Five Question Friday!!

It’s time for another round of Five Question Friday with Mama M.  Friday rolled around really quickly this week, since we had Monday off.  Too quickly actually – I have a big project due next Friday and it is coming too fast.  Slow down!!!  And Evan seems to have developed a cough which I hope goes away by Monday because I HAVE to go to work this week, no if, ands, or buts.  Hope you have a great weekend!

1. Do you embrace or dread snow/cold weather days? 
   I just wrote about the cold yesterday.  I don’t mind cold weather as long as I’m not forced to be outside and my heat is working in my house and car.  I don’t mind going for a walk when it’s cold and I don’t mind running (if it’s not too cold).  I hate waiting for the bus and I would hate if I had to work outside in the cold (like my husband).  I guess I’m not a fan of the bitter, bitter cold – like –17 degrees with wind.  No thanks. 
   
2. Which game show or reality show could you totally win?
   I think I could win Amazing Race.  Maybe.  I think that’s about it.  I don’t really watch game shows or reality TV so I’m not sure what else is out there. I’m not good at game shows so I definitely wouldn’t pick that.  If they turned Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego into a reality show, I could find her.  I could win that game.
   
3. What is your preferred climate?
   I like all climates – hot, rainy, cold, temperate, desert, you name it.  My preferred climate would be one that changes and has four distinct seasons.  I would also be interested in trying out a dry climate instead of a humid one.  I am a bit tired of the humidity. 
   
4. What do you buy every time you walk into the grocery store, no matter what?
   Eggs, milk, some type of chip, tomatoes, and bananas.  That is pretty much what we eat on a weekly basis and run out of on a weekly basis.  We also usually by Coke but we’ve been trying to get that at Target because it’s cheaper.
   
5. If you see a spider/bug in the house, are you brave enough to kill it or do you call for your hubby?
   I am totally brave enough to kill it.  I removed a dead cat from in front of my house and smoked bats out of my outside kitchen while living in Honduras.  A bug or spider doesn’t scare me.  Having said that – I don’t enjoy it and have been known to point at stink bugs and yell “stink bug” until my husband vacuums it up.  Just because I am brave enough to do it, doesn’t mean I can’t yell for my hubby to do it instead….  Oh, and when we had a mouse in the house – I refused to take my shoes off for weeks.  I hate rodents.  That is another story.

Your turn!

What do you always buy at the grocery store?

What reality TV show would you win?

It’s a Bit Chilly mixed in with randomness

This morning I woke up and it was SNOWING.  Yay!!  It was the perfect amount – enough to make everything white and sparkling, but not enough to make me stress about getting to work.  Here is a picture from my office.

Ok, that is a view from my office building, not my office. 

This is the view from my office…at least I have a window, right?  Maybe?  Who wants to stare at a brick wall.  And actually, I never have the blinds open because I am terrified that I will one day forget to close them while I’m pumping and the people in that office across the alley will be able to see me.  How humiliating would that be????

But back to the snow.  I only like a ton of snow on the weekends, on vacation, or if it’s going to be enough to close the government.  That only happened during Snowpalooza 2010.  It was awesome – the government closed for almost two weeks and since we follow the government, we closed for almost two weeks.

This small amount of snow didn’t close the government.  Or my office.  So off to work I went.  It has been freezing though.  I know you people who live in Minnesota or Wisconsin or Montana or Alaska are probably giving me mean looks when I say it’s been freezing, but here in Maryland a temperature of 13 degrees is freezing (and scientifically speaking it’s freezing too).  The other day the wind chill was –6.  That’s cold.

I had to bundle myself up (and take the token photo in my office bathroom) and even where a hat.  It has to be really cold for me to wear a hat.

It was also too cold for me to go running.  I don’t have running clothes for –6 degrees.  I don’t even know what those running clothes would be.  How would you prevent frostbite on your nose?  No clue.

In this cold weather, I have learned a few things.

1. My work shoes are not meant for cold weather.  My toes freeze waiting for the bus.  No wonder people have boots.
2. My work pants are really thin and the cold air seeps right through them turning my legs bright red.
3. I am super happy that I got a real winter coat last year for Christmas.  It is Under Armour (my favorite) and it keeps me really warm.
4. Those duraflame logs may look pretty but they don’t provide any heat whatsoever.

