*Photo by Adara Photography
*Photo by Adara Photography
The top is made with Nerds and Rainbow Twizzlers, carefully held in place by toothpicks.
Here’s the back of the cake:
*Photo by Adara Photography
*Photo by Adara Photography
The top is made with Nerds and Rainbow Twizzlers, carefully held in place by toothpicks.
Here’s the back of the cake:
This has been the post I have been dreading the most about writing. I have not had any time over the last few months to really post as much as I would like, but this post has been weighing on my mind —literally. It’s the dreaded “losing the baby weight” post.
If you follow our blog regularly, you know that I was SOOOO good about documenting this baby weight battle with my first child. (Read previous posts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8). At the time I wrote the final post of this series Aiden was 9 months old and I weighed 124 pounds. I had lost 46 pounds in 9 months!
Here’s a nice before and after pic:
As of right now, my daughter Remy is 9 months old and can’t be any cuter!
However, being that this is now my second child I wanted to confirm the rumors that are true….losing the weight with the second child is harder! At least it seems that way!
There are a number of reasons I think it seems harder…sleep deprivation, chasing around two kids, lack of time, lack of energy, and honestly I love my nightly glass of red wine with chocolate! Whatever excuses I want to give you, the honest truth is I just decided not to put the pressure on myself the way I did with my first child. My mother always told me that it takes you 10 months to put the weight on and it will take at least 10 months to take it off. I decided to take it easy this time around, spend more time with my kids instead of time with my treadmill, and try to eat healthy most days.
I started out this pregnancy weighing 8 pounds more than my ideal weight and ended the pregnancy at a whopping 181 pounds. With the help of myfitnesspal, endomondo, total insanity, p90x (parts of it), and a few other workout videos I can say I am getting there! I may not be as far as I was the first time around, but at least I am working at it and focusing on not putting too much pressure on myself. I currently weigh 133 pounds. And for those math majors out there, that’s a lost of 48 pounds which is surprisingly more then I lost with my first at this time. (BTW, this was a surprise to me as I wrote this post!) I still have a good 13 pounds to lose to be back at my pre-baby weight, but I am not sweating it (except when I workout!)
The moral of this story for all you second time moms out there is:
You will lose the weight.
Focus on eating healthy, take your kids for walks to parks (far away), and reward yourself periodically so you don’t deprive yourself and binge. You will lose the weight!
1 1/2 cups of birdseed
2 (1/4 oz) packages of unflavored gelatin
heart shaped cookie cutters
cooking spray
wax paper
twine
Step 1: Mix 1/2 cup of water and gelatin together in a bowl.
Stir until dissolved.
Step 2: Pour in 1 1/2 cups of birdseed.
Step 3: Measure about 7 inches of twine out and cut it.
Step 4: Lay heart shaped cookie cutters on some wax paper and spray with cooking spray.
Step 5: Fill the cookie cutters half full of the birdseed mixture.
Step 6: Press the birdseed down into the cookie cutter.
Step 7: Lay the twin loop on the birdseed.
You will end up with a couple really cute heart-shaped filled cookie cutters.
Step 9: Let the cookie cutters dry for a few hours and then gently unmold the feeders. Let the birdfeeders dry for another 72 hours until hard.
Step 10: Find a nice spot, preferable near a window, to hang your finished heart bird feeder.
And enjoy the view as you show the birds in your neighborhood some love!!!
It’s been officially one month since we brought home our second child Remy. It feels strange, because I can honestly say that it hasn’t felt like it’s been a month. Things have been going pretty good, but you can tell by my lack of blogging that I have been a little busy. With that said, I have been pretty good about responding to the random emails I get from a number of friends asking many questions— such as “How are you doing?” “Are you getting sleep?” “Are you going insane yet?” and more along those lines. I love the concern that my friends have and thought I would write a blog about the most common question of all, “What’s it like having two kids?” Well here it goes….
The Second Is Easier
I know this one is a HUGE statement to start out this blog, but I really feel (and might regret) saying that so far having a second child is easier. I say this because you aren’t as jumpy or as clueless of a parent the second time around. I remember when we first had Aiden and any little noise he made would send me running over to the bassinet. You aren’t familiar with nursing (which I can say now I have had two kids, Aiden was SUPER hard to nurse) and you just aren’t accustom to all the other things that come with a baby (burping, diapers, crying, and lack of sleep.) With the second one, it’s just like a repeat, especially if you are like me and can remember doing it with the first one not very long ago. Now, I should also say that God has blessed me with not one, but two calm babies with quiet cries– who enjoy sleeping. This could change any minute with her and I might regret writing these words because she is only a month old, but so far she has been an easy baby to have.
