Time Flies When You’re Up Every 2 Hours

Posted in Body A.D., CJ, Cora, Family by teamtradermom

Or “How the last 5 weeks got away from me.”

I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything in 5 weeks. Here I thought that I would be blogging at least once a week during maternity leave since I’d be home and have so much time on the computer.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Boy was I wrong!

Free time? What’s that? I definitely have less of it now than I did before. It’s so much harder to schedule and plan for things when you have an infant who eats every 2 hours. Just when you think you’ve got a few minutes to get something done, she wants a bottle or to be held or have her diaper changed.

She’s, like, so demanding…

And of course the moments when Cora is sleeping quietly and I start to think “Here’s my chance!”, her big sister wants attention. Gees kid, make your old meals would ya!

Seriously though, it has been challenging at times but we’re getting it figured out. Sure, there are 2 of us here but that doesn’t necessarily make it easier. We each have our own agenda of goals to accomplish. Sometimes they align and sometimes they don’t.

As of this week I’m back to work so we’re adjusting to a whole new routine. CJ is figuring out the intricacies of being a Stay At Home Dad to 2 little ones while I get used to sitting at a computer all day and having to think about things besides spit up and play dates.

It’s all good though and establishing this new routine will help us in the long run. Fortunately Isabella is pretty adaptable and old enough to help out.

Both girls are doing great. Cora had her 2 month check up a couple weeks ago and is up to 10 lbs. 8 oz. and 23” long. Other than a bad case of cradle cap and dry skin, doc says she’s doing great. She’s very alert now and likes to “talk” a lot.

It’s so much fun to sit with her and just “chat”. Those moments are priceless.

And when she smiles at me…fuhgeddaboudit!

In terms of my recovery back to normalcy, it seems to be taking longer than I had hoped. Sure, I’m all healed up “down there” but there are other things. My tailbone got bruised during labor and delivery and it’s still sore. Sitting all day at work has aggravated it all the more so I’m using one of Cora’s tummy time Boppy’s to sit on and provide relief. I also have to ice it a couple times a day. I tell ya, I have sat on more ice bags in the last 3 months than anyone should ever have to…

My weight is still an issue too. I haven’t lost a single pound or inch in these last 5 weeks since I posted. I’ve been working out 6x a week and watching my calories but it’s not working.

My “Before” pic – it’s a silly one but you can see my belly pretty good. Ugh. (FYI this was taken at Morrill Hall in Lincoln, NE)

So, last week I joined Weight Watchers. I had hesitated for a while because I was worried about the cost commitment but enough is enough. I know several who have done it and had success, and group support tends to work well for me anyway so I figure, why not. It’s still too early to have results but I’m hopeful this program will be what I need to drop these pesky 20 pounds.

Also, we are officially done having kids. CJ had a vasectomy last week. We’re both getting too old to go through this all over again. We’ve been so blessed to have two beautiful, HEALTHY, girls and I’m very content with that. So instead of going on birth control for years to come or not using anything and risking a pregnancy, we went this route. CJ is feeling pretty good, with occasional soreness.

That’s about it from the Team Trader camp!

25Apr2013

A Day in the Life: Baby Edition

Posted in Family by teamtradermom

Oh how life has changed. When I did my original “Day in the Life” post, my day was mostly about work (I also did a DITL: Weekend Edition).

Not anymore.

At least, for right now.

Here’s what most of my days look like lately, and will for the next 10 weeks or so.

It’s hard to know when to “start” my day because it feels like it’s never ending. So I’ll start when the day officially starts – midnight.

12:00 a.m. I’m usually sleeping at this time. CJ and I have a system for overnight feedings where he takes the first few and I take the last few. Since I’m not nursing, it makes it easier to split shifts. That way, we can each get a 4-5 hour block of uninterrupted sleep. So, that means CJ’s on duty until about 2 or 3 am, at which point I take over.

Does that mean my day begins at 3am? I don’t know. It’s all pretty much a blur.

2:30 a.m. Basically, from 2:30 until about 7 a.m., I’m in the nursery. I feed Cora then put her back to bed.

I rinse out the bottle, go potty and then curl up in the recliner and try to get a few more winks until the next feeding.

Why don’t I go back to bed? Well, right now, Cora is waking up to eat about every 1.5 to 2 hours. And she makes grunting noises in her sleep. So, to be fair to CJ, I just sleep in the nursery so that he’s not awakened by me coming and going or her noises. Once she starts stretching out the feedings, I’ll go back to sleeping in the bed.

