Getting in Shape witih Baby

There is nothing quite like carrying your own child in your womb. It is a beautiful, amazing thing to experience. On top of that, nursing your child solidifies that bond that formed while he/she was in urtero. I am so thankful that nursing came easily to both Declan and myself. As the weeks and months after delivery progressed and I continued to nurse him, I was amazed at how quickly my tummy started shrinking. Then as I added activity back into my routine, my tummy go even smaller. When Declan was about 4 months old I was out of my maternity clothes and back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I couldn't believe it. I thought it would take closer to a year to lose all the weight. Nursing, eating well, and staying active is a great weight loss combo.
But, I got to thinking. What happens when I stop nursing? How do I keep that closeness and the bond strong between myself and my baby, AND continue to keep off the weight? I'd even like to see myself get in better shape than I was BEFORE getting pregnant. Especially before we try for #2. :)
One day Sean mentioned to me that he's heard of mom's exercising with their babies. That they use their babies to help them get back in shape. I thought that sounded interesting, so I did some research.
According to information I found on babyzone.com, working out with your baby encourages bonding because you are building confidence, self awareness, a human connection and love in your child. You are also helping them develop cognitive and physical abilities. Perfect! But I wanted to know how. What was the best way to accomplish this.
Well, the same website also had some recommendations by a personal trainer in NYC, Stefan Aschan, and here are a few of them.
Baby Bench Press - Lie on your back holding your baby above your chest with your arms straight. Lower your elbows, keeping your arms close to sides. Then extend your arms straight up. Repeat while smiling and making funny faces with your child.
Kiss Push Up - Arrange yourself in the push up position. Lay baby flat on his back near your head. Raise and lower your body in the traditional push up position. Kiss your baby on the way down.
Yoga Ball Bounce - Sit on an exercise/yoga ball with baby on your lap. Bounce up and down keeping abs engaged.

*Most doctors & midwives suggest waiting until your six week postnatal check up before beginning to exercise, so best to consult them before doing any activities*

Declan and I have had fun trying these three exercises. He especially loves the yoga ball bounce. He thinks it's funny to be bouncing up and down! I know there is so much more out there to try, so if you are interested, do some research, or even make some exercises up on your own! Most of all have fun bonding with your baby and getting in shape!

*If your baby is still too small to be doing these exercises with, simply try baby wearing. It actually burns calories and helps baby establish a secure attachment to mom.* (Helen Byrne founder of BeFit-Mom)

The Reluctant Best Friend

Declan absolutely ADORES Elphie, our 3 year old Mati-Poo. Her full name is actually Elphaba, from the book & musical WICKED. We chose the name for two reasons, one being that her hair is black and Elphaba's hair in WICKED is black. The other reason being, the woman who took care of her at the Humane Society said that she had a tiny wicked streak in her.
It turns out that Elphie does not have a wicked streak in her at all. She is the sweetest, silliest, most loving doggie and we are so glad she is a part of our family. Unfortunately, I don't think that she is as happy to be a part of our family, at this time, thanks to Declan.
When he was first born, Elphie was very anxious and attentive. She would periodically trot into the room where he was and sniff his face as if checking up on him. If he was crying in one room and I was in another, she would find me and give me a look that said, "The boy is crying, can't you hear him?" If one of us was sitting on the couch holding him, she would be right at our feet, protecting us I'm sure.
But now that Declan is mobile, it's quite a different story. She hardly ever comes near him. She stays out of the way, hiding in our bedroom. She avoids any contact with him.

Every once in a while, if Sean or I are close by, she will join us in some family time. Declan is thrilled! He smiles and squeals in delight, flapping his arms up and down. And then he lunges for her, grabbing fistfuls of fur in his hands. So, she sits and obligingly endures, with a pitiful expression on her face. Poor Elphie. I wish I could explain to her that she will not always be his reluctant best friend, but someday soon, his eager companion.

On The Move

Declan has been trying to crawl for several weeks now, actually about a month. He will be up on all fours, then flop down to his tummy and proceed to an army type crawl. Up until last night, we've been putting a large blanket down on our living room rug for him to play and "crawl" on. When I sat him down this morning and went to get the blanket, he immediately flopped to his tummy, but I thought surely he won't get very far. When I came back with the blanket (which takes about 4 seconds), he was all the way across the room. So back to the basket the blanket went because I realized it will no longer contain my mobile son.
This is a bitter sweet time for me because it is the beginning of the "On the Move" phase. I call it that because it is the period in a child's life where they start to discover their mobility and test the waters of exploration within their expanding world. The beginning of their independence. and there is no stopping them!
It makes me tear up thinking about how much he has grown in just 6 short months. He is no longer my little baby whom I can contain in one safe place. He is active and curious and FAST!
Look out world, Declan is on the move!

