2 Moms - It can be done!

Thank you

Thank you to those of you who gave me your opinion on the gym matter. I'm keeping the gym membership but not planning on taking Kylie. I plan on getting to the gym at least 3 times a week for some heavy cardio and resistance training.

I'll also continue my frequent walks with Kylie in her stroller. We have a lovely neighborhood for stroller walks, with a walking/biking trail just 1/2 a mile away. But I've found that even when I walk quickly with her, up hills and such and even with the extra resistance with the stroller, it's still not enough to get my heart rate in that zone where weight loss can occur. But the stroller walks are great for weight maintenance. I just need to do a little more to get some pounds off.

Karen and I do have a babysitter/nanny who comes for four hours twice a month. But we usually use that time as "date time" or to do appointments like getting our hair cut.

So it's going to be a challenge to get to the gym but Karen's going to help and I'll just suck it up and go at night like so many other people do.

Thanks again for your comments. It really helped me to hear from you.

And now here are a few pictures!

Catching up on Kylie's Milestones.
Her 12 month page for her baby book.

Here are links for the left page and the right page.
Her 13 month milestone page for her baby book.

Details are here.

Try again or pass for now

Well, I'm really not sure what to do.

I joined a gym this week in the hopes that I could leave Kylie in the gym's kids room while I get a quick workout. We went for the first time on Tuesday and Kylie made it around 30 minutes before having a meltdown. Today, I worked out for 40 minutes before I was paged. When I ran to the kids room I learned that she had been crying the entire time even though I asked to be paged immediately if she started crying.

The kids room staff seems nice enough. However, English is these ladies second language and when I try to ask questions like, "Did she play at all?" "Did the other kids scare her?" "Can I bring her some of her toys from home?" "Did you play with her?" all I get is a smiling shrug that says, "I only understand about half of what you are saying and please take this screaming baby away".

Kylie starts off well. When we arrive, I sit with her and we play with some toys and she gets completely engaged and pretty much ignores me. Then I get up and leave her and she's fine. I don't know what happens to set her off.

I have until tomorrow to decide whether I should keep the gym membership or not. I've been told (hopefully) that I can get a full refund if I want to but I have to let them know tomorrow.

Karen and I are going to talk about it tonight. There is always the option of me working out at night and then trying again in a month or so during the day with Kylie. But like most people, I'm wiped at the end of the day and I just want to either scrapbook or cuddle with Karen on the couch.

A part of me says to keep trying that I've not given her enough time to properly adjust. But it breaks my heart to see Kylie's face all swollen and red and hear her gasp for breath because she's been crying for so long. And she seems much fussier and clings to me more for the rest of the day after she's been so upset at the gym.

So what do you think? Should I
A. try again tomorrow and then decide.
B. keep taking her no matter what because eventually she will get the hang of it.
C. keep the gym membership and try with Kylie again in 1-2 months.
D. cancel the membership and find another way to get some exercise.
Thanks for thinking about it.

And now, here are a few pictures:

Kylie, all proud of herself because she squirmed away from me before I could finish dressing her after a diaper change. Little stinker!

A few photos

Here's the photo of the day:

Although these were fun too.
Blowing me raspberries. But check out that squat!

Are we drooling a little bit today? Check the chin.

And the scrapbook page I finished:

Milk, formula, bottles and sippy cups

Kylie has a bottle of formula first thing in the morning (this is her favorite bottle). She drinks whole milk from a sippy cup during her meals. She drinks water from a sippy cup throughout the day. She has occassional sips from a cup of watered-down apple juice that we keep in the fridge. And she drinks milk from her sippy cup at night. She still loves to drink a bottle of formula when she's in the car, particularly driving home from Gymboree. We are still using the ready-to-use Enfamil formula bottles and we use around two a day. Overall, I'm pleased with her progress.

How are you doing with this transition with your little ones?

Here is my May 11th picture of the day--Kylie eating jello.

And here is a scrapbook page I completed last night.

Photo a day in May

Jessica Sprauge inspired me by setting a goal to take a photo a day in May. Lots of her students joined in; you can see the gallery of photos here. I decided to play along and jazz my photos up a bit. I have them all in a designated Flickr album.