If you walk a baby around the house...

They will grow up to be just like you. This is a time honored family tradition from my mother's side of the family, the Glasgow clan of McDougal. It works too, and the Glasgows know it.  When I was brought home from the hospital, days old, my aunt was waiting on our front porch to ensure she would be the first to carry me around the outside of the house. This terrified my dad. He grabbed my carseat and ran around our home with me while my aunt shouted profanities at him.  Am I like him? Yep. Couch potato, TV addict, thick horrible eyebrows. My dad has a lot of passion, if he loves something he loves it 150% with his whole heart. Me too. He loves the Cardinals and I love Elvis.

If you are at a Glasgow family gathering and someone asks if your baby has been walked around the house yet, watch out. If you say no the baby is fought over and most likely whoever is holding the baby at the time will dart out the door and make a lap with the babe.

Pretty serious stuff. I can name a few testaments to support our claim of the walk-the-baby-around-the-house voodoo. I can remember clear as day, I was in junior high and my cousin Bentley was debuting his new little girl at a family gathering. Then the question was asked: who will walk her around the house? Of course there was no shortage of volunteers. Bentley was scanning the crowd with his eyes, then he said "Let Courtney do it" WHAT?!?! My little junior high soul knew it was a big deal. I went outside with her and my mom stayed close to make sure I didn't drop Abbi. I was proclaiming that she would be a talker, love to sing, and she would be a cheerleader too. It all came true. She can memorize any movie soundtrack just like me. Big personaity in a little girl, always make you laugh, talk your leg off, sweet Abbi!

 

Good choice, Ben!

 

My aunt Kay is infamous for being brutal about walking babies around the house. She walks your little darling around the house and you will catch that toddler fishing cigarette butts out of the ash tray pretending to smoke, and asking for a drink of beer on the river. That is what happened to her grandaugter Allison. Her poor daddy. :)

 

The list could go on and on. One walker/walkee both married one of their husbands twice, and lived in the same house with the twice over husband years apart. Both young mothers to two boys.  Coincidence? I think not!

 

Who walked my angel Georgia? My Aunt Diane. The sweetest lady I know. You wouldn't be able to find a person on this side of the Missisippi would could say a bad word about her. She's a lot like Josh. I knew for years that I wanted Aunt Diane to walk my first born. But I had to dodge that sneaky Aunt Kay! The day I was induced, Diane was in Fayetteville with her daughter, Charrae helping her move. I sent Charrae a warning text that she better send her mom home to walk Georgia around the house because if Kay beat her to it I was holding Charrae responsible! Diane met me at my house minutes after we arrived home from the hospital with Georgia.

My aunt Diane and Georgia Love the day they took their trip around the house, wearing coordinating black and white animal print outfits. The clothes were unplanned, they are just a couple of kindred walking around the house souls.

 

 When Georgia was refusing a bottle with all her might I asked "Why is she so stubborn?" To which my grandma replied "Oh Diane is the stubbornest kid I got!" Nobody warned me of that! But that is okay, because Georgia will also be the most generous, selfless, do-good-for-others-and-ask-nothing-in-return, crafty, loving woman. Just like our Diane! We will take a little stubborn if that comes with the package.

 

 

 

Even if you aren't a Glasgow and haven't been practicing these tradition for years back, it will still stop your heart when you are asked to walk a new life around the house.  This is Brenda and her great neice Pyper. Her neice and sister are part of the Glasgow tribe asked Brenda to do the honors. She didn't even fully understand the tradition, but she is moved to tears and prays for little Pyper's life while lapping the house. Gives me chills, and it should you too :)

 

The tradition has grown over the years to be practiced by family friends as well. Once you understand the magic, you will want in on it too. If you are ever asked to walk a precious bundle around the house, don't take it lightly.

 

Peace.Love.Glasgows.

