Happy Half Birthday!

Our little nugget is officially 6 months old.  I could talk about how depressing it is that she's getting so big, or how I can't believe how fast time flies, but that would be cliche' and hardly interesting at all.  While those things may be true, I want to talk about how I am excited for the future.  It seems like every week now, she surprises us by learning how to do something new.  I am excited for those things.  I am excited to take her to the zoo or to the park to swing.  I am excited for finger painting and swimming lessons and letting her try new foods.  Eva is becoming more independent, less dependent, more interactive, and more curious.  She brings Andy and I so much joy in our already blessed lives.  Marrying Andy was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  He is my rock, my best friend, my supporter, my counselor, and he makes me laugh ... when he's not trying to make a silly joke.  Before Eva, being with him felt like our life was complete.  I couldn't imagine loving more or having room for more love in our life.  However, Eva has expanded our "love bubbles."  I never realized how much you could love someone so small and dependent on you.  And I thought I loved my dog .... Man, was I dumb!

At 6 months, Eva Charlotte weighs in at 14 lbs 9 oz.  She is 25 1/2 inches long and is still rockin a big head at 17".  She can now sit up unassisted without needing her hands propped in front of her.  She is getting better each day at jumping in her Jumparoo, and can pull herself up while holding onto my thumbs now.  The pediatrician gave her the okay to start more solids, including finger foods.  I went out this past weekend and bought her some puffs.  She loves them!  It's endearing watching her concentrate so hard and get frustrated as she tries to pick them up with her little uncoordinated pinching fingers.  Luckily, Apollo is always nearby to catch any stray puffs that she drops.  

Our days are so full and hectic and busy, from the time she wakes up at 6:30 am until the time she goes to bed at 9:30 pm.  But they are so so so much richer.  There is a complete shift in the focus of your life when you have kids.  Everything centers around their needs and their schedule.  I always knew that having kids would change your lives and how much time they were going to require.  I never realized how little I would care about my own petty desires.  I can definitely see how people can neglect their own needs or wants in order to give their kids everything that they need.  Lately, I haven't been able to get my workouts in until around 9:30 or 10pm after Eva is in bed.  While it's extra hard to drag myself to the gym at that hour, I am always glad I go.  It's my alone time, my healthy time, and my time to regroup my thoughts.  I need to make a list of priorities for myself and for our family, so I don't neglect my own mental and physical health.  I want Eva to have everything she wants, but I don't want her to be spoiled either.  Saying "no" to her sweet face is going to be hard!  I think I need to start practicing now.

Lastly, I will share some pictures from the past couple weeks.  We've been busy, but there's always time to capture a smile on that cute chubberz of a face!!

Napping on Grandma's couch.  Bumbo time while gnawing on a cucumber :)

Eva sleeping all wonky in her carseat. Eva indoor sledding on our day off!

My little otter during bathtime! Eva at her 6 month check up!

Giggling away on the mommy and daddy's bed. Eva watching the Bronco's game!

Bring on 2014

I am so ready for 2014!  I cannot wait to share new experiences and holidays with Eva as she grows.  However, I can't forget how amazing 2013 has been.  Here are some of my top favorite moments of the year:

1.  Being pregnant

2.  Giving birth to the most amazing daughter I could ever imagine

3.  Andy coming home from medic training

4.  Starting a new job

5.  Reconnecting with old friends

6.  Running a half marathon

7.  Celebrating 2 years of marriage with my hubby

8.  Quality time with family

9.  Annual Grand Cayman Vacation

10.  First holidays with Eva

Now that 2014 is here, I wanted to implement a few New Years Resolutions.  I've actually been thinking about these for a while because I wanted to have some good ones that would make myself a better person.

1.  Do more yoga to increase my flexibility.  Running and lifting without stretching afterwards has seriously crippled my flexibility! Plus, I think being pregnant and having Eva messed with my hip joints and flexibility.

