Alexis: The Next Generation

Cate - Yes for sure! Sleep is my choice 9 times out of 10... the trouble comes when I choose eating over sleeping. That's not the best. Trouble is, it's choosing eating over tackling the mountain of things I "need" to do before I can put myself to bed. Ah well...

Em - You are very correct - being productive is almost never worth the effort. ;)

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It's 9:02PM and hubs is soothing the babe to sleep, which is NOT an easy job. She prefers to be rocked while standing up and will frequently fuss if you don't stand and hold her. Hubs is wonderful and very involved: he does almost everything around the house, but I think even he sometimes thinks that all I do is "stay home with the baby" all day... Seriously. I'm planning on going back to work end of Nov/beginning of Dec just because I need a break!

I managed to record that video for the brand. It was a military operation today. I worked like a madwoman every time the baby napped, since this wasn't something I could do while she was awake. Trouble is that I look exhausted and swollen from allergies in the footage. Oh well. It is what it is.

My sister is flying in from Nashville, TN this weekend to see the baby. So excited to see her and introduce the two of them! It's going to be a busy weekend, but here's hoping everyone has a great time. :)

I've managed to squeeze in a mat workout in the evenings for the past few days, but food has been a bit messy. I'm having "healthy" meals: eggs and veggies for breakfast, some type of protein and veggies for dinner, but in between I'm scarfing down massive quantities of things like Ritz crackers and Doritos. I'm starting to feel puffy and bloated in my arms. Bleh. Eventually I'll connect the additional food with the bloated feeling and begin to release it. This isn't my normal way of eating. I must remember that...
 
Sleep is precious & is so restorative. I had a really good night's sleep last night & feel 10 times better than the I have for the last week. It's great that you're having healthy meals.
People without children have no idea how much work it is. When I had my first son I had to make a whole new set of friends because everyone I was friends with worked & had no idea what it was like staying at home looking after a baby. It is absolutely mind-bogglingly exhausting & you rarely get any peace. I made a whole new set of friends, all with babies. I just stopped & chatted to women in my area with prams & ended up having a playgroup every week in our home. I am still in touch with 2 of these women. One of them saved my sanity I think.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend with your sister. Don't feel you have to entertain her or you'll exhaust yourself :grouphug:
 
Cate - it's SO true!!! I knew that kids were a lot of work, but I had no idea HOW much work until I had one of my own. Sheesh!

Em - Thank you! I remind myself that it's just one step at a time... and also not to quit 5 minutes before the miracle!

Having mom and sis for the weekend was absolutely lovely! We spent the day together on Friday and I slept over in NJ. Then we all trekked into the city on Saturday and mom and sis minded the baby while hubs and I went to see a movie. The movie was Amsterdam and it was our first since having the babe. Sunday we went to brunch in NJ, then Monday hubs drove me back out to NJ and I slept over again. Sis left Tuesday morning and I'm sleeping over again (Tuesday to Wednesday). I'm having a hard time remembering what day it is!

Both mom and sis were AWESOME and so much help with the baby. It was such a treat for me to be with them.

Trekking from the city to NJ is exhausting too! I like to think I have a minimal approach to baby things, but even still it requires a TON of stuff to sleep over in a new space with an infant: diapers, wipes, several changes of clothes, several swaddles for sleeping, the pack and play, the stroller, and the sound machine. Then clothes and toiletries for myself as well. My mom is lovely, bless her, but she's only now remembering how much work it takes to care for a babe.

Food has been massive lately, though. I am constantly eating. Trying to remind myself that this is only a phase. I know that having family in town is making me want to eat more. My strategy is to continue to focus on water and protein. I've actually eaten more veggies than normal this weekend, so that's a good thing.
 
It’s the morning after American Thanksgiving out here. It was the babes first holiday which was the most exciting for us as parents. We took her to watch balloons from the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade from our street, then drove down to Delaware. Had a lovely dinner out at a local country club. Was delicious and lovely not to have to prep or clean.

Now I’m chilling out feeding the babe and making a plan for the day. Aiming to focus on water, protein, veggies, and fruit.

Managed to get to the grocery store for protein shakes, so that’s 42 grams of protein to start. I always feel so much better mentally when I know I’m well-hydrated and have protein in my system.
 
Sounds like a great start to the day Alexis. I really want to be in New York for Thanksgiving sometime. Maybe next year - you never know.
 
Sounds like a great start to the day Alexis. I really want to be in New York for Thanksgiving sometime. Maybe next year - you never know.
Yes!!! For sure. The Thanksgiving parade is a tourist trap, but so much fun. :D Totally something to experience at least once in a lifetime.