Babies Don't Keep

My mom shared this poem at my sister-in-law's baby shower back in 2010. I read it aloud to the group of ladies, and all who were mothers got choked up. Not being a mother myself yet, I didn't fully understand why they were so emotional. Well... now I do. I cherish every snuggle, every lullaby, every opportunity to rock my baby because I won't be able to forever. I must put aside the chores I sometimes find so important because babies don't keep. 

Mother, oh Mother,

come shake out your cloth,

empty the dustpan,

poison the moth,

hang out the washing

and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house

is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery,

blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little

Boy Blue (lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping's not done

and there's nothing for stew

and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing

will wait till tomorrow,

for Children grow up,

as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs.

Dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep......

~Author Unknown ~

Something New

Declan learned something new this week and I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not. Of course I will always be thrilled when he learns something new. Especially when it is on his own without any prompting or encouragement from someone else. It shows me that he is exploring and discovering the world around him. This is a very good thing. However...he learned that if he drops a toy over the edge of something (his highchair or exercaucer) that same toy will somehow magically reappear from off the ground. Which then allows him drop it yet again, and so on.
Now, I'd like to think he is experimenting with cause and effect. "If I drop this, what will happen?" I am less inclined to think that he is playing the "If I drop this Mommy will pick it up for me" game. Which is why I "encouraged" this activity the other day. I was curious to see if he was dropping it on accident or if there was a purpose behind each drop of the toy. I'll let you be the judge. ;)

Declan-acation

Last Sunday, March 11th, Sean and I had Declan dedicated to the Lord at Living Waters church in Medford, OR.
It was a very special as well as emotional day for me. Special because most of our family and a few of our closest friends joined us in the celebration. Emotional because I was hit with the enormity of what we were doing. Giving our boy to the Lord and vowing to raise him in a godly home. WOW. That is powerful stuff. And quite possibly the most important responsibility we will ever have.
By the way, I have to give our good friend Adam Braly credit for the creative title of this post!

Brotherly Love

My brother has been on my heart a lot lately. Partly because he lives in California and I only get to see him a few times a year. The other part because of something he is going through makes me long to be closer (in proximity) to him. He and I are very close, and we always have been. When we were young, our parents divorced and had joint custody of us. It was a difficult time for the whole family, and we all had to struggle with the changes that seemed to constantly happen around us. I know that my mom did everything she could to make our time together enjoyable...my dad...not so much.  So, Clark and I became pals. We had to. We had to keep each other entertained. Thankfully we got along fairly well and had a lot in common. We would play video games, watch movies, play outside and be goofy together. All those things got us through some very long, would be boring weekends.
Now that we are all grown up, we have spouses, children, and responsibilities, and I find myself looking back on the childhood we experienced. Sometimes even wishing we could do it all over again. Brother and Sister. Side by Side. Trudging through the divorced child syndrome. Together.

He is one of my favorite people in the world and I cherish all the memories we have made, and embrace the ones yet to come.

Birthday Goodies

I got some really fun and amazing goodies for my birthday. A few of them are pictured below, but a few others have yet to be attained.
In the picture you will see cards from my mom, brother, husband and mother-in-law. Each card is so perfect for me even though each one is so different from the other.
You will also see the items I bought on my birthday outing with Declan. We strolled around Barnes and Noble (one of my favorite stores) and I picked up a small reusable bag, a notebook, 'The Help', and 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'.
I also received a Visa gift card that I will use to get some Bare Minerals make up, and a Target gift card that I will use to get some hair products and some much needed undergarments.
In addition to all these wonderful items, Sean got me a gift certificate for a one hour horse back trail ride in Ashland for any weekend of my choosing. I am so thrilled. I have never been horse back riding but it's been something I have longed to do for many years!
And, last but not least, there is another gift I have yet to give myself... stay tuned for the revelation of that experience...

