Four Months

Alan turned four months last Friday. Yesterday we took him to the pediatrician (our last Kaiser appointment - Yay!) for his four month appointment.


Alan and Mommy at the doctor's office, waiting for the nurse to call his name

He weighs 12lbs 14oz and is 26.5" long, which puts him in the 90th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight. He is a tall, skinny boy and getting skinnier each month!

We got the official go-ahead to start solids. They prefer we start with the rice cereal mixed with tap water. They also said to start with green vegetables, move on to orange vegetables, and then do fruits last. We bought some green beans at Kroger, so Friday morning when we're both home, we'll probably start him off with that. I'll be sure to video record the exciting milestone.

Alan also got to visit Santa for the second time this season.


Alan with Santa at Bass Pro Shop

He did a great job sitting on Santa's lap for the picture. Santa said he was too easy. I told him to wait for next year, when I'm sure he won't be too keen on sitting on a strange man's lap.

We got a lot of smiles yesterday before the appointment.


After the appointment, though, he was rather fussy due to his shots. This morning he had his first fever (101.6 degrees). His little legs are rather sore, and he was burning up. Poor little guy.

Exhausted

I am completely exhausted. It seems that no matter how much sleep I get, I am still tired. We actually went to bed at a decent time both days this weekend and didn't wake up too early, yet I'm still half falling asleep at the stoplights this morning on the way to work.

Rob mentioned that maybe it is because I'm not as active as I used to be. That might be part of it, but last week I got up and worked out three days - which is three days more than I had been doing since Thanksgiving. It didn't seem to help.

Perhaps nursing has something to do with it. I still am getting up in the middle of the night to pump, even though Alan is sleeping through the night. That along with the fact that my body is producing the milk might make me tired.

Perhaps it is postpartum depression? I really think this Reglan that I'm taking to increase my milk supply is making my PPD worse. I had a mild case of it before the Reglan, but I wonder if it has gotten worse - causing my boredom and exhaustion.

Perhaps my vacation will help and I'll be able to get some sleep and come back to work in the new year rested and ready to go. I hope so.

Santa Came Early

Everyone at my job gets two weeks of vacation. Coming from public accounting where you get four weeks after about two years of service, I was able to negotiate an extra week when I started my current job. I then purchase an extra week of vacation each year, because I value time off way more than I value salary. And in 2010 we get three personal holidays since there were only seven company holidays.

That gives me a total of 184 hours of paid time off.

I thought that with my two weeks that I took off after maternity leave, the few random days here and there, and my one week that I took for our last childless vacation, I would have no more vacation time left.

Well, think again. I sat down and figured out my vacation/personal days today, and I still have 40 hours that I hadn't accounted for!! That means that I only have to work two more days this year!

You don't understand how absolutely giddy I am right now! I feel like dancing around the office.

Whoo-hoo! Vacation!!

Bored with Life

It seems like lately I can't take anything to completion. I get started on a project and get bored with it long before it's over. I don't feel like doing anything. Nothing is interesting to me anymore.

For example, I started a project before leaving for maternity leave. We're supposed to work on our individual development plans at work, and my career goal is to be a Chief Ethics Officer for a company. In order to see what I needed to do to reach that goal, I interviewed nine different people who were in the role of Chief Ethics or Chief Compliance Officers at various different Fortune 500 companies. I asked them about their educational background. I asked about their career progression. I asked about what skills they valued most for their job. I asked them what they would look for if they were retiring and interviewing their replacement. It was fascinating work.

Then I went on maternity leave. I had a baby. I came back to work and became bored with life.

I started working on the project again today by consolidating answers. I got not even a fourth of the way finished before I decided I didn't want to do it anymore.

I still would like to be a Chief Ethics Officer, but I don't feel like figuring out how to get there.

I thought I had gotten out of this funk, but apparently I'm so deep in it, I can't get out. I've lost the way. I can't see the light at the opening of the hole anymore. It's become a tiny dot.

I'm sitting at my desk, bored with my job, and I just want to cry.

Moonlighting as a Mom

I work in Security for a paper manufacturing company, and I moonlight as a mom. Why do I say that? Because it seems like the only time I ever get to see my precious little boy is at night when he's sleeping or on the weekends.

Sometimes I feel like having a son is a chore. He always has to be watched and entertained and fed and changed. He can't move much on his own, but doesn't like to sit still. Other times having a son is the best thing in the world.

Yesterday I worked from home, and got to enjoy him all day long. Rob had a meeting to go to in the evening, so I got to spend the whole day and evening alone with my little boy. We read stories. We chatted. We sang along to the Lulluby Radio on Pandora. We sat by the fireplace. It was a lot of fun! I miss being able to spend all day with Alan, especially now that he's reacting to the world so much more. Maternity leave was way too short, and then duty calls.

Here is a video of Alan chatting away yesterday. He was a very chatty boy.


