Gigi Tales

My mother-in-law has been our fill-in nanny until our nanny starts mid-September.  She has been wonderful and the kids love having her around.  I think she looks forward to getting back to just being Gigi, instead of babysitter (which requires discipline instead of lots of spoiling).  Here is the story she sent me via email:

As a Gigi I have the privilege of taking my babies out to lunch.  As we were getting out of the car at Chick-Fil, Cooper and I have this conservation:

Cooper:  (as he is hugging me and giving me a kiss)  Gigi, I love you sometimes.

Gigi:  You love me only sometimes?

Cooper:  Yeah, cause sometimes I have to love Mommy.

Gigi:  That makes sense.

Cooper:  Yeah.

Competition

Before bed we let the kids watch a short show in our room. After the show is over the tv goes off and we do to their bathroom to brush teeth. For the last several months Cooper has had a tantrum because Charlotte races him to the bathroom and wins. We explained that he's just going to have to run faster.

In the last couple of weeks we've noticed no more tantrums. Upon closer inspection Cooper is winning the race to the bathroom. And before the race begins this is what we overhear:

Cooper: Charyotte I need you to turn off the tv now.

Charlotte: Otay Coopeh.

As she gets up to turn the tv off, he books it to the bathroom and always wins. Charlotte seems oblivious and doesn't really care about winning. How's that for strategy?

I see squares all around me

Cooper announced "when I put my fingers over my eyes real hard and then move them out of the way I see squares all around me!"

Funny, I see the same thing! I love when they let me see the world through their eyes.

Blogging from iphone

Testing to see if this will work.

The kids love taking self portraits on the phone. Let's see if I can post directly from the phone.

Dead like the deer and now he’s dirt

We drove by the hospital that my dad was in when he died.  The kids are very aware that this is THE hospital.  The conversation went something like this (I’m going to leave off the kidspeak because it will be easier to follow):

Cooper:  That’s the hospital where grandpa is!

Me:  That’s where grandpa was, yes, but remember grandpa died so he’s not there anymore.

Cooper:  Yeah grandpa is dead.  He will be dead for a really long time.  Like the deer on Gigi’s wall.  Gigi’s dad killed that deer and it is dead for a really long time.  Like grandpa.  The doctors couldn’t help him no more.  So he is dead. (Obviously Gigi had to explain the deer head on her wall, LOL.)

Me:  That’s right, grandpa got sick and grandpa is dead like the deer. [OMG, did I just say that??]

Charlotte:  Your dad is dirt now, right mommy?

Me:  Yes grandpa is dirt now. [Ashes are kind of like dirt, no point in attempting to explain.]

Charlotte:  And he’s in the mountains cause we put him on the ground.

Cooper:  And he is really dead, like the deer.

Charlotte:  And we are sad.

Me:  Sometimes we get sad when we think about not being able to see grandpa anymore, but we can still remember all the fun times we had with grandpa.

Charlotte:  Yeah, he pushed us on the swings!

Don’t laugh at my poop, Charlotte!

 

Cooper: If I cwose bofe sides of my nose, air comes out my ears! Watch!  Charyotte, watch!

_______________________________________________________________________________

Cooper:  Mommy, my tummy hurts.

Me:  Cooper, why does your tummy hurt?

Cooper: From the money.

Me:  You swallowed a coin?  Why did you swallow a coin?

Cooper: Cause it went down my froat.  It hurt my froat.  Can you get it out?

Me:  I can’t get it out.  You’re going to have to wait until you poop it out.

Charlotte: [giggles, giggles, giggles] It will be in your poop, Coopeh! [giggles, giggles, giggles]

Cooper:  Don’t waugh at my poop, Charyotte!  It not funny!

Me: Well it is kind of funny, Cooper.  Maybe you shouldn’t swallow anymore coins.

Charlotte:  [giggles, giggles, giggles]

Cooper:  Stop waughing Charyotte!!

The nanny search is on!

So I posted here about Chris going back to work.  Changes are the norm for a start-up company, and for this one in particular, the have a new name.  They are now Trelora Real Estate (here is the background on the name change).   By only charging a seller $1700 flat fee, rather than a percentage of the home price, Trelora is well on the way to successfully changing the real estate industry.  The Denver Post and 9news have both done stories on the company and it is a blast to be a part of the ongoing growth.

So Chris’ role as changed several times at the company.  He will now be working as a Sales Director, finding new clients.  This will require him to work a normal 9-5 type of schedule.  This means we are on a hunt for a nanny!

We are using care.com to help us with the search.  We posted a job and had 25 applicants!  We also posted on FB, and a few friends posted on their FB on our behalf.  This resulted in another 4 individuals being interested, for a total of 29.

This weekend we interviewed 10 of the top candidates.  What an interesting process!

Candidate 1 – Fantastic young woman with a lot of daycare center experience with 3-4 yr olds, but never a nanny.  Kids said hi, she was at ease with them. Good meeting.

