Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Indiana Blue: 34-35 Weeks


 

You guys, somewhere along the way I got mixed up and am off on my weekly count.  Which is weird because at my 32 week ultrasound (where I was actually 33 weeks), I asked and made sure and she said that I was 33 weeks.  But, last week, I was only 34 weeks when I thought I was 35.  It was strange and I felt kind of defeated like I was past 34 and then wasn't.  Ha.

In other news, we announced our boys' name!  Indiana Blue Wiki will be his full name - Indiana after Indiana Jones of course, Blue after our baby Blueberry (who this blog is named after) and Wiki for Ian's great, great grandfather.  Indy Blue or Indy for short.  I love it and love Lemon and Indy together, oh so cute.  I think I would have just named him Blueberry if I could, and if I didn't think it was too girly, but Blue is better for a boy.  I had to pay homage to our first baby, Blueberry, because I think that if we wouldn't have experienced that loss, we would have planned, and had, two kids.  But, because of the loss, and the fact that I'm 37, we were leaning towards only one baby when I got pregnant with Indy.  So, I think it was always in the stars for me to be a mom of two and here I am, a mom of two.  Amazing how things work out.  I'm loving his name though and Lemon has called him Indy for a looooooong time so it just stuck, we couldn't change it even if we wanted to!

Now on to pregnancy - it's strange because at this point I both love it, feel great and am sad this will be my last time feeling a baby inside.  But, at the same time I miss my old body, my breath, a foot NOT in my ribs and just feeling ok and not like a baby is going to fall out every time I stand up!  I love it and am over it - very weird mixed emotions.

It doesn't help that last week started the "must have a panty liner" time in pregnancy (gross) and also the "moving his head/hands in my cervix" time where I have to stop once in a while just to breathe through it because man it hurts!  Kind of like you have to pee and kind of like lightning pains (NOT looking forward to those) - ugh.  So I guess 34 weeks means all the strange pregnancy body things come, which I am kind of not a fan of.

I've also been getting really tired, it's harder and harder to bend over and to sit or squat and give Lemon a bath.  There is a foot in my ribs and a head in my vag, super fun.  I also have stopped sleeping through the night, except for maybe once a week, and get up to pee at least once or twice.  I'm tired and over school, 17 more days and we are done, I can't wait.  I'm sick of finding "work" clothes that fit!

In other news the boys' room is DONE.  I just have to hang 4 more pictures and it's finished!  All of the tubs from the attic, full of baby stuff (like 6 tubs and 4 trash bags), have been unpacked and put away and everything is in its place.  Now, we just need a baby!  Lemon is getting so excited the hotter it gets, she knows her brother is coming in the "summer," and I am too.  I can't wait to have a little muffin again and am anxiously awaiting the birth process, which I am not too happy about but am trying to stay positive.  It's always funny these last few weeks/month, you just feel like you are in limbo, waiting for the next chapter of your life to start, not knowing quite how it will be but wanting to get it started to find out.  I'm nervous, excited, scared, happy and a bit sad that our lives will be changing - a definite mix of emotions.  So confusing, so exciting.

These last few weeks with Lemon have been fairly uneventful.  She was sick last week for a couple of days and then all weekend, so we took it easy and it was just what we all needed.  We have so many friends we love, and never get to see, and so much family around us that we are constantly go, go, going; not to mention all of her activities she does.  So skipping everything and coming home after work to just lay around, or spending a whole day inside in our pjs was glorious (on Saturday).  Boring, stir-crazy, lazy and fun.  I was worried about my babe but so needed the rest as well.  So, we didn't take a lot of pictures.  I actually haven't taken a lot of pictures a lot recently, just nothing really exciting to take pictures of and too tired to do it!  :)

34 Weeks (apparently):

Because of state testing, I got to spend some extra mornings at home with my babe this week (and next).  It was fun not rushing off and getting to get her ready for the day (and letting her sleep in bed with me the night before)!



The love that this girl has for her mama is unreal, she is my best friend.  I love her so much and am kind of excited that I'm having a boy because we will have this special bond forever.



We got to visit Miranda's new baby girl this week, Margot!  She was so cute, Lemon loved her, held her and sang to her, and loved seeing her BFF Jonah after way too long.  They were the cutest together!




Fun with daddy while I'm at yoga (and taking some photos for Love Sick Threads):


We celebrated my mom's birthday this past weekend, along with my brother-in-law, Leith's.  We always love getting these cute cousins together!