That sounds like a lovely day. It's joyful sharing experiences with your baby. You look at life differently.

That just has to be good :)
Absolutely. I'm trying to remember these moments because they go by so fast... but also... we're so exhausted! lol. Wonderful, though.
 
You are never as exhausted as when your children are very young. The love you feel for them & they feel for you is precious.
 
Happy New Year!!!!🎉🎆🎉 So far, it’s been pretty glorious.

Hubby and I rang in the year at home with the babe. We ordered sushi and at 12 grapes at midnight. Apparently it’s a Spanish custom that’s supposed to bring good fortune for the next 12 months. There were fireworks outside our window from Central Park, which was pretty sweet and thankfully the babe slept through it all.

I’m getting back into the grove at work. I go into NJ on Tue and Thu and my mom helps watch the babe while I have client facing meetings. The only major hassle is finding a parking spot when I get back at night. Also, the babe doesn’t love being in the car seat when the car is not moving full speed. She’ll start to fuss and then all out wail if we get stuck in traffic. That’s not fun, either.

Hoping to do some traveling in February. Our anniversary is 2/22 and we’d like to head back to Cocoa Beach, FL where we got married. It would also be a treat to get some sunshine in the midst of this dreary, rainy winter. I’m a little daunted at the thought of flying with an infant, but thankfully, she’s free until she’s two.

Saturday has been my gym day pretty consistently. I sign up for a 9am class and my hubs watches her for the morning. Last week I took a body combat class and it felt amazing to be doing full on cardio work.

Food has been a bit… “voluminous” lately. I’m eating about 500-750 more calories than I need (according to MyFitnessPal) I track my intake pretty regularly. I’m tempted not to log the worst of my food choices, but I gotta remember that keeping track of what I eat actually helps me make better choices.
 
Oh, I've never heard of that custom but it's one I might adopt! :)

I hope you get back to Cocoa Beach Alexis. Sounds like you've had a great start to the year already!!
 
I thought I had posted in your diary since your last one, but apparently not :blush5:
I love that you have a supportive partner & Mum & that you are able to do the things that you want or need to do. Don’t worry about flying with your baby. Just do it. A boob or bottle will help. You’ll rock it 😊
 
Yay!!! We did go to Cocoa Beach for our anniversary! Spent a full week there - 5 days in an air bnb and the last two nights in a hotel (bc the air bnb wasn’t available) Had an AWESOME time!!!

Babe did great in the airport and on the plane. I wore her in the baby carrier on the flight and she slept most of the time. Not a single peep. She did not care for the car ride from the airport to the air bnb though. She screamed the entire 40 min trip, poor thing. Just not the biggest fan of the car seat.

The beach was simply dreamy. The air bnb had a grand view of the ocean and the complex had a heated pool. The babe LOVED the water and we had a great time as a family.

We both worked during the week in Florida, but I took off two days to have a bit of a break. (It doesn’t matter - there are no breaks in parenthood - I’m exhausted all the time lol)

We were back to routine in March for three weeks, but now my hubs is heading back down to FL for work and I’m camped out at my mom’s house in NJ. I’m so very thankful that she is this close and able to spend time with the babe. Although, my mother has quite an active social life, so she’s not home very much!

Baby is 6 months old and I feel like I'm able to take a deep breath and consider my situation.

I weigh in at 149 lbs. I was 147 when I got pregnant, so I’m up a total of 2 lbs. I’m proud that I’ve maintained a decent baseline. I’d also like to use this time to start to get back into shape. I’m breastfeeding, which is the only reason I think I was able to shed the weight so quickly. I’m always hungry, but thankfully the extra calories don’t seem to be sticking around.

I’ve been intermittent fasting lately and it helps me feel more focused and calm throughout the day. I stop eating at 8PM and then eat again in the morning around 11AM. I’ll have coffee when I wake up, but then try to be as intentional about eating and hold off as long as possible. I’ve read a few studies about the positive effects of fasting and autophagy. 13 hours isn’t really long enough to induce autophagy, but I still feel more renewed after a short fasting period. (12-13 hours).

Once I eat again, I try to make sound nutritional decisions. Doesn't always work out, but do the best I can. Since I'm essentially "traveling" at my mom's house, I haven't gotten fresh vegetables or fruit yet, but that's next on my list.

Today's food (for example):
Oatmeal
Sweet Kale and brussel sprout salad
Irish soda bread (with butter)
Korean food - kimchi, kimbap, rice and meat
 
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