Family Archives - Page 94 of 113

Feb 21, 2008

Exercise, Or How To Prove I No Longer Have The Knees Of A 21 Year Old

I’ve talked about food so far for Hot by BlogHer, and now it’s time to move on to exercise.

But wait! This just in! I said I’d get a button, and here it is:

(extra special warm & fuzzy thanks to Mother Bumper for her design!)

If you’re participating with me, feel free to snag the button and display it proudly on your blog.

So, back to exercise…

I hate exercise. Actually, that’s not true. I usually feel great after a workout, but it’s that whole getting my butt off the couch and starting part that I don’t like so much. And with kids, school, work, housework, and hey, is Ellen on TV right now? getting in the way, finding time to get up and move isn’t so easy. But part of loving myself is taking better care of myself, and exercise is a must for a healthy body.

Since I’m getting zero use out of our gym membership (note to self: cancel membership), I’m going back to the Workout: Home Edition model, aka workout DVDs. Less embarrassment that way, too – I don’t need skinny fitness models watching me while I try to work on my self-esteem as well as my abs.

I’ve done workout videos in the past, and I remember how boring they are. The moves are lame, the routines dull, and I feel pretty stupid doing arm circles and leg lifts to cheesy 80’s pop. I want something exciting. Something fun. Something that will make me feel like I might be learning something along with getting a great workout.

The search through the sea of fitness videos was long and painful:

Jane Fonda and her thong leotard – no thanks.

If there’s one thing that a platform you step up and down on will never be, it’s cool. Sorry, truth hurts.

I tried Tae Bo in the 90’s, and didn’t look good doing it then. I doubt I’d do any better ten years later. I can live with the knowledge that I will never be a kickboxer.

Walking three miles while never leaving your living room – that’s the definition of fun, isn’t it? It’s like walking outdoors, without the scenery.

I finally decided I wanted a dance video. After all, it worked so well for Lotus, it had to work for me! Learning a dance would be ~~exciting and fun~~ not boring, and I’d convince my body to participate because we’re not working out, we’re dancing and having FUN! See the difference? There were so many choices: salsa dance, dancin’ to the oldies, cardio dance, ballet, tap, bellydance, African dance, urban dance, and even country line dancing workouts. Oh and this one, too:

Uhm, no. Not yet. Let me get to the self-esteem part of my life change before we tackle striptease, OK?

I thought about it some more, and settled on this:

I love Bollywood movies, and I’ve had a few lessons in basic bellydance, too. And it fit my requirements: dance! fun! something I’m interested in! The reviews all said things like “oh, this video is a lot of fun, although it wasn’t as strenuous as I hoped it would be.” Perfect! Just what a woman who is getting back into exercise needs. (And Lotus, it doesn’t require shoes, either.)

So yesterday, while Mira napped, and Cordy was at preschool, I pulled the DVD out of the Amazon box, unwrapped it and popped it in the player, ready to sweat and have FUN! Hemalayaa stressed that this wasn’t a workout – this was play! (Like every other workout instructor, she was just a little too excited about exercising, er, playing.)

The workout started out with some quick moves, but I managed to keep up. Shimmy, shimmy, shimmy, hip rock, etc. She didn’t give me much time to figure out each new move, but I can do this, I thought. And look, they all have their hair down – they must not expect to sweat much. Haha – I can be so naive sometimes.

That was just the warm up. Then the dance moves started coming fast and furious: turn in a circle, shoulders bouncing (how do they do that?), now step-step-point, hop three times on one leg to the left and then the right, knees in and out, arms alternating left then right – would you give me the chance to catch up you crazy Bollywood freak!?!? And her favorite saying: don’t forget to SMILE!

I tried to smile. I tried to look beautiful with my exotic moves, exuding confidence and sensuality while shimmying and bouncing. But in reality I looked more like I was having a seizure.

I wanted to look like this:

(ooooh, they’re so cool they can dance on a moving train!)

But looked more like a dancer who was rejected from this:

(Have you been high today?)

I made it through 2/3 of the torture before I couldn’t handle it anymore. My knees were killing me and I couldn’t catch my breath. I skipped ahead to the cool down, then collapsed on the floor with my water bottle.

The cat had no sympathy. He thought I looked like a dork, too.

I’m not defeated, though. Hemalayaa will not get the best of me, and I’ll be back for more ~~humiliation~~ play. But maybe I need to take things slower? Start with something more my speed?

Wait. Advanced may be too much. Better start with the beginner.

