Easter Fun

So I thought it might be fun to make Easter baskets for the kids. You know, buy some cheap-o little toys and a little bit of candy and those plastic eggs to put the candy in. Well, here's a rule that I know well, but must ignore when I get to the store. NEVER go shopping when you're hungry. You'll end up buying way too much crap and regretting what you bought. That's what happened to me tonight as I was making the kids' baskets.

A couple of weeks ago, Shannon and I went to my favorite store Target (see old post)and hit their Easter aisle. It would have been in my best interest to have one of those babies who had little tolerance for shopping; but I have the best baby in the world who loves to sleep when Mommy goes shopping. So, I went up and down the aisles and threw bags upon bags of candy in my cart. Tonight, as I was putting together the Easter baskets, I noticed that I bought the following:

2 @ 4-packs of Cadbury Creme Eggs
2 @ 4-packs of Reeses Chocolate & Peanut Butter bunnies
2 Hershey solid chocolate bunnies
4 bags of assorted jelly beans (Starburst, Lifesaver, Jelly Belly Coldstone Creamery flavor and Jelly Belly Kids Mix)
1 package of 8 Reeses Peanut Butter eggs
1 package of Mini bar variety pack (Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, 3 Musketeers)

I have 2 kids. One of which is only 10 weeks old and can not and should not eat Jelly Beans or Chocolate bunnies. The other one should not and could not eat a variety pack of mini bars and peanut butter eggs. Now, who do you think is going to eat the above? Bingo.

Mommy.

Mommy is supposed to be following Weight Watchers. Mommy is doing superbly on Weight Watchers. But, deep in the back of Mommy's mind, she knew what she was doing and Mommy bought what SHE likes. Mommy is not tracking her points this weekend. Absolutely not.

Now, looking at this pile of candy almost made me sick to my stomach. But, it didn't stop me from sampling each package. I'd put some jelly beans in the plastic eggs and put some jelly beans in my mouth. I'd put one chocolate and peanut butter bunny in Shannon's basket and put one chocolate and peanut butter bunny in my mouth. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

I feel like total and utter crap right now. AND, I still have a crapload of candy left. What will I do come Monday when I'm back to tracking my points? I hate throwing things away, but I seriously can't keep this candy in my house. It will taunt me. It will call my name. And I will cave. As usual. This is why I'm always on Weight Watchers.

WW update

So, I'm down another 2.8 pounds which brings me to 12.4. I'm 5 lbs. away from my prepregnancy weight and I should hopefully hit that before I return to work on April 27th. I've also started exercising again and did surprisingly well at my Step class on Monday night, considering I hadn't worked out since sometime in January. So, all in all, things are looking up. However, Easter is Sunday and I'm pretty sure I will not be following the WW plan much this weekend. Well, I know that I won't be following the plan since I bought a bunch of Easter candy for the "kids", which really means Me. I really can't justify giving my 21 month old son Cadbury Creme Eggs, Reeses Peanut Butter eggs and an assorted variety of jelly beans. I really shouldn't go to Target when I haven't eaten. Bad Kim. And, on top of that, I'm baking a cake for dessert on Sunday to bring over Nana Maureen's house. And me and cake are like black and white. We're inseparable. Anyway, I'm going to enjoy these delicious food items and come Monday, I'll go right back to the Plan. That's just the way my life will be until I hit my Lifetime goal...12 pounds down, 26 to go.

Visit to the Easter Bunny

I took Devin and Shannon to see the Easter Bunny on Thursday. I dressed them up in their Easter outfits and hoped and prayed that Devin would not scream his head off as I placed him on the Bunny's lap. It was a success. Once I get my new all in one printer/scanner/copier up and running, I'll scan the actual picture taken at the Mall, but here are a couple that I snapped on my own. And a couple of Shannon in her Easter dress.

Update

So, I haven't blogged in a while. I don't really have a reason, but I thought I should update you on what's been happening. In no particular order, here's what's been going on since I last posted:

1. We got a new laptop. It's an HP Pavillion and it ROCKS. We ordered directly from HP and we customized it to our liking. I ordered some crazy software and I hope to be able to create some amazing pictures with Photoshop. I got this other software called Adobe Elements which is for enhancing movies, so once I get up to speed on that, I'll post some videos (hopefully).

2. With the new laptop, I've been able to get onto iTunes. For those of you who know me, you must understand how difficult it's been to NOT be able to order new music. I was using my work laptop which wouldn't allow me to get onto iTunes and it's been a year or more since I've been able to update my iPod. Now, I have over 6000 songs on my iPod, so it hasn't been HORRIBLE, but it would have been nice to listen to something new once in a while. And now, I can happily say I can do that!! Last night I ordered a bunch of new stuff and I'm looking forward to getting some more!! YAY me!

