Overwhelmed

As I’ve stated before, I’m a bit of a social media addict. However lately, I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed by it. Every time I turn on the computer, there is some new site, or online community that wants you to have a profile, and follow people and interact. My latest find is Pinterest. Love it – lots of fun. But again, it’s one more thing. One more place that I feel I need to check to see what’s going on. One more place that I need to interact with and find “content” for.

Thankfully there are iPhone apps for most of them which makes checking a bit faster and easier.

Shredding

I mentioned on twitter a few days ago that I was doing Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. Several people mentioned that I would be quite sore. I had read the reviews of the DVD before buying it and was looking forward to/scared of what was to come.

So I did day 1. And I wondered what all the fuss was about. Sure, it was a good workout and it got me sweating, but I certainly didn’t feel like I was dying. So the next day I did a half hour on the treadmill, then did my 30 day shred again. Between the two, I was tired and took a long nap that afternoon. I still didn’t see what the big deal was about her workouts.

Then on day 3 I tried level 2. Everything became clear. She is NUTS! Some of the things she does had me shaking my head and wondering if she had been dropped on hers! But I pushed on.

This morning I was really tired and considered just doing level 1. Instead, I pushed on and did level 2 anyways and I’m so glad I did! Today I was able to push through and complete several sections that before had required me to put a knee down, or take a short break.

Level 3 will still have to wait a few days though!

Efficiency

I’ve always tried to be very efficient with my time, mostly because I have so many things on the go! Post-it notes are my best friend and I’m constantly writting to-do lists so that I don’t forget about anything that needs to be done. My iPhone is also a big help in keeping me organized and on track. So far my favorite app is Remember the Milk, but I’m open to new ones if anyone has any recommendations.

Multi-tasking has always been one of my greatest skills, but having a baby has taken even that to a new level. I can now breastfeed, watch a movie and catch up on twitter – all at the same time! Impressive, I know.

Even as I’m writing this post, I have a video of a lecture for school playing on my other screen. Right now it’s just a recommended “pre-class” to review anatomy and physiology, but in one month, school starts up for real! Hopefully I can continue being efficient and multi-task. Which probably means that Dean will be watching many grad school lectures.

Inducing labor

Towards the end of pregnancy, women are always asked when they are due. What people are really thinking, is “you look horribly uncomfortable – is it nearly over for you?” As soon as you tell them that you are close to your due date (within a week) or over it, the advice on how to induce labor starts.

I heard them all. Go for a walk. Eat spicy food. Have sex. Rest. And on and on it goes. I tried all of them, and none of them worked. So six days after my due date, I decided to take matters into my own hands and try to induce labor. I call it the dune buggy method.

We were having dinner at Phil’s cousins house and he was telling us about the new dune buggies he had acquired. So off we went to our friends place where they were being kept, and where the bumpy 4×4 loop/course was. The boys immediately took off racing having fun. Having missed out on several fun adventures during pregnancy, I quickly decided I wasn’t going to miss out on this one. What’s the worst that could happen? I would go into labor, and trust me, that was a welcome thought by that point. (I know some of you are concerned about all the bouncing around, but seriously, the baby was happily floating in a fluid bubble – he was fine).

So off I went tearing around the course going as fast as I could and laughing and screaming with delight. Result? Baby slept through all the racing, but woke up and started kicking when we ate dessert an hour later.

So final analysis of the dune buggy method:
Fun – YES!
Effective – not so much.

PS – my doctor laughed when I told him about this.

Tomato Chickpea Soup

Last night we wanted a lighter meal… problem was I desperately needed to go grocery shopping and had no vegetables in the house – which is usually the foundation of a light meal for us. I found a recipe I had ripped out of Real Simple magazine for tomato soup. Problem was I didn’t have all the ingredients. So I decided to just improvise, substitute, and omit as necessary and it turned out pretty good! So here is the recipe for my version of the soup

1/3 large onion, finely chopped
Olive Oil
Chilli powder
2 cans of stewed tomatoes (total 29 oz)
4 cups of chicken broth
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
croutons
grated parmesan

1. Chop onions. Heat pot and add olive oil (I don’t measure – sorry). Sautee onions on med heat until they are soft. Add chilli powder to onions (again, I don’t measure).

2. Blend yogurt and basil together in food processor. Set aside in fridge.

3. Add tomatoes and broth to onions. Blend together with hand blender until mostly blended (I left some chunks of tomato). Bring to a boil. Add chickpeas. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Pour soup into bowls and top with croutons, parmesan and basil yogurt.

The original recipe called for adding chipotle chillis, israeli cous cous and ham (no chick peas in their version), and they used cilantro and sour cream instead of yogurt and basil.

Enjoy!

Family Pics

I used to take tons of pictures! Now, I often forget my camera, and even when I have it, I don’t take very many pictures. Thankfully my iPhone has a decent camera on it and my iPhone is ALWAYS with me (yes, I’m an addict) so at least I can snap a few on there.

A few months ago I decided that we needed to get some proper pictures taken. A friend recommended Rebecca Brethauer to me. We had a couples/maternity session done in May and I LOVED the pictures she took! So we decided to get her newborn package as well.

When Dean was 12 days old, she came over and got the cutest pictures of him! So at least I know that even if I always forget my camera, we will have a some good pictures of him as a baby.

We will photo sessions every three months for the next year and I will be sure to post more pictures as they are done!

BTW – the header photo on this blog was also taken by Rebecca!

My social media experiment

I am a social media addict. I love Facebook and Twitter and check them everyday… multiple times a day. My addiction got worse when I got my iPhone last summer making it easier for me to check on Facebook and Twitter while on the run.

Generally, I post random tidbits about my life: what I’m up to, where I’m traveling to, or some yummy new food I’m enjoying (you will notice there is a foodie section on this blog). However there is one thing that I never posted about – my pregnancy. This lead to a few surprised coments when i posted a picture of my newborn son and I on June 25.

Dean and I when he is an hour old.

So why didn’t I post about my pregnancy? Initially, I did not post about it because I waited until I was 18 weeks pregnant to tell my work. Even then, I was still processing the whole idea of being pregnant and did not feel ready to share it with the world.

As time went on, I began to think about how social media has changed our lives and the way we share information. Was it possible to keep anything private in this world of over-sharing? That is when I decided to conduct an experiment. It is completely UNscientific, and more just my observations.

My experiment was this: make no mention of my pregnancy on social media and see what peoples reactions were when he’s born. The result: 42 likes and 91 comments on the above picture. Several of those comments were of the “I had no idea you were pregnant!” variety!

So the answer is yes, it is possible, even for a social media addict such as myself, to keep some things private and personal. Before Facebook and Twitter, it may have been months or years before that friend from high school who I never see in real life anymore found out about my child. I’m not saying that it is good or bad, but more just odd that do know so much about people that we don’t really see anymore.

I will continue to share about my life on social media, and hopefully this blog (got to get better at updating it regularly). But it is nice to know that it is possible to keep certain things in my life private.