All the summer time changes

One of our new routines is having outdoor time after nap. It works great because I am able to fold laundry, or feed Millie or even just catch up on reading. With the window open, I can hear the girls playing and supervise as needed but also the house stays clean and they burn off energy and I am able to stay on top of these pesky chores.

The other day, hubby put all of the outdoor toys up on the lawn furniture so that he could mow. When the girls went outside the next day, it's like they were blinded. They couldn't see their toys and just walked around aimlessly. I couldn't figure out why they wanted to come in so early. Usually, they don't want to come in at all. The next day, I helped them get the toys down. Once again, they did not want to come inside.

But of course, Audrey is as unpredictable as any two year old. One day, she just couldn't keep it together. First she needed a coat. Then she needed different shoes. Then she needed sunglasses that were in the car. I told her that I couldn't go get them because I was feeding the baby. Of course, this led to an epic meltdown. Josie tried to convince her to come and play, but nothing would sway her. She spent the whole hour and a half sitting on the steps crying and whining and pleading to get the sunglasses or her shoes or anything else she could think of. Needless to say, that was a long afternoon. Thankfully, that is not an everyday occurrence.

Sometimes it feels like we've never been outside before. I kind of love it, watching everything through their eyes. It's remarkable what they see and find. It can also be exhausting, like when they want to have all of the things from the shed all at once. I am sure we will get a good routine as time goes on and we can be outside more often on a regular basis. I shouldn't complain though. It is so much better than being inside all the time.

Life has been so much busier lately. With the busyness has come a change in my daily habits, most of them not very good. For example, I have pretty much quit biting my nails. I have done this since I was just a little kid especially when I am nervous or really stressed out. Well, the stress level is not quite as high but still there. It's just different now. I always have something to keep my hands busy, like holding a baby or a toddler.

Another example is what I do during naptime. Before having a third child, I would catch up on netflix shows while sitting on my computer. Usually, there would be a snack involved. I would maybe fold some laundry but that was not an *always* thing. Now, though, I just don't have time for that. If I want to get a workout in, that is the best time to do it. The morning just isn't happening right now with Amelia's schedule. She takes a consistent long nap in the afternoon so I have time to do that. That doesn't take all of nap time though. I also usually have time to clean up the kitchen, dining room and living room. If we go outside after naps, the house is pretty much maintained at a fairly clean level all the time. It is so great for my sanity and I suspect my hubby's  sanity also.

It's funny how different priorities take up different chunks of time. With my focus on eating better, I need to spend time doing that every day. I have to take the time to eat every couple hours and the preparation for that of course takes time too. For example, I make a shake every day around 2:30 or 3:00 if I'm lucky. Sometimes it doesn't happen until around 4:00. I have also learned that if I don't eat a good breakfast, it's really hard to meet my macros. Now, I spend more time preparing breakfast in the morning. It's not my favorite use of time, but it is so worth it. The more I do it, the easier it is and I am able to mindlessly prep the meals/food while still engaging with the kiddos or listening to music/podcasts. It ends up almost being a stress reliever in and of itself. 

I find that my energy level is higher than it has been pretty much since having kids (Way to go, protein!). With that, I use my time more efficiently and even though I'm prepping food more, I'm actually ending up with more time left over. There is a lot less sitting around time. I don't waste as much time procrastinating or thinking about what I should be doing but don't want to be doing. Overall, my mental health is improving along with my physical health. Its pretty refreshing.

And on that note, enough sitting around! It's time for a nature walk!

No love

False. Amelia gets plenty of love. Also, note the many faces of this growing girl. Sometimes I just can't help myself and dress her up in the most ridiculous outfits.... and then I document them here to thoroughly embarrass her when she is older. Enjoy!

Reading, cooking, watching, listening

Currently...

Reading: All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr It's promising to be a good book but hasn't totally sucked me in yet. I haven't given it enough of my time. I've been busy trying to figure out what in the world I should be following for weight lifting. It's an overwhelming world when the internet has a million opinions and suggestions out there.

