Fitting Back In

April 2013 Goal Assessment; May Goals!

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:43:00 +0000

Yay for Friday! I hope you're all having great days - I'm post-massage so i'm feeling super relaxed and happy. Becks is sleeping, most of my chores for the day are done and i'm excited to be in a new month. April was definitely a jumping-off month. I got a lot done and feel great, but definitely want to focus more in May! I go back to work on Monday which is very bittersweet and i'm definitely interested in how 'being a working mom' shakes out as i've never had to focus on both Becks and my work - eeek! As we're wrapping up another month, here is a look at what we set out to do in April, and what we accomplished!

1. Make 2010 and 2011 photo books. (couldn't do ONE so now i'm going for two.... LOL we'll see!) DONE; well, I did the 2010 one. It took much longer than I expected. I'm definitely excited and motivated to do the 2011 now that I'm enjoying having the 2010 to peruse! However, i've found that it's best to organize for the books offline THEN make the book. So, for May I will organize for the 2011 book and not make it until June!

Cover

A few layouts from our 2010 voyages, including Vegas, New York, the Dominican Republic, Auburn and Colorado

2. Finalize Household budget. I'm going to mark this as complete, special thanks to my friend Seema for sending me her Excel file and tips - it definitely helped get me started. While I feel I have snapshot of current, I want to actually start maintaining it... eek!
3. Create study. not done; I did buy a desk at Pottery Barn, but still need bookshelves, a lamp, etc. It's coming along.
4.Upgrade all door knobs. not done! Other things trumped this on Austin's list but he's on it!
5. Read 3 books. not done! I actually read no books. I started several and couldn't get into any which was frustrating. Hopefully I'll have the time to read more in May.
6. Finish thank you cards and order new family stationery. I ordered family stationery but didn't finish thank you cards - have about 20 left and it's on my list for this weekend!

7. Schedule and take newborn photos We scheduled these twice and had to cancel - life keeps getting in the way. Definitely doing in May - they will be three- month pictures! :)
8. Buy new sheets DONE; Mom helped me and I got a pair of grayish blue Polo sheets from TJ - woo!
9. Follow April 2013 Workout Plan!! Biggest focus of month outside of Beckett! I'd say I did pretty good with this - I did 87 miles, 2 sessions with a personal trainer and 1 group fitness session. I definitely feel 'back in the game' but am ready to add in some strength training and classes - mix it up - woo!

Below is my April Work Out Tracker....

It was supposed to be my calorie tracker, too, but I only tracked for the first 10 days. Tracking is SO hard now that I feel like I have a lot more on my plate. However, I also know that I have had the most success with weight loss when I track, so hopefully I'll do better at tracking in May (although I can safely say that it's the 3rd and I haven't tracked - eek!)

April 1: 1,626 calories; 3-mile walk with Sharon; SP cal burn: 229 (net: 1,397)
April 2: 1,781 calories; Biceps & Back ST; SP cal burn: 20 (net: 1,761)
April 3: 1,616 calories; 45-minute treadmill walk (3 miles) and 2.5 mile walk with Sharon; SP cal burn: 414 (net: 1,202)
April 4: 1,956 calories; off
April 5: 1,607 calories; 40-minute walk with Monica (probably 2 miles) + abs; SP cal burn: 191 (net: 1,416)
April 6: 2,117 calories; 2-mile treadmill walk; SP cal burn: 296 (net: 1,821)
April 7: 1,988 calories; 4.5-mile walk with Sharon; SP cal burn: 346 (net: 1,642)
Week 1: 17 miles (and a back bicep workout and an ab workout)
April 8: 1,762 calories; 1.5-mile stroller walk with Beckett; 3.75-mile walk with Sharon; SP cal burn: 382 (net: 1,380)
April 9: 1,562 calories; off
April 10: 1,770 calories; 1-mile stroller walk with Beckett; 4.63-mile walk with Sharon; SP cal burn: 424
April 11: off
April 12: 1-mile stroller walk with Beckett; 4.5-mile walk with Austin & Beckett; SP cal burn: 392
April 13: 4-mile treadmill walk; SP cal burn: 290
April 14 - 1-mile walk with Beckett; 4.5-mile walk with Sharon
Week 2: 26 miles (43 so far)
April 15 - 4.5-mile walk with Sharon
April 16 - 3.25 mile treadmill walk; 3/4-mile walk with Beckett
April 17 - 2.5 miles with my Mom and Beckett
April 18 - 4-mile treadmill walk
April 19 - 2-mile treadmill walk
April 20 - 4-mile walk with Beckett, Devon and Dane
April 21 - off
Week 3: 21 miles (64 so far)
April 22 - 4-mile walk with Beckett and Michelle
April 23 - 4-mile treadmill walk
April 24 - 1/2 mile (fitness test at Lifetime Fitness); 3.5 mile-walk with Sharon
April 25 - no mileage (but did a 1-hour session with a personal trainer)
April 26: 2-mile treadmill walk
April 27: off
April 28: 3-mile treadmill walk
April 29: group fitness class included 2-mile walk
April 30: 4-mile walk with Sharon; 1-hour session with a personal trainer
Week 4+: 23 miles (and 2 1-hour sessions with personal trainer and a 1-hour group fitness class (87 miles)

Like last month, a lot went on this month:

April 6: Had a great visit with Monica, including a walk and pedicure!
April 7: Scott & Mary came up to visit, and Teresa and Forrest came over from Alabama to meet Becks and stay the night
April 9: Took Becks to my office and had lunch with Stacy & Leslie at Nordstrom
April 13: Melissa, Jon and Madison came over to visit and meet Becks; Andy and Monica came over for dinner, drinks and time with Becks
April 16: My mother-in-law came to visit Becks for the night
April 17: My mom spent the afternoon with me and Beckett
April 20: Devon & Dane came over to visit, including a walk and fun on the piano
April 21: Beckett and I drove over to Devon's to see Devon, Dane and my mom and visit the park
April 22: My mother-in-law came to visit for a few nights and keep me and Becks company while Austin traveled
April 23: My aunt Sharon spent the day with me, Beckett and Michelle (Austin's mom!)
April 25 - 28: Headed over to Birmingham for a long weekend, including Michael Velotas's first birthday and a get together for his dad, Jimmy's, 31st birthday

Other than that, random things were done!

We figured out and settled up the accident case from last November when I was rearended
Switched over from Regions Bank to Wells Fargo (so much work -ugh)
Went to the chiropractor
Found and ordered Beckett's outfits for photos
Sorted and packed maternity clothes to return to 3 of my friends who lent them to me; returned 1 set so far
Signed up for a new gym
Began the process of refinancing our home (ugh)
Made Mother's Day presents for Beckett's Gigi and Mimi

I also continued my daily pictures of Beckett - here are some favorites from April!

So what are the May goals?

1. Organize closet around what fits; return all maternity clothes
2. Operationalize household budget
3. Create study
4.Upgrade all door knobs
5. Read 3 books
6. Finish thank you cards
7. Schedule and take newborn photos
8. Organize for 2011 photo book.
9. Follow May 2013 Workout Plan!! Biggest focus of month outside of Beckett!

Q: What's on your agenda for May?!

Busy April: Hanging with Friends & Fam, Walking, Enjoying Becks

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:20:00 +0000

Woo! This month is flying by! Can't believe I haven't posted since the 11th - just staying so busy with little Becks - can't believe she is 10 weeks old already - such a sweet girl! So what have we been up to?

Last Friday/the 12th - family night! We went for a 5.5-mile family walk with Beckett after Austin got off work - so nice! Then we just hung out at home and got some rest for Saturday's day of friends!

Picture from family walk!

Saturday/the 13th - I got up early and did a 4-mile treadmill walk. Afterwards I had planned to visit with Sharon and her godson across the street, but it was SO polleny so we just said hi for a few, then the Mittelbronns came over to visit. Loved catching up with them and getting to see their beautiful girl Madison - total doll.

Becks with Melissa & Madison Mittelbronn

We sat outside and enjoyed the weather until 5 or so when they had to head home and Becks had to go down for a nap. Around 6:30 the Blancos came over and we hung out, had drinks and dinner and they did Beck's shower and bedtime routine with us - so fun! Loved seeing our friends and watching Beckett get to know the important peeps in our lives!

Sunday we got up early and started watching Mad Men Season 5 on Netflix - LOVE IT.

Then I went for a 4.5-mile walk with Sharon on the Greenway - so nice! Later me and Becks and Austin did a 1-mile walk, and then just family night/cooking/etc.

Monday I just spent the day with Becks, then did a 4.5-mile walk with Sharon - we were on a roll! Tuesday I did a 3.25 mile treadmill walk while talking to my mom, then raced home to meet Austin who had a hair appointment. Then I took Becks out for a 3/4-mile walk to take it up to 4 miles! I showered and then Austin's mom got in town to visit! She brought yummy Greek food, we had some wine, we hung out with Becks and had a great night!

Becks with her dad, Mimi Michelle and puppers

Wednesday we visited with Austin's mom, then the two of them headed out to Nordstrom for some shopping. Meanwhile, my mom came to visit - Beckett got to see both of her grandmas in one day! Me and mom took her for a 2.5-mile walk - so nice!

Becks and her Gigi

Thursday we were back on our own, and I squeezed in a 4-mile treadmill walk while having a marathon chat with Monica. Then we just had a pretty routine day that ended, as always with Beck's bath - she loves them!

Becks after bath!

Friday I went to join a new gym (love it!) and got in a short, 2-mile treadmill walk then had a restful family night that included a visit to the nearby fro yo shop!

Saturday my sister and Dane came over! So good to see them - we went for a 4-mile walk on the greenway- both the babes did SO good in their strollers! Yesterday Becks and I headed down to Devon's and Dane's to visit! My mom visited, too, and the 5 of us headed to a nearby park - so fun!

3 of my favorite ladies

Wagon down to park

Sisters and Cousins

Hanging in the Porter's front yard - Becks LOVES that flag

Close up - she seriously loved it

And Dane loved his water table - yay!

And we loved the Moby - thanks for another great loan, Devie!

Woo! So we've been a little busy but all fun, do-it-to-yourself kind of busy! I'm loving getting Becks out there so much more - she seems to love the outdoors and seeing new people - yay! While I'm LOVING the beautiful weather I'm HATING the pollen. I spend my days with burning eyes, runny nose, constant sneezing - UGH. Even with Claritin I'm getting no relief - so miserable. :(

Q: What have you been up to? Are your allergies making you miserable, too?

Q: The month is wrapping up quick - what's one thing you hope to accomplish in this last week? I've got lots of miles to walk, thank you cards to write, and books to read - fun!!

