Baby Sign Language

Denver is almost 17 months, and he still doesn't say many words. He sometimes says "dada" and "mama," and he'll occasionally say something that sounds like "nigh nigh" when he wants to go to bed, but that's about it. My parents tell me that I was a late talker though, and now I never stop talking, so I'm confident he'll be just fine. :)

In the mean time, he's gotten pretty good at baby sign language.  Austin's mom (my mother-in-law) is fluent in sign language, so she has helped a lot with the signs. Denver seems to really enjoy it, and it's nice to be able to communicate with him, even if it's not through spoken words.

Last night I recorded us showing off a few of these signs. For some reason, I always decide to do this sort of thing when I'm not wearing any makeup, and I haven't brushed my hair in like 24 hours, so please excuse that. Also, now that I watch this video, I think I sound like those contestants on Wheel of Fortune that SCREAM the letters at Pat Sajak like he's never heard of the letter "T" before.  But that's enough self-deprecation. There's still a cute baby in the video, and he's the important part.

Enjoy!

The Long Overdue "Mummy Tummy" Update

It was May 2011 when I originally blogged about my frustrations with my "mummy tummy."  It is now almost eight months later, and I'm finally updating everyone on my progress.  I confess that part of the reason that I haven't posted on this subject until now is that I was so discouraged. I originally thought, "I'll make a plan! I'll stick to my plan! And in six weeks the results will be amazing and everyone will be encouraged and I'll be skinny again! Hooray!!"  And then six weeks passed... and another six weeks... and a few more months... and my stomach still protruded to what I felt was an embarrassing level.

As I mentioned eight months ago, I didn't just have too much fat on my stomach. I suffered from diastasis recti, which is a separation of abdominal muscles, causing internal organs to not be supported, causing a bulging stomach and protruding belly button (cute when you're pregnant, not cute when you're not.)

Although it took much longer than I anticipated (Denver is now almost 17 months old), I am happy to announce that my mummy tummy is almost completely gone! It has certainly taken a lot of hard work and dedication (Yes I did borrow that line from Dolvett on the Biggest Loser), but it's been worth it.

May 27, 2011

January 23, 2012 

(8 months later)

The little tummy that you see left in the above picture is mostly excess skin (TMI? sorry). It's possible that with time, that skin will tighten, but it's also very possible that it won't. As of now, I'm planning to never wear a two-piece again, and I'm pretty okay with that. I'd take Denver over a bikini any day. :)

For those that are interested, here's what I did to lose the tummy:

1. I went to physical therapy every week for 8 weeks, learning new exercises and helping to retrain my muscles.

2. I wore an abdominal splint (and still sometimes do) as often as I can remember to wear it.

3. I do "tupler technique" exercises multiple times a day. Like usually every time I drive, or whenever I'm sitting on the floor playing with Denver, or any time really. I try to do six sets of 100 exercises every day. Yes, that's a lot. But hopefully that gives you an idea of how important this was to me. I reeeeeally didn't want to look pregnant any more, and my lower back needed more support.

My main point of this post is to encourage anyone who is in a similar circumstance. When I look at my blog stats, I notice that other than Austin's post about Denver's birth, my Mummy Tummy post is my other most popular entry. Which makes me think there are other women out there with a similar story.

If you have diastasis recti, and you're feeling frustrated, feel free to email me and I can give you more info on everything I did: caitlinmariehines@gmail.com.

And in the mean time, please know that if you keep up with the right exercises, your muscles can be retrained, and you won't always look 4 months pregnant! :)

Breastmilk Counts... continued

So last summer I let everyone know that our little family took a road trip to Austin, TX so that I could be interviewed for a pro-breastfeeding website.

Since then, I've had a number of people ask me if I'd ever seen the final product. My answer has always been... "No, I keep checking the website, but still nothing."

Well, last night, Austin asked if I had checked in a while, and it had been a month or two since I'd tried to find the video. Sure enough, it was posted!

So here it is. My 1:14 minute clip about breastfeeding. I certainly hope that my information, along with the other women who contributed, encourages women to nurse their babies/toddlers, even if they are having a hard time, or feel for some reason like they "can't."

Yes, I do nurse Denver briefly in this video. If you are uncomfortable with that, I wanted to inform you in advance. But maybe if you're uncomfortable with it, all the more reason to watch! ;)

http://www.breastmilkcounts.com/community.php

A New Year, A New Attitude

I have a New Year's Resolution.

It's the kind of resolution that is scary to say aloud because it means people will know about it and (gasp) maybe even hold me accountable to it.

I resolve to stop complaining.