2.  Makeupless Mondays.  So I don't wear a ton of makeup, but I do feel self conscious without it.  But, I'm young and still have good skin.  I don't want to teach my daughter that I have to wear makeup to feel pretty.  I am going to try to not wear makeup every Monday of the year (unless it's a photo shoot, holiday, important meeting, etc).  I may even instagram a few photos :) follow me @chelsjill #makeuplessmonday

3.  Be healthier.  All encompassing.  Continue exercising, maybe add in a few new forms of exercise as well just to experiment.  Eat healthier and continue to cook at least 2-3 times per week.  Run longer, lift heavier, sleep more, and RELAX!

4.  Read more.  You know how people say, "I hate exercising, so I don't do it."  It doesn't change the fact that it's good for you, and you SHOULD be doing it.  Well, I say, "I hate (not hate, but don't enjoy) reading, so I don't do it."  Doesn't change the fact that it's good for my brain, and I SHOULD be doing it.  Normally, I like to read fictional book series like Hunger Games, Twilight, Game of Thrones, etc just to name a few.  However, I am going to force myself to read books that have educational material, that I wouldn't normally pick up.  Topics will include:

    -  Other Cultures

    -  Medical Science

    -  Other religions

    -  Politics

    -  Finances

    -  Geography

    -  Relationships

    -  Parenting

    -  ETC

If anyone has any suggestions on good books that fall into any of these categories, or know of any books that I might find interesting and educational, let me know!  

Lastly, I leave you with a picture of my darling Eva.  This is how we rang in the new year - in our jammies!  Would have loved to go out and celebrate with friends, but we gotta keep the little one on her schedule.  Sleeping through the night is good for baby and mommy!  Plus, I'm still on the no-alcohol diet due to BFing.

Eva Charlotte's First Christmas

Christmas is such a special time of the year.  Not only is it a meaningful time for Christians to celebrate Christ's birth, but it is a wonderful time to give presents and spend time with family.  Many traditions take place during this time of the year as well, and it makes the holiday season that much sweeter.  Since we've been married, we've gotten to come up with a few of our own traditions as well.  One of the traditions is to buy a new ornament each Christmas to put on our tree, that represents the past year.  Obviously this year, we had to buy one related to baby Eva.  I found this adorable one at Target this year, and I couldn't pass it up!  ( One side of the star says "2013" and the other side says "Baby's First Christmas" )

I haven't started taking down Christmas decorations yet, but we've been slowly recuperating from all of the festivities!  Being married and having to go to both of our families' get-togethers is hard enough.  Add a baby into the mix, and it gets a whole lot more complicated!  I feel like we were going on a 3 day weekend trip with all of the supplies we had to lug around with us.

Overall, Christmas was fantastic!  The food was great, but the company was amazing.  We got to spend some quality time with family, and it was so needed.  Eva really enjoyed playing with all of the tissue paper and wrapping paper, and even got to open a few presents of her own.  We are so lucky to have such generous families who lavish our daughter with such lovely gifts.  She is definitely going to be one of the best dressed babies ever!  My sister bought Eva the cutest pink sparkly Toms and the most adorable fuzzy baby Uggs for when she gets a little bigger.  I am going to melt just a little more inside when she gets to wear them.  We also got many fun books for Eva to read when she gets bigger.  I have already read all of them to her multiple times... mostly because I think they are so fun also!  When did little kid books get so creative and funny?

Daddy daughter pictures are the BEST

Eva and I on Christmas Eve at my parents' house

I remembered to video tape some of Eva on her first Christmas, but honestly I wanted to enjoy each moment in the present too much to want to take the time to video tape.  It would have been awesome to rewatch her whole first Christmas unfold on video, but alas, we only have a few small clips that I will cherish forever.  It's hard to choose sometimes.  There are so many moments that are so precious that I wish I could capture them on video or in a picture, but getting up to go get the camera can compromise the moment.  It's almost like I will miss it if I get up and leave, even for a second.  Plus, you can never recreate those moments on film, especially with a 5 month old.  We did manage to get a couple of traditional Christmas pictures, as well as a Santa picture!  Eva was so happy to sit on Santa's lap.  She looked up at him and smiled when I went to go hand her to him.  She might have been a little scared of all the elves trying to get her to smile and look at the camera though.  It was so precious.

