62 days into Motherhood: back at the gym

One thing I loved about being pregnant this time around was working out up until I was 32 weeks. Once the blood pressure fiasco got under way I froze my gym membership and put my feet up to relax. And while sitting around re-watching dozens of episodes of Grey's Anatomy has been a blast, I am happy to be back at the gym. I am not quite ready to overhaul my diet yet but I am loving my first day exercising again.

I took it easy because my expectations were pretty slim. Thirty minutes of light weight lifting (like 7's) and toning and then walking a mile (I jogged for like 4 minutes and then slowed down). I was sweaty and sore and tired and so HAPPY.

I forgot about the mental clarity that comes when staring straight ahead on a treadmill. The bliss of being alone and doing something solely for you. A time when my body is mine. And only mine.

Vivian: Two months

Here are some things about Vivian at two months:

She loves baths! Absolutely loves them. To help her with a nighttime routine, she has a bath each night something we never did with Henry. She likes warm almost hot water and she loves when you pour it over her with a cup and not just trickle it on her with a wash cloth. If she is cranky, a bath is the perfect solution. 

Big brown eyes!

We started her sleeping in Henry's room at 7 weeks. So far it is going well once she is asleep. It is hard for us to get her down for the night, she still struggles from 8-11 pm but its getting better. Kind of. I actually love having her in there as I was tired of her being in our room. She wakes 1-2 times per night and seems to sleep just fine in her crib. The first night Henry woke up when she cried and stayed up when she woke up at 5:30 am! But the next night he slept right on through the night again. 

 A funny story from a few weeks ago. Once I was back at church, it was time the lead the music again in sacrament meeting. Well I was leading the closing hymn and I heard what sounded like a really wet fart. I glanced at Steve and he was smiling and holding Vivian a little away from himself. I heard another one and Steve started laughing. It was Vivian! And I could hear her from the stand. She would continue to poop throughout the closing prayer. I was trying not to laugh and failing miserably. On the plus side, she didn't have a blow out. 

 Henry inevitably crashes each photo shoot with Vivian. I am lucky to get shots of her without him sticking his head in, 

luckily he has a cute head. 

 She is getting so strong at holding her head up. Not so much with tummy time since she doesn't seem interested in doing anything but laying there. When we hold her up into a sitting position, she likes to look around and uses her neck muscles. She's a pretty curious and observant baby, she likes to see whats going on. 

We call her Viv and Vivi. Other nicknames are Lady and Pretty Vivi. 

 Smiles!

Smiling is her new trick. Steve gets the best smiles from her by making goofy sounds.

She is a lot more fun these days and she can react to us more.  

Henry continues to be very fond of her and easily distracted by her. Its cute how he talks about her. One day Steve was going to run an errand and he took Henry with him. As they were leaving, Henry said, "The boys are going and the girls are staying home!" 

She's getting really close to cooing. 

I love baby chatter. 

Her squawking cry is kind of funny until she really gets going. 

Her official stats from the doctor:

Weight 10 lbs 13 oz

Height 23"

Head 37 cm

She continues to be on the small size 10-25% for weight and head and 50-75% for height. 

She is a pretty good companion and has successfully sat through three movies and is happy sleeping in her stroller or her carseat. She doesn't like the bright, bright sun which makes the splash pad and pool tricky but she can stick it out long enough for Henry to have fun. 

So far she likes her binky but not like Henry loved his. 

Family Portrait

Our family, by Henry.

He originally didn't have Vivian in there but added her after being reminded by his teacher. 

Aquarium and Atlanta Spring Break

hey, pretend that its March...

Back during spring break, we took a couple of days to go to Atlanta. We haven't really done a lot of exploring there as it is just a little far away for frequent day trips. We stayed downtown in a hotel right across the street from the Georgia Aquarium.

The aquarium is massive and was FULL of people and field trips. I think Henry's short attention span led to a whirlwind trip that really tired this pregnant girl out.

Highlights for me: the huge tank-I could have sat there staring for hours and the dolphin show. I also really liked the beluga whales.

