P.S. my baby is awesome, also. This past week she has been like a totally different baby. Maybe it is just that I am settling in a bit better, but I really feel like she totally turned a corner right about the 6-week mark. Breastfeeding has gotten a LOT easier, and she has started to form a bit of a routine. She is on a very regular sleeping schedule at night, and she even takes a nap during Matt's work day, which gives me time to work on Ethnos and get things done around the house. In addition, she has greater stretches of time in which she is awake and happy and not eating, which makes her lots of fun to be around and puts me in a much better mood also.

For the first few weeks Matt was back at work, I was exhausted and moody by the time he got home in the evening, but now I feel really settled and happy with the pace of our life. Over the past year or so I have become a much more optimistic person, and that has been a huge help when it comes to the parenthood adjustment. For example: the last week or so, Kisa has started crying when she gets tired, and the only way to get her down for her nap sometimes is to hold her and rock her to sleep. Previously, she only cried when she was hungry (which was all or the time that she was not sleeping) and had to nurse herself to sleep. So I have decided that this new development is actually a good thing: it is tiring sometimes when she is really crying, but on the plus side, I know that it will be easier for me to wean her later on. Some babies have a hard time being weaned because they have to nurse themselves to sleep; Kisa has already developed a different nighttime routine. So, there is my silver lining.

There is always a positive, you just have to find out what it is.

I have read that it takes between 3-6 months to lose your baby weight. I gained a lot of weight while prego (more than 40lbs). Most of it is already gone, but I still have a little under 7lbs to go. I really want to lose these last few pounds before the 3-month mark, which is November 8th. So that is my goal for the next few weeks. The first 30+lbs have been easy, but I have the feeling that these last few will be a bit of a challenge. This past week I got the okay to start exercising again, and now that the weather has cooled down, I think it's time to take the jogging stroller out for a spin. Maybe that will make the weight loss easier. Plus, I really need to tone up and get into better shape.

I made a few promises to my husband for our anniversary this year, one of them being that I would do my best to lose all of my baby weight after Kisa came. I think it's very important for married men and women, especially parents, to take care of their body and their appearance. In my mind, this is one thing that I do to show Matt that I care about him and want to look my best for him. Not that I expect (or he expects) for me to be a perfect-looking supermodel, but I think it's important to be healthy physically, and to make an effort to look put together. I think it would be very sad to send the message to him that now that I am married, I don't need to make an effort. That says that he isn't worth it, when in reality, he is the only person whose attention I really care about.

Anyway... that was kind of a long shpeel, but the point is that I have been working hard to do this, for myself and for my husband. I am really close to my goal and that is exciting, since I spent nine months dreading my postpartum body.

a few things

First of all, I am really itching to go for a jog. I'm starting to understand what people mean when they say they have no time (or in my case, no energy) to exercise. I am almost to the six-week postpartum mark so I've decided I'm going to start jogging again, beginning this week.

Secondly, we are going camping tomorrow with the Hartzell family for five days, which will be our longest vacation in over a year.

Finally, the Strandys are coming to visit us at the end of this month. I am really excited to see them again.

Okay... time to dig into the housework.

I am feeling an overwhelming urge to reorganize the house today.