That’s all I’ve learned.

Hope you’re keeping warm wherever you are!!!

 

Do you like cold weather or warm weather?

Do you have a fireplace?  Real wood or duraflames?

Fitting in a Run

It is a bit hard finding time to run when I have a newborn four-month old at home (how long is a newborn called a newborn???).  By the time I get home from work it is 6:30pm and I have too much to do.  Plus, when I get home I want to see my baby and tickle him and make him smile and catch up with my husband.  Not lace up my shoes and go for a solo run.  It is also dark and freezing by the time I get home – a huge deterrent.

When I work from home, I could go for a run but I am more excited to be done work early and spend time with the baby and husband.  So I usually don’t.  I am “supposed” to do strength training on work-from-home days but I haven’t gotten myself organized to do that yet.  One day it will happen.

So, the only other option I have left is to run during my lunch hour at work.  This works for now because it is freezing outside and I don’t sweat too much.  We don’t have showers in our office building so I pretty much have to change back into my work clothes after going for a run.  I usually cool off while I eat my lunch and then change.  If I am a bit sweaty, I wipe off with Ponds Wet Cleansing Towelettes.  It’s not the same as a shower, but it works just fine. 

                        ^^After getting my run on^^

It is nice running during lunch because it gets me away from my computer and recharges my brain.  I get tired of running around the White House and National Mall over and over and over again, but I’ll live.  It is the best option because it has the least number of streets to cross.  City running annoys me because I have to stop for so many lights that I feel like I don’t go anywhere.  People walking catch up to me every block.  Once I get to the mall area in DC there aren’t any lights and I can run a bit easier.

Sometimes I am too busy to run during lunch though, so that is annoying.  Plus, I sometimes get passive aggressive remarks from coworkers about how I don’t have enough work if I have enough time to run and get my work done.  First, I try to be as efficient as possible.  Second, I work really long days.  I am in the office from 7:30am until 4:50pm – that’s almost a 9.5 hour day.  So, I don’t feel too guilty getting a run in when I have the time.  I am not running 10 miles during lunch or anything.  The most I do is 4 miles but that is rare.  I usually only have time to squeeze in a 3 mile run.  Obviously, if I have to choose between meeting a deadline or going for I run, I meet my deadline. 

And if it is below 20*F outside, I don’t run.  I don’t really have clothes for that temperature, so I skip it.  If we had a gym at work I could run on a treadmill, but we do not. 

After having a baby and having way less time, I find that I am much more motivated to go for a run at lunch.  I know that if I don’t get my run in that day at that specific time, I won’t have a chance to make it up.  I can’t just go another day because there aren’t many other options.  So, unless it’s impossible to squeeze in, I am usually out there running around the monument during lunch.

                       ^^Back in my work clothes, after a good run^^

See, you can hardly tell I went for a run.  Just my hair is a bit ugly since I had it in a ponytail for the run and then tried to shake it out afterwards.  Now, once summer comes and it’s 95*F outside, I’m not sure what I’ll do.  Maybe I’ll take a short lunch and then run after work before getting on the bus.  We’ll see what happens when the time comes.

When do you get a run in?

Anyone else run during lunch?

Organizing my Life

Remember how I said that one of my New Year’s resolutions commitments was to be more organized?  Well, I tried it for an entire week, so I thought I’d report back to you.  I was quite happy with how it went and it definitely made my life a LOT easier.

Last Saturday I made a list of all the recipes I was going to cook during the week.  Then I looked at each recipe and assigned days to cook them based on time and simplicity.  Then I wrote down how I could “prep” the recipe to make it even quicker.

On Sunday I prepped pork for the week (Tuesday’s dinner) and made a crock pot meal (Monday’s meal).   Here is all the stuff sitting in the crock pot, waiting to be cooked.  In case you’re interested, this was Crock Pot Picadillo from Gina over at Gina’s Skinny Recipes.  It was yummy and Ivan loved it too.

Here I am prepping the pork with Evan in the Ergo.  Try not to be too jealous of my beautiful kitchen and lovely profile.

This helped out immensely.  I knew what we were having each day and I usually just had to boil rice or mix a sauce really quickly.  It was so nice being organized and having food choices be fairly easy.

