It's Not Easy Being Green

Sunday night, Baby Daddy and I enjoyed a delicious dinner of bourbon salmon, corn on the cobb, and roasted asparagus. I just love roasted asparagus, so definitely had my share. Monday morning when I pumped, I discovered that my milk was tinted green! I read this could happen, and actually thought it was kind of cool. I showed Baby Daddy later that night when I was making daycare bottles, and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Check out my milk. It's green from last night's asparagus!
BD: Ew! That is really gross. Are you seriously going to send that to daycare?
Me: Yes. There's nothing wrong with it.
BD: Well, it's gross.

What was gross was Avery's diaper later that day when her poo was tinted green. I called a Haz Mat team in to take care of the waste, and might just wait a few more weeks before I enjoy asparagus again.

Steeplechase

Last Saturday, we spent the day out at Kingston Downs at Atlanta Steeplechase. Our friends Chris and Danielle coordinated the event and did a fantastic job securing our spots and setting the menu (beer, deep fried turkey and lots of fixings). Our space was right on the rails in the infield, so we had a great view of the races. We bet on a few, and Greg and I each picked a winning horse. Anyway, we had a great day and have some fun pictures to share!

Avery, me and Beth and in our shades.


Avery chilling with Daddy.

Avery is already quite the little exhibitionist!

Not a Berry Good Time

A week ago Saturday, inspired by the beautiful weather, Baby Daddy, Avery and I went out to LCCL Stawberry Farms in Rome to meet Danielle and Emme to do a little berry picking. Since Greg keeps throwing out his back (bring on the old man jokes at your own will), we designated him as the official baby wearer and me as the official picker. Avery was there to look cute and take in the sights, which I thought she’d enjoy.

Unfortuneately, I was wrong and Avery was miserable. I think I’m going to get the worst new mommy of the year award as I was 0 for 2 on outings last weekend.

Avery was already having a cranky day, so me waking her from her nap to put her in the still too-big carrier and slather 50 SPF on her didn’t help matters. She was probably further irritated by the too big hat not shielding her eyes from the sun at all, and might have been a little hot, too. She quieted down Greg when ditched the carrier and they retreated to the rocking chairs on the covered porch. Since Danielle and Emme had already filled their buckets, I picked the rest of my berries alone. So much for some family fun in the strawberry patch! On the bright side, the farm was very cute and the berries were delicious. I’ve enjoyed them in my breakfast parfaits and made some really good chicken pecan salads with strawberry poppy seed dressing.

Steeplechase was Saturday, so based on last weekend, I set my expectations low and assumed the event was going to be a hot mess. However, Avery had a wonderful day and was happy and content the entire day. More on Steeplechase plus photos later this week!

3 Months Old

Avery turned 3 months old Sunday. Being the photo natzi that I am, I desired to mark the occasion by having her first professional photos taken, so made an appointment at Olan Mills Satuday morning at 11am, thinking she'd be rested, fed and happy at that time of day. Around 10am, I realized that I was very wrong about all of these things. After 30 minutes of her unreleting crying, I canceled our appointment and rebooked for the next day at 4.

So...picture time rolls around Sunday. Avery had a great day, so I was hopeful. Oh, the naivity of a new mother! I dressed her in her adorable blue smocked Gymboree dress (with ice cream cones embroided on it), matching ice cream cone tights, and white party shoes. She objected a bit to being put in her carseat, but quited down as soon as we got on our way. I knew she was due for a nap, but I tossed the dice. I was over my high expections. We scored an awesome parking spot, so I thought maybe karma was with me. Once inside K-Mart, we quickly made a beeline for the portrait studio and arrived to find no one being photographed, a good sign. I was stoked until the clerk returned from break and paged the family in front of me. Uh-oh.

You can just guess what happened, can't you? While these parents posed thier 6-month old daughter every which way, then got in the photo and posed every which way with her, my little one slowly expired. Sure enough, but the time it was finally our turn around 4:30, Avery was out like a light. Sigh.

The photographer suggested a few poses we could do with her asleep, so since we were there and she was dressed for it, I gave it a go. She did wake up about half way through and allowed a few photos to be taken with her eyes open. Our session ended and we hung around to see the proofs. This was a big mistake. Once the first images came up on the screen, Avery let loose with her objections to being at the studio any longer. She was inconsolable, so I thought that it might be a good idea for me to return solo this week to see how those photos turned out. For now, enjoy the sneak peak above. These were taken of course after we left the portrait studio and came home. Poor thing just wanted to nap undisturbed. Who can blame her?

