Halloween

First Swim Lesson Boogie Down

V started swim lessons today. She was teacher's pet since she is already somewhat comfortable in the water. I was so proud she was used as an example of floating and getting splashed. Then the teacher had us place the kids up on the side of the pool wall and my pride bubble got popped reeeeal quick. I looked up and realized she had huge boogers coming out both sides of her nose!! I wasn't sure what to do. Where do you wipe a booger when you are in the pool? For real. I was temporarily dumbstruck. On a seriously unrelated note, I hope she will soon start putting her face in the water. You know, to blow bubbles, of course, NOT to help her little boogies float away. No, never would I have that ulterior motive. Not at all. I like that the seniors water exercise class is going on at the same time, both ends of life's spectrum, so to speak. We go back every Monday & Wednesday from now until Christmas. What was I thinking signing up to go out in the cold mornings to get wet??

I'm Back!

Hi!
I got new blog followers! Oh, wow! an audience! *blush*
I really did not forget to blog. I was just distracted. Time moves so differently for me now. I'm only slightly referring to the time change. Between her needs & sometimes mine, the days seem to slip away. I want to sew. I need to write thank you notes. I want to exercise. I need to express myself. I could use some time management skills. Every day is so different. I want to schedule time for me. How is it done?

Body After Baby Starting Week 2 round up

Let's just say I was not a good Body After Baby participant this week.

1. Nalgene has not been used enough or exclusively for water. I needed it to carry EarthMamaAngelBaby Milkmaid Tea on our weekend road trip to Richmond.
2. I didn't exercise 5 days. We were on vacay, sort of.
3. I am about halfway through my book, but most of my reading was tweets.
4. I didn't write any thank you notes. I resent the space they are taking up, literally and figuratively in my life. I know I will feel so much better when I just get them done.
5. I paid attention to all, and I mean ALL, that I was eating. I especially loved the Mother's Milk Enhancing Cookies from @hardierlime. DH liked them, too.
6. No tie dyes made.
7. No TV while at home.

This coming week, I will drink more water. Starting now. *getting up, going in kitchen* I will exercise again. And the rest? Well, we'll see.

Oh yeah, despite all of the above. I lost 1 pound on bathroom scale and gained 3 on the Wii fit. I will go with the bathroom scale this week. :)

Body After Baby Starting Week 1 round up

Whoa! I really fell of the blogging wagon. I have a lot to comment on, but this post is dedicated to the Body After Baby Challenge-Reviewing Week 1.

So, how did I do? well, I listed out 7 goals for the challenge.

1 was to drink more water using my Nalgene. I didn't start the week so well with this one, but I am drinking an extra 32 oz everyday now. I don't really like drinking water, so I just gulp it down.

2 was to exercise at least 5 days per week for 30 minutes. I did it! Hooray! Started out last Monday by going for a walk around the neighborhood early morning. Tuesday it was just so humid THAT wasn't happening. Wasn't really feeling like doing anything on Tuesday, so that ended up being one of my days of rest. Wednesday I cranked up the Wii Fit for the first time in 69 days. Whoops! I Wiied on Thursday, Saturday, & Sunday. Each day was over 30 minutes. Goal met for the week.

3 was to read a 'me' book. I started one. Goal met for the week.

4 was to work on these stupid thank you notes. Haven't touched them. Have talked about doing them, but never sat down and did any. Goal NOT met.

5 was to pay attention to what I am eating. I wrote down food the first two days and then not so much. I need to get back to writing down everything that goes into my mouth. I am making attempts to include more protein and cut back on the crap food. Unfortunately, our house has some MAJOR temptations I am slowly but surely eliminating. That bag of potato chips is gone and the bag of dark chocolate chips is on its way out, too. Goal met. I am paying attention. Now I need to write it down.

6 make tie dyes. way to busy to deal with them. i have 7 more weeks, no big deal, goal not met, though.

7 was TV. I have done exceptionally well with this one. TV has not been on except to wii, see the Fashion Show I DVR'd and Entourage with G last night. We also watched a movie together. I don't really miss it all. Goal met.

Weight-wise the bathroom scale says I lost 3.4 pounds this week. The Wii scale says I lost 6 pounds since Wednesday. I like that number better. I never posted my weight cause this challenge isn't really about numbers for me. It's more about lifestyle and how I feel. My weight doesn't matter as long as I am happy in my clothes. That's a whole other post.

