Kellybeans!

Hi!  Might I interest you in some more photos of my cute new haircut?  Oh, you saw it already?

Ok… how about some pics of my kid?  Oh, you’re so over mommybloggers, hmm? 

Well, um… how about…  um… hmmmm.

Oh, Thin Thursday!  You’re interested in finding out how much weight I lost this week.  Can’t we just talk about that another time?  I’m so busy right now and have so much to DO and I’m occupied with creating fat free meals with organic food and working out like 5 times a dayyyyy.

Ok, so you know I’m lying.  And you’ve probably realized that I am trying to deflect your attention from the fact that it’s Thursday and that means I need to share my current weight loss for the week.

Um.  One problem with that. 

There wasn’t any weight loss this week.

But wait!  Don’t leave!  I can EXPLAIN!  It’s all because of my kid.  First, I got chubby when I was pregnant with him.  Then I stayed chubby because every waking moment went toward his care and there was no time for exercise… just cookies.  Lots of cookies.  And then, AGAIN THANKS TO THE KID, I had to partake in Mother’s Day festivities that included a fabulous meal at my favorite steakhouse and a barbeque with my mom on Sunday.  If I wasn’t a mother, there’d be no need to have all the dinners and celebrations.  SEE?  TOTALLY AIDEN”S FAULT.

So yeah.  I didn’t lose any weight this week.  I didn’t gain anything either.  There might be a few of you who might be thinking, ‘Gee, she just chopped off about a pound of hair, so she probably gained weight but the hair loss makes it all come out even.’  To you I say SHUT UP AND STOP GETTING ALL MATH-Y ON ME!

Sigh.  I promise that I am back on the wagon and will show some kind of weight loss next week.  I hope.  No, no.  Positive thinking.  I WILL!  And if I don’t, I have that lovely swimsuit photograph to look forward to in a few weeks.  That whole, “Hai!  I’m Kelly’s cute hair!  I am flippy and sassy and fun!” will pale in comparison to “HAI.  WE ARE KELLY’S THIGHS AND WE ARE TAKING OVER THE WORLD. NOM NOM NOM.”

So that’s that.  And here are the stats, which by the way are not nearly as fun to type out when you haven’t lost weight.

Starting weight:  146

Last week’s weight: 140.5

Current weight:  140.5

Weight loss this week:  0 (booooooo)

Total pounds lost: 5.5

So how are my other Thin Thursday girls  doing?  Chime in with yor progress, and PUT ME TO SHAME!

No one can ever claim that I don’t have some big ol’ balls.

Here’s the new look! 

Though I can’t get over the feeling of NAKEDNESS (my modest little neck has never been exposed like this) my overall feeling:  me likey.

It’s fun, different, and so damn easy to style.  Yay for change!

Ok.  I need a haircut.  I thought I was going to like having super-long hair, but I’m sort of underwhelmed.  Especially since I saw pics of myself from Mother’s Day.  Can you say “shaggy dog?”  That’d be me.

I have an appointment to get my hair cut this Wednesday, but I have no idea what to tell the stylist.  Complicating matters is that I have an upcoming screen test (squee!!) for a freelance news anchoring job.  I don’t want to look bad for that, with some shitty new haircut.  But anything would be better than the mop of hair I am currently sporting.

I’d also looooove to try something new.   Here’s what you should know:  for the past 10 years, I’ve had virtually the same haircut.  Sure, it was sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.  But essentially it hasn’t changed.  And I am boooorrrreeedddd. 

Me, just recently.

Me, last fall.  I should note this was right after a haircut and I was not able to make the bangs look this good on my own.

Unfortunately, the wait list to do Whoorl’s Hair Thursday is probably a gazillion years long.  And I only have until Wednesday to make a decision.  Here’s where you come in.  I need you to help me decide!

FACTS:

• My hair is super duper THICK.  I mean really thick. 
• It’s basically straight, but if I let it air dry there are some funky looking waves in it that I hate.
• I have a roundish face. 
• I’ve never had a short haircut, even though I would love to see what I look like with one.  I’ve always been too scared, especially because of the round face issue.   

Here are your options:

Option 1: The Pob.  Even though it’s so 2007, I still think it would be fun to try this cut. I might opt for just a little longer hair in the front.

Option B:  Less is Moore. I love, love, love this hair.  But would it look good on me?  I have no idea.  And I’m terrified to try.  But if you all think it might look cool, then I’d go for it, for better or for worse.

