First food

I had researched making my own purees I thought hey this is super easy and I can totally do this.  Then, through some online boards and more research I found baby led weaning.  I started researching on pinterest (because who doesn't love pinterest!) and throughout the internet.  I found that this method seemed to make the most sense overall.  Kiddos eat from the table starting out.  Since food before age one is just for practice and baby is getting all their nutrition from breastmilk (for us) or formula; this seemed like the most fun alternative for feeding Liam and avoiding the whole spoon feeding thing.  My thought is that it will make it easier for us as Liam grows and hopefully he will be a less picky eater than me (I'm working on it!) as he grows.

So last weekend we gave Liam his first food...bananas!  I meant to give him avocado as his first food but we had super ripe bananas and it was too hot to make banana bread. 

So I got myself a high chair (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JRYS2QO/ref=twister_B00HZFI6GI)
I took the infant insert out right away because it was only going to get dirty and the back is faux leather and super easy to clean

I got this on a major sale at Target and I had some gift cards so it brought it down to about $90 for me.

We put Liam in the high chair a few times and let him play with toys and he had a great time!

Here are the pictures of Liam's first experience with food.  It was a lot of fun and a little sticky but thankfully we are all washable and the high chair is easy to clean!

What is this squishy stuff?

It's OK...

Maybe slightly better than OK

Oh hey Mom I didn't know you were here...did you see my banana?

Playing in his food

Laughing because his parents are funny

Problem solving at it's finest: he was having trouble with the hand to mouth so he brought his mouth to the banana!

Teething...is not for the faint at heart

Bleh!  Teething is not for the week in this house that's for sure!

We started teething about 2 weeks ago and our little guy decided that 2 teeth needed to come in at the same time.

I feel so bad for him!

We've done some tylenol for the discomfort and recently have tried motrin.  He hasn't been a fan of the cold washcloth or really cold things except the butterfly teether put in the fridge.

We've had several nights of very poor sleep (up every 45-60 min all night) and then we tried motrin.  First night 6 hours straight, second night 7 hours!  Eek!  I can do that :)

He would smile at me and then cry out.  He was trying to hard to be happy!

We got some happy in there last week!

Ribs make excellent teething toys (bonus they taste yummy too!)

Fighting sleep unless right by me.

And he's done!  All snuggled up on the couch and slept for 3 hours that day

Liam has been fairly happy overall but there are moments that he is just beside himself from the discomfort and those moments truly suck!

Here is what's working for us so far:

Sassy teether that I got off of Amazon

Sophie is his favorite!

When the pain isn't too bad these work great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 3 update

I didn't meet last weeks goals but I did manage to lose another pound!  Pictures next week!  Weight lost total=3lbs. 

I did meet the goal of drinking 96+ oz of water/day
I didn't try anything new
I didn't get a lot of walking in...but I had some RA issues last week

Goals for this week:

1. Continue to drink 96+oz of water/day
2. Walk 30min after Liam goes to bed tonight (Wednesday), Friday, and Saturday
3. Attempt 1-2 days of strength training by Sunday
4. Set aside time to meal plan each week

Week 2

Well it appears that even though I have yet to meet my goal of 30 min of activity per day I have actually lost 2lbs!  So I really started out at 182lbs (weighed in the morning sans clothes) and I am now at 180 (same time of the morning sans clothes).

I've been doing well drinking lots of water and have hit my 96oz of water a day more days than not.  I can definitely tell that I have slightly more energy...until this week but all in all it's been pretty good!  Liam is working on his first tooth so we've had major lack of sleep this week and have been up more nights than not.

Goals for this week:

1. 30 min of activity Thursday and Saturday (Bonus for Sunday!)
2. Keep drinking 96oz of water/day
3. Switch my milk to almond milk in my lattes
4. Keep up with not drinking soda (I'm a Mt. Dew lover!)
5. Have one serving of fish this week

Week 1 update

I did not meet my goal of walking for 30 min every day.  I did however find 4 days this week to walk for a total of 2 hours.  On the days that I worked I tried to make sure I took the stairs in and out of work for 124 stairs plus another 50 if we have a meeting and another 50 if I need to eat in the cafeteria. 

I tried to bring my own lunch but meal planning is a lot harder now than it used to be!  I should really wear a pedometer while I'm at work because last time I did I think I clocked 14,000 steps!  There is also the pushing of the patients in beds, moving OR tables (super heavy), carrying instrument pans and the running for stuff during cases! 

I didn't meet my goal for this week but I still feel accomplished!  It was 2 hours more this week than last week and I will hopefully get in more time in the upcoming week. 

Food goals for this week: #1 goal was to make better choices.  My week started out good with roasted chicken, quinoa, and green beans and then leftovers of both.  I gave myself Saturday as a free day because I was going out to lunch with a friend.  Other than that, not terrible choices but I was trying to give up my Mt. Dew habit (don't judge me!  I live off of 4-5 hours of interrupted sleep and mama needs caffeine to function!) but I didn't have time to make coffee every morning and Mt. Dew is my next caffeine source of choice.