Candidate 2 – No, just no.  No personality, no interaction with the kids.  Previous jobs were babysitting.  Just moved from out of state, doesn’t know where she lives or way around the city. Babysat for autistic twins and activities included ‘X-box and kinect’ and snacks included ‘flaming hot cheetos’.  She really wanted to know if the kids would eat broccoli and also if she could wear scrubs.

Candidate 3 – Has been a nanny for two other families.  Very easy going and experienced.  Confident and polite.  Kids were friendly.  Good meeting.

Candidate 4 – Really, really impressive.  Has nannied for long periods with other families.  Seems firms but very kind.  Very experienced both with children, being a nanny, and came across as very mature.  One of the top candidates.

Candidate 5 – Kids were yelling her name before she walked in.  Cooper immediately drug her outside to play with their cloud dough.  Made her a raspberry sundae while she comfortably did imaginative play with them.  Cooper immediately said “We want you to babysit us” which melted her heart.  The kids didn’t want her to leave and asked if she would come back.  I told them maybe in a few weeks and Cooper said ‘No, now!’.  Wants to go back to school, so this could be a risk for us if she’s not available come January.  She was an easy favorite for us and for the kids.

Candidate 6 – Super nice, really enjoyed the conversation.  Not sure she’s the right personality fit when compared to the other two candidates.  (recommendation from friend)

Candidate 7 – No call, no show.

Candidate 8 – Instantly at ease with us and the kids.  She just fit.  Has lots of nanny experience that would make it easy for us since it’s all so new to us.  Kids loved her and she engaged them quite a bit.  Another easy favorite for us.

Candidate 9 – Has a young daughter that the kids loved.  Easy going. Not as much nannying experience.

Candidate 10 – Cancelled last minute due to family emergency.  Unable to commit to us so rescinded application.

Now we have a tough decision.  It comes down to Candidate 4, 5, & 8.  They all would be amazing.

Well child check up–Age 4

We had our yearly check up with the doctor.  I seriously love this pediatrician – Dr. Michael Kurtz at Advanced Pediatrics Association.  He is fantastic with the kids, interacts with them as patients/doctors normally do, and listens to us as parents.  The kids also really like him.

The kids were looking forward to their doctor appointment and wanted to show off everything they could do.  They are both healthy!

The only follow up we have is to schedule an appointment for Charlotte with a food therapist.  I had noticed a few months ago that she struggles to bite into food properly with her front teeth.  She sort of nibbles and tears at the food and uses her side/back teeth.  I asked the dentist about it and they didn’t seemed to think that her thumb sucking/overbite could be the problem. 

Also when drinking, she can only take one drink at a time.  As in fill her mouth with the liquid, set the cup down, swish the drink in her mouth and swallow, then repeat.  She can’t drink continuously or gulp her drink.  I noticed it when I was helping Cooper drink out of a plastic water bottle and he gulped several drinks down.  Then with Charlotte I attempted to hold it the same and she started choking and coughing.  It happens with drinks with straws too.  I couldn’t recall her ever having an issue drinking continuously from a bottle though.

The doctor was concerned that the combination of the drinking and eating quirks could result in her aspirating food or drink, which would be very dangerous.  Also given her history of speech therapy, she could have problems properly manipulating things with her mouth and tongue.  He thought it best to be on top of it and send her to the children’s hospital for the testing.  We need to just make the appointment for testing to see if she needs therapy.

With that here are their recent growth charts.  Charlotte’s gained almost 3 lbs and grown 1 inch in a year, while Cooper has gained 6 lbs and 4 inches in one year.  If Charlotte stays on trend she will likely end up around at 5’3” – 5’4”.  If Cooper stays on trend he is likely to end up at 6’4” - 6’7”!

Workout progress

So I never thought I would make so much progress in so little time.  I fully expected it to be the end of October before I could write about finally reaching my goal size (8). I’ve learned how to eat healthier, I’ve learned how to get strong, and I’ve learned how to appreciate what my body is capable of, rather than being focused on what it looks like.  So here’s how I did it.

My rules were simple:

• If I can't do it for the rest of my life then I don't want any part of it.  That means unreasonable workouts, restricting food/starving myself, or cutting out entire food groups are all a no-go for me.
• I work hard at workouts that I enjoy and fuel my body properly.  I eat at least 2500 calories a day and still lose inches and pounds.
• I don't deprive myself, I enjoy eating out with friends and family, I still drink alcohol, I still make time for friends, family, and sleep.  Although this has been a learning curve to find the balance.
• My goals are not based on what the scale says--only I see that number.  Everyone else sees how my clothes fit or how my muscles look.
• I'm not doing this to look good but rather to be strong and healthy.  All of this is defined by my goals:  fit into a size 8, have 23% body fat, do 1-25 unassisted pull-ups, do 60 push-ups, bench press 130 lbs and run 3 miles.

I started using MyFitnessPal (MFP) app last December 2011 where I started around 196 lbs and a size 14. Through calorie restriction alone (due to exercise restriction from the hernia) from Dec - Feb I lost the first 15 lbs.

