Not Me Monday
Happy Monday, everyone!
I hope you had a delicious weekend full of sleeping-in and leisurely lying-around-doing-nothingness. Because, you know, SOMEONE SHOULD STILL GET TO DO THAT.
Sorry. Little punchy today from lack of sleep. And I’m pretty sure I haven’t been alone in a room for more than five minutes since 2007.
In the spirit of the Not Me Monday posts, here are a few random things I said “did NOT say” on the weekend:
- “I thought baby poop wasn’t supposed to stink yet?”
- “I wish I was heiress to the Clubhouse seasonings fortune. Seriously, I have a million of them, and I wasn’t even trying for a certain brand. They must have a monopoly on the spice industry.”
- “I don’t want to go home. Let’s just walk around Wal-Mart for hours.”
- “Get back here and FINISH YOUR FRENCH FRIES!”
- “No, baby, you can’t have a popsicle until you eat your french fries.”
Five things about salads
- I have never eaten so many consecutive salads in my life since joining Weight Watchers Online on Sunday.
- I don’t like salad.
- No, not even with salad dressing.
- But I am eating it anyway.
- It’s best when I try not to think about it while I’m eating it.
In case you missed this post, Darling Husband and I joined Weight Watchers Online as an anniversary present to each other. Today is Day 4, and I’m really proud of us!
Salads suck, but I have made a few other recipes that are really good. And Diet Coke is zero points, so THANK GOD FOR THAT.
Also: it is pretty adorable when Darling Husband texts me from work to tell me everything he eats, so I can log into the system and track it for him. My phone is full of random texts like “pear … just having a coffee … one milk one sugar … still hungry.”
A weighty issue
Tomorrow, Darling Husband and I will celebrate four years of marriage and exactly 12 YEARS of being a couple.
And the day after that?
We’re changing our lives.
Seriously! We are!
On Sunday morning, Darling Husband and I are following in Jessica Simpson’s footsteps and officially starting the Weight Watchers Online program.
I KNOW, RIGHT? Believe me, we are as shocked as you are that Mr. and Mrs. McNugget are changing their ways.
Weight Watchers Online is something that I started thinking about a few weeks ago, and couldn’t get out of my head. I got absolutely hooked on Molly’s blog (and her old blog), and went nuts reading all of the archives. Molly joined the program and had incredible success, and she basically became my bloggie heroine overnight. In a fit of I-want-to-be-like-Molly-ness, I decided it was exactly what I (well, we) needed.
Because, well:
- I am the queen of junk food. I really and truly am. Some people say they couldn’t eat much fast food because it’s so greasy, etc., but if McDonalds wouldn’t kill me and make me weight 1,300 lbs., I would go absolutely berserk with it. It’s delicious (to me). Darling Husband loves it just as much as I do, so we probably just drag each other down the evil french-fry-lined path.
- I think I have a genuine potato chip addiction, too. Having chips and a nighttime glass of Diet Coke while watching TV or reading is kind of the BEST THING EVER to me. (Sidenote: God, this is going to be hard, isn’t it?) Darling Husband = same way (except replace Diet Coke with beer)
- I am a really boring, crappy cook, and I can never think of new, healthy ideas to make for dinner. We eat the same things over and over again, and those things probably aren’t too healthy. I honestly feel like I don’t know how to change that, so getting ideas from the program is going to be really helpful.
- I know we don’t eat enough vegetables, and when we do, we never, ever like them. We buy bags of frozen vegetables, and I just cook them in plain water, and serve them … well, nude … alongside our chicken or whatever else we are eating. They taste dull, they are dull, and yet I don’t know what else to do. If I had some kind of recipe with vegetables in it? That would be, like, good.
- I want us to be good examples for D and C — especially D, since he’s the only one eating real food so far. Darling Husband grew up in a house where people put sugar and salt on everything, drank regular pop, ate dessert nightly, and BUTTERED STORE-BOUGHT GARLIC BREAD OMG. I grew up with a nanny who made pretty healthy dinners every night, and then existed on frozen fries and Lunchables and other quickie junk once we were too old for the nanny. I want to crack down on our unhealthy eating habits now, so the kids grow up in a house where this kind of good, healthy eating is NATURAL.
- I want to lose the baby weight. Although, I must say — if I’m being 100% honest — I’m probably not too much bigger right now than I was before getting pregnant with C. I have not weighed myself since having her, so I have no idea how many pounds I have lost in the last six weeks. This is mostly about the fact that I wasn’t happy with my weight BEFORE I got pregnant with C — or even D — or even for years before that. I haven’t been happy with my weight since high school. I want to get to a place that I haven’t been in more than a decade. Now that, my friends, is scary stuff.
- I want to feel better. I’ve had a few health concerns since this last C-section. I’ve been feeling horribly dizzy, faint, and weak all the time. I went for bloodwork and was told my iron was low (shocker … not), and I have to take 300mg three times a day (sucks). I started that yesterday, but it will take a few weeks before I might see improvement. I do think that I’m also (A) not eating enough, and (B) not eating healthy enough. Changing my eating habits could make a big difference in my energy.