He will be four months on Friday. He will go for his 4 month pictures on Saturday and will go for his four month appointment next Tuesday.

Taking a Break

I have officially decided to take a break from marathoning.

It's been unofficial since Thanksgiving. But today, I make it official.

After my DNF with the Atlanta Half Marathon, I have not had the desire to run. Part of the reason is fear that I am going to have the same feeling I had during the Half with not being able to control my legs. Another part of the reason is because it's just so darn cold outside that I haven't wanted to bundle up to go run. Now that I'm so far behind in my training, I am not going to have time to make it up before the Myrtle Beach marathon.

I really would like to use Myrtle Beach as a Boston qualifier. It is flat, fast, and close to home. Because my training isn't going well and the race was pretty cheap anyway, I am going to forgo this year and try again next year.

I may try the Outer Banks marathon next fall as my first marathon after having Alan.

I'll still probably run some here and there. But my mileage will probably be pretty low - maybe in the 5k range for awhile.

Perpetual State of Cold

I thought I lived in the state of Georgia. But alas, I live in a perpetual state of coldness.

I love summer. I love fires in the fireplace. I love feeling the sun on my skin (although I hide cake on the sunscreen for fear of skin cancer). I love snuggling in a warm bed with my hubby. Heat relaxes me. If it could be 80 degrees all the time, inside and out, year-round, I would be in heaven. My hell wouldn't be a lake of fire...it would be a polar ice cap.

In contrast, I hate being cold. I am very cold-natured, and it seems like I am always cold. It causes tension. It makes my muscles hurt and makes me feel like I need a massage every night.

It's a good thing Alan was born in the summer, because there is no way I would have been able to relax when I was shivering to stay warm.

Being cold causes me to eat more. I guess my body feels like it needs more energy to warm me up. Winter is the real reason that people gain weight. It's not because of the apple and pumpkin pies during Thanksgiving or the Christmas cookies. It's not because the average Thanksgiving meal is 3,000 calories. It's because it's frikkin cold this time of year!!

Winter is the epitome of misery. The world looks dead with all the leaves gone, which is depressing. My hands and lips are dry and cracked. I look like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Static electricity rears its ugly head. My neck and shoulders hurt because of tension. I have to wear a bulky coat and drag it around with me all the time. My hands shrink, so my rings almost fall off. At work I have to wear a sweater and wrap a blanket around my legs to keep me warm enough for my hands to not shiver. Ice on the roads makes it dangerous to drive. Bundling up to run is no fun.

Why do we need this miserable season?

And I live in Atlanta, GA. I couldn't imagine living anywhere north of here. Every winter I remember why I want to live in Florida.

Summer, come back soon!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Other than the cold weather, this is the most wonderful time of the year. I love Christmas and the Christmas season.

We had our family portraits taken on November 21st. They turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself.



We ordered our Christmas cards. Actually, I am a sucker for pictures, so I ordered three different Christmas cards. One is a postcard (to save on postage costs), which will be sent to a majority of our list. Two are actual Christmas photo cards to be sent to family. They all have the above two pictures in them. I'm so excited to get them out in the mail!

On Monday the 29th, I went to Target after work and got all the trimmings for our Christmas tree - the first Christmas tree in our new house. I decided the tree would have purple and silver decorations. We put the tree up that night, but didn't get all the lights, ornaments, and garland on until the 2nd.


On the 2nd I also put up our nativity scene and the stockings on the fireplace.



K-C had a Holiday Family Night on the evening of the 2nd. We took Alan to meet some of my co-workers and have his first encounter with Santa. I think it turned out pretty well.

Alan with Santa at the K-C Family night

I'm looking forward to having my family back over for Christmas at my house on December 27th. Bring on the carols and long mall lines!

Weights and Measures

It has definitely been a struggle to get back to my old size and shape. I don't know if it will ever happen. I'm going to give myself nine months, since it took nine months to get to the place I was. After that, I will no longer be able to blame my size and shape on the baby.

Before I got pregnant here were my measurements:
Waist - 24.5"
Bust - 30.5"
Hips - 36"
Thighs - 36"
Weight 115

This was on October 29, 2009 - a month before getting pregnant.

Now my measurements are:
Waist - 27.5" (I have three inches to lose)
Bust - 33.5 (I think I'll take that, although I'm sure I'll lose it when finished breastfeeding)
Hips - 35.5" (Wha??? My hips are smaller??)
Thighs - 35.5" (Again, Huh?)
Weight 122.6 (So 7.6 lbs to lose still)

I'm pretty happy with the fact that my hips and thighs are smaller, but I have got to get my waist and weight back in order.

I didn't measure my belly before getting pregnant, so I don't know what it was initially, but it is now 30.5". I think that is a huge part of my problem with trying to get into my old clothes. My belly sticks out over top of them like a muffin top. *sigh*

I have five more months to go to get back to my original shape. Wish me luck!