Highlights for Henry: definitely the dolphin show. He talked about it for weeks afterwards. Staying in the hotel, he has continued to mention this for months. "Remember when we stayed in that place with the pool?"

Who's in there with those penguins?

Atlanta also has a wonderful street art scene. Henry spotted this Super Mario when we were out for dinner. Super Mario and an Angry Bird? Heaven. 

We also hit up a fun park for playing, tried to eat at the Vortex--you have to be 18! and enjoyed being in the city. We also stopped at my favorite fabric store on the way home. It was a quick trip but it was just enough to be special. Our last semi-big hoorah before the baby was born. 

I was also really starting to get sore in my pregnant body during this time I had a really sharp pain in my back on my left side. I was definitely waddling around. 

A funny side note, I accidentally reserved a handicapped hotel room. You didn't know they had those? Well they do. Our shower was a huge walk in with a fold down bench just like at the hospital. 

I promise I was there even though there is no evidence of me...

Mother's Day!

I know, I behind but seriously I am almost caught up. Just a few more posts. 

We had a great day celebrating me as a mother. 

Well to be honest, Sundays are always the worst days for us so maybe next year we'll celebrate on Saturday with time out of the house by myself or a nice dinner out. 

But Steve and Henry did a great job making me feel special. Henry also had lots of fun things to give me that he made in primary and preschool. 

This was on a brown paper bag which help my Mother's Day gift from preschool, a sunflower handprint on a tile. 

Henry also filled out this sheet all about me. He clearly got my age and weight right :)

Portrait of me by Henry. I love my red lips.

This was his primary gift for me. Inside the bag was a picture he colored. 

Overall it was a great day! I love being a mom!

bexcaliber: patriotic pillow covers

Last week I had a weighty decision to make: go back to the gym or go back to work. 

Work wins!  

I had so much fun putting together a limited edition 4th of July mini collection for my etsy shop. In reality I made one of each design for us and then a couple of extras to throw in the shop. Not only was it a blast picking out the fabrics at Joanns but it was even more fun sewing again. Is there any greater satisfaction than creating? And having it turn out well?

The pinwheels were a fun experiment. I love that they are 3D and something totally different than anything I've done before. I am thinking they would also be cute in summer colors too. 

Patriotic pillow are available in the shop. 

Hurry, Hurry! I only made two of each!

35 days into Motherhood: state secrets

Unrelated picture of Vivian and I at my friend Chelsea's baby shower. I just thought it was so cute!

I don't think I have ever been this tired. Not in my whole life. When Vivian turned one month I got an email from a friend asking how I was doing since at one month the baby high is wearing off and the hormones are still leveling out and you are dogged tired.

She was spot on.

I have heard things about sleep deprivation torture. Being kept awake until you're insane and a danger and reckless enough to crumble under the pressure. If I was ever captured and tortured for information, I would totally give up everything I knew over sleep deprivation. For a small dark space, with a soft bed and a door that locked from the inside, I would tell all. Everything. Sorry America, you have nothing on the mental stability of a new mom.

And I know she isn't intentionally devious...but I swear she can tell when I have walked away from her bassinet at night. She can hear me sit on the bed, the rustle of sheets and bedding, the slower rhythmic breathing of sleep and then she decides to let loose and cry. Just as I am drifting off, she is letting me know that she is not drifting off.

Sigh.

I have literally been so tired that I have cried as I laid down to take a nap. Tears of fatigue and joy mix to only minimally wet my pillow before I drift off to sleep.

Henry: Art

Henry continues to be prolific in his artistic attempts. 

Pages and pages of computer paper fill our home.

Sometimes it stresses me out.

When it does, its time to sort, scan and file away.

 Angry Birds and Star Wars continue to be reoccuring themes. Here we have Darth Vader and the Emperor battling Obi Wan with light sabers. 

 Here are some Ewoks--I drew them and they are pathetic--standing in front of doors. Where do those doors lead?

 To the Endor forest on the other side of the page, of course!

 Here we have him spelling Pigs and Angry Birds. This is something we do a lot of, he'll tell me what word he wants to write and I will spell it. He does pretty good actually. 

