This mommy thanks you, Billy Mays!

As I sit here waiting for my OxiClean spray/paste concoction to do it's magic on Elliott's swing cover (no thanks to Huggies), I just wanted to say that becoming a mom has really brought out my stain fighting skills.

It's definitely not one of my favorite things about being a mom, but I have a weird sense of pride in my new abilities to take out any stain. When Elliott was a newborn many a onesie was thrown in the trash, but now I haven't met a blowout that I couldn't beat. Score one for mommy!

The trick is to quickly get the item rinsed off and under hot water. I then spray it with OxiClean spray until it's saturated and put a bunch of the powdered OxiClean over it and get it a little wet so that it becomes a paste. Let it sit for about 10 min. and then rinse and repeat as necessary. Voila!

NOT 179

I guess stepping on the scale the other day would have been a more accurate way to figure out my weight. I did it this morning and found that I am not 179 pounds, but rather 183, ugh! Denial has caught up with me big time. So my beginning stats have changed by 4 additional pounds, although I'm hoping that most of that is water weight from being up in Wisconsin (it happens every.single.time I go there).

Ballgame breastfeeding

We took Elliott to his first baseball game yesterday. It was fun, but I think we spent a good 30 min. or so trying to figure out a place for me to nurse him. I didn't realize we had bleacher seats since we were going with a group and if you have sat in bleacher seats before you'd realize they aren't conducive to breastfeeding a wiggly 7 month old. So the search was on and we were directed towards some gross bathrooms and finally Guest Services and they told me to go to First Aid. I walked into that room and realized I asked for a "Nursing Station" and they most likely thought I was looking for a nurse, not TO nurse. Oh well, there was a spot behind a curtain next to the microwave for me to feed Elliott and it all worked out in the end. It was air conditioned and I had access to a bathroom without a line, so that was a perk too. I just wonder if this was indeed the official breastfeeding spot for mothers and their infants.

I was trying to find out what kind of facilities other stadiums may have and I only found this story about breastfeeding at Gillette Stadium. Reading it made me want to go back to Miller Park and breastfeed Elliott in our seats instead of wasting two or three innings trying to find a clean spot to feed him.

9 months on, 9 months off

I had high hopes of losing all the baby weight by breastfeeding at this point. Alas, hopes alone do not take off weight! I do understand that this will take time, but the longer I wait to be proactive about my weight loss, the more I fear that I will never lose it. Besides being active, I think my first step will be to write down what I am eating. I did Weight Watchers a couple months ago and lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks, but for some reason I gave up and have remained at 179 for about 2-3 months. I felt OK about myself, but then I saw this picture:

So here are my current stats and my first goal. I'm going to give myself small goals so they are more realistic and attainable.

Height: 5' 6 1/2"

Weight: 179

Size: Good question, but I think I'm a solid 12, sometimes 14

Just do it

Some days I just feel so overwhelmed with my lack of sleep and lack of motivation. I've been waiting until I could find the perfect topic for a blog post and then realized that I just need to do it. Don't wait for perfection to happen in parenting, my body or even a silly little blog post. I'm hoping that by taking one baby step towards being a productive person each day that I will start to see myself in a different light. So what did I do today?


I was quite pleased with myself when I made Elliott some homemade applesauce. Nothing crazy, just went to the store and bought some organic Gala apples, steamed them up and put them in the Magic Bullet for a nice puree. He liked it and I even have some for a freezer stash!

Me Time

The biggest challenge for me right now is having time for myself. I knew this might happen, but I always thought that this was something that weaker women ended up doing. Women that didn't put themselves first and let their children rule the roost. I find myself slowly becoming that very woman and that needs to change. While I think women like Ayelet Waldman might be taking it a bit too far, I also have the utmost respect and adoration of their commitment to themselves. So maybe my first challenge to reclaim "me" is to go out and get her book and actually read it. Reading used to be something that I loved and was one of the first things to go once Elliott was born. First it was because it took too much mental energy, but now I really don't know why I choose to watch "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" instead of using those precious hours to read. Maybe it's because I can't wait to see when Janice Dickinson finally has a bowel movement?

I used to be (fill in the blank)

I'm using this blog to chronicle the confusion, fears, inspiration and joy of becoming a mother. Now that my son is almost 7 months old I am starting to realize there is a pattern among many new moms. We are thrown into a new normal while desperately trying to maintain our sense of self. Kind of like a mid-life crisis, but without the convertible, hence "The Mommy Life Crisis".