Hello There!

Hello there! It's been a while. Anyone still here? If you are, I wanted to let you know that I have revamped things a bit. When I started this blog, it began as a place where I could write about my daily reasons for motivation on my quest to lose weight and get back into shape. I also used it as a space to talk about the happenings in my household and my thoughts about motherhood. When baby number two came into the picture, I hardly had time to write about either. Now that  a new year is upon us and my little bambino is starting to have a more predictable routine, I am focusing more on my plan to lose weight. The thing is, I need a dedicated space to do this if I want to stay on track. So I have created a new blog specifically for this reason. I still want to have an outlet to talk about life with my kids and to keep friends and family updated on my little munchkins so I have a blog now for that too!

Check out my new spaces!

www.yesterdaytomorrowblog.blogspot.ca

www.mommylionheart.blogspot.ca

Thanks to all my Dear Noone readers, for stopping by and being a part of my journey. I hope to still hear from you as I embark on this next chapter!

Stay Tuned...

I'm slowly working on revamping things and want to get back into blogging more frequently now that my babe has a bit of a routine.  I will be launching a new and improved blog space in the new year so stay tuned! In the mean time feel free to reminisce on some of my older posts by browsing the "popular posts" section. It may bring you to random links of other posts that haven't been read in a while. And feel free to chuckle at just how hilarious my little girl looked when she was a baby, with the constant deer-in-headlights look she had going on (until she thankfully grew into those beautiful eyes of hers). Happy Holidays!

Scary Things

This person's story has literally given me nightmares about all the things that could happen to my babies. The stories that people shared in the comments section made me almost hyper-ventaliate.

I'm Not A Newbie Anymore

So my friend finally had her baby at 40 weeks after being told by her doctor since June that she was going to go early. It's a boy! Now Nolan has a best buddy for life!

The above pictures were taken only a week before her little one arrived. Nolan was sitting on top of her belly being kicked by his future playmate. Little did my friend know just how much her life was going to change as she babbled with my son and imagined what her own little bundle would look like.

When I heard the news of her son's birth, I was over the moon with joy for her and it brought back so many memories and emotions from when my precious babies were born. I think that happens with all moms when they hear news of a new baby's arrival. We can't help but re-live some of it vicariously through new moms. So she is now officially part of the club, and only a mom really knows what I'm talking about when I say that.

I was so excited to see her little one. I wanted so badly to go to the hospital and spend time with her so I could soak up the wonderful "new mommy" honeymoon vibes that she would be emitting outward to all those who came to visit.  When I entered the hospital room it seemed like it was just me in there not that long ago, sighing in contentment at the miracle that I had grown inside of me.  Really it has only been a short two months ago and yet I can't even remember what my life was like without Nolan as a part of our family. Funny how that happens.

But as I had conversations with my friend in the days to follow, and listened to her talk all about how she was doing with feeding and sleeping and all the other things that us moms adjust to in the first few weeks, I realized just how far I have come in the past year and a half.  When I was a first time Mom I constantly sought advice and help from other mothers because there were times when I just didn't know what the hell I was doing and needed moral support. And now it is me telling my friend that yes, it is normal to worry that you might be starving your child because he won't latch on.  It is now me promising her that breast feeding WILL get easier. It is now me nodding my head in a  "yep..... been there done that" kind of way as she tells me all about the worries, challenges, and joys of getting to know her baby.  Having these conversations with her makes me want to run over to her house and give her a big hug and say, you are doing a great job, you are not alone, we've all been there, I'm so happy that you now know the joy of being a mother.  And it makes me happy to see just how far I have come from that person who worried about things like whether my baby was sneezing too much or whether the colour of her poop was normal.  And now I can relax a little because although I don't have all the answers I know that I have definitely grown since the birth of my first child and am proud at the mother I have become so far. I'm not a newbie anymore. I am a mother twice over now and I actually know a thing or two about raising babies. Now if I can just figure out the toddler years....

Some Days

Why did I think that I would actually be able to take a shower before I brought Maya to daycare and blow dry my hair and put on make up without being screamed at by both kids? Silly me. I will spare you the details of the gong show that ensued this morning before 8am while attempting to do it.  And by the way, the attempt was a big FAIL.  Looks like I will be rockin' this hair-do for a while. You know, the hair style that says, "I'm a mother of two small children and all attempts to have pretty hair will be squashed and I will have to forever look like a librarian". And all you momma's who post "every day" type pictures of you all gussied up and pretty with your four kids playing peacefully beside you on facebook....damn you! Some days I tell ya. Some days.....

On Being A Mother And Other Things

I came across this quote and oh my goodness it really hit home because I find myself picking apart my body all the time. Even though I say I want to model self esteem for my daughter I am not following it because it has become such an ingrained habit to diss my looks. Seriously every single gathering of women I have ever been a part of, whether it be girls night with my besties or just a team meeting at work, there are always comments back and forth from someone about how they hate their body and how they need to improve this and that. It totally makes sense that Maya is going to grow up with the exact same habit if I don't watch it. This quote has reminded me to be mindful of what comes out of my mouth AT ALL TIMES.