A New Baby in the House

There's a new baby in the house and this time, she didn't come out of my belly! Our Brittany Spaniel, Baylee, gave birth to one female puppy last night at 12:30am. So far, the baby girl is doing well, and already has a home with my boss who had to put his 14 year old female Brittany to sleep last summer. We'll try not to get to attached to her while she's growing big with us over the next 7 weeks!

Getting Sexy Back

That’s it. I’m done. I’m officially over my post-baby bod. It’s hard to believe that I’m within 5 lbs. of my pre-baby weight since most of my pants create hideous muffin tops and camel toes that my too-short tops can’t begin cover. I’m letting my rack area slide since I’m still nursing, but my flabby belly and thunder thighs have got to go before summer. I’m simply not willing to toss in the towel and mom-it-up in a skirted one-piece bathing suit all summer long.

Desperate times call for desperate measures: a diet. The horror!

My goal: combine a reasonable diet with a more intense work out plan. There’s no way I can do the Cayenne Pepper Diet, South Beach, or any of the other “extreme” (I’m entitled to my opinion!) diet programs. I shopped a few different diet and exercise plans, and finally settled on “Body By Glamour.” I was hooked when I saw that if I follow their program to the tee, I could lose 8 lbs. in 4 weeks. Results just in time for Em’s beach bachelorette? Sign me up.

Body By Glamour – the Basics:
The nutrition recommendations include a high fiber breakfast, more fiber throughout the day, and low calorie meals and snacks. Though I have to forgo my daily bagel with cream cheese, my go-to breakfast for years, I feel a breakfast substitution is a small price to pay if I can expand my pants wardrobe from 3 pairs.

The exercise plan calls for circuit training sessions 2-3 times weekly that combine strength and cardio, plus 2 other cardio sessions of 30 minutes each. I can do this. Basically, I just have to tweak what I’m already doing and turn it up the intensity. I officially kicked off the exercise plan this week, and after my initial circuit training sessions, felt tired and satisfied that I’d gotten a good workout. The day after, I felt sore in all the right places.

To follow the diet plan, I need to get in a solid grocery shop, which I didn’t have time for during the week. I did revamp my breakfast starting Thursday, and even fooled myself into enjoying my breakfast “parfait” of vanilla yogurt, a cut up banana, and Kashi Crunch cereal. I did reduce my lunch calories and intend to further slash them next week to get closer to what the plan recommends. Dinner will be the last to adapt since we had tons of yummy leftovers from Easter weekend to eat, and I simply couldn’t waste them. I’ve considered this week as “just practice.” I obviously blew the diet portion of the program since I didn't start the plan until Wednesday! Next week though, it’s on.

If you want to get a beach perfect bod as well, then get in on Body By Glamour yourself. It’s free and tracks your meals and workouts online, plus offers recipes, workout plans, and other tips. Just visit http://www.glamour.com/bbg. We can dish about how silly we feel doing some of the strength moves in the gym. I sure won't be thinking the moves are silly when I have my sexy back!

My goal is to lose 5-10 lbs. and a muffin top. Wish me luck!

Happy Easter!

We had quite an eventful Easter Weekend! For starters, Avery found her thumb....

...and got lots of Easter loot!

She sure had fun hanging with Grandpa. He is just hilarious!

Avery wore her fancy dress and let us take lots of photos.

Even with her shades on, she couldn't escape the paparazzi!

The Easter Bunny sure looks a lot like Maggey!

Avery was “Miss Popular” this holiday weekend in the company of our houseguests, Meme, Grandpa and Aunt Sara. She enjoyed oodles of attention and rewarded our visitors with lots of smiles and cuddle time. Saturday, she joined us on an excursion for lunch at the Silver Skillet, an Atlanta diner that has been featured in several movies such as “Remember the Titans” and on the Food Network’s “Diner’s, Dives and Drive-Thrus.” After lunch, we toured the King Tut exhibit. Overall, this outing went quite a bit smoother than our visit to Northpoint Mall last Sunday. For starters, I didn’t have to shield Avery from a crazy lady running after us calling “Let me see the baby! Let me see the baby!” Secondly, I actually packed enough formula so that I didn’t end up crammed against her car seat in the back seat of my car nursing her in the parking garage. I like to learn my lessons the hard way.