- Darling Husband wants to go skydiving. Yes, this is somehow related to weight loss. He is dreaming of jumping out of a plane (crazy fool), and you have to be under a certain weight in order to do it (I forget the exact number). So that is a huge part of Darling Husband’s motivation. He also, of course, wants to look better, feel better, be healthier, look better in clothes, etc.
- We don’t get enough exercise. Darling Husband hasn’t been sporty since high school — when he was a strikingly handsome rugby player, mmmmmm — and I haven’t been sporty since … um, ever? We were both members of a gym a zillion years ago, LOVED it, and both lost weight (I actually went four mornings a week at 6 a.m., because I was part of a special womens’ trial program). But then we moved out of the area, and our one-car/three-job problem prevented us from going anywhere else. When D was a baby, we were really great about going on long walks in the evenings, but since I got pregnant with C, we haven’t done much of anything. Now that I’m officially allowed to exercise after the C-section, I’m determined to get my sweat on. Joining a gym isn’t a possibility, unfortunately — since we still only have one car, and Darling Husband works so much — but we’re going to walk and do home workouts to start.
So follow along, dear readers, as Darling Husband and I tackle this massive change. We’re both nervous about how we’re going to like it, but the thought of looking — and feeling — hotter better by our fifth wedding anniversary has us both very excited.
Then then he was two …
My dearest D,
Today, you are two years old. Today, I have to officially stop calling you my “one-year-old wonder.” Today, I look at you and see such a startlingly grown-up little person that I can barely stand it.
You are using the potty more and more each week. You are signing up a storm, and picking up more spoken words like the little trooper you are. I love hearing you call things by their name, out loud, and yelling “Hi!” and “Bye!” at everyone — both in person and on the phone. I’m sure there will come a time when you are a little chatterbox, but for now, we treasure every single word. We are so proud of the progress you have made.
The end of your second year was rough. Your hearing has been a challenge, and you are patiently waiting for your surgery so you can hear clearly. I dream of the look on your face when you start hearing everything without it sounding muffled. Will it be gradual, or will it be like flipping on a lightbulb? I want it to delight you, to hear the songs you love at full volume. To hear every single “I love you.”
You are such a tough little guy. You have always been a daredevil, and we are accustomed to your climbing antics, so it doesn’t faze us when you come crashing down. You rarely cry, instead just brush yourself off and move on to the next challenge. You also just battled a nasty upper respiratory infection — along with your ear infection — and were taking three medicines a day for a little while! You handled it like a champ, and even enjoy taking your new teddy-bear puffer — which we call “getting Teddy Bear Air.”
You have grown up so much in the last few months — even getting your very first haircut! You are incredibly independent, and have spent the last few months sleeping in obscure places — like on your bedroom floor, on the shelf of your changing table, in the closet, and under your bed. You make us laugh when we check on you, and see you — along with your full arsenal of stuffed animals, blankies, books, and water cup — tucked carefully into a new location.
You have been such an incredible big brother to your new sister. I have been so grateful that you aren’t jealous of her (possibly because you are too young to be jealous?), and instead lavish her with kisses and hugs. You are so gentle with her, and rush over to use the cutest little soothing tone (“Awwwwwaaa!”) when she fusses. We can tell she already looks up to you, as she is fascinated when you play with her and whisper to her.
You are so mature in so many ways, but I still see my baby in you. I see it in your soft hair, your long eyelashes, and your impossibly velvety cheeks. You still love to cuddle, and you give incredible hugs (complete with reassuring back-pats). When I cradle you on the edge of your bed at night, singing you Bye Bye Baby Bunting and saying prayers, I can almost convince myself you are still my little bitsy baby D.
My boy, you are pure sweetness, and you have the biggest heart. You mean everything to me, Daddy, and C, and we love you to bits.
Happy 2nd Birthday, my angel.
Love, Mommy
xoxoxo
Has it really been two years since I screamed that loudly?
Two years ago today, I went into labour with our son, D.
My water broke. I went to the hospital. And I began what ended up being a 17-hour labour that turned into a C-section.
I remember it so clearly. The pain — the friggin’ goddamn evil PITOCIN-INDUCED PAIN. The crying. The, uh, insisting I was going to die (yes, I’m dramatic).
If you haven’t yet read my birth story, take a gander. It’s terrifying. And there are horrible poo incident descriptions, so you know it is TMI and oh-so-real.
I may remember the labour clearly — TOO clearly — but it’s hard to remember what came before it.
Two years ago today, I was not yet a mother. I was just a pregnant chick with no idea what she was in for very shortly.
It’s bizzare to try to remember what is felt like before I was a mother. I remember working. I remember the godawful long walks to the bus and from the bus, and the endless rides on the bus. I remember crafting and watching TV in the (very quiet) condo.
I remember eating in restaurants and going shopping. I remember having the money to buy random crap I wanted, like a new skirt or makeup or shoes. I remember having uninterrupted conversations with Darling Husband.
I remember complaining I had “a bad night” if I woke up once and found it mildly difficult to get back to sleep.
Two years later, my life is harder in a lot of ways.
But it’s also so, so, so, SO much better.
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