35 Weeks:

Lemon has been helping me put Indiana's room together, and has been playing with all the baby toys we've unpacked.  She even got in his crib and watched his "movie" (fish tank) for an afternoon.  So funny!


Breakfast with Nani (my mom) on a late morning and I got to go to gymnastics with Lemon, I've never been!  So so amazing watching her do all the moves, be prepared for tons of pics/video below:








Making dinner is always fun together:


Our poor sick baby.  She woke up on Wednesday morning, threw up, and Ian called a sub.  I was so sad to leave but I had a meeting I couldn't miss.  Then, we spent all Thursday night on the couch and on Friday she seemed better, although she told us she woke up in the middle of the night and threw up twice in her bed.  We didn't believe her, of course, because wouldn't she have cried or called to us or something?  Brittany changed her sheets just because I told her to, because she had a fever and was sweaty, so I couldn't check to see if Lemon was telling the truth.

Well, it turns out, after talking to Brittany a couple of days later, she DID throw up and had throw up all over her bed when she changed her sheets!!!  What a terrible mother I am, making our nanny clean up throw up sheets!!  And what toddler barfs twice and then just goes back to bed?  And her hair?  And her body?  All day no bath?!  So so gross, it was craziness.  I just can't believe she didn't tell us.  3 days later Brittany tells us she really did barf, and Lemon tells us that she didn't use her comforter "and kept it down because it was yucky."  OMG!!  Yuck.

On Friday we went to work, although we shouldn't have based on this crazy throw up story, although we didn't know about it until after work, and Lemon was still feeling bad when we got home.  So we took it easy and on Saturday did the same, laid on the couch all day.  Ian thought he saw white spots on her throat on Saturday so we took her to urgent care (which she was SO sad about).  They said she just had a virus, not strep, and sent us home to recover and snuggle.  We went to my mom's Sunday morning, to relax (and so I could run to Ikea really quick) and then went grocery shopping Sunday night.





It was not the weekend I expected but just the weekend we all needed.  I napped more than I have in months, got a prenatal massage and snuggled/cuddled/slept with Lemon so much.  She also took 2 naps a day for a couple days which is unheard of for her, she even told us she was tired or "sleepy" and asked to go to bed.  Crazy.

This virus really knocked her out and I hated seeing her so sick.  Happy she's on the mend.  :)



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Monday, April 25, 2016

YTT Weeks 12-14 - Presentations, Inversions and Anatomy

I am way behind on all of these posts, it has been a busy couple of weeks!  We had some presentations these past few weeks and learned a bit of anatomy and inversions, I will recap and attach notes/documents here if you're interested.  :)

April 6th (Week 12):

We listened to the rest of the presentations on the Yamas/Niyamas from the week before, and people's spiritual/religious beliefs and their relationship to yoga.  I love personal presentations, or really any time I get to spend with my classmates during lunch or before class, I love getting to know these yogis as people.  This is the fun part about teacher training, in my opinion.  I wrote about my personal/spiritual beliefs in relation to yoga, here.

We also talked a bit about inversions to prepare us for our next 4 poses that we were going to learn.  Some notes about inversions:
  • Youthfulness, keeps you young.
  • Brings venous blood from lower body into torso.
  • Helps prolapsed organs.
  • Activates sluggish organs.
  • Balances metabolism.
  • Supports function of endocrine glandular system.
  • Deepens ability to focus and concentrate.
  • Strengthens self esteem.
  • When giving instructions – refer to points on the body or areas in the room – disorienting.  Always demo poses first.
  • Big poses – can offer a lot but there is a lot of responsibility that goes along with teaching them.  Must understand your audience first.
April 13th & 15th (Week 13):

We had our first Anatomy lecture on Wednesday night and then continued it on Friday.  The women presenting is VERY knowledgeable about anatomy, loves it and has so much information in her head that it makes it confusing to us, as students.  A few of us left a bit disappointed in how the night went on Wednesday and then on Friday I still left confused.  She is one of those "put your notes down and just listen, let it all soak in" type of people and being a teacher, I am SO not this person.  Plus, knowing how the brain works and how when you learn things you MUST put them into practice right away or you'll forget them, this just doesn't make sense to me.  I remember nothing and am happy we have our book to help us study for our test in the middle of May.  I would just love to know what we need to know and that's it, kind of an anatomy for dummies type presentation instead.

