Afraid of Skinny People

Nothing would be more comforting to me than sitting in a room with some overweight people eating chocolate and cupcakes. Seriously. I'm not joking. Let's be honest, I do not nor will I ever like green smoothies. They are not for me. They do not even deserve the name of a smoothie. Smoothies are delicious and a highlight of the day, not a choke-me-down-because-I-have-to kind of thing. Gyms are for skinny people and I shall be shunned if I ever enter one.

During my senior year of high school I worked at Coldstone. (Oh dear...the start of a weight post is beginning at Coldstone. It can only get better from here.) I was working a day shift with my good friend Kevin, and I asked him to guess how much I weighed. (I know...where do I come up with these stupid questions?) Anyway, I've never thought I look what I weigh, but Kevin quickly put me to shame and guessed my exact weight.

Do I really look that heavy?

Well, you know, you're solid.


I think that's a nice way of telling me that I'm what people call "stalky" or "thick".

So, from that moment on I've always tried to come to terms that the number on the scale really does reflect  how much space I take up in the world. For the most part it's been pretty good.

College came and so did it's trials of comparing myself to every gorgeous girl in my ward boundaries. I did NOT look good in a bikini (if I ever dared to let that image even leave my thoughts) and I wasn't about to start tanning on my apartment lawn. I took up running my freshman year, learned to love it even though I was never good at it. I gained weight, but lost inches and was ok with that.

Marriage came to a wonderful man who made me feel beautiful. Thank goodness he's into big hips because he would have been in for a shock at the start of our honeymoon. In looking back to those pictures...I looked pretty good (at least I think so now). Sure there were nights I would cry next to Brian saying that I didn't have any friends. He would listen and rebuke anything I said and list my friends. My oh-so-witty response would be "BUT THEY'RE ALL SKINNY!" Yes, laughable. Quite laughable. As if skinny people only had skinny friends.

 Post baby #1 was a piece of cake. I lost my pregnancy weight in 3 weeks plus an additional 10 pounds. Sign me up for that again. Fast forward to now, post baby #2. It's hasn't been bad, but it also hasn't been as easy as the first time around. This is where the gym comes in. I signed up to get more in shape, but I have been so terrified to go. Seriously. It's not that I have this overwhelming fear of treadmills or weights. It's not that I'm scared of falling off of an elliptical (although that would be embarrassing). It's not that I'm afraid that my butt might jiggle a little too much when I start increasing my running speed.

I'm afraid of skinnies.

That's all. You go to the gym and see only extremely fit people who eat green smoothies, right? I was afraid I'd walk in the door and with one glance people would banish me to the out-of-shape-and- "soft" corner of the gym.

Well, I went. I parked myself next to a skinny girl on an elliptical and tried not to hide my face away from everyone and get lost in Tom Cruise's muscles as he scaled the building windows. In my people watching moments I realized that gyms are not for the skinnies only. What? Who was this guy in front of me huffing and puffing? I liked him! We were instant besties even though he didn't turn around nor did we say hi.

Still afraid of skinny people? Well....I'd say that it's more a lack of confidence around them. Still self-conscious about my farmer tan? Check.

2 Month Check-up

It's crazy that I'm already posting about his 2 month stats. It's almost sad how fast time goes when you have more than one kid around the house. Jared still has some catching up to do! I know that Claire was bigger than him at birth, by 1 pound. At her 2 month appointment she was already 12 pounds. Couldn't have been all of those dozens of snickerdoodles I was eating, could it?

Here are his stats:

Height: 22.25 inches = 20th Percentile

Weight: 10 lbs 10 oz = 16th Percentile

Head:15.5 in  = 63rd percentile

He's just such a little guy! He has a little bit of umbilical hernia. I kind of guessed that though. My education from watching Life As We Know It has proven to be a good one since I was expecting that. Nothing to worry about, it will go away on it's own. He was a champ for his shots although they are always so sad. :( Doing well so far. Claire slept for 17 hours straight after her first shots. He's still awake....so I don't think I'll be so lucky. :)

In two months.....

• This boy has me wrapped around the smallest part of his smallest finger. Brian always teases me because I was am very adamant about Claire NOT sleeping in our bed. Somehow, this little boy finds his way to my bed every night and snuggles right into me. Who knows how he gets there! :) Actually, Claire completely spoiled me. She slept through the night and there was no need to bring her to bed. That, and Brian forbid me to have her in the bed because I might suffocate her. Now, since he wakes up at night, I think that it's more of a mother survival skill so I can get more sleep. I do love waking up to his sweet face though. I've been trying to break this terrible habit and I'm doing better. Progress is good. 
• He smiles. He would not smile at me at first, but has since learned who gives him food. His little smile melts my heart. It's kinda crooked sometimes when he's not in full smile, but goodness is he a little charmer. With that smile and his little combover I just can't help myself. 
• He loves to be cuddled still. He'll do pretty well on the floor or by himself for a little bit, but when he's had enough he lets us know and he has to snuggle right away. 
• He is sleeping better at night. We have gone from two feedings per night and we're down to one! One at 5-6 am. Not too shabby, son! 
• He pooped on Brian for the first time yesterday. Atta-boy! Although I have little sympathy for the pooped on daddy, I'm glad that he's changing diapers. :)
• He does not like being in his carseat if it isn't moving. As soon as you pick it up or start driving he's fine, but will scream if your stationary. 
• His eye is still goopy. Stupid clogged tear duct. They say that it can take a year for it to go away. Sigh. I hope it's sooner. I'm sure he's sick of my picking the goopies off.

