Monday and tired

Posted on May 10, 2010 by erin

It was an interesting weekend. I had a great time with my friend at the spa on Friday. I didn’t know how much I needed that. Nate and I had a relaxing Friday night, we had fun with a friend on Saturday night, and I had a nice Mother’s Day! One little problem has crept into the weekend. Fynn’s sleeping schedule is completely messed up. A while back I mentioned that he might be dropping a nap. Since he seemed to be dropping that nap anyways, we tried to transition him to one nap, but that turned into a nap at 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM and then another nap at 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM (when we thought he was down for the night) and then he went to bed, finally, at 11:30 PM. Since he was up so late last night, again, I’m trying to add back in the morning siesta. I’m trying a 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minute nap in the morning and another hour and a 1/2 at the most in the afternoon. I’m thinking he’s getting overtired, but then sleeping too much during the day.

All this sleeping stuff is really frustrating. I know all of you moms out there know exactly what I mean. There isn’t a ton you can do. You can try to keep a consistent schedule, but then they get a cold or start another round of teething. It’s exhausting. I’m hoping we get back to some kind of normal sleeping pattern soon. Luckily, he stays asleep once he goes down at 11 PM until 6:30 or 7:00 AM. Hmmmmm……I wish babies were easier. Ha! How many times do you think that has been uttered over the centuries?!

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On and off the wagon at the exact same time…

Posted on May 6, 2010 by erin

So in the last two days I have been both on and off the wagon when it comes to my dieting goals. Yesterday I ate pretty well and I rode my new spin bike for 30 minutes. Speaking of spinning, I forgot how intense that workout can be. Only 15 minutes in and 1/2 way “up” my first “hill,” I thought I was going to pass out. I’m excited to jump on and ride again tonight. Which brings me back to my “off and on” goals issue. So today I started off pretty well, decent breakfast and lunch. I even went to my first private yoga session (which was amazing by the way – even with my 30 lb sidekick). Then I stopped at McDonalds on the way home and picked up a large Coke and 3 chocolate chip cookies. I then proceeded to eat several chips while watching “The Office” on Netflix. While I’m planning on riding again tonight, I think it’s going to be pretty difficult to burn off all of those extra calories.

That’s my MO lately. I’m not afraid to work hard when I exercise. In fact, I’m not afraid of doing it every day. I’ve just never really watched my eating very well. My plan right now is to get really religious with my daily exercise, and then really work on the food. For this week, I think I’m going to work just on breakfast. Once I get breakfast going well, I’ll move on to lunch and dinner.

I’m very excited about tomorrow! Last week a friend of mine invited me along on her yearly birthday massage ritual. Another good friend of mine is going to watch the little man while I get a massage and a manicure! Yay!

Given my recent back pain, my new goal is to “reclaim” my body. I told Nate the other night that I feel like 1 year and 9 months ago I lost control of my own body. Between being pregnant and taking care of Fynn, I really haven’t taken care of myself very well. I just need to start taking care of my body and my mind as well.

Here’s to a great weekend (and my first Mother’s Day)! I hope all you mommies out there have a great, relaxing weekend!

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The end is near for morning naps

Posted on May 3, 2010 by erin

Although Fynn has decided to take a morning nap today (he didn’t go to sleep until 10 PM last night), I believe that the end is near for his morning naps. This is very sad. I usually don’t work during his morning siesta, but I do clean up the house, take a shower, and maybe grab a bite to eat. Not that his morning naps were ever really long. His typical A.M. nap is 45 minutes to an hour. But it is just long enough to get a couple things done. For the last 4 days, Fynn has been fighting and ultimately skipping his morning nap. Now I need to come up with strategies for the possible implications of this.

My pediatrician suggested that I lock him in the bathroom with me while a shower. Maybe I’ll give that one a try tomorrow. Of course, our bathroom floor is pretty gross. I figure if I clean the bathroom and remove the icky stuff (toilet brush and garbage pail) and clean the floor with a wet swiffer, it should be okay for him to crawl around in there as long as the saftely latch is on the toilet lid. Oh, fun times. If only he was a small child and he still fit in his bouncy seat or exersaucer. Alas.

Oh, the things you have to think about when you have kids.

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Back to the weight-loss goal

Posted on April 28, 2010 by erin

I’m back to my 20 lb weight loss goal. Is it only April? Almost May? Don’t you worry, I can still lose 20 lbs by January 2011. Today we recieved a very important tool to help me accomplish that goal – a spin bike. I’m not talking about the cheap exercise bikes you can buy. I’m talking about a gym grad spin bike from Spinning. It is pretty exciting. I tried it out right after it got here, and I was sweating in about three minues. I don’t know if that is a testament to the great potential of the bike or to my general out-of-shapeness. Probably more of the latter.