Cooking: I made a black bean/rice burrito bowl meal that was amazing this week. I'm still working on getting my macros even, with me either having way too many carbs or hardly any at all. I'm hoping that by planning on more at one meal (ie: dinner), I will be able to incorporate them more evenly over time. One meal at a time,though, or I get overwhelmed. Why do all the high carb foods also have to have high fats? *sigh*

Watching: Honestly? Not really anything. Hubby and I are halfway through Mad Men on Netflix, but I'm not that committed to it. It's such a corrupted world, and it gets depressing pretty quick. I like seeing what life was like when my parents were kids, but sometimes the story lines are just ridiculous.

Listening: The girls requested that we listen to Punch Brothers this week, particularly their favorite song, Clara, affectionally called the "go back to sleep" song. I'd still rather be listening to my fave Avett Brothers but I suppose we can take little breaks here and there... I also just ordered

Hide 'Em in Your Heart, Vol. 1 & 2 by Steve Green. A friend said something that really got me thinking yesterday. Our kids are pretty good at memorizing popular songs like Frozen, other Disney songs, and other silly, repetitious songs. It takes them no real effort and they have it committed to memory (and then in their hearts) for the long term. Why don't we have them memorizing scripture in the same way? So, I ordered these albums, hoping that I can memorize verses right along side them. We'll see how much I can stand these songs since they are aimed at kids. (Usually, after hearing kid songs about 5 times, I am ready to never hear them again.)

Amelia Jane - two months old

Eight weeks have gone by, and suddenly our newborn isn't so "new" anymore. I think it's safe to say that she is a full on active baby and no longer a newborn. The change is pretty remarkable.

Just a recap: after her first week, she really started fussing. Well, fussing that turned into full on screaming that lasted pretty much all day every day. By the time we reached six weeks, it was to the point where I was just walking around in a daze, shushing her, rocking her, trying to feed her, bouncing up and down, etc. None of it helped, so we decided to take her to the chiropractor. Within minutes of being adjusted, seconds really, she was a different baby. It was such a relief! Now we can love her and enjoy her. 

It's a little hard to recap the month since the first half and second half were completely different. I've written about how being adjusted helped her already here, so I'll just focus on the last two to three weeks.

Once she was more comfortable, I was able to focus on her sleeping routine/schedule and figure out if she had any obvious signs of being tired. Spoiler alert: she doesn't. It seemed like we'd have one good day and then one bad day over and over again. Finally, I dug into a few old blog posts both on this blog and other blogs I'd read in the past that had example schedules for babies this age. You'd think after having done this a few times before I'd remember, but I really didn't at all.

She was staying awake way longer than she should have, and the result was that she was quite over tired all the time. Once I started putting her down for a nap after only being awake about an hour, she fell into a great routine and we've all been happy and more relaxed because of it.

If I time it right, I am able to wrap her in her snuggie while she is awake and leave the room. She usually looks around and fusses just a little bit for about 10 minutes or so and then falls asleep. She wakes and falls back asleep like 3 to 4 times before falling into her deep sleep. I don't take it for granted that I can lay her down awake already. I was surprised myself when it worked!

Our general routine right now goes mostly like this. She wakes up to eat around 4:30-5:30. She usually wants to eat again around 7:00, and then I try to keep her up for a little while. She'll nap again around 8:15, wake up, eat, play, and nap again until 12:00 or so. At this point, my goal is to keep her awake until the big girls are ready for naps. I've actually been pretty successful at this, which means I have a couple of hours (or at least one) a day where they are all napping. It's been so good for my mental health and I've been able to keep the house a littler neater, get work outs in, read a little, and/or prep for afternoon activities.

After she wakes up, which could be anywhere from 3:00-4:30 (!), she eats, plays for an hour, takes another nap, and then is up until her bedtime which is around 7:30. Bedtime isn't set in stone though, because the older girls stay up later and sometimes she is hungrier and wants to eat before she sleeps, which pushes bedtime back a little. If I dream feed her before I go to bed, she usually sleeps until 5:30 the next morning, which is awesome. Four naps a day may seem a little excessive, but I know the morning two will reduce to one as her wake time gets longer, and eventually, the late afternoon nap will also disappear. I'm not messing with it for now.

