Aunt Genevieve Came to Town!

This past weekend my sister, Genevieve, came to visit and get a Drake fix. She had not seen him since the beginning of September and I think she was a little surprised at how much he had grown! Drake had fun playing with her and showing off with everything that he can now do. He especially liked to show her how he can dance.

Genevieve got in late Friday, so Saturday morning we ventured to Belton, SC to eat breakfast at Grits and Groceries. For my New Orleans readers, this is a restaurant that is owned and operated by Elizabeth, of Elizabeth's Restaurant in Bywater. She and her husband (and former pastry chef for Emeril) decided that they wanted to raise their son in the country, so they moved back to South Carolina and opened a little breakfast and lunch restaurant in the middle of no where. It was pretty tasty food and worth an occasional 45 minute drive for a Saturday brunch.

After breakfast, we dropped David off and then Genevieve, Drake and I headed to Commerce, GA to do a little outlet shopping. After finding a few deals, we drove home and Genevieve and I went to see Hugo. It was a pretty cute and entertaining movie. One the way home, I noticed that a traffic light was out and sure enough, the electricity in the whole city was out. We walked in and David had just started a fire, I opened a bottle of wine, and we made s'mores while listening to the ACC Championship game on an app on my phone.


Emergency Supplies

Sunday we went to the little cafe in Pendleton where something is always spilled on David (he escaped this trip) for their Sunday buffet. This was out first experience with the buffet and I am sure it will not be our last. After brunch, we hung out at the house and then Drake and I took Genevieve back to the airport for her flight home. It was a great visit and I think that Drake really enjoyed seeing his Aunt Genevieve. We are looking forward to seeing her and the rest of the family soon when we join them the day after Christmas in New Orleans!

I think this picture is so cute and funny...Drake laughing and Aunt Genevieve checking him out!

The Time Has Come...

Well, at 9 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days, I no longer have enough milk to exclusively breastfeed Drake. Today he will have his first bottle of formula. This is very hard for me because I was so good at producing milk. Initially I had trouble and Drake lost a little over a pound in the first few days after birth. Then we found our groove and at the ultimate high, had 63 six-ounce bags of milk in the freezer. In the last couple of months, my production has drastically dropped and in order to keep up with his needs, we have depleted the freezer supply.

I am still going to nurse Drake in the morning and at night and then pump three times a day as I have been. This should produce enough for one milk bottle a day and one formula bottle a day. Some days he may just get formula; I doubt there will be any days when he just gets milk.

I did not realize how upsetting this would be for me. I have already made it past my goal of stopping in November. I know that only about 8% of babies are exclusively breastfeed at 6 months and we made it well past that. I just feel like I have somehow let him down; I feel like I have failed. I know he needs to eat and this is the only way that he is going to get the nutrients that he needs. Just like when I was told that I was going to have to have a c-section due to placenta previa, it was not what I wanted, but in the end I realized that it was what was what had to happen.

Actually, just writing about this makes me feel a little better; I know that I am doing all I can. Just as a side, formula smells really bad! I do thank our friends Jermile, Haley, and Caleb who had a canister of formula left from Caleb's baby days that was still good which they gave us. We can make it two months of formula eating...

The Lost Art (for me) of Exercise

Since Drake was born, I have wanted to try and find the time to start exercising again. When I moved to Clemson 10+ years ago, I was in the best shape of my life. Prior to moving, I was coaching field hockey and would pretty much do all conditioning and lifting with the team. When I got here, it was a little more difficult because I had to be self-motivated and find time to fit a workout in. I would go through cycles where I would workout and then be lazy, train for a marathon (which I never ran but got up to 17 miles) and then be lazy. Prior to getting pregnant, I was at an all-time high for weight and laziness.

I have learned that breastfeeding is one of the best weight loss plans that one can be on (sorry it cannot work for everyone!). I am now 15 pounds lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight and this is without watching what I am eating or exercising. I really would like to get back on an exercise routine, but I am finding it very difficult to fit it into my day. When I travel, it is no problem to fit a workout in; we usually do not eat breakfast until 10:00 and there is no way I can sleep that late! 

Where it is hard to find time is during my everyday life. As it is, we only get to spend about 4 waking hours a day with Drake during the work week. If I try and fit-in a workout, that would be even less time that I would get to spend with him. I know I need to do this for myself, but I really haven't figured out how to fit this in. I keep telling myself that when I stop nursing, I will get up earlier and go to the gym in the morning a few days a week.

I just need to get into a routine and stick with it. The time has come for me to stop talking about the need to start working out again and start doing it.