An update, with, like, bullet points and stuff
I: The Holidays:
* Decorations - The house has been decorated since the day after Thanksgiving, since I have a fake tree and I like to look at a winter wonderland for as long as possible. Olivia has been much more helpful this year, too, and actually put a few ornaments on her tree before getting bored with the whole endeavor. This year she doesn't seem to be interested in taking all the ornaments off her tree, either, which is nice!
* Gifts - Presents have been bought for Olivia as well as the nephew and nieces. I'm sending my nieces and nephew clothes and books since I know my sisters and brothers-in-law will have toys and games covered. Olivia is getting a couple of new t-shirts (Olivia and Yo Gabba Gabba!) and some big girl underpants so we can hopefully start work on potty learning in the New Year. Leo also picked out some Play-Doh for her, and we found a fun pirate ship for her, too. On Christmas Eve we'll give her a new pair of pajamas and a new Christmas book, too. I've got gifts for the nephew and nieces wrapped, and will mail them off tomorrow. Now I need to think about what to buy Leo, and try to set aside some time to shop for him...
* Activities - Aside from that massive holiday playlist I put together on Spotify last week, we've not been doing many Christmas-y things. I feel like Olivia is just a smidge too young for some of the crafts I've seen on Pinterest, but I think next year she'll be at the perfect age, and will likely have a better attention span for such things. We are taking her to the Holiday Fantasy of Lights at one of the county parks next week, which I think she is going to LOVE. She adores Christmas lights, so I think a three-mile drive full of light displays while listening to Christmas music and wearing Christmas jammies will be just the thing. Other than that, it will be the three of us for Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day we'll go to my in-laws' for dinner. I haven't quite thought ahead to New Year's yet, but I prefer staying home on New Year's Eve.
II. Health:
* The Plague - Apparently Olivia picked up a cold weekend before last at a birthday party, so now that she seems to be on the mend, Leo and I are starting with the yucky sinuses and sneezing, which is pretty shit since we all just had a cold at Halloween. I knew there was an up side to Olivia staying home with me - we rarely get sick! I'm sure we'll all be better in a day or so, which is good, since we have another birthday party this weekend, and also our second anniversary is this weekend.
* Weight Loss - So hey, here's something I've not been talking about, anywhere, AT ALL. I've lost 21 pounds since the first of October, when I started using the MyFitnessPal app on my iPhone to track calories and exercise. I've been very unhappy about the weight that I've put on over the past two years since Olivia's birth, and since my blood pressure continues to be high, even on medication, I decided to get serious about getting some of that weight off again. I don't have a specific goal or number in mind, but if I can lose some weight by eating better and exercising, I'll be happy, especially since I'll be setting a good example for Olivia and showing her a healthy lifestyle.
* Blood Pressure - I saw my BP doc yesterday morning, and unsurprisingly, losing 20 pounds has not made one bit of difference in my blood pressure. I'm still getting the same readings I was getting three months ago, or six months ago. I'm not sure what to think since the medications don't seem to help, and losing weight has not made a difference either. My doctor seems confident that weight loss is the key, and will not accept that I had perfect blood pressure at this weight pre-baby. At this point I can't count how many doctors I've told this to, and none of them seem to believe me. I'll grant you that being overweight probably isn't helping the situation, but other factors such as family history, having a baby, and just plain getting older don't seem to matter to the medical community. I'm frustrated at not being listened to, but I'm a good patient and take the meds and do what I'm told.
III: Olivia
* Success! - We have finally, FINALLY, said goodbye to bottles, woo hoo! I'll 'fess up, I was fucking sick and tired of them having to be washed a million times a day and taking up room in my dishwasher, so I initiated their departure. I took away nap time bottles and told Olivia she could have milk in a cup if she wanted it, and Leo and I were both fed up with her taking forever to drink her bottle of milk at bedtime, so I flat out told Olivia that we were going to say bye bye to the bottles, and that she could pick out new cups just for milk. She picked some new cups at Target on Saturday afternoon, and we chucked the bottles on Sunday morning. She's drinking a lot less milk, but she gets a cup of milk at mealtimes, and there has been not a single mention of the bottles. YAY!
* Coming Soon - I think the next order of business, after holiday decorations have been put away, is to remove the front of Olivia's crib and turn it into a toddler bed. I have no confidence AT ALL that she'll stay in her bed when we do this, and I envision A LOT of putting her back in her bed, and finding her sleeping on the floor, surrounded by a pile of toys, but she's getting to be a big girl. Not to mention that she will need to be able to get out of her bed when we start potty learning next year!
IV: The End!
* Up Next - I really need to do a picture post soon, or maybe finally get my thoughts together for that post about relationships and friendships I keep talking about doing. Or maybe I need to link to all of the recipes I've made lately. Too many things to choose from!