3. I am in love with my son. Yes, it's true! :) In all seriousness, this maternity leave has enabled me to get closer to my 21 month old son. I am bonding with my daughter, but I'm also getting so much closer to Devin. I'm probably biased when I say this, but he is such a good kid. He's generally very happy and he's got my sense of humor. The kid cracks me up!! He's getting better and better with his vocabulary, although it's still a bit hard to understand him. He's improved by leaps and bounds, though. And he's so damn cute!!

4. My daughter is the best baby. Ever. I thought Devin was easy, but Shannon wins this hands down. She slept through the night basically from day one, but I would wake her up for feedings. Now I let her go through and she is fine. She doesn't really cry much either. She is smiling and cooing and it melts my heart. I love her so much, it makes me cry! I know I'm being emotional, but I can't help it.
She's just awesome. Enough said.

5. I've lost 9.6 lbs. since joining Weight Watchers 5 weeks ago. I'm down 25 lbs. from right before I had the baby. I'm also very close to my prepregnancy weight and hopefully will get there before I return to work in 3 weeks. (Ugh.) My goal is 30 lbs. away, but I'm not stressing that. I'm making small goals for myself and will get there eventually. Weight Watchers is my friend. HA! I plan on returning to the gym tomorrow and would have gone sooner if my knee hadn't been acting up. I'm hoping I don't have the same knees as my Dad who has had a knee replacement on one knee and is due for another one on the other knee. I am much more active than him, so I'm hoping it's just a fluke thing. Time will tell.

6. Having 2 kids is definitely challenging, but I'm getting better at it. At first, I was so afraid to leave the house with both of them, but I've overcome my fear. We got a double stroller and it's pretty cool. I try to get out of the house everyday and thanks to friends who have kids, I am able to attend playdates. (Thank you Deb!!) And in the next three weeks before I return to work, I'd like to go to more parks/playgrounds with Devijn to get him to run around and play. It's been too chilly/rainy for me, so I haven't done much of that. I'm hoping the weather will cooperate for me before I have to head back to work.

7. I'm finally nursing like a champ. It took me 6 weeks of sheer hell, but I got it down. I have to thank the LC's at the Breastfeeding Support Group at South Shore Hospital. They were amazing and worked with me each and everyday to get Shannon to latch on. Now we're good to go and it's been great. I may breastfeed for longer than I anticipated. I will play that by ear once I get back to work.

8. Work is the next thing on the agenda. I'm ready to go, but will miss my buddy Devin. He's a great kid and it's been so fun to spend time with him the past 2.5 months. But, we'll have our weekends and my "work at home Monday". I put that in quotes because "work" is the one that that doesn't get done on Mondays.

That's about it on the "what's been going on with you, Kim" front. Easter is next week and Shannon's Christening is the week after that. Devin's Christening was 5 months after he was born and I just barely made that. And I never seemed to lose that babyweight with him either. This time around, I've got Shannon's Christening within 3 months of her birth, I'm losing the weight and I'm handling things so much more effectively than before. I am so much more on the ball with Shannon than I was with Devin. It's so funny to think how difficult it was to get out of the house with one child. Now, that's cake! I am a pro! When it's just Shannon and me, I can do ANYTHING.

Ok, I think this post is done. It's way too long. I didn't think I had much to say, but I guess I was wrong!

Addendum to the "I'm Such an Idiot" Post

I thought I'd follow up with some additional information regarding my previous post.

1. I burned my right thumb the next day when I toasted an english muffin due to residual chocolate fudge topping that was stuck in the toaster.
2. I actually have 10 blisters on my left hand, not 7 as originally thought.
3. There's a setting on my toaster for "Pastry" that I never noticed before. I'm pretty sure that's why I burned myself so many times... This leads me to my final thought:
4. The title of my previous post "I'm such an idiot" is definitely apropos.

I'm Such an Idiot

So yesterday, I made myself a pop tart...well, to clarify, I made myself a Fiber One toaster pastry. Chocolate fudge in case you were wondering. And yes, it's on the Weight Watchers plan and is 3 points. But I digress. So, when I retrieved said pastry from the toaster, I managed to mishandle the pastry and ended up burning my right middle finger on the chocolate fudge that was on top of the pastry. Who knew that those things could get so hot?? I was so mad. And now the finger is blistered. I had a mind to write to Fiber One and sue them. But everybody sues and it just wouldn't be worth all the paperwork.

So today, knowing what happened to me yesterday, I made sure that I was careful when handling the pastry when it popped from the toaster. I had a paper towel handy. Bounty in case you were wondering. And I was ready to wrap the paper towel around the pastry so that I could gently lift it from the toaster. My plan was perfect. The execution was not.

