Normality... What is it? Right now, it's eat, change and feed Trinity, clean the sink, change and feed Trinity, load the dishwasher, change and feed Trinity, wash diapers, change and feed Trinity, etc. You get the picture... Actually, things really are finally starting to settle down here. Trinity is getting herself on some semblance of a schedule (ah.. blessed sleep!). She's now sleeping through the night and taking 3 fairly long naps a day. It's definitely been helping with getting housework, bills, etc. finished. She had her 2 month check-up last week and it went well. She weighed in at 12 pounds 5 ounces and is 23 inches long. She's in the 75 percentile for height and weight. I did talk to her doctor about the weight gain (I don't remember Kristi gaining that much that quickly) but she assured me that it's in perfect alignment with her height. She's up to eating almost 7 ounces a sitting! We started adding rice cereal to each bottle because of her narfing every time we turn around. Since starting that, she's only actually spit-up once or twice and it hasn't been much. EDIT: She's preceded to narf 3 times today (two of those being on me!) so I take that back... I have to say not changing her clothes 5 times a day is nice!
We decided before she was born that we would be using cloth diapers instead of disposables. We started out with the Thirsties Duo covers and non-bleached prefolds. The covers come in adorable patterns so when it's hot (like it is today!), she can just run around in her diaper! At first, I was a little concerned about the prefolds because they didn't seem to fit her very well. I tried different ways of folding them under the covers but she still seemed to leak a lot, especially at night. I even tried doubling up at night but no such luck. I have since found a new way of putting the prefold in and I haven't had any problems since (unless she sleeps for more than 4 hours)! I've also starting using the all-in-ones that I got from a friend and am in total LOVE with these! I didn't choose them to begin with because A. I just didn't get how to use them, and B. They were more expensive. Well, I see now why they cost a little more but let me tell you--it's completely worth it! SIDE NOTE: They cost a little more because they go from newborn size all the way to 35 or 40 pounds depending on the brand. They are especially great for sitters, on-the-go, and at night. The inserts definitely seem more absorbent than just using prefolds. (Jeez, I'm such a mom!) I've been using Nutty Bums, bumGenius, and FuzziBunz brands. My favorite, hands-down, is the Nutty Bums. They have so many snaps for a customized fit and work so well with Trinity. Now, my friend who gave them to me prefers the FuzziBunz and I have to admit that they are my least favorite. Every single time she wears it, she leaks--even if it's doubled up! So anyway... my goal is to get more all-in-ones and be completely switched over by the time she needs to go up to the next size in the Thirsties Duo's. And at this rate, that'll be in 2 weeks!!
Okay.. so moving on to some goal stuff. I'm going to be completely honest with you. I suck. At goals. I make them. Then I never achieve them. I guess I don't suck at goals, per say. I'm great at making them. I'm just horrible with follow through. One goal I am succeeding at is my weight loss. Since starting, I've lost just under 15 pounds (I started almost 4 weeks ago). I'm really excited about that because I'm that much closer to fitting into my pre-pregnancy clothes! Yes, I'm going to publicly admit that I'm still wearing maternity clothes. And I hate it. My plan was to start exercising with Zumba this week but at the advice of my health coach, I'm going to hold off on that for another couple of weeks. I'm really excited to incorporate it into my daily regimen, but I need to start off a little slower than that. So this week, my goal is to walk at least 20 minutes each day, not including today. I'm going to pack Trinity up tomorrow and head to our local park for a walk. It'll be nice to get out of the house and spend some time in nature. With that said, if I even remotely see a stink bug, I'm heading home!