The Most Beautiful Sound I've Ever Heard

I couldn't tell you what the most beautiful sound I ever heard was prior to 3 weeks ago. I can tell you what it is now. It is the word "Mama". When I first heard the word come out of Declan's mouth I thought it was a mistake or an accident. He's not even 6 months old, I said to myself. So I made it a point to listen closer and sure enough he continued to make the sounds, "Ma Ma". I laughed and cried at the same time. It was one of those moments where you are sure your heart is going to swell right out of your chest.
I of course encouraged the sound by repeating it after him every time he said it.
When we were in Portland 2 weeks ago, I was playing with him in our hotel room and he was saying Mama over and over and over. Then I wondered if I could get it on camera. The video below is what I was able to capture. (Sorry that it's sideways)

Home Sweet Home

When we first started making our plans to move from Klamath Falls to the Rogue Valley, Sean said that he thought we should buy a home instead of rent. I had never thought about possibly owning a home someday. I was perfectly content with renting and had no grandiose dreams of having a home of my own to do whatever I wanted with. But I was open to the idea. At least at first. Then as we started looking into the process and all that buying would entail, I became less open. I feared that it would wind up being much more expensive than we could afford and I started feeling panicky about coming up with a down payment. I also disliked the idea of having a mortgage. I know it's pretty much the same thing as paying rent, but it just scared me.
It felt so grown up. Buying a home is something adults do. Not us. Not a fairly newly married couple with a brand new baby and only one person bringing home the bacon.
But, as we looked at homes and worked with our relator, it became something that I was actually excited about. The kind of loan we got does not require a down payment and because we were looking at a town house in foreclosure, with a steal of a price tag, our mortgage wound up being much lower than anything we could find to rent in the area.
In the end, I came to the realization that the Lord had a plan all along, and we just had to step out in faith trusting that He would bring it all to pass. And of course He did.
We are so pleased with our choice and plan on living in the house for about 5 years before moving on and using it as a rental investment.

It's so pretty...I mean manly

Up until about two weeks ago we have been a one car family. It wasn't an issue when we lived in Klamath Falls because Sean worked close enough to home to ride his bicycle. But now that we are in the Rogue Valley, things are much more spread out so he had to take the car to work. Which left Declan and I stranded at home with not much to do. Most days that wasn't a problem at all, but it was getting to the point where I needed to get out of the house whenever I wanted. (By the way, I just have to interject that am so very grateful to my dear friend Mandy Figueroa, and she knows why).
So, Sean decided to get something he's been wanting for a long time. A scooter!

I told him when he brought it home, "It's so cute and pretty." He looked at me with a stern expression and with the deepest voice he could muster said, "No it's not. It's manly". Right. That's what I meant my love...

So, whether you think it is cute, pretty, manly, or all of the above, it's ours and it fills this Mama's life with much more freedom than before. And Sean is having a blast riding it around town!

Declan Stirling

Sometimes it's hard to believe that I have a child. I don't know if it's because I have taken care of so many children in my life and I think he is just one more to add to the list, or if I just haven't come to the full realization that I am a mother. Either way, it's mind boggling at times.
One thing I do know for a fact is that I love him more than anything in the world. My love for my baby started in utero, but came on the strongest soon after he was born. Since we didn't know what we were having, it was kind of hard to fall head over heals in love with our baby while I was carrying him/her. But about an hour or so after he was born, I was laying in the hospital bed, eating pancakes and Declan was laying skin to skin on Sean's chest and I remember feeling this sudden rush of emotion. I told Sean, with tears in my eyes, "I just love him so much!"

It is absolutely amazing to me how God designs women to love their children so profoundly. It's not even something that I have to try to do. My love for him just exists. And it always will.

30 Years of Memories

Today is my 30th birthday. I always thought turning 30 would be a really big deal especially because so many people struggle with the thought of being 30. It's one of those milestones that you look forward to. You know, the last one before everything goes down hill.
But today doesn't feel any different than other days. I woke up to the sound of my 6 month old baby boy talking to himself in his crib, and then we proceeded with our normal morning routine. And the rest of the day will be fairly normal as far as I can tell.
30 doesn't feel any different than 29 did. Although, I have a feeling my 30's will BE a lot different than my 20's were. As I reflect back on the 30 years that I have been alive, I am amazed at how much I have accomplished, how much I have seen of the world, and how blessed I have been.

There are hundreds of memories that I carry with me from my 30 years of life. A lot of them are happy childhood memories. Some are unpleasant preteen and teen memories. The most vivid are from the years I spent at Bible College and in San Jose, CA. But my absolute favorite memories are the one's I have made in the last 41/2 years, because it was 41/2 years ago that I met Sean Connolly and my life was changed forever. I can't believe how much has happened in that small span of time. A wedding, a baby, and a relocation. Just to mention a few.
I know that my 30's are going to be different because they are going to be the best years yet. I will have my husband and my children by my side, which is something I have always hoped and prayed for. And in the next 30 years we will be making memories that will put the last 30 years of memories to shame!