Option C: The Jessica.  This style is most similar to the look I’ve had during my years of TV news.  I like the blunt cut on the ends, and the bangs are cute.  I put this as an option because I like it, and you can’t deny tried-and-true.  Even if it bores the crap out of me sometimes.

Option D:  The Aniston Bob.  I like the blunt cut, and the smoothness.  Sort of boring and predictable, but it would be a cute change without going all crazy with the Pob or the super short Mandy Moore style.

 Option E:  Tiffani-Amber with bangs.  I am sort of MEH about bangs, but these are cute.  And maybe if I got bangs and some layers I could make my long hair look better-styled.  Not too sure how my round lil face would look with bangs though.

So, VOTE!  And a special note to you who just lurk here and never comment… my stats say hundreds of people visit each day, so I know you are out there!  Do me a favor and just click on the poll to vote.  And if you are feeling really nice, leave a comment!

Click below to vote (the damn widget isn’t posting properly)  Thanks!

Pick Your Favorite Haircut for Kelly!
( surveys)

I still haven’t been able to identify any clear “first word” for Aiden.  Sure, he babbles his cute little butt off.  He’ll chant “mama” and “dada” non-stop, but I don’t think he’s truly referencing Jason or me.  Sometimes, by coincidence, it seems he’ll say mama while looking in my direction and O! The Rejoicing!  You’d have thought the kid had just won the Nobel Peace Prize for all the clapping and smiling and “What a smart boy!” complimenting that occurs.

He’ll also mimick our sounds.  If I read him his favorite book, Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs, he makes “duh, duh, duh” sounds the whole time.  If I say, “Mama” and point to myself, he’ll say “Meh.”  He’s well on his way to actually speaking, but there’s one thing (actually, two things) that gets in the way.

His pointer fingers.  This boy loves to point and grunt.  If I’m getting a glass of water and he wants some, he’ll say “eh” and point at the glass.  He is always pointing to things to make us notice whatever he’s focusing on.  We, of course, always name the object, and hope that it’ll sink in.

(By the way, he’s always pointing to his… um.. twig and berries.  He’s already obsessed with his own junk, and isn’t that just so classically male?  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to say, “P@ni$.  Yes, that’s your P@ni$.”)  (And let’s hope that clever spelling keeps the pervs away from this site, shall we?)  (I’m apparently happy to have people come here in droves to view my half naked pregnancy body and cookie porn and tales of waxing woes, but no P@ni$ allowed.)  (It’s my party and I’ll invite P@ni$ if I want to.)

And, damn, can I overuse parentheses or what?  Exhibit A: the above paragraph.  Moving on….

I was wondering if any of the pointing on Aiden’s part, and labeling on our part, was actually paying off.  So I tested him out to see if anything is actually sticking with him.  And guess what?  Have genius child.  Is gifted.  Send Harvard scholarship now!

I say the name of the object, and he will look and point to the object I named.  Here’s what he knows so far:

Dog

Cup

Light

Clock

Ball

Nose

A-I-D-E-N  (his wall letters… he loves when we spell his name for him)

There are other items that he only gets right some of the time, too. I am probably way too excited about this, but it is just so much fun to realize that what we are saying to him every day?  Is actually making sense to him!  And I bet it won’t be long before he starts telling us exactly what’s on his mind.

I was a wee bit nervous about this week’s weigh-in.  Sure, I’ve been following WW and sticking to my diet.  I worked out nearly every day this week.  But I know that I don’t have a lot of weight to lose, so the pounds may come off slowly.

Last night, I said to Jason: “I have a feeling I won’t lose anything this week. And if that happens, I’ll feel like a failure.”

You see, I really want to post a weight loss here every Thursday.  I may not “know” you guys personally, but in some odd way I want you to be proud of me.  I don’t want someone to come here and read that I haven’t lost anything and feel disappointed in my efforts to actually DO THIS!

Fortunately, I needn’t have worried.  Here’s my stats for Week Two:

Starting weight:  146

Last week’s weight: 142.5

Current weight:  140.5

Weight loss this week:  2.0 pounds

Total pounds lost: 5.5

Yay!  Whew!  I can relax now… well, not too much.  I’m giving myself the day off from working out as a reward, and jumping right back into it tomorrow.  I can’t wait for next week, because I would love to see myself back in the 130’s again! 

I’m loving my group of WW buddies that Janet set up.  We are holding each other accountable and it is so nice to know that other people are going through the same things to try and get healthier and “thinny.”

So, fellow Thin Thursday peeps… how are you doing?  Post your updates in the comments or on the Thin Thursday page. 

See ya next time!

I’ve been looking around outside for the past 15 minutes, trying to spot the pigs flying through the air.

