Wordless Wednesday

5 Months

Dear Hayden,

You are just shy of a half a year old, and it is amazing how much you have grown. As I lug you around this house I think back of that tiny newborn I held just months ago. You are well over twice that size now, and really gaining on your older sister. If she doesn't watch out, she'll be wearing your hand-me-downs someday soon!

You learned how to get that pesky arm out of your way and roll over from back to front on Saturday. The problem, it seems, is that you do not much care for being on your belly but have forgotten how to roll from front to back. Pretty soon though you will discover that tummy time has its advantages in terms of ease of movement, and then my life of leisure will evaporate. Mobility has its downsides, I'm telling you. Listen to your mommy on this one.

You also don't care much for sitting these days. Whether in my lap or in the bumbo, you arch your back wanting to stand up. You enjoy the jumperoo quite a lot although you are not as much of a jumper in comparison to your sister. The toys are nice though. And if you are really lucky, Jillian will come over and "help" you jump. That is always good for a few laughs.

You are quite ticklish around your neck. Oh and you have discovered your voice from adorable coos to wild screams. It is a little difficult to tell if you are happy or sad sometimes. You help us figure it out eventually though!

My dear Hayden, you really are the sweetest baby. I would keep you like this always if I could.

Love,

Mom

Baby Shower

Last weekend, my sister's friend Lauren and I got to throw her baby shower. I think that I was more excited to throw a shower for somebody else than I was for my own! It was a very relaxed and fun shower, and I think that everybody had a good time. Only a month left until Lily's due date...so hard to believe!

Lauren, Jaime and I

The diaper cake I constructed after watching YouTube videos. The shoes, while completely impractical for a newborn, are crazy cute.

The coconut cake Lauren ordered from Whole Foods. It is, perhaps, the best cake ever! I saved WW points all week for this cake.

Lily's first Seahawks clothes! Now if only we could forget about last week's game...

A cousins onesie for Lily. Jillian and Hayden wore their matching shirts to the shower. I have a dream of getting a picture of all three of them in their shirts. Uh yeah, we'll see how well that goes!

I ordered the most adorable piggy bank from AndrewandElla Designs off etsy.com. It was hand painted to match the bedding set Jaime chose. On the other side it says Lily. I got the customized piggy bank idea from my friend Jenny who got one for Hayden. Jillian has one on order to, as she broke the cheap one we got her from Target. *sigh*

The blanket I knitted for Lily also to match her room. It is the Dreamcatcher pattern by Susan B. Anderson. I'll try to remember to do a post just on making this blanket, because it really deserves one.

Jillian made friends during the shower. Here she and Peyton are bouncing on the ottoman. I love the look on my grandmother's face in the background.

Great Grandma Gene and Hayden

There is one seriously cute baby bump. Compare this to the size she was just a few months back.

Jaime with her friends Jamie, Allison, Jeana and Lauren. These girls have been friends since high school!

Jaime and her practice baby. Of course using Hayden (aka the easiest baby on earth) for practice is entirely misleading.

Oh and thanks Jeramy for deciding to pick up that external flash on a whim when buying my portrait lens. It makes for awesome indoor pics!

Losing It

You might notice a new ticker in the corner. I'm losing it. Weight that is, and not my sanity. Although some days it may feel like both.

I have a lot of weight to lose, and I'm going to bare all the facts to you. I don't like to beat around the bush. I was 140 lbs at my lowest weight as an adult, and that was in 2004. Then I started grad school while working full-time and gained a lot of weight. After I finished I grad school, I tried to get pregnant which didn't go so well, and I gained weight. Then I actually got pregnant, and gained weight. And then I got pregnant again, and gained some more. After Hayden's birth, my weight leveled off around 225 lbs. Not good.

I am an emotional eater. What ever negative feeling I might have whether it be upset or boredom, I address by eating. I've reached the point where I'm feeling very unhealthy and unattractive. Even worse, I'm setting a bad example for my girls.

