Coffee, picnic, and zoo

I have a billion photos from this weekend so hopefully I can narrow them down a bit. On Saturday I went to kickboxing and after that we quickly met Ross and Michael over at our favorite new coffee place for some coffee and breakfast. Finally orange county has some worthy coffee!

This cute face scored Uncle Ross a phone number from a cute girl.

Then we headed home to meet with my parents. They were coming down to spend the day with us and then to watch Olive while we celebrated Bob's birthday. We grabbed some sandwiches and headed to the park to eat. Then we walked to the little zoo to check out the animals. Olive had the best time and spent most of the day sitting on my dad's shoulders. She was one happy baby.

Blake's hands shooting the goat and explaining how it relates to a pentagram. Family friendly conversation ya know.

I ain't no scientist

The other day I wrote a novel of a post about Olive's sleep. I know boring boring boring but I hope to remember all this for my next child or if anyone else if having similar issues maybe it will just make them feel less alone. Of course most importantly it helps me vent. So the last two nights Olive has woken up at her normal 1am time and we let her thrash around and whine a bit. Two nights ago it took her about 45 min to get back to sleep. Blake went in there, comforted her and all that good stuff but to me 45min is so long and when you are staring at a monitor and not comforting your child it seems like days. It just upset me that I didn't go in there and nurse her cause really that is what she wanted. Then last night same thing, 1 am she was up and again Blake went in there to try and calm her and she was just so upset. She stood up and just cried her little eyes out. I couldn't take it anymore. It was making me so sad. So I fed her and she was happy as can be and fell asleep till 5:45. So while I wasn't sleeping last night I was thinking about this week and how pissed off and grumpy she has been. On friday she literally spent two hours sitting on my lap being the biggest grump and not wanting to do anything. I would play with her, take her out of the house, and do everything and she was just so damn grumpy. So I started thinking why just this week? What is different? The only thing I could find is that I took that feeding away from her. I mean is it possible that sent her in a shit mood all week? Today she was in an incredible mood. Totally back her to her happy goofy self all day. We spent the day with my parents and were super busy running around which caused her to skip a nap and she was totally fine, happy as a clam. So I totally beat myself up all last night thinking I was like the worst mom in the world for letting her cry for a few nights and that I totally fucked my child up. I know I know she will be fine but I just wonder if that is really why she was such a little grumpy gus all week.

Gosh parenting is so hard. I know most people will just tell me to trust my gut and do what I feel but it's hard sometimes to really stick to what you think it right. No joke everyone around me would gasp when I told them Olive woke up 2x a night to feed and they would tell me I need to let her cry so that is what I did. I mean in some cases she does need to fuss a bit but maybe trying to drop these night feedings are a bad idea. I mean clearly she is pissy. So now I'm back to square one trying to figure out if the grump was from not getting boob in the middle of the night. Guess we'll see in a few hours........


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Shred

I was reading my mom blogs yesterday morning and I noticed like 5 people in a row talking about the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred.  I didn't even know who she was but I learned she is from the Biggest Loser. Unfortunately I don't watch that show so I'll take it from what I read that she is a bad ass.  At first I clicked through the blogs and didn't think anything of it but then I thought it might be fun to join in on the fun, errr pain. I already do kickboxing but that is only twice a week so I am going to add this to my routine on the days I don't go. I will be starting it on monday as I need to wait for it to arrive on netflix. So while Olive takes her morning nap I will be shredding. Why not right? Everyone was posting stats and photos so I figured I would too. I pretty much put it all out there anyways and honestly if you read this blog you've probably seen me in a bathing suit (or less) or have birthed a child and nothing is really shocking about a body or really anything for that matter. I'm not much for a scale as how you feel and look are the key but I'm mostly curious. I won't be changing anything in my diet since we eat really healthy so that isn't my concern. I know I eat wayyyy too much at a time but I have no desire to change that. I love my food!

Arm (thickest Part) - 11"
Thigh (thickest Part)- 23"
Upper Waist (smallest)- 31"
Lower Waist (belly button) 35"
Hips (biggest part)- 39

Weight- 130 ( I think)

Without totally picking myself apart my goal is to get rid of the gut (um ya I look about 4 months pregnant) and of course shred inches off my thighs and ass. Of course a little tone in the arm wouldn't be too bad either. Um do you like the muscles that are forming under my fat on my stomach?? So lets hope Olive continues her long naps so I can shred shred shred!