The pastry popped. I had the paper towel in my right hand ready to lift it out of the toaster. However, I dropped the pastry. Guess where it landed? Bingo. Chocolate fudge side down on my left hand. OOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEE!!!! The chocolate fudge came off the pastry and was stuck to my hand. I couldn't get it off!! I ran to the sink to brush off the fudge and to feel the ice cold water cool off the inferno that was my hand. Omigod. Pain. Pain. Pain. I looked down and noticed, not one, not two, but 7 blisters on my left hand. Omigod. It killed. It still kills.

My question is this. When in the hell will I stop being such an idiot? When? I'm waiting. I was so careful. I really was. I just don't understand what went wrong. To quote the famous figure skater Nancy Kerrigan: "WHY!?!??!?! WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!????"

Shannon update

I don't think I've really written much about Shannon. At almost 6 weeks old, she is the BEST baby. And I'm not just saying that. She sleeps through the night. She slept through the night pretty much right from the get go, but I would wake her up to feed her. Eventually, I extended the sleep times a little more and more so that we now go to bed between 10:30-11:30 and I wake her up to eat between 5:30 and 6:00AM. And I could probably go longer, but I don't think "the girls" could handle it!

She rarely cries except for when she's hungry and VERY wet. I mean, her diaper needs to have a blow out which is on her skin, otherwise she's fine.

She's started to smile and it melts my heart. They're few and far between, but when they make an appearance, it's just awesome.

I don't know what I did to deserve such a good baby. Does this mean that the teenage years will be my cross to bear?

About me...

So, I joined Weight Watchers last Tuesday to try to get rid of the baby weight and then some. I had a pretty good week and managed to lose 3 pounds! Not too shabby! If I could, I'd like to get down to my goal weight, which is many many pounds away. But, I am motivated and I know I can do this. And once I go to my OB/GYN for my 6 week postpartum checkup and get the all clear to exercise again, you can best believe that I will be heading to the gym for my Step, kickboxing and funky aerobics classes. I'm excited to be back in control again. This is good for me. I want to be thin again. I miss the old me.

Four Generations

Last week my mother and I took Shannon to meet my 97 year old grandmother. It was four generations of women together for the first time. Very cool.

Cupid, Draw Back Your Bow...

...and let your arrow flow, straight to my lover's heart for me! (Nobody but me...)

I thought this was a more interesting title than "Happy Valentines Day". I bet you're now singing that song in your head. Gotta love the Spinners.

So, this is just a quick post wishing everyone a Happy Valentines Day. As for me, we've got absolutely no plans to celebrate this holiday. And, to be completely honest, I don't care. It's such an overrated day anyway. And, if you do go out to dinner, you're most likely paying top dollar for a prix fixed menu. No thanks. I'd rather order in and eat my dinner in my PJs.

Well, whatever your plans are, enjoy this day and spend it with the ones you love.

Wow, Time is Flying By!

I just looked at my ticker on the right side of the blog and it said that Shannon was 22 days old. Holy crap. When did that happen??? That was the fastest 22 days ever.

That's all I wanted to say. You can now resume normal activity.

So tired

As every new mother knows, you don't get sleep when you have a newborn. I just wanted to say that I'm exhausted. And I don't see myself getting more than 3.5 hours of sleep at a time for the next two months. Man, that just sucks.

The first two weeks...

I feel like I've been Shannon's Mom for months now, not just a bit over two weeks. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm completely sleep deprived. Each day is a continuation of the previous day. So, it's just been one extraordinarly looooooong day. Having said that, I feel marginally OK. I mean, I would love to get a stretch of sleep that's longer than 3 hours, but I know that will happen at some point, right?

So far, Shannon has been a terrific baby. She sleeps all the time and I need to wake her for most of her feedings. She doesn't cry all that much, except when I'm late with feeding her and she happens to be awake. And, she is content with what I'm feeding her, whereas Devin needed to be supplemented with formula at his feedings because he was always soooooo hungry.

I've been trying to breastfeed, but I've had some major issues with that and I'm completely frustrated. At the hospital, it was discovered that Shannon was tongue tied, which means that her frenulum, a piece of skin under her tongue, is very close to her tongue and does not allow her to stick it out very far. There's a procedure done where a doctor will cut the frenulum if it prohibits the baby from breastfeeding. However, the lactation consultant at the hospital found that it wasn't an issue with Shannon's breastfeeding, so it was decided that they would not cut the frenulum. Well, when I got home from the hospital, I noticed that I had cracked and bleeding breasts and it was killing me to feed her. I also noticed that Shannon's stools were very dark, almost black, and at her pediatrician's appointment a couple of days later, the doctor determined that she was probably ingesting blood from me. Gross!! I was disgusted with that and I ended up pumping and let my breasts heal. I also got a prescription from my OB for an ointment to help with the sore, cracked and bleeding breasts.