During the week, I mapped out all the things I needed to do when I got home from work.  And I wasn’t allowed to relax until I did them.  Here is the long list of things:

1. Cuddle with Evan
2. Start laundry – diapers
3. Start dinner
4. Give Evan a bath
5. Feed Evan
6. Put Evan to bed
7. Finish dinner
8. Eat
9. Wash up dishes
10. Prepare/pack lunch for the next day
11. Wash bottles/pump
12. Stuff diapers for tomorrow
13. Pack diaper bag
14. Hang wet diapers up to dry
15. Get ready for bed
16. Go to sleep

Yes – it is SO much stuff to do.  And it pretty much takes me from the time I get home (6:30pm) until the time I go to bed (10pm) to finish it all.  Sometimes I just want to sit down and watch TV, but I know if I don’t get it done I’ll be up all night.  And sometimes at 10pm, I want to crawl into bed and read part of my book.  However, then I remember how tired I’m going to be at 4:30am and I decide that I can survive reading on the bus instead.  I am not sure what I’m going to do once classes start.  I’m not sure where I’ll fit studying in, in my busy schedule.

However, it has really helped having the list of things to do and just getting them done.  I haven’t assigned my weekend cleaning detail yet, so I have to work on that.  Although I did take my Christmas stuff down (finally) and emptied a box in the living room that I hadn’t unpacked yet. 

Also, my husband would prefer we eat before 8:30pm every night so I might try and make the food a day early (i.e. make Tuesday’s dinner on Monday).  I’m not sure if I can do that, but I’ll try and see what happens.  It is definitely much healthier to eat at 7pm than at 9pm!

I also need to fit blogging in there too – since I didn’t get to do that all week.  We’ll see!  This past weekend my parents were visiting so I didn’t put much on the schedule.  Part of being organized is being flexible, right???

How do you get it all done?

What do you do to get organized every day?

Baby Baths

Bath time!!

When we were trying to get Evan to go to sleep easier, we decided that we needed a bedtime routine.  Something that would relax him and let him know that bedtime was coming.  So, we decided that a nice warm bath would be a great part of our bedtime routine.

When we first started the routine, bath time seemed to take forever and I wondered if maybe we shouldn’t have chosen such a long activity as part of bedtime.  However, now I love bath time and I’m so happy I get to spend that time with Evan.

At first Evan wasn’t a huge fan of the bath, but now he LOVES it.  He splashes around in the water and loves when I pour water all over him.  When the bath water starts to get chilly and his toes a bit wrinkled, I get him out of the bath and dry him off on the floor.  Then I slather him with coconut oil, while kissing his cute little belly. 

After getting dressed for bed, we spend a few minutes playing in front of the mirror and combing his hair.

It sounds like such a simple routine, but it is just the best.  Hopefully bath time can remain our time as he get older.  Since I work all day now, special “us” times like this are rare. 

What’s your favorite time of the day?

Do you take a bath/shower every day?

Five Question Friday

Yes, I apologize that I haven’t blogged since last Friday.  I was doing so well last week, but I was also working from home so when the work day was over (at 4pm) I had so much evening time left that I could get everything done and still have time to blog.  Plus, I could sleep in a little and didn’t have to force myself to go to bed before 11pm.

This week I went back to work and so I have very little time.  Very, very little time.  I get up at 4:30am and then I don’t get home from work until 6:30 and by the time I finish all that I need to get done (eat, bathe baby, get ready for work the next day) it is 10pm and time to get ready for bed.  I just couldn’t fit in a blog post.  I usually work from home on Wednesdays but this week I had meetings and wasn’t able to – so all this meant not blogging time. 

I am going to try to fit in blogging this week coming up – I promise.  I have been doing well on my organization, so I should be able to organize a tad bit better and get some blogs written.  For now, I leave you with Five Question Friday from Mama M’s blog, Five Crooked Halos.  Hope you enjoy!