Those of you who are with me on this journey, how are you getting your body moving? Remember, carrying laundry up and down the stairs doesn’t count.

Filed Under: clearly insane, me me me · Tagged: Hot by Blogher

Feb 20, 2008

And Now A Shameless Post Of Nothing But Photos Of My Kid

By Christina ·

Use the force, Mira

(holding daddy’s homemade lightsaber)

Couch nap

Top tooth

First tooth: 4 months old
Second tooth: 4 months, 1 week old
…and now third tooth: 8 months, 2 weeks – why so long between teeth?

Attack of the killer baby

So serious

It has recently occurred to me that Mira has yet to acquire a title, other than Mira (short for Miranda, for those who are new readers). Cordy was declared “Amazon Warrior Princess” long ago, and it still holds true. I’m wondering what title will be bestowed on Mira? “Eater of Worlds”? “World’s Most Serious Baby”? “Carpet Fuzz Connoisseur”?

Filed Under: Mira ·

Feb 12, 2008

The No Good, Very Bad Day

By Christina ·

So far today:

– I walked outside yesterday to get the mail and discovered a flat tire on the SUV. The tires are only two months old. Took the car in this morning, meaning I’m without a car for the day. I hope the leak can be plugged, because I really don’t want to buy another new tire.

– While getting Mira out of her crib for her overnight bottle, I notice my nightshirt is suddenly warm and wet. Then notice she’s wet. Then check and find the entire crib wet. Change the leaky diaper, her sleeper, the sheets, and my shirt before putting her back to bed. (No, she didn’t get a bath before I put her back to bed. Call me a bad mother all you want – at least I’m a bad mother who got a little bit of sleep.)

– Wake up again to find Aaron standing beside the bed telling me to go downstairs and watch Cordy because he can’t stand to be near her at the moment. Find out that she knocked his computer off the couch (while he was trying to get her to stop jumping on the couch), and now it won’t start up again.

– Aaron calls tech support, who walks him through dismantling half of the laptop to diagnose the problem. With every non-essential piece spread out across the table, we find out it still won’t work. The motherboard is possibly fried, and the in-home support tech may not be here until tomorrow.

– Cordy didn’t have school yesterday because of a teacher training day. Today?

Snow day. (You’d swear we lived in the south – this warrants a day off?) So no school again, and she’s starting to go manic. And I’m starting to consider if cocktails at noon is such a bad thing.

– Mira is also cutting one of her top teeth. She’s Cranky McCranker-Pants today. And she’s stepped up her attempts to eat all the paper, hair and carpet fuzz she can find.

– Just a few minutes ago, Cordy went up to her room to play, and I heard a *thunk*…*thunk* coming from her room. Walked in to find her in the glider, rocking it hard enough to slam it into the wall, forming a lovely dent in the wall. At least I caught her before it progressed to a full hole in the wall.

Can I get a break, please? Surely all of this is building up some good karma for something, right?

PS – It’s only 10:45 am.

Filed Under: Cordy, daily life, Mira, rant, snow ·

Feb 8, 2008

Haiku Friday: A Hair-Do

By Christina ·

Cordy’s new breakthrough:
Her hair is OK to touch
Without a meltdown

Rubber bands and bows –
Ringlets cascading downward
She looks so girly

Cordy’s sensory issue with her hair has been a problem for over a year. Those gorgeous curls are always begging for attention, yet any attempt to touch them is met with screams and wails. This is especially a problem for distant family and strangers, who seem to be drawn to those Shirley Temple ringlets with a burning desire to pull one of those little golden springs.

Every time we wash her hair is a battle. While she likes to splash and play in the bath, she despises water on her head. And combing out her curls takes an entire episode of Bunnytown, since we have to distract her with TV to even have a chance at getting a comb near her. Sure, she has pretty hair, however, you wouldn’t want to be the one to care for it.

But this week we were greeted with a surprise when she came home from school on Monday. The hair on either side of her face was pulled up and secured with a ponytail holder. She now asks for bows in her hair, too. Who is this child? Where did she come from, and why is she asking me for bows?

Her teacher told me she’s been slowly working with Cordy to reduce the sensitivity, and as a result she will let us pull her hair up. Amazing.

To play along for Haiku Friday, follow these steps:

1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. What’s a haiku, you ask? Click here.

2. Sign the Mister Linky below or at Jennifer’s blog with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your generic blog URL). If you need help with this, contact Jennifer or myself.

3. Pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button above.

Filed Under: Autism, Cordy, Haiku Fridays ·

Feb 7, 2008

A Turning Point

By Christina ·

Quick quiz: How many months pregnant was I in this picture?

4 months? 5 months? 6 months?

Nope, all wrong. The answer is: I’m 8 months postpartum.

(Did I just lose subscribers over that? I think I heard someone click that unsubscribe button. It’s OK, I understand. I’ll spare you from the belly shot without clothing. The stretch marks alone would scare the rest of you away.)

Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before making a change. And right now? This is me, hitting hard on the cold stone floor. And damn it hurts.

I know I said I wasn’t making any New Year’s Resolutions, and I’m not. But it’s time to admit that I’m really not happy with myself. I don’t like being overweight, I don’t like all of the extra curves on top of my curves, and I’m really sick of being asked, “So when are you due?”

I don’t always look like the picture above. I’m amazingly adept at sucking in my stomach and holding it all. day. long. But eventually I have to breathe, or I forget for a moment, and suddenly I look pregnant again. Even Spanx can’t hide it all.

Beyond the physical, my mental health is also suffering. I had depression when pregnant with Cordy, and I worried about developing PPD after Mira was born. I think I was too busy trying to deal with two kids early on to let myself feel down. Now I can feel the darkness quietly creeping in again, and I think it’s partially motivated by my unhappiness with my physical appearance.

So it’s time for a change, and that change can begin by asking myself: what do I really want? I want to be healthy, in body, mind and spirit. I want to eat better, get more exercise, and lose weight. I want to feel good about my body instead of ashamed of it.

And to be completely honest?

I want to be hot by BlogHer ’08.

OK, it’s a little shallow, I’ll admit. But I’ve been to the BlogHer conference twice now, and both times I felt like the “big girl” hanging out with all of the pretty girls. There’s a lot of gorgeous women in the blogging world.

This past year, I had an 8 week old excuse:

Mira’s first BlogHer, sleeping through the party

But the year before, there was no excuse:

BlogHer ’06: The year of the pasties

I wasn’t always this big. In fact, just five years ago I felt pretty good about how I looked. Amazing how having two kids and letting yourself go a little can wreck your appearance.

Our honeymoon: Florida, 2003

BlogHer ’08 is my goal date. I want to be hot by BlogHer ’08. And by “hot” I don’t necessarily mean skinny. Skinny isn’t going to happen – my body isn’t built that way. Instead, I’m setting realistic goals:

– I want to be at a healthier weight. I have no set number I must reach – that will only depress me. Instead, I’d like to see myself in a smaller clothing size (no particular size, just smaller), and not look like my uterus is currently under lease for another few months.

– I want to eat more natural foods, and less fat and fried foods. Mira has officially weaned as of this week, so cutting back on calories isn’t a bad thing. I can’t eat like a breastfeeding woman anymore. More fruits, veggies, and water, and more emphasis on portion control. I’m not giving up the foods I love, but I will remind myself that there is no threat to the world’s chocolate supply, so I don’t need to eat it like it’ll all disappear tomorrow.

– I want to enjoy exercise again. There was a time I actually liked exercising (or liked it as much as a sane person can really like exercise). I was happy to see the changes it caused and marveled at what my body could do. But I need to find a form of exercise I like enough to do more than once.

– I want to be satisfied with what I see in the mirror. This is quite an undertaking, because it will involve mental as well as physical change. I need to start working with my body instead of against it, thinking of it only as a shell I wish I didn’t have to lug around with me.

– I want to be happier with my life, giving off waves of self-confidence and satisfaction. While times are tough for us in some ways, I have a lot of good things happening right now. It’s time to focus on what makes me happy and not on the things I’m unhappy about but can’t change.

Yes, I know there are far better reasons to want to be healthier: living longer, setting a good example for my daughters, and a lowered risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. I want all of those, too, but it’s hard to get motivated by those long-term reasons.

But – hot by BlogHer? (I love that phrase. I swear I’m going to make a button for that.) That’s a goal in the near future I can work towards.

I’m ready. I’m motivated. I’m determined.

Can I do it?

I think I can.

(Anyone want to join me?)

Coming up soon: Specific plans, a full round of starting pictures, my past history with my weight, and detailing how I’m going to keep myself accountable by blogging.

UPDATE! We now have a button, thanks to the design mastery of Mother Bumper! Feel free to add it to your blog (but link back here so people know what you’re talking about, m’kay?).