After the presentation on Wednesday she sent over a 120 page slideshow that she used, and after our meeting on Friday the slideshow was 74 slides total.  WAY too much information for this brain of mine.  I printed it out, of course, but it has no organization, no real sections or anything so it didn't really help in my confusion.  I have a lot of respect for our teacher, I do, but her lectures just made me realize that being a teacher is definitely an art form, you have to be able to take all that you know and put it in terms that newbies will understand.  Something that someone so knowledgeable and practiced will have trouble with.  Agh, two more anatomy sessions are coming and I'm not really looking forward to them.  (I won't even attach my notes here because I'm sure they make no sense.  Ha.)

April 16th (Week 13):

Today we learned 4 inversions:  Rabbit pose (sasangasana), legs up the wall (viparita karani), handstand (adho mukha vrksasana) and peacock pose (pincha mayurasana).  I have attached my flash cards here, if you'd like a copy.

I was proud of myself, I did all the inversions (at 34 weeks pregnant) and got up into handstand and pincha.  I am definitely heavier than I was, and have less arm strength, but my body remembered how to do it, so that was pretty neat.  However, like past yoga weekends, I totally wore myself out on Saturday so I was a complete waste of life on Sunday.  That will teach me to do ALL the poses, next time I won't so I can be kind of a human being on Sunday.  I learned my lesson!

Our teachers modeling some modifications for us:



April 20th (Week 14):

We did presentations tonight on medical issues that were given to us.  We were told to research them, give the history, causes, prevention and some yoga poses and/or breath work that would help with the condition, and that we could teach as teachers.  

Mine was sciatica, and I've never had sciatica, so I did my research online weeks before and made a really thorough document to explain/teach my condition.  However, tonight when we were supposed to present, I got dinged for not relating it to me personally, or finding someone that had the condition to talk to.  However, this was not in the requirements for the assignment so it kind of made me upset.  I also was told that my voice was quiet at first and then was ok, which is funny to hear since I've been teaching for 16 years.

I know that our teachers are there to help us, and I love them all and appreciate everything they've done for me, but I was kind of sad about my critique last week.  Everyone was really praised after theirs and I felt like the teachers were a bit hard on me.  

It's the weird thing because I've taught yoga classes for the past 8 years, have been a HS teacher for the past 16 and then am in yoga teacher training, something I thought was just natural to me, since I've already done it.  I am having to relearn how to teach it though, something I didn't expect, because I wasn't necessarily teaching it correctly all of these years.  It is interesting because I thought I had an advantage over the other people in teacher training but am finding that I actually have a disadvantage, because I'm having to be reprogrammed.  And, maybe that's why they are a bit harder on me than the others?  And listen, they were not "hard on me" at all in what they said, but I took it like that and would probably agree that I am just extra sensitive, carrying this baby and all.  Oh and being a teacher, following the assignment exactly and as a perfectionist.  Hahahhaa.  Let it go.

Anyway, if you have sciatica and are interested in yoga poses/breathing that can help, here is my presentation with sources.  Enjoy!



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Friday, April 22, 2016

Happy Earth Day! Collab with Polarn O. Pyret & ThredUp

(Lemon's dress is from Polarn O. Pyret and the polka dot bag is the bag ThredUp sends you!)





A fun, kids' clothing company Polarn O. Pyret has partnered with ThredUp, to bring you an awesome Earth Day campaign!  ThredUp is a large, online resale site that uses free, pre-paid postage 10 pound mailers and Polarn O. Pyret offers them to their customers so they can stuff them full of gently used clothes and get credit to shop in their store!  So ThredUp receives the clothes, then they give the person who sent them a certain percentage credit to shop with PO.P online or in store.  It's an awesome way to recycle and get money back for new clothes!






I recently watched this video, about where all of our old, cheap clothes end up, and it inspired me to not want to "waste" clothing.  I stopped impulse buying clothes and started thinking about where all of our clothes that we don't want, go in the end.  It was really informative and a great message for Earth Day - think about where all of your unwanted clothes end up.  ThredUp and Polarn O Pyret have a solution for you!


(Video is from this site.)

ThredUp accepts a variety of clothes from baby clothes to women's brands and shoes.  They also accept practically every brand out there so it's easy to trade in your clothes for credit.

Here's how it all works:

When you receive your polka dot ThredUp bag:  Fill the bag with freshly-washed, name-brand clothing with no signs of wear or tear.  Before sending the bag off, register it to make sure you get credit, the link to register the bag is on the bag itself.

