Faster? Slower? Easier? Harder?
Give me the deets!

The secret to getting blissful sleep when pregnant.

2011-08-30T10:08:00.004-05:00

When I was pregnant with Big T I pretty much stopped sleeping at about 25 weeks.
I was huge at that point and it was a losing battle every night to get some shut eye.
I tossed and turned and tried to heave my massive 200+ lb. body up in different positions to get comfortable.
I sometimes took 2 baths a night, just to relax and lull myself to sleep.
At around 27 weeks I was self-diagnosed with Restless Leg Syndrome.
My legs tingled EVERY NIGHT. I couldn't get them still.
Sleep pretty much sucked for the last half of my pregnancy.
Many nights I ended up trying to sleep in the recliner in our living room.
NO fun.

But I've found the secret to blissful sleep this time!
Come in close....

It's EXERCISE!

Yep. I know you didn't want to hear that, but it's true.
I am still sleeping great and I'm closing in on 30 weeks and an additional 22 lbs.
The nights I get my best sleep are the nights I have a good, hard workout before bed.
I ran 3 miles last night. (1/2 mile intervals) and I have to tell you, I'm uber impressed with the fact that a. I can still run and b. I find the energy and time to!

I don't do it for weight loss these days, but more for peace of mind, and SLEEP.
I know that on the nights I get in a good walk or run I'm gonna sleep like a baby. (Even though I quite hate that expression and it's falsities)

And I know it's tough to make yourself get off the couch and go outside for a walk or run when your back hurts and you just want to relax, but TRUST ME, it will make all the difference in the world!
Even if you just walk a mile a night!

Hey, if I can do it, SO CAN YOU!

And have you checked out Undomestic Chica's blog? I am featured as a guest blogger. Go check it out!

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby!

2011-08-26T09:19:00.001-05:00

No, not I'm not talking about the Horizontal Mambo, you freaks.
I'm talking about GENDER.
As in BABY GENDER!

I've got a confession y'all.
I know the sex of my baby!
Yes, we've known for almost 10 weeks now and it's been killing me keeping it a secret!
Okay, that's not entirely true. It's actually been pretty fun.
Are you shitting your diaper in anticipation yet?

First, I'm going to tell you how we came about the whole "keeping it a secret" idea.
I've got to be honest, I stole the idea from a friend's blog.
Her and her husband found out the sex of their first child (who is the same age as Big T) and didn't tell anyone! (ps- it was a boy)
EEKKS! I read that and thought "well shit my pants! how effing clever!"
To have a little secret between you and your hubby and let everyone else guess!
So I said, "okay, I want to do that with my next one".
Y'all know I love a good surprise!

I went back and forth with wanting to find out, wanting to keep it a secret, not finding out, telling, not telling, etc. for WEEKS.
The hubs, however, was NOT on board with this idea AT ALL.
He wanted to tell everyone right away. Funsucker.
So we compromised.
We decided that we were going to find out the sex and that if it was a girl we would tell people right away and if it was a boy we weren't going to tell anyone and just say "we weren't finding out the sex." I mean not tell ANYONE. Not our families, NOTHING.

The hubs was 100% certain from day one that it was another boy. His cockiness annoyed the shit out of me.
And honestly, one reason I didn't want to tell anyone the sex was because I didn't want to hear people's comments.
If I heard "Laughlin's just don't have girls" one more time I was going to put someone in a chokehold.
Not that I was hoping for the latter, but because my husband was so damn cocky about his ability to not produce girls that I wanted to slap him.
IT IS POSSIBLE, I don't care what your last name is, to have a girl!

From the beginning I was pretty much in the mindset that he was, thinking 'it's a boy, for sure, yep, I know it's a boy'. Then I thought, MAYBE, just MAYBE it was be a girl.
Like I said, I wasn't hoping for one or the other, I really thought it would be cool to have either. Honest Abe.

