Sunday, October 31, 2010

Healthy reminders

First of all - I am now a Sista in the Mamavation Sistahood! Woo hoo! I am really enjoying reading about and learning from ladies from all walks of lives. I am still getting my feet wet in the Sistahood, but learning every day.

This week I tried to get back to eating clean/whole foods, eating little processed food, and little sugar. Within 24 hours of this lifestyle I was reminded how awesome it makes me feel! By Wednesday I was feeling pretty good and wondering why I ever fall off the wagon and let the crap creep back into my diet. By Friday I was reminded why I let the crap creep back in - I am soooo freaking busy! This is the busiest time of year for me in my job, a week from tonight I will be in Tennessee trapping raccoons for several weeks. To counteract the "I am so busy, I am just going to stop and grab dinner for our family" I have made a meal plan for the week and already went grocery shopping for it. This is the plan -
Monday - Pork roast and sweet potatoes
Tuesday - Whole wheat pasta and veggies
Wed - traveling, will eat Subway
Thursday - traveling will eat healthy
Friday - Pot roast and veggies
Saturday - Chicken stir fry

Working out...another thing that has been hard to fit in lately. However, I am going to make it a HIGH priority this week!! I am going to start the week off by going jogging as soon as I take my son to daycare tomorrow, before I start working. If I don't get my workouts in then, it just doesn't happen. I am going to do the same thing on Tuesday and Friday (Wed and Thurs I will be traveling so won't be able to).

As far as weight goes - I just bought a new scale tonight (my son drenched mine and it shorted out) so hopefully next week I can post a loss!

Until then I am going to continuously remind myself how the choices I make - eating healthy, working out, drinking plenty of water - make me feel so much better!



Subway designed a new series of reusable lunch bags around each one of their Famous Fans and their specific athletic talent. My biggest inspiration is Lance Armstrong. He makes me feel like anything is possible when it comes to overcoming obstacles.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Our next adventure - Knoxville here we come

It is almost official, things are starting to fall into place...
We are moving! We currently live in Eastern KY and are going to be moving to Knoxville, TN for my job. I am currently the Kentucky Rabies Wildlife Biologist but for the past few months I have been serving as both the Kentucky and Tennessee Rabies Wildlife Biologist because the TN biologist took a new job. It has been decided that covering both TN and KY is going to be a permament job duty for me and logistically it makes more sense for me to work out of Knoxville, TN than where I live now. I have been driving down to Knoxville (5 hour drive) at least every other week and will be spending the majority of Nov and Dec down there. If we live in TN I will have less travel and will be home a lot more.
There are many positives to the move - I love Knoxville, I went to undergrad there, we have friends and family that live there. I look forward to spending time in the Smokies, hiking, fishing, camping, aaahhhhh. Right now we are having to drive 2 hours to Fisher's nose specialists, so hopefully when we move to Knoxville that will be much easier. And there is this whole issue that we want more children but we sure as heck aren't going to have another child where we had Fisher. I was planning on driving 2 hours to Lexington the next time we get pregnant, which I wasn't looking forward to.
I have to admit though, the idea of moving is bittersweet. There is this tiny thing that we own and must sell....our house. That is super scary to me. The cost of living is higher in Knoxville and I am worried about having to find Fisher a new daycare. His daycare he is at now is such a great fit! I also really love working in Kentucky. I love my coworkers here and my supervisor, I wish I didn't have to change that side of things.
And the hardest thing is that my Nana lived in Knoxville and she passed away just 2 months ago. The first thing I thought of when it became "official" that we were moving was "I can't wait to tell Nana!" because Nana would have been more than thrilled. When the idea of moving to Knoxville started getting tossed around Nana was in the hospital and we were thinking that she would be going to a nursing home. I was excited about the possibility of visiting her at the nursing home once a week for dinner. I could imagine Fisher looking forward to our weekly visits as much as she did. I think that this move becoming official has resulted in me greiving for Nana. I really miss her and I am sad for all the future memories I won't have with her.
But I am hoping and praying that a year from now things will be settled down. We will have sold our house in Ashland, bought a new house in Tennessee, Shawn will be teaching, and Fisher will be adjusted to his new day care. Knoxville has always felt like home to me and I am excited about living there with Shawn and Fisher. There is so much to do, so many people to meet, so many trails to hike. I never thought I would have a wildlife job in a state I wanted to live in (TN or KY) much less an awesome town. So bring on the adventure, let's see what Knoxville holds for our family!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Mamvation Monday - I am pledging!