Nursing is going really really well! I've heard that one should wait until you've done it for six weeks before throwing in the towel and that is so true. If I would have based my feelings about it on how things were going just two weeks in, I wouldn't have wanted to continue. I was so sore and it was painful pretty much every time. At six weeks in, it's completely different. It doesn't hurt at all. I'm not engorged, even in the mornings, since my body has gotten used to our routine. She's gotten really good at latching quickly and appropriately so I haven't ever felt like she's not getting enough or unhappy. The only little hiccup we have is that she really doesn't like being covered up while we're in public. Maybe she gets hot, but she will latch and unlatch over and over and usually doesn't eat as much, which then means she eats a lot more later. It's not a big deal, but something I should note. If I used the nursing cover instead of just a blanket, it'd probably help a lot. I've just been lazy and haven't taken the time to dig it out of the endless pit of the diaper bag.

I also should note that she just started making eye contact with me and smiling in the middle of nursing, which is pretty heart stopping. She really captures her mama in those moments. I love this stage.

Around six weeks old, she started smiling, just a little bit here and there. Being adjusted and having her more comfortable probably helped, but mostly it was just good timing. She is sneaky with it, smiling for only a second or two before resuming staring. If you aren't careful you'll miss it! Just this week, she's started smiling and cooing for other people consistently. Her interaction time lasts a lot longer and she seeks me out with her eyes more. It should go without saying (but I'm going to say it) that she's getting to be more and more fun.

She is still wearing 0-3 month clothes comfortably. I'm really tired of most of her clothes (it's the third time around for a lot of them and my sense of baby style has shifted but I don't want to spend the money on more clothes so I'm just waiting it out) so I won't mind when she switches to the next size. I might even pull them out early, even if she hasn't actually grown out of the the 0-3 clothes. They are already in her dresser, just in the bottom drawers, so it wouldn't be too difficult to do. We shall see. The weather will play a huge factor in this as I only have the summer clothes ready for 3-6 months.

If the girls would have gotten sick of her, this would have been the month since she cried her way through the first half of it. Thankfully, they really didn't seem to mind and still love her dearly. Audrey's taken a little more ownership over her "tistah" and Josie is still showering her with physical adoration (smothering? almost... she's a little overwhelming) all the time. Millie girl seems to be getting used to it and doesn't cringe every time, so that's nice to see. She is juuuust starting to watch them as they play around her, and I'm sure that'll take over as she keeps growing and developing.

They help me come up with new nicknames for her all the time. Currently, we call her Millie, Mil mil, Millie McGee, Amelia Be-deyle (a play off of Amelia Bedelia), and Millie girl. We've just barely scratched the surface, I'm sure. We sure do love nicknames over here!

And now for the comparison:

Still looks so different. We still hear that she looks more like Audrey, which I can now see a little more. Mostly in the mouth, which isn't surprising. We found pictures from the past, showing how much Audrey looks like her grandma Annette, and Amelia looking more like her daddy (and I'm sure that there are similarities between mother and son). Josie continues to look more like me and not like her sisters! Genetics are so fascinating.


And already, this next month is flying by!

Good results, energy levels, and sweet spots

I redid my macros now that I'm working out on a regular basis. My carbs went up quite a bit and fats went up a little too. Actually, so did protein! Mostly, though, I was excited to see the carbs go up. I had them set pretty low because I was basically a bum all day sitting around nursing or rocking her to sleep or playing games with the older girls. Now that I'm more active, I can eat more carbs, in fact I need more carbs to keep my energy level up.

While doing this, I measured myself and discovered that I lost a few inches in my waist and hips. Glad to see this non scale victory! I had noticed that my one pair of non maternity jeans were fitting a little better but I attributed it to them being stretched out. Each inch that disappears brings me a little closer to fitting in most of my old clothes, so I'm celebrating every single one. I'm only down 6 lbs right now, but again, every pound counts, and weight lifting is going to help shape my body even more. Every day that I am sore from it, I can tell that I'm moving in the right direction.