The Balancing Act
It’s somewhat of a balancing act to have a 2 year old and a 1 month old. As an only child your toddler is use to you praising every little accomplishment, laughing at all the silly things they do, and comforting every little noise of frustration they might make. When the second child comes along, it’s hard to be there to “reaffirm” every little action he or she makes. Between lack of sleep, nursing a newborn, changing multiple diapers daily, and trying to maintain your household it becomes very hard to notice every little movement the first child makes and give them the praise you use to. They notice this and it’s hard for them to understand. I know it’s very hard it is for him to comprehend having a sibling this at this age, so I try to make my best effort to give him my undivided attention between all the other activities going on around the house. Even if it’s yelling “Good job buddy!” all the way across the house, he hears me and notices that I am noticing him.
Super Powers
With the second child comes a type of parenting super power you never wished you had so much with the first— the ability to not just protect one child, but now two children. It sounds easy enough, but you never realize until you bring home child number 2 that you might have to protect them from child number 1, especially a toddler! My toddler is all boy….loud, hyper, rough, and dirty. With the new baby around, I have to make sure he understands he can’t be so rough with her and it’s very difficult for him to understand. The other day I turned my back for a second and he was trying to shove a bottle into her mouth. (It was seriously a second– I walked 5 feet from the table to the kitchen.) He has a habit of shoving a stuff in her face and yelling “THANK YOU BROTHER” as he things he is being helpful. Although you can’t really grow eyes in the back of your head (which would be nice), I now have to learn to scan the room for any “harmful scenarios” that could take place between a toddler and a baby. He is learning not to be as rough with her, but he still has to be reminded once in a while.
Enjoy The Moments
In all the not so fun times of adding a second baby, it’s important to remember to enjoy the moments with your kiddos especially in hard times. I found at first I was becoming very frustrated with having two kids. It gets overwhelming to change 7 “stinky” diapers in 2 hours or have your toddler mimic the cry of the baby at the same time to get attention. Not to mention the hormone fluctuations that come with just having a baby. Life can be hard adjusting to two kids and I found myself yelling more and honestly most of the yelling was directed at my toddler. Not screaming or anything like that, but just yelling “No” or “Timeout” louder. Let’s face it, toddlers do naughty things because they don’t know any better and they are learning. I had to stop and remind myself that at this moment– the moment when I have a 2 year old and a 1 month old– will never happen again! This is the only time in my life when my kids will be this age. I don’t want to feel like all I do is yell at my kids. I don’t want my toddler to learn yelling is the way to handle stress. I don’t want the baby to grow up only knowing a mother who yells. It’s important to realize that these “hard time” are not really hard. They are uncomfortable moments, but will for sure make good memories some day. It’s important to keep my cool, control my emotions, and speak in a normal voice for the benefit of all of us.
Ask For Help
My son is officially 15 months and 2 weeks old today and more active than ever! Usually, all you hear about the toddler years are the fighting, yelling, and the naughtiness of a toddler, but I wanted to write a little short blog on the joys of toddlerhood.source
Each morning we wake up, take out the dog, make our hike down the stairs to put food in the dog bowl, and make the great climb back up the stairs to begin the day. (I like to think the climb up the stairs is his little version of Mt. Everest.) He makes me coffee (well I set it all up, he pushes the button) and I usually make him oatmeal. With spoon in hand, in about 30 minutes, he has managed to eat half of the oatmeal and use the rest for a nice moistrizing facial mask.
After breakfast, the day goes pretty much on a schedule. We play, he naps, eat lunch, play again, nap, play, dinner, and bedtime…you get the idea. Our days are somewhat of a routine but the moments when we play are the best and they change daily. He has almost mastered the names of all the animals in his books. (Well, he can’t say them, but I can ask him and he will point at the picture.) I can ask ‘what sound does a snake make’ and he will boastfully respond “sssssss” or ‘what sound does a piggy make’ and he will give me the biggest snort you have ever heard from a little boy. We are still working on the sound a duck makes, but all he can muster is a “duck duck” instead of a “quack quack”, I am sure those “q’s” are a hard one to learn.
“For infants and toddlers learning and living are the same thing. If they feel secure, treasured, loved, their own energy and curiosity will bring them new understanding and new skills.” – Amy Laura Dombro
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