1. If you were going to be stuck on a deserted island, which five people, movies, books, and food would you take along?
   Hmm, I’m not sure I like this question.  So many things to think about.  I’m going to pretend that I’m going to this deserted island for vacation – and not that I’m gonna be stuck here forever without any means of ever seeing my friends and family again.  Or that we’re going to be like Tom Hanks on that movie with the volleyball – because then I wouldn’t want to subject my family to that torture.  I’m also not gonna say the five people because I don’t want to leave important people out.  I would definitely take my husband and baby though (again, as long as we aren’t going to practically starve to death or something – otherwise I’d leave them home, safe).  Five books?  Well, I’d pick five books I haven’t read yet so I could be entertained.  So, a few of the books on my book list are:
   
         A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead

     The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

     The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

     The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

     Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich (although this book would be finished in a minute)

As for five movies, I would probably take Sunshine Cleaning, Dirty Dancing, Anne of Green Cables, A Few Good Men, and Under the Tuscan Sun.  I never get tired of those movies.

And five foods?  That is hard – do I have a fridge?  I would bring lots of candy, oatmeal, pasta with vodka sauce, potatoes, and frozen yogurt.

That was the longest question ever.


2. What is your thought on year-round school?
   I don’t really have thoughts.  It’s probably good in some sense and bad in others.  As a working mom, I can see the challenge of having to find childcare for my children during the summer when school is not in session.  I don’t really like the idea of sending my children to “camp” all summer long and I don’t have enough vacation time to take three months off.  However, as a child I loved summer and not having school for such an extended period of time.  So, who knows.
   
3. What is your most embarrassing potty story? 
   I don’t think I have one.  At least not one I can remember.  I do remember that my sister got peed on by a lion at the Rome Zoo when she was really little (like 2).  That’s all I’ve got!  Thank goodness no embarrassing pee stories from Evan yet.
   
4. What’s the temperature where you are at?
   Today it is 32*F.  It was suppose to snow last night, but nothing happened.  Boo.  Actually, I was happy because trying to get home from work when it is snowing is a nightmare.  But I would have been happy to have woken up this morning to a few inches.  Nope, just cold temps.  Which is actually nice since it’s been unseasonably warm here this winter.  I think we are going to start a fire in our fireplace this evening – so that’s exciting.
   
5. Are you a winter/spring/fall/summer person?
   I am an all-year person.  I love all the seasons!  When I spent two years in Honduras where it was hot all the time and the only seasons were the dry season and the rainy season – I really longed for the four seasons I was used to.  I really love every season – the heat, the cold, the colors, the flowers.  The only thing I hate is the windy season.  Wind is no fun.

 

Ok – your turn! 

What is the temperature where you are at? 

What’s your favorite season?

What’s your favorite movie?  Or a good book you recently read?

P.S. Sorry no pictures – I’ll overwhelm you with photos in my next post!

Five Question Friday

Today I have decided to link up with Mama M at Five Crooked Halos and participate in her Five Question Friday.  If you think the questions are fun and you want to link up, just click on over!  Here goes nothing!

1. Flu mist?  Flu shot?  Or take your chances?
   This is a tough one this year.  I used to be in the “take your chances” category – the only time I ever got a flu show was when I was in the Peace Corps and I didn’t have a choice (I got all kinds of wacky vaccinations).  Other than that, I have never voluntarily gotten a flu shot.  Why?  Well, a lot of the scientific research I’ve read have all shown that the flu shot does not prevent the flu very well.  It doesn’t give you the flu (contrary to some popular myths), but washing your hands can prevent the flu just as much as actually getting the shot.  And I wash my hands a lot.
   
   HOWEVER, this year my sister’s girls all got really sick (and the littlest one was even hospitalized – and she’s only a month old).  This has made me reconsider my flu shot philosophy.  Although I would most likely survive the flu, little baby Evan is much more vulnerable since he’s so little.  I sure would hate to get the flu and then give it to him.  Yes, he could very easily pick up the flu at daycare and I can’t really prevent that.  However, I am thinking that this year I might get it.  And I might get it today while I go grocery shopping.  Maybe if I get the flu shot AND wash my hands, I’ll be extra safe.
   
2. Do your kids have iPads?  What are some good educational apps?  Price?
   No, my 4 month old son does not have an iPad.  Nor do I.  Although this is really on my wish list and maybe one day I will enter the technology age and get an apple product that is not 10 years old (like my iPod Nano that my sister bought for me back in 2008).  Mostly likely it won’t happen – I’ll get an iPad right as iPads are retired for something cooler.
   
3. What are your favorite boy/girl baby names?
   Obviously EVAN is my favorite boy name – as evidenced by the cutie below! 
   