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Arty Farty

We skipped out on the Farmer's Market today so we could meet up with Tamar for a photo gallery date. We drove up to LA and met her at the Annenberg Space for Photography. I had never been there before but it was really cool. It was tucked in between all these fancy buildings filled with a bunch of dudes in suits. The work was really good which was a shock as large shows like this can sometimes be a letdown but the show was really interesting. The show was called "Beauty Culture" and it was a large collection of various photographers showing female "beauty" in many different ways. Some were beautiful and others were pretty disturbing. There was also a documentary that was really interesting done by Lauren Greenfield. I've never really been a huge fan of her work but I think the video was amazing. If you've never heard of her you should totally check her out. If I wasn't a photographer I'd probably like her a lot more but I won't get into the whole political bullshit of photography. Anyways awesome exhibit and totally worth checking out. Olive wasn't super pumped to sit and watch the video so we danced around and played with some metal beads that were hanging around. She was entertained and I was able to watch the video. I also got her laughing super hard during the video. If I pull her close to something then quickly pull her away she just cracks up like its the funniest thing in the world. People weren't too thrilled but I thought it was cute. After looking at the photos we grabbed some food and sat in the grass and relaxed before we headed back to the oc.

obsessed with untying shoes.

purse snatcher.

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Sleep update

I don't want to jinx it but Olive has been doing really good with naps. Most are hitting in the hour to hour and a half mark. Of course there are still days that she takes 3 30 min naps like clockwork but for the most part they are getting longer. I still haven't cut one out and I don't think I'm going to yet as 3 a day seems to be working for us. The only trouble I'm having is with mornings. She gets up anywhere between 5:30-7:30. Sometimes at the 5:30 time I can nurse her back to sleep but most of the time she is wide awake. So once she is awake she can't really stay up any longer than 2 hours (at least for the first nap) So as soon as she gets up I nurse her. This was a problem a few weeks ago as she wanted nothing to do with my boob but I think there was teeth to blame for the lack of interest as she is eating a little more now. So after I nurse her I usually get my coffee and breakfast together and make her food. She usually eats about an hour after she wakes up but lately she is the biggest grump in the world when it comes to eating. She will take a few bites then put her head down and just whine till I let her out. It's like she is too tired to eat. This doesn't surprise me as I HATE breakfast. The only reason I eat in the morning is cause I am nursing her and I need the nutrition. So I don't really know what to do. Do I switch up the routine and maybe feed her breakfast after her nap which would fall around 9 or 10 depending on when she wakes up? Or is that just way too late? I obviously want her to eat in the mornings and start getting into the habit of having food but not sure what to do. The whole adding food thing is tricky. I didn't think it would be but I still don't know how to balance out food with nursing. Do I drop feedings now? Allow more time in between? I know people will just tell me to go with what she wants but she doesn't know. If I shove my boob in her mouth she will eat, doesn't mean she is hungry. So I'm confused. I've tried to look on the internets for answers but it ends up mostly stressing me out. I know there is no right answer but I just feel a little lost. What to do what to do......

As for her nighttime sleep schedule we're getting there. She was/is consistently waking up twice a night which was fine but now I'm thinking it isn't because of hunger and it's just that she wants me. I know its sweet but at the same time she is almost 9 months old and I am completely sure she isn't hungry in the middle of the night. We've decided to try and drop one of her feedings at night and then slowly go from there. When I write it I know it sounds kinda cruel but I do think she needs to find a away to sleep a little bit longer at night for her own good. Getting up and feeding her isn't a huge hassle at all but I know she would be much happier with a solid sleep through the night. Already she is getting really good at putting herself to sleep when she is awake. We have completely stopped bouncing her or rocking her to sleep. For the last week or two I have put her down wide awake in her crib. She will fuss for a few min but never cry and then go right to sleep. Sometimes she just tosses a bit and then in less than 2 min is asleep. It makes me quite proud! Some days are hard and she stands up and really fights it but I feel like I now know when she is tired so I know she needs to sleep. I'm hoping this gradual transition into putting herself to sleep has helped the naps become longer. As far as the nighttime goes and trying to ween off that feeding its been really hard cause we've had to let her fuss and cry a bit. I never let her scream but she will squirm around but its mostly like a thrashing trying to find her spot to sleep kinda deal. It still kills me but I truly think we're doing the right thing now. People kept telling me to let her cry for months and months but it just never felt right. I don't think at 4, 6, or ever 7 months old she would have gotten it. Maybe some babies at that age do but I just wasn't ready for it. Now I think she gets it in a way. Maybe I'm nuts but it's just the process that I feel is working. Obviously there are going to be many more nights that are going to suck cause I sit and stare at the monitor until she goes to sleep like a crazy person but I think in time she will get it.

*She put the blanket like that. Amazing little thing.......

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Memorial Day

It isn't quite summer weather here but we figured it would be warm enough to hang at the beach for a little while. The rest of the day was spent at Blake's parents hanging out with the family and some friends.

I brought my Polaroid down to the beach and had some fun with it. There is nothing like the real deal. Instagram and all those silly apps have nothing on pulling a real polaroid.

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Me, Pup, and Olive

Photos by the husband







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