Date Night

Date Night.

Seems like a distant memory after having a baby.
Cam and I are lucky enough, however, to have parents who will drive the hour to baby-sit for a few hours. It definitely feels good to get out together, even though I'm thinking about what Little D's doing the whole time I'm away from him. I don't think I'll have just anyone baby-sitting him for a long time, so we definitely appreciate the nanny's coming over!

We were able to sneak away for a few hours and have dinner and a movie. We were only planning on seeing a movie and just getting a snack, but after stepping out of the car and smelling that yummy Red Robin food we caved.

I got to pick the movie and I'd been dying to see Identity Thief. Very funny!
But, I was disturbed with how many children were in the theater. Once we found our seats, I started looking around and noticed all the kids with their "parents." I say "parents" because the movie is rated R and I think it's ridiculous the lack of parenting nowadays. The movie was very funny and very inappropriate for young kids.

There's a rating for a reason people!

You better believe that Baby Duncan will be seeing movies that coincide with his age.

Baboosh Baby

One of the weird products I tried after having Baby D is a belly wrap called Baboosh Baby. It's a Brooke Burke product and if you don't know who she is (co-host of Dancing with the Stars) you should look her up because she's gorgeous! She still uses the wrap when working out!

It's made to tighten the loose skin around the middle after giving birth. I stated in one of my other posts that I didn't get it until a week or 2 after having baby and I didn't wear it the full 40 days that you're supposed to.

New plan.

I will be re-starting those 40 days tomorrow. After I have Cam measure my middle, I will keep posting my, hopefully, progress. You see, I've often had a hate-hate relationship with the scale. (Funnily enough the only time I didn't was when I was pregnant and then right after). A lot of the time I can see my waist shrinking and my clothes fitting better, but that damn scale won't change much. It's very off-putting.

Also, tomorrow starts week 4 of my couch-to-5k program. It's about to start getting intense with less walking and more constant running. This week I also hope to incorporate my NYC Ballet Workout DVD that I haven't had a chance to start yet. I'm hoping it will add the strength and core training that I need to balance all the cardio I'm doing.

Anyone have any good breathing tips?! Having asthma (although very controlled) sometimes causes problems with my running. I'm usually ok until I start thinking about my breathing and then I almost have a panic attack, so any tips would be appreciated!

Run Forest Run

I never thought that running would make me feel so good!

The plan I've been doing (couch to 5k) is super easy and makes the 30 minutes required fly by and before I know it it's cool down time. I'm on week 3 and yesterday I got my best time/stride!

 I never thought I would be a runner. I'm not where I would like to be yet, but I know (especially with this program) that I will be. It's my time to have some thoughts to myself without wondering when the baby will wake up or having to do anything else around the house.

Mack is doing well. No more episodes, thank God!

Baby Duncan and I were playing peek-a-boo yesterday and he was loving it so much and smiling and laughing. What did I do? Start crying like a maniac...are the hormones still pumping through me? I hope so, otherwise I'm just a crazy person!!

Any moms out there have any tips for getting rid of the pooch?! I feel like I'm working really hard with running and trying to eat better and not much is going on in that area. I have this thing called a Baboosh. It's a stomach wrap that you're supposed to wear for 40 days straight right after giving birth. Well, I ordered my late and didn't get it until a week or 2 after I had Baby D, but I was good about wearing it regularly (even while sleeping).

It's a Brooke Burke product and obviously she looks amazing. It actually worked in tightening my skin and reducing my stretch marks. The only things I didn't like about it was that you could definitely see it under clothing so I only wanted to wear it while home and it was uncomfortable to sleep in. I have to keep up with wearing it (I've been bad about putting it on lately) because I'm sure it couldn't hurt now that the 40 days are over.

I always have so many things I want to write down and remember to blog about and then by the time I have a moment to type or I'm not too tired to stay awake and type, I forget everything haha.

I've been doing a lot more good cooking! Each week I'm cooking from a different cook book of mine (I have so many and feel I never use them) and this week is German and Polish themed. I've already made 2 Polish dishes, Chicken Bitki and Flounder in Polish Sauce. Both turned out really yummy! The chicken bitki, though, was really good. It's almost like a chicken meatball, but rolled out long and with a side of pickled beets (yes, pickled beets, try them, they're amazing) the dish was awesome!