I called the local lactation consultant for advice, but was told she had been in a car accident and would be unavailable for many days. I was referred to South Shore Hospital where there is a daily breastfeeding group. I definitely needed advice and help and was so excited to go! Well, due to extenuating circumstances, my babysitter ended up being late getting to my house and I missed most of the breastfeeding group. The lactation consultant sat with me for about 5 minutes and noticed that Shannon's tongue tied issue was most likely causing all the problems with my ability to breastfeed. She recommended an ENT doctor who would perform the 'surgery' and as long as we got it done prior to Shannon turning 2 wks old, she would not need to be anesthesized. After much scrambling, we got the appointment one day shy of Shannon's 2nd week. The doctor was awesome and the whole procedure took less than 5 minutes. Shannon cried for about 30 seconds and that was it!

The next day, this past Friday, I went to the breastfeeding group and the lactation consultant got Shannon right on me and she fed perfectly. Of course, when I got home, I did not have the same luck. This weekend, I tried on and off to get Shannon to feed off me, but I've noticed that we're having the same latch issues as before and that little cuts are appearing on my breasts again. I've stopped trying and have been pumping every 3-4 hours. The whole point of me trying to breastfeed was so that I would not have to pump like I did with Devin. And what is happening? Yeah, the stupid pumping again. What gives?

In any event, my Mom is on her way over to watch Devin so that I can go to to the breasfeeding group again today. I am going to go everyday this week until this clicks. I am frustrated beyond belief and just want this to work so badly. I think part of why these first two weeks seem so long is also due to the fact that I've had so many problems with breastfeeding. I really hope this works!!!

Shannon Eleanor is here!

My daughter Shannon Eleanor graced us with her presence on Friday, January 23rd at 11:16am. Shannon weighed 8 lbs and was 19.5 inches long. Shannon is gorgeous and her Dad and I are absolutely in love with her. Her big brother Devin is still not sure about her yet, but we think he'll fall in love with her just like we did. He did try to offer her a straw yesterday, so that's a start. :)

Here are some pictures of our precious little girl.

No VBAC for me!

So, let's throw THAT out the window. At my appointment yesterday, my doctor pretty much informed me that he didn't think it was the best course of action to follow through with a trial of labor and VBAC due to the complications I had with my last c-section.

Am I sad? Yeah, kind of. But, I'm also kind of relieved in a weird way. At least I know that in 13 days, my baby will be here. And she'll be healthy and happy.

I just have to suck up the surgery thing. Oh, and I was making absolutely no progress in terms of going into labor on my own. What can I say? My kids like hanging out in my belly.

New Year's Resolution

I don't make resolutions. Well, I actually did quit smoking on New Year's Day 3 years ago, so I take that first statement back. But, in general, I do not make resolutions.

But, I got to thinking, I've been really really bad about keeping in touch with my friends. It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like talking to anyone when I get home from work because it's "family time". And then that turns into TV time. And veg out time. And then it's time for bed. But, before you know it, weeks go by without me talking to anyone.

But, I need to make a better effort at keeping in touch. I found out that some of my friends got together the other day and didn't call me. It was an imprompu type of thing, but I was a little hurt and upset and I realized that I had no one to blame by myself...because I had made no effort to contact them.

See how that works? I can't have it both ways. So, I really need to be better about reaching out. So, I'm going to 'resolve' to be be a better friend this year.

I'm Having a Baby in 15 days...

What the hell? How did time go by so quickly without me knowing? I can't believe I'm having a child in TWO WEEKS. In case you haven't guessed already, it's really kind of freaking me out.

To be completely honest, I really haven't done all that much to prepare for this child. We have finally just figured out our 'birth day' contingency plan. If I have my scheduled c-section on 1/23, we'll drop Devin off at my Mom's and she'll bring Devin to the hospital on Saturday so that Mike's Mom can take him that night. On Sunday, Mike's Mom will drop him off at Susan's until we can pick him up on Tuesday, when I get out of the hospital. But, nothing's been ironed out for the 'what-if-I-go-into-labor-on-my-own' scenario. On Monday, when I was working from home, I felt a couple of contractions and I thought to myself "Wow, if I went into labor today, where would I drop Devin off?" Everyone I know is working. What the hell would I do? So, I've decided that I will not go into labor on Mondays. Let's just hope my body is listening!!!

And, seriously, if this pregnancy is aything like my last pregnancy, I won't be going into labor anytime soon. Although, things feel different this time and I really do think that things are going to happen sooner rather than later. But, I'm not a doctor and I have absolutely no scientific proof to back up my theory.

In any event, tomorrow is my 37 week appointment. I'm hoping the doctor will tell me if I'm making any progress towards labor. Even though I have a scheduled c-section I'm considering going for a VBAC if I should happen to go into labor on my own before then. We'll see. All I know is that in 15 days AT THE MOST, there will be a new baby in my family.

And I need to get ready!