My son has gone to sleep on his own for two naps today.  One minute he’s awake and bouncing, next minute he’s curled up in his crib sleeping.

This is nothing short of a miracle.  Aiden has been the type of kid who needs a lot of help to fall asleep.  Most of the time, he will not go to sleep unless you are holding him and nurse him (or if I’m not there, someone gives him a bottle).  He always falls asleep eating.

Now, I know that is not the ideal way to get your child to go to sleep.  Unfortunately, every time I tried to put him in his bed while he was still awake, the proverbial shit hit the fan.  Splattered all over.  While the fan was going at HIGH speed.  You get the idea.  Aiden would scream and scream and scream, until finally we gave up.  He’s not one of those kids who will “cry himself out” and just fall asleep due to sheer exhaustion.  Believe me, we tried.

I read books.  I asked for advice.  I ignored one of the pediatricians at our doctors’ office who advised us to just “put him in his crib, shut the door, and don’t go in again until morning.”  Um, sorry.  I couldn’t stand to do that.  And so the routine we established just kept going, for the sake of my sanity.

But today, Aiden nursed at his normal naptime, around 11am.  He ate, then looked up at me and grinned, and wriggled up into a sitting position.  Crap.  I had counted on having a few hours to get some important stuff done during his nap.  So I figured, I’ll just put him in his crib, let him cry a little, and give him 15 minutes to fuss while I get the most pressing issues taken care of.

I put him in the crib and expected one of those shit/fan outbursts.  He cried at first, but only a minute after I left the room… I heard… nothing. I waited a few more minutes and peeked in.  My little angel was curled up, sound asleep.  And he did it all on his own!  I was amazed.

This afternoon, he ate again and seemed like he was definitely not in the mood to nap.  Since he doesn’t always take an afternoon snooze, I wasn’t going to press the issue, but I really needed a shower.  I figured I’d sit him in the crib since it was a safe place to keep him corralled while I took 10 minutes to clean up.

He cried when I left the room, and I couldn’t hear any screams over the sound of the shower.  When I turned off the water… silence.  I peeked in, and once again, he’s sleeping!  I am shocked and impressed that he’s learning how to settle down and soothe himself.  (And my snarky side says it’s about damn time!) 

This should really come in handy in the coming months as I start to wean him from nursing.  I’m planning on switching him to regular cow’s milk for his daytime feedings, and continue nursing at night if necessary.  I’d been dreading the impact this would have on his naps (and my sanity) but now I’m thinking it won’t be too bad!  Woo hoo!

p.s. So, if you see any of those pigs flying around, this long-winded post serves as your explanation. 

p.p.s.  Pigs.  Pork.  Pork BBQ.  Bacon.  Damn, I am hungry.  See you tomorrow for my Thin Thursday weigh-in!

Dear Aiden,

Guess who’s going to be turning one year old very soon?  Here’s a clue- his mommy is sniffling a bit, because she can’t believe how big her little boy is getting!

Yep, you’re growing up, boo.  You’re eleven months old now and racing toward that one year mark.  And I mean racing!  The last month has been filled with lots of activity and movement in our house.  You’re walking everywhere now and crawling has gone by the wayside (because everyone knows that crawling is for babies)!

We’ve been enjoying some beautiful weather (aside from some spring showers) and you love when I take you for walks and to the playground.  You relish exploring outside.

Hmm.  Looks to me like you were plotting a little mischief there, weren’t you?

It wouldn’t be the first time:

This is where I go to look anytime I’m missing any items in the house.  You’ve started a funny habit of shoving everything you can find through the cat door that leads to the basement.  Let’s see… what’s there?  I spy some toys, a mesh feeder, breastmilk storage bags, and oh!  There’s the pepper and aluminum foil I was looking for!  Crazy kid.

You’re a real character, Aiden.  Full of personality, “talking” all the time, pointing at everything and learning names for all the things in your world.

You’re such a friendly guy… you wave hello and goodbye to everyone you meet.  You even wave bye-bye to Goodnight Moon every night when I get to the last page. 

This month you’ve been dancing up a storm.  Even a few notes of music make you stop in your tracks, bend your knees a bit, and start bouncing up and down.  It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

Your favorite things this month have been balloons, balls, and bubbles.

You swat at the bubbles and get confused when they disappear.  And you get this funny look on your face… like “huh?”

Daddy is very proud of his budding little athlete.  You love to throw balls and you have really good aim, too!  You can throw your ball all the way across a room.  You giggle, walk over and grab it, and throw it again.  You especially like to throw the ball to us.  We roll it back to you, and you throw again.  Wash, rinse, repeat.