I know I also started a “no more soda” goal earlier this year. I have completely fallen off the wagon on that goal, but I asked my husband to bring home my last (I promise) soda. I chose Mountain Dew. I’m not sure it’s the best of choices, but it will do. I have to write this goal down so that I’ll feel silly when I drink it.

Other than my goals, it was a good day all around. Back to my book goal for the evening.

Have a good night, all!

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I’m THAT mother.

Posted on April 23, 2010 by erin

It took a week, but my back is better. Not great, but better. At least I’m able to stretch it out a little. Head-aches and back-aches are the worst. I’m such a huge baby about them. I think it’s because sometimes there is nothing you can do about it. Do as much stretching or sleeping as you want and the pain is still there. I think I’m on enough Advil right now that it’s actually starting to help.

One other good thing – Fynn is actually taking decent naps again. I love these little times between boughts of teething when I can actually believe that I can get things done during the day. It’s so nice. Soon, I’ll get that cold slap in the face of reality when he naps for 45 minutes at a time and is super angry that he’s awake and his mouth hurts.

Fynn took his first nasty spill last night. He fell off his changing table right onto the hardwood floor. And, yep, I freaked out. He cried, his little nose bled, and I could barely breath. Thank God that he is just fine. No concussion, no broken bones, and no lasting trauma – at least the baby isn’t traumatized. I’m still pretty traumatized. I called my pediatrician’s office to ask what I should look out for in case I needed to take him to Children’s. I was sure that when the nurse talked to the doctor, she said, “I have a hysterical mother on line 2 who dropped her baby.” Since Fynn was back to playing, his nose had stopped bleeding, and he wasn’t even swollen, they didn’t seem too concerned. Today he’s fine and back to normal – big sigh of relief. So, yes, I’m THAT mother, you know the one they talk about in the books – the one who takes her hand off her baby for a second and he falls on the floor. The authors of “What to Expect the First Year, ” should totally draw a little picture of me next to the changing table advice and say – “Don’t be this mother.”

Other than that bit of trauma, things are going well. I’m actually getting work done, the house picked up (nearly), and I’m looking forward to having time to read. You know, read? That thing I used to do a lot of years ago? So, I’m still not into my National Book Award books. I’m now ready Toni Morrison’s Beloved. I’ve only read a little of this book. I’m looking forward to finishing it.

Talk to you all soon! ’till butter flies.

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Ouch…

Posted on April 20, 2010 by erin

My back still hurts. I’m just going to come right out and say it. I’ve been doing a ton of stretches and some yoga to work it out. So far, so good. While I’m still in pain, I can actually move and not crawl around the floor. I have to say, not being mobile just sucks. I feel sorry for my little guy because he has had to deal with more containment than I would like. I can’t rest if I’m constantly chasing him and picking him up. He’s doing alright playing with blocks in his pack and play and tossing them out of his pack and play. I’m hoping that with a little more rest, stretching, muscle relaxants, and pain killers that this back pain will end soon.

So, I’m feeling really couped up. I have a 950 square foot apartment that I haven’t really left in a couple of days. This is not the best of situations. I’m really fortunate to be able to stay at home with my little guy, but I’m kinda feeling a little lonely right now. And I’ve realized that I have a short fuse. This could also be causes by the searing pain in my back, but I hate getting frustrated. My goal is that the little guy goes down early tonight and I can go read at Starbucks or something. Just to get out of the house.

I think it’s hard not having a lot of friends who are stay-at-home moms. Don’t get me wrong, I have great friends who are awesome. I have friends with flexible schedules who are able to hang out once in a while during the day. It’s just me being selfish. I know I should just go to some of these mommy outings, but it’s hard to go alone. I wish I had another stay-at-home mommy buddy to do things with. Maybe that will have to be my goal. A buddy.

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Back in the blogging saddle….

Posted on April 15, 2010 by erin

I can’t believe that it is already April 15. What happened to February and March? I’ve fallen off my goals a bit for the new year. However, I’ve actually got one big goal accomplished.

We purchased new furniture. This a big project Nate and I have talked about for a couple years. We had been using old furniture of mine – desk, dining room table, etc. Plus we had glass tables, which I’ve been REALLY sick of for a while now. I hate cleaning them and they always look dusty. Plus, we need a lot of storage with a small apartment. We have both become tired of the constant clutter. So, we went on a shopping spree at Ikea. We purchased a new dining room table and chairs, a new desk/office unit with tons of cubes and storage – awesome – and we replaced one end table with a simple wood table and replaced the other with another cube/shelf unit. Then the same for the bedroom. No more glass – yippy! Our house looks so much better and it does amazing things for my mental health.

Other than that, it has been sort of interesting at the Kogler household. Fynn is doing great. He’s getting so big and he is cruising now. He doesn’t want to sit or crawl, he just wants to move from one piece of furniture to another. It’s way too cute. However a mobile baby means it is a lot harder to get work done during the day. I think back to when I was working full time and working from home on Fridays. He was such a calm little guy. He would just play under his gym or in is exersaucer while I would work. Now, he’s trying to break my computer screen and he complains if I’m not playing with him. I know it’s good for him to play by himself, but I really like playing with him…so I think I’m my own worst enemy on that front.