 This is Jabba the Hut's lair. The green guy is Jabba, the yellow is C3P0 and the guy in the blue box is Han Solo in carbonite. The guy on the left with the green lightsaber is Luke Skywalker and thats Han Solo after being rescued from the carbonite. 

 Here we have Ewoks on the planet Endor. 

 This is Darth Vader in the evil red cloud and the Emperor in some spaceship level. 

Henry still loves writing his letters and started working on an ABC book. P is for pizza, K is for kite, X is for X-ray.

Y is for (we don't remember what this is), Z is for Zebra.

H is for Henry, E is for egg, N is for night, R is for rock, D is for dog, B is for ball

Vivian: One Month

At one month, Vivian has been a wonderful and sweet addition to our family. 

She now weighs 8 lbs 9.5 oz and is 21.5" long. 

She is 25% for weight, 50% for height and her head is 10%.

I never said anything on here about how we came up with her name. I have loved the name Vivian ever since Angelina Jolie named her daughter Vivian. It just caught my eye and I have always liked it. Its feminine but not frilly. Its just reminds me of a beautiful and strong woman. I love that it sounds like vivid, vivacious and vital or full of life. Its also kind of old fashioned or a glamorous movie star. 

And I never mentioned any other name to Steve so when she was born, it was the only option :)

Marcela is a name that Steve came home with. Its also a variation of my grandpa's name Marcelo. And since it went great with Vivian, we loved it.  

Here are some of the things we know about her so far:

• When she gets mad, she gets really red. Like super red. She is already pretty pink, a nice rosy color when she is sleeping or happy and then it only gets red from there. Actually I am happy that I opted for less pink in her wardrobe because when she wears pinks pjs, she is all one color. 
• She doesn't like to be tickled.
• At one month, she suddenly got very loud. Her crying used to be more whiny but now it is full out screaming. 
• She can roll her tongue, something she got from Steve. Both Henry and I cannot. 
• She has been sleeping up to 5-6 hours for her first night shift which is a HUGE blessing. But not always and sometimes she wakes up and refuses to go back to sleep. 
• She hates sleeping in her crib. She loves sleeping in the rock and play and in our arms.
• To get her to sleep, Steve holds her against his chest. It really calms her down.
• She seems to have a witching hour from 8-11 pm and refuses to go to sleep. 
• She likes to be free to move her arms and legs around and she already has increased strength in her kicking. She also really likes for us to do bicycle legs with her and move her arms about as if dancing. 
• She has spit up in 4 weeks more than Henry has in his whole life. Luckily I made a ton of burp cloths for Henry that are practically still brand new. 
• She doesn't seem to care about singing when she's sleepy.
• Swaddling helps her calm down unless she is already too upset and then it just makes her mad. 

28 days into Motherhood: Can't catch a break

It was 7:06 am and I was stumbling back into bed after hours of being awake and trying to get Vivian back to sleep, hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep for myself when Henry ran into the room. "Its morning time!" I found myself muttering, "Man, I can't catch a break." This seems to be the theme of our first month of parenthood.

Day 11: I start to feel a little sick to my stomach, the kind of sick you hope goes away after a trip to the bathroom. The kind of sick you hope is just related to overeating or something you ate. After going to the bathroom, I head out to Bunco with Vivian in tow. We stop and pick up Chelsea and I feel fine. During dinner I start to feel sick again and one of my fears is realized, I have to go to the bathroom and I am NOT at home. There is always a small paralyzing fear accompanied by going #2 in public or in someone's home. Its something we would all wish to avoid. Its loud, messy and smelly; something better reserved for our own personal toilets. Well, diarrhea waits for no one. Once done, I decide it is time to head home before I am too weak to drive or I throw up or have another explosive episode. I feed Vivian, say good night and thankfully make it home before anything dire happens. The next twelve hours are spent in a perpetually weak state laying in bed or hovering near the toilet. I have a bug that would eventually run its course through most of Athens and its a killer. Too weak to really leave my bed, Steve brings Vivian to me for feedings and I semi-lay/sit propped up in bed by pillows. My favorite part of the night is when Steve went to help Henry fall back asleep and I was left to drag Vivian's rock and play into the bathroom so I could rock her to sleep while sitting on the toilet. Yuck. Its also fun to try and change a diaper with zero energy. Luckily it passed by mid morning and I was up and about again that day.