 

 



 



Easy DIY Silhouette tutorial

This morning I posted a picture of Georgia on instagram and one of my sweet friends suggested it would make a great silhouette. So it got me in the crafting mood and a couple of hours and one naptime later, I have a sweet little silhouette hanging in my dining room.

Finished product

 

 

First I took a new picture of Georgia, as you couldn't see her nose profile in the original instagram photo.

 

 

 

It was somewhat tricky getting her to NOT look at the camera.  My trick: lay on my side beside her, hold a baby rattle between my toes and shake it out in front of her. Such a glamorous method.

 

 

Print photo in B&W, then trace outline of sweet baby's face with a pencil so that it is easier to cut.

 

 I held it up against a window to see the outline of her face easier while I was tracing.

 

 

Take your time and cut slowly. I decided to cut off her bow she was wearing, you couldn't make out what it was in silhouette form, made her look like she had a growth.

 

 

Scotch tape to a piece of cardstock or scrapbook paper. Be sure to tape with reverse side up.  I traced around the image with a permanent sharpie pen.

 

 

The outline is a little hard to see, but its there! Cut out again, carefully and slowly. This side will be the back of the finished product so that any visible marker lines are hidden.

 

 

I used some fabric I had in my stash (leftover from baby shower table runners) and put it inside an embroidery hoop I had on hand. You can buy these for a couple of dollars at WalMart or Hobby Lobby. Then turned my cut out silhouette right side up and again and scotch taped it to the fabric. I wanted to make sure I was happy with it before I attach it permanently, which I will do with a few dabs of hot glue.

 









 





 

Added a bow to Georgia's head, because it's kinda her trademark you never really see her with out one :) Hung it up and ta-da! Cost was free since I had all my supplies on hand.

 

 

 

Peace.Love.Silhouette.

Losing baby weight, the lazy girl way

Today I reached a milestone. I am officially baby weight free. Something I wasn't sure would happen. I've never been a great exerciser and I love to eat.  I set a goal to be back to my old weight in 7 months. This was a personal goal, I wasn't going to beat myself up if it didn't happen. I was reassuring myself with the motto "9 months on, 9 months off" I knew it wasn't realistic for me to be back to my old weight in 3 weeks. Just wasn't going to happen for this girl.

This is me the week I found out I was pregnant (3 weeks along) and 35 weeks later at 38 weeks pregnant.

 

First I would like to tell you how I gained 54 cute little pounds.  I snacked a lot while pregnant, on Debbie Cakes mainly.  I never had morning sickness but I was always hungry. Always. I would eat everything on my plate, plus seconds, plus whatever Josh didn't eat of his meal and look at him and say "I'm still hungry." Spent many a lunch at the Japanese restaurant, and drank a million gallons of chocolate milk. Often I would wake up in the middle of the night and feel like I hadn't seen food in weeks, and would fulfill my hunger with not so healthy foods. I did indulge more than I should have. Can't say I regret it, I had a great pregnancy. I also can't say I would do it the same way the next time around though. Once Josh gently encouraged me to eat more fruit. I bought an over ripe watermelon, sour grapes, and oranges with mold on them in the span of a week. Bad luck.  I called Josh and said "Have you ever ate a  rotten Debbie Cake?!?" Of course not, junk food it was then.

 

After I gave birth my appetite didn't disappear. Every time Georgia and I woke up to nurse, I still needed a snack. But I replaced my snack with cheese and crackers or granola bars. If the junk food isn't in my house, then I can't eat it. So we stopped buying it and it sucked pretty bad at first, but we have adjusted!  I also gave myself a free pass to eat 2 foods anytime I wanted a snack: salad or oatmeal. Oatmeal because it is supposed to be a lactogenic food (helps with milk supply) and I didn't add butter, but I really wanted too.

 

About 1/2 there!

 

 

Once I was "back on my feet" per say, I lost/fought off the urge to snack all the time. I started by no more snacks at night. Then during the day I can have 2 snacks, one between breakfast and lunch and another between lunch and dinner. I like to snack on granola bars (100 calories or less), pistachios, pretzels and peanut butter, cheese and crackers, or a small bowl of cereal.