At 19 weeks we went for our sonogram to find out if Big T was going to have a little brother or a little sister.
To reiterate, I was going to be happy with either. But I honestly thought I'd be one of the "lucky ones" who got it over and done with in two tries.
What does that even mean really? Well I thought I'd have a boy and a girl and be done.
Like no more kids after that.
As if someone with two boys or two girls or three boys or three girls wasn't "lucky".
SO NOT THE CASE.
I don't know why I had that mentality, I just did.
My sister has a boy and a girl. Why did I think I would be "lucky" to have the same?
I would be lucky to have a baby at all! Some people can't even get pregnant!
So was I hoping for a girl? No. I just thought it might be convenient if I had one.
Did I just say "convenient?" Good Lord- do not slam me in the comments please.
Like MAYBE if I had a girl I would then FOR SURE know I didn't want any more kids.
But would that really be the case? I doubt it.
But in having two boys (yes, I said BOY :)) maybe I'm thinking I may want another at some point?
I don't know.
I was pretty dead set on only ever having 2 kids, regardless of the sex.
Why?
Money.
Kids are expensive.
If money was no object we'd have a ton of kids! But that's not reality. Reality is we have to be responsible enough to know "okay, we can or we can't afford to bring another child into our home".
At least, that's how we think.

All that to say, we are having another boy and I feel so incredibly blessed and beyond excited!
I can't wait for Big T to have a little brother! I LOVE my siblings and there is not another bond on the face of the earth like siblings have.
I'm a little happy that I won't have to deal with ponytails, periods, boy troubles, drama, and weddings. At least not yet...
I'm damn happy with sports, girlfriends, and trucks.

So, how come if it's a boy that I'm telling you all the sex?
That wasn't the agreement.
Yes, I KNOW.
This is how it came about:
We had agreed to tell people "we weren't finding out the sex", even though we WERE, ALREADY HAD, and were just keeping it a secret because it was a boy.
Hubs STILL wasn't on board with this idea. He hated keeping it a secret. Again, Funsucker.
So when people asked him "what are y'all having?" He'd answer "You'll have to ask my wife".

aldjfalkfjasdlkfjasd;lkj!:!:!!"!"!"! WHAT??????

Then those same people would come up to me and say "So you know what you're having?" Like more of a statement than a question.
And I was unaware at this point that the hubs was answering the question like that, so I would say "no, we're not finding out".
I wondered why they would immediately give me the stink eye when I said that like "uh huh, sure".
So I asked the hubs why it seemed like people KNEW that WE KNEW.
Are you still with me?
He said "I don't know, I tell them to ask you."

asfhkas;dlkjfa'ldfkja;lskfdj ARE YOU JOKING RIGHT NOW??
THAT WAS NOT THE AGREEMENT!!!!

He then responds "I don't like keeping this a secret. It's stupid."
Me: "YOU'RE STUPID!"

I can't tell you how pissed off I was at that moment.
He'd ruined it.
Our cool little surprise had been ruined.
People now KNEW that WE KNEW.

So I took a deep breath, talked to him about it, let him know how that was something I wanted to do and how it was rude of him not to respect my wishes and so on.
We then came to a decision that we would tell people the sex via the baby shower invitation.
I was okay with it.
I know it's hard to buy things for a baby when you don't know the sex, so I agreed.

So the secret is out, even though it wasn't my ideal way of letting the world know we're adding another little man to our family, I'm glad that the baby is healthy, because in the end, that TRULY is all that matters!

Did you find out the sex of your kids? Would you keep it a secret or not find out if you had to do it over?

Nursery & Doctor Update

2011-08-24T11:08:00.011-05:00

I haven't said much about the nursery, but that's because I want it to be somewhat of a surprise.
If you know me, you know I have no problem sharing intimate details of my life with you all, but still like that little element of surprise on some things.
On the subject of surprise, I have a BIG one for you guys coming soon, so stay tuned.

Until then, I'm going to share with you some pieces (not my actual pics) that I'm doing in the nursery just to tide you over. (PS- I always thought it was "tie" you over... yes, I googled that shit.)
Pieces that will be in the nursery/or are already:

Crib from Babies R Us

Curtains from ZGallerie (LOVE LOVE LOVE these!)

Owl decal from Stickerbrand

Dresser from Babies R Us

This may or may not be a slight indication as to what we have picked out for a name...

PS I LOVE this diaper bag! via Etsy

PS this armoire changer is BRILLIANT!

Have yall seen these cool, new crib bumpers? Thoughts?? I think I'm in love with the concept here! via GoMamaGoDesigns

So there you have it.

As for my 28 week doctor appointment checkup everything went good.
Minus the 8 freaking lbs. I gained this month. Donkey nuts. Not cool.
In light of this news I have moved the candy bowl at my desk to the break area.
Out of sight, out of mind.
I now start going every 2 weeks for my checkups. That means it's getting closer!

