Long Life Updates

Deck Photos

Chris lets me work on the computer (aka he sits with me while I type). This is great and something his sister would never do. In general things with him are going well. He eats at 10:30ish and we both get up at 3:00 (without an alarm!) to feed again. Sleep is at about 6.5 hours for me/night now which is enough that I function all day and only nap on weekends. He's SUCH a better eater than Nicole in general at this point which has made feeding him much more efficient/relaxing. He's got a set schedule now that we stick to and since it's 3 hour time increments it's even better.

Jenny J. lent me some books – a vampire series she’s a big fan of. I finished the first one in a few days and gave it a D which was very disappointing as I was looking forward to the books. It was the writing style that I didn’t like and the plot was only “eh”. However, I trust Jenny’s opinion so I started the second book. I’m only 100 pages in in 2 days and already it’s SO MUCH better. At this rate I will keep plowing through the series. I have to admit that I like Twilight's twist on vampirism better in general though...

In the 3.5 weeks I’ve been home with the kids only once have we not gone somewhere. Today I told Nicole we were going to pretend we were Kipps and go hiking in the nature preserve near our house. Chris slept most of the walk and Nicole wanted to be carried for about 40% of it but the hike was a success overall. :) Pictures for Ella:

Christopher enjoying the ride.

Girl after my own heart - a tree-hugger!

Stopping to smell the ... flowers.

While I was pregnant Martha asked me about any food cravings I was having. While I wouldn’t classify them as cravings, I found myself buying and eating sautéed mushrooms and orange bell peppers for the first time in my life (that I made at home, I’d eaten both before). These two have become somewhat staples in my diet now and I purchase at least one package of sliced mushrooms and one pepper a week. I’m the only one in the family who’ll eat either though, which is fine by me.

For Lisa: Here’s Nicole eating her first (technically second, this bowl is her second helping!) Skyline 3-way.

Truly a Cincinnati native

I’ve lost 26lbs. of the 50 (I know, I know…) that I gained with my pregnancy. This makes me very happy to have done in just four weeks but I’m very aware that 1) half of this was shed immediately between Chris himself and the water and 2) my sweet-tooth and pension for snacking on cupcakes and ice cream will limit me from maintaining this weight loss speed. Is it worth giving up/limiting sweets though… haven’t decided… I'm about half and half maternity clothes and non at this point.

2 more weeks and we go on vacation! 3 more weeks and I'm back to work!