Clark is 6 weeks old now.

We’re going camping over Memorial Day weekend with a couple of Nate’s brothers and their families, so I’ve been shopping to fill in the gaps in our camping gear. Which were significant. Veronica and I were at the mall for most of yesterday, and spent much of that time in REI, which is the coolest store ever. Every time I’m there, I want to buy everything and live in the mountains like a recluse.

Moving on, I bought Stahman’s Shawls and Scarves online finally. Unfortunately, the binding has come undone, so I’m waiting for another one to be sent. But before it all fell apart, I had some great ideas for conquering the world, or at least for knitting a shawl.

Don’t know when exactly I’m going to be able to do it.

But getting into the spirit of things, I drug out all of the lace yarn in my stash and came across the Daisy Swatch-turned-Scarf (see sidebar under WIP). I think I’m going to finish it as soon as I can find any length of time that isn’t claimed by something else.

Which might not happen until we’re camping, and even that’s thinking optimistic.

And now I’m sad. I just followed the Daisy Swatch-turned-Scarf link and saw my pretty fingernails. Pout. They haven’t looked like that in a long time. I had finally broke my life long nail biting habit, but it rears its ugly head when I’m under significant stress.

I bit them on 9/11. I bit them when my insurance company said it wasn’t going to honor the rest of my PIP coverage after the accident, despite my continuing pain.

So in January when we were suddenly and unexpectedly buying a house and needing to rapidly fix ours to sell, (remember the bathroom floor?), amidst pregnancy sickness, impending delivery, and car accident attorney stuff, my nails went to pot.

Where they remain.

I’m going to go find my cuticle conditioner and clear polish now, because I’m not ok with this.

Good morning! It looks like we’re going to get a nice Saturday, finally. It’s lovely out.

I’ve been doing well. The breakfast shakes are still fantastic. I’ve had one every day for 2 weeks, and as I’d hoped, it starts the day off well and I don’t graze on junk the rest of the day. I don’t even want it until about 4:30-5:00 in the evening, and that’s been manageable.

I’ve run out of soy milk and yogurt, so this morning I made a shake with a cup of orange juice, most of a frozen banana, some raspberry sorbet (first time for that one), and the protein and vitamin powders. It was way good. I drank one full glass of it, and gave the leftovers to the girls. I made Nate’s the same way, but used mango sorbet instead of the raspberry. His was better.

The reason I like the protein powder is because I think protein is very important in the morning. Ultimately, I think a couple of eggs with whole wheat toast is the perfect breakfast, but I don’t usually want anything that heavy that early.

And on the scale I’m 221.

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I did some physical therapy and ab work. Thursday night, Nate suggested a walk in the neighborhood. We took the girls and went for about 30 minutes. It felt really great. I had hoped to start on my biceps and triceps this week, but I can’t find my free weights from the move yet, and the pulley system is surrounded by boxes still.

I hope to find the weights today, as well as to get some ab work in.

It’s so great to be posting about HEALTH on Health Group again! I’ve really missed it!

How’s it going for you?

We are so going.

My beautiful sister is getting married in August. She has spent many, many hours diligently looking for a pretty, modest bridesmaid dress that won’t break the bank, that we her bridesmaids would like enough to wear again. And she finally found one.

I am very excited. I like it a lot. The problem is that I need to order it soon, and I’m only 5 weeks postpartum. My waist is not it’s normal proportion to my hips. I don’t want to order a dress any larger than I HAVE to just to accommodate flabby baby abs that may or may not still be flabby in August.

Pout.

So I need to call them and ask how much $ they charge for a rush fee, and how much time it will buy me.

And I need to tone, tone, tone. Fortunately, I have already started that.

you’re beside yourself with glee when you think to raid the Mag-lite for batteries upon discovering the swing has gone dead just after midnight, along with any hopes you may have had to get to sleep.

Stealing from a flashlight is much better than getting dressed, waking and loading the baby into the car, and driving to the grocery store to get batteries in the wee hours.

I can think of no other time or reason to be SO glad that those dumb flashlights take FOUR “D” batteries.

Now, I’m going to bed.

I found the liner to my Superman blanket today while cleaning up a pile of boxes in my entryway! So that’s good.

Clark is 5 weeks old today.

After the kids were in bed late Saturday night, I took a zillion super-up-close pictures of him.

Nate hit a bad pothole over the weekend and really messed up his car. We just heard that the part needed is $1000, all by itself.

That is so lame.

Good morning. Well, for as lovely as it was earlier in the week, it sure is dark, cold, and sullen outside today. Just like last Saturday. It puts the kids in a mood. Fortunately, they’re out with Nate right now raiding the comic book stores for Free Comic Book Day.

