A Saturday Night.

I'm sitting here by myself.  Bertie was feeling extra tired and went to sleep around 8:30.  And Aaron's gone out birthday shopping for me.  So here I sit.  I shut the tv off, and an just enjoying the quiet.

Last night turned into a co-sleeping night.  Aaron brought Bertie in to bed, so I could feed him.  And we both fell asleep.  This happens sometimes unless I make it a point to stay awake, or I feed him on the sofa. (I usually only do the latter when I need to pump as well).

I think I've become boring since becoming a mom.  I don't go anywhere interesting.  I've given up on most of my hobbies for now too.  I have a quilt that is nearly done that I haven't touched in months.  Every time I pick up a book, Bertie needs something.  And once he's in bed, I'm usually too tired to do anything but watch tv, or play with my phone.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not bored.  While I miss doing the things I want, I really enjoy what I am doing: being with my son, bonding with him, giving him nourishment from my own body.  (On that subject, I've been really happy with how easily breastfeeding has been.  He still has a great latch, I have plenty of milk for him (and lots sorted up for later). And he is doing great on mama's milk alone.  Hopefully we won't have to use formula at all).

There are lots of things I should/could be doing.  Putting laundry away, cleaning the kitchen, starting to get my stuff together for my trip (in two days!!!) etc.  But I'm going to enjoy my quiet time.

I've been doing the Bikini Body Mommy Challenge for 16 days now.  Yesterday was a weigh in, measure and picture day.  I was really sad to see I'd only lost 1 pound.  But I was pretty please with the measurements.  All the numbers were lower (aside from my bust, which had no change), and in the pictures I could see some difference in my belly.  Plus my pants are starting to feel less snug.  I'm going to keep up with it, and hopefully there will be more changes in the future!  (I think Tuesday, I'll need to get up early so I can exercise before we fly, since we doing get in til 10:30).

I little time out.

My sister, Jessica, has come for her annual visit.  So we've been doing a lot of day trips with dad.  We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium last week.  Today we went to the San Francisco Zoo.  Thursday we're going back to the city to go to the California Academy of Sciences, and Sutro Baths.  It's been a lot of fun.  Bertie's come with us, of course, but he's too young to notice any of it.  I keep hoping something will catch his eye.  Mostly it's my dad and me hanging out, since Jess ventures out on her own.  I've been enjoying the one-on-one time, since we don't hang out a lot, for whatever reason.

I've been trying to work harder at trying to get back into shape.  Counting calories, exercising and getting all my steps in.  I'm still eating over 2000 calories a day, but I'm burning more than I'm taking in.  I started the Bikini Body Mommy Challenge this week.  It's a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout.  It's hard, but it's good, since it's only 20 minutes a day.  It alternates cardio days and strength days.  And I'm making sure I'm getting in 10k+ steps every day (except Sundays, I usually don't get all the steps).  Most days I get 12k-ish.

Julius has become a bad cat as of late.  He's been spraying/peeing in the house.  So he's going to be a mostly outside cat.  We're tried all sorts of other solutions.  But the final straw was him peeing in Bertie's crib.  He seems to like being outside.  And Aaron talked to the vet about it, as long as we keep up his shots and flea meds, he should be ok.

Bertie has been doing well lately.  He's been doing well at sleeping, and even slept through the night one night last week. He hasn't done it since, but he usually will sleep in two sets of 5 hours each.  He's still great at nursing.  He's started smiling a little bit more, which is really fun.  And some cooing sounds are starting.  Aaron and I take turns bathing with him.  Bertram loves baths, and he's surprisingly buoyant.   We're still cloth diapering, but at night he wears paper.  He was starting to get rashy from being wet for so long.

I really love staying at home (which I knew I would).  It's a great balance of work and fun, routine and free time.  The house is pretty clean (most days), I stay on top of the laundry, and there is less stress.  I don't need to be in bed by any specific time, if I'm up more in the night (which hasn't been an issue lately) it's not a big deal.  If he's having a fussy day we can snuggle.  (Though, those days are stressful, because having a baby cry non-stop is so hard).