Even better, though, is that my energy level is so consistently high now. I don't crash midday and I want to work out, even at night when the kids are in bed and I'm ready to be done with parenting for the day. Before iifym and exercising, I was so tired out by 8:00 at night that I would fall asleep on the couch before heading to bed a few hours later. Now, I'm able to use that time to clean up a bit, work out, or just read (without falling asleep!) a book. It's a huge weight off of my shoulders.

I've found a sweet spot with my meals for now. Keeping my lunch lighter, I have been including a protein shake around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon to fuel me until dinner time, which is usually later since we like to wait to eat with hubby. I haven't been snacking at all during naps, which I was terrible at while pregnant. Every morning, I find myself filling up the huge jug of water, my precious coffee concoction (currently: chocolate chip cookie creamer with a bit of ready whip on top - amazing and not terribly awful for me), and then later on my protein shake. If I don't get them back to the kitchen when finished my side table ends up a bit crowded:

It's okay though. I'm getting into a groove with this new lifestyle. I'm figuring it out, slowly but surely. I do spend more time prepping food (I love you, fruits and veggies, but you take so.much.prep.time.) but I try to do it in mass quantities so that I am not doing it all day every day.

I've also learned that I need to have a solid breakfast with a higher amount of protein than I'm prone to eat if I'm not careful. I have been obtaining this by sauteing veggies and ham with egg whites, or Ezekiel bread with Pb2, or hard boiled eggs with turkey sausage. Today, I added overnight oats that had some protein powder mixed in to really keep me full until lunch time. It worked, tasted great, and didn't take hardly any prep time which is huge for me. Mornings are busy enough around here; I don't have time to be in the kitchen making large meals.

We are on the brink of a weather heat wave, and I am so excited. According to my weather app, today is the last day below 50 degrees, which means we'll be spending a lot more time outside, preferably with me getting some exercise in while the kids burn off some energy too. It was just too cold today to be outside with Amelia, but knowing that tomorrow will be a lot nicer made it easier for me to stay inside. I'm just itching to get out there! The girls are too. Their Easter baskets had some outdoor toys in them and they haven't got to use them too much yet. Soon, girls, soon! (More on Easter in a upcoming post).

So that's where I'm at right now with food and exercise. Lifestyle changes take time, but I'm happy to keep plugging away at it.

Strong willed child, getting my (exercise) groove back, and an Amelia update

I was rocking my food tracking and lost about 5 lbs. Then I stalled, because I wasn't committed enough. Weekend came, life is busy (always), and I just didn't stick to it closely. I'm not going to lose this baby weight by not carefully tracking what I'm eating, so I jumped back on the wagon (for the 109485 time) and also finally added in real exercise. Guys! The exercise is so amazing. I was worried that I would be so out of shape that it would make me feel completely hopeless and tired, but instead it gave me more energy and I loved the rush of endorphins I got during and after. This week, my mind has switched focus to "will I exercise today?" to "when will I exercise today?" I got up early on Monday morning (5:30), worked out during nap time on Wednesday, and just did a night time workout tonight. Of all three times, I'd say the morning was the best as far as affecting the rest of my day. It left me with free time to do other things and I could check it off my list and not feel guilty or worried about when I would get it done. BUT I feel so much better knowing that naptime is an option if I'm strategic about what Amelia is doing (sleeping, in swing, etc) and also can squeeze it in if it doesn't happen til hubby is home. It's nice to know that it's possible, even when life is so very busy.

I've read and reread how important it is to get as close to your macros every day even if you don't feel like it. I know that sounds crazy, like why wouldn't you want to eat more? But sometimes, you eat foods that are filling enough that you just don't feel like eating more yet your numbers aren't on yet. So today, after working out, I made a delicious bowl of greek yogurt/chocolate syrup/walnuts/strawberries and got my macros on point. It's crazy that I am forcing myself to eat more to lose weight! Don't feel too sorry for me, though, this rarely happens. ;)

Amelia is smiling and cooing the last few weeks and it has really brightened up my entire life. She doesn't smile as easily as her older sisters did, so when she does, it is like the best gift. Sometimes, she'll be fussy and I won't know exactly what is wrong, and all it ends up being is that she needs face time. Audrey did this too. Josie was always finding anything else to look at besides her boring parents.

