Hello life for the next 3 years!

So now it's the end of August and I haven't written a post in the last three weeks! So much has happened that I'll try and fill ya'll in as efficiently as I can.

First, Zaiden turned 4 months old on August 18! I can't believe how big he's gotten and how much stuff he can do now. He can sit up almost on his own (he'll prop himself up if we sit him up and he's trying to sit up straight with no hands), he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth, he tries to talk and read and tell stories, he's starting to show signs of going longer than 2 hours between feedings during the day, he's soooo close to rolling over from his back to his tummy (he can already do the other way) and he's definitely teething (confirmed by the doctor at his 4 month appointment). As for his 4 month stats, here they are: Weight - 16 lbs 8 oz (75th percentile), Height - 26.5 inches (95th percentile). The doctor was super impressed that was able to balance so well sitting up and thought he was developing quite nicely. I was looking back at his first appointment and it is crazy to me how much he has grown - at 1 month he was only in the 25th percentile for height and weight and now he's such a big boy!

Zaiden has been especially cuddly the past couple of nights and he's been nursing a TON at night the past 2 nights, but not for long periods. Last night, he would nurse for about 5 minutes, fall asleep, cuddle next to me and would wake up about an hour later and repeat the whole process. It seemed like when he woke up he was scared and didn't know where he was or where I was. I'm wondering if he's starting to miss us when we're not there or if he's just more aware now of when we're not there. I'm thinking it might be a combination of those things as well as the whole teething thing. We'll see though. I think as long as we keep following his cues and giving him space he'll work it out. That's the nice thing about babies - they have lots of phases, but none of them seem to last too long. In any case, I'm trying to enjoy the extra cuddles as much as I can (although it was really hard last night since I was trying to do homework)...I know that it won't last long and soon he's not going to need his mama to go to bed.

In other news, I started business school for real! We had our opening residency at Airlie in Warrenton starting on August 18, so Zaiden, Eric and I headed down to my parents' house while they enjoyed themselves in Vegas. The 18th and 19th were VERY difficult days for all of us. I left home around 8 a.m. and I didn't get back until 12 a.m. on the 18th and 9:30 p.m. on the 19th. Eric was fabulous with Zaiden and he got a little relief on the 20th and 21st once my parents were back (they were MORE than happy and eager to provide some back up support). I, on the other hand just had more work to do. I ended up getting home at 3 a.m. on the 20th and left at 7 on the 21st so that I could practice with my group for our final case presentation. It was definitely a hectic time, but it got me so energized and motivated to be in school. It was so nice to be able to think in a different way for a change.

My first day of classes was on the 22nd and boy was it a busy one! I was lucky enough to work from home last week so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Since I was home, I at least got to see Zaiden on a regular basis even though I couldn't really play with him. Classes went really well and I really had a great feeling afterwards - I totally felt like this was something I could do and we would definitely get through the next 3 years. I was so productive last week it was crazy, I even did my homework for Stats well in advance (like the day after it was assigned) and I did my homework for my management class last night (don't have that class until Wednesday), so I am pretty impressed with myself.

Today, however, will be the real test of how well we'll be able to get through the next three years. This morning, I dropped Zaiden off for his first day of "daycare." Luckily for us, "daycare" means Nanima and Khati Masi:) We'd been taking Zaiden to their house every Thursday all summer long so he'd get used to bein there and get familiar with both of them (plus, Eric and I got to have Nanima's food for lunch each week and nothing beats your grandmother's cooking:). I'm sooo glad we did that because this morning, he was happy as a lark when I dropped him off. It was fabulous and I didn't even cry! There may be tears later today though because tonight I have to go to class and I won't get home until close to 10 p.m. That means, I won't see my little lovebug for 14 hours! Thank goodness I have tomorrow off though, so we can make up for all that lost time:)

Today was also a bi day because it was Eric's first day back at work! After working only 3 weeks in the past 4 months, it was definitely hard for him to get back into the swing of things. We had a pretty good morning and he was able to get out the door on time (he went to bed on time so maybe that helped:)...hopefully he got to work on time and his day was better than he expected. I'll have to check up on him tonight on my drive to class and see how it all worked out.

