Wagon Talk

Remember all that wagon talk from a couple of weeks ago? Well, I joined Weight Watchers. My mom and I have been going for almost two weeks now, and it's going pretty well.
I've done it in the past (about 4 years ago) and was successful. I always figured I could just do it on my own, but it never works for me. It's the accountability that I need. Knowing that I have to weigh in each week is huge motivation. My mom and I exchange delicious and healthy recipes and it's actually pretty fun to plan a meal. I do love to cook, and it's odd because I find I cook the "best" food while I'm watching my pudge.
My jeans are already fitting a little bit better and with my 10 year class reunion coming up, that's even more motivation.
My goal is to lose about 15 lbs. That would put me a bit lighter than I was before being pregnant, but I was working out like crazy then and was made of muscle. It's nuts to me that when I went back to work in April, I was smaller than I am now. Breastfeeding was good to me...stopping was not.  But no more excuses!!
Last time I did weight watchers, I had a little food blog that had about 4 views and 3 posts, but I am considering trying it out again and sharing my scale-friendly recipes. Would you check it out?

In other news, Charlotte is still giving me naptime grief, but does great for her grandmas. Whaa? Today she did go to sleep without a peep though, so hopefully we're getting over that stage. Sometimes I feel like she's not a little baby anymore. She's definitely not a toddler to me either, but she's like a baby tween. A boddler, maybe. I might have to come up with another tag other than sweet little munchkin baby. Maybe after her 1st birthday, I'll categorize it differently. I love how much fun she is lately, but when I hear and see news of friends becoming pregnant or delivering their baby...I get all misty and miss those newborn days ( a little ).
But no, it's not time for another one around these parts. Nosiree. I've been saying it out loud a little more often these days just to really reinforce it. For now. Baby fever is a virus that doesn't go away. My immunity is high at the moment. But as time goes by, I may get weaker. Oh! Perfect timing! Charlotte is shouting in her crib. Naptime over! Can't talk about little newborns! Gotta go! :)

O.M.Naps.

What in the WORLD happened to my good little sleeper? After all of tose sleep troubles, we finally got such a great sleeping baby. 2 (usually) long naps in the day and 12-13 hours at night without a peep.
This week, Charlotte has decided to cry for a good hour before napping. I've tried keeping her up a little bit longer thinking she might not be as tired, but then she cries and fusses when she's up. I've tried rocking her, and she throws herself out of my arms. The most she'd ever fuss would be maybe 5 minutes before falling asleep, but this 45-60 minute business is wearing me down!

We lowered her crib this week and I do wonder if that has anything to do with it. She's always sitting up and playing in her baby jail. She's always been just fine sleeping in her crib or pack n play. It's where she prefers to sleep. But now? Who knows.

Anyone else have sleep issues around 9 months with their kiddo?

My Sweet Little Charlotte

This little girl has been been making my heart melt into a big goopy puddle on a daily basis.



She is 9 months old and the most fun she's ever been.
She's crawling all over and experimenting with the steps. She wants to pull herself up but can't always make it all the way to her feet, so she "cruises" on her knees. It's adorable. (Well...I feel like everything she does is adorable at this point.)
Charlotte smiles at just about everyone and everything. She loves animals, especially Darby. And she finds it just as exciting to watch me play with Darby or other kids as it would be for me to play with her.
She loves every single food she's tried.
And lately she really likes to do eskimo kisses.
So since I have blogger's block, I will just share a few photos.

I've Fallen Off The Wagon

And I can't get up.

I feel like my life is in a state of chaos at the moment. I'm not talking about that "beautiful chaos" crap that having a child brings. I'm talking about "I just can't get my shit together" chaos.

Ive fallen off the eating right/fitness wagon that I was only on for a few weeks here and there. I have a random good day, but they're mostly filled with a donut hole, some cheez its, wine, and angry birds. It should be that I only have a random bad day. Time to switch it around.

I've fallen off "at least I'm attempting to stay on top of laundry and cleaning and cooking" wagon. I was never on that martha stewart freakishly tidy cute wagon. It's filled with a bunch of bitches and I want nothing to do with it.

I always brag about how I rarely get sick and should remember to stop myself from finishing the sentence because EVERY time within a week or so, I get a cold. So yes...I am getting a cold. It makes me crabby.

We joined our church almost 2 years ago, but haven't had a chance to get more involved, into a small group, etc...because I use my baby as an excuse. Even going to church on sunday has become so difficult because nearly every time we drop Charlotte off in nursery, I get paged at some point because she's so exhausted and doesn't have a place to sleep. (or the one time where they gave all the kids with teeth animal crackers and she didn't get one so she freaked the freak out!) Our services are at 8:30, 10 & 11:30. SURELY one of those times should work, right?! 8:30 would work if she slept until after 7:30, which does happen once in a while. By 9 am, this chick is ready for some zzz's. The nursery does have a pack in play, but it's in the area dividing the toddler room and the baby room. You think that's anywhere close to being a peaceful place to sleep? And on top of that, there are always 2-3 other kids that need a nap at the same time.
We've gone to 11:30 church, but since there is no service following, it goes reaaaalllly long and then we don't get home until ONE THIRTY. There goes Sunday!
My solution? Get a sitter on sunday morning to come to our house until she can stay awake a little longer in the morning. The hubs does not think this is the greatest solution, and thinks that we just need to keep experimenting. I'm all for testing the waters every few weeks or so to see what she can handle, but I just want some sort of routine on sundays and it simply doesn't exist.

In other non-whiney news, Charlotte is AWESOME. She had about 2 weeks of on and off crabby while a tooth was ready to break through, but now that it's through, she's SO happy. She's a fun little girl.

Okay. I'm not sure I'll have my crap together by my next post, but I'll work on it.
Adios for now!