It's Effing Hot. And I need alcohol.

2011-08-22T09:32:00.011-05:00

I thought it would be a great idea to go shopping this weekend.
On tax free weekend.
In 103 degree heat.
With a 2 year old.

Yeah, I'm smart.

I was in search of a dresser for the nursery. Which, by the way, I bought and can't wait to show you once it's all put together!

So first I stopped by Buy Buy Baby.
Can I tell you how much I LOVE shopping at baby stores while pregnant??

Don't mind if I do!

Didn't find anything there, so we headed to Babies R Us.
Found a dresser.
Was talking to sales associate about paying for it/picking it up.
Big T wandered over to the Toys R Us side and found himself a car bed.

Fell in love. (Big T, not me)
Didn't want to leave it.
Threw a FREAKING ALL OUT FIT in the middle of the store when I had to take him away from it.
Calmed him down with a toy four wheeler.
Paid for dresser, toy four wheeler and left the store.

By this time it was nearing nap time, but I figured one more stop we could surely make. I wanted to go to Kid to Kid, a little resale shop and look for a few things for the baby, Big T, and see if they had any maternity clothes for myself.
Get inside.
Start piling clothes on my arm.
Big T is playing with toys.
Then all of a sudden I hear him pushing.
Like pushing turds out.
He's pooping. (In his diaper)
Big T looks at me and says "mama! poopoo!" loud enough for the whole store to hear.
Great.
I have a handful of clothes, things I need to try on, and a 2 year old who is stinking up the store with his shit-filled diaper.
I NEED A BOTTLE OF WINE.
Deep breath, take Big T's hand and walk to the single bathroom they have.
It's occupied.
OF FREAKING COURSE.
I'm sweating because I know everyone can smell my child and I have a handful of clothes and Big T is now insisting that I hold him.
I try and heave up my 30 lb. child carefully as to not smush the doodoo in his diaper.
Sweat dripping down my temples, waiting for the bathroom to open up.
Of course there is another mom with her child in there having as hard a time as I am. I can hear the struggling going on in there.
Finally get in the bathroom, change diaper, try on clothes and am out in a record 2.68 minutes.
Pay for merchandise and leave the store feeling exhausted, defeated, and soaked from sweat.

All that to say, I'm so ready for fall I could scream.
And if one more person tells me "Oh, so you've got the whole summer to go still" I'm going to tazer someone.
It's too hot for this shit.

Got Big T to my parents house and down for a nap.
I went to grab lunch and saw this.

Jean panties.

REALLY? I mean, I guess I feel like I'm just too old for this. Or maybe it's because I'm too self conscious to rock the Daisy Duke look anymore, I don't know.
But I see that and think "heaven help me if I have a daughter!"

Dinner was pizza and bedtime was 9:30pm.
It couldn't come fast enough.

Sunday I had a bridal shower to attend

and then came home to sort through all of Big T's old baby clothes.

One thing is for sure, I am good on clothes for this next baby!
And that's not even the girl clothes my sister has that I have yet to go through!

Hope you had a great weekend and it's less hot where you live.

Friday Photo Dump

2011-08-19T10:40:00.012-05:00

Big T showing me his belly. (Yes, we eat breakfast in the bathtub, sue me)

Another sneakness of the nursery progress. I can't wait to show you more!

27 week belly picture

Went to the Stevie Nicks concert last weekend with my mom. Love me some Fleetwood Mac & old school Stevie.

Michael Grimm was there with Stevie. I didn't know who he was (I don't watch America's Got Talent) but I REALLY liked him. He was awesome!

Bought some new skinny maternity jeans the other day. Is this contradictory? Skinny Maternity Jeans??? Weird. Anywho, they were on sale for $9.99. HOLLA!

Every night I lay on the couch when all my motherly/wifely duties are done. So yes, it's usually pretty late in the evening. And I watch the little one squirm all around. I will most definitely miss this part of pregnancy. The wide hips and fat feeling, however, I will NOT.

Pioneer Woman's Sour Cream Noodle Bake goes hard y'all! (I'm so gangsta ...or something). Made it last night and it's amazing. Recipe found {HERE}.