Growing lots of new teeth, and eating nearly everything Mommy and Daddy eat.  Veggies, chili, meats, cheese, yogurt, soups, dessert (yum), and anything else you can chomp on.

You’re our pride and joy.  And only a *little* spoiled.  (Ha!  Delusional mommy, at your service).

I can’t wait for the next month, and to see everything that you’ll be up to before you turn ONE!

 Just don’t grow up too fast.  You can still hide behind mama’s legs if you need to.  You’re still our little baby, and always will be.

Love,

Mama

When he throws a temper tantrum, there’s no way to reason with him.  There’s no way to comfort him.  There’s no way to stop the hysterics until it runs its course.

So I just join in the fun. 

Yet Aiden is having the last laugh. 

“You may mock me, Mother, but I will expose your boob for the world to see.  Bwahahaha!” 

People get so excited about a child taking his or her first steps.  Everytime I go shopping and get to talking with strangers about Aiden (which happens all the time thanks to his friendly waves to everyone he sees) they inevitably ask, “Is he walking yet?”  To which I must answer, “You better believe it.”  They smile and comment on how cute it is to see a little one toddling around.

Cute?  Yes.  Amazing?  Yes, that’s my infant motoring around on his two widdle feetsies.  Just a few months ago he couldn’t even hold his own head up!  I remember being so excited for each milestone.  I couldn’t wait for him to crawl.  I looked forward to his first steps.  I was proud when he learned to do things so quickly.

Now?  I’m wishing that he had just slowed down a little.  Because what I have now is an 11 month old (OMG first birthday coming up-  hold me!) who has an 11 month old’s cognitive skills and understanding, but a 1.5 year old’s mobility and sense of adventure.  That doesn’t mesh well.

I’m serious.  The kid is walking everywhere.  He doesn’t even crawl anymore, unless he needs to get over something he can’t step over.  If he trips, he gets right back up and keeps on running.  This past weekend I sang at a reunion of my high school jazz band, and we made the mistake of taking Aiden with us to the concert.  Jason and my mom spent the whole time with Aiden in the back of the theatre and out in the school hallway, because all he wanted to do was motor around.  Making him sit on Daddy’s lap in the theatre?  To you I say haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. 

Yesterday I could have throttled the kid.  I went to the library to get some books for us.  First I let Aiden play in the kids area while I selected a couple of board books for him.  He was loving it.  Then I picked him up and settled him on my hip to go pick out books for Mommy.  You’d have thought I was branding him with hot coals or pricking him with needles.  The child did NOT want to be held; he wanted to run around.  And even when I sat him on the floor he wouldn’t stay close by so I could browse the books.  Standing next to me while I held his hand? Nooo.  Standing next to me while I shoved some cheerios in his pie hole?  Noooo.  Standing next to me while I threw random toys to placate him?  Noooo.  He wanted to move, and I was seriously cramping his style. 

Again, being just 11 months, he either didn’t understand that I needed to hold him or just plain didn’t like it.  So he screamed.  Loud, quaking ”I am the most miserable baby in the world” screams that echoed around the (formerly) peaceful library.  I finally gave up, grabbed him, and left without any books.  I wasn’t just going to let him run wild.  And I have to admit that I was pissed off.  But he doesn’t understand, and I guess I’ll have to wait a bit longer, until he’s able to know what “behaving” means, before I can expect him to be good.

I’m gonna wrap this up.  A certain TODDLER with an ATTITUDE just sidled up next to my chair, wrapped his arms around me in a loving embrace, and nipped my damn hip.  Lovely.  He’s lucky he’s so damn cute.  It’ll probably be his saving grace for the next couple of years.

This week hasn’t been easy.  Trying to fit exercise into my day and following a reasonable diet obviously weren’t part of my (prior) regular routine.  So when I woke up this morning and went to weigh in on my scale, I just hoped it showed something to justify all my efforts.

Starting weight:  146

Current weight:  142.5

Total pounds lost: 3.5

Woo hoo!  I’ll take it!  I don’t feel or look much different, although I have been tightened up my belt by one notch.  I feel like WW is working pretty well for me, so I’m going to continue on that path and hopefully the weight will continue to come off!

So, week one down.  Seven more to go before I flaunt it in a swimsuit for the internet to see!

If you’re taking part in the Thin Thursday Challenge, post your updates in the comments, or on the Thin Thursday page whenever you get a chance!  Thanks to everyone who offered support and words of encouragement this week.  Ya’ll are the best!