I’ve been talking about going back to work part time in the fall. Mostly doing what I’m doing at home in an office. It’s a bit hard to work out. Daycare is expensive when you’re working only part time. I also don’t think it will be any more cost effective to hire a nanny (nanny taxes, etc). I’ll have to do a lot of thinking about this. If it works alright to just keep doing what I’m doing for a while, that might be how it has to be. Now that the house is set up better and baby-proofed correctly, I think this might get a little bit easier (not a lot easier) but a little bit over the next few weeks.

I’ve picked up one other problem. If anyone has a solution to this, I’m all ears. As some of you might know, I have a gigantic child. He’s not fat, just a really big guy. I just have not been doing a lot of core exercises and my back is killing me. When I mean killing me, I mean I’m all hunched over and can barely carry the little guy or walk for that matter. I just have this huge muscle knot in my left side. I’m working hard on carrying Fynn on both sides, but he’s heavy and picking him up hurts. The problem is that I can’t really rest. I mean, I’m a stay-at-home mom and neither set of parents live in town. I just have no one to call for help. I just wish I could call my mom and ask for help. Even 1 week of half day help would be a life-saver. My back was getting better when Nate was home for a week. Just to share the load until I can recover. Alas. Maybe when my mom retires, they can stay on the boat for a few weeks in June or July and help me out. Until then, I’ll get a walker. 🙁

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Feb. 16

Posted on February 16, 2010 by erin

One of my biggest hurtles with my New Year’s Goals has definitely been the baby/winter/gym time situation. We acquired the workout DVD series P90X a while back. I’m typically not someone who likes workout DVDs. They are usually pretty weak. My heart rate never gets high enough and I never really feel like they work. Well that is not the case with P90X. I was about ready to pass out after 20 minutes. Now that could be because I’m so incredibly out of shape. But I believe that any DVD series that warms up with a round of Power Yoga is probably pretty good. I’m going to give this a try for a while…at least until I’m able to go outside with the lad.

Other than that, with Nate gone the anti-soda regime continues. I’ve had more than I care to admit, but I’ve been pretty good lately. I prefer water, milk, or juice and that seems to be working.

Reading – not so good. I’ve had a LOT of work lately. So my free time has been spent making money instead of reading for my challenge. I’m sort of caught up now so I think it will be better now.

All in all things are better. I miss Nate. I hate it when he leaves for long stretches. We haven’t been apart this long since college when he would go home to California in the summers. That used to be awful. He’ll be home soon. Counting the days.

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The Man with the Golden Arm

Posted on February 10, 2010 by erin

On to the book challenge…Ready set….

The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren
1949, Seven Stories Press
National Book Award Winner, 1950
National Book Award Winner Blog

I’m just a few page into Algren’s masterpiece. I had no idea what to expect. A cop, a drug addict, a police statioin. I was only 8 pages in when I realized my leisure reading hat would need to be replaced, and quickly, with my critical reading beret. Quite a challege for a girl who has completely neglected her reading for a year.

If you feel like reading with me, do. I’m eager to talk to someone about this book as I’m going through it. More to come.

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The Time Traveler’s Wife – Fin

Posted on February 6, 2010 by erin

I know it’s not on my book challenge, but I just finished reading The Time Traveler’s Wife today. I’ll try not to spoil the ending.

First off, I liked it because it was unique. Typically stories about time travel make my eyes go crossed. Have you seen the movie with Denzel Washington – Deja Vu? Uhg, terrible. Well, this book wasn’t quite like that. As I’ve said in a previous post, the time traveler, Henry, moves through time both backward and forward. It’s a precarious situation considering he leaves his clothes in whatever time he is in when he travels. It’s a dangerous business showing up in someone’s backyard or a subway station in any kind of weather in the nude.

This leaving-your-clothes situation creates an awkward first meeting with his wife – a six-years-old child at the time – when he shows up in her backyard completely naked. And here is the problem I see in the novel. Nothing sinister happens and you really don’t get the sense that something will happen, but there is just something a little creepy about the nude 40-year-old and the six-year-old child. Just sayin’. Luckily, I was able to get past this by page 120 and didn’t really dwell on it for the rest of the novel.

If you’re looking for a happy story, this is not it. I did, however, find it very “true.” The “science-fictiony” plot points in the novel were almost superfluous to the relationship between Henry and Clare. While it gave an interesting twist to a “meet and fall in love” story, their lives together gave a touching and sometimes brutal depiction of falling in love, getting married, having children, and losing the ones you love…and waiting.

Have fun reading. I hope I didn’t give too much away.

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