28 Miles, First Shots, A Visit Out

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:33:00 +0000

We're continuing to have such a great month! Tracking isn't so bad and not much work at all since all of my information is already in SparkPeople, and we've walked 28 miles as of yesterday! Most of miles are done with my awesome neighbor friend Sharon! We've walked together several times this month. And I walk with Miss Becks of course in the daytime. And I've gotten in a walk with Monica, too! It's going great - love it! I will say the pollen is making me not want to go at all, but i'm taking my claritin and dealing with it like everyone else. Sigh.

I'm using an app Sharon got me onto called Nike Running. It's great! It tracks our walks and tells me how many miles i'm walking, at what pace and it logs the time so that's been SUPER helpful. During the day I can just pop Becks in the stroller and we'll walk away from the house until we hit a 1/2 mile or a 3/4 mile, and then walk back, getting in a quick mile or mile and a half. I don't like to stay out too long with her just in case - but she does seem to enjoy our little walks, and sleeps through must of them!

After our great friend-filled weekend, Monday was a little quiet at first. But that afternoon we headed to the pediatrician and learned that our little Beckett is already 24" long and 11 pounds/13 oz. - healthy girl! She did great with her shots!

Tuesday we got up early and took a picture of Beckett with a 'Happy Birthday Mimi' sign for my MIL! Beckett was so sweet - she even smiled! Then me and her headed out and made our first outing with just me and her to my office and then to a lunch at Nordstrom Cafe! I was so nervous about the stroller, the carseat, eating on the go, etc., but it was great to see my co-workers and to get to have lunch with Stacy, little Lola, and Leslie! I enjoyed catching up with them all, Beckett did great (such a calm little thing!), and then me and Becks headed home.

We were both exhausted! I think the anxiety of driving with her and just everything took a toll on me! SO glad I had taken the day off working out as I didn't have the energy at. all.

Yesterday we stayed home and stuck to the schedule with lots of good feedings and activity times. We got in a 1-mile stroller walk, and around 6:15 I headed over to Sharon's and we had a great 4.67-mile walk - woo! Before I knew it the day was over and it was time to crash - yesss!

Q: How is your week going? Any highlights yet? Mine is definitely getting through the first round of shots with Beckett and our first venture out - so proud of her! And i'm glad I'm getting in so many walks - even with the allergy attacks it's worth it - makes me feel like me again!

Amazing April So Far!

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:53:00 +0000

I feel like I’m coming out of a fog, in a good way! By ‘a fog’ I mean grossy, nasty, sunless weather that makes me feel lazy, as well as super sleepless days where I kind of feel like a zombie. Beckett began sleeping 8+ hour stretches through the night with the arrival of spring – Ahhhhh!

Picture clouds parting, angels singing, that is how we feel over here at the Martin household. Don’t get me wrong, the months leading up to now have been amazing in their own right, but to have a shift in sleep cycles and weather patterns is definitely giving us extra skips in our steps! I had a great productive week with lots of To-Dos crossed off and walks taken, and a great weekend!

Friday Monica came over around 9:30 a.m. and we had a day of fun! We fed and hung out with Becks, went for a 2-mile stroller walk, got pedicures and just hung out and watched TV and talked – such a fun day! That night me and Austin just relaxed and cleaned up the house a bit in preparation for the next day’s company!

Saturday Austin mowed the lawn, cleaned up his office and went to Total Wine and More, one of his favorite places on earth, and I took care of Miss Becks and went to the gym for a 2-mile walk before stopping by the grocery store. Before we knew it, it was 2 p.m. and time to get Becks up to meet Mary & Scott! Had so much fun catching up with them, and they brought little Becks the sweetest little birthstone earrings – adorable! About an hour later, Teresa and Forrest got in from Alabama – so good to see them!! They brought Miss Becks the sweetest little outfit – can’t wait to see her in it this summer – such a lucky lady.

Becks & T

The Lengels with Daisy & Remy

Becks & Mar

Becks & Forrest

The Girls

Beckett got to meet so many of our besties! We spent the day outside enjoying the sun, a cold cut tray, and a few adult beverages – such a beautiful day! Beckett did so good with her bottles and was very sweet with new peeps and new puppers – Daisy and Cassie were in tow! It started to get late so Mary and Scot headed out, we ordered a dinnertime pizza, and then we did bath and bedtime with Becks before putting her down at 8:30. Then we just visited with Teresa and Forrest – so good to see them!

Yesterday Austin got up early and made us all breakfast, then we spent the morning with Becks and the pups and watching a church service online. Teresa and Forrest left around lunchtime, and we put Becks down and I headed out for a walk with Sharon on the greenway! We used the Nike Running app which told us we walked 4.67 miles – woo! We walked 15-minute miles – such a great walk and talk!

Today Beckett is two months old – WHAT?! We have her 2-month pediatrician appointment this afternoon – can’t wait to see how much our nugget has grown!

Q: What was the highlight of your weekend?

Breastfeeding Update

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:19:00 +0000

Happy girl after a bottle of 80% formula

I want to thank you all so much for your support. I worried I would get at least one nastygram but I didn't. I just got letters of support, and people telling me that I'm doing the right thing for me and my family and that that's really all that matters, and to not let anyone make me feel otherwise/guilty/etc. That meant so much to me! I enjoyed those who shared their stories, many of which were similar, as well as the decisions made as a result. Bottomline to me is, just like we always say with working out and weight loss, listen to your body. Well, in this case, listen to your heart and your baby. I think I knew for a couple of weeks that it wasn't working, but it's like I just had to do it because it was the right thing to do and I'd made the decision so dang it - I was going to stick with it even if it wasn't working! Once I really listened to myself and stepped back and started asking for advice and getting support from others, I knew what I had to do for Beckett, even though I didn't want to do it!

As far as the transition from BM to formula, I know you can go 'cold turkey' with the drying up of your milk, but I'm scared to death of a blocked duct or mastitis so I'm taking a longer road but it's working so far! I'm basically:

removing pumps and cutting the times every 3 days (so 8 pumps for 20 minutes; then 7 pumps for 18 minutes; then 6 pumps for 15 minutes; etc.)
wearing a super tight sports bra 24/7
doing frozen cabbage leaves treatments (2/day)

I'm now down to 2 pumps a day for 10 minutes - WOO! After I do 1 pump for 5 minutes and am no longer pumping, I'll do the band-aids + sports bra + ace bandages + tylenol and hopefully that will do the trick - so we're getting there. I can definitely tell that I require less calories and less water now. Don't get me wrong - still eating my fair share and drinking a lot but before it was like I was STARVING and PARCHED all the time. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and in the morning and feel like I was hungover from dehydration no matter how many times I filled up and drank my huge water bottle. I would go to the fridge, open a water bottle and drink it under 3 minutes. Seriously. Then fill up that same water bottle with the cold fridge water and drink it down. THEN fill it up, fill up my big reusable bottle and ALL OF THAT would last me about an hour.

Anyway, enough complaining! I'm much less thirsty - yay - and happy to report that thing are going better in that area. I'm very happy with our decision and am finding that I have SO much more time in the day to spend with Beckett while she's awake, and to spend with the pups/cook/work out/blog/etc. when she's sleeping!

Thank you again for your Facebook and blog comments and emails of support - I appreciate this community so much!!

Time to Start Losing Some Baby Weight

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:35:00 +0000

So it's April. I said I would start working out for real on April 1, 8 weeks postpartum. In March I did several walks, a few C25K runs, and a few ST routines but I wasn't really tracking or being proactive - just taking advantage of pretty weather days and friends willing to walk with me! But now, I'm in it to begin losing this weight! I weigh 149. My first goal weight is 125. I LOVE to weigh 115, but let's not push it. Let's just say 125... for now. This means I have 24 pounds to lose.

I found this photo online and find it inspiring; I feel like the 3rd or 4th girl from the left - have a ways to go!

How am I Going to Do it?

Well, I'm going to try to do it with walking and strength training. I lost this much weight before (granted, it was 5 years ago... and it wasn't after a baby) - but still - this is a starting point so i'm going to roll with it. I was going to try to lose it with running, but after 3 C25K workouts my knees screamed no. Apparently they don't want to carry around this extra weight either!

In addition to walking and strength training, I'm going to start tracking again. UGH. I tracked for years, seriously, and it works. I know it works. And it's not that hard because almost all of my stuff is already in SparkPeople, but I just loved life post-tracking when I was just maintaining. But again, I have weight to lose and am going to use what I know works - holding myself accountable! I'm tracking calories, carbs, fat and protein, and just going with what SparkPeople recommends for now.

How it's Going so Far

Well, it's only Day 5, so not too bad

April 1: 1,626 calories; 1-hour walk with Sharon (probably 3 miles)
April 2: 1,781 calories; Biceps & Back ST
April 3: 1,616 calories; 45-minute treadmill walk (3 miles) and 2.5 mile walk with Sharon
April 4: 1,956 calories; off

Looking forward to keeping it up. The last time I had this much weight to lose, I had to stay low calorie + active for a couple of months until the weight budged, so here's to staying on track and (hopefully) seeing results in a couple of months.

Please wish me luck! On the one hand I feel confident I'll lose it, on another i'm like what if I don't which kind of freaks me out!

March 2013 Goal Assessment; April Goals!

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:47:00 +0000

Happy Tuesday! I hope you're all having great days and coming off of fun, family weekends. I'm here at home with the family, starting week 7 of my 12-week maternity leave... why is it flying by?! Beckett is sleeping - we're so proud of her - we just started a new schedule and she slept through the night for the first time last night! Very exciting day here at the Martin household. As we're wrapping up another month, here is a look at what we set out to do in March, and what we accomplished!

1. Make a photo book (wedding book!). not done... it's like I have an aversion to making this books. Sigh. Back on the list for April!

2. Finalize household budget. not done.... same here - it's as though I have no desire to learn how much $ it takes to live how we live, and how much we should save/spend/etc. Back on for April!

3. Create study! Buy bookcases, desks, lamps, etc. not done - it's on my radar, and I'm still deciding if I want one desk or two, if I want to put a big chair in there, or what.

4. Upgrade all door knobs - last 5! not done - doing in April.

5. Read 3 books. DONE; actually I read 5 - was in a reading place during this mostly ugly weather month.

6. Make 3 new recipes. DONE; need to finish posting - got a good bit of cooking done!

7. Have bedroom, bonus room, and two bathrooms painted.. DONE; the whole interior is now painted and we're loving the new, lighter look.

8. Find other house items: navy throws/accents for master; night stand, lamp & art for guest room not done - on the list for April!

