Perhaps it is easier to move when your are pregnant

I can't say I know both sides but trying to move with a 6 month old is incredibly difficult. I have already been in tears twice. Somehow we managed to back (probably after he was down for the night) but unpacking, cleaning, painting, etc. WOW... that is difficult. Call in the troops to help babysit. Also maybe when you are pregnant because you can't lift it is easier to feel okay about being bossy. - V

New Moms Group

I just wanted to put a word in for new moms groups. They are awesome. Many hospitals have them set up throughout the week. The place I gave birth at has at least 4 different groups. I went when Abner was only 2 weeks old. I did not take him because he was so tiny. I just sat there with tears streaming down my face the whole time as I listened to other new moms going through the sames things I went through.
At the group I attended we just went around the circle and each mom would share any highlights of their week and then ask a questions. The facilitator would encourage members to share their wisdom. Of course she had a lot of advice to give if no one offered any up.
I went for the 12 weeks I was home and then two other times. At my group you are allowed to go until your baby is 6 months old but I had to go back to work.
Group is good for many reasons - to know you are NOT alone, to give you support if you don't have family close, to share tips and tricks, to meet moms that you will visit with after 6 months, and many many more reasons.
If you feel like you need to share after you have your little one, see if you hospital offers this great service.

A few more words about fitting back into our jeans

Are we talking muffin top or no muffin top?

Since dieting has never really been my friend to begin with losing the baby weight is not fun. I actually weigh less now than I did before I got pregnant except all my extra weight relocated to my stomach. So now I equate my stomach to Florida. It's where retired fat cells go to spend the rest of their days.

As for exercise, I do tapes and walks and even go to a stroller strides class once a week. My new brilliant diet plan, however, is to hire two large German weight lifters to follow me around all day and knock any junk food I try to eat out of my hands. If I wanted the food bad enough I'd have to wrestle them for it. I'm sure I'd work off more calories than I was able to consume. Anybody know anyone who is up for the job?

That teething would be so hard to identify!

I keep waiting for Zachary's top teeth to pop through... blaming every bad day or fussy period on "teething". Is it really teething? I will never know. :-)

Crying It Out

I am writing as my daughter cries and every once in a while screams "mama" from her crib in the next room. Letting her cry it out is the hardest thing I have had to do so far as a parent.

Since she was born she has been the best sleeper. She was usually asleep by the time she finished her nightly feeding or would fall asleep after being rocked for a few moments. In parenting terms, this means I commited a cardinal sin. I let my daughter fall asleep in my arms every night. There was no problem until she turned about 7 1/2 months old and now falls asleep in our arms and then wakes up as soon as we put her in her crib. If we pick her up, she stops crying immediately but once we put her back down it starts all over again. Our only choices now are to move her into our room, sleep on the recliner with her in our arms all night, or let her cry it out. We have chosen to let her cry it out and this has brought both Paul and I at one point or another to tears.

I know most parenting experts recommend not rocking your kids to sleep for this very reason but I still can not recommend that. I love holding my daughter while she falls asleep and watching her little angelic face as she dreams away in my arms. I just want to warn you parents who are like me, you will at some point pay for those precious moments. The up side is that although at night it is torture, she still wakes up a sun shinny baby in the morning.

I have faith that some day the crying it out stage will be behind us. How long did it take all you moms out there to get through it? Any tips? It sounds like little Ava just fell asleep. Tonight it took a half an hour.

that is would take me 5 months to get back into my jeans

Okay, time for a less depressing post! :) I hope all you new mommies out there have had a wonderful mother's day. I did!

So for mother's day brunch my husband brought out my jeans (I had been wearing a size up and he told me the other day that they were looking roomy). They fit!... well perhaps they a bit too tight but I can zip and button them.

My secret to get those pounds -- wii fit and returning to work. I must walk 2 miles at work, that help with those last stubborn 10 lbs. There is still a bit of back fat but that may be my friend for life now. The stretch marks seem to be fading too (I was quite pissed about those because I never saw one the whole time I was pregnant, I buttered my belly like a baked potato. Then I come home with Abner and I have stretch back stretchmarks --- WHY didn't anyone prepare me for this, I thought I was out of the woods).

How hard it would be without family

If you have family close, be thankful. I could not comprehend what having family far away would mean. It means that in the early days when you don't know what the heck you are doing there isn't a mom there to give you a hug. It means when you just need to get away for awhile that your spouse has to watch the baby and then when you get home it will be your turn. It means that you don't have that extra helping hand. It means when family comes to visit that you will have to fight to see your baby because they will gush love on him or her. It means when your baby hits a milestone they will not be there to see it. I hear a lot of moms complain about how hard things are but I know they have family helping... I don't ever say anything but my brain thinks it. It means that you may go through major life events and you still will not have family there to help. Perhaps I am a bit emotional right now... so all I am saying is if you have family appreciate them. If you family is far, try to get a friend to move to your new town (that is what i did ;) ). Be thankful for friends who give you a hand and get ready to dole out the babysitter bucks. Join a mom's group for support there are LOTS of mom's out there like you. Sorry this posts isn't going to get anyone laughing, this blog is for crying too.

Common Mommy Myths

Or things moms think that are seldom, if ever, true.

1) Parenting gets easier as the baby gets older.
This might be true when the baby turns 18 but when they are young this is definitely not true. They constantly find new ways to challenge you.
2) It is possible to feed your baby “real food” and in less time than it takes to watch the movie Parenthood and also manage to keep the kitchen, yourself, your baby, and your baby’s clothes clean.
I almost had a little breakdown when I started solids because it seemed like our days consisted of breastfeed the baby, play with the baby, feed the baby real food, clean myself - the kitchen- and the baby, let the baby nap for 2 minutes, and then start the whole cycle over again. Most of my clothes and my baby's clothes now have at least one food stain. Eventually, you will learn some ninja-like feeding maneuvers that make the process easier but by that point they want to try and feed themselves (see #1).
3) Babies instinctively know not to put their hands/feet in their poopy diaper. Oh how I wish this one was true.
4) Everyone knows that your baby is the cutest/smartest/funniest baby in the world.
I think we all are programmed to think our babies are the world’s most brilliant baby or a lot less of them would survive. We wouldn't be that excited about our babies if we thought they were mediocre now would we?
5) Teething might be painful but at least it doesn’t last that long.
My daughter has been teething for 4 months but still has no teeth. Of course this allows us to blame all her grumpiness on the teething so we can still delude ourselves that she is a perfect angelic baby that never fusses without a reason.

I know there are tons more that I am not thinking of right now. What are your favorite mommy myths?

Relax, your kid is normal

As a new parent, you will become obsessed with developmental milestones. Can my baby hold his head up? Does he laugh? Can he grasp a toy? Yadda, yadda, yadda. I have 2 nieces and 3 nephews, and my cousins have 7 kids between them, so I thought I'd come to the sensible realization that every child develops at his or her own pace. The milestone lists are not a bad guideline, but they're certainly not a universal schedule. I know from family experience that some kids talk early but are slower to develop motor skills, or vice versa. Eventually, they pretty much level out.

But it doesn't matter what you know in your rational mind. When you become a parent your anxious brain takes over and you can easily fixate on what your child is or is not doing (e.g. he's late tracking objects with his eyes - something's wrong! or, he's rolling over in both directions - he's a genius!). I have to remind myself: stop thinking so much! Relax and enjoy this time, because the baby is changing constantly and these little phases of development don't last long.