The past few days I've actually done quiet time. I set this goal at the beginning of the year and just haven't gotten around to even attempting it. Well, I realized the other day that I just need to do it. That's it. Like Nike--not because I made it a goal or part of my daily checklist, but because I need to spend time in God's word. If I don't, how will I ever grow or know what I'm supposed to do as a follower of Jesus? Going to church on Sunday's for a brief lesson isn't enough. Something a pastor many years ago said made so much sense to me then but didn't really, really hit until just a few days ago. Going to church every week is a great thing but it can't be the only time you hear or study God's word because that makes you a lukewarm Christian. Sure, you can believe that Jesus died for your sins and you can even accept Him as your Lord and Savior. But unless you study his word, you won't grow or have a close relationship with Him. Part of my problem lies in the fact that I'm just so crazy forgetful. I asked Andy's sister how she remembers to do it, especially when she first started. She said that she remembers because one day she woke up and realized that she needed His word. When she said it, it made sense. But it didn't really click until just a couple of days ago. The more I read, the more I want to keep reading. I'm starting with Psalms, reading, and meditating on 2 each day. In just the few days I've been doing this, I'm already noticed how God is showing me things. One area where I struggle is finding the time to have quiet time. In the past week, I've noticed I have quiet time in the mornings and nights because I'm alone. When contemplating Psalm 5: 1-3, God showed me something in my study bible's notes. It states, "In the morning, our minds are more free from problems and then we can commit the whole day to God." Wow! Right there was the answer to my question. It's amazing to me how often God reveals His will to me through circumstances, situations, and other people! In Sunday's sermon, Manny closed with that our lifeline is our relationship with Jesus. I want my lifeline to be as secure as possible so I know this is something that I need.
I'm totally in love with New Release Tuesday. I've been a member of this site for many years but have never really utilized or explored it until a few weeks ago. They have free music downloads every week and an album preview. Today is the first day I've utilized the album preview--Thousand Foot Krutch. It's uh-mazing! It's being released tomorrow and I'm totally going to have to get it because it's just. that. good. If you enjoy Christian music, especially free, I highly recommend checking it out!
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Schedules
I find this to be the most difficult thing about being a mom. Trinity not really being on any kind of schedule yet is definitely throwing a monkey wrench in my routine, especially housework. I know that I need to get a handle on this because Kristi is going to be starting soccer in a few weeks and I've got a few projects coming up as soon as spring hits. Speaking of...
We're so excited to be getting our yard finished this year! We have so many landscaping ideas for our house but haven't been able to start any of them because the yard needs the final grating and top soil (don't ask). The thing I'm most excited about is being able to get my veggie garden going. My goal is to sustain our family year round on the veges I grow. I'm not really sure if this will be feasible this year since I'm very new to this and don't have a very good track record of having a green thumb (right mom?)! I have a feeling this will be a learning year and I'm okay with that.
I've been trying to find ways to not only save our family money but also helping our environment. Growing our own vegetables (and eventually some fruits as well), making my own cleaners and detergents are just a few ways I've been trying to be more green. I recently made my own bathroom cleaner from a post I saw on Pinterest. I have to say that I'm loving not only it's cleaning power but also the price and non-chemical smell. (If you'd like to learn how, check out my Everyday Uses board on Pinterest.) Let's just say that vinegar and Dawn are my new best friends! I also recently made detergent for our dishwasher and am loving it as well! For about $12, we got all the ingredients and one batch should last us between 3-4 months (doing one load of dishes a day). We were paying upwards of $6 for the store bought kind and we were lucky if the container lasted 2 weeks! The dishes get squeaky clean and I'm noticing that we're not getting any kind of spotting on our dishes anymore either--double score! The next DIY project I'm going to tackle is making my own hand soap and laundry detergent. I'm a big fan of scented soaps, especially from Bath & Body Works. but notice they zap all moisture out of my hands (even the moisturizing ones)! On a side note, I think it's a conspiracy because if the soaps dry out your hands, then you'll have to buy their lotions as well. I just love that making things yourself can save a ton of money and let's face it, who doesn't want to save money? Plus, there's a pride factor in knowing exactly what is in your cabinets and where it came from. Moving on...
