Thursday, December 31, 2009

Body After Baby









I am joining the Body After Baby challenge I learned about on another Mama's (Samantha) blog here. I felt inspired and thought it would be a good goal for the new year and new decade!





Here are my goals:



Diet:

When Caleb was 5 weeks old he was diagnosed with food sensitivities within my breastmilk. I then made the choice to begin an elimination diet in order to continue breastfeeding Caleb. I followed a food allergy chart and eliminated all but the least allergenic foods from my diet. Since then, I have slowly been adding foods back in, finding that Caleb is sensitive to many foods. In addition to eating the least allergenic foods, I absolutely have not had any soy, dairy or gluten as well. I plan to go forward with this diet and my goal is to continue breastfeeding Caleb until he is atleast one year of age. I feel that this diet has contributed, as well as breastfeeding, to my overall health and wellbeing since giving birth. I have lost all of my "baby weight" and then some, and I feel great!


However, I have big goals for my diet:




  1. Continue to add more foods back in with priority being finding more fresh veggies...even if I don't like them (for example sweet potato...gross)! (As of now I am eating cooked carrots...everyday. Everyday.) Caleb has shown signs of allergies to all green veggies (including romaine lettuce and even green beans)


  2. Find a better supplement because I don't think mine are cutting it. (I'm looking for a great prenatal/breastfeeding supplement that is soy/dairy/gluten free...if you know of one I'm looking for suggestions! Most supplements have soy in them)


  3. Eat more variety, even though it is easy and safe to eat the same thing everyday. My goal for the next months is to try more of a rotation diet.


  4. Eat in this order of importance...Vegetables, Protein, Fruit, Grain


  5. Drink WAY more water


  6. Eat organic when possible (right now I eat about 95% organic...but this is because of the elimination diet, I would eat less organic if I could...because it is SO expensive!)




Exercise:


At 16 weeks pregnant I was put on bedrest for 5 days due to a complication. After those 5 days I was on a weight restriction and activity restriction for the remainder of my pregnancy. Needless to say, I haven't worked out other than walking on a treadmill for almost a year. Sad. While I have lost all of my baby weight and then some, when I actually took the time to look in the mirror the other day (after reading about this very challenge...actually)I noticed a few things were, um...missing. Like... my booty.



Here are my goals:




  1. Exercise. Actually do it, think about it, then do it. This will take effort, but I need to make it a priority. Whether it be 9am while Cole is holding Caleb or 12am while Caleb sleeps, I need to exercise. My first goal is to exercise 3 times a week by doing Yoga Booty Ballet (it's a DVD video...it's all I can do now because I live in the midwest and it's freezing...and I do well with instructional help and someone saying "good job" :) ) I would love to say I'll run a mile, lift weights, do sit-ups, and all...but I'm being realistic. This is all I have time for, right now. But hey, something is better than nothing right?

  2. I'm going to stop at goal 1 for now : ) Not because of lack of motivation, but I don't want to overwhelm myself :) I will add more later...actually that is goal # 2...to add more goals after I achieve goal # 1. :)






Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Sittin' Pretty

He has been doing it for a couple weeks




Though sometimes he pouts...






and sometimes he fusses through it...




Caleb is...



...sittin' pretty.

Oh, and please pardon the drool.

Caleb rocks the drool drenched shirt look =)

Thursday, December 17, 2009

5 Months

Tomorrow...
my beautiful baby boy...
will be 5 months old.
I simply cannot believe it.
Caleb...
is sitting up on his own (for a little while)
jibber jabbers some sort of words
cries the word "mama"
has developed a little more of a like for the carseat
loves the bath and splashing
loves to be with daddy, his "taxi"
laughs histerically and has a wonderful sense of humor
thinks mama is super funny for some reason?
squeals with delight
tests how loud his voice can really be...which is quite loud!
gives open mouthed kisses...so cute!
loves to snuggle snuggle snuggle
falls asleep holding something soft (little blankies or his puffy)

why does 5 months seem SO much older than 4 months?

My baby boy is growing up!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Little Face


I love...




his...



little face.

His little face that...
smiles after just waking up
looks around with wonder
pouts so sweetly
lights up when he sees mama or daddy
raises his eyebrows with such expression
wrinkles his nose when he laughs
squints his eyes when he smiles
makes raspberry sounds with his lips
whispers softly when sleepy
looks so peaceful and beautiful while asleep
looks up at us with love and trust.
I just love...
his little face. :)