I feel great about my start to the Body After Baby Challenge. I feel Better After Baby already. :)

Hello, It's mb

I just started reading blogs about three days before I started writing my own, which was a little over a week ago. I didn't go back to the beginning of anyones to check out how they began, I just read whatever specific link was connected to the tweet. So, when it came to my own blog, I just started typing. Then, I started really looking at my blog and comparing it to other people's. I do that. I need to get over it. I still think mine looks a little raw, if you will. Wish it had more little thingies on the side. Different background & colors. Maybe I will get to that. Regardless, and back on point, I started reading other blogs and realized I never really introduced myself. In doing that, I may have put myself first instead of my readers. I think I could have started out with bad blog-tiquette. So, indulge me here and let me write this post as if it were my first.

Hey! :)
My name is Mary Beth. Yes, both words. My mama is Mary. Love her, but I've got an extra word. K thanks. mb is ok, too.

I live in Charlotte, NC. I grew up in Wilmington, NC. Always lead to be intimidated by Charlotte. Said I would never live there. Funny the way life makes you circle back sometimes. I've been in this area for almost 10 years. Miss the beach and the small town feel of the place I grew up, but it's different now, so we just visit.

I am married to a computer geek. G. He's super cool, though. We met at a mutual friend's birthday party in 2002. Married 2004. I like that some of my best friends have known my husband longer than I have. Anyway, he and I like going to see live music. Jam bands, bluegrass, classic rock, open to whatever, but highest ranking is Phish. He was into Phish way before me, but, alas, I am a convert. We will travel great distance to see this band. We left our baby for the 1st overnight-with-grandparents to see them in Knoxville a few weeks back. Lots of Phish around here. Plenty of other music, too. Other than mentioning that I think there is a Bob Marley song suited to nearly every occasion in life and that I knew and followed Jennifer Nettles around long, long before she was Sugarland, I won't get into a full musical tirade right now. I will more than likely post what I am listening to and expand upon musical interests later. G & I also like scuba diving together. We travel for that, too. Used to, anyway, pre-baby. When we win the lottery, which will be soon after we get around to buying tix, we will be on tour with Phish and dive bums the rest of the year.

I am a new mommy. Love it! She is almost 6 months old. In her entire life she has only had breastmilk, a tiny muffin crumb, and one grain of rice to eat. I am so proud that she is growing on what I have for her. I have been a SAHM pretty much the whole time. I officially quit my last job in February and I started back working one day a week a few weeks ago. Plenty more about V, her related topics; including a forthcoming review of nursing pads, & work in future posts, this one is me.

I like looking at the sky, especially at night. Love the moon, call her Luna and love stars. Orion is my fave constellation. I have many specific memories that involve stars. I wear one around my neck. Have for years.

Speaking of stars, my favorite book ever in the whole wide world is Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. It's a kids book, but I love it. Love it. Luv it. <3 it. It helps me try and be a little bit better at being me. Nice. Soulshine by Warren Haynes just came on. Love that song. Nice synchronicity with Stargirl. Read it. Easy and fast, sweet and thought provoking. I love reading, always have. I love my library, too. PLCMC rocks! Books. I read page 77 of a book to decide if I want to read it. Try it. Save yourself some time from reading crap books. Unless page 77 is blank (then go to page 79), it is usually a good peek into a book and is like a random acquaintance when I get back to that page and think "I've been here before. Now it makes sense."

I am a host for loads of useless trivial knowledge. Please use me as your Phone-A-Friend on any game show. I tried out for Jeopardy once. I missed it by one question. I watched every episode with Ken Jennings. He is one of my heroes. Jeopardy comes on twice daily here but I am not watching TV right now. Sort of a game I am playing with myself to see if it will become my lifestyle. I've done it several times before. I sound like an addict. I can quit. Well, I have. Closing in on the end of my third day without TV. I am eventually going to have to turn it on to use the wii. But not today!

I am a recycling freak. It is my goal that every piece of paper that comes into our house go out in a recycling bin. Cans, cardboard, and glass are all in, too. Plastics are harder since the city only takes #1 & #2. Sometimes I try to find ways to repurpose some of the other plastics. I am what you might call thrifty. I claim victory when I buy things on sale with a coupon. I have spent many hours perusing thrift stores, consignment shops, ebay, craigslist, etc. to get the best price on whatever item. I research most big ticket items.