Eva's first Santa picture!

Eva playing with the tissue paper :)

The best Christmas present I received this year was Eva saying "ma" for the first time.  I am so proud, overjoyed, ecstatic, amazed, warmed, and in love with the fact that she is able to say mom already.  I realize she doesn't associate me with this term yet, but the fact that she will say it on command now makes my heart melt.  How can something so small and so needy give me so much joy without even trying?

Festive 5 Months!

Happy 5 months to my darling Eva!  Each day, she brings me more and more joy.  I can't imagine life without her.  I feel like she is starting to look less like me or my baby pictures, but I still call her my "little clone." It's so fun to watch her little personality develop as we learn her likes and dislikes.  Overall, she is an extremely curious baby that always has to be looking around.  She makes great eye contact, and loves running errands with me.  She is so adventurous and gets bored easily.  There is always entertaining to do when she is awake!  Oddly enough, the vacuum is quite entertaining for her.  She enjoys watching me vacuum or dry my hair with extreme interest.  If she starts getting fussy or bored, we just whip out the vacuum and BOOM... instantly enamored.  Eva is starting to use her hands a lot more lately.  She can pick up things off the floor and stick them in her mouth... great.  She loves to pull her pacifier out of her mouth and pop it back in over and over.  I think it's some sort of game to her.  She started being able to give us high fives as well, and it's the cutest thing ever.  It melts my heart every time.

I know it's been a while since I last blogged, so I will try to recap the past month the best I can.  Thanksgiving was a little overwhelming.  There were so many people at my husband's family gathering, and I think Eva was a little overwhelmed.  She was fussy for what seemed like the entire time, and did not want to nap AT ALL.  I am so bummed because I did not get to take a picture of her Thanksgiving outfit!  I made her a cream and brown colored tutu, and she looked so adorable!  I actually had to change her out of it within the first hour we were there because she peed through her diaper on it!  Little stinker.  I'm also bummed because I feel like I didn't get to spend as much time visiting with everyone because she was requiring so much attention.  I think that Christmas will go over a little better, but we will see!  

Eva is starting to enjoy books a lot more now.  Before, she was simply too squirmy to let you sit and read her a book.  Now, you can hold her interest temporarily.  She still loves the alphabet song, music, pressing keys on my computer or parents' piano, her stuffed doll, water bottles, riding horsey back on our shoulders, standing up, and "the poop dance."  For those of you who don't know what the poop dance is, it's a little tune I made up to entertain her while I bicycle her legs.  When she was first born and was pooping all the time, I wanted to try to make sure she got all her poop out before I changed her diaper.  So I would bicycle, bounce, stretch, and scrunch her legs up while I sang to her.  Even now, she still loves it and thinks it's hilarious. 

As far as eating goes, it's going a lot better!  She is eating solids in the morning and in the evening.  So far, Eva has gotten to eat baby oatmeal, bananas, and avocado.  Tomorrow we are going to start sweet potatoes!  I already know she is going to love it.  I love watching the reaction on her face when she gets to try a new food for the first time.  It makes me want to give her a new food every day, but I know that's not safe.  I never realized how fun it would be to watch her experience ordinary items for the first time with such excitement.  It really makes the day to day things in life so much more entertaining.

Here are a few shots from this past month.  A little sneak peak into our life!

Here's a short clip of Eva babbling after eating her oatmeal.

And finally, here are her 5 month chalkboard pictures! 

Her chunky thighs make my heart smile!

That smile.... 

4 months!