Baby Kramer (a.k.a. Trinity/Gizmo/Chunky Monkey) is growing like a weed already. She had her first check-up this past week. She weighs 9 pounds 1.4 ounces and is finally starting to fill out her 0-3 months clothing. We've been having some feeding issues since coming home from the hospital but we seem to have them mostly resolved. We've unfortunately had to start supplementing her with formula and rice cereal (as per her doctor's instructions). The breast milk and regular formula are just too thin and she keeps narfing them up so we're adding rice cereal to the breast milk and switched her to the rice starch added formula. I was really hoping we wouldn't have to introduce formula but we just don't see any other choice at the moment. I really think she's starting to look more and more like Andy which is good. (I really think he was starting to get a complex!) I just can't believe that she's 5 weeks old already! Here's one of her more recent photos:
For being a shutterbug most of the time I've been really lax about taking pictures the past few months. I'll have to make a mental note to take my camera with me everywhere.
Last weekend we got to hang out with the Wilt family and it was great spending time with them (we don't get to see them very often). Jill showed us the most hilarious clip that I wanted to share with you because I just died laughing while watching it!
I don't have too much to update on goals yet except for weight loss. I'm not really doing anything special yet but am down 24 pounds since giving birth. I only have 14 more to lose to hit my pre-pregnancy weight! I can't wait to rev that up more with exercise, which I'll be able to introduce in another week or so. I'm going to start Zumba and am totally stoked about it! I'm also going to be trying some new recipes this week that will hopefully aid in my weight loss. One snack I would like to try is homemade potato chips. I love crunchy snacks like celery, carrots, etc. but sometimes would like to have potato chips. I don't really like all the salt and additives they have so I want to see how healthy homemade ones can be. Another snack food I really want to try is spicy roasted chickpeas. I probably won't make them too spicy since it's something I'm hoping Kristi will eat. It would be a great snack food to send in her lunches! This past week I did try a couple of new recipes. I found a recipe for crock pot honey sesame chicken and it's amazing! Although this recipe isn't one that would aid in weight loss (at least I don't think it would), it's one that will be at least a once-a-month dish. My husband really doesn't like honey and he fell IN LOVE with this recipe (as did my 6 year old and we all know how picky she can be!). I also made a crock pot chicken tortilla soup and it was pretty good too. It definitely needs some sour cream and cheese added but other than that, it's simple to make and pretty flavorful. I was hoping to find a recipe that is similar to the kind Smokey Bones used to sell but that hasn't happened yet. I also tried the pumpkin pie smoothies I found on Pinterest (actually all the recipes I tried were from Pinterest). This was the recipe I was most excited about trying and was actually let down. To me, it just didn't taste right. I'm going to try making it again but lessen the amount of pumpkin puree and add more milk. I think the pumpkin puree flavor is too overpowering, even when adding a Truvia packet to sweeten it. I'll let you know how the second batch turns out.
I keep saying this but I really do need to update more so these posts don't get so incredibly long. Until next though, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
We're so excited to be getting our yard finished this year! We have so many landscaping ideas for our house but haven't been able to start any of them because the yard needs the final grating and top soil (don't ask). The thing I'm most excited about is being able to get my veggie garden going. My goal is to sustain our family year round on the veges I grow. I'm not really sure if this will be feasible this year since I'm very new to this and don't have a very good track record of having a green thumb (right mom?)! I have a feeling this will be a learning year and I'm okay with that.