Goals for this week:

1. Walk at least 8 miles (last week was only 5)
2. Increase water intake from 72oz to 96oz everyday (I do this most days but I want to make it more consistent)
3. Add in veggies for all meals eaten at home
4. Try fish again (I dislike most fish but I need to like it...bleh!  I guess I will do what you're supposed to do with kids and try it several times and hopefully teach myself to like it)

My beach birthday!

For my birthday last week we went to the beach.  It was the hottest day of the year so far at over 90 degrees!  We moved to Seattle to get away from the horrid heat of the midwest yet here it is :(

Our beach day only lasted for 45ish minutes because of the heat but I had a lovely time!  Liam wasn't a huge fan of the water but I think he will be as he gets older!

My day included getting to sleep in until 10! Donuts from Legendary Donuts, coffee from my favorite place, beach, cheeseburger for lunch, hanging out with my kiddo, hubby, and sister in law, and dinner at The Crab Pot.

Liam fell asleep on the way to the beach so here is a birthday selfie with my hubby!

My sweet boy sleeping!  Isn't he adorable in his swimming gear!

A family picture taken by Megan, I forgot Liam's sunglasses and he is voicing his displeasure at me!

He's clinging to me!  He liked looking at the water but it was still cold so he wasn't a fan of touching the water.

My sister in law and her puppy out with us at the beach!

 

Instant crying the minute his feet touched the water...I have to admit it was actually kinda funny!

We gave him the hammer at Joe's Crab Shack and well; he's not allergic to shellfish!

I have spent 10 of the last 12 birthdays with this guy right here.  Here's to many more birthdays (God willing) with the love of my life!

Sometimes you just need some accountability

It seems there is only a couple people that read my blog but that's alright.  Putting this out onto the wide world of the internet will hopefully keep me more accountable to my goals!

I want to lose weight like you wouldn't believe but I want to maintain my milk supply so instead of cutting calories I'm going to be more intentional about what I eat; trying to hopefully make better choices.  I am also going to strive for 30 minutes of activity a day.  I started on Sunday with making a healthier choice for breakfast, lunch and dinner and walking around the block with Liam for 30 min (yes it took me 30 min to walk a mile, but hey I was putting one foot in front of the other).

So here I am starting out and trying to put one foot in front of the other!

So I'm starting out at 185lb, the heaviest I have ever been (other than right before Liam was born)
I'm not so much concerned with the 'weight' as getting healthy and being strong.  So when I get a few minutes and stop being embarrassed I will post my measurements because I think they are a better indicator of health than the number on the scale

This is me excited to start losing weight!

Liam is 5 months old!

Oh wow here we are at 5 months.  I may or may not be getting a little weepy at the amazing miracle that is this little boy!

5 months brings us much more talking and so much interacting!  Liam has the G sound down and will often wake up saying gah, gee, or grr.  He's a very happy boy most of the time and always has big smiles with dimples for Daddy or me.


Liam continues to reach for toys and usually gets the toys he's reaching for and almost always gets it to his mouth!

His favorite song is 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' with or without actions

He so far seems to favor his left hand (like Daddy)

He prefers toys that play songs, but will grab rattles or his Sophie the giraffe

Liam often gets frustrated when he's trying to talk to you but you aren't getting what he's saying.  You can often see his little mouth trying to form words and its seriously cute!

He enjoys faces and will reach up to touch my eyes, nose, or mouth while I'm talking, like he's trying to figure out how I form the words.

His favorite puppy is Allie.  When she comes up to him she will put her head in his hand for a few seconds so he can pet her.  He pets her so nicely and when she is done she trots off a happy girl.

This giraffe has no milk!  You can always tell a breastfed baby!

Chilling with his sunglasses and Sophie

After a particularly rough night and day this is my Liam telling me that 'Sleep is for the weak'  Turns out this little guy was getting a cold!

After his 4 month shots (a week late) he was as happy as could be until a few hours later when his legs started to hurt

More often than not Liam grabs the toy he wants and gets it into his mouth

Telling Dad about his rough day with shots and his rough afternoon of sleep (I love how he looks at Matt!)

Tuckered out!  I  never get tired of watching him sleep

On Father's Day we sent Daddy upstairs to take a nap and we stayed downstairs.  Liam just likes to reach out and touch me when he sleeps and I'm ok with that!

Loving on Daddy while Daddy plays for him

There is a story behind this and I can't remember what it is, but since he's our first son he's our #1 son :)

Daddy and his boy!

His special I'm going to sleep for Mommy smile

This is what Mommy looks like after Liam has slept nearly 7 hours straight!  This is what a rested Liam looks like!

Our first time at the beach with our Auntie Megan

Meeting our Grandpa for the first time (Matt's Dad)

3 Generations of Skillman men, too bad I couldn't catch one with Liam's eyes open

Playing with Grandpa tires us right out!

Our happy smiling boy in his 5 month pictures!

God chose the perfect son for us. Even though learning how to be a mom is hard, tiring, frustrating, draining, joyful, exciting, it's everything I've ever wanted!