Just today, I caught Amelia smiling at a toy on a bouncer. It was so adorable watching her light up with glee, even if she started fussing 30 seconds after the picture was taken because she was still hungry. More and more personality is coming, though, and we are all eating it up.

Speaking of exercise, yesterday (when it was beautiful outside) I put the big girls in the double stroller and wore Amelia in my Beco Butterfly II. I won this in a giveaway and hadn't worn it yet, so it took a while to actually get out the door. Amelia was not too happy about all of the commotion while I tried to figure out how to best wear her, but once we got going she fell asleep and slept hard. I need to remember that for the days when she won't take good naps (every other day it seems like lately). So, I walked for about 35 minutes total (adjusting Millie, pointing out objects, stopping at Grandma's for a bit, but I used the Map my Walk app so I had an idea of my actual walking time), which was only 1.35 miles, but I burned over 400 calories! How is this possible? I will tell you. The stroller is not a jogging stroller so it is a lot heavier and harder to push. The girls in it weigh at least 70 lbs between them. Amelia is a solid 12 or so on my chest. That is a lot of resistance! It definitely felt like a workout but was also enjoyable and the girls loved it (all three). I love being able to exercise while being with the girls, not trying to work around them. Our jogging stroller has flat tires, but I could also use that in the future. It would be a lot easier to push so would work great for longer distances.

That afternoon, while they napped hard, I got in another 20 minutes of Body Pump (can't wait for the next level which is longer and harder. The intro level is boring since I'm familiar with the program having done it at the Y years ago). All in all, a great day of exercise. Tonight, I did Body Flow, which was also only 20 minutes. I loved the stretching but it needs to be combined with something else. I only burned 95 calories and didn't feel physically fatigued at all.

We brought Amelia to the chiro again today, just as a follow up, but she definitely needed the adjustment again. Yesterday and today before the appointment, she was doing the same things like curling up more and resisting laying flat on her back. She also squirmed more and was way more fussy. After she was adjusted, she slept hard which was definitely needed since she hadn't slept great the last two days. I wouldn't say she's done a 180 since the appointment, but she's definitely more comfortable. It's so hard to know if she is truly feeling uncomfortable or in pain or if it is just the bewitching time of night when a lot of babies are fussy before bed. Hopefully it will be more obvious tomorrow. I'm not wishing away her newborn days, but it will be nice when she is a bit older and doesn't have these issues so common with babies under 12 weeks.

For those of you that have met Josie, you know how strong willed she can be. I was recommended the book the (New) Strong Willed Child by Dr. James Dobson and have been slowly working my way through it. I am so relieved to not feel crazy about this anymore. I always felt like she was strong willed, even as an infant, but felt like others thought I was just being over critical of her since she was our oldest. Let me assure you, she is strong willed! She's not the extreme, but she definitely challenges us and has her moments of extreme defiance (way more than Audrey ever has, who is much more compliant than strong willed).

After reading some of the suggestions, I put it to the test last Saturday and "went to battle" with her when she openly defied me by misbehaving at naptime. It wasn't fun (who wants to battle a 3 1/2 year old?) but I "won" the battle that day. I put "won" in quotes because that is the attitude I have to take to not give in or feel horrible guilt. She confirmed that I had done the right thing by her attitude and actions after she woke up and the next four days. She was so much more pleasant to be around, listened great, helped out whenever she could, and just generally acted sweetly to me and the rest of the family.

Then, today, she was back in the challenge mode and was pushing buttons all day long. I tried to figure out if it was something I did or something that was different, and the only thing I can think of is that with Millie fussing more and needing my attention, she saw an opportunity for shenanigans. Obviously that's not okay, and I had to crack down harder and stay diligent with her all day. Even at bedtime, she didn't fall asleep until almost 10:00, meaning she stayed up two hours later than bed time. Of course this means that Audrey also did, so tomorrow will be interesting. Great, all three girls are questionable tomorrow. Pray for me! :)

We are doing an Easter egg hunt and it is supposed to be pretty chilly. I'm hoping the kids will burn off energy, nap great, and wake up refreshed and happy. All three of them. My bets are on this not happening the way I'm hoping... but one can hope!