When I saw this quote I simultaneously came across this article and wow it also spoke to me. It's so true! Read it. 

Hey guess what? I got back to cardio kickboxing classes today!  For reals it was so great to be back. The workout kicked my arse, it did.  But I didn't care because it was the same when I went back from my pregnancy with Maya - I was weak for a bit but got stronger and faster. I know this time I will be kicking butt again in no time. The best part was being able to do actual jumping jacks and I even managed a few "burpees" (although sad looking ones, but I did it).  When I was pregnant with Nolan I could not do either of these things without modifying them immensely due to my baby belly. And laying on my back, I missed being able to lay on my back. And touching my toes. It's crazy the things you take for granted before you get pregnant and all of a sudden you are unable to do such simple things. So happy to have my body back - lumpy and mushy it is, but not for long people!

Speaking of my body I also went to the mall today and bought the dreaded in-between-clothes - you know the ones that you have to buy because you don't quite fit into your pre-pregnancy clothes yet and your maternity clothes are too big (or just no longer cute without the baby bump).  Last time after having Maya this is something that made me very sad and stressed but this time around I'm like "meh, whatever, I won't be wearing these for long!". And so I only bought one pair of jeans and one shirt and sweater because I am that confident that I won't need to wear them longer than a month. In the meantime I've got lots of hoodies and yoga pants to tie me over when I'm hanging around the house. 

Which brings me to my last note. Yesterday I started a structured meal plan again, a diet if you will, but a laid back one where I don't have to write anything down and just have to stick to certain kinds of foods (mainly whole foods) and avoid large quantities of other foods (junk food, processed stuff and the like). It's pretty much Weight Watchers Core plan from back in the day and it has worked well for me before (when I lost 35 lbs pre-Nolan).  So goodbye chocolate milk and raspberry yogurt muffin from the work cafeteria. I no longer need you as a second breakfast. Goodbye iced cappuccino, your caffeine and sugar will no longer be required to stay awake during the day. Goodbye Ben and Jerry's ice cream. You have brought me lots of pleasure but there's just no room for you in my pre-pregnancy jeans. Goodbye using my pregnancy as an excuse to indulge in such things on a regular basis.  It really was fun while it lasted but I knew the day would come - the date I set in my mind the whole nine months that Nolan was growing inside of me..... the day of my six week post-partem check up with the doc. I knew once that was done and over with it was back to the nitty gritty. That was the date I had decided that I would get back to my weight loss goals.  I'm all healed, breastfeeding has been firmly established, and our family is getting back into a new grove. It's go time. 

Back In Action

Not gonna lie, we've been in a bit of a rut lately. First it was getting used to having a newborn in the house again and meeting the needs of both our kids, then it was a nasty chest cold that has seriously put us out of commission this past week and a half.  To add further stress, Nolan decided that he HATES being strapped in his car seat and so any attempts to get out of the house or go for walks with the stroller were torture and mostly avoided.  To help us get through some of the chaos we started putting Maya in front of the TV a little more than usual. With netflix at our side we had a gazillion kids shows right at our finger tips. It was just so easy. It kept her quiet and in one spot long enough for us to get something done, or just to get some silence after her constantly calling my name and pulling at my leg all day.

The thing is though, we kinda created a monster. You see, Maya started to get addicted to TV. Like bonafide addicted. Her drugs of choice were "In the night garden", "Sesame Street", and  "Barney". It got to the point where she started to refuse dinner because she was too busy asking for "Iggle Piggle" and the "Pinky Ponk" over and over and over again. When we decided to cut her off cold turkey she was crazed to the point where we had to hide any reminders of her favourite shows (like the remote control and DVD cases) and were careful not to say certain words that would trigger a huge fit to watch it.  Seriously, it's kind of funny, but not really. Who would have ever thought an 18 month old could become so preoccupied with such a thing? At first we thought we were just using the TV as a tool to get us through this crazy patch and reassured ourselves that "it's not always going to be like this". In the end we started a really bad pattern over only a few weeks that I am sure could last a lifetime if we didn't recognize it and change it. One day I looked over at her sitting in front of the tube like a zombie and thinking "wow she is literally sitting on her ass doing nothing, not even moving or blinking".  What a way to start such a sedentary lifestyle for our little girl.  And so tonight after dinner we cleaned up the trail of snotty kleenex, made ourselves look half presentable, and put our shoes and sweaters on. We headed out into the back yard and had a full hour of fun, just running around and getting fresh air. 

It was great to get out and have a life again, to spend some time together as a family, not worrying about getting a kid fed or picking up toys. Even Gunther was pleased as he has seriously entered into a depression after Nolan's birth from all the neglect he's been experiencing.  I think we are slowly getting back into our groove and out of survival mode. It's about time 'cause these past seven weeks have been kind of a blur. I'm glad we are back to creating memories again. 

And for Maya, we are now implementing a time limit on her TV watching and scheduling physical activity as a family every day. Sure, she goes to swimming lessons and we have her in day care twice a week, but that isn't going to be enough. I never thought I would have to worry about these things at such an early age but here we are.  Anyone know of any great toddler activities we could try at home?