Tomorrow night will be German themed. Sauerbraten that has been marinading for 2 days now!
Speaking of German...I'm back on the Rosetta Stone wagon. I have just enough time on the weekends to get a whole lesson done. I hope to be able to speak it somewhat by the time we go to Disney!

And lastly, the baby room is coming right along. We've had contractors here working (part of the reason baby isn't sleeping during the day) and the floor is finished and so is the ceiling! Next up, the walls! Baby should be in his own room by the time he's 12...haha just kidding!

Valentine's Day

Honestly, I think Valentine's Day is just a Hallmark holiday, but none the less we all participate in it. This year, with the new baby, romance and alone time is slime to none. I saw an idea on Pinterest and so far it's been a hit. I write and leave little notes to Cam everyday with silly/clever love sayings (example: It's o-fish-al that you're the best husband on a bag of gold fish). He's really liking it and I think appreciating it too!

I went a little crazy and bought a bunch of Valentine's outfits for Baby Duncan so he'll be sporting them all month until the big day. I finally got him talking up a storm today. He loves looking at the mobile in his crib and I ran and got my camera really quick and got him smiling and talking. It's over 6 minutes long so I didn't want to bore everyone on Facebook with it, but it's really cute and I can't wait to show Cam.

I sat down to write this blog (by the way, it seemed like every time I did sit down to write it he woke up or started fussing while sitting next to me...guess he didn't want me to write this one haha) and Baby D was playing on his mat and he almost rolled over! I ran for the camera (it will now be with me wherever I go so I don't miss anything now) and got him almost rolling over! He's not quite there, but it should be sooooooon!! I can't believe how big he's getting!

We are supposed to be getting a bad winter storm this weekend. So far it's rained, snowed a little, and rained some more. Nothing has accumulated on the ground yet, but I'm hearing that it's going to be really bad. I won't be going anywhere, but it's Cam's drill weekend with the Army so he'll be driving in it tomorrow. The weather today has hindered my work out. Today's a run day and that's not going to happen...

I also woke up to a huge scare. After feeding baby and going back to sleep I kept hearing this weird noise coming from under the bed, but I kept ignoring it because I was up a bunch of times throughout the night trying to get baby back to sleep and I was exhausted. The third time the noise woke me up I listened for a couple seconds and realized that Mack was under the bed and it was him making the sound. It sounded like he was stomping his feet and the first thing I thought was that there was an animal he was trying to get. But, he wasn't barking or growling so it had to be something else.

I finally got out of bed and turned on the flashlight app on my phone to look under the bed. There was Mack. He had crazy eyes and was just looking around like he didn't know where he was. I called to him to come out and he struggled. He was flopping around and not able to completely straighten his legs. He managed to get into his crate and just fell down and his head was bobbing around. I really started to get scared. It definitely looked like something was wrong.

I called Cam, who was already at work, and he said to call the emergency vet (it was only 6:30am). In the time that I told the girl what was wrong with Mack, the garbage truck pulled around the block and Mack got up as if nothing happened and went to check out the noise. Seriously?! He scared the crap out of me. I have NO idea what was wrong, but he seems to be completely normal now. Anyone ever have this happen to your dog??

Work it Out

It was so nice when after Baby D was born I lost 30 pounds. Even better that I only gained 15! Well, in the beginning I gained 25 and ended up losing 10 lbs toward the end. because of being so sick and not eating very much and then that carried over to after he was born.

But as it always goes, the weight has packed back on and this disgusting pooch has formed below my bellybutton. Being a new mom and trying to get things done around the house doesn't leave much time to eat healthy and exercise. It's too cold to take the baby out with me so I have to wait until Cam is home to watch him.

Luckily, Cam is home before dark and I am able to get outside and run. I started the Couch to 5K program and there's this great app on my phone that a voice tells you when to walk and when to run and it links your music to it. It starts out only 3 days a week and you go from there. (couch-to-5k app by active.com) I love it and I feel amazing when I'm done. It's such a great time for me to just have a minute to myself while Cam bonds with his son.

Eating right has always been a hard time for me. I've done every diet under the sun and struggled with my weight for years. I've had major ups and downs. Hardcore diet programs, diet pills, an eating disorder, too much partying in college, etc. I hate depriving myself and it usually causes a whole mess of problems with overeating because I'm starving.