Looking at the list I'm surprised we didn't accomplish more because it certainly felt busy! Then again, a lot went on this month:

March 1 - 4: Three of my besties from high school came to visit from Virginia, Alabama and South Georgia - so great to spend the weekend with Emily, Lindsey and Megan and have them meet Beckett!

March 7: Moms on Call came out to help with bathing, scheduling, clipping nails, etc. for Beckett! And that night our friend Jamie came by to visit with enchiladas - yay!
March 8: Monica came to visit and we went for a walk and Starbucks!
March 9: My mom came to visit Beckett!
March 10: Crystal came to visit and meet Beckett bringing awesome California Baby products - so sweet!

March 11: Went to Beckett's future daycare to choose her 'spot' - her crib/change table/etc.
March 12 - 14: Austin's mom came to visit and gave us a night out without Beckett - it was so. weird. to go to dinner without her. We were only gone from 5:30 - 7:30 but it felt like 16 hours apart. I'm glad we got out though and had a great dinner at Pampas!

March 15: Another great walk and talk with Monica!
March 16: St. Patrick's Day dinner with the Tuerk's; Mon and Andy came over for drinkies!
March 18: OBGYN appointment; cleared to begin exercise!
March 20: Walk and talk with Sharon!
March 23: Celebrated my nephew Dane's second birthday, and had my stepdad and his new wife over to meet Beckett!

March 24: Devon, Zach and Dane came over - Beckett met her cousin!

March 25: Chiropractor visit!
March 26: Had the pups groomed
March 27: Prepped for taxes and had them done; spent the afternoon with Stacy and Lola

March 28 - 31: We had our first road trip to Birmingham for Easter weekend (which involved creating 'Beckett's Packing List' - and updating it after the trip - I learned a lot about what to bring and what not to bring!)
March 29: Beckett met her Uncle Tyler and her Velotas Family

March 31: Visited with my sister, Zach and nephew Dane; Beckett's second visit!

Other than that, random things were done!

We figured out and settled up our maternity hospital bill
Started (and stopped) C25K - my knees can't handle this weight... back to walking until I lose some!
We clipped Becket's nails for the first time - SCARY! But we all lived.
I began working out - doing some walks with Monica and Sharon, but also several on the treadmill alone (or on the phone with friends!)
Road tested two carpet steamers (pups had accidents during our adjustment to Beckett period...); resulted in a few trips to Bed, Bath and Beyond
Got a $200 water bill, had them come read the meter, found out we had a leak, fixed it ourselves - oy

I also continued my daily pictures of Beckett - here are some favorites from March!

Eeee love our little nugget! What else did we do? I guess just the obvious: lots of pumping and making formula, cooking, laundry, trips to Babies R Us, trips to the grocery store, etc. Definitely a busy month, but a great month home with Beckett and we got in a lot of time with our family and friends!

So what are the April goals?

1. Make 2010 and 2011 photo books. (couldn't do ONE so now i'm going for two.... LOL we'll see!)
2. Finalize Household budget.
3. Create study.
4.Upgrade all door knobs.
5. Read 3 books.
6. Finish thank you cards and order new family stationery.
7. Schedule and take newborn photos
8. Buy new sheets
9. Follow April 2013 Workout Plan!! Biggest focus of month outside of Beckett!

Q: What's on your agenda for April?!

My Breastfeeding, Pumping and Weaning Decisions

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:43:00 +0000

So I just knew I was going to breastfeed. I wanted to do it so badly - it just seemed like the right thing for me and for Beckett, the health benefits for her (and me!) were astounding, I was home for 12 weeks so plenty of time to get the hang of it before going back to work, and my company has a 'Mother's Room' and so I planned to move to pumping once I went back. Austin was super supportive and so were so many of my mommy friends.

My sister loaned me her breast pump (amazing favor!), showed me how to use it, and pointed me in the right direction for buying my own parts (tubing, membranes, etc.). I found great articles online and quickly bought a second sets of breast shields and a second pumping bra and nursing cover, and all kinds of stuff like soothies, a few different nipple creams, ice packs, breast pads, a hand pump, a nursing pillow, etc.I also just knew I was going to make tons of milk, optimistically buying lots of breastmilk storage bags and a freezer system.

I took a breastfeeding course, read a breastfeeding book, made my own breastfeeding guide - I was SERIOUSLY excited and 200% on board for making this happen.Well, it paid off at first! Within 15 minutes of birth Beckett breastfed!

Our Beckett right after delivery

I felt so comfortable with the C-hold, what a good latch was, different positions, etc. - it was very easy, didn't hurt and I was so excited! We continued to breastfeed every 2.5/3 hours at the hospital, and when I could I would get a nurse or lactation consultant to double-check to make sure the latch looked good, the position was right, etc. Each person I spoke with gave more personal tips and was so encouraging. One lady even showed me how to hand express my own colostrum and spoon feed it to Beckett since she kept falling asleep at the breast. I just really learned so much, had great experiences and all was going well! I was over the moon.

By Day 4 we went to the pediatrician and they informed us that Beckett had lost a pound. Weight loss is normal, but this concerned them (from 8.1 pounds to 7.1 pounds). They asked if my milk had come in. I said yes, I was feeding her the colostrum and she was eating well. They were like no, your milk milk. Well, I apparently hadn't gotten the memo that it didn't always just magically come in when the baby was ready. Beckett was ready for the real thing and I simply didn't have it to give her. The pediatrician suggested we supplement with formula until it came in, but to continue pumping any time I gave her formula and to try to feed her on the breast first each time. I called my OBGYN and they said they felt my milk may come in later since I was on fluids/epidural for so long. Anyway, I followed their advice and WOW, Beckett seemed so happy. I would put her on the breast until she seemed frustrated/rooting for more/head shaking, then give her a bit of formula and then pump. By Day 6 my milk came in! I had an a second pediatrician appointment the following week so I kept up 'the plan' until the 2-week appointment when I could confirm that BG was indeed gaining weight, back on track. I was pumping 8 times a day for 20 minutes and getting about 23 ounces - she was fully on breast milk and I was thrilled!

Day 7 drinking mom milk from a bottle

We went to our 2-week appointment and they told us the best news - Beckettt was back to her 8.1 pounds - she had gained back the weight and they gave me the green light to go back to the breast! They actually gave me the room and I breastfed her for 15 minutes on each side. She took right to it! About 2 hours later she was hungry again and we had another great session, about 20 minutes on each side. Then 30 minutes later she was hungry again... She was hungry, and wasn't getting what she needed from me and I was so upset. Was she used to the faster-flow/easier-to-get milk from the bottle? Was I not making enough milk for her after all? I immediately pumped and decided that I would be an exclusive pumper - maybe i'd try again after I was sure I was making enough, but until then I would pump and bottle feed her. I was upset, especially when sweet girl would go for the breast while I was getting her situated for the bottle, but I wanted to do what I felt was the right thing - making certain she was getting plenty of food.

Again, all was good. I pumped 8 times a day for 20 minutes, and was making plenty of milk... until I wasn't. She was slowly needing more and more (2.5 oz. a bottle.... 3 oz. a bottle... 3.5 oz. a bottle). I couldn't keep up and my supply went down to 18 oz. so I started supplementing with formula, while in the meantime asking friends, doctors, etc. how to get my supply up. I tried power pump sessions, breast massage, fenugreek. I drank enough water for 18 people. I rested as much as I could. Nothing worked and before I knew it was she was drinking 4 - 5 oz. 7 times a day (28 - 35 oz.) and I was only making between 10 and 15 oz. I was like okay... I'm no longer making 50% of her daily intake... is it worth it?

No one answers that question. They say "anything is better than nothing." Well, I had to think. I'm pumping around the clock. I'm plugged into a wall for 2.5 hours a day, if you counted pre-pump activities and post-pump activities, it easily takes 30 minutes, so 3.5 hours. My breasts and nipples were super sore. I found myself having to miss some of Beckett's 'awake time' to pump. The whole sleep while she sleeps wasn't working because I was pumping while she was sleeping (and often having to start/stop a lot if she cried). Then I started thinking about going back to work. Was I really going to be able to pump at work? What about meetings? Would I be able to leave at 4:30 to go get Beckett from daycare if I had eaten up a few 30-minute breaks to pump milk? I started thinking: what's more important? Making an ounce or two of milk for her bottle or being able to be with her to give her the bottle?

I have struggled with this decision. I have felt incredibly guilty for even thinking about stopping pumping since I am making something which several say is better than nothing. I have asked asked everyone's opinions and, at the end of the day, if I was pumping 35 oz., heck even 25 oz. a day I would pump for 3.5 hours easy (longer, too!). It would be worth it. I'd be pumping and she'd be on 100% (or at least more than 50%) breast milk and I'd feel like the results were worth the work - no question. But that wasn't my situation. I felt like I was taking time away from Beckett and the return simply wasn't worth it.

With that, as of today, I have decided to wean Beckett on to 100% formula and start working towards drying my milk up. Part of me feels super selfish (still all hormonal over here and cry a lot!), but another part of me just knows that this is the right thing for my family based on the situation at hand. It's not at all what I expected and that's a lot of why i'm writing this post - things I would do again as well as things I would do different next time given the opportunity, and maybe it can help someone else!

1. Breastfeed as long as you can. Even if you plan on exclusively pumping, breastfeed for at least 6 weeks to make sure baby is up to their maximum daily intake. This way, if you decide to move to pumping, you'll be more likely to be able to meet or exceed their needs.
2. Have milk enhancers on hand. Have the tea, fenugreek, a solid pumping schedule with power pumps, etc. ready to go should you face low supply if/once you move to pumping.
3. Track your breastfeeding and/or pumping sessions diligently. This way you'll know if your supply is decreasing over time so you can correct it sooner rather than later. (whether that's with more sleep, more water, etc.)
4. Try your hardest to NOT introduce formula until you're ready to wean. If you give an ounce of formula this means you're not going to produce that ounce. So it's best to stay on breastfeeding for supply/demand until, again, you meet or exceed their daily needs.

I could go on and on - but basically I am so glad that Beckett will be getting breast milk until she's 2 months old and, while I'm clearly struggling with this decision, I know it's right for us and am just so glad our sweet, happy girl is healthy, thriving, eating well, sleeping well and gaining weight! I didn't know I could love this much!

I'm sorry for the super long post - just had to get all of this out there into the universe. Just writing this out helped me get even more on board with my own decision. LOL Reason #77 why I love blogging. I hope you're all well and are preparing for fun Easter weekends! :)

1 Recipe, 2 BG Photos & 3 (More) Book Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 00:18:00 +0000

One Recipe: First, I MUST make sure you saw this awesome slowcooker recipe. Sorry, but I'm a huge fan of Real Simple. Yes, it requires a bit of healthifhying (unlike, say, Cooking Light) but I always end up happy with the results and this one didn't let me down!