   
   
   I also like Nathanial and Levi.  As for girl names, I really like Evelyn (which we would never name our girl because then we’d have Evan and Evelyn), Natalia (if we had a Christmas baby), and Savannah (which we will never use because the Spanish pronunciation of that name is Sabana and that means sheet – like a bedsheet - and my husband is opposed to naming our daughter Sheet).
   
4. If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, which apple do you choose to eat (red/green/gala/etc.)?
   First, I choose to eat an organic apple.  That really limits my choices at our regular grocery store.  So, I have been eating Fuji apples for a while because the only choices for organic apples are Fuji, Red Delicious, and Granny Smiths.  And now that we are so broke and organic apples are pretty pricey (like $3 a pound) I am switching to eating half an apple a day instead.  I just can’t bring myself to eat conventional apples while I’m breastfeeding.  If I didn’t read articles daily on the effects of pesticides on kids (at work), then I might be able to just eat a regular apple.  However, little voices in my head scream “Poison, Poison” when I try to save money and by conventional products.  So half a Fuji apple it is.
   
5. What is your favorite place to sneak away to for peace and quiet?  Why?
   The bathroom?  That’s pretty much the only time I get privacy in the house.  Sometimes when I want to read my book, I take it to the bathroom and just sit there and read for a while.  It’s pathetic, I know.  However, our apartment is pretty tiny and with my husband and baby – someone always needs my attention.  So, if I want to be left alone for ten minutes, the bathroom is the place to go.  Or sometimes I walk the dog.  At work I usually go for a run and get plenty of time to think then, so that’s good.  I don’t often need too much time alone to think – so I guess that’s good because time like that is hard to come by.

 

Ok – what about you? 

Have you gotten the flu shot? 

What are your favorite types of apples?

 

P.S. Yesterday I posted about using cloth diapers, and I totally forgot that I had this picture of Evan in one of his BumGenius diapers.  Doesn’t he look so adorable – although you can get a sense of the bulkiness.  It’s not super stiff though – he doesn’t walk around like he’s riding a horse or anything.  Ok, so he doesn’t walk around, but he doesn’t sit with his legs sprawled apart or anything.

Diapering Baby Evan

 

I’ve meant to write a post on cloth diapers, mainly because when I was thinking about using cloth I was always so interested in what other people did.  I didn’t want to write it too soon, when I was still figuring things out, but I feel like I have a good handle on things.  So, there is no better time than now!

Why I Chose Cloth

I am not 100% sure why I chose cloth diapers.  I just new that I always wanted to use cloth if I ever had children.  Part of my decision is based on the chemicals and synthetic fibers that are put in disposable diapers (although I am away you can get chemical-free diapers from places like The Honest Company).  Another reason was because I didn’t want to pollute the environment with even more disposable diapers (although I am aware of the argument that washing cloth diapers uses up a ton of water).  And lastly, cloth diapering is way cheaper than disposable.  Yes, it was a bit pricey at the start-up but it is great not having to buy disposable diapers all the time.  And it will be even greater if we decide to have another child and we can re-use our diapers again.

 

The Diapers

I have a mix of a bunch of diapers.  I wasn’t sure which brand to use and so many people loved and hated different diapers that I had no idea which to go with.  When I had jury duty one of the other jurors said him and his wife loved FuzziBunz.  I had had another friend who used these also, so I figured they must be good.  I had also heard really good things about BumGenius and I had a friend who had used their organic AIOs (All in Ones – meaning, no stuffing liners into diaper pockets).  So, I decided to go with a few of these too.  So, I started building my stash and I registered for both FuzziBunz and BumGenius, just in case other people wanted to buy them for me (at about $20 a diaper, I needed all the help I could get).  The BumGenius come in Velcro and snap but I had heard people complain about the Velcro we stuck with snaps (although I did end up buying one Velcro and it’s fine – but I still like the snaps the best).

In addition to these diapers, my amazing aunt made me a bunch of diapers (the dinosaur diaper in the above picture is one of the ones she made me).  Yes, I said made.  She had found a pattern and her Jo-Ann Fabrics had all the material needed to sew up a few diapers.  I was super excited and hers were very adorable.  She made a selection of both snap and Velcro – both work really well but if I don’t remember to Velcro the diaper back shut, all our cloth wipes get stuck to them in the wash.

