November 8, 2011

Wow, I can't believe I haven't updated this thing since January! I thought I'd be better at updating about Claire. Oh well. She amazes me, daily. It amazes me at how much I love her, and at how much I love bein a mama. I never thought I'd be like this. I went back to work February 9th, and I cried 1/2 the day. It was horrible. Its still really tough leaving her, even after almost 9 months of doing it. I HATE leavin her all day, even though I know she's in good hands with my mother-in-law. I wish all the time that there was a way we can live off just Paul's salary alone. I'd be a stay-at-home mom in a heartbeat! I missed a lot of her firsts, which is so sad. But I was the only one to see her take her first steps!

We're still breastfeeding, though I did introduce solids at 9 months. Actually, I let her try squash at 6 months, and she liked it but neither of us were quite ready for solids yet. So between 6 and 9 months she got solids occasionally, like maybe once or twice a week, if I remembered. At 9 months I finally gave in to everyone around me ("when are you gonna feed that baby?!" grr) and started her on solids once a day. Now, at 10 1/2 months, she still nurses as much as she wants when I'm around, has 2 bottles of breastmilk a day, and eats soilds for lunch and 2 snacks. She LOVES bananas, and some of her other favorite foods are sweet potatoes, apples, yellow squash, butternut squash, and carrots. And little puffs, bread, and crackers, oh and hushpuppies. So far, she doesn't like anything green, but I'm tryin not to worry about it too much. I'm gonna stop pumping at the end of the year, so she'll get more solids, but I'll still breastfeed her as much as she wants when we're together. I used to think people who breastfed after a year were crazy, but now I can't imagine stopping yet. I'm gonna let Claire decide that one.

My riding lesson business has really suffered since I had Claire, but that's okay. I taught up until the very end of my pregnancy, but it took me a lot longer than I expected to recover from delivery, and I lost a student or 2 in that time. I've still got little Erin, though she's still terrified to canter, so we just walk/trot. But that's okay. And the other girl, Claire, comes every once in a great while, but they're not consistent about bringin her. That's it. I have recently started ridin again, though. I rode probably 10 weeks or so after Claire's birth, but it exhausted me and I just found it so hard to peel myself away from Claire to go outside! Its still hard for me, but I'm gettin better about it. Lately, I ride on Sundays when she goes down for her long afternoon nap. That way I don't miss anything! ( :

I started riding Wiley again a few weeks ago. Surprisingly, he's been a perfect angel. I figured a year and 1/2 of nothing would ruin him, but he acts just like he did last year. I haven't cantered him yet, but at the walk and trot he remembers everything I taught him. He's so fat though! Once I get him in better shape, we'll start workin on jumping again. I don't ride Sunshine very often since she's my lesson horse, but I did hop on her this past Sunday. That was so much fun! We jumped, and I haven't done that in I don't know how long. Probably since last April, before I found out I was pregnant.

I am so out of shape, its not even funny. I have lost ALL my leg muscles. Of course, my arms and back are pretty good since I'm constantly pickin up and totin Claire around. But my legs? Ugh. And who has time to exercise! I gained 42lbs durin my pregnancy, and as of last week I've lost 56lbs. I weigh less than I did when I got married, and I was pretty small then. Its wierd. I eat like a pig, literally. I guess breastfeedin is gettin my body back to what it should be, weight-wise. Its nice to not have to wear "fat" clothes anymore, but now I'm to the point where most of my jeans are way too big on me and look sloppy. And I can't wear anything too tight cause I have so much loose skin on my stomach that it hangs over like a spare tire. Its gross! I look like someone who used to be huge and had gastric bypass. lol. Oh well. My skin'll be all stretched out for the next baby! (Whenever that may be! Ideally, I'd like another one when C is around 3, but who knows.)