Big T running to the bathroom for bathtime! I love following behind him and watching his cute little neeked booty run!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

The Victim & Cowboy Casserole

2011-08-17T09:24:00.006-05:00

Yesterday after I dropped Big T off at daycare and was making my 30 minute drive to work I get a phone call.
First of all, my phone NEVER rings. And especially not at 8:30 in the morning.
I looked at the caller ID and it was Big T's daycare.
I said out loud "uh oh" and answered the phone.
It was the director telling me that Big T had just gotten bitten by a child on his back.

Apparently Big T took off with this kids sandal and the kid (who is in a younger class might I add) ran after him and tackled him to the ground (seriously? a 1 year old?) and started "chewing" on his back.
CHEWING? Did she say CHEWING?
WTF is this kid? A vampire?

And hey, I get it, I've been the parent of a biter, so I know it's not a parenting issue and blah blah. I wasn't annoyed with the child by any means.
I rather thought, "hmm, maybe he will see that shit hurts".
But at least he wasn't the biter this time!
He's a tough boy and it didn't seem to phase him, so I wasn't too worried about it.
Things are gonna happen at a daycare, it's just part of it.
But the things he's learned in the past few months he's been there far exceed the negatives of daycare.
I believe we made the right decision by switching him from an in home sitter to a daycare, even if some of the kids are vampires.

& now onto a new recipe I made last night.
I'd love to pawn this off as my own, but I will give credit where credit is due (I thank the bank for the money, thank God for you!) <-- if you don't know what that is referring to, you obviously aren't from the south. Now go google Sawyer Brown. Immediately.

I get in phases where I LOVE cooking, and phases where I despise it. Right now, I'm obviously in a LOVE phase, what with all the recipes I've been posting lately. But I must say, if a recipe takes me longer than 30 minutes to prepare I'm already disinterested. 30 minutes (minus bake time), in my opinion, should be enough time to assemble and pop something in the oven. I don't have the kind of time to be farting around in the kitchen for an hour just PREPARING a meal. So I have found a lot of quick, awesome recipes on Pinterest lately that I've been trying out.
This one is one of them.
PS- if you want to follow me on Pinterest, click {HERE}.

Cowboy Casserole

My actual pic
Recipe can be found {HERE}
But I'll go ahead and break it down for you in case you are a lazy bitch that doesn't want to do more clicking than you have to. No shame.

INGREDIENTS
-1 lb. ground beef (recipe calls for 1 1/2, but I used a little less than 1 lb and it was fine for 3 ppl)
-1 medium onion, chopped
-3 cloves garlic (I don't have time for that shit, so I skipped this)
-1 can whole kernel corn, drained (unless you are a freak and like corn juice. sicko.)
-1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (I used 98% fat free because I honestly don't think you can tell a difference)
-2 cups shredded cheese (I used mexican blend)
-4 tablespoons sour cream (I really used about a cup because I love it so much. I also used reduced fat)
-1 bag frozen tater tots- Ore Ida Crispy Crowns (recipe calls for a whole bag, but honestly, I think I'll use less next time- probably 1/2 a bag)

DIRECTIONS
In a large skillet, cook chopped onion (I added about 2 tablespoons butter because onions are just better carmelized with butter if you ask me) until soft. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink.
Drain and put in big bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, add soup, milk, sour cream and whisk until smooth. (I put mine in a saucepan and heated until smooth). Add to ground beef mixture. Add can of corn and 1 cup cheese to mixture. Stir to combine.
PS- this is where it starts to look like vomit, but trust me, it's GOOOOD.

In a 9x13 pan pour 1/2 bag of tater tots to cover bottom of dish. Pour mixture over tater tots. Add the other 1/2 of bag on top of mixture. (next time I will only use about 1/2 of bag- so 1/4 on bottom and 1/4 on top). Sprinkle cheese on top.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

It was so good and super simple.
AND Big T loved it!
Can't beat a recipe that a 2 year old loves!
*Side Note*
I can't believe I will have a 2 year old in 3 weeks!!! EEEEKS!!!

Attention all Etsy store owners!
Do you have an Etsy store? Can you make something super cool?
Want to be featured as my next giveaway sponsor & get lots of new traffic to your Etsy site?
Leave me a comment or email me with your Etsy store info if you're interested!
I love helping out an Etsy'er.
What? That's not a word?

How I'm Feeling...

