So, today Mia is 7 weeks and 5 days old. Saying that amount of time and living it seem like two very different increments. I am still constantly amazed at how quickly things are changing both with her on her own, and with our family in general. I always find that the end of the year flies by most of the time, but this year, it's out of control how quickly its moving. Mia goes in for her 2 month appointment next Monday. How can she possibly be that old? I'm pretty sure I just got out of the hospital, and I had every intention of being back to pre-pregnancy weight (haha) by this time....so surely there has been some sort of miscalculation. None the less, my baby will be 2 whole months old on the 19th. I'm not sure why, but just saying that makes me a little sad.....

Mia now has a distinct grasp on the concepts of day and night. She is sleeping consistently at least 6 hours at night....a day that only a few short weeks ago, I was sure would never come. A few nights ago, I leapt out of bed at 4AM and ran (literally) across our apartment to make sure she was still breathing! She was. And she didn't seem in the slightest concerned that I almost took out our Christmas tree and nearly broke my neck tripping on Luci's chew toy that has been in the floor since I can remember....not sure why I haven't picked it up, it's still laying there, I must enjoy a challenge....I digress....I just couldn't fathom her being asleep for longer than 4 hours, but as it turns out, she is her momma's girl and it didn't take her long to figure out that day time hours are SO MUCH more bearable with more than 2 hours of sleep ;-) Needless to say, minus the occasional moment of hysteria thinking that my child is no longer breathing, I am thoroughly enjoying the added hours of slumber. They certainly help me deal with our new little emerging drama queen :)

She certainly is developing quite the personality! She smiles all the time, and the world stops for a moment, then in the very next instant, she screams...it's a viscious cycle, each to counter act the other. She smiles so I know I'm doing something right, and screams to remind me that even though she's happy, this is no cake walk. And I'll take it however it comes. She definitely has me on my toes though. Seems like when she was younger (yes I realize has only lived 7 weeks) there was no question what she wanted. When she was awake, she was hungry. I would feed her, and she would go to sleep until she was hungry again. Easy (I'm pretty sure my self from 5 weeks ago would punch me for saying that). Now, when she's awake, there's no telling. Maybe she's hungry, or maybe she just doesn't like the color shirt I have on that day....and don't think I haven't tried changing my shirt to see if that stops her from crying! Want to know the even more awesome thing, and by awesome, I mean not awesome, when she is crying from sheer boredom and I finally do something to appease her, then she starts crying again....she requires a WHOLE NEW thing to become contented again! I'm learning very quickly that the same thing twice in a row NEVER works! I feel like I could be on one of those weird cooking shows where they give you a pumpkin, a jar of strawberry jam, two clams and a bag of fish livers that you have to make a gormet meal out of...except instead of cooking, I'm trying to keep an infant entertained and happy. I am very resourceful these days ;-) But seeing her little faces (both happy and sad) still makes my day. I can't say enough how grateful I am to be able to spend this time with her.....she's pretty cool, I think I'll keep her.

As far as how I'm feeling, I am pleased to say that I am LESS tired. I'm not sure how this happened, but I went from being a morning person, to NOT being a morning person after having this baby. Wha?? Yea...I can't figure it out. I keep telling myself that after her 6AM feeding, I need to just get up and start moving, but I have yet to fight the urge to get back in bed (being the couch after the 6 o'clock feeding, we normally snuggle up together) and don't emerge again until around 9. Even at 9, I am still not totally with it. I'm just glad that we have at least a slight resemblance of a routine in the mornings, so I know that after she eats at 9, I have at least 2 hours to do something with myself before its boob time again ;-) While I'm starting to feel more confident in the mommy department, I am still lacking confidence in the woman department. I am struggling a lot with what this pregnancy has done to my body. I honestly thought that losing the weight would be a walk in the park, I also thought that I would have plenty of time to work out and would start that immediately...yea, right. I'm finding that it's not so much a matter of 'I don't have the time to workout', its more 'I don't have the energy to workout, plus I kind of don't want to even if I did have the energy'. But, I am reminded every time I go to get dressed that if I ever plan wearing anything in my closet again that is not an old t-shirt and oversized sweater, that I am going to have to get off my bum. So.....in an effort to make that happen, I have enlisted the help of Jillian Michaels :) All of you who know me well, know that I have a secret infatuation with the woman. And she and I are going to be seeing a lot of each other in the next couple of months. I have decided (just now) that in order to keep myself motivated, I am going to track my progress on this public forum...so get ready ;-)

To date I have lost 26 of the 40 lbs I gained while pregnant. My goal is to be at my pre-preg weight by the time Mia is 5 months old.....so I have 3 months to lose 14 lbs. I think I can. Bring it, Jillian.

Aside from my body image issues, I am doing well. I  am getting out a lot more often and, lucky for me, my child is an ANGEL in public! If she is fussy at home, I pack her up and put her in the car and as soon as we start moving, she's out. Now, the one draw back is that if I happen to hit a red light, sh*t hits the fan! I have never encoutered a being that was so motion sensitive! I now make it to my destination by way of right hand turns I can take in order to avoid having to stop.....Also, I have now begun mentally packing our apartment nightly in order to prepare for our move. Unfortunately, none of my mental packing translates to ACTUAL packing...its a shame really. We don't have our official close date on our house yet, but the guess is that we will close around January 24. We are super excited, but along with the excitment of a new house comes the anxiety of a new house.....

I guess I've written enough about not much, so I'll give you guys a break for another week or so ;-) I don't have any pics uploaded at the moment, but as soon as I upload some current ones, I'll post them. She looks so different now! It's amazing how much she's changing every day :)

And for the record, I've learned this week that the only thing that is consistent in this house now, is change.....and Mia's crazy man farts ;-)