The recliner is actually quite comfortable. It reclines all the way back so I just curl up, wrap the blanket around me and I’m golden!

7:00 a.m. Isabella usually gets up around this time and will either go in to the master bedroom and snuggle with CJ or come in to the nursery and snuggle with me. Once we get up, I try to take a shower and get dressed right away. If I don’t do it immediately, chances of it happening at all are slim to none.

Most of the time one of the girls stays with me while I shower (Isabella watches cartoons and if it’s Cora, she sleeps or plays on her mat) and CJ takes the other one.

Today it was Cora who was my shower buddy!

And of course Samson is always close by, in the sunniest spot!

8:00 a.m. After getting ready for the day, it’s time for breakfast. Breakfast for me is either coffee or a smoothie and then a combination of oatmeal, scrambled eggs, yogurt or toast.

8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. The bulk of the day is a mixture of feeding Cora, changing diapers and playing with Isabella.

Some days CJ takes Isabella out to a play group or story time hour, which gives me a nice break at home with just the baby.

On those days, I use the time she’s sleeping to get things done around the house, pay bills, update the blog or run errands.

Around 11:30 we have lunch followed by more of the same – feedings, diaper changes, and playing with Isabella.

Last week we planted sunflower seeds!

I tell you what – I do not know how stay-at-home parents do it in terms of keeping it fresh everyday. As many toys as Isabella has, I still find it hard to come up with new games or things to do. Isn’t that sad? I see how the days can become monotonous really quickly if you don’t take time to plan activities ahead or have a set schedule. I will probably try to set something up as the weeks go on – both for my sanity and to get Munchkin ready for pre-school in the fall. I hate to admit it but many times I turn the TV on to keep her occupied while I tend to Cora (if CJ isn’t around or unavailable). It’s become a bad habit. One that we’re going to curb immediately!

2:00 p.m.. This is my favorite part of the day – naptime! We usually get both girls down by about 2:30 and then it’s snoozeville for me too. CJ will sometimes stay up with Cora if her feeding/sleep schedule is slightly off of ours or nap with her downstairs on the couch. I always hit the bed and will get around 1.5 to 2 hours of sleep. I NEED this time. If I don’t get a nap, the rest of the day is miserable.

4:00 p.m. Up and at ‘em! If CJ hasn’t been able to catch a nap during the previous 2 hours, he’ll go upstairs and get some shut eye while I hang with the girls. It’s usually pretty quiet – feed Cora, get Isabella a light snack and read some books or color.

5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Time to get dinner ready and eat! After Isabella was born, making meals seemed like a big challenge. We weren’t very good about planning ahead back then. Thank god for frozen meals people had made for us and gift cards to Pizza Hut!

This time around, I’ve stuck to planning meals out for the week every Sunday. This helps immensely. Most of the meals are simple ones because we don’t have the luxury of extra time to cook right now.

6:00 – 8:00 p.m. These 2 hours are spent doing quiet activities or getting ready for bed. I can’t give Isabella baths yet because I’m not supposed to lift anything over 10 lbs (so can’t lift her in to the tub) and it hurts to sit on anything hard (like the toilet lid) or stand for long periods. So we try to make it a family affair. We all go upstairs and CJ and Isabella do her bath time while I feed/watch Cora and fold laundry or just rest. Some nights if there is time, we will go back downstairs and watch part of a movie. And of course we always make time to read bedtime stories!

8:00 – 8:30 p.m. This is when Isabella goes to bed. To be honest, the adjustment of having a little sister has been hard for her. She doesn’t like sharing the attention so she’s been acting out negatively, most often at bedtime. She will dawdle or not listen or even tell us no when it’s time to go potty, brush her teeth, etc. We made a checklist for her to cross items off, which worked for a few nights but then that got old. We’re still trying to figure out a good solution but in the meantime, each day is a new adventure…or struggle.

8:30-10:00 p.m. By the end of the day I am exhausted and very sore. Overall my pain levels have gone down quite a bit but after wrangling 2 kids all day and dong various other chores/activities, things really start throbbing down below. So I take some time to sit on an ice pack, put my feet up and unwind. I also have to prepare for the night of feedings – getting bottles ready and such.