2011-08-15T10:47:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I'm entering my 3rd trimester at the end of this week.
It's flown by I tell ya.
3rd trimester for me last time was hell.
I was carrying around an additional 40 lbs and it really took a toll on my body.
I am starting to feel the "uncomfortable" stage coming and I'm not looking forward to it.
I can tell now that if I am on my feet too much I start to ache pretty badly.
My lower back hurts the worst.
I can feel myself starting to waddle and I'm doing everything I can to stop it... even though I know it's inevitable.
I am still sleeping pretty good, but that back pain is pretty consistent.
I still haven't noticed any swelling though, so that's good.
Only really when I workout (about 3-4 times a week) and then it's usually only in my hands and a little in my feet and then goes away pretty quickly.
I am eating like complete and utter shit.
I have really preached moderation throughout this pregnancy and at the moment I seem to have forgotten what that is.
I'm not too worried about it, however. I know I can change my eating habits, it's just a matter of DOING it.
And who wants to give up Reeses during pregnancy?? NOT this gal!

I find myself looking forward to Fall and cooler weather. I can't stand this 100+ degree weather. It is killing me and puts me in the worst mood.
Being pregnant in the Texas summer is brutal y'all!

I'm going to try my best not to turn this blog into a place where I bring my pregnancy complaints for the next 13 weeks, but I make no promises.
I'm just hoping that this last trimester is nicer to me than last time!

What to get a New Mom

2011-08-12T09:29:00.005-05:00

It's a tough time, right after you have a baby.
The house is a mess.
You look like dog shit.
You probably have throw up on your clothes and/or in your hair.
You most likely stink and are sweating like crazy.
Your boobs are sore.
There are dishes everywhere.
Laundry that needs to be done.
Dinner that needs to be cooked.
But you are tired.
Plain and simple.
You don't want to do any of that.
ESPECIALLY cook dinner.
Because let's face it, standing for long periods of time wears you out and makes you even more sore.
I remember having trouble standing from sitting too long after I had Big T.
Just walking was tough for the first few weeks.
So we didn't get a lot done.
Thankfully we had some of the most amazing family and friends bring us homecooked meals for weeks after having Big T.
This is what my fridge looked like:

It is seriously the best thing to get a new mom.
Cook her a meal, and bring it to her.
Drop it off. Don't stay unless you have to.
She probably doesn't feel like entertaining, and she probably doesn't want you judging her body the whole time either.
You know you do it.
EVERYONE does.
You look at the lady who's just had a baby to see how she looks. If she still looks 7 months pregnant.
Most likely, she does, so just assume she looks as terrible as you think, drop off the food, get a few quick glances at that beautiful baby she's just birthed and get outta there!
....unless you'd like to stay and help clean up or do some laundry! Then I'm sure she wouldn't mind the company!
She will appreciate it more than you know!

My plan is to make some freezer meals the week before the baby is born so we can have something quick.

What are some good freezer recipes that I can prepare ahead of time?

Mama Laughlin's Mexican Casserole

2011-08-10T10:09:00.002-05:00

I super pink puffy heart easy recipes.
So I thought I'd share this one with you all.
It seriously takes me a total of about 10 minutes to prepare and is one of the faves in our house.

INGREDIENTS:
-ground beef (I typically use about 1/2 a pound for 3 of us)
-can Cream of Mushroom soup
-1 cup milk (I used 2%)
-1 cup sour cream (I used light)
-taco seasoning
-tortilla chips (enough to coat the bottom of a 9x13 pan)
-shredded cheese to top
-1 can Rotel (I use Original)
-veggies (optional- I added in corn. You can add in beans, onions, whatever)

DIRECTIONS:
Brown your ground beef in a skillet. Add in taco seasoning to taste. I typically use about 1/2 a package. Drain and set aside.
In a separate pan, pour in Cream of Mushroom soup, sour cream, & milk. Stir together until smooth.
You can add in cheese at this point if you'd like as well (I did not).
Set aside soup mixture.
In a 9x13 dish pour in tortilla chips to coat the bottom of pan. Not too many chips, just enough where you can't see the bottom of the pan anymore.
Pour ground beef over chips.
Pour soup mixture on top of ground beef.
Drain Rotel and add on top of mixture.
Add in veggies. (This is where I added in a can of whole kernel corn).
Sprinkle shredded cheese on top.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

I like mine with a side of hot sauce!
It will literally be one of the easiest things you make and one of the most delicious!

