Pre-Baby Weight vs. Post-Baby Body

I've finally done it, I am back to my pre-baby weight! I gained a total of about 40 pounds during my pregnancy, and anywhere from 5-10 pounds from fertility drugs before I got pregnant... thank you clomid.

After I had Jackson, the first 20 pounds pretty much fell off. The next 10 pounds took a few weeks, and I lost another 5 when I came back to work. The last 5 were the hardest to shed, especially since I cannot diet or exercise (to lose weight) while I am still breast feeding. I'm good for about two days and then my supply plummets!

So here I am back to my pre-baby weight, but my body is different. My tummy is flat and I didn't get any stretch marks. But, my hips are much wider, so my old pants don't fit without a major muffin top! Before I got pregnant I was a 34B (okay probably closer to an 34A). Now I'm a 36D, not sure what they will shrivel back to after I stop nursing... but I'm enjoying them while I have them:) Before I was a size 2/4, now I'm comfortably a 6 (again to avoid the muffin top).

I wouldn't trade my muffin top in for the world, Jackson is worth every pound and I couldn't be happier with my mommy body! The real test will be keeping these 5 pounds off over the holidays:)

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Thankful Thursday

I've been so MIA from my little blog world, I don't even know where to begin to catch up! My sitter took a two week vacation and I have to say I have the best friends ever. Between Moon, my step dad and Aunt Stephanie - Jackson was VERY well taken care of while Christine was out.

We are so blessed and thankful to have these wonderful people in our lives. Aunt Stephanie came with her girls and spent a whole week at our house. The girls are beautiful and absolutely love Jackson (well at least one of them does). Our house was full of laughter and baby talk, and it was awesome! I hope we can return the favor in the near future:) To get a better appreciation of what Stephanie's week was like with three kids under two, you should check out her blog! I could seriously dedicate a whole blog to how amazing Stephanie is. We're forever friends and I don't know what I would do without her in my life. She has taught me so much about life and I admire her passion and love more than she'll ever know - even after reading this:)

It's hard for me to believe that next week is Thanksgiving and Christmas is just around the corner. I shed a little tear the other day. I still cannot believe that I am a mom. I am overwhelmed with joy for the blessing I have in my life! When life gets stressful it helps to take a step back and look at all that I have. Life is good, God is great!

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Jackson at 5 months

My baby boy is 5 months old today. Time is flying by and I seriously want it to slow down! I want Jackson to stay this "little" and cuddly forever. He is growing and getting more of a little personality everyday. Jackson has the best baby smell and has to be almost 20lbs now. He really is a happy boy and only cries when he's hungry and wanting to be held. Jackson loves to be walked around, which can make dinner and laundry a little difficult some nights:)

At 5 months Jackson:
Is sleeping through the night more often than not. He will occasionally wake-up for a 4am feeding. The humidifier is really helping him sleep.

Nurses 3-4 times a day and takes two 4oz breast milk bottles during the day with the sitter.

No longer uses the sleep positioner and he loves his mobile!

Rolls from his belly to his back and is trying so hard to go from his back to his belly.

Sucks, chews, pulls everything to his mouth and is such a drooler.

Still loves his play mat and is much more interactive with his "friends" and spends a lot of time in his exersaucer. Aunt Stephanie brought Jackson a door jumper, so we'll be using that too!

Bath time is our favorite time of the night. Our bedtime routine is still bath, boob, bed. As soon as Jackson hears the water running he gets so excited.

Stands and smiles so big! He'll also sit for a few seconds, but really prefers to stand.

Has rolls everywhere! He's such a fat boy:)

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A peak at me as a working momma

This blog has been primarily devoted to my life as a mommy (and my journey making me one), but being a mom is only half of me. I also work full-time at an advertising agency on the account service side of things. Coming back to work after having Jackson was hard, and I do miss him terribly during the day. But, I have a GREAT sitter that comes to my house everyday and she loves my son. When I am at home with Jackson I cherish every minute with him and have learned that listening to him babble is way more important than having a clean house. Now that I've been back to work for a few months we finally have a routine and Jackson is developing such a little personality.

I feel very blessed that I have been able to exclusively feed Jackson breast milk. I nurse when I am home and pump bottles for him while I'm at work. I nurse Jackson in the morning before I get ready for work. He goes back to sleep until 9-10 and has a bottle with the sitter. They play and hang out until Jackson takes a little nap around noon. He eats again around 2 and repeat - play, nap and wait for mommy and daddy to get home. I pump twice at work, around 10 and again around 2 so that I'm ready to nurse Jackson as soon as I get home from work. After he nurses, we hang out and play until 8. Then its bath, boob and to bed! I never knew how much "easier" life would be once we got Jackson on a routine. I wish I would have done this sooner!

Anyway, back to my work life... We have an office blog and I posted this last week and wanted to share it with you all. I find the video to be amazing, and you don't have to be in advertising to think so!

*For privacy I am not going to link this to our agency.
Quantifying social media's impact
I don’t know about the rest of you, but to me, change can often feel quite uncomfortable. To a creature of habit, such as myself, a change in something as seemingly trivial as my morning routine tends to throw off my entire day. And with a new baby in my home, all bets are off.

As fast as my life changes every day, I feel like the way we communicate is changing even faster. My 4-month-old son “knows” his grandpa as the face displayed on my laptop during bath time Skype sessions. My friends and family now keep up-to-date by visiting the family blog rather than by picking up a phone. I get diaper coupons through my Facebook page instead of via snail mail. I read product reviews not on the actual product’s webpage but on personal websites.

So when I viewed the following YouTube video while sitting in a client meeting, I can’t say I was terribly surprised by the statistics. It only leaves me with one question: Are you up for the challenge of change?

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Happy Halloween

Our Halloween weekend couldn't have been any better! The weather here is absolutely indescribable and our not so little man is a ball of laughter and babbles that lights up the room. Jackson was too excited to take his afternoon nap on Saturday, so he was a little cranky Captain Jack... good thing he's so cute anyway:)

Our little ghost

Tomorrow is what?!? Halloween!!!

Mr. Big Stuff


Look who decided to sit up all by himself!


Captain "Jack"son Sparrows

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