Avery really racked up on the loot this weekend. Aside from the gifts she got from Meme, a beautiful light green linen smocked dress, a bunny board book and a bib that says “Petite Cherie, ” she got her first Easter Basket. The Easter Bunny may have gone a bit overboard with three new outfits, sunglasses, books, and a chocolate bunny that she’ll share with Daddy.

Otherwise, we enjoyed our Easter brunch of shrimp and grits and all the fixings. Sara, who’s lived in WI all of her 26 years, enjoyed her first sampling of grits and said they were much tastier than the pickled pig’s lips she tried at our rehearsal dinner!

National Champions!

"Ohh, Ty Lawson is so exciting when he drives to the basket!"

"Tar Heels are up 21 points at the half? No way, mom!"

My socks aren't pictured, but Avery and I do have matching ones...

Woo hoo! My Tar Heels are National Champions! As you can see, Avery picked a very good year to become a Tar Heel fan!

New Photos

Here are a few new photos of 11-week old Avery!

Excuses, excuses

I know, I know. I haven’t blogged in about 10 days, but I have two legitimate reasons why. First, if you missed it, see my previous post regarding me having Montezuma’s revenge without having the pleasure of slurping down margaritas and soaking up the sun in Mexico. Second, get this; I am now blocked from logging into my blogger account at work….gasp! This is going to seriously affect on my ability to blog. I know that I have a responsibility to my loyal and faithful readers (all four of you) so I will do my best to keep you updated on all things Avery.

Here’s what’s been going on in the last week….

Baby Daddy took Avery to her 2-month check-up on 3/23. She got her immunizations (and reportedly screamed like a banshee) and a clean bill of health, but is back to a failing grade in the weight category. Avery only gained 20 ounces since her 1-month check-up to weigh in at 9 lbs. 6 oz. She’s slipped from the 50th percentile in weight to the 10th, which is a big concern for the Dr. He told Greg that we need to fatten her up by feeding her every 3 hours including at night, meaning we’d need to wake her up. She usually sleeps anywhere from 5-7 consecutive hours a night now. Obviously this guy had a stay-at-home wife to take care of his children and breast feed them all. I am sure he never had to get up multiple times during the middle of the night to force feed his child and still function the next day at his JOB.

This advice happened to be the last straw in our long list of complaints about this practice, which include Greg and Avery having to wait for over 2 hours during Monday’s check-up and difficulty in scheduling convenient and timely appointments. And (stereotype alert!) don’t even get me started on Greg’s reports of the little Hispanic children repeatedly trying to touch Avery while they waited…

I had a consultation with a new pediatrician Tuesday and scheduled Avery’s next check-up with them. They had me at “same day appointments available” and Scooby Doo playing on the flat screen TV in the exam room. I considered Scooby Doo “the sign” I needed as I was infatuated with Scooby as a child, and continue to harbor feelings of affinity for Scooby and the gang.

The new Doc is not nearly as concerned about Avery’s weight since she’s still on the chart and has gained weight. He actually listened to me when I shared her sleep schedule and my reluctance to wake her up in the middle of the night to eat. He seemed to think that bumping her up to 8-10 feedings a day (from 6-8) and putting her on a cycle of higher calorie formula would pack on some pounds, so we’re giving that a try.

Otherwise, with being back at work full time, my illness last week, my long commute, and concerns over Avery’s weight, attempting to breast feed exclusively just isn’t working for us. I started “stage one” of the weaning process and am actually so happy here I might hang out for awhile. I eliminated my two least favorite feedings and after 5 days, feel that my body has adjusted well. Avery doesn’t seem to care and may actually eat better out of the bottle since she’s a lazy eater and the bottle flows faster. I feel that this arrangement, at least for right now, offers the best of best worlds. Avery still gets some of the good juice while the formula feedings offer me a lot more flexibility to be out and about with or without Avery, and piece of mind that she’s getting enough to eat because I can measure the bottle feedings. I guess I always thought of breastfeeding as all or nothing and it doesn’t have to be that way.

Well, that’s the gist of what’s new here. I'm planning a mini photo session this weekend, so come back for new photos soon!