Pregnancy Comparrison: 26 Weeks

2011-08-08T10:23:00.004-05:00

This picture really puts things in perspective for me.
I sometimes don't realize how far I've come until I look back.
So today, I'm feeling good. And confident. That I don't look like I did at this point last time I was pregnant!

I am sleeping great still, for the most part.
I can still hike my leg up in the shower to shave my legs (I couldn't do that at this point last time and had to take baths to shave my legs).
I don't get winded walking. I'm not afraid to wear sleeveless tops and my thighs aren't rubbing together when I walk.
All in all, I am feeling good!

I do have days where I feel like a beached whale, but today isn't one of them.

The hubs and my brother in law put the crib together this weekend, and I must say, it is totally weird to have 2 cribs in my house!
I keep walking in the nursery trying to picture having an actual baby to put in there.
It still seems unreal. That I'll be a mother of TWO.
I am not so much worried about the baby reacting to Big T. S/he hears his whining and screaming every day so I'm sure s/he's used to it by now.
I am, however, worried about how Big T's going to act. How he will do with a screaming baby. I'm sure he'll be fine in time.

How did your first child react to the new baby?

Whatever Wednesday

2011-08-03T09:32:00.009-05:00

Yep, I just made that up.
Because this post is going to be so random that you'll probably think I'm on something.
I am.
I'm high on life bitches.

First of all, I came home last night in a rather pissy mood because it's hot as shit and Big T was giving me hell because he wanted more "yay-oh's" (Cheerios) after he ate them all in the car on the way home from daycare.
I could feel sweat dripping down my back in my car (ps- does anyone else drive a Ford Edge? The AC in those mothereffers SUCKS balls!) and Big T was screaming at the top of his lungs "YAY-OH! YAY-OH!"
Shoot me.
Thank Baby Jesus my drive home from daycare is only like 4 minutes.
I might have shanked myself.

So I walked in the door and pawned my screaming child off on my husband and went to change out of my work clothes into my workout clothes. Then immediately to the kitchen to start cooking dinner.
Which by the way ROCKED MY FACE OFF!
I made Pioneer Woman's Taco Pizza.

Okay, so mine isn't NEAR as pretty as PW's- but I bet it tasted just as good!
I didn't make my own crust, because let's face it, I don't have that kind of time or patience. I used a pre-made pie crust.
I also drizzled hot buffalo sauce on top because me and the hubs like it SPICY!
(In all aspects of the word. bow chicka bow wow)

*Side note*
I've been bugging the hubs to paint the nursery for WEEKS. I keep nagging and nagging and he keeps putting it off. So last weekend I went to get paint samples and marked a little star by the color I chose and left the sample CONVENIENTLY sitting out on the table for him to be reminded of every day! (Men need IN YOUR FACE clues, ladies! Subtle hints DON'T work!)
So to my knowledge all that had been done to the nursery was I had cleaned it out.
It looked like this AFTER I had cleaned it out:

Yeah.
So I thought it still looked like that.

So while sitting at the table eating dinner the hubs says to me "so you're SURE you don't want to do a two-tone color like we did in Big T's nursery?"
I said "yes, I'm sure."
He says "okay, well lets go in there and see what all we can put up in the attic."
So we get up, walk to the nursery, open the door and what do I see?
THIS:

HE PAINTED!
While I was at work, he had painted the nursery!
All together now...AAWWWW!!!
It's the little things, people!

I was SOOO happy! The color turned out just like I wanted! It's perfect!

So that's all you get for now, a sneak peek at the nursery!

& just to make this post more random than it already is, here's a cool shot I took the other day.

25 weeks

HAPPY WHATEVER WEDNESDAY!

July Faves

2011-08-02T09:22:00.012-05:00

Holy ball sweat.
Y'all wanna know what I'm dealing with lately??

It's ridiculous. We are in the 33rd straight day of 100+ degree temps! It's the hottest Texas summer in over a decade and I'm pregnant.
SONOFUH!
It could always be worse.
I COULD be REALLY pregnant.
Always a silver lining I suppose.

So I thought I'd break down some of my July faves.

Tank tops.
I gotta tell ya, last time I was pregnant I rarely wore tank tops.
Why? Well probably because my arms looked like thunder thighs.
Example:

(37 weeks with Big T)
But now, they aren't so beefy, so I'm in a tank top nearly every day.