* Decorations - The house has been decorated since the day after Thanksgiving, since I have a fake tree and I like to look at a winter wonderland for as long as possible. Olivia has been much more helpful this year, too, and actually put a few ornaments on her tree before getting bored with the whole endeavor. This year she doesn't seem to be interested in taking all the ornaments off her tree, either, which is nice!
* Gifts - Presents have been bought for Olivia as well as the nephew and nieces. I'm sending my nieces and nephew clothes and books since I know my sisters and brothers-in-law will have toys and games covered. Olivia is getting a couple of new t-shirts (Olivia and Yo Gabba Gabba!) and some big girl underpants so we can hopefully start work on potty learning in the New Year. Leo also picked out some Play-Doh for her, and we found a fun pirate ship for her, too. On Christmas Eve we'll give her a new pair of pajamas and a new Christmas book, too. I've got gifts for the nephew and nieces wrapped, and will mail them off tomorrow. Now I need to think about what to buy Leo, and try to set aside some time to shop for him...
* Activities - Aside from that massive holiday playlist I put together on Spotify last week, we've not been doing many Christmas-y things. I feel like Olivia is just a smidge too young for some of the crafts I've seen on Pinterest, but I think next year she'll be at the perfect age, and will likely have a better attention span for such things. We are taking her to the Holiday Fantasy of Lights at one of the county parks next week, which I think she is going to LOVE. She adores Christmas lights, so I think a three-mile drive full of light displays while listening to Christmas music and wearing Christmas jammies will be just the thing. Other than that, it will be the three of us for Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day we'll go to my in-laws' for dinner. I haven't quite thought ahead to New Year's yet, but I prefer staying home on New Year's Eve.
II. Health:
* The Plague - Apparently Olivia picked up a cold weekend before last at a birthday party, so now that she seems to be on the mend, Leo and I are starting with the yucky sinuses and sneezing, which is pretty shit since we all just had a cold at Halloween. I knew there was an up side to Olivia staying home with me - we rarely get sick! I'm sure we'll all be better in a day or so, which is good, since we have another birthday party this weekend, and also our second anniversary is this weekend.
* Weight Loss - So hey, here's something I've not been talking about, anywhere, AT ALL. I've lost 21 pounds since the first of October, when I started using the MyFitnessPal app on my iPhone to track calories and exercise. I've been very unhappy about the weight that I've put on over the past two years since Olivia's birth, and since my blood pressure continues to be high, even on medication, I decided to get serious about getting some of that weight off again. I don't have a specific goal or number in mind, but if I can lose some weight by eating better and exercising, I'll be happy, especially since I'll be setting a good example for Olivia and showing her a healthy lifestyle.
* Blood Pressure - I saw my BP doc yesterday morning, and unsurprisingly, losing 20 pounds has not made one bit of difference in my blood pressure. I'm still getting the same readings I was getting three months ago, or six months ago. I'm not sure what to think since the medications don't seem to help, and losing weight has not made a difference either. My doctor seems confident that weight loss is the key, and will not accept that I had perfect blood pressure at this weight pre-baby. At this point I can't count how many doctors I've told this to, and none of them seem to believe me. I'll grant you that being overweight probably isn't helping the situation, but other factors such as family history, having a baby, and just plain getting older don't seem to matter to the medical community. I'm frustrated at not being listened to, but I'm a good patient and take the meds and do what I'm told.
III: Olivia
* Success! - We have finally, FINALLY, said goodbye to bottles, woo hoo! I'll 'fess up, I was fucking sick and tired of them having to be washed a million times a day and taking up room in my dishwasher, so I initiated their departure. I took away nap time bottles and told Olivia she could have milk in a cup if she wanted it, and Leo and I were both fed up with her taking forever to drink her bottle of milk at bedtime, so I flat out told Olivia that we were going to say bye bye to the bottles, and that she could pick out new cups just for milk. She picked some new cups at Target on Saturday afternoon, and we chucked the bottles on Sunday morning. She's drinking a lot less milk, but she gets a cup of milk at mealtimes, and there has been not a single mention of the bottles. YAY!
* Coming Soon - I think the next order of business, after holiday decorations have been put away, is to remove the front of Olivia's crib and turn it into a toddler bed. I have no confidence AT ALL that she'll stay in her bed when we do this, and I envision A LOT of putting her back in her bed, and finding her sleeping on the floor, surrounded by a pile of toys, but she's getting to be a big girl. Not to mention that she will need to be able to get out of her bed when we start potty learning next year!
IV: The End!
* Up Next - I really need to do a picture post soon, or maybe finally get my thoughts together for that post about relationships and friendships I keep talking about doing. Or maybe I need to link to all of the recipes I've made lately. Too many things to choose from!