In need of motivation

So.....been a month yet again since I last posted.  I was hoping I'd get into the swing of things and actually have something related to working out to write about!  Not so much.  And I have zero excuses.  I just have yet to get my motivation to get up in the mornings.  I WANT to run, lift, yoga, etc, it's just getting my ass out of bed has been difficult.

I need to run.  So why is it so hard for me to get out there?  I have been in a pretty low place the last few months.  This move hasn't been an easy one.  I'm still in search of friends (for both me and J-man).  I've met people but I don't know, friendships just haven't formed.  The few people who live in our neighborhood don't have kids or don't have kids our age so that makes it tough.  I always feel like I'm just a nuissane to those friends without kids.  Cuz, if I didn't have kids and I lived in Paris and didn't have to work I'd most likely just want to hang out at cafés all day people watching.

I am sooo unhappy with my body right  now.  I think the percentage of muscle is pretty much nill.  I hate being and feeling weak. I just need to get into a routine.  They say it takes 21 days to really get into a routine.  It's time to start!

It's time to get out of my funk and start getting stronger, fitter and healthier.  If I don't I think I'll end up getting into an even darker hole mentally and it'll be harder to get out.

How have you all found motivation to just GET MOVING?!?!

Getting settled in our new home

So we have been in Paris for 5 weeks now.  It's been a huge whirlwind over the past couple of months, to say the least.  Phew.  We still have loads of organizing to do since we basically unpacked everything since they only pick up the boxes once.  So we have crap everywhere that needs to find a home.  I've tried to make myself just chill over it all but dang it's tough!  I hate having clutter everywhere.  Seriously annoys me sooo bad.

So what's life in Paris like?  Hmm, it depends on the day :-).  Language barrier has been really hard.  Not having any friends has been even more difficult.  Most days go by quickly since we have our stuff to keep us busy, but it's very lonely.  The days that go by really slowly are the worst, obviously.  And trips to the Supermarché are usually the worst because trecking 1km to the store by foot with a 3 year old is slow going.  Then it takes me forever to figure out where the items on my list are.  And of course I have to double check everything because even though the picture might make it look like I know what I am buying doesn't always mean that's the case.  And getting it home is fun.  So far I have only bought enough to fit into the basket of our stroller.  I actually just need to start doing the home delivery option (it's free after 50 euro...not bad).  But trying to get the delivery has been a task I don't want to complete since English is just not spoken much here at all!  And it's not them being rude; a lot of people just DO NOT speak English.  So most times I feel worried about looking like a total ass in front of all these people who I know are snickering about the "dumb American" under their smiles :-).  

I have yet to get into a routine (hence the last post).  It's really tough!  The hubby is home in the mornings, though, so I just need to get up at an early time and get out and get 'er done.  I'm still a little scared, though, to be running in the dark around here since I don't know my way around just yet.

But even more challenging is trying to work in the breastfeeding.  El-Kat is usually on a pretty good "schedule" but some mornings she's just totally off. I can't figure out if I should just wake her up at 5, feed her and then pump what's left...then hope she sleeps until about 8 so I have time to get it all done and not have to worry about either one of us getting our workouts or getting ready for the day routines interrupted.

Running.  I met a fellow runner chica who just ran the Paris Marathon last weekend.  She did an awesome job and if I can get back into shape I think we'll be good running partners because she seems to have the same times as me (well, when I was in shape anyway!).  I just need to get back into a routine and get my ass out there.  The Paris Marathon starts about 500m from where we live and ends pretty much right outside my doorstep so I am planning on running it next year.  Looking forward to that!  Now I just need to find something in the Fall.

I'm hoping to start writing on here again but time has been short.  Once we get our apartment in order hopefully I'll have more time!   Thanks to all those who are actually still reading this thing!

Yum Yum!

I am sooo going to make these in the next few days.  I am pretty sure I can find all of the ingredients here somewhere :-).  I actually did find a healthfood store.  I still have to make my way there.  Hoping to do that this weekend!

But anyway, here's the recipe I found that sounds yummy and fun to make with Jackson.  By the way, her food looks soo yummy and I have been trying to only eat one meat dish a day.  I honestly don't even love meat, but I feel it's really hard to get in all of the protein I need.  I'll let you know how I like the recipe.

http://catesworldkitchen.com/2010/12/carrot-cake-cookies-raw-and-vegan/

Daily routines

I am so needing help on how to get my crap together on the daily routines.  How do you guys do it all?  Since having the baby it seems like I am running around like a wild, crazy woman all day long.  Would love to hear how you fit it all in, i.e. exercise, cleaning everything, making dinner, running errands, and keeping the kids entertained all day long.  Please, please, please....I need your advice and help.