I now am watching what I'm eating and keeping track of calories on my phone. (my fitness pal) It's sometimes a pain, but definitely helps in keeping me in check of what I'm eating. I'm just hoping to get back into shape where I can be proud and feel comfortable in my own skin. Right now I just feel unattractive (even though Cam always tells me how beautiful I am) and just not liking my post-baby body. I'm hoping that by setting a goal to lose a little by Duncan's christening will help the process. I will be no where near done, but it's a start.

Baby Duncan

I can't believe that Baby Duncan is 2 months old already!

He has grown and matured so much in such a short period of time. He can now hold his head up, almost sit up on his own, push down on his legs when he's standing, almost do a push up, and scoot around his crib.

He's smiling like crazy and starting to mimic noises that we make. His favorite is a purrr sound and clicking of the tongue. He laughs and smiles when I sing "Put on a Happy Face" and he's starting to enjoy "Patty Cake", "Wheels on the Bus", and "Peek-a-Boo"!! It's so amazing to see him smile and more amazing that I'm causing him to do it.

When he wakes up we say "Good Morning" and he gets the biggest grin on his face. I usually cry as soon as he flashes that gummy smile at me. He probably thinks I'm nuts.  He smiles at "I Love You" and when I try to get him to say "Mom Mom Mom"! He talks up a storm on the changing table. I can't wait to be able to understand him.

He is starting to be aware of so much and things that bothered him before he doesn't mind anymore.
Like bath time. Where he used to scream as soon as his clothes came off until he was completely dressed again, he now might cry for a second until he's in the water and then a little bit until he's dry in the towel. It's just so amazing to see how smart he's getting.

Mack is doing well adjusting to the new baby. He used to cry whenever the baby did and now he just looks at him and will lick his hand. Mack doesn't get much play time anymore and thank God we have the invisible fence so he's able to play outside and do his business without having to wait. I am so excited for spring and summer and then Mack can play outside and I can bring the baby out as well.

I am very thankful to my Mom for coming over almost once a week so I can get things done and to my mother-in-law and her gf for baby-sitting while Cam and I have some alone time! I'm also very thankful of the hours that Cam is working where he's home by 3pm. I am lucky to be able to stay home with my precious boy and have such a hard-working husband who is helping make that happen.

I'm also very lucky that Baby D sleeps through the night. Sometimes 10 hours! There's been days where he's sleeping so long that I think about waking him up because I'm so bored (but I don't!!). He does spend a lot more time awake and we play and laugh and he helps me cook dinner!

I'm looking forward to the upcoming milestones. Up next...Crawling. My little man will be Baptised in less than a month and I can't wait for all his family and friends (that haven't already) to meet him!

My Tiny Love

I knew I always wanted to be a mom and heard that there was nothing like seeing your baby for the first time and feeling that undeniable love, but it's nothing compared to when it actually happens.

It took over 4 years for me to finally meet the love of my life. Over 2 years trying on our own and another year through grueling fertility treatment including daily injections, weekly blood work, and sometimes twice a week trips to the hour away doctor's office. The first IUI did not work. Probably one of the worst feelings after thinking we were expecting. But, after the second IUI and hearing that we would finally be parents definitely made up for it.

Almost 10 months later our baby boy was born! I'd love to say that it was an easy pregnancy and that I lived it up and ate whatever I wanted and everything was great.

NOPE!

I found out I was pregnant at around 3 weeks. I took the call at work and of course then everyone there knew, most before Cameron. (Oops) We then told only our parents and the grandparents. Things were pretty good. Not too much nausea and we already had ultrasounds because of the fertility they check every week! Which means ultrasounds from the yolk sac to 20 weeks!

Then came one of the worst days of my life. The night before Easter I was doing laundry. It was about 8:30 at night. As I was walking upstairs I felt like something was wrong. Then I went to the bathroom...I felt like I was going to die. There was blood. A lot of blood. Cam was working at hour away (he never worked weekends but picked up an extra shift that weekend). I called him, but he could barely understand me through the screaming and crying. When I could finally calm down enough to let him know what was going on, he told me to drive to the ER. I was scared. I didn't want to go and possibly get the worst news. He said that if I didn't go he would call 911 and send and ambulance. I didn't want that so I went.