The amount of credit from Polarn O. Pyret varies but usually you will get 10-40% of the resale value of your accepted clothing in credit (see an example here).

After you fill up your bag with clothing/shoes, leave it on your doorstep or by your mailbox so your mail person can pick it up.  Or, drop it off at any post office or UPS location.  ThredUP then processes the clothing and will notify you with how much you've earned, then they will resell the clothes in their online shop.

The whole process can take up to 2 weeks for ThredUp to receive your bag.  They will email you when they get it and then it takes an additional 5-10 days to review your items, they will then notify you, in another email, of your credit.  Then, Polarn O. Pyret will take another 5-7 days to receive that information from them, and give you your gift certificate to their store.

Please be advised:  ThredUp has strict quality standards and typically accepts 40-50% of the clothing they receive.  For many, it's jut so convenient to pack it up and ship it off, more so then bringing a bag to Goodwill.  And, if you are going to donate it anyway, you might as well try to get credit for some of it!  (Please note that ThredUp is not looking for items from lower-end shops where the price point begins at $20.)

To try out ThredUp and earn credit to PO.P's online shop, send an email to thredup@polarnopyretusa.com and they will send you free bags with prepaid labels!  You can send in mama or kids clothes/shoes to ThredUp using the bags they send you, but the credit you receive will be for Polarn O. Pyret's online shop, which is a kids' clothing shop.


Try it out for free, earn credit for recycling your used clothes and celebrate Earth Day today!  :)



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Monday, April 18, 2016

Boon's Recipe for Toddler Mealtime Success - Span & Forb Mini Review


A couple of nights ago, Lemon and I made her favorite dish together, Pad Thai, and used some of Boon's new toddler mealtime and cleanup supplies as part of their Boon's Recipe for Toddler Mealtime Success campaign.  Lemon loved the plate/platter, cup and utensils and I loved the Forb Mini (for cleaning your dishes) and Span (for keeping your toddler dishes secure in your dishwasher).  Both are new and available for purchase at Target.

I have no idea how Pad Thai came to be Lemon's favorite thing to cook for dinner, but it is, and she asks to make it at least once a week.  She helps from start to finish, and even stirs the veggies in hot pans and taste tests warm noodles.  She really does love cooking and when she cooks with her mama, she never makes a mess!

Gathering ingredients.


Taking a water break with her Boon Snug Straw cup, these are awesome and come with sippy (Spout) lids too for little guys. 

Playing with the Forb Mini - she said it looked like an octopus.

Our shirts are Sweet Tees Apparel.

Always gotta share a smooch while cooking.







The recipe we used for Pad Thai is just one I kind of made up, along with using the Thai Kitchen Pad Thai noodle kit and extra Thai Kitchen Pad Thai Sauce.  It is also gluten free, of course!

2 chicken breasts
Thai Kitchen Pad Thai Noodle Kit
Thai Kitchen Pad Thai Sauce
1 cup broccoli
1 cup carrots
1/2 cup peppers (one pepper)
1/2 cup onions (half onion)
Olive oil

We put a pan on, with olive oil, and then cut up the veggies and added them, cooking them thoroughly.  Then we added pad thai sauce to them and set them aside.  Then, I cut up the chicken and cooked it in a separated pan, and added pad thai sauce to it and set it aside.  As the chicken was cooking I boiled water for the noodles, removed it from heat and then added the rice noodles and let them sit until they were cooked.  I strained the noodles and then added everything back into the big Wok at the end, together, stirring it all up.  It makes enough to feed all three of us for 2 nights.





Cleaning up was a breeze with the Forb Mini.  I like it because it is made of silicone so it doesn't scratch your cookware, or plastic toddler dishes, like a rough sponge or steel wool would.  I didn't think it would clean everything as well as it did because of what it's made of, but it did!  I would totally recommend it, and it's safe for your toddler to use to clean his/her own dishes off as well!



And the Span is awesome!  It holds all of your little toddler dishes/bowls in place in your dishwasher and is super stretchy so it will fit on any dishwasher rack.  I also like that it looks like a cool, spider web, such a great idea for all of the tiny parts kids' dishes/cups come with!



The Span and Forb Mini can now be purchased at Target!  Get them, you won't be disappointed!

I received items from Boon for review, but all pictures and opinions expressed are my own.

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