I discovered Mamavation two weeks ago and I have enjoyed reading the blogs and tweets from all the encouraging and positive women. And now I am pledging to become a member of the Mamavation Sistahood because I want to continue being encouraged by all these great women and I want to offer my encouragement as well.
I want to be held accountable for creating a healthy lifestyle for my family. A lifestyle in which we eat healthy and are active - we know that is the best thing for us, but it is easy to get busy and start eating out and letting the exercise go. I also know that in the past when I was working out five or six times a week and eating clean, I felt amazing! I want to feel like that again.
This past week we have been slowly transitioning back into the healthy lifestyle that we lived prior to having Fisher and falling off the wagon. We ate at home all week, except one day when my husband and I went on a lunch date. I have been trying to drink more water, but definitely can improve on that. My scale is broken (my son drowned it) so I have no idea what I weigh, but my pants are fitting a little looser, so that is awesome!

My goals for this week -
Drink at 96 ozs of water (4 of my water cups full)
Eat at home - except when I am going on out for lunch at work on Tuesday, when I will be smart about what I eat.
No sugar! I feel so much better when I don't eat sugar, but it is hard at first.
Work out four times at the gym.


MAMAVATION TV: Join us Monday night at 7pm PST/10pm EST on Mingle Media TV.

SISTA OF THE WEEK: And a BIG congratulations to April of @GAFlygirl for being the Sista of the Week!

BLOGGING CARNIVAL: This week’s blogging carnival is sponsored by SUBWAY. SUBWAY is giving away a $50 gift card to Lulu Lemon, a green Gaiam gym bag and yoga mat. All you have to do is mention the Commit to Fit Campaign and Jared on their Mamavation Monday post.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The mundane life

Life has been so busy lately - traveling back and forth from Knoxville, taking Fisher to day care and then working frantically all day, spending the weekends out of town, it feels sometimes like the only times we are home is to do laundry and set off again. It makes me appreciate the normal, boring life we have when we are home. I love our little schedule - we pick up Fisher from day care and then come home and Shawn, Fisher, and I spend some time outside in the yard together. We play in the sand box, in the leaves, or just hang out and talk in the front yard while Fisher chases the neighbors cats. Then we come inside and I make dinner and we eat, then it is bath time for Fisher. The last thing we do at night is go up to Fisher's room and let him play in the floor for a few minutes, read him a book, and then he is in bed.
Tonight as we were going through these motions I was so thankful to be doing them. To be home with my husband and my son, to be cooking dinner, cleaning up, giving a bath, all the things that most people aren't thankful about most days. But the last little bit has been so crazy, it was nice to have a mundane "boring" evening, just the three of us. Just what the doctor ordered!

Friday, October 15, 2010

National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day

Wow - this is hard to get out, so I am just going for it.

I have had way too many close, dear friends and family members suffer the loss of a child the past few years. Some friends lost their babies early in pregnancy and some lost them after they were born. I have cried with them, prayed for them,felt helpless to help them, and hoped and dreamed for them. I also know I most likely have friends who have suffered a loss that they never talked about, that I don't know about.

Anyone that has lost a baby please know that your babies are not forgotten. We remember your pregnancies. We remember the joy and excitement of when you told us. We remember going to buy baby things. We remember the anticipation of wanting to know if you were having a girl or a boy. We remember the excitement over finding out you were having a girl or a boy (like there are any losers there!). We remember talking to you about your baby and hearing the love in your voice. We know that those babies are loved so much and are missed today.

We also remember and acknowledge the heartbreak. We know you are not "over" it. We know you have continued on in life, maybe have had more children, but we know you still miss and long for your loss. One of the many things that I have learned over the last year is that everyone handles trauma, heartbreak, and hard situations different and there is absolutely no right or wrong way to deal with it. So if you would rather not talk about it, that is fine. There is nothing wrong with that. However, if you feel the need to talk about your loss, your baby, or your trauma, that is also fine and you really should. Please know that I (and many other people) have an open ear and an open heart. We are here for you, whether it is today, tomorrow, or twenty years from now. We have not forgotten your babies. We love them and we love you.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Have cloth, will travel.