Day 19: The kids and I try our hand at going to Sandy Creek Beach. Everything goes well and we have a great time in the sun. Its tiring sitting in the hot afternoon and I immediately fall asleep on the couch when we get home. After my nap I get up to prepare for babysitting that evening and realize I can't stand up straight and my back is killing me. I somehow threw my back out. Talk about feeling old. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before so I am at odds as to what to do. Should we go to the doctor? Should I pump myself full of drugs? I take some ibuprofen and it does nothing. Over the course of the next four hours I become more and more limited in my movements due to intense pain. I can't sit up straight, I can barely walk and I am even uncomfortable laying down. It is the closest I have ever come to going to the doctor for a non-wellness check up.
The real fun begins when we go to bed. I have to slowly sit on the side of the bed and then in one swift painful motion, roll my legs up and over. It hurts so bad to move that I am literally counting down before each movement. A mental preparation: "I'll move in 3..2..1..." but mostly I can't even follow through with the planned movement. Now I get to breastfeed my baby. Again I rely on Steve to bring her to me and I sit, hunched over with one leg tucked under me and one leg dangling off the side of the bed, the only semi-comfortable position I can get myself into. During the night, Henry wakes up and Steve goes to be with him. Guess who else wakes up? I lay in bed knowing that I need to get across the room to her but imagining how I am going to do it, terrifies me. I rally myself and try to stand up. Leaning against the bed I am able to step with my right foot and then have to drag my left foot to move. When I reach the end of the bed I can't make it without support so I have to kneel and crawl/drag myself to her bassinet. Miraculously I can lift her out and place her on the ground. Since I can't sit down and I can barely hold her, I kind of hover over her and lean my chest into her mouth. Seriously, its funny thinking about now but at the time it sucked. When she is done eating, I have to call Steve to rescue us from the ground. Thankfully Henry stayed asleep for the rest of the night so Steve could continue to help me.
Luckily the next morning, Steve brought home serious back pain medicine and within 30 minutes I am walking around and soothing my back with ice packs. Do you know what the best ice pack is? The packs that come with your breast pump. Also another humorous incident was trying to get into the shower without putting any weight on my right side. My back incident took me out of commission for a couple of days and I am still sore over a week later but I can move and sit and carry my baby again.

Day 28: Steve wakes up with pink eye and is forbidden to touch the baby. I'm flying solo with her and crossing my fingers no one else gets infected. And Vivian decides its the best day to get a cold.

baby crafting: circle skirt

Oh hi there!

I have a few more baby clothing reviews I never finished from way back when I was pregnant. And guess what? I have a baby to put in these clothes now so I can update with cute pictures. 

Today we're reviewing the Circle Skirt tutorial over from Danamadeit.

This skirt was everywhere years ago but since I didn't think it appropriate for Henry to flounce around in a skirt, I saved it for my future daughter. 

These are super easy to make and take such a small amount of fabric, I had to hold myself back from making dozens of them. Now that Vivian is wearing them too I love how you don't have to remove the skirt to change her diaper, just flip up with the onesie. So convenient. 

Circle Skirt: 0-3 months

I found this colored elastic on sale at Joann fabrics and bought it in every color. They were on sale and I haven't been able to find it since. And speaking of elastic, her tutorial on making the band is really helpful and I am happy with how the band lays against Viv's tummy. 

Circle Skirt:3-6 mons

If you are a novice sewer, this is the perfect project to start on. 

And with summer in full swing, a simple skirt really dresses up onesies. 

Circle Skirt: 0-3 mons

Circle Skirt: 0-3 mons

This is my favorite one!

Circle Skirt: 3-6 mons

This one is made of an applique on white cotton. I just loved this floral and was happy I had saved a bit.