Mornings with this guy

Big T has been so stinkin cute in the mornings lately! He doesn't want to sit in his high chair and eat breakfast anymore, he likes to sit on the edge of the bathtub with his banana and milk and watch me, or sit in our bed.
It's probably my favorite time of the day. :)

Dashing Dish Chicken Enchilada Pockets

Recipe found {HERE}. Y'all know I love me a quick, easy recipe. I don't like to spend more than 30 minutes in the kitchen cooking dinner.
This is super quick and SOOO good! I've also substituted the chicken for beef and they are just as good!
They are also good for you and will be one of my go to staples after I pop this baby out!

Cereal

I can't get enough cereal and milk! It has been the ONE thing that has been a constant craving throughout this pregnancy!

All things nursery
I haven't told you guys a theme, or colors I've chosen, or anything really about the nursery. Just know I've got some really cool ideas for it and I promise to update with pics once we get the ball moving.

Nexxus ProMend

I've actually been using this stuff for a few months now, but I'm starting to see my hair get stronger and I think this product has really helped!

Jamba Juice Matcha Green Tea

This amazingness has made it into my "Faves" before, but it's back again!
Love it!

What are your July Faves?

Gel Nail Tutorial & Mama's Daily Makeup

2011-07-29T09:22:00.012-05:00

Man, yall are in for a treat today!
It's a full post of beauty tips and pretty shit!
I know, a break from my pregnancy updates, I'm sure you're shitting your pants right now.

GEL NAILS
I have found the secret to keeping my nails beautiful!
I got a french gel manicure 2 weeks ago, and while I LOVE the gel nails the only thing I DON'T like about them is how they peel up around the edges after a few days.
So I thought "how kickass would it be if I could find my own gel polish and do my own "fills""?
Thus the idea bloomed into real life happenings.
Here are the tools you will need to do your own gel nails at home (or at least what I used):

The Gelish Top it Off polish is the only Gelish product I used. I bought it off Amazon for I think around $13.

The 36 watt UV nail lamp I got off ebay for $32.99 (you need at least a 36 watt uv lamp to cure your gel nails).
I did not do my gel nails from start to finish, only a "fill" around the edges where mine were peeling up.

So before doing my "fills" my nails looked like this:

See how they have grown out and come up around the edges? That's what I wanted to fix.
So I buffed them:

And painted one coat of the Gelish Top it Off top coat and put each hand under the UV lamp for 2 minutes a piece.
*note* you NEED a UV lamp. Gel polish does not dry -aka- "cure" under regular lighting.

*note* You don't need hardly anything on the brush, it is very runny.

Once dried, use nail polish remover to wipe off excess stickiness, file to shape and voila!

They look like I just left the salon and should last at least another 2 more weeks!
I haven't done a color on my nails, I tend to get tired of the color too quickly so I opt for french mostly.
And I'll save myself a whole lot of money!
I'm sold!

My Daily Makeup
Now, onto my daily "go to" makeup look.
I have had a lot of people ask about my makeup routine and it's few and far between that I talk about makeup, so I thought I'd get it all out in one post.
Ya know, so we can get back to our regularly scheduled programs.

*Many pictures of myself follow*

First of all, here is the list of makeup I use on a daily basis.
Laura Mercier foundation - Vanilla Beige
Urban Decay Naked Eye Pallet - Darkhorse & Virgin are colors used here
Wet N Wild blush - 831E Pearlescent Pink
Cover FX Concealer - E20
Maybeline Fit Me powder - 230 Natural Buff
Bare Minerals eyebrow tint - Dark Blonde
ELF liquid eyeliner - Midnight 81003
Maybeline Doube Extend mascara - Blackest Black
Bare Minerals highlighter - Queen Phyllis

Not pictured: Vaseline (yes, I use Vaseline on my lips)
Oh yeah, that orange toothbrush that looks like it's been up a b hole for years... that's my super expensive eyebrow brush. Be jealous.

This is what the hubs sees every morning when he wakes up! Ahhh... lucky him!
Au Natural

First, put on Laura Mercier foundation: I use my fingers to blend

PS- Have you tried the Makeup Forever foundation? How do you like it? I'm wanting to buy new foundation and have heard really good things about Makeup Forever...