Then I started back to workouts at the end of February after bedrest/recovery from surgery with only a couple of days of light cardio. By the beginning of March, I built up to 30-45 min of cardio 4x per week, plus pilates 1 day/wk.  At that time I switched out the cardio for Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred to test how strength training would go.  After about 2 weeks I got bored with the program and found it too easy, so I started more rigorous strength training at the beginning of April using Butt Bible (free on youtube).  I completed that program after 6 weeks. 

In May I cut down my workouts from 6 days/week to 3 days/wk and stopped doing pilates class because it was too easy.  I started loosely following New Rules of Lifting for Women and New Rules of Lifting for Abs.  I focused on lifting heavy, at 4-8 reps for 3 sets using compound lifting and doing high intensity interval training cardio 3 days a week.  At the end of May, I continued my strength training but added in running/walking 3 miles using the Zombies Run! app 2 days a week.  In July I started playing volleyball once a week.

I eat 2500-2800 calories a day and target 130 g of protein, which puts me at a 50% carbs, 25% fat, and 25% protein ratio.  The big successes that have had nothing to do with the scale:

• I've gone from a size 14 to a size 8
• I am at 26% bodyfat, down from 33%
• I went from 3 push-ups on my knees to 12 standard push-ups on my toes.  If I take about 60 sec breaks every 8-10 push-ups I can do 55 standard push-ups.
• When I started I could bench press 24 lbs and now I bench 95 lbs
• I used to shoulder press 16 lb and now I press 60 lb
• When I started I could only squat with body weight – 196 lbs.  Now I can squat with an extra 105 lb
• I could only hold a plank on my knees for 15 sec, now I can do them with elevated feet, or up on my toes with one arm out for 90 sec.
• I could only run/walk 1/2 mile and now I can run 3 miles in about 33-36 min with no walking (depends on how hard I lift!).
• My resting heart rate was about 80 bpm and now it's about 60 bpm.

My advice:  Choose workouts/exercise/activity that you enjoy.  If you have fun you will be more likely to stick with it.  Do some weight lifting and ignore the scale – my goal wasn’t a weight on the scale, it was to fit back into a specific size.  Make sure you eat enough food!!  Whenever I don’t eat enough I get really exhausted, my hair and nails suffer, and I’m unable to complete my workouts.  Also make sure you are getting enough sleep!! 

Next goals:

• Learn how to maintain my size.  I’ve never had to do this before!
• Try some new activities, like adult ballet.
• Bench 130 lbs
• Do 60 push-ups with no breaks, and 100 push-ups with breaks.
• Do at least 1 unassisted pull-up.  Eventually I would like to do 25.
• Do at least 10 unassisted triceps dips.
• Target 23% bodyfat (not sure if this is the right number yet)

Note that the July 2008 photos are about 3 months post baby, but my body stayed more or less between that picture and the March 2012 picture for a few years. I floated between size 14 and size 12 for most of the last 4 years. There was a time I got down to 183 lb and size 10 by 'eating when I was hungry and stopping when I was satiated' and using the C25K app, but I was still very soft and flabby. Now I can feel all the muscle!

Also wanted to show my bare back since I’ve had a lot of muscle development.

Grown up little girl

The kids are both starting to have real conversations with us and with each other.  I love the actual exchange I have with them.  Even if I sometimes wish they would just.stop.talking.already.  We were eating dinner and this is the conversation with Charlotte.

Charlotte:  Mommy, those earrings are beautiful!!  Where did you get them from?

Me:  Thank you honey.  I think I got them at a jewelry party.

Charlotte:   A jewelry party??!?  I don’t think I’ve ever been to one of those.

Me:  [Thinking, you most certainly have not been to one of those kinds of parties.  I mean I am your mother afterall and would know!] Well maybe we can go together to the next party.

Charlotte:  And my brudder too??!?!!

Me:  [Again, I am your mother in case you didn’t realize.  I know you have a brother.] Um, probably not your brother.

Charlotte:  Ohhhh. [insert super sad face and voice here]  Why not my brudder?

Me: Because he will probably knock everything over and won’t have very much fun.  Maybe you and I can just go as a girls night out.

Charlotte:  Okay, mommy!  That sounds like a lot of fun!

Hiatus

So I obviously took a long break from blogging.  And from FB.  And from posting on message boards.  After my dad passed away I just got annoyed with FB and all the posts about everyone’s trivial things.  Not to mention it become a little bit of quote vomit on there rather than truly keeping up with each other’s lives.  I think everyone has come to rely on FB a little too much.  I mean my siblings and I found out that our grandmother had passed away on FB!  Almost a week after it happened.  Unacceptable.

So to grieve privately and not be annoyed, I stepped away.  I was feeling very exposed online between blogging, facebook, and message boards.  Also, I just didn’t have time anymore. I made working out a priority and as a result I had to give up some of my other interests/activities like photography (the hardest), watching TV, and being on the internet.  I’m really glad I did take a break because now I actually want to do some of these things, but only when I have time.

I may do several posts in a day, or I may go several weeks without posting.  It’s just what works for my life right now.