Slowcooker Pork Ragu - fab!

Two Beckett Photos: Hard to pick just two as I'm insisting on daily photo shoots (obsess much? Yes, yes indeed!). Here are two of my recent favorites...

Today! Day 42, just before nap time!

Day 39, looking like she's having a ball!

We're just loving being parents! It definitely keeps me on my toes. I feel like when i'm with her I'm still - feeding her, staring at her, reading to her, playing with her, listening to Baby Einstein.... then once she goes down it's like a whirlwind of pumping, cleaning bottles, making formula, doing laundry, cooking, doing dishes and of course trying to hang with the pups and do things like, ya know, brush my teeth. It's pretty wild but I wouldn't trade it for anything and like to think it gets easier each day!

Three Book Reviews: I've been reading a TON lately, especially thanks to the Kindle my in-laws bought me for Christmas! Here are three more reviews for books I read this month - about to finish another that's really good - can't wait to see how it turns out (called Elisabeth Naughton's Wait For Me).

Rachel Schurig's Three Girls and a Leading Man was the third (and at the time I thought last) in a series of these books. The first followed Ginny with her baby, the second followed Jenn with a wedding, and the third followed Annie in her quest to become an actress. I loved it because Ginny and Jenn were in it so you got to see what happened to them, and it was a good story as Annie found her career and found a guy - super cute and I enjoyed it just as I did the other two. I finished this book sad that I was done with them... until I found out there was one more! 4/5!

Rachel Schurig's The Truth About Ever After focused on Kiki, who showed up in the second book as a client of Jenn's, and remained in the third book. She was a cute, bubbly girl who was super rich but it turned out she had a sweet past that was fun to learn about. This book focused on her marriage, her desire to have a baby and, again, you got to keep up with Annie, Jenn and Ginny in it but from Kiki's perspective. I flew through it just as the other ones - another cute book! 4/5!

Tracy Brogan's Crazy Little Thing told Sadie's story, a woman who had just gone through a divorce from her cheating husband and was looking to move on with her two kids. She decided to spend the summer on the beach with her eccentric aunt. At first I was like meh, this is going to be standard, nothing special, but it was free (true story - Kindle's lending library!). BUT, the writing was hilarious. I loved the characters, especially the aunt and her cousin Fontaine, and I enjoyed reading about her new relationship with a doctor down the street, his past and of course the drama between her and her jerk of an ex-husband. It was a good book - would definitely recommend as a beach read. 4.5/5!

So yes, I"m clearing getting some reading in. I'm also squeezing in some workouts. Like I said, each day gets a bit more normal, but really it's new normal and better normal - I just love being a mom!!

Q: Read any good books lately? Cooked anything yummy?

Q: What are you up to this weekend? I am celebrating my nephew's second birthday tomorrow - can't wait to see him!

Three Book Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 17:43:00 +0000

Hi! I've mostly been spending time with this little bug. She is already a month old and we're just loving her to pieces!! I have been doing a bit of reading though, so here are a few reviews!

Harvey Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block was a great read! We have been very much using the practices he preaches, which are pretty much the 5 S's: Swaddling, Side/stomach, Shhhhhing, Swinging and Sucking - in that order - to get and keep your baby calm. Beckett LOVES the 5 S's, and the book had lots of tips on how to get the most out of the swing, how to use motion to calm your baby and the top 10 ways you can imitate your uterus (as that's really what it's all about - making them feel like they're still in the womb so it's not so shocking to be out this quiet, still world - it's not what they're used to. Anyway, great book! I'd say 4 out of 5. I only didn't give it a 5 because, for me, all of the historical look backs and views into other cultures was kind of lost on me - I didn't need to be 'sold' on the 5 S's, I just needed to know what they were and how to best implement them!

Rachel Schurig's Three Girls and a Baby was a free Amazon prime book on my kindle. I figured why not? I wanted something to read in the dark during my middle of the night pump sessions! This book was about Ginny and her two roommates. Ginny found out she was unexpectedly pregnant. It was a cute book in terms of the girls' friendship, the look back between the present and how her and her ex-boyfriend/baby daddy broke up/why/etc., and I flew right through it. I liked how the chapters were set up and began with little blurbs from a pregnancy book - it helped move the story along and set up each chapter. All in all, cute chick lit and i'd recommend it as a great, easy beach read! 4/5!

Rachel Schurgi's Three Girls and a Wedding is the second book (of 3) in this installment. I didn't know there were 3, but it was another free Amazon prime book (they did the full set for free!) so I got it and quickly got to reading it being that I was already so familiar with the characters. I liked it because I got to see how things turned out with Ginny from the previous book, but this book focused on Jenn, one of her roommates, and her job, how she found her boyfriend, etc. It was super cute, too, and had a little surprise story to it as well. Another great chick lit book - 4/5 again!

I'm now reading, wait for it and be surprised, Rachel Schurig's Three Girls and a Leading Man, the third book of 3 which focuses on the third roommate, Annie, and again, you get to see how things turned out with Jenn and Ginny - which is fun!

I'm feeling guilty because I have SO many printed books in my house that I've yet to read, but i'm finding the Kindle SUPER handy to read with, especially since my hands are a bit more full lately. Anyway, not sure what i'm going to read next - definitely open to Kindle recos though (especially the free ones!).

Hope you're all having Happy Sundays and enjoying springing forward!!

February 2013 Goal Assessment; March Goals!

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 21:51:00 +0000

Happy Monday! I hope you're all having great days! I'm here at home with the family, just starting week 4 of my 12-week maternity leave. Beckett is sleeping so it's like laundry/dishes/pumping/blogging/chilling with pups time - gotta squeeze a lot in during her naps! LOL Speaking of, here is a look at what we set out to do in February, and what we accomplished!

1. Make 2 new recipes. did NOT do this - Beckett came on the 8th and I haven't cooked very much as we've had so many wonderful family members, friends, co-workers and neighbors giving us food! I will def do this in March though as I have the recipes ready to go!
2. Monitor Craigslist items; store or donate if they don't sell. We did GREAT getting rid of stuff - i'm marking this as done!
3. Read 2 books (Beckett-related: Happiest Baby on the Block & Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child) I read 2 books, but not these! I read the Happiest Baby on the Block but didn't finish sleep habits. Instead, I read Rachel Schurig's Three Girls and a Baby - super cute - i'll do a book review soon!
4. Shoot video of Beckett! Begin taking much more video and of course Beckett photos. I have taken NO video of our baby yet. Eek! I HAVE done a photo shoot each day with Beckett - so fun! I hope to keep it up!
5. Make 2010 Photo Book NOT done; will attempt in March.
6. Finalize household budget. NOT done; will attempt in March.
7. Create Study! Buy bookcases, desks, etc. - hang items, decorate, finish it! NOT done; will do in March.
8. Create Guest Room! Once Austin is in office, move furniture in, decorate, finish it! DONE; although I do want to tweak things a little, need a few decorative items, etc.
9. Upgrade all door knobs - only about 5 left! NOT done; will finish up in March.
10. Hang art up stairwell; find bench for Remy; update Master Bedroom; find mirror for entryway DONE; got the art hung; little steps for Remy that she loves; changed up the master bedroom and got a mirror for the entry - little things that made a big difference!

All in all, good February! Definitely changed focus a good bit when Beckett arrived, but I knew it would! And of course, other things got done that were not in the list... things like:

Creating and mailing birth announcements
Writing and mailing thank you cards
Hosting wonderful friends and family who came to visit Beckett
Redoing this dresser and chair with new fabric (more on this later!)
Ordering a new iPod-enabled clock for Beckett; getting tons of Baby Einstein music; loading it on to my old iPhone3 and giving her her own music!
Creating a Beckett-focused blog for long-distance family!
Having a 30" x 40" canvas made for our master; hanging it and other art (changed out lots of pictures at home so little Beckett can be everywhere!)
Lots of other Beckett stuff of course (finishing her medicine kit, sponge baths, pediatrician appointments, adding her to our insurance, creating a bottling area upstairs, pumping 8 times a day, making multiple trips to Babies R Us for extra items, making our Amazon subscriptions, etc.)
A much-needed visit to the chiropractor and a one-hour massage!

So what are the plans for March? Honestly - not too much! It's been such a busy year already and I really want to make March even more all about Beckett since it's my first full month with baby girl! But of course, I do have some free time, so I'll be looking to tackle this while Miss Beckett sleeps!

1. Make a photo book (wedding book!).

2. Finalize household budget.

3. Create study! Buy bookcases, desks, lamps, etc.

4. Upgrade all door knobs - last 5!

5. Read 3 books.

6. Make 3 new recipes.

7. Have bedroom, bonus room, and two bathrooms painted.

8. Find other house items: navy throws/accents for master; night stand, lamp & art for guest room

That's it for March! I'm looking forward to a lighter month and can't wait to cook more - very excited about the new dishes, especially a new slowcooker one!

Q: What's on your agenda for March?!

Weird Pregnancy Weight: 36 Pounds in Two Weeks

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:47:00 +0000

Hi. I'm writing to you from my new life as a shut-in. While I LOVED being "really pregnant aka huge" in cold weather, it's biting my ass now as it's been ugly, rainy, cold and kinda miserable since Beckett made her arrival. Can't post without a pic... here's one!

Silly face! This adorable bean is of course worth any kind of weight gain!

With the exception of errands (where she stays in the car with me or Austin) and two pediatrician appointments, Beckett has continued living a life on the inside, albeit a roomier space than her previous digs. All of that being said, I was kind of sad. I had envisioned us strolling around the neighborhood, me getting walks and fresh air, her getting a new environment and accustomed to her stroller. But i'm now leading a completely sedentary life (with the exception of around-the-house stuff and pumping milk - more on that later!).