We travel a lot. Weekend trips, multiple week trips, and everything in between. I have to admit, sometimes I get lazy and buy disposables for trips. Especially trips that are more than 4 days, as that is about how long our stash lasts. Sometimes I wash diapers when we travel, sometimes I don't. But usually if our trip is less than 4 days we take cloth. Honestly, Fisher is so long and lanky, his clothes fit much better with cloth on. With disposables his pants won't stay up, they just slide right down the plastic! Traveling with cloth diapers is not a big deal. We use mainly GroVia diapers - which are excellent for traveling. We use Grovia's All-In-Two diapers, which consists of a waterproof shell and an insert that you can change out when it gets wet. This way I only have to take 6 or 7 shells with a bunch of soakers. When Fisher pees, I just unsnap the soaker and snap in a fresh one. When he poops, I switch out the shell and the soaker. It is as easy as that!
For nightime use I pack a couple of fitted diapers and a few covers. And then I always end up putting one or two of my favorite "cute" diapers in, entirely for show off. This time I am taking an owl print All-in-Two from Itty Bitty Bums (http://ittybittybums.com/) and a bird All-in-Two from Cow Patties (http://cowpattiescloth.blogspot.com/). Both are extremely well made and very affordable as well as stinking adorable if you are interested in some unique and great prices on diaps :)
I also take a large wetbag for stashing the diaps until we get home and a small wetbag to take on outings.
My traveling stash -


It kind of looks like a lot, but I can fit it all into a small duffle bag.



Nothing to it! It takes about as much time to get everything together as it does to run to the store and buy disposables, and it is much cuter :)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Early bedtimes

OK, One year ago I sure didn't think I would be complaining that my son sleeps too much! And I guess I am not really complaining, but chalk it up to one more thing I didn't quite expect.
Fisher's bedtime has gotten earlier and earlier! He is now 13 months old and goes to bed at 6 pm. His bedtime used to be 8, then we backed it to 7:30 because he seemed to get sleepy earlier. When he started daycare we moved it to 7:00 because he only takes one nap a day there compared to two naps he took at home. Then we moved it to 6:30, because we could tell he was worn out. And then while I was on my work trip Shawn started putting him to bed at 6:00 as he was tired that early! And when he is tired he is miserable and nothing makes him happy, so the early bedtime seems like a necessity. He does sleep through the night until about 7 am, so I am DEFINITELY not complaining about that. If babies were born being able to sleep through the night I might have a whole quiverfull myself, so I guess as far as population control goes - it is probably good they are so rough those first few months. Anyway - so this is our day. Fisher wakes up at 7ish, I get him ready for daycare - take him usually about 8 and then pick him up by 4. We bring him home, he eats a snack, we play outside, then he eats dinner at 5ish, then bath, then bed. He goes right to sleep, no fussing or complaining. Again, I am not complaining about that - I love that he is a great sleeper, but I miss him! I only have about 3 or 4 waking hours with him a day, so I want to pack it full of fun and snuggles.
I try to get finished with work as soon as possible so I can go get him and enjoy our time together. I do know that he really is loving daycare and gets so happy each morning when he sees his little friends. But I also look forward to the weekends when I get him all to myself all day long!
I am sure sooner than later he will start fighting bed time and I will think relish these days of early bedtimes with no fuss. And believe me if we have another baby I will definitely be counting the days down until they sleep through the night. But for now, I have to admit, I walk up stairs at night and watch him sleep. I sometimes hope he wakes up so I can cuddle him back to sleep.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Mamavation Monday....er Tuesday?

I think since yesterday was federal holiday and I was off work then it is quite alright for me to do my first Mamavation Monday post on a Tuesday. So here we go...
I have noticed the hashtag #mamavation on twitter some over the past few months but it wasn't until today that I actually took some time and read about it. Oh.my.goodness. I am so excited! What is mamavation? It seems to me that it is a bunch of women online who are supporting each other and encouraging each other as they make their lives more healthy for themselves and their families. How cool is that? I took some time and read over many posts and the positivity and love is contagious. So I have decided I am going to join the Mamavation mamas and work towards a healthier lifestyle for Shawn, Fisher, and myself. In the coming months look for me to be posting Mamavation Monday posts where I outline what we are planning for our family and what works and doesn't.
So here I go -
This first week I am planning on not eating out at all! Coming off of a 10 day work trip where I ate out the whole week, I look forward to making meals and eating healthier.
I also plan on drinking 10 - 12 glasses of water a day. Also due to the work trip, I feel super dehydrated and gross.
I would like to make some working out/fitness goals but I am feeling quite crappy right now. So if I feel better, I will add those in!

