Give Mommy Some Sugar....But Only in a Few Months

While I am officially at my 11 week post-baby mark, my body looks like it is locked at 11 weeks into my pregnancy.  Now I understand why it is so hard to lose that baby weight - for some like me, it literally feels attached with crazy glue.

Now don't get me wrong - I would not trade the 50lbs I gained for a bitch skinny body because I know those pounds were critical to little V's success.  In my mind, every pound was important.  And because I am 5'10, I carried it well.

So fast forward to today, and I still have 25 lbs to lose and I have been stuck in this plateau for the last three weeks. Now to be honest, it is not that I have been committed to the weight loss.  In fact, I have thrown caution to the wind and have been "pleasantly" eating.  Translation?  Haagen Dazs cookie dough ice cream is my best friend. Well sort of.  It prob takes me two days to finish a pint.  But you get the picture.

So this week I made a commitment to myself that I will drop the excess pounds and hope to rock a bikini by August when we head to Nantucket for our annual two weeks.  In order to help the process, I have posted a chart on our fridge for all to see to not only publicly out myself to all who come into our kitchen but to visually motivate me to stick to the plan.  J is also supposed to come along for the ride.  His high blood pressure, which was recently identified, is supposed to be his motivator.  As you can see below, he just got comfortable outing his weight......took him a week to post it.......he had not stepped on a scale for more than a year!

I think this exercise will also serve as a good role model for little V.  As a breast fed and formula fed baby (heavy on the latter), she is off the charts for her height and her weight.  However, I know this is temporary, since all babies do at the age is sit around, play toys with mom, spend a few minutes on their tummies and get carried around.  Plus, I love my buddha baby belly and know that once she hits that active stage, she will get to a healthy weight. And having a pair of good role models, who exercise and eat healthy should help that process!

Vanessa - 9 weeks old

 

 Vanessa - 10 weeks old

Vanessa - 11 weeks old

Can I do it? Travel with a 2 month old bebe?

They say you should do something everyday that scares you. While I don't engage in that action everyday, though I would like to, I am about to embark on my first trip with little miss Vanessa tomorrow, which does scare me a tad.  In fact, this one day of travel should last me at least one week's worth, if not two weeks worth of "scares".

The "scary" part of this trip is fear of the unknown as well as the fear of "everything going wrong" with Vanessa e.g her having a meltdown during the entire plane ride, Vanessa having a huge pooie diaper that explodes all over our seats and us, running out of bottles while on the plane, and losing our passports and my mind, just to name a few. I never had these types of anxieties before - I'm actually not an anxious person BUT travelling alone with my daughter seems to have created this neverending list of "what if" scenarios in my head.  

But like most things in my life, once I tackle something at least once that I have deemed "scary",  the scaredycat in me is released and I will have no problem doing it again.  Wish me luck!

 Vanessa - 8 weeks old

Le birth announcement

Call me old fashioned - but I just love a beautiful birth announcement (In fact, I love all paper products, cards, stationery, etc. .....but that's another story.) And that is why weeks before little miss Vanessa was born, I spent hours combing through various catalogues and websites, looking for sample templates (yup, there is that type A in me, coming through loud and clear).  I narrowed it down to a few, convinced dear hubby of the necessity,  and we picked our winner template a few weeks ago.

As far as birth announcements go, I am in love with the layout and design - classic, clean and elegant  - quite fitting for a spirited and beautiful creature like Vanessa.  It is her official "calling card" - letting everyone know that she has arrived - so I want to make sure it makes a lasting, yet stylish impression. And did I mention that I also love those belly and thigh rolls of her - so yummy!

Part of the success of such an announcement are the picts and I have to thank dear hubby for that.  No, he wasn't the photographer, but he splurged with an extravagant "push present" - a sitting with a newborn photographer who did an outstanding job.  We both agree that the five hours spent in her studio with Vanessa were precious memories that we will forever treasure. The investment was a small fortune, but well worth every cent.  I can't get enough of my wee beauty!

Hard to believe that the weeks are flying by and how much she is evolving - so I will continue to capture them well.    

Vanessa - 6 weeks old

Vanessa - 7 weeks old