Alive...Barely :-)

Wow, it's been a while since I've wrote anything on here. Some bullet points because that's all I have time for and I'm already up way too late. And these are in no particular order so bear with me. this is actually going to be short since it is late but wanted to tell everyone (all two or three of you I mean) I am still alive.

1. Yes, it is way too late. But unfortunately it's about the only time I get to really think without Jackson saying "Mommy, come play with me. Mommy, I am hungry. Mommy, I need to go pee pee. Mommy..." you get the drift. I honestly would pay a lot of money to just get a weekend to just sit in a hotel room and enjoy some peace and quiet.

2. I am stressed about the move. We still have a ton of things on the list and we're not getting through them very quickly. Might I suggest to never move with a new baby and a hubby who doesn't get time off? Yeah, not so much fun. But at least Paris is at the end of the tunnel :-) If we had the Congo as our next destination I'd be even crabbier so yes, there is a silver lining.

3. Thank heavens for an awesome baby. She is such a good baby! She even slept from 9 last night until 6 this morning. Yeah, I woke up looking like a porn star. Ha.

4. I am so beyond frustrated because the weight is not coming off as quickly as it did with Jackson. I swear it came off a heck of a lot faster. But I really wasn't watching the scale or super eager to get back into my clothes last time either. I only have one pair of semi decent pants that fit and about two shirts. I don't want to spend the money on anythign new to get me through this period but I think I might have to because yoga pants and race shirts can only cut it for so long. And you know it isn't going to cut it in France.

3. Also frustrated becuase I am just not getting the workouts in like I want. When I can't run I get frustrated and don't even want to work out. The only cardio equipment we own is a rower and I could use it but it just doesn't do it for me all the time.

4. Jillian's 30-day shred is really great, but umm yeah, I am pretty sure I hav to do it more often than once a week for it to be effective. Ha!

5. My sister is getting married in a month and the thought of squeezing into a dress sounds not so fun to me.

6. Bonus of having to fit into a dress while breastfeeding is I actually have cleavage.

7. Not so fun part of having to fit in a dress while breastfeeding is that I will have to find a dress that can accommodate various cup sizes throughout the night :-)

8. My goals for this week are to eat as well as I can, exercise every day for at least 20 minutes (hey, gotta start somewhere and that's about all the time I have for now), and check off as many items on my list as possible. And mostly....stay sane and not allow myself to stress out because it really does affect my milk supply.

9. We actually FINALLY found out this last week that we are officially moving beginning of March and they finally assigned us housing. Yippy skippy because now I can actually go and buy some furniture since I know we can use it.

10. We pack out in a week and a half so not much time to get a lot of stuff done!

I have been reading lots of blogs while feeding in the middle of the night and randomly throughout the day during feedings. But i haven't been commenting much....just know I've been reading! It helps keep me somewhat motivated that maybe, just maybe, I'll get back into the swing of things running wise.

Oh, did I mention that we'll have a HUGE park only 5 minute walk from our apartment? Totally psyched about that.

Elise Katherine is here!

A little behind the curve on this post! We had our baby GIRL on the 30th of November. I am so in love it's ridiculous! :-) I was kind of worried how I'd possibly be able to love Jackson as much as I do AND the new baby. So silly of me :-) Jackson has been such a great big brother and seems to be adjusting well. He loves helping out and kissing her and always lets me know when she wakes up.

Elise Katherine

11/30/2010

7 pounds 14 ounces

19 1/2 inches

We weren't great at keeping track of the stages this time, but that's probably because my contractions really started around midnight. So fun :-) To start from the beginning....

I had an appointment the morning of the 29th, and the midwife said I was 2 cm and maybe 50% effaced. I about started to cry in the room because I felt like I wasn't making much progress and would surely make it to Friday and have to be induced. But I had her strip my membranes to hopefully get things to move along. I had a complete breakdown in the car right after that. So hormonal :-) We went to the grocery store to stock on some more stuff and I had some cramping, which is normal after stripping the membranes. So that night I went for probably a 2 mile-ish walk. I felt NOTHING. I was again sure that nothing was happening for a while. So we watched some TV and then around 10 I kind of noticed my Braxton Hicks started to get pretty rhythmic. About every 4 minutes but not painful, just a bit tighter than normal. Decided to take a shower around 11 to help me relax and go to sleep. Wouldn't ya know as soon as I put my head on my pillow I had a couple "these are definitely more serious" kinds of contractions. Then I felt a little "gooey" down yonder so I went to the bathroom. sure enough I had my show and I told Jon that I was pretty sure that I was in labor. We called his parents to have his mom come out since we didn't know when it'd happen, but at least sometime in the next 24 hours.