There’s a “day” for everything, isn’t there?

So I have music playing, and have lit candles around the house. It’s very mellow and quiet. Clark has recently decided that anywhere that isn’t “being held by mom” is unacceptable, so he’s in the sling again.

I love this thing.

On to Health Group-

I’m fluctuating on the scale between 220 and 223. So I think that’s as low as I’m going to go from delivering the baby. No complaints.

I did my physical therapy exercises and stretches last Friday, Saturday, Sunday, this Monday, and Friday. The only time I remembered them on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, I was busy feeding Clark, or hauling laundry around, or something. So I wish I could say I’d done more, but I’m happy to have started anyway. And I’m already increasing reps on a few things, and adding new exercises and stretches. Nothing too vigorous.

Water consumption is going well.

But what I REALLY want to talk about are the breakfast shakes we discussed last week. They so rock. I appreciate your comments and suggestions so much! We’re still really liking the frozen bananas. I like the fact that I can use a few slices, and don’t have to stick a whole banana in. I don’t like too much banana in my shakes.

Nate likes to make complicated shakes with lots of ingredients. I prefer to keep mine simple. So far, I have 2 favorites. The first is 3/4 cup of soy milk, a handful of frozen strawberries, a scoop each of unflavored/unsweetened protein powder and vitamin powder, and this is the best part, a small handful of pecans.

YUM YUM YUM!!! I can’t stand how yummy that is!

The other one is similar, just instead of the strawberries and pecans, I add 1/2 to 2/3 of a frozen banana and a handful of walnuts. I will add Wheat Germ in the future, but I continue to forget.

These shakes are quite satisfying. I’m craving them at various times throughout the day, but so as not to burn out, I resist.

And now, let me first say that I’m not looking to start a war, but I want to discuss soy milk a little bit. A friend of mine emailed me after reading Monday’s post and said that she used to drink a lot of soy, but has switched off of it because of hormone problems. So I looked on line and found all sorts of conflicting info on soy products, (along with the all-too-common conspiracy theories, of course), however it was confirmed that they do contain a relatively high concentration of plant estrogen. My OB said that it isn’t enough to be a problem, and that women in countries that consume a lot of soy products tend to have less women-specific health problems, but they have higher occurrences of other things. (I think he mentioned stomach cancer, but I don’t remember for sure).

We’ve used soy milk for years, but not a lot. Just for cereal and in baking. We don’t drink it by the glass. We don’t do tofu, or soy cheese, or any of that. Abigail is lactose intolerant, so we can’t do cow milk. Plus, I don’t think it’s healthy to drink in quantity. So our soy intake isn’t high, but it was about to increase with the shakes, which is why I was looking into buying a soy milk maker.

I’m kind of bugged. I want whatever the base of my shake is to be healthy, not just fill the role of liquid. I’ve looked at some recipes for rice milk and almond milk. I tried the almond milk this morning, and while the flavor was fine, I couldn’t strain enough of the pulp out. It was gritty and gross, and made a mediocre shake. I could try it again with cheesecloth or coffee filters or something. I don’t mind buying rice milk already made, but I don’t think of rice milk as being particularly healthy.

I’m not attacking soy milk, or telling you not to drink it. I’m saying that the conflicting information is frustrating to me, and I can’t readily think of another, unquestioningly safe option that sounds appealing.

Even if I decide to continue using soy milk myself, what about my growing girls? They’re my biggest concern, to be honest.

Any thoughts?

Hey all. It’s another glorious day, and although I’d love to spend it lounging around, I think that poor Veronica could use some stimulus and socialization beyond the inside of our house.

So we’re off to Moorehaven with some friends. It’s gorgeous there. If you live locally, I highly recommend a visit, whether or not you have a pond.

For visual interest, have a look at the pretty violets.

And come by tomorrow. I’m really excited about posting Health Group this week.

Abigail and Olivia each won the humanitarian award in their class. In Abigail’s class, the award was given to one boy and one girl, and in Olivia’s class, the award was given to a small group of kids.

Yay, girls! Way to be!

Last night, I tried Clark’s little koigu hat on him to see if it still fit.

He looks like a baby-doll, doesn’t he?

It fits good, I just wish I would have made it longer. Come late summer/fall, I’ll be knitting him another one, and sweaters. :-).

I received a fantastic gift in the mail this week.

The wonderful lady that gave Abner a good home sent me yarn she spun with his hair, and attached the brass name-tag from his collar. What a thoughtful gift.

Knitters are wonderful people, aren’t they?