Looking forward to getting to know the Mamavation mamas!!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Home!

I am home from my work trip! I ended up being gone only 10 days as things went ahead of schedule. Overall things went great and were much easier than I expected on all fronts. On the home front - Shawn did AWESOME and did not even call me or complain one time that he was tired, needed a break, etc. I am sure he couldn't say the same thing about me if the roles were reversed for 10 days. Fisher did great too. Shawn said they really had a great time and I think it was good for all three of us.
On the work front - things went awesome too! This was a unique situation - I am the Kentucky Rabies Wildlife Biologist and the Tennessee Rabies Biologist recently took another job so I have stepped in and been heading up the TN rabies duties for the last few months. The vaccine bait distribution that I was gone for was in TN, so I was stepping in and heading up something with people that aren't used to working with me. However the guys down there were awesome and treated me great and things went very smooth. We got all the rabies vaccines out (we were driving around distributing rabies vaccines coated in a fishmeal block that is attractive to raccoons) in all of the TN cities that are too populated to fly and drop vaccines on. More info found if you are interested.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ws/rabies/vaccine.html

So I am home and I swear Fisher grew! And he walks backwards as well as forward now. That is something he figured out in the past 10 days. He was definitely excited to see me and has been my shadow since I got home. He is also officially weaned. Which wasn't too bad on either of us I don't think. He was down to nursing once a day, so I didn't get engorged while I was gone (thank goodness) and he seemed to do fine in the transition as well.

So we all three made it. And I think it was good for all of us. I think it was good for Fisher and Shawn to be on there own for a while - there relationship is continually developing and changing. I also think it was good for me - everytime I remind myself that I really can do this - travel, work, and be a mom - I feel so blessed and happy with my life.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

This one is for the dads!

4 days into my 12 day work trip.....

So far so good. The days are so busy - we are up at 6ish eating breakfast and then out working by 8. After a long day we usually don't get back to the motel until 6 or so and then it is time to shower, eat dinner, and then go to bed. Even with the busy schedule I am still constantly thinking at 7:00 - I bet Fisher is waking up now. 11:00 - Fisher is eating lunch, and so on. He and Shawn are never far from my mind.
I am so thankful that I have such a great husband who coincidentally is an amazing daddy. I am so thankful that I can be gone for 12 days and not worry about Fisher. I hate when people gasp and say "I couldn't leave my child for that long" because it isn't like I am leaving my son with a teenager or a felon. My son is with his dad and I really don't think he is any less of a parent than I am. Sure, I made sure all the laundry was done before I left (laundry is really the only household chore that is "mine"), I went grocery shopping before I left (another duty that I usually do), and I tried to leave Fisher and Shawn in a way that would make this next two weeks as easy on both of them as possible. And I have to admit, I was a little worried when I left because SURELY my son would miss me and be inconsolable at times, right? I am his MAMA! And BTW - call it cruel or what - but he is simultaneously getting weaned from breastfeeding during the trip (though he was down to nursing one time a day, on his own). But no, when I talk to Shawn on the phone Fisher and him are outside playing, or he is feeding Fisher, or they are watching HBO family together, or he is telling me how long Fisher slept for a nap I realize that Fisher is just fine without me. He is happy and healthy and doing his normal things....with his daddy.
Shawn is a proud daddy. One of his facebook friends posted something about not liking babies and called them aliens and parasites and Shawn took it personally. Which I thought was awesome, because in all honesty, I would take it personally too (Aw hell no, I know you just didn't call me son an alien!! lol). Shawn told the girl that he thought it was wrong of her to make such a blanket statement and that she wouldn't say something like that about a particular ethnicity, gender, or nationality so he didn't understand why she could declare hatred for an entire segment of our population.
So the moral of the story is - I am impressed by the dad that Shawn is and is becoming. Over the past year he has impressed me over and over as I have seen him in a different light than ever before. He went from being my best friend, husband, comedian, antagonist, cheerleader,and partner in crime to being all that plus Fisher's dad. This new role is pretty awesome because I already loved my best friend, husband, antagonist, cheerleader, partner in crime - but by adding Fisher's daddy to the mix I get a whole new reason to fall in love all over again. So thank you Shawn.