So, weight... here is a run-down of how this all worked out. Long story short, as of this morning, I've lost 36 pounds since the day I manned up and got on the scale, Monday, February 11, two weeks ago. Here goes a weird story:

In May, I was weighing around 120 - 123. Not quite at happy weight (115), but not to freak-out-and-do-something-about-it-weight, 125. We went to a week-long Mexico all-inclusive trip. I got home weighing 128. I also arrived back in the States pregnant.
Throughout my pregnancy, I managed to go from 128 to 169. I weighed 169 the day I went in to the hospital, so a weight gain of 41 pounds. Not the "30 - 35" I had in mind, but whatever! I deserved every pound - lots of extra sweets and dinners out, and doing anything comfort-wise to make myself feel better (mac & cheese every day, anyone?)
So, on Friday, February 8, I weighed 169. I ended up having an epidural in for 10 hours longer than expected. Yes, 10. Body wouldn't dilate, Beckett wouldn't cooperate, I got a fever, her heart rate went up - at the end of the day I was on an epidural for 15 hours. They said there would be swelling and I may leave the hospital weighing more than when I'd arrived. What?!
The next day I didn't recognize myself. I was incredibly swollen! Like could barely walk on my feet as they were huge, Shrek-like and my ankles were as wide as my thighs. I still don't know how my brother-in-law was able to get photos that I love and work around the fact that I was kinda freaked out by the size of my body!
When I got home, on Monday, February 11, I found that I weighed 185. Even though i'd had a baby, delivered after birth, etc., I GAINED 16 pounds. No need to freak out... they said the swelling would go down in 2 weeks.
The first week nothing happened. I stayed around 185 and started to think something was wrong. Then, I had 'Elevation Day' on Monday, February 18, where I essentially stayed in bed all day with my feet up. I lost like 7 pounds. The rest of the week, until today, I lost about 5 pounds a day, shrinking right before me and Austin's eyes!
Today, I weighed in at 149. 36 Pounds less than the day I left the hospital, 20 pounds less then the day I arrived at the hospital. All in all, this is a normal post-partum weight loss! With the exception of gaining 30+ pounds of water weight.

So as of today, to get back to 125, I've got 14 pounds to lose. To get to 120 (goal weight) I have 19 pounds to lose. Hopefully I can start walking soon, and on March 18, I'll have my post-partum six-week check-in and will find out if I can start lifting, running, etc. In the meantime, I've got a few more weeks of not worrying about this body and just worrying about little Beckett!! No, I don't really have pictures because it was kind of scary, invisible friends! I DO have some ankle pictures as I would text my mom progress (she was really freaked out for me!).

They're still a little swollen, especially at the ankle, but I can get back in to several of my boots which is good per the aforementioned cold weather.

So that's that - 36 pounds in two weeks. Here's hoping I continue on a weight loss trajectory, albeit a normal one that keeps my calories up so I can make plenty of milk for little Beckett!!

Q: Have you ever seen swelling like this? I mean really - I've shown lots of peeps and they seem so fascinated + disturbed that it has to be their first time seeing this business.

Q: Have a post-partum weight story? I'd say weight loss... but mine is a Weight Gain + Loss story. haha

In other news, all is going wonderful with Miss Beckett. I love her. I love being a mom. I love spending time with her while attempting each day to figure this thing out. It's better than I thought it would be, less scary, more fun, very emotional but worth it. More later - hope you're all having happy Mondays!! :)

Baby Girl Beckett

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 19:07:00 +0000

As you can imagine, we've just been in a super special, dreamy, surreal, amazing, crazy place ever since Miss Beckett arrived! The days are running together, in a good way, and we're just loving being parents our perfect little girl. Here are a few pictures from our first week of parenthood.

Day 1: Beckett Meets her Family- Mimi, Papa, Uncle E, Gigi, Aunt Devie, Uncle Z

Day 2: Beckett Goes Home to Her New Life and meets her fur siblings

Day 3: Beckett Loves an Early Hands Free Swaddle

Day 4: Beckett tests out her activity mat

Day 5: Beckett gets her first sponge bath

Day 6: Beckett celebrates Valentine's Day in the cutest outfit thanks to Aunt Devie and Uncle Z

Day 7: Gigi visits and gives Beckett bottled mom milk - she loves it!

I'm a Mom!

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 02:33:00 +0000

At 10:59 p.m. last night, Beckett Grace Martin arrived, measuring 8 pounds 1 oz. and 20” long! It was a long 23 hours, but Beckett arrived healthy and hungry and we’re all doing great.

I am in love with the most perfect baby girl! More soon!

So... My Kate Spade Bag Came In...

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 23:05:00 +0000

Yes, cute bag and all, but NOT what I ordered! Reminder - this is what I ordered:

Not even close right?!

This is pretty much how it played out:

I call the Katre Spade line: No problem! Just send it back and we'll refund you. Um, okay, but I want the bag I ordered. Oh! Well we're sold out. BUMMER
After some coaxing, she puts me on hold and finds it at a store in Chicago that agrees to honor the cyber sale price and send free shipping - so same price only it will take longer to arrive obviously. WINNING
I call the Chicago store and they want my credit card information - what? why? I already paid for it? They said it's a separate transaction. BUMMER
I call back the Kate Spade line, they say to just give the store my credit card and they'll refund me next day (for the wrong bag) assuming I send back the wrong bag tomorrow... okay kinda winning?
I call back the store, order the bag, and she even agrees to 2-day shipping for free since, you know, I'm about to have a baby and am not going to be here next week to get the bag off my front porch. WINNING
I go to repack the wrong bag and the UPS label they told me to use isn't there... BUMMER
I call back the Kate Spade line and they confirm... it's not there. They say they'll get UPS to email me a new receipt, I can print it and ship it back and until then they won't refund my money. Oh, and it will take at least 3 business days for me to get the email from UPS. BUMMER
After additional coaxing and escalation to a supervisor, they refund my money today and ask that I ship "as soon as I can" and to be on the lookout for the label in my inbox. I remind them, in full transparency, that this is not a priority at all as i'll likely be in the hospital next week delivering my first child and, had they sent the right back or at least the label, we wouldn't be having this conversation, and they say that's fine, take your time... WINNING

GOOD GOSH! All in all, SUPER nice people, very helpful (and ALL of the above took about 15 minutes total - they answered within like 5 seconds each time I called like I was calling my mom or something!) but WTF, Kate Spade New York, on sending the wrong bag and THEN not sending the return label! (and, let's face it, for making a very pregnant woman fear for a minute that this was her fault and she ordered the wrong bag and that she'd lost her mind). Let's all just hope that the right bag arrives on Friday and that I like it because OMG if after all of this I don't like it i'm seriously going to overheat.

K - enough from me - going to go have some ice cream!

Q: Any random customer service stories you'd like to share?! Entertain me!

Nursery Planning: Beckett's Room Itemized!

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:01:00 +0000

I've gotten a few questions about Beckett's room - its color, where I got the lamps, etc.! Here goes!

Overview:

Brands/Stores Used: Ikea, Pottery Barn/Pottery Barn Kids, Three Sprouts, several Etsy shops, West Elm and Wal-Mart.
Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Smoke Embers

ITEMIZED DETAIL!

Crib: Wal-Mart, Baby Mod
Bedding: Pottery Barn Kids, Harper Mini Dot, Gray
Mobile: Pottery Barn Kids, Flying Elephant Mobile
Decals: Etsy, Tweet Heart Shop
Black Frames: Ikea, Ribba
Maternity Pictures: Zach Porter Photography
Art, Subway: A Vintage Poster
Flash Card Art: Pottery Barn Kids
Night Stand: Ikea, Hemnes
Lamp: Ikea, Rubto
Bin with Fox Face: Three Sprouts, Amazon
Boppy Lounger cover/Black & White Polka Dot: Etsy, Not Just Any Purse
Bobby Pillow cover/Gray & White Chevron: Etsy, Boutique Sweet Cheeks
Curtains: Made by Vivian, my sister's Mother-in-Law
Pillow & Pouf: Made by Maggie, my mom's friend
Chair: West Elm, Ryder Rocking Chair

Cubbies: Ikea, Expedit
Storage Boxes: Ikea, Drona
Decals on Boxes: Etsy, The Applique Finery
Horizontal Animal Art: Ikea, Olunda
Funky Orange Lamp: Ikea, Fillsta

Dresser: Ikea, Hemnes
Change Pad Cover: Made by Maggie, my mom's friend
Caddy with Beavery Face: Three Sprouts, Amazon
Clipboards: Staples
Ribbon on Boards: Joann Fabric
Wired Book Bin: N/A; my sister got it for me!

Hooks: Ikea, Bastis

Chair: Pottery Barn, Grayson Dining Chair
Book Trough: Kudzu antiques, Decatur, GA
Frames: Ikea, Ribba
Art in Frames: A Vintage Poster

I had SO much fun decorating this room and getting it ready for little Beckett. I hope she loves it as much as we do, and I definitely hope we find it as functional as we do fun!

Q: What are your favorite stores/brands when it comes to decorating?!

How Kate Spade Squeezed Into My Life

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 14:31:00 +0000

Now I've never had anything against Kate, I had just never purchased any of her items. If I was going to get a bag I would tend to go Coach or Michael Kors (such good sales!), and I honestly didn't know she made anything else besides bags! Then, earlier in my pregnancy, I heard she had cute diaper bags. It was true! I found this one at the outlets over the summer and LOVED it, my first Kate Spade purchase: Beckett's Diaper Bag.

Then, about 3 weeks ago, I realized my ray-bans were gone. Gone, gone, gone. Have no idea where they are, but am still holding out hope that they'll show up! (fun side bar, when looking up the ones I lost I realized their name was Ray Ban 'Big Glamour' - Billy, my co-worker, pointed out that BG is Big Glamour and has since called my soon-to-be daughter Big Glamour LOL).

In the meantime, I needed some shades so I went to Nordstrom. I'm a polarized sunglasses kind of person and apparently this limits you very much. My choices were essentially Ray-Ban (no! what if the others turned up and then I had two pair?), Maui Jim (no! This is Austin's brand, masculine to me and they almost all have nose pieces which get stuck in my hair when they're on my head) and Kate Spade. Hmmm, we meet again! I tried on several of her pair and LOVED these, my second Kate spade Purchase: her Lulu Polarized Glasses to replace my Big Glamour Ray-Bans.

So far they have been great! Love the shape, they fit well on my smallish face and they stay up good in my hair (I know you're not supposed to do that but it's a necessity for me!).

So that was it - 2 Kate Spade purchases. Well... somehow Kate got my email. This morning she sent me an email about a 75% off "secret sale" with an extra 25% AND free shipping. Kate knows how to get me to open an email. Now, I told myself, I will ONLY consider a purchase if it's one of the two things I've had my eye on: a black wallet with silver (not gold!) accents OR a blue bag (came CLOSE to buying a blue Coach over the holidays but just didn't love it). Well... low and behold this blue bag was on the site! Originally $428 (never have I ever!), for $169 + 20% off (so $136) + free shipping! (at this rate - sure to arrive before Beckett, or BG, or Big Glamour). There you have it, my third Kate Spade Purchase: The Grant Park Shelby Bag in Dark Lapis.

love the color and classic leather

heart it's surprising square shape - different than what I have!