I also ended up getting about 8 Lil’ Joey diapers – they are adorable, tiny newborn sized diapers (in the first picture Evan is wearing a Lil’ Joey).  I love them!  My aunt also made newborn-sized diapers for the early days when Evan was too tiny for the regular sized ones (regular-sized were 8lbs to 32lbs or something).  When Evan was a newborn we also used pre-fold diapers with covers.  I didn’t mind these at all but it did take a bit of work to fold the diaper and secure it with the Snappi fastener, and then put the cover on – so hubs was against it.  So, once Evan outgrew the newborn size I didn’t buy more of the pre-folds.

My System

I have a pretty basic system – nothing that comes close to rocket science by any means.  We have two wet bags (to put the dirty diapers in) that hang on the door knob.  I bought two because when one was being washed I didn’t have any place to put the dirty diapers.  I usually wash diapers every day or every other day – it depends on what I’m doing and how low our stash is.  I think I have about 20-25 diapers, but I’m not sure because there are always some in the wash, some in the wet bag, and some drying.

Washing the diapers is pretty simple – I dump the contents of the wet bag (and the bag) into the washing machine and run a rinse cycle on cold.  Then I run a wash/rinse on hot/cold and I put the detergent in.  I usually use Rockin Green detergent but I left it in Vermont so I’ve been using our regular detergent (Honest Company brand) and it is working just fine – no smell or absorbency issues.  I then hang-dry them on our drying rack.  At first I dried them in the dryer but that took too long and I felt like it was a waste of energy.  Now I only use the dryer if I waited too long to wash them and I have no clean diapers.  They all air dry really quickly, even the few AIOs that I have.  Oh, except for the one BumGenius Organic AIO – this one takes a while and it is super stiff if it air dries so I always put it in the dryer when I’m drying other things.  Other than that, drying is never a problem.

Wipes

At first I thought I was going to use regular wipes, but then someone mentioned it’s more convenient to use cloth. And it is.  It’s much easier to throw everything all in the wet bag together rather than find a trash can for the wipe. I just use cheap baby wash cloths and soak them in water and then put them in a wipes warmer. The warmer keeps them moist (and warm – but that is a luxury on Evan’s part). I know some people have a diaper mix that is water with baby wash, but I just use water. It seems to work. And if I get lazy and don’t have a chance to soak and fold the wipes to go in the warmer – they just go in a pile and I use a squirt bottle filled with water to wet Evan’s tush.

Issues

So far I haven’t had too many complaints.  I had problems with the FuzziBunz leaking but someone suggested double stuffing them, so I did that and it seems to have prevented any more leaks.  I also re-adjusted the size just in case they weren’t fitting well.  I haven’t had any stink issues yet – all the diapers come out of the wash smelling clean (some are stained but I figure in the summer I can set them in the sun and that should get most of the stains out).

My one main complaint is the bulkiness of the diapers.  It doesn’t bother me that they are bulky, but it’s really annoying because Evan’s clothes doesn’t fit all the time.  Right now he’s in 3-6 month clothes but sometimes the bottoms are a bit tight pulled over his big, bulky diaper.  It’s not the end of the world but I sure wish there were more tush space in the bottoms of baby pants.  I think I might get some onesie extenders so that his onesies aren’t so tight – maybe that will help.

*****

So, that’s pretty much it.  I don’t regret doing cloth diapers and I’m really enjoying it.  When we are going out we sometimes use disposables (mainly because we have some that people gave us and I don’t want to never use them) because it is nice to throw them away.  However, we did use cloth when we went to my parents’ house – they didn’t mind us washing the diapers in their washing machine.  I think if we went on a vacation that didn’t involve staying at my relatives’ houses we would probably use disposables – I wouldn’t want to have to pay to use the washer/dryer at some hotel or something.  My favorite disposables are Naty by Nature Baby Care Chlorine-Free Diapers.  My friend gave us two packs for my baby shower and I like them a lot.  If we bought disposable diapers, I would definitely buy these.

What type of diapers did/do you use?

If you had a baby – would you use cloth or disposable?

New Year, New You

Or new me actually.  Ok, so not a completely new me since I am pretty happy with the old me.  I admit, it would be nice to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes one day, but what can I say.  I haven’t really been running much these days and I haven’t found the motivation to do the strength training I had been working on – and I ate about 3000 cookies while in Vermont.  Once I head back to work I think I will get back on track. 