I've been trying to find ways to not only save our family money but also helping our environment. Growing our own vegetables (and eventually some fruits as well), making my own cleaners and detergents are just a few ways I've been trying to be more green. I recently made my own bathroom cleaner from a post I saw on Pinterest. I have to say that I'm loving not only it's cleaning power but also the price and non-chemical smell. (If you'd like to learn how, check out my Everyday Uses board on Pinterest.) Let's just say that vinegar and Dawn are my new best friends! I also recently made detergent for our dishwasher and am loving it as well! For about $12, we got all the ingredients and one batch should last us between 3-4 months (doing one load of dishes a day). We were paying upwards of $6 for the store bought kind and we were lucky if the container lasted 2 weeks! The dishes get squeaky clean and I'm noticing that we're not getting any kind of spotting on our dishes anymore either--double score! The next DIY project I'm going to tackle is making my own hand soap and laundry detergent. I'm a big fan of scented soaps, especially from Bath & Body Works. but notice they zap all moisture out of my hands (even the moisturizing ones)! On a side note, I think it's a conspiracy because if the soaps dry out your hands, then you'll have to buy their lotions as well. I just love that making things yourself can save a ton of money and let's face it, who doesn't want to save money? Plus, there's a pride factor in knowing exactly what is in your cabinets and where it came from. Moving on...
Baby Kramer (a.k.a. Trinity/Gizmo/Chunky Monkey) is growing like a weed already. She had her first check-up this past week. She weighs 9 pounds 1.4 ounces and is finally starting to fill out her 0-3 months clothing. We've been having some feeding issues since coming home from the hospital but we seem to have them mostly resolved. We've unfortunately had to start supplementing her with formula and rice cereal (as per her doctor's instructions). The breast milk and regular formula are just too thin and she keeps narfing them up so we're adding rice cereal to the breast milk and switched her to the rice starch added formula. I was really hoping we wouldn't have to introduce formula but we just don't see any other choice at the moment. I really think she's starting to look more and more like Andy which is good. (I really think he was starting to get a complex!) I just can't believe that she's 5 weeks old already! Here's one of her more recent photos:
Last weekend we got to hang out with the Wilt family and it was great spending time with them (we don't get to see them very often). Jill showed us the most hilarious clip that I wanted to share with you because I just died laughing while watching it!
I keep saying this but I really do need to update more so these posts don't get so incredibly long. Until next though, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Life Changes
It's been a busy couple of weeks in the Kramer household. Super Bowl Sunday brought about the birth our daughter, Trinity. She was supposed induced on the 7th but decided to show up early--like 4:13 a.m. early. She's absolutely perfect!
I have to be honest and say that it has definitely been a more difficult transition than I anticipated. It's amazing to me how incredibly different Trinity and Kristi are at Trinity's age. Kristi slept 4-5 hours in between feedings from the day she was born and was all around a very good baby. She only ever cried when she needed something. Trinity is a good baby too--don't get me wrong--but she seems to be more needy. I'm not sure if that's because she's nursing so she needs fed more often?? All I know right now is that it is so vastly different than my experience with Kristi, not in a bad way, just...different. The other thing I'm finding crazy different is my hormone levels. With Kris, they were insane during pregnancy, I mean have-a-nervous-breakdown-every-other-day type insane. But afterwards they went away. This time, they all hit like the last month and seem to be surging crazily right now. I cry for no reason or for the stupidest things. Like last week... once I started, I just couldn't stop. I must have cried for about an hour (well it seemed like an hour). It's just crazy to me.
Trinity had her first check-up a few days after birth. She was born at 7 lbs 10.8 oz and when she left the hospital was down 7 oz. At her first check-up, she went up 2 ounces which is good but I guess wasn't quite enough so they brought her back the following Monday. I was definitely a little nervous for that weigh-in because we were really struggling with nursing. She's having latching issues and just seemed to not eat much. Oh, and she absolutely HATES formula so that wasn't an option. Thankfully though, when we went for that appointment she was up past her birth weight so the doctor was really happy. She just went in again yesterday and is already up to 8 lb 2 oz! Yesterday's appointment had to do with her narfing at almost every feeding. When I called to schedule her one and two month check-up appointments, I asked the nurse about it. I guess they were concerned about her not gaining enough weight so they had me bring her in. Thankfully, she doesn't. Her sphincter muscle (and all babies) won't mature until after she's a year old so we'll have to deal with the narfing for awhile. That was probably more than you needed and/or wanted to know... Moving on...