My oh my!  Where has the time gone?!  Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and our little Eva is officially 4 months old.  I was waiting to post this until after we went to her pediatrician appointment so I could add in her growth data.  Our little nugget has sprouted to 24 1/4 inches long, and 13 lbs and 7 ounces!  This puts her at about the 30th percentile for both height and weight.  This is about where she was when she was born, so I'd say she is healthy and growing!  However, her head circumference is 16 1/4 inches, which puts her at about the 80th percentile!  My little nugget has a big ole noggin haha!    It's beginning to make sense on why she got stuck on my pubic bone now during labor.  Andy says it's because she's Asian... whatever.

We had a lot of "firsts" this month.  Eva started sleeping on her left side at night, just like her daddy.  She can also roll over from front to back and back to front now!  The back to front is a new one.  She can also sit up by herself if you prop her hands out in front of her.  She looks like a little tripod and gives you the biggest smile.  My little Miss Independent.  Eva has started enjoying Apollo a lot more as well.  She used to not pay any attention to him, but now he is her best friend.  I can put her on the rug next to him, and she will coo and laugh at him for the longest time!  He is so nice to her as well and even lets her grab his ears and pull his fur.  She also has found her toes, and grabs them all the time now.

Unfortunately, a not so fun first, Eva got her first cold last week.  Poor girl came down with a cold and got her shots the next day.  Luckily, she had no fever or reaction to the vaccinations, so she just had to deal with a hoarse voice and a stuffy nose.  Lastly, the pediatrician okayed us to start giving Eva cereal as well!  We waited until a couple days after her shots, to make sure if she had a reaction we'd know whether or not it was the oats or the vaccinations.  We bought some baby oats the other day, and mixed up a couple teaspoons.  Her tongue thrust reflex kept pushing them out onto her bib, but she managed to swallow maybe one or two bites.  It only lasted a couple minutes though, before she got frustrated and mad and started crying!  It was endearing and pitiful at the same time.  We'll keep trying though, and soon she'll be downing those oats like a champ.  Each day seems to be more fun than the last.  She is becoming more mobile, more independent, more engaged, and more physical.  She loves to reach for anything you put in front of her.  I now have to push my plate and utensils away from me when she sits on my lap, otherwise she will pick them right up!

I can't wait for Eva's first Thanksgiving!  I may just sneak her a bite of sweet potato casserole or mashed potatoes.  How can I resist when she stares at my spoon with each bite I take?!  In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I've compiled a list of Eva's favorites and things she is grateful for (from her mommy's eyes).

10 Things Eva is grateful for:

1.  Mommy and Daddy

2.  Grandparents

3.  Milk

4.  Apollo

5.  Her clear paci

6.  Bath time

7.  Riding on Daddy's shoulders

8.  Polly Mayflower (her stuffed doll)

9.  Her seahorse glow worm

10.  Alphabet song

Last of all, here is Eva's wiggly 4 month snapshot!

Autumn Days

Not much to update here, just wanted to wish everyone a Happy November and share a few pictures from the past couple weeks.  October has come and gone, and the holidays are just around the corner! Here is a picture of my precious Eva in her Halloween costume!

The next picture was taken at Andy's parents house after we had our annual family pictures taken.  We were lucky enough to get a few snapshots of just the 4 of us.  Our little family pod just keeps growing :)

On a different note, the cool weather is finally approaching, and it's pecan harvest time here!  For those of you who don't know, my parents have a pecan orchard.  Whenever November rolls around, every weekend consists of pecan harvesting from sunrise to sunset!  My parents work so hard, and us kids try to chip in when we can.  This year, even baby Eva got to contribute.

I'm really looking forward to the next few weeks.  Eva has her 4 month appointment, Andy and I have share some days off, and Thanksgiving!  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  The food, family get-togethers, the grateful atmosphere, and festive decorations.  I am planning on making Eva her first Thanksgiving outfit, but we'll see how far I get on that.  I will post a picture if I end up finishing it!  Until then, happy November!