A little nervous about the light interior - i'll just have to be careful to not get it dirty on Day #1

For scale only not color! This pic surprised me though - happy to see she is a good size !

There you have it. Never knew I was such a fan but as I looked around I REALLY like her stuff and she makes super cute clothes and shoes (now that my swollen body is looking into any of that right now but still, good to know for future reference!). :)

Q: Any brands sneak up on you lately? Kate definitely came out of left field, and I feel like World Market may be coming in for the kill - more on that later!

Happy Monday! Hope you all had great weekends! I'm 6 days out from my due date so, as you can imagine, this weekend was a whole lotta discomfort, sleep, water and TV - any day now!!

January 2013 Goal Assessment; February Goals!

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 17:40:00 +0000

Happy Saturday! I hope you're all having great weekends. I'm definitely relaxing - laid up in the bed watching Project Runway and reading your blogs. :) I'm also looking at our goals - can't BELIEVE January is over and i'm officially in the month that Beckett is due - eek! K - focusing - Here is what we set out to accomplish in January 2013, and how we did!

Make 2 new recipes. DONE - I posted the Pork Fried Rice and I need to post the Spaghetti Pie!
Purge unwanted/unused items and donate or Craiglist them. DONE; I purged SO much stuff, and I have 8 items listed on Craigslist now - if they don't sell soon I'll store them or donate them (it's mostly art!)
Read 2 books. (Beckett-related: New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding and On Becoming Baby Wise) DONE - read both books, and am almost done with Happiest Baby on the Block
Carry my video camera around – shoot video! not done - thinking i'll start filming when Beckett gets here!
Make 2010 Photo Book not done - thinking i'll move to February!
Finalize household budget not done -moving to February!
Have entryway and hallway painted DONE - very happy with how it turned out - pics coming once we get the art back up!
Paint Living room and guest room DONE - we also painted a second guest room and the study downstairs!
Have pool table shipped to Birmingham & Austin moved to office; rearrange house accordingly! Almost done - we didn't get Austin moved into an office but we DID get the pool table out and were able to rearrange a good bit. Still have more to do though with the room Austin is working out of, and getting the study set up!
Buy bookcases, desks, dining chairs, etc. We bought the dining chairs, but haven't done the bookcases and desks - moving to February!
Upgrade all door knobs These are on the list for this weekend -so February it is!

All in all, i'm super happy with what all we did this month! Having the whole house painted definitely created a lot of To-Dos that I didn't entirely anticipate, but we're so happy with the new colors and really appreciate Sharon's help with the colors, and my mom and sis's help getting the ho use back in order!

So what are we going to take on in February? Well, being that Beckett is due in 8 days, not much! BUT, if we have free time (which i'm sure we will - I hear caring for a newborn is super easy LOL), we'll tackle the below:

1. Make 2 new recipes.

2. Monitor Craigslist items; store or donate if they don't sell.

3. Read 2 books (Beckett-related: Happiest Baby on the Block & Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

4. Shoot video of Beckett! Begin taking much more video and of course Beckett photos.

5. Make 2010 Photo Book

6. Finalize household budget.

7. Create Study! Buy bookcases, desks, etc. - hang items, decorate, finish it!
8. Create Guest Room! Once Austin is in office, move furniture in, decorate, finish it!
9. Upgrade all door knobs - only about 5 left!
10. Hang art up stairwell; find bench for Remy; update Master Bedroom; find mirror for entryway

Q: What is one thing you accomplished in January that you're most proud of, and what's one thing you hope to accomplish this month? I'm most proud of all of the work we did at the house - between the new carpet, paint, tile and more it's really coming together and i'm super excited! February will be all about Beckett, starting with my goal if a safe delivery to a happy little girl!

For more on goals, past goals, past assessments, how I set goals, etc., visit here!

My Maternity Essentials: Clothing, Medicine, Sustenance, Resources & Comfort

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 13:28:00 +0000

I've found there were a lot of things I needed (some I didn't know about!), and lot of things I thought I needed that I honestly didn't. Before Beckett arrives, I wanted to take some time to post this in case it helps someone else - here goes - my 5 Maternity Essentials:

1. Clothing: My Approach . . .

I chose a palette focused on gray and black to keep it simple.
My favorite brands were Pea in the Pod, Gap Maternity, and Motherhood Maternity. Pea in the Pod fit the best, but was pricey. Gap fit pretty well, too, and was middle-of-the-road price-wise but some of their sales made them the BEST, and Motherhood was good for basics and was the least expensive. (I got Motherhood stuff at Macy's and at Destination Maternity).
Definitely think texture: super soft materials; fit: comfortable/on the looser side/longer tops to go over leggings/definitely don't do 'tent tops' - make sure they fit along the belly so it's clear you're pregnant!, and quality: think high-quality/thicker (no see through or your belly panels or belly button will show!).
I personally wore my non-maternity clothes as long as I could, especially babydoll dresses and tops and pants from when my weight was 'up.'
Everyone is different, but I vowed to be cozy and was pretty much in all maternity clothes by 16 weeks. So, 24 weeks in maternity clothes pregnant, and from what I hear, you need maternity clothes after baby, too, while your body gets back to normal.
I designated a 'maternity section' in my closet to avoid crying every day because nothing fit. As things get too small, I moved them to another area of the closet and bought as needed. Here is a snapshot of my maternity section as of today:

What's Fitting Today: dresses on left; leggings/tights/pants in middle; then tops; then all of the Zara vests/outwear! I also recommend a 'maternity drawer' for your underwear, bras and PJs for the same reason - so it's separated from the 95% of your things that no longer fit!

Looking back, this was what I needed/would recommend:

Bottoms
- 2-3 pairs of black pants (bootcut trouser pant; skinny leg twill pant; get twill pants in 2 sizes); Gap & Motherhood
- 1 pair of gray trouser pants (to alternate); Motherhood
- 1 pair of stretchy skinny jeans you love that you can grow into; Pea in the Pod
- 1 pair black tights; 1 pair gray tights; 2 pair black leggings; 1 pair gray leggings; Gap tights and Pea in the Pod leggings

Pea in the Pod Leggings - they ran a buy one get one free so I got black and gray!

Black Gap pants; skinny twill

Tops

- 2 solid 3/4 length shirts: 1 black and 1 gray; Pea in the Pod
- 3 printed 3/4 length shirts: stripes in blacks, grays and color pop; Pea in the Pod
- 2 sweaters; Gap/Motherhood
- 2 tops for work (dressier; blousey)

Got 5 of these shirts from Pea in the Pod - they fit GREAT and were easy to dress up or down

Nicer work top to weare wtih black trouser pants; Motherhood

Dresses/Tunics
- 7 - 8 dresses (think solid black, solid gray, a couple of other solids in favorite colors and a few printed dresses to mix it up); Gap, Pea in the Pod & Motherhood
- 3-4 tunics (to go over leggings - think solid black, solid gray and a couple of prints); I also wore the leggings a lot on the weekends!

This Gap dress was originally $60; I loved it and bought 1 on sale for $45. Then it went to $16... I then bought 4 more to give me 2 Gray ones (size S and M); 2 Black ones (size S and M) and 1 Red one; wore to work and to holiday parties/showers

Gap; got this in 2 colors for work and weekends

Underwear; Loungewear

- maternity underwear (normal underwear truly didn't feel right, especially by the third trimester); Motherhood and Pea in the Pod
- Bigger bras (thankfully I borrowed from my sis; I went up a cup size)
- 2-3 maternity night gowns to grow into; Motherhood
- 2-3 pair maternity lounge pants in black and/or gray; Gap
- 4-5 maternity long sleep shirts; Motherhood
- A neutral-colored robe (non-maternity - you'll want this for lounging and, from what I hear, later at the hospital!)

Most cozy Gap pants ever; I will wear these after pregnancy!

Outerwear/Shoes
- Non-maternity knits - 4-5 sweater vests and cardigans from Zara that fit over everything throughout my entire pregnancy
- 1 coat
- 1-2 pairs of black and/or gray slip-on flats (you won't be able to do heels in the third trimester! I found Born to be a super comfortable brand); make sure to have flipflops and slippers, too - think slip-on/easy

Not me - only pic of the Zara vest I could find online! I have this in black, tan and gray (on sale for $10 each); I also got a long-sleeved gray one as well as a tan/non-hooded one - wore them the entire pregnancy - belly just popped out!

These Shoes - but in black of course. They're cozy, stretched but kept shape and will (hopefully) be worn post-baby, too!

Other

- I had some great friends who loaned me their maternity clothes! I used their basics where I could, and mixed in their "fun stuff" with my basic wardrobe above. Definitely take the loan if it's offered - I can't thank them enough!

A borrowed top from Karly!

- GOOD sale stuff (e.g., I snagged a pair of Gap teal cords for $14 - wore them with the aforementioned black clothing) For stuff like this, I wouldn't pay the retail $60, BUT for crazy cheap it can be a fun addition to the maternity wardrobe, especially if you have parties or showers you want something different for. I wore these to work on Fridays, too!

2. Medicine Cabinet. No, you don't need a lot of medicine because you can't take a lot of medicine whilst preggo! However, these were things I used, especially towards the end:

TUMs + Zantac; my heartburn was BAD towards the end (think being awoken from sleep to throw up); Zantac before dinner and 2 Tums after made this MUCH better
Tylenol: I never took more than one a day, but headaches got back in the second trimester, and lower back pain got bad in the last weeks so it came in handy.
Prenatal vitamins: Duh, take one every day. Have your doctor call in a prescription (better medicine and way cheaper than the storebought ones; also ask for samples so you can see which you like best; and remember, you take them afterwards too, especially if you're breastfeeding).
FiberOne: Do yourself a favor and stay regular - there is enough stomach pain going on without this problem, too!
Not to be TMI, but also make sure to stock up on liners (ya know) and Goldbond medicated baby powder (for real; especially if you don't wear maternity underwear at first, or if your maternity tights are too big at first, or... well...the list goes on... you'll thank me).

