Thursday, April 26, 2012

Wisdom Wednesdays: Chocolate's Fortune Cookie

Long story short I love chocolate. Specifically, I like dark chocolate, and even more specifically, I like Dove dark chocolate, because each piece is like a fortune cookie, with a little advice (not winning lottery ticket numbers) on each wrapper. The other day while I was eating one three pieces, I got some interesting words of wisdom that I thought I’d share.

“Sleep late tomorrow.” <Scoff> I talked to Cooper about this and he spit milk in my face and told me “not for another 18 years.” Not going to happen.

“You should charge for advice.” Um, okay. I’ll start with my readers: I charge $5 per minute. Any takers? Clearly not going to happen.

But my last wrapper was so genius that I put in on my fridge next to a birth announcement. It was that special.

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” This goes back to what I believe everything comes back to: attitude. It got me thinking about those folks I know with incredible attitudes and outlooks on life, and one common trait among all of them is that they constantly focus on the good in life. Naturally, these people are happier individuals - content. They don’t have more happy things or less struggles in their life, they just choose to find joy in all things, and that in turn is contagious. People that seek the good in life naturally attract good things. I can tell you that I am definitely guilty of spending too much time focusing on the negative – maybe it’s the part of me that is always striving to be perfect better, but I do know that it's exhausting. This little chocolate nugget reminded me to flip the coin and find joy in all things.  Once you make “joy-seeking” a habit, I imagine that your cup truly will runneth over and leave you with one important feeling: gratitude.

I’m curious to know if you do anything to remind yourself to focus on the positive. What is it? I’d love to hear.

There is one thing I am for SURE celebrating lately, and he’s sitting in his bouncer right in front of me.

Who said chocolate only goes straight to your hips?

 

 

Monday, April 23, 2012

Our 2-Month Old

Coop was two months on Friday! How did we celebrate you ask? By traumatizing our sweet child with shots.

People tell you how bad the first round of shots are for the parents, but I could not have imagined just HOW bad it would be. Cooper had a great 2-month appointment, flirting with the nurse, kicking his legs - happy as a clam.
But then...BOOM! The ultimate betrayal! Our nice nurse told me that she needed to get a second nurse to help  administer the shots. "Okay," I said, unsure of why two nurses were needed for a human that was 40 days old and just shy of 12 pounds. In they both came and had me stand at his head and hold both of his arms. He was smiling and cooing, looking at me with those big brown eyes that said "I love you mom, and totally trust you!"  And then...it happened. Nurse 1 counted to three and at that both nurses stuck him at the same time in either leg, total shots = 5! He looked at me with a face full of betrayal, turned beet red, and than the screaming began.

All's well that ends well, and I know vaccinations are a necessary means to a healthy end. But in that moment as my eyes welled with tears, I wanted to take all his pain away from him and put it onto me; it hurt me so bad to see him hurt! It's amazing how much you can love a person - definitely unlike any other love that I've ever known. As he grows of course I know he will experience pain throughout his life, both physical and emotional, but I hope to the good Lord above that it will be minimal. My prayer for him is simple: Health and Happiness. And for now, as long as I stay away from the pediatricians office, I think this can be accomplished.

Happy Monday!

 

Friday, April 20, 2012

Getting rid of the "CW"

I have been horrible at updating this blog! I planned to update once a week and have been averaging once a month!

Speaking of commitments I never stick to, I got good news and bad news this week from my doctor. The good news, I’m cleared to exercise! The bad news…I’m cleared to exercise! All this means now is I have no excuse anymore. No excuse to complain about those extra lbs and no excuse NOT to go to they gym, those days are gone and that ship has sailed. And for that matter...I’m sick of carrying this extra Coop-weight, or “CW” as its called in my house. During my pregnancy I was fortunate to gain weight only in my middle, but now that means I still have a lingering pooch smack-dab in the middle instead of distributed all over. It’s unfortunate really, and I’m 90% sure people who don’t know me would think I’m newly pregnant. So I decided it is time for a plan, and I hit up google to find one. Operation: Eliminate CW! Here are some ground-rules I set for myself.

  1. I get it; I just had a baby eight weeks ago. Don’t be too hard on myself and forgive myself IF I have an off day or week.

  2. Don’t bite off more than I can chew. I always quit when I do that. Find a plan that is so do-able that it doesn’t feel overwhelming.

  3. Work in the baby because he goes where I go. Find a plan that I can do with Cooper in tow.

  4. No intense dieting. I find eating hard enough throughout the day so some fancy “eat this, not that” plan would be impossible to stick to.

  5. Find a weekly plan. As I’m sure you’ve gathered…I need a plan! If I don’t have one I’m stressed and all over the place. Tell me what to do people.


There is tons of information out there and it was fun to read through all the different strategies and ideas. I found a plan that I think is perfect for me! Though it’s targeted for post-partum moms I also think it’s just a great get-back-out-there workout plan in general. It is a 12-week program gloriously coined “Lose the Baby Weight Challenge,” and each week has a plan for 1) exercise, 2) diet, and 3) attitude. I love the part on attitude because I think it is so important to be balanced both physically and emotionally, especially now that life has changed (for the better, but still, drastically changed) since Cooper has arrived. The plan also has “extra credit” each week, which I love. I’m always keeping score! I’m on Week 2, here’s the plan this week:

Week 2
Exercise: Get Moving – 1 hour of exercise (walking, class, video etc), 3 days a week.
Diet: 500-Calorie Dinners
Attitude: Count Your Blessings – Get Focused!

***Extra Credit: Add in one more hour of exercise this week.

[caption id="attachment_144" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Wash Park, Denver"][/caption]

So, wish me luck. I spent my first day on the job on a long walk up to Washington Park, around it, and back. I took a picture on my walk of the view, pretty remarkable. Total walk time 1 hour 15 minutes. I couldn’t think of a prettier time of year here in Denver to start my plan - blue skies and mid-60s. As I count my blessings this week, I am grateful for just that.

Here’s the link to the Challenge:

http://www.babyzone.com/mom/lose-the-baby-weight/lbw-overview_69837

Also, here’s a great link to 500 calorie dinners that I’ve been using:

http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/weight_loss_diet_plans/diet_meal_plans/eatingwell_s_500_calorie_dinners

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Wisdom Wednesdays: The Road Traveled

“...there ain't no journey that don't change you some.” – David Mitchell

This week I turned 30 (separate entry about that to follow), and decided to road-trip it with my husband and 6-week old to Las Vegas for a long-overdue visit to see family and friends. This journey back to Nevada got me thinking about life's “journey” in general. Over the past five years my journey has taken me to four different cities in five years: Dallas, New York City, Las Vegas and now of course, Denver. Three of the four cities I would have never dreamed I’d call home, but I have learned lessons about life and had important experiences in each one. Life would be so different if one of those cities hadn't been a part of my life! What if I hadn’t taken that job in New York, or decided not to give that guy in Las Vegas a chance? What if during that time and that fork in the road I took a left instead of a right? So much would be different…I would be different.

Over the past several years I’ve learned that the best journeys in life will pick you if you just let them, often times they may not be what you had in mind, but most of the time are exactly what you need. I myself sure have loved the ride and the destination I’ve arrived at today, and can’t wait to see what's in store tomorrow.

“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck

Here’s to the next leg!