But, back to New Year resolutions.  Or commitments, as Meghan calls them.  I kind of rather like the term commitments, since there is no pass/fail.  And I’d like these changes to stick.   I don’t really have too many changes I want to make, but I’ll review a few of them below.


Commitment 1

Be more organized.  This is pretty much the main commitment I’d like to make.  I used to be completely organized all the time.  At one time I was very Type A.  Then I went to Honduras, learned to relax, and can’t go back.  I don’t actually want to go completely back, because it’s so much better being a Type A-.  However, my life could use an organization make-over.  Mainly because I am SOOOO busy and there really is barely enough time to get things done.  Here are things I plan on organizing:

     a) My Apartment: Yes, things are still in boxes and bags and hidden in closets.  I just never got unpacked all the way because I had to go to Vegas for a week right after moving and then was too pregnant-tired, and then the baby came, etc.  Yeah, so many excuses.  However, I am done.  Things have to find a home in this apartment and that’s the end of the story.  How am I going to do this?  I have this plan of assigning weekends to rooms.  For example, this weekend coming up will be the dining room.  There is one big box left in the dining room and I’d like to unpack it.  The following weekend I will do the kitchen, etc.  When I’ve finished each room, then each weekend I will clean/straighten each room.

     b) My Time: I waste a ton of time just thinking about things and not actually doing them.  And let’s face it, I don’t have much time.  When I work, I get home at 6:30pm, the baby gets a bath at 7pm, and goes to bed by 8pm.  And somewhere in there I have to cook dinner, prepare lunch for the next day, wash diapers, stuff diapers, fold clothes, do laundry, wash/disinfect pump parts, etc.  Thankfully I can work from home two days so on those days I finish at 4pm – but somehow I always find it to be 6pm and I haven’t done anything.  Plus, the end of this month I am starting classes again so I’ll have class on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Even less time!  So, I really need to organize my meals far in advance – and prepare as much as I can on the weekends (cook chicken, cut veggies, etc.).  And I need a system so each day I’m doing something but not everything – Mondays fold laundry, Tuesdays wash diapers, etc.

    c) Money: This is a big one.  It is hard to organize something you don’t have.  Or don’t have enough of – we are super short on money these days and it’s about time I organized a budget.  Now that we have to pay for daycare, any extra money we had is gone, gone, gone.  If we want to still buy gifts for people, get the dog groomed, etc. we’ll have to put money away each paycheck.  I am determined to get our finances in order and not spend above our means.  I knew having a baby was going to be hard financially but the cuts we’ll have to make are totally worth it.  At least our car already broke and cost us a fortune!  One less thing to worry about!  Plus, golf starts up the end of April so I can build our small savings account back up to where it was…before maternity leave, the car, and Christmas depleted it!


Commitment 2

Be healthier.  I am a pretty healthy person, I admit.  I have a small sugar addiction, but so far a decent metabolism that allows me to eat lots and lots of candy without too many repercussions (although I’m getting old so that may change).  However, I am trying to make a few changes to improve my health.

     a) Eat a fruit or veggie with every meal.  This is hard because I pretty much hate vegetables.  I love fruit, but really need to work on the veggie side.  Yesterday night I had broccoli with dinner.  Yes, it is practically a miracle because I HATE broccoli, but I did it anyway.  Now I have a son and I need to be a good example to him – and eating vegetables is good for you.

     b) Have snacks on hand.  One of my main problems is being hungry all the time.  When I get home from work at 6:30pm, I shove a ton of food into my mouth because I’m so hungry.  I can’t wait to prepare dinner – I have to eat something right away.  This usually means a bunch of chips.  If I had something already prepared to munch on when I came home, maybe I could skip the five servings of tortilla chips.  Or maybe I will eat the prepared snack AND the chips.  It’s worth a try though.

     c) Floss my teeth.  More often.  No explanation needed.

I think those are pretty much it.  Nothing too crazy or ridiculous.  Nothing I can’t possibly achieve.  Just a few things that will make my life easier and happier and more relaxed.  Right?

What resolutions or commitments are you making for 2013?