Bertie and I (and Aaron) have our plane tickets to go to Virginia.  Bertie and I are flying out by ourselves, Aaron comes part way through the trip, and we all fly home together.  I made sure we had very long layovers, and we're sitting in the late row on every flight.  Plus my mom is borrowing a car seat, so we don't need to lug one through the airport.  I'm excited, and a little nervous about how he'll handle the flights.

I need to pump and go to bed.

A near perfect day

Today has been pretty close to perfect; with the exception that I've hardly seen Aaron.

Bertie and I got up at 9am.  We hung out with Aaron for about 45 minutes.  Aaron left for work, and Bertie went back to sleep.  I got some chores done.  When Bertie woke up we did some grocery shopping.  I got lunch at Jack in the Box on the way home.  (Usually, by the time I'm hungry, Bertie will be endlessly fussy, so I eat when I get the chance). I ate in the car in the parking lot, since I figured he'd wake up once we got in the house.  But, once we got home I set his carseat on the floor, and he stayed asleep for 2.5 hours!  So I got more chores done.  When Bertie woke up we were going to go for our walk, but the jogging stroller (which I was ready to tryout) had a flat tire.  I got the bike pump out, but it wouldn't inflate.  I took the wheel apart, and the inner tube was split.  I loaded baby into the car, and we went to the local bike shop.  They got me fixed up.  Baby and I went for a walk; we didn't jog much, I was pretty tired.  I ate dinner, then left Bertie with Aaron's folks so I could walk the dogs and shower.  After that I fed Bertie, he fell asleep before 8:30, so I put him to bed.

Things I did today:
changed and laundered all the linens
washed all clothes except diapers (I did those yesterday) and folded everything
Swept
Cleaned the sink
gave the baby a bath
Cleaned Bertie's closet
Found new homes for some of Aaron's things (places around the house, since a lot was still in Bertram's room)
Bought groceries
Bought new underwear for Aaron
Took out all the garbage and recycling
Exercised
Scooped the cat boxes

It was a good day.  I only wish Aaron were around, and Bertie were awake a little more.  He was very sleepy today.  He must be growing.

Sailing along.

I think we're getting into a good rhythm.  Until today.

Our usual day goes something like this: Get up around 9, feed Bertie, feed me.  We play, sing, read until 10:30 or 11, then he goes to sleep for a couple hours.  I either get stuff done around the house, nap, or get ready for the day.  He wakes up around 12:30 or 1, he eats, and we get ready to do whatever we're going to do (go out and walk, go to the mall to walk, grocery, etc).  He sleeps while we do whatever we're doing.  He'll have short periods of awake time, but mostly sleeps.  In the evening, around 7 he'll have another hour of awake time, then off to bed as close to 10 as possible.

Today we got up around 9.  He dozed during his usual awake time.  We went to a Diaper Day movie (Bears), which started at 11:45.  When we were leaving he was awake.  He always falls asleep in the car, so I was surprised when we got to the theater and he was wide awake!  I put him in the Moby wrap, and he slept for about 45 minutes, and was then awake and a little fussy for the rest of the movie.  He slept on the car ride home, but then was awake. I fed him, and put him to bed.  He slept for 30 minutes and then started screaming.  I got him out, and cuddled him.  He fell right to sleep.  So I put him back, he woke up and started crying again.  He stayed awake all afternoon.  We went on a walk with Aaron and the dogs (he was in the stroller), and he stayed up the whole time.  Around 6, he started crying, so I set him in his swing, and he slept for an hour.  He woke up long enough for me to change his diaper, and put him back in the stroller, so I could get my exercise.  That was around 7, and he's been asleep since.  It's 10 now, so I'm going to change him, and hopefully that will wake him enough to eat, and then go back to sleep.  

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Just put him to bed. Hopefully he'll stay down.  Watching on the monitor, all looks good.

Yesterday we went for our walk on Lincoln Avenue.  There are no public bathrooms on Lincoln Ave.  I was about to explode, so I ended up at Jack in the Box.  It wouldn't have been my first choice for lunch or restrooms, but I used it for both.  After we'd resumed our walked, Bertie was hungry.  So I sat on a bench to feed him, and used my cover.  Whilst feeding him, a man stopped to talk to me, he asked how I liked pumping.  I told him I didn't mind it.  He said his wife hated pumping.  I found it odd, as no one has stopped to talk to be while breastfeeding.  And I assumed it would have been a woman who did.  So props to that guy.