3. Sustenance. For me, every day was different. Meal planning didn't work well as I wouldn't want the food I made - appetite was way too unpredictable. BUT, there were some things I needed/wanted/had to have on hand at all times:

Fruit: specifically the pineappple/strawberry/kiwi pre-cut bucket
OJ: had never been a fan but I craved it and my iron was a bit low so I always took iron with it. Also good if you haven't felt baby kick; take OJ, wait 30 minutes, lay on left side and there she goes!
Milk: again, had never been a fan, but during pregnancy I had 1 - 2 glasses a day, especially in the morning and at night (soothed my tummy)
Cheese & Crackers: thin crisp deli crackers and deli baby swiss - amazing snack and always good and filling
Clif bars: I ate a clif bar every day on the way into work with a big glass of milk; there was no way I could make it to breakfast, and yet didn't want 'breakfast food' at 6 a.m. - so this was perfect.
Water: TONS of water; invest in a CamelBak if you don't already have one, and consider having water bottles on hand. I would go shopping and bring 3 water bottles with me and drink. them. all.
Chocolates: After meals I would crave something sweet. Having little Dove chocolates on hand helped a lot (probably saved me a ton of sugar - could have eaten a whole piece of cake had it been available!) It was also nice to have frozen yogurt or ice cream around - great nighttime, you-made-it-through-the-work-day treat!
Cravings: Everyone has them, mine were definitely: all things Italian/tomato-based (pizza, tomato soup, spaghetti); Mexican (chicken tortilla soup; enchiladas); Asian (fried rice; egg-drop soup); sandwiches (clubs, grilled cheeses; you name it!). Just avoid buying in bulk or making big batches of a food - you may not want it the next day!

4. Resources. I know books aren't for everyone, but I really enjoyed having some on hand, and can't thank my sis enough for the loan on several! Here were my favorite resources:

All about Pregnancy

- Your Pregnancy Week by Week - liked having the option to see each week vs. month - was fun to follow along and learn about my baby and body each week. (linked to the older version I had)

- What to Expect When You're Expecting - good 'baseline' book - learned a lot from it. Some say it freaks them out, but I liked the index and found the detailed knowledge comforting! (linked to the older version I had)

- The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy - definitely nothing 'new' than the above, but very funny, real and just keeps it light. Good to read early on IMO.

- Online: Join BabyCenter - nice to get the weekly emails and see the forums and what not.

If you only want to buy one: Get the Week by Week

Naming Your Baby

- Baby Wizard - very organized; will come in handy for siblings as it recommends 'brother' and 'sister' names; is categorized well into categories like 'Antique Classics' and what not; found Beckett's name in this book!

- Cool Names -

- Blog: Swistle Baby Names

If you only want to buy one: Get Baby Wizard

Preparing for Your Baby

- What to Expect the First Year - VERY detailed; am enjoying the month to month snapshot

- Baby Owner's Manual - got this for Austin; cute, good overview/baseline

- On Becoming Baby Wise - all about scheduling/parent-directed feeding (not for everyone!; linked to my review!)

- Happiest Baby on the Block - almost done; all about techniques to soothe your baby

- New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding - name speaks for itself. (linked to my review!

If you only buy one: Too soon to say! I'll let ya know which is the most beneficial here in a few months. :)

Other than the books and sites above, I took an online breastfeeding course through my hospital, and me and Austin took an in-person Newborn Essentials course through my OBGYN. Both were beneficial! I also received great tips, potential schedules, etc. from my sister and friends which were invaluable. Lastly, we're having Moms on Call come out to our home after a week. From their site, the focus during the consult (and additional help afterwards is on:

Sleeping from 9 pm to 6 am with one 30 minute feeding in the middle of the night
Feeding instructions that help to naturally regulate the GI system (great for GI reflux!)
Personalizing daytime routines and napping guidelines
Establishing a better understanding of baby behavior especially as it pertains to fussiness and crying
Essential basic care from bathing to nail-clipping
Illness guidelines
Time saving tips to help families sleep, feed, laugh and love being together

I've heard amazing things about them from so many friends I trust, and can't wait to have them out. The consult comes with a book as well that I'm sure will come in handy (also comes with their swaddle blanket, and 6 months of unlimited email correspondence).

5. Comfort. No, you don't need these things, but OMG did I love them.

Pedicures: About once a month i'd go during my lunch break for a pedicure - great on the feet and lord knows towards the end I couldn't have painted my toes if i'd wanted to.
Chiropractor Adjustments: I would get SO misaligned, my appointments were twice as long as normal and I always felt better when I left.
Prenatal Massage: I tried for every 3 weeks beginning at 20 weeks. Between the extra weight and general discomfort, it felt great to do something for myself and Beckett LOVED them - she moved more during my massages than any other time!
Heat: I used this Brookstone heat/massage chair Austin had gotten me years ago - definitely needed heat on my lower back, especially in the last weeks. A heating pad would totally work.
I also did a few accupuncture treatments and got a few foot massages - both were well worth it, but the above was the trifecta of comfort for me!

What I did NOT need:

swimsuit (pregnant May - February; wore mine until then)
different socks or shoes (wore mine until the end; did get a pair of black Born flats and wore those almost every day, especially towards the end)
skirts (I preferred pants or dresses; skirts just seemed like too much trouble and tops looked weird with them)
activewear (just wore bigger t-shirts over the same shorts; if anything go up a size in shorts)
button-down shirts or twin sets (I was told to get these and am glad I didn't - no patience for buttons and twin sets, I feel, would have been too limited)
a maternity/body pillow (my sis loaned me her Snoogle pillow and honestly, I just couldn't get it to work for me; the dogs were scared of it and I had a hard time getting it under the covers!)
shapers (I had no desire to be 'shaped' or where anything that required a shaper underneath!)
stretchmark creams and oils (I was wary of these, didn't use them, and didn't get marks; I hear you either get them or you don't and it has nothing to do with cream so I just threw caution to the wind!)
morning sickness pops, bands, etc. (thankfully, this didn't ail me much therefore I didn't need it)
a fetal doppler (I relied on counting kicks vs. listening to a heartbeat; I worry if i'd had that I would have been hooked up 24/7 and freaking out if i'd done it wrong)

I hope this compilation helps! And yes, I'm sure some women do fine with much less (and some may need much more!), but this was, here at the end of my pregnancy, what I feel I needed/wanted/loved having!

Q: What are a few of your maternity must-haves? Did I forget anything?

Q: Anything you got that you didn't need? Or something you wish you'd gotten sooner?

Weekly Highlights - The Countdown Continues!

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 12:34:00 +0000

What a week! As this pregnancy quickly winds down I'm finding that I want to do more and am super motivated, but that i'm not able to do much. It's so frustrating! Here's the highlights of this week:

The only highlights I happened to snap pictures of: Sun finally came out - time to wear t he new sunglasses; Lots of paint and home updating - LOTS; New TV Purchase; Lots of baby gifts - sweet gifts coming in from friends via mail, and gifts going out for all of Beckett's new friends who are also arriving in February

Monday: Buying baby gifts. SO many friends and co-workers have babies due within days (some on the same day!) as Beckett. It's been fun to buy for Beckett and her new friends! And I've loved checking the mail lately - sweet, adorable gifts from out-of-town friends - Beckett is so lucky!
Tuesday - Thursday: Paint Prep & Painting. Austin had to do most of this, but I helped where I could! Basically, we were having the following rooms painted on Thursday: The kitchen/dining/living room; the entryway/up stairwell/2nd floor hallway; the new study; and two guest rooms. So... practically the whole house. And we had to take everything off the walls of course, move a good bit of furniture, and get all of the paint ready for the painters - eee! Pictures are coming soon but we just LOVE the paint. So happy with the 3 colors we picked and how it all turned out. Can't wait to get the house back together and for the smell to go away!
Wednesday: Doctor Appt. All was good! Her measurements, heartbeat and all were great, and my blood pressure was all good. I was comforted that all of the discomforts I've been feeling (which came out of no where: started with ankle/foot swelling, then back pain, groin pain and headaches) are normal.... not entirely comforting!
Wednesday: Pre-Natal Massage. These are the best things I've given myself. Seriously! I go every 3 weeks and feel good for at least a week after. She worked out the back pain in minutes! And I love how much Beckett moves during massage. Maybe the blood flow? I don't know but she's a bouncy baby during them.
Thursday: Micki's Baby Shower. Two of my co-workers in my department, Micki and Lauren, are due within days of me; Lauren on 2/6 with a girl; Micki on 2/9 with a boy; then me on 2/10 with a girl! I've enjoyed navigating pregnancy with them, asking each other the 'HR/company'questions to make sure we're all on track, and we got foot massages together! Micki's work shower was a super cute lunch at Bistro B on Thursday - so happy for her!
Thursday & Friday: Time with my MIL. Austin's mom came in town on Thursday and we got to visit with her so much! Thursday, Austin and her went for lunch at Joey D's, and Thursday night, the 3 of us went for Mexican! Friday, I met her for lunch at Nordstrom Cafe, then my company closed early for MLK so I called her we made it to a movie - Parental Guidance. It was super cute. Then we stopped by Buy Buy Baby before she headed up to Athens for the weekend! So glad she got to come visit, and am glad she got to see the paint and help us talk through where to put things (we're rearranging almost the whole house!).
Thursday & Friday: Pupper Love. The puppers spent Thursday during the painting at daycare! They love it there and, as always, came home exhausted from a day of play. Friday, they got groomed - baths, nails and haircuts - they come back so bouncy and happy just like me from a haircut! They look (and smell!) so good - glad they got attention despite the busy week!
Saturday: Chiropractor, TV & House Focus. Saturday we woke up early and began slowly putting things back where they were, and choosing new spots for other things! Before I knew it, it was 11, time to go to the chiropractor and for Austin go get his haircut! We met at Best Buy to buy a new TV for a new room - with the pool table on it's way out and a big living space being added, it was time for a big TV you can see from the kitchen, too! We had a great salesperson and quickly decided on the LG 60" Smart TV - so glad it will have apps and we can avoid buying yet another xBox! The remainder of the day was on and off house focus - it's coming together!

So.... busy week, but am so glad to see progress on our January goals - hoping to get so much done before Beckett! The countdown continues.... can't believe i'm going to be a mom in DAYS, no longer MONTHS!

Q: What were the highlights of your week?!

Miss Beckett's Nursery

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:11:00 +0000

Pan 1 of 6!

Pan 2 of 6!

Pan 3 of 6!

Pan 4 of 6!

Pan 5 of 6!

Pan 6 of 6!

Details!

More Details!

This was such a fun room to decorate! I enjoyed each and every project, from the clipboards and "art", to the iron-on animals, to working with Maggie and Viv on the curtains, pillow, pouf and change pad cover, to picking out her furniture - you name it! I also love seeing so many of our friends and families' sweet gifts to Beckett - the books, toys, etc. - all around her room. And I'm SO grateful to Austin for the amazing paint job he did on her room (and doors!), and for letting us go through with so many home improvement projects that I think made her space even more perfect! (loving the gray patterned carpet & new crown in her room!) I'm also so appreciative of the photos Zach took that, to me, help make her room special! Looking back at her initial inspiration board, it's even better than I had imagined!!