Claire still loves her little brother. Sometimes she has better mommy ears than I do and will run out to tell me "OH NO! Brother is sad." She'll be a great little mommy reporter someday. 

We love our sweet little guy! 

HATS!

Don't you love how, when you're older, hats become a figure of speech rather than a piece of an outfit? Put on the mommy hat in the morning, the chef at for meals, the church hat for church, etc. We have so many hats these days that were putting on and sometimes it's a little overwhelming and not so much fun.

Well, Claire has a great love for all things hats. I wish I could go back to being two years old where a hat was anything. A bucket. A spoon. A bowl. A helmet. You name it. I want to wear those hats....but Claire does. And she looks good doing it too. :) They're just more fun to wear.

And because I can't just post two pictures. Here are some more for good measure.

He looks so GQ here. 

Bath time. See...he's getting chubbier.

What Do I Need?

A VACATION!!!!

This girl needs a good long week away from home. Away from my laundry room. Away from the kitchen, cooking, and dishes. We need to run far, far away from all this nonsense sickness that is plaguing Claire. I need a few hours in a wonderful Pride and Prejudice kind of romance to find my healthy soul again. I swear that the CDC would condemn our house if they were here.

We have designated Fridays at our house, "sick Fridays". We have gone into the doctor every Friday since she got home from the hospital. They are calling us by name. I'm convinced that Claire REALLY likes seeing Nemo in their fish tank, or she has attention deprivation and things she needs to catch every cold that flies by her nose. First it was the hospital, then she had a very weak week. Maybe her immune system got picked up by the star quarterback and got it's butt kicked across the field because she then had croup the next week. This Friday we went in for Pink Eye followed by a scratched ear canal on Saturday. Now? A fever with an unknown cause. I think it's a cold, but we're back to our every 3 hours of medicine regime. One thing after another.

I'll be totally honest. I lost it on Friday and sobbed. Embarrassingly enough I even cried on the phone with my visiting teacher trying to find a ride to our car so I could get Claire to the doctor.

So, here's to counting down the days until our Park City get-a-way with Brian's wonderful family. Cousins! I can't wait for Claire to play with some cousins! I'll be lounging by the pool and can even visit the hot tub this time around since there is no baby incubating. Until then....our thermometer has a new home on our table ready for use.

On a side note, I am incredibly grateful that things have played out so "well". While we were at the doctor on Friday a couple, their baby, and the nurse that was carrying the baby's oxygen walked into the office. I immediately felt so bad for this couple (and baby) that the little guy was on oxygen and obviously having a hard time. However, they lifted his carseat cover and that poor little guy had it a lot worse than we've ever had to deal with. His poor face. His mouth and chin were curved upward toward his nose, which you could hardly make out. His eyes were close together and so close to his nose and forehead that it was hard to make out which feature was which. I honestly wanted to take him home with me and hug him and love him so much and I almost started crying right then. What a sweet little boy.

I have to say that I think I'm learning how to get closer to the big man upstairs through all of this. I would hate to think that having Claire be so sick is the only way it would happen right now in my life, but I'm grateful that she's ok and that I am learning along the way.

The Calendar is Broken

Has it really been a week and a half since my last post??? What?! Where does the time go? I guess this past week has been dedicated to Claire's terrible cough, steamy showers to get her to breathe, and staying up WAY TOO LATE because she doesn't sleep well when she's sick. Hopefully someday she'll get the memo that rest is the key to getting better...not waking up at 2:30 ready to play for the day. Sorry all.

There have been several topics that I've wanted to blog about. Most of these ideas come to me in the shower where a pen and paper are useless for storing ideas. I guess I'll have to invent a soap that writes on walls and a shower remembering board. Let's face it, everyone's best ideas come to them when they're in the shower. Maybe the combination of being naked, wet, and relaxed is the best environment for ideas to flourish. I surely think so.

The only real thing I've discovered this week is that I'm in love with vanilla ice cream with graham cracker pie crust and carmel. YUM! Since I am the only mother I know of that goes off chocolate after a baby...I'm sticking to it. Seriously, it has been hard, but now it's not even about worrying if Jared will get colicy from the cocoa. Now it's a matter of longevity. How long can I really go without giving in? We'll see!

For now, I will just leave you with my comments of my better hal(ves).

Brian is so good to me. He sternly sent me to bed as I was sobbing in Claire's room at 4:30 am the other day. I was so exhausted and that magical man had her back to sleeping in 20 minutes. Something I had been working at for over 2 hours. We are alive today because he saved us.

Claire is seriously the cutest girl in the world. We tell her this. We think she might be aware of the fact. Just in case you need proof...here it is.

 Running through the sprinklers....in her clothes. She really just stood in it and got soaked.

Mommy went to the store and she was so sad. She cried so hard that she fell asleep on Daddy.

Wearing Daddy's work classes. SO CUTE! 

Anyone like CHEESE as much as this girl???? 

As for Jared, boys don't get any sweeter. He gets cuter and cuter by the day and I just can't get enough of him. He is sleeping all the time almost every other day. I think he's having some growth spurts. I have to say that I just melt for little boys. Heck, I melted for Claire the same, so I just love my kiddos. 

My pillow fell on him this morning. He was so squirmy with it.

Getting chubs!

Sort of a smile! 

A little man in his Sunday best. Be still my beating heart!

This morning I found Claire hugging Jared's legs. She sure loves her little brother. Always has to check on him. Always has to hug him. Always has to have him by her in the car. I love that she loves him.

Let's face it....I have a rockin' awesome family! 

Cheers.