I have lost weight before by counting calories and cutting back on portion sizes. I don't believe in fad diets or self deprivation. It is about changing eating habits. This time around it has been very difficult for me to gain the momentum needed to start losing weight. I would count calories for a day or two, "mess up", get depressed, and eat some more rather than get back on the saddle.

Needing to do something different, I joined weight watchers online. I'm cheap, so I figured that if I was paying for it, I would make an effort to stick with it. Plus I'm telling everybody around me what I am doing so they can hold me accountable. Because I hate to say I am doing something and then not do it. So far this approach seems to be working, and I have lost 5 lbs in a couple of weeks. I fully expect my weight loss to slow down a bit to the recommended 1-2 pounds a week. It always seems to come off quicker at the very beginning of a diet.

I'm feeling better already. It is strange but even though I haven't lost much weight yet, just eating healthier leaves me feeling skinnier.

23 Months

Dear Jillian,

It is so hard for me to believe that we are only a month away from your second birthday. So close in fact that I have stopped referring to you in months, because somehow saying 23 months sounds silly. Instead I say my almost-two-year-old, but of course that kind of sounds silly too. I could just keep it simple and say my two year old, but I can't quite do it. God knows that it would be a pretty accurate statement, as it feels like we are in the terrible two's already.

These days our biggest challenge is that your cognitive skills haven't caught up with your motor skills. You have learned to jump, but don't yet understand that jumping on the couch is not appropriate. You know where your ears are, but don't realize that jamming a Q-tip in them will hurt. You know how to take off all clothes (onesies and diapers included) and love to be naked. Unfortunately you don't yet understand the concept of the potty despite our efforts, and so you pee on the floor. You are bringing back memories of housetraining Cujo, and let me tell you that was a very stressful time for me that I'd rather not repeat.

You love your baby sister very much. You call her "baby" and "sissy". When we ask you who Hayden is you point to her, but you will not say her name. If we start the bath, you will grab Hayden's tub so that she can join you. You love your baby doll, and we often find you feeding her a bottle, swinging her (rather roughly) in the swing, or setting her in the bouncy seat or jumperoo. Last night when I put you in your crib you handed your baby to me. Apparently you do not co-sleep.

95% of the time you are a walking disaster. Your face is dirty. Your hair is wild. Water has been poured down your front side because you insist on drinking from our cup or water bottle with no help from mom or dad thankyouverymuch. Food stains are everywhere. I refuse to buy white clothes, and in fact I'm not sure why they make anything white for toddlers at all. You have recently learned to wash your hands, so maybe this situation will improve at some point.

Daddy calls you a walking techno because you are always on the move. Despite that you are a snuggler too offering hugs and kisses to everybody around you. My favorite times are when you are tired and snuggled up in my lap watching TV. Before you were born I could never have comprehended how much I enjoy holding you and loving you.

The one thing I ask of you is that perhaps you could cooperate a little more when I'm taking pictures, so I get fewer photos like this:


Love,

Mom

She's a Fatty

Jeramy took Hayden in for her 4 month check-up and shots last week. I suspected that she's a big girl since she is nearly in size 3 diapers and in size 6-9 month clothing, and the stats confirmed it:

Height: 25.75" (90th percentile)
Weight: 16 lbs 12 oz (95th percentile)
Head circumference: 17.25 (100th percentile)

Not only is she bigger than Jillian was at 4 months, she is a little bigger than Jillian at 6 months (she was 25.75" and 16 lbs 7 oz). When putting tights on her the other day, I threatened that what she really needed were some spanx! She has some serious thunder thighs and fat rolls. And yeah, I'm more than a little jealous that she makes it look cute whereas I make it look...well...not so cute.

She tolerated tummy time long enough the other day to show us that she is fully capable of rolling from front to back, and I can tell that rolling back to front will come as soon as she can move that pesky arm out of the way.

Oh my...it is going by way to fast.