The Shmidts: Roly polies and body image

Hi!
Welcome to the land of newborn land. Where one day you will get a great 6 hour stretch of sleep (are you kidding me?!!) and a sleeping newborn all day/night followed by another day of a little party animal who sleeps in 2.5 hour stretches and doesn't go to sleep until 10 pm.

You will feel like a firefighter who is on call as you go on a quick walk after feeding only to get a text from hubby:

Brandon: "He's crying...again."
Me: "Be there in 3 minutes."

And then when you think he will be awake, he sleeps for two hours. What to do? Hmm. Live in the moment and enjoy the little things. Like your girls who are able to entertain themselves with their "zoo" and who don't mind staying home for a little while.

Also, I found this great blog post on Healthy Tipping Post about post-mommy bodies.

I mean. Hello, 40-plus weeks later your still wearing maternity clothes, your boobs are huge and your still not "yourself."

I really haven't had serious struggles with how I look after baby. Maybe because I knew after two kids that you will still look at least 20 (on average) weeks pregnant. Or that I really couldn't hardcore exercise or diet with nursing.

However, I could see how someone could be somewhat overwhelmed or sensitive when their kids ask why the baby is still in their belly (true story). And pat their belly. Repeatedly.

At the hospital it was a little disconcerting as I thought I would be down a little less since I exercised up until the last day. However, the nurse said that the uterus has shrink from a watermelon to its normal size. And that takes a little while.

I remember stepping out of my hospital room on the second day to get my nurse and seeing the mom in the room next to me. She was really cute, had this cute robe and we both looked at each other and then our still somewhat larger bellies and I felt this weird kinship.

It happens to every mom. It was our badge of honor for delivering this amazing life into the world. And just that recognition made me feel a lot better. Brandon thinks it makes me feel bad when Ava is quick to interject to Charlotte, our niece, without prompting, "My mommy's belly is still shrinking! She had a baby."

Really. I am proud of the whole experience and try to keep focused on long term goals like running my first marathon with Brandon next year. :)

What are your long term goals?

The House that Brandon built
Hey, we also have been doing some house chores since we are home. Things like waterproofing the mailbox and our swing set, painting our outside lights, fertilizing the lawn, planting a garden and changing out the door handles from gold to silver. We also got new chairs and are looking at a rug for the living room and a pendant lamp for the kitchen table.

Here's how we did the light project outside. It turned out amazing and was $7.99 for the Rustoleum spray paint in true Young House Love style.

Since the light was hardwired, Brandon put cardboard around the lamp and took the lightbulb and glass panes out before spraying. He also washed the area and unscrewed the top of the lamp.

Homemade monkey bread from Cooking Light. This recipe uses half whole wheat flour and orange juice. It also uses half the butter. I really loved this recipe. However, it does take one hour for the dough to rise.