As I sit here typing this, I can't help but feel a bit anxious. I guess I just want to know how the day will go for all of us and I want to make sure it goes smoothly and that Zaiden isn't upset because he misses us too much and Eric is stressed because he's got to do bedtime with Zaiden by himself, and that I don't come home feeling absolutely guilty about everything. We'll see though...I'll try and report back Wednesday on how things went!

Yay for Personal Trainers

After being in our new place for just over a month now, I can say it definitely feels like home. We've had some time to figure out where things are, how to get places, and meet our neighbors. Zaiden is also now about 3.5 months old and into a much more regular routine. He eats about every two hours from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. then takes a nice long nap, is up for an hour, then heads to bed around 8/8:30 p.m.

Taking all this into consideration, it felt like it was time to finally get back into the gym. This past week I did a bit of research and comparing and finally decided to join Fitness First. I got a great corporate rate and it's less than 1 mile from our apartment with great hours and childcare. As part of the deal for joining, I got a free personal training session that I took advantage of today. As you all know, I love working out, and some might say I'm kinda obsessed with having a very healthy lifestyle. For me, getting a personal training session was like a gift from above. After having Zaiden things just don't look/feel like they did before and I really feel like I've lost a lot of muscle. The other issue for me is that I'm really lost as to where to start back up with my routines. I was pretty hardcore before I got pregnant and I had to slow down a lot towards the end of my pregnancy. I still walked a ton, but it definitely wasn't the intensity that I was used to. Anyways, my issue is that I don't know what to do in the gym - I can't go full out like I used to,  but at the same time I'm not really good at finding "middle ground." My personal trainer today was awesome and really helped me realize that I was already on the right track. Right now, my body fat % is at 29% - that was super disappointing for me, but my trainer did remind me that it is still in the healthy range for women and is really really awesome for only having a baby 3 months ago (he though I should be able to get to 18-19% body fat once I got back into my schedule). He also was very impressed with my diet and I really blew him away in our session with how much I could push myself. He gave me some awesome ideas for some new weight exercises and ways to build up my ab wall and muscles again. It was great to get a professional outside perspective on where I am with my fitness and the importance of easing back into my routine. I guess I didn't realize that I could do a lot of damage if I just rushed back to my old routine and it was great to get affirmation that I have been doing the right things in terms of diet.

It would definitely be awesome to continue personal training sessions, but they are just so expensive and I really can't justify it with all the added expenses we currently have and the reduced income from me working part-time. Plus, since I basically got confirmation that I know what I'm doing, I don't feel like I need a trainer each time I go to the gym. I might try to do it once every 3 months just to get new ideas/routines, but we'll see. Right now my goal is to get to the gym for 1 hour 3-4 days a week and I'd like to get back to feeling like myself in about 3 months. I'd like to get back to my pre-pregnancy body by the end of January, which would be 9 months after I had Zaiden (going by the 9 months to put it on, 9 months to take it off philosophy). We'll see though - I know sometimes you hold onto a bit more fat while breastfeeding and if that's the case I probably won't get my pre-pregnancy body back for a while (I definitely want to breastfeed for at least a year and would really like to make it to 2 years like WHO recommends). But, I'm OK with that and as long as I can keep working out and taking care of myself, I'll be happy.

In any case, I'm super excited to be back in the gym and really really excited for more workouts that make me feel strong, confident and energized. I feel like I'm such a better person to be around when I've had a good workout - I'm a better wife and a better mother and I'm definitely a more confident person with waay more energy. I'm definitely going to need all of that in the very near future as I embark up Business School. Orientation starts tomorrow and it will be the longest I've been away from Zaiden (nearly 13 hours!). It will be a trial run of Mondays and Wednesdays to come once classes start and will definitely give Eric and I a taste of what's in store. Looks for updates this weekend about how it went (for me, and for Eric and Zaiden:)