I like making things. Paper, fabric, glass, and paint are my favorite mediums. I have tons of scrap fabric, ribbons, notions, paper, paint, paint brushes, all kinds of other random art supplies, along with a great sewing machine. I don't have a devoted area to artmaking and I think it puts a serious dent in my creative expression. I love making tie dyes. I mostly do onesies. I just got a huge sack of prefold diapers so I am thinking of making sets (burp cloths/onesie) when I do my next run. V has worn something that I dyed nearly every day of her life.

Moving on, I know a lot about cars. I like German ones the best. I am driving my 4th VW. My second diesel. That means just cause you are in a hurry, I can't really get on it without giving you a big ole choke of smut and decreasing my gas mileage. So deal. She has around 160,000 miles. I plan on being together for another 100,000. As long as the Check Engine light that's been on for oh, a couple of years, doesn't mean anything bad, I'll keep getting the oil changed and plugging along.

That about wraps it up for now.
Toodles,
mb*

Body After Baby Challenge! Part 2

I'm trying to take this Challenge seriously. What do I want it to mean to me right now? I also want to figure out what I mean to me now, after baby, as a mom, so I am going to combine the two. The Body After Baby Challenge is not only going to be about me getting my body back, but about getting me back. Thing is, I can't really get 'me' back after baby, so I want to get me, only better. Therefore, I am now participating in the Better After Baby Challenge. It goes until Labor Day. After that, who knows?...

Here's what I propose doing:

1. Increase my water intake. I already drink about a gallon of tea daily. I can add 32 oz. (or more) of water to that. I will use my Nalgene.

2. Exercise. Wii fit or go for a walk 5 days a week. At least 30 minutes total in a day. Preferably more, but I don't want to box myself into a corner. Then I might fail. I don't like to deal with failing. I would rather not start than fail. Walking means wearing appropriate shoes and moving, not lolly gagging along.

3. Read at least 2 books for me that have nothing to do with babies, child development, breastfeeding, dieting, etc. I have a couple on reserve at the library. My typical routine is to go pick them up and then not make time to read. Sometimes I even return books late and I haven't even read them. So that's me reading at least one book every 4 weeks. Titles to be determined.

I got 'The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder" from the library yesterday. It behaves like a book that has never been read before. Love brand new books! I will probably read it and then at least one more book of lose-myself fiction.

4. Finish all the Thank You notes. This is long overdue. Anyone who knows me knows that writing them has always been a challenge for me. Just ask all those folks who waited months and months for wedding gift thank you notes.... ;)

5. Pay attention to what I eat. Consider food choices. End the binge. Breastfeeding is not an excuse to graze. Nightly snacks are a treat, not a requirement. Try to eat or save everything from the garden.

6. Complete at least one run of tie dyes. Not too many to overwhelm. But I need enough for upcoming baby showers and baby birthdays. And for V once she is wearing 9 months size.

7. This is a big one. Change my relationship with TV. Actually, I've already started this one. The TV hasn't been on in our house in two days. I was spending too much time with it. I had a schedule of daytime shows I was watching and most of them were in reruns anyway. Discovery Health baby-related shows aren't making me cry anymore, so I don't need them. The whole MJ memorial service was the straw....I realized how much my time, my precious time with my kid, was being manipulated by the media.

Like I said, this one is huge so I have made some provisions. I can still watch The Fashion Show since I already started the season and it's almost over anyway. If Project Runway comes back, all bets are off, too. G & I watch Entourage together so I want to keep that when the season starts this Sunday. It's only 30 minutes and that's our time. I also can watch Netflix movies with G. Again, our time. Oh, and if there is severe weather. I want to be able to see that on TV instead of the computer.

I can now drop my obsession with television news. We get the paper. I can read that. I have found myself mostly skimming the paper rather than reading the articiles because I already heard about whatever on TV. I want my paper to be more than my 7 day torment to get coupons.

So looking over the list, it's crazy how I wrote the most about TV. I think it's clear that if I diminish it's role in my life, I will have plenty of room/hopefully support & motivation/time management skills to accomplish a lot of goals.

More than enough to get me started being Better After Baby. My next post will be about some of my reasons for wanting to make changes.
Toodles,
mb*