10:00 p.m. I try to head upstairs by 10 (sometimes earlier) so that I can be in bed by 10:30. After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I lay on the floor and do some stretches, Kegels, ab exercises and push ups. I haven’t been cleared to workout yet because things are still tender in my nether regions, but I figure I can still do a little bit to start getting my upper body back in shape.

Then I hit the hay and am out like a light until it’s my turn for feedings.

And there you have it – my typical day. It’s completely different than what my days used to be like (working outside the home and such) and it’s been an adjustment. I’m pretty much at home, inside, for most of every day. I do get stir crazy but I also know it’s only temporary. I look forward to the coming weeks when the weather warms up (hopefully!) so we can get outside more. Also, once I’m able to walk and be on my feet longer, we can start doing family outings to the zoo or other fun places in Omaha.

It’ll be interesting to see how things change. Maybe I’ll do another DITL post in a month or so. I hope by then we’re stretching out nighttime feedings, doing more outings and generally feeling more human again!

Check out these other posts!

Cora’s birth story | Body A.D. | Team Trader 2.0

21Mar2013

Update in Pictures

Posted in CJ, Isabella/Munchkin, Team Trader Baby (TTB) by teamtradermom

It’s been a couple of crazy busy weeks.

We celebrated CJ’s birthday.

Had a family baby shower!

Saw The Lion King with Isabella, my mom, sister and nephew!

Isabella looks really evil there…I think it was her “Mom leave me alone” look.

I had my 36 and 37 week doctor appointments (not on the same day obviously). All is well but still no progress on moving the baby out!

Quite a difference from when I wore this same shirt at 11 weeks!

We took a tour of the hospital where the baby will be born.

I may or may not have created a panic when I checked in on Foursquare from the hospital, without explaining why we were there. Oops. Guess that’s probably not a cool thing to do to your friends when you’re this far along!

My work friends threw us a surprise baby shower and we got this amazing quilt that my friend’s mom made!

Here it is all unfurled.

And in the nursery…Isn’t it gorgeous!

Also, I was driving to work and realized that I have forgotten how to swaddle a baby. It hit me like a ton of bricks.

OH MY GOD HOW DO YOU SWADDLE A BABY???

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to Google for how-to videos on “swaddling”.

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26Jun2012

It’s a Mystery

Posted in CJ by teamtradermom

Have you ever played the game Clue? We played it all the time as a family growing up and I loved it!

Colonel Mustard, in the Ballroom with the lead pipe!

I’ve always had a fascination with mysteries – books, movies, TV shows, games, you name it. As a kid I read all the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books. As an adult I’ve loved anything by John Grisham, Alex Kava, James Patterson, and the like. CJ and I spend many nights watching Bones, Castle and Rizzoli and Isles too.

At one point I even wanted to be a detective when I grew up. Not sure when or why that changed. Heck, part of me STILL to be one.

So it should come as no surprise that when an opportunity to partake in the Fremont Dinner Train Murder Mystery with a group of co-workers came up, I was all over it.

In a nutshell, the Murder Mystery dinner train is a dining experience that gets the audience involved in solving a murder that took place on the train. Actors in full costume walk amongst you and provide clues while you enjoy a 5 course meal.

We boarded the train at 7:15pm on Saturday night.

We ate crudités and crackers while waiting for all to board and the train to start up. Once we got going, a funny little old man gave us a history of the train, along with rules (no smoking) and details about the evening’s agenda.

As the train moved along, we were treated to beautiful scenery.

I was glad we were able to do an evening in the summer, when it’s light out later in the day, so that we could see the landscape outside our windows. Had it been in the winter we would have missed it all.

The actors were walking around, in character, engaging in conversation with the tables. One of the gals started referring to CJ as “Dairy Queen”* because she said his hair looked like the swoosh on top of the cones.

What do you think?

Then this actress asked the 2 ladies sitting at the table with us if they would like to be part of the show! They would be playing the part of sisters who were models. One of the ‘sisters’ jumped right in (*cough* Kelly *cough*) while the other grudgingly agreed.

Don’t they look smashing?

Pretty soon the first course came out, which was a beef and barley soup.

I am a picky eater and was immediately suspicious of the soup – I mean beef and BARLEY?!? Really??? Plus, it looks kinda gross….but I gave it a go – and surprisingly liked it! I inhaled it as a matter of fact!

As we were eating, the actors got up and started the show. They had each table of 4 appoint a secretary (me, naturally) who would take notes and write down clues. Then they introduced the characters and started in on the story (which I won’t give the details of so as not to spoil it for anyone). Our job was to figure out who the killer was, how they did it and their motive.