I can still picture that whole night and feel what I felt at the time. I was shaking the whole ride there. After hours of testing and ultrasounds, I was discharged. My baby was still in there despite the bleeding and I wouldn't find out that it was the discharge of the 3 other eggs I ovulated until a couple weeks later. The ER told me it was freak bleeding. Thanks.

Thankfully that was the only real scare I had with him. I was told to take it easy and thankfully I had told my bosses and they were very supportive and understanding. Things were good then after that.

Until the last couple of months...

I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I had horrible migraines, I was throwing up everything and throwing up nothing. Every part of my body was sore and I was miserable.  I spent my days at work and when I wasn't at work I was either sleeping (trying to sleep) or laying on the couch with Mack and Cam trying to stay comfortable. The worst came right before our vacation to Arizona. I ended up getting bronchitis and that's when I really got sick. Taking showers became my best friend. It was the only place I felt comfortable. I cranked the water to hot hot hot and if I needed to throw up it wasn't a big deal. Most days if I kept down a bowl of rice it was a good day.

A week before Baby D was born I started having pains and spotting. I ended up being admitted after work to make sure everything was ok and it was. The next day I left work early for the same reasons and after that decided that it would be my last day of work. (I had planned to work until my water broke but it was getting too stressful). The next Monday I woke up around 6am. Cam just started him 2 week vacation from work because I was due that weekend. I went upstairs and logged onto facebook and posted about how I just wanted him to be here and everyone told me it was too early and to keep dreaming.

6:30 my water broke. I woke up Cam and we got ready to go. The contractions started within 15 minutes and they were horrible. We called the doctor and were on our way to the hospital. We got there around 7:15 and were admitted. I was in a lot of pain at this point and all I wanted was that darn epidural! They said as soon as the iv fluids were in my body and I got to my room. It seemed like an eternity until that happened. I met with the anaesthesiologist and then it was finally time for the epidural. I leaned forward on Cam and rounded my back and it was over, didn't even feel it.

After that I felt amazing!! Cam and I took a nap, we had some family members visit, and then it was time to push. Like I said before, I felt amazing. I didn't feel a thing. Baby came down really quickly and I needed oxygen, but other than that it was a piece of cake. (He owed me after those last few months of sickness, right?!)

Then, he was here. Duncan Cameron MacQueen V
 Monday, November 26, 2012 1:07pm 7 lbs 14 oz 20.5 inches

I heard him cry and they put him on my chest. He was slimy and gooey. He was perfect. People can tell you the feeling, but you will never know it until it happens. I was in love. In the next couple days and weeks we learned so much so quickly. I've worked in a daycare, baby-sat, and been a personal nanny, but nothing can compare you for having an infant 24/7. I'm not going to lie, it was a struggle at first. Being sleep deprived and not really knowing what you're doing definitely took a toll. Thank God Cam was home with me for 2 full weeks!

It's been 10 weeks since my baby boy was born and we've learned a lot. It's amazing how much he's grown already and how fast he's becoming a little person with likes and dislikes and his personality is developing. I love each day that I spend with him and see him change.

I'll be blogging more about the journey we've gone through with him and the adventures that we will have!

It's Been Almost a Year

Well hello there!

It's been almost a year since I've blogged and I thought I would get back into the swing of things.

A LOT has happened in that year...

• I found out that I was pregnant last March. We waited over 3 years to hear that amazing news and we couldn't have been happier. I continued my work at LVDI and I was so blessed to have worked with such amazing women who helped me through the highs and lows of my first pregnancy. Everyone was so supportive and helpful to me!

• Cam and I used our Disney timeshare and vacationed to Hilton Head, South Carolina last May. We had a really nice, relaxing vacation and enjoyed the beach and time at the pools!

• September, we had our last hurrah before the baby with Cam's mom, her girlfriend, Meg, and their friend Cindy. We all flew to Arizona for a week and we were busy busy busy sightseeing. Some days I thought I was going to die from all the walking and exploring. I think Cam forgot the fact that I was 8 months pregnant at times. But, I kept up with everyone!! Arizona is a beautiful state and Cam and I often talk about, if we ever sell our house, moving there.

• That's another development. We decided to try and sell our house. After 7 months of people coming through and lowering the price a ton, we decided to postpone selling for the time being with having a new baby and the stress of it all.

I'm sure many other things happened in the year that I've been MIA from blogging. None as important as the new love of my life. My baby boy. But he deserves a whole blog of his own, don't you think?!