As of right now, I've really been struggling with my goals the past month. Normally, I would get on myself about that but I've decided that it is what it is. They're goals; therefore, they're the end result of the journey of accomplishment. As long as I keep striving towards completing them, I'm happy. So as of right now, I really don't have anything to report. In the spirit of goals though I do have a new one: losing the baby weight. Since the birth, I'm down almost 13 pounds. My first goal is to have the pregnancy weight off within 6 weeks (not really sure how realistic that is but I'm nursing so that should help??) and then hit my ultimate goal by summer. I think it should be doable but am not sure how nursing will affect that. I know I won't lose the weight quite as fast as I did with doing the 5 & 1 since I have to eat more but I can't wait to start!
On that note, I'm going to try and get a quick nap before she gets up again. Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
I have to be honest and say that it has definitely been a more difficult transition than I anticipated. It's amazing to me how incredibly different Trinity and Kristi are at Trinity's age. Kristi slept 4-5 hours in between feedings from the day she was born and was all around a very good baby. She only ever cried when she needed something. Trinity is a good baby too--don't get me wrong--but she seems to be more needy. I'm not sure if that's because she's nursing so she needs fed more often?? All I know right now is that it is so vastly different than my experience with Kristi, not in a bad way, just...different. The other thing I'm finding crazy different is my hormone levels. With Kris, they were insane during pregnancy, I mean have-a-nervous-breakdown-every-other-day type insane. But afterwards they went away. This time, they all hit like the last month and seem to be surging crazily right now. I cry for no reason or for the stupidest things. Like last week... once I started, I just couldn't stop. I must have cried for about an hour (well it seemed like an hour). It's just crazy to me.
Trinity had her first check-up a few days after birth. She was born at 7 lbs 10.8 oz and when she left the hospital was down 7 oz. At her first check-up, she went up 2 ounces which is good but I guess wasn't quite enough so they brought her back the following Monday. I was definitely a little nervous for that weigh-in because we were really struggling with nursing. She's having latching issues and just seemed to not eat much. Oh, and she absolutely HATES formula so that wasn't an option. Thankfully though, when we went for that appointment she was up past her birth weight so the doctor was really happy. She just went in again yesterday and is already up to 8 lb 2 oz! Yesterday's appointment had to do with her narfing at almost every feeding. When I called to schedule her one and two month check-up appointments, I asked the nurse about it. I guess they were concerned about her not gaining enough weight so they had me bring her in. Thankfully, she doesn't. Her sphincter muscle (and all babies) won't mature until after she's a year old so we'll have to deal with the narfing for awhile. That was probably more than you needed and/or wanted to know... Moving on...
As of right now, I've really been struggling with my goals the past month. Normally, I would get on myself about that but I've decided that it is what it is. They're goals; therefore, they're the end result of the journey of accomplishment. As long as I keep striving towards completing them, I'm happy. So as of right now, I really don't have anything to report. In the spirit of goals though I do have a new one: losing the baby weight. Since the birth, I'm down almost 13 pounds. My first goal is to have the pregnancy weight off within 6 weeks (not really sure how realistic that is but I'm nursing so that should help??) and then hit my ultimate goal by summer. I think it should be doable but am not sure how nursing will affect that. I know I won't lose the weight quite as fast as I did with doing the 5 & 1 since I have to eat more but I can't wait to start!
On that note, I'm going to try and get a quick nap before she gets up again. Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Friday, February 4, 2011
Staying "On Track" at Parties
Okay so there's not a way for me to share this directly (they totally should get those share buttons) however for those of you who are close to me know I've been on a weight loss journey. I have found the most amazing plan that really works! Anyway, Dr. Wayne Andersen has a blog which he updates and I found this post that I wanted to share. I wanted to copy and paste it here but now that I'm thinking about it, that's probably copyright infringement, so here's the website: http://www.drwayneandersen.com/2011/02/be-a-winner-at-your-super-bowl-party/. If you struggle like I do at parties, this is a must read! Enjoy!
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