Contractions started to get a little stronger and were coming ever 4 minutes and were about 30 to 45 seconds apart. I called the midwife just to get advice. I totally felt like a first time mom since this was my first time having a spontaneous labor and hadn't experienced it before (last time I was induced). She assured me I could stay at home for a while more until they were 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute and more intense. I was so bored because I was the only one awake. Well, we spent the first hour or so packing our bags and getting everything together. We totally hadn't really started anything. I had my list made, though, so I wasn't really worried :-)

So what happened next? Trying to remember :-) I think around 3 ish the contractions started to slow down to about 10 mins apart. I totally thought I was really in for a long labor. Around 5 they started to pick back up again so I called the midwife but she once again assured me that I didn't sound like I needed to come in, told me to take a shower and just wait it out some more. The pains weren't horrible so I agreed. So I took a shower and tried to lie down but it was too uncomfortable so I just stayed in the kitchen and facebooked :-) I was soooo bored. I basically just stood up and swayed back and forth to get through the contractions. Finally around 7 I said they were a little stronger and I didn't feel like getting stuck in traffic so we headed to the hospital. The contractions totally slowed down again in the car so I was sure I headed in too early. They checked me around 8:00 and I was already at a 6-7 cm and was shocked (I was sure I'd only be about a 4)! Moved to L&D and was definitely breathing through the contractions at this point. A friend of mine just did a natural childbirth and she said what helped get her through the pain was to visualize pushing the pain into the bed (she was sitting on the bed) Since I was standing I just visualized pushing the pain into the floor and it worked. My BP started to get a little high so the nurse wanted me to lie on my side on the bed. So not fun. Didn't like that one bit but finally figured out to just breath and visualize pushing the pain down into the bed through my hip. I was listening to my Ipod and the midwife asked if I was hypnobirthing or listening to something relaxing and I was like yeah, umm, no, it's some Limp Bizkit. (I decided to listen to my marathon music). She thought that was kind of funny for some reason :-)

Around 10:10, I think, I said I felt a lot of pressure on my backside, like I had to poop, so the midwife checked me. I was 9 cm and my water hadn't broke yet! So she asked if I wanted her to break it and I was like, will it make it happen faster? Of course the answer was yes and so I said umm, helz yeah, lets get this over with :-). She broke my water and HOLY HELL the contractions picked up. Within about 1 contraction I was like, I gotta push! So they made me get on my back which was oh so freakin' uncomfortable. I think I pushed through two contractions and she came out. It HURT but it felt good to push at the same time. I am pretty sure the entire floor heard me scream a couple times :-) Funny thing is I have way worse labor memories from having Jackson than I do with Elise.

She looked so small! I was sure they were going to say she was only about 7 pounds and was kind of shocked when they said she was 7.14.

All-in-all, I definitely hope to have another natural childbirth with the next ones. It was such a better experience all around not to be induced and to just get through labor on my own. Plus, I think I recovered more quickly this time. They say the epidural hinders your own hormone production and I think it really might because even though I had been awake for more than 28 hours at that point I felt totally awake and fine.

Phew, that took a while. :-) Time to get....babe needs to feed.

Oh, and during my stress test at the hospital (the day I went into labor) I found and stole a copy of Oxygen mag and it has a great at-home workout in it. I can't wait to start because IT'S TIME TO GET SCRONG!! My arms look so damn wimpy :-)

baby update. Help with baby names.

So, we're sitting at a lovely 38 weeks preggo today! I can't believe I only have two weeks to go until I am officially ready to go. I had my appointment yesterday and I decided to have them do a check just to see, knowing that I'd probably not be very far along. And I was right. We've got a long way to go. But not surprised since I was 10 days late with Jackson. I'm really hoping that I don't go a long time over with this one, but I have a feeling that just won't be the case :-). I'll be walking and walking and doing whatever else I can to move things along.

We're still trying to decide on names. We had a tough enough time last time with Jackson and we knew we were having a boy. This time we have to come up with one for each since it's going to be a surprise. It seems every time I throw a name out there I get the oh heck no look from Jon.

Here are a few of my faves for each:

Girls:

Elise

Analise

Adalyn

Makenna

Boys:

Dylan

Blake

Will

I'd love to hear if anyone else has any suggestions and or comments about the names :-)