October Fitness

Note to Readers:  This post is probably going to sound like I am bragging.  So if you don't want to read while I "atta-girl" myself, feel free to close the browser.

October is a beautiful month.  The weather is still warm, but you also get those crisp days mixed in.  Fall fashion is so cute, and it's finally hoodie weather again!  It's also when I start dreading running outside.  I LOVE running in the heat.  Give me 90 degrees and sunny over 45 degrees and cloudy any day!  My favorite running temperature is probably in the 70's, but I definitely prefer the warmth than cool air.

This October, I ran my very first half marathon.  I've run a full marathon before, but never a half.  I was really excited to get in my first race post pregnancy.  I did a free 5k back in September, but I don't really count that.  When all of your training runs are longer than your race, it doesn't seem as fun or challenging.  The half marathon was what I had my goal set on before I even had Eva.  I knew that as long as I didn't have a C-section, I would have no problem getting enough training in before the race.  Since I had run my whole pregnancy, up until the day my water broke, I knew getting back into running would be no problem.  In fact, 15 days after Eva was born, I went on my first 3 miler. Let me tell you, it was so much EASIER running postpartum than it was 9 months pregnant.  I seriously felt so fast.  Therefore, I set a time goal for myself.  I wanted to run a sub 2 hour half marathon.  Definitely doable pre-pregnancy, but I had been running a lot slower during my pregnancy, so I prayed I hadn't lost whatever speed I used to have.  I did a lot of intervals, tempo runs, and a couple track workouts in order to get my speed back.  A lot of HARD work went into getting back to pre-pregnancy shape, but I was able to exceed my goal of a sub 2 hour half marathon by several minutes.

I am still working on some muscular strength that I lost during my pregnancy, but otherwise I feel back to my normal self.  It's amazing how your body can bounce back after going through 9 months of stretching and supporting life of another human being.  Fact is, I am proud of myself and my accomplishment.  I put a lot of hard work into my health and fitness and am getting results.  Feel free to judge me and say I just have good genes or whatever other excuse you want, but truthfully it all comes down to hard work.  I gained 24 pounds during my pregnancy by the time I checked into the hospital in labor.  By the time I left, I had only lost 8 lbs.  To be fair, I stuffed my face during my stay at the hospital after not eating for over 30 hours... but still.  So basically, I had 16 POUNDS OF FAT to lose.  The weight didn't just fall off...  it took 3 months of sweat and blisters.  While I still feel like my mid section could use a little tightening up, I actually weigh less now than I did pre-pregnancy.  I'm back into my "skinniest" jeans and feel confident in a swim suit once again.  If only my linea nigra would continue to fade, I would have no complaints!  Apparently, it takes a lot longer to disappear if you are nursing :(

If I could do this last pregnancy over again, I wouldn't change much to my fitness regimen.  I am so glad I was able to continue running throughout my pregnancy!  I know not many people are able to continue due to certain risks or discomforts it causes them.  I feel lucky, and it definitely kept me sane.  I'm glad I kept up with core work as well, because I think it really helped my back stay strong enough to counteract the baby bump during pregnancy.  Also, I believe it helped me shrink a lot quicker back to my normal size.  I was so thankful I did not have to buy new clothes to fit into before I lost all the weight I gained during pregnancy.  Perhaps I wish I had done some speed work or heavier upper body lifting, but after my initial miscarriage scare, I am glad I took that first trimester easier.

I now have other goals in mind.  I've always wanted to be a fit mom.  But I want to push myself to a better, stronger, faster limit.  I want a firmer butt, leaner legs, stronger arms, a tighter core.  Even though I'm transitioning into the healthcare field and leaving behind my career as a fitness coach, I don't want to forget something I am passionate about.  I would still like to feel confident in my body when people ask me fitness related questions.  I still want to encourage people to set healthy goals and see them attain them.  I hope to never lose the side of me that craves to be healthy and fit.