Now, add Cover FX concealer to under eyes, around nose, and any blemishes:
(I like to cover my sun spots. Anyone know a good product to get rid of sun spots?)

Blend with fingers:

Add Maybeline Fit Me powder:

Add Wet N Wild blush:

Fill in eyebrows with Bare Minerals eyebrow tint and small brush:

*this is my favorite step. It really defines the face! I think EVERYONE should fill in their eyebrows!
*tip* I use a color MUCH lighter than my natural hair color because I don't like the painted on eyebrow look.

Add Urban Decay Darkhorse to lower lid & Urban Decay Virgin right under eyebrows:
I also add a thin line of Darkhorse right under lower lashes.

ELF eyeliner to top lids & Maybeline Double Extend mascara:

Add Bare Minerals highlighter to the very top of both cheekbones to finish off the look: I use my fingertips

So there you have it. My super simple makeup look. It literally takes me about 10 minutes in the morning.

Big T kept saying "lap! lap!" because he's a camera hog like his ~~mom~~ dad, so I squeezed him in for the final pic! :)

Any other beauty tips you'd like to see from me?

She didn't ask me to review this, but we're BFFs so I'm going to anyway.

2011-07-28T09:49:00.004-05:00

Did I tell you that Lindsay Brin & I are BFF's?
Yep.
We even have those Best Friend necklaces. You know the ones that are broken hearts with "BE FRI" on one heart and "ST ENDS" on the other.
You remember.

Well she sent me her 3rd Trimester workout DVD and a few others for postpartum MILFness that I'll have to review at another time, but I wanted to let you know my thoughts on the 3rd Trimester DVD.

My first initial thought when looking for a pregnancy workout DVD was that I was too advanced for all of them.
Because I'm pretty much like Xena, the Princess Workout Warrior.
That's why I hadn't bought one, because people just think when you're pregnant that you're one lazy bitch.

But then, lo and behold, Lindsay reveals her BFF status to me and sends me hers! SCOREBALLS!

Let me say, I was a really thinking it would be in the "easy" category. Because let's face it, since I'm pregnant people think I'm not capable of doing stuff.
Like running, lifting weights, and doing the splits.
Well I'm here to tell you I can most certainly do ALL of those things.
Yes, even the splits. I'm quite bendy, like a pretzel. Not the stick pretzels, like the ones you get at the movie theatre with cinnamon and sugar.. mmmm...
Ok fat girl coming out- back to the workout DVD.

I actually pretty much love the DVD. And I'm not just saying that because Lindsay reads my blog and we're BFFs.
It's not a hardcore tough workout, but still a good one. My legs and shoulders are actually sore today, and to me that's ALWAYS a good sign of a good workout.
There is a yoga part in it as well, so if you're into yoga (I'm not big on yoga, but it was actually quite relaxing) then it's definitely worth the money.
It's okay if you're not Xena, PWW status like me, you'll still benefit from this workout! (Side note- I used 5 lb. weights for all exercises in this video)
I will be pairing the workout on my running days or doing it on a non-running day to get in some movement.

I can't wait to start her Postnatal Boot Camp DVD's!
You can go {HERE} to view all of Lindsay's workout DVD's.

24 Week Update

2011-07-27T13:46:00.002-05:00

Are y'all sick of my pregnancy updates yet?

*Side note* I ACTUALLY heard someone say right in front of me not too long ago (knowing I was pregnant at the time) "No one wants to read your pregnancy updates ALL THE TIME. Why don't you blog about stuff EVERYONE'S interested in, like reality TV!?!"
HAHAHA.
I laughed SO HARD at that.
REALITY TV?? REALLY??

Anywho, I had my 24 week checkup today and I decided I'd go ahead and to my gestational diabetes test as well since I hadn't had anything to eat/drink and didn't want to make another trip out there. (My dr's office and lab are about 25 mins from my house).

Everything looked great at the appointment. Right on track still and baby looks good.
Total weight gain to date is 14 lbs.
At this point in my last pregnancy I was up 20 lbs., so I'm doing a little better this time and on track to gain about 30 lbs.

I go in 4 weeks for my Rhogam shot (I am a negative blood type) and update and then from there I start going every 2 weeks.
This pregnancy if flying by I tell ya!

This weekend I think we are going to try and start painting the nursery. I've got some really great ideas for it and can't wait to show you all the finished product!