We chomped on some salad (very good but I forgot to get a picture of it) while putting our heads together to decipher all the clues we got.

We continued our detective work over the main course.

I had the Pasta Primavera, which came with peas and fruit. CJ and the rest of our table ordered the Prime Rib. My pasta was decent and the peas and fruit were good. CJ said the Prime Rib was good too, though not anything to write home about.

At one point it was starting to get overwhelming with all the information from the actors. We had a lot of clues but none of them seemed to help narrow down the list of suspects.

Finally they served dessert, which was carrot cake.

As we pulled back in to the station, we were asked to write down our guess for the murderer, their means and motive and turn it in. Our table was split 50/50 as to who we thought it was. One of the actors came over and gave us a final clue, which was the last piece of the puzzle we needed. We turned in our answers and crossed our fingers.

They then announced that of all the tables (maybe 30 in total), only 5 got it right. And guess who was one of the 5?

That’s right – us!

And we got certificates to prove it!

All in all it was a really fun experience. It’s kind of pricey ($86 per person) but worth it for a date night splurge. We got dinner and a unique entertainment experience all in one! I would definitely recommend trying it at least once. They also do other kinds of shows besides mysteries, so those would be neat to check out too.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I feel like having some ice cream.

*Update: in no way am I trying to endorse or malign a certain ice cream restaurant chain’s image.

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13Jun2012

I Am A Warrior!

Posted in CJ, Friends and Fun, Health and Weightloss by teamtradermom

CJ and I did the Warrior Dash on Saturday.

I am not kidding when I say that I had the Lita Ford song “The Warrior” stuck in my head the whole time.

I had signed us up for this race months ago – like back in March. A few couples that we know were doing it so I thought, hey, why not? CJ and I are active and in pretty good shape. We can totally do that too.

Then as the months approached I started to have worries and doubts.

For one, I am not a runner. I work out a lot but for some reason do not have a body built for running. I’ve tried and tried over the years and it’s just not my thing. I ran a 5k race a couple years ago and hated every minute of it.

Two, I am not a water person. I can’t swim and get terrified if I’m in any body of water that goes up past my waist. In looking at the course map, 2 of the obstacles involved water.

But I was bound and determined to do the dash and complete all the obstacles. We weren’t focused on the race aspect or doing it superfast. We just wanted to finish.

And finish we did!

It turned out to be super fun, albeit tiring. Ironically enough, the obstacles were the easiest part of the whole thing.

What really got me was the walk/run in between because it was so hilly and the hills were steep. As luck would have it, I came down with a sinus infection 2 days before the race. I tried my hardest to rest and get rid of it before Saturday but no luck. So the fact that I couldn’t breathe real well hampered me a bit. I could definitely feel it in my head and lungs as I was climbing up the hills.

We both finished in about an hour.

I think I could have done it faster if I hadn’t been sick. That’s what I tell myself anyway. Next time I’ll shoot for 45 minutes.

Here’s my advice for anyone interested in doing Warrior Dash or something similar in the future:

1. Try to get as early a time as possible when you register. We were in the 2^nd heat of the day (8:30 am) which was good because a) it was the coolest part of the day and b) the course wasn’t too badly torn up. Also, we were able to get good parking.

2. Hydrate as much as possible the day before. Again, because it was a hot and humid day, you sweat a lot. It doesn’t do you any good to chug water right before either because then you get water logged. Do your drinking the day before and you should be good.

3. Train for endurance. I made the mistake of concentrating most of my training on building upper body strength. I should have put more time in to running/walking up hills and getting my legs ready for that. The upper body training did help though as I didn’t have any problems there and my arms weren’t sore at all afterwards. Next time I’ll make sure to put more time in to training my legs too.

4. If you do it in a group, make sure at least one other person is willing to go the same pace as you or else you’ll do the whole thing alone, which isn’t a bad thing it’s just good to have clear expectations going in. CJ and I agreed ahead of time to stay together which made it all the more fun.

5. Rinse off immediately after you finish, before the mud has a chance to dry. We waited a bit too long and it was hard to get all the mud off later.

Most of all – have fun!!

That about covers it! The most important thing for me was the experience and the fact that I got to share it with my husband. CJ probably could have gone on ahead of me and finished faster since I was hampered by the sinus infection but he didn’t. We stayed together and made it an experience we’ll never forget!