 

Meals are harder to control when Josh is home. I love to put comfort food in his belly, so I cook a lot for us. I TRY, key word try, not to have seconds.  I rarely shed any lbs when he is home. But I try my hardest not to gain. When he is back at work again it is easier. I strive to eat a lean cuisine or weight watchers frozen dinner for either lunch or dinner. Most of the time I eat turkey or PB&J sandwiches with pretzels or pistachios (no chips!), cereal, chicken salad, tuna salad, egg sandwich on an English muffin. I don't count calories. I keep it simple: don't pig out and don't eat junk.

 

I bid farewell to my precious, precious chocolate milk. No more yoo-hoos or root beer either. Water, water, water. I keep juice in the fridge at all times and have it sometimes with a snack. But not with every meal. Probably one small glass of juice a day, one Starbucks Frappuccino for breakfast, and the rest of the time only water.  I splurge from time to time with iced caramel frappe from Mcdonald's, no whip cream and non-fat milk. I get my sweet tea fix from taking a sip of Josh's when we eat out. ONE SIP. Now that's not easy.

 

I wish I could say exercise played a role in my weight loss, but it really didn't. When it warmed up before the mosquitoes got bad here, I tried to walk at the park a few times. I'm making excuses here but it was hard to actually get any walking in. When you live in this small town, more socializing was done than calorie burning. I had to stop and chit chat a lot with people who hadn't met Georgia yet, other people would see me walking as they were driving by would pull over, and I would spend the next 30 minutes on a park bench visiting and not moving. Not a total loss though, those times were the first outings I had alone with Georgia. It felt great to get out of the house, big accomplishment!

 

Breastfeeding. Probably my "secret weapon" Nursing burns 200-500 calories a day all the while giving you baby the cream of the crop in nourishment. Win win situation if you ask me.

 

I weighed myself everyday, but didn't beat myself up about the numbers on the scale. It's just how I tracked my progress. And if I ate too crappy the numbers showed it, and motivated me to get back on track.

 

Will you see me in a bikini? Nope, probably never again. The weight is gone, but prebaby body is long gone too.  I'm not perfect, but that's okay. I would weigh 1000 pounds for the rest of my life it meant I got to experience pregnancy and have my sweet Georgia. I really have to credit my angel of a husband for always telling me I'm beautiful and really making me feel it.  I never felt pressure to look better for him, any confidence I have is because he builds me up and treats me exactly the same everyday no matter what the scale says. I value this tremendously because I don't want Georgia to hear me criticize my own body over and over. She will learn from me. So I love my body because it gave me Georgia.

The day I gave birth (cringe) And 6 months postpartum.

Happiest girls are the prettiest girls.

 

I have big dreams to become one of those people who love to work out. That's really a far stretch for me, but can't never could. Maybe someday I'll be blogging about my first 5k. You never know!

 

Peace.Love.Debbie Cakes. I really miss them.

Update! Georgia is 3 now. I've ran a half marathon, I'm a hot yoga instructor, and I love advocare! All of this from simply staying motivated and starting small. Kicking one habit at a time. Here are my personal results for the the advocare 24 day challenge. It enhanced my work out results and toned me up! 

 I actually exercised less on the challenge, and didn't run at all.  Abs really are made in the kitchen!   Check out the products. The 24 day challenge or ordering some spark is a great way to start! I had a sugary Starbucks frapp every single day for three years until I discovered spark. I quit Starbucks cold turkey and never even suffered! 

https://www.advocare.com/160419272

 

 

 

Hey there, me again!

Georgia is 6, almost 7, months old. What?!? Seriously, I can't wrap my brain around the fact that I'm not still pregnant.  SO much has happened during her little life. I have decided to blog first about one of the most significant. Her refusal to drink from a bottle. 