There. I said it.

I have been incredibly convicted of this for quite some time now. I feel that there are certain things that we, as Christians, take very seriously:

Love one another deeply.

Don't lie.

Don't use the Lord's name in vain.

Serve those less fortunate than yourself.

The list goes on...

But having a grumbly/whiney attitude is just as wrong as any other sin.  God is very clear about complaining.  In Philippians 2:14, Paul writes,

 "Do everything without grumbling or arguing..." (emphasis mine). 

Seriously God? EVERYTHING? 

What about when Denver has his fourth enormous dirty diaper of the day? Don't I deserve to whine a little about that?

Or what about the extremely rude woman at the grocery store? Can't I tweet about her?

Or when I'm just having a terrible miserable no good very bad day? Can't I complain about that at happy hour with my girlfriends?

The truth is that God calls us not to grumble for a specific purpose:

 "Do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation."  Philippians 2:14

People whine. That's our nature. We want everyone else to know what a crummy day we've had. So in choosing not to grumble, we stand out... like a light in a dark place.  It is just one more way to share the gospel. One more way to let people know how great Jesus is and how powerful he is. He has the power to change our attitudes.

What I'm not saying is that I'm going to walk around with a fake smile plastered on my face constantly acting like I'm in a happy mood even when I'm not. I think we are supposed to be real with each other. When someone asks me if I'm having a good day, I think it's appropriate to sometimes say, "No, it's been pretty bad," and ask for advice or have a shoulder to cry on.  I am talking about the constant complainy/grumbly attitude that I sometimes take about all sorts of things. I'm talking about mindlessly grumbling about little things just for the sake of conversation and self-pity.

The odds are pretty good that you will hear me complain at some point throughout the next year. Mainly because I'm human, and I'm sinful, and this is going to be a major change for me. But i commit to working hard at it every day. And hopefully, with LOTS of help from the Holy Spirit, my attitude and mind-set will eventually change, and it won't be in my nature to complain as often.

Meeting Santa

Did you know that having your picture taken with Santa at the average mall in Ft. Worth costs at least $25?!  That's the minimum you're allowed to spend if you want your child's picture taken with Santa. And you have to buy the pictures they take; you're not allowed to bring your own camera.

Well... this year I did a little research and found out that Bass Pro Shops has a wonderful winter wonderland set up in their store all of December.  Pictures with Santa are free, we were allowed to use our own camera, and they have crafts and Christmas activities for the whole family set up around the store.

We had so much fun. I cannot say enough good things about our day at Bass Pro. Here are a few of the memories we made...

meeting santa... adorably traumatic

riding the Christmas merry-go-round with daddy

our wilderness man

looking at the ducks and fish in the pond with mommy

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. And of course... God bless Texas.

Hurricane Denver

It's funny. I feel like Denver is changing every day. I could probably write an entire blog post every day on all the new things he does and the new ways he makes us laugh. Maybe that's why I never seem to write any more? I'm too preoccupied with my son's cuteness and he's keeping me too busy. :)

Anyway, sorry for being so absent. Hopefully I'll get back to blogging more in the new year.

A few quick facts about the little (big) man...

• 15 months old
• weighs 25 lbs (75th percentile)
• 32.5 inches tall (75th percentile)
• favorite things to do with mom and dad: 
• be chased around the house and laugh hysterically
• play peek-a-boo
• help us take the trash outside to the bins 
• read books
• watch Sesame Street
• play in the backyard with Fable
• favorite things to do while mom and dad aren't looking:
• throw "trash" in the trashcan (aka valuable things like credit cards or jewelry or important receipts etc.)
• climb onto EVERYTHING including the dining room table, kitchen table, our bed, out the doggie door....
• take off his diaper and poop on the floor
• empty out the kitchen cabinets, then put himself in the cabinets in place of the pots and pans
• dump Fable's water bowl all over the kitchen. at least once a day.
• have you heard the expression "gag me with a spoon"?  well, he takes this quite literally. if i'm not paying enough attention to him, he takes one of the giant stirring spoons, and gags himself with it so that I'll look at him. it seems quite painful, but apparently it's worth it.

I thank God daily for taking better care of our son than I can. Because the little man is a walking tornado, and I can't keep up. Thank God that He can.

I also thank God for ShamWows.

Bobblehead

Austin's phone has a front facing camera... aka, you can look into it like a mirror while it records.

Denver discovered this feature earlier this evening.

It turns out he finds himself just as adorable and hilarious as we do.

And for the grand finale, he does his trick of the week: pointing to his nose. 

What a champ.