Christmas in Vermont

As I typed the title to this post, I realize that it sounds so quaint and wonderful.  Who wouldn’t love to spend a Christmas in Vermont?  Skiing, ice skating, lots of snow, sledding, hot chocolate, warm fires, fun times.  Although we go to Vermont every year to visit my parents, it’s pretty much as fun as it sounds.  Ok, so we don’t stay at a ski lodge (which is fine because I hate skiing) and Ivan and I sleep in the basement on a fold-out couch – but to us it’s perfect.  To tell you the truth, we love the basement because we get our own thermostat and can make it toasty warm down there.  And sometimes my parents have the hot tub turned on and the hot tub room is right off the basement living room.  We didn’t hot tub it this year though.

We had such a fun time this year and I got my wish:



A beautiful snow storm!!  Complete with 18 inches of snow!!!  Exactly what I wanted!  Unfortunately it was so cold that we didn’t take Evan out to play (plus he doesn’t have a snowsuit and it was pretty windy and blustery).  But he enjoyed the snowfall from inside the house.
It was Evan’s 1st Christmas, which was super exciting.  Holidays are SO much more fun with kiddos.  Because we are dorks we decided to do Christmas pajamas so Ivan and I had matching pants and Evan had a cute little reindeer onesie.  We searched and searched for completely matching sets, but I couldn’t find any.  I’ll have to start my search earlier next year.  I didn’t take a picture, so you’ll have to imagine it.  My aunt and uncle from New Hampshire came over on Christmas Eve and stayed through Christmas dinner, so that was extra fun.  My mom took lots of photos of Evan in front of the Christmas tree but I don’t have copies of those yet – so I’ll post them a bit later.

Evan had the time of his life.  He thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with Mimi, Papa, Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Barb, and Uncle Mike, and the dogs (Mishka and Kuma).  When we returned home he went through a bit of attention withdrawal I think – and he had to start napping in his crib again.  No more naps in peoples arms all day long!  He was very upset but has slowly adjusted.

Here is a photo recap of our time!

Spending lots of time with Mimi – he also loved bath time with Mimi, she played with him in the bath way more than Mommy ever does!




Taking naps with Papa – this is the same activity he does with his Daddy…




Hanging out with his cool Aunt Elizabeth.  Notice the above and below outfits – we made sure he fit into Vermont culture by buying him his own flannels shirts.




 And spending Christmas Day with his *great* Aunt Barb and Uncle Mike!




He also sat around while I worked.  Yup, I had only been back to work for three weeks before taking two weeks off for Christmas and I had some reports that HAD to get done before the New Year.  So, I did a bit of work while I was there – nothing too horrible and I finished it quickly. 




Notice how one sock is off.  That seems to be the case a lot these days.  He has finally found his toes and loves to take his socks off (when they haven’t fallen off already) and suck on his toes.
Hanging out by the fire.  This picture was taken from the couch above, it sat right in front of the fire place – a perfect place to hang out and read, nap, or chat.  Or just keep warm when the snow was falling.




Lots of naps in Mommy’s arms (or any of the above people’s arms).  He was totally spoiled and hardly ever took a nap in the crib in the basement.  But seriously, wouldn’t you just want to hold this little guy in your arms and look at him all day????




We had such a fun time in Vermont – got some great Christmas presents, played some games, went bowling, at Chinese, ate 5000 cookies, hung out with family, and just relaxed.  It was so nice and I can’t wait to do it again!

Oh, and did I tell you we brought our dog, Dolce?  Yup, the dog and the baby shared the back seat in our not-big-enough car.  And just so you know, Dolce is HUGE.  He weighs about 75 pounds.  It took us 12 hours to get to Vermont because it was raining pretty hard the entire drive.  We only stopped three times, which I think was a record.  Usually Ivan wants to stop a million times to eat and pee and eat some more, but this time we only stopped when Evan woke up and wanted to eat.  And then we also walked the dog.  The drive back took 11 hours, so it was a bit shorter.  Both Evan and Dolce were super well-behaved.  And Dolce even behaved with his doggie relatives at my parents’ house.



Yup, my parents have TWO white, fluffy dogs.  Dolce is in the middle, Mishka is on the left, and Kuma is on the right.  Dolce and Kuma are actually brothers – they came from the same litter…so they are both a bit on the crazy side.  Mishka is an angel.
I hope you had a great holiday too!