When I was pregnant I prayed and prayed that Georgia would be a good breastfeeder. Prayed hard. I worried about things that may interfere with her nursing, read anything I could get my hands on, and questioned all my certified lactation consultant friends at work. I have always hated to hear "I couldn't breastfeed" I didn't want that to be us. But what I found is usually the reason people "can't breastfeed" is lack of education about what problems can occur and how to fix them.

When I was told I would need to be induced because of hypertension, I instantly got scared Georgia might not be a strong feeder. I sent out a mass text and asked for prayers.  Georgia was born strong and healthy and we both figured out the breastfeeding thing pretty well if I do say so myself. Go us!

Then the time for my maternity leave to be over got closer and closer. I started pumping twice a day to build up a "milk stash" that Josh could feed her while I worked. We gave her a bottle for the first time, she hated it, but she drank 2 ounces. After that every other time we gave her a bottle she seemed to get a little better at it, more comfortable with it. Josh was ready for me to go to work and be super dad! 

And then...when she was around 9 weeks old she quit taking a binky. No more interest in it. I tried to get her to hang on to the binky habit because studies show it reduces the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and my new mom motto was "Safety first!" But G just wasn't having the binky anymore and I thought ok whatever one less thing to break her from later.  But about 2 weeks after I gave up the good fight with the binky, at 11 weeks old, she started refusing a bottle. HUH? I was always worried she would prefer a bottle to breastfeeding, causing my milk supply to decrease and dry up before I was ready for it to. Never did I ever think it would happen the other way around.  We started buying EVERY SINGLE bottle EVER manufactured on God's green earth. Nothing. It quickly turned into torture in Georgia's book if you tried the bottle. Oh and the advice you get... "Break her will" "If she gets hungry enough she will take it" NOT TRUE. We googled every piece of advice we could, tried every trick and it seemed hopeless.

My first night back to work I left and cried the whole way there, my baby probably wouldn't eat while I was gone.  I was right. A few hours into my shift Josh and Georgia had to come to the hospital and camp out so I could nurse her in between taking care of my patients and charting. Talk about multitasking. A few hours of this and Georgia fell asleep and Josh headed home with her, a 30 minute drive. At this time in Georgia's life she was sleeping through the night so we hoped she would sleep until I got home. 

She didn't.

I called Josh to check on them around 5 o'clock that morning and she was screaming so we really couldn't talk. I got home about 3 hours later to a devastated baby and heartbroken husband.  Georgia would scream with hunger, suck on Josh's arm, his shirt, anything but still refused to drink from a bottle. Sounds fun? Those people who told us to wait it out to break her will....I say this as nice as possible: Screw you.  Who wants to go through that? If you can handle it well good for you Almira Gulch, we aren't down with that.

 

Now in this horrible experience I did hear from a few women, probably 4 or 5, that had gone through the same thing. You know what they told me? They were never successful in the bottle battle either. Babies like Georgia are called "Boobie Monsters" Once in the middle of the night I forced my tired new mom eyes to stay open to read an article about this particular problem with tips for overcoming it. The article ended with the author saying none of the tips ever worked for her, but good luck anyway.  Really?!?

 

Now when Josh went back to work, I did keep trying. I used one of the most logical methods I had found. When G got hungry offer her the bottle, when she got hysterical, I would stop and console her. When she was calm and rooting around again, offer the bottle again, repeat. It ended with Georgia as a very angry fussy Boobie Monster and I had boobs so full and hard I am sure they would've qualified as shot puts. You think I had time to pump? Heck no the Boobie Monster wouldn't be put down at a time of such anguish. 

 

In the end, I worked one more shift at my beloved Women's Center job. Josh and Georgia just went to work with me that night. Good thing nobody needed CPR while I was breastfeeding. Now I am a stay at home mom, we have said eff you to all bottles and we are doing pretty good. I can't go anywhere without Georgia and we like it that way. 

 

And they all lived happily ever after.

 

Peace.Love.Boobie Monster.