Q: What's your favorite room to decorate? I'm a huge fan of decorating of all kind, but this by far was the best room to do - so many fun ideas you can do in kid spaces. No, I couldn't put ALL of my ideas into her room, but maybe in her play room one day... or in her siblings room.... eee - happy just thinking about it! I hope she loves it as much as we do and I hope it's as functional as it is fun - i'm sure things may move around as we live in the space in LESS THAN A MONTH!!

The Swelling Will Go Down, Right? Right?

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:31:00 +0000

My Weekend, in a Nutshell:

Uniform: Nightgown & robe; Company: Puppers (and Austin of course); Activity: Getting my Friday night swollen manatee feet to shrink down to normal

So... I had noticed on Wednesday that the feet and ankles were looking mighty swollen. By Thursday, it was clear they were, so I started elevating my feet at work and staying off of them. Still pretty swollen. Friday, I had a work event that my team manages. Typically in years past, i'm running around backstage with a headset on. This year, our venue (the Georgia World Congress Center) was much more organized and, thanks to one of my amazing and thoughtful team members, I was able to sit down for the most part (outside of the multiple bathroom trips, trips to the water cooler, and the 1/2 mile walk to/from the parking deck before and after the event). Between the bit of walking I had to do to get from place to place, the short visit to the networking reception, and a post-event team celebration at Biergarten, by the time I got home around 9 p.m. my feet were HUGE. Like scary big. I kind of freaked (so did Austin!) and vowed to stay off my feet all weekend and passed out!

Saturday I slept in until 7 or so and had a day of rest! I stayed propped up, only moving around to do laundry, and drank tons of water. I read half of On Becoming Baby Wise, and me and Austin caught up on our TV - Castle, The Good Wife, Shark Tank, etc. We also attempted to watch a couple of movies - none very good. My foot went down considerably - yay! I have ankles!

Sunday was very similar, although I was a bit more active. We sorted our paint, getting ready for the painters who come Thursday (yay!), and I finished On Becoming Baby Wise.

This book focused on Parent-Directed Feeding (or PDF), and how to get your baby on a schedule to give your baby and the family a good night's sleep. They went over multiple benefits. I like this book because it's somewhere in between hyperscheduling (clock-focus only) and on-demand feeding (baby cue-focus only). It takes into account both, as well as the context and allows parents to make the best assessment for the baby, while keeping in mind baby's need for food, mom's need to produce milk, etc. I won't be following it to a T or anything, but I definitely appreciated its 4 Babywise Phases, the sample schedule, ideas for waketime activities for infant and very clear 'healthy growth indicators' for each week of baby's life to ensure they're getting enough food. Definitely don't read this book if you want casual language, a cutsie/humerous voice, etc. It reads as though it was a Thesis turned into a book (I actually so think it was just because of how they're saying things like read the chart below or above when it's really on the right or left). The language is direct and it's very text book.

Austin went to the grocery store and dropped off a big donation at Goodwill (my purging has been going well!), and when he got back I made two new recipes - one in the crockpot, Crockpot Chicken & Wild Rice, and one on the stove/in the oven, Four-Cheese Spaghetti Pie. I'll post them both this week!

Q: What was the highlight of your weekend? Mine was definitely rest - I slept 8 - 9 hours each night, took naps, I just really felt like I took care of myself to get that swelling down. I also drank TONS of water (like more than the usual TON of water. :) ) I'd have to say preparing for Beckett and reading books like this is also a big highlight. I have so much to learn, but really feel more confident every day, and more excited for her arrival!!

Paint Update: Austin's Master Swatch & The Final Four!

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:53:00 +0000

K - we've changed direction a bit thanks to Sharon! As you know, we trying to get our house to 4 colors TOTAL... Austin experimented today with some of our favorites:

(From Left to Right): Sherwin Williams Amazing Gray, Benjamin Moore's Whale Gray; Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter new option!; Benjamin Moore's Chelsea Gray

I'm VERY proud of this guy for helping us make our decision! :)

Our official decision will leave us with FIVE colors total:

Color #1: Neutral Beige - we're leaving it in the dining room, half bath and hall closet. Mix is TBD (must dig in garage!)

Color #2: Benjamin Moore Smoke Embers (already in Beckett's Room & the upstairs guest bathroom ; will be used in one of the guest rooms, too!

Color #3: Sherwin Williams Amazing Gray - we have decided to use this color in our other guest room; we are also considering, down the road, to use this in the bonus room (we're not having it painted right now!).

Color #4: Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray - we have decided to use this beautiful, dark color in our new office/library downstairs! Down the road, we'll likely use this in our master bedroom, too!

Color #5: Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter

This is a NEW swatch! Last night we visited Sharon and just LOVED the colors her and Jamie chose for their entryway, hallway, and for the big kitchen/dining/living room area. Instead of going dark like we had intended, we loved how light and open and airy their home felt, and she promised it wouldn't weird her out if we used the same color so... we're doing it! Thanks to Sharon, we're using Color #5: Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter!

We have decided NOT to use Benjamin Moore Whale Gray - it's the darkest and while we think it's pretty, both my sis and Sharon have expressed concern it my present blue. In our test, it was the bluest, but not as pretty as Chelsea Gray!

So, if you look back at the sample, and another silly picture of Austin (hehe!), you'll see that 3 colors won!

Picture all 3 without the one directly behind him as Whale Gray is out!

Here is a final swatch of the new 4! (top left: Amazing Gray; top right: Revere Pewter; bottom left: Chelsea Gray; bottom right: Smoke Embers)

All of this being said, we think we're ready now! We're calling our favorite of the 3 painters tomorrow and hope to schedule ASAP!

Q: What is the last thing you worked on that you thought would be easy that ended up being hard? I mean really - this took me far longer than I thought it would!! So glad to have it done. Now, we will only need to have 3 rooms painted down the road (the bonus room; our bedroom & the master bathroom) - we hope to use these colors, and figure we'll see how this turns out and go from there for Round 2!

Shades of Gray.... Paint That Is

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:45:00 +0000

Nope.... not the book (although I did read the first one, and own the other two but haven't picked them up - eek!). We're painting the house! (interior!) We're moving from ALL brown to a combination of a neutral beige and shades of gray (probably 3 to be exact, 4 colors total).

Why? Well, a lot of it has to do with the fact that we've been LOVING gray for a while. AND, we just had the stairs and entire upstairs' carpet redone in a gray shade!

New Carpet: Martha Stewart Living Chester Isle in Flagstone; pics coming soon!

Color #1: This is the neutral beige - we're leaving it in the dining room, half bath and closet. It's a Sherwin Williams custom mix from previous owner - need to look it up! For now i'll call it Beige!

Color #2: This is the gray in Beckett's Room and the upstairs guest bathroom - it's Benjamin Moore Smoke Embers. Not the best pic, but ya get the idea (I'm about 29 weeks here!). We also plan to use this color in one of the guest rooms and maybe our bathroom.

Now we're looking for:

Color #3: One Color for a guest room and the new office/library downstairs! (will keep ceilings white)
Color #4: One Color for the entryway, hallway, and kitchen/living area! (want to paint ceilings in entryway/hallway a color - maybe Amazing Gray below!)

Here's what we're looking at:

Already Using: Benjamin Moore Smoke Embers (above in Beckett's Room)

Potential Color #3: Sherwin Williams Amazing Gray - considering for guest room and new office/library downstairs! We're 99% certain we're moving forward with this without a sample - we just love it! And it came by way of my sis's Mother-in-Law Vivian who I trust!

Potential Color #4 Option 1: Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray - considering for entryway/hallway, etc.

Potential Color #4 Option 2: Benjamin Moore Whale Gray - considering for entryway/hallway, etc.

Austin is getting samples of Chelsea Gray & Whale Gray today! Hopefully we'll like one of them and get the areas painted as early as next week - eeee! THEN, once everything is painted, we'll need to decide which of these 4 colors go best in the remaining rooms we're not painting (out master bedroom, our bathroom & the upstairs den/xBox room). Also, we're trying to decide if we want to leave the doors white - we painted the doors in the interior of Beckett's room gray and just LOVE them!

Q: Have a favorite paint color or brand? We love Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams! I've never had a favorite paint color, but after this exercise I feel like I'll have a few favorites! I initially went to Benjamin Moore because I kept seeing home decor pictures of Gray Horse and just LOVED it. Pottery Barn uses Benjamin Moore colors so it's fun to see what they paint with.

Q: How many paint colors are in your house? Right now we have too many shades of tan/brown and can't keep them straight. We had crown added to a few rooms a couple of months ago and we gave them the wrong touch up paint, so you can see all the touch up. Sigh! Yes ANOTHER reason I can't WAIT to paint!

First 2013 Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (fittingbackin) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:45:00 +0000

Happy Monday! I hope you're having good ones. I'm trying to stay positive but am SO tired - it's getting harder and harder to make it through a full day! Especially after my super relaxing weekend, which I pretty much spent in this Maternity Uniform:

Stretchy 3/4 length shirt; huge cozy hooded sweater; stretchy knit pants with high maternity belly; flats with no socks; no jewelry; extra ponytail holders

Friday we went over to Lincoln and Shana's for game night! We ended up chatting and catching up way more than game playing, but we did get in a few rounds of Catch Phrase - love that game.

Saturday I slept in and then just ran errands - got my oil changed at my dealership, got a piece to Austin's cupholder at his dealership, made a grocery list, had lunch at Pur Taqueria, then went home for a three-hour nap. Amazing. Then we just had a light dinner, watched some Luther episodes (great BBC show available on NetFlix and Amazon Prime!) and called it a night.

Sunday I slept in (again!) and just bummed around the house reading Beckett-preparedness books! I finished The New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding, and ended up taking about 10 pages of notes which will become my 'handy guide' - there is SO much that goes into it. I can't imagine doing it without having read this and taking that online course through my hospital. It's definitely making me feel more comfortable with the idea, the process, etc. I hope it works out as I really hope to breastfeed for as long as possible! Around 4, I finally ventured out to the grocery store, but that was about it! Then just more Luther - up to Season 2 now! (man - my life is WILD haha).

Outside of all the resting, I do feel like I made some progress toward my monthly goals! Obviously, I read the book - yay! And, I identified and healthified the two new recipes I plan to make next week, started the second book, and we have three painters coming out this week to quote - hopefully we'll paint next week!

Q: We're one week into the New year, how's yours going so far?! I've honestly been tired, like woken up tired, every day this year (boo) - but, being in 2013 means I'm that much closer to meeting Beckett so bring it on!