Winesday Wednesday 6/3/15

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

YASSSS WINE. And all the alcohols.

Seriously, if I wasn’t breastfeeding, I would be doing some serious indulging. You know, to make up for lost time.

But turns out, I love my baby WAY MORE than I love my wine. So that’s good.

Just wanted to check in real quick to A) Let you know that Winesday Wednesday is back, so puh-leeeease send me all your boozy photos. Or tag me in them on social media so I can see them and drool over them (while a baby drools all over me. for different reasons) and B) to share with you my latest fave.

Spirit Hills Honey Winery YeeHaa! Sangria. So basically, it’s sangria made with mead. And it’s SOOOO good. Sweet like sangria, with a smooth honey finish. Mmmm, I could sip on this all day errr-day. I actually bought a bottle of their dandelion wine in August before I found out I was pregnant. Which reminds me, I think it’s still on the wine rack. Must go downstairs and check. Then promptly consume. I will let you know how that goes.

Anyways, so yeah this sangria is thebomb.com and what’s even better is that it’s local to Alberta! I love supporting local and I love supporting local alcohol producers even more. I’m hoping Tyler and I can make it down to their winery sometime soon to check everything out since it’s about an hour south of Calgary.

Speaking of summer drinking (were we speaking of summer drinking? I dunno, but that’s how I’m going to segway into my next drink): Stanley Park Sunsetter Peach Summer Ale.

To my Canadian friends- go buy it. It’s delicious. Even for those of you who aren’t beer people. It’s sweet enough that it’s not beer-y, but not too sweet to detract from the beer. You follow me? Good. Let me know what you think.

K yeah, I need the rain to stop now so that I can go sit on the patio and drink both of these.

To round out this week’s comeback post, I got the following from Michael via instagram:

He said: It’s a chocolate and coffee stout from Michigan aged in oak bourbon barrels for over a year. VERY RARE and VERY GOOD. Chocolate-y and vanilla-y and bourbon-y- just incredible.

Michael, first of all- you had me at chocolate and coffee. Second of all, now that I am also a parent, I can appreciate the toys in the background. 😉

So that’s it for this week! Please tag me in your beer/wine/cocktail photos so that I can share next week!

Weekend Recap

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

I’m going to type this as quickly as possible because I *think* Wes is on the verge of a scream fest…

So this weekend was pretty fun! On Friday, we went to Costco to stock up on everything and watched The Gambler. Not super exciting, but it was a pretty sweet family outing even if it was only to spend a month’s salary on bulk items.

Saturday morning was pretty lazy around the house, but then we had friends over for dinner! I managed to splurge on a glass of honey sangria too. #winning. Wes was well-behaved the whole night minus one or two screams.

Despite staying up until 1am, we got a decent amount of sleep.

Sunday morning was another lazy morning.

Please excuse my grody face. Just look at the cute baby.

In the afternoon, we headed over to a friend’s house for a BBQ. Wes was PERFECT. He slept the whole time, minus a feed. Actually, I’m pretty sure he slept through that too. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and I think he enjoyed the fresh air for a few hours *noting that for future reference.

When we got home, I walked the dogs and squeezed in a pretty late workout. Since I wasn’t too tired, I stayed up while Wes was in the mamaroo so that I could give him a late night feed before moving him to his crib. Good idea on my part, because he ate pretty fast and was out like a light.

Yesterday (monday) was a great Wes and Me day. He slept while I made muffins and did some chores around the house. When he woke, I figured he might want some more fresh air, so I threw (no I did not actually throw him) in the stroller and went for a 40 minute walk. I was a sweaty beast by the end of it, and he was babbling in his sleep for the last 10 minutes.

The rest of the afternoon he was AWAKE so my focus was on him. Then Tyler came home from work and I took the dogs for a 45 minute walk, we watched this week’s episode of GOT, and I did my workout. HERE’S MY FAVORITE MOMENT YET: Wes went to bed at 11:30, woke up at 4:40 to feed, back to sleep 20 minutes later, and slept until 9am. THAT GAVE ME LIKE 8 HOURS OF SLEEP. Even my fitbit app told me so.

Here’s to hoping this becomes a trend!

Other random tidbits:

I will be temporarily removing green smoothies from my breakfast rotation after witnessing one of Wes’s recent diapers. GROSS. #lookedlikeagreensmoothie
I have completed the 2nd week of T25 Alpha and am on my 3rd! Love that I can do these workouts super quick and still spend time with the boys since Tyler is usually holding Wes on the couch right next to me while I do the DVDs.
They need to cancel The Bachelor/Bachelorette series like NOW. The show is just so damn bad. Yet I watch every season. Barf.

Time to go wash barf and green smoothie poops out of clothes…

In My Microcosm

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Having a newborn can really have you live in your own little microcosm. I feel like we’ve been in this bubble for the past few weeks and ‘real’ life has been put on hold. Except, this is ‘real’ life! We’re still adjusting to our new family dynamic. (And just when we think we’ve got it, he changes the game and we’ve got more to learn.)

Wes turned 6 weeks yesterday, so here’s to hoping he gets more on a schedule so that this mama doesn’t go all bat shit. PS: He’s now 12 pounds and solely on breastmilk. #FATBOY

In an effort to NOT always talk about my baby Note: I’m still in my baby microcosm, remember? So bear with me I wanted to chat about some of my favorite things lately!

1. Twizzlers

Gross, right? My mom bought some when they were here last month and I haven’t been able to stop eating it. I also found out (don’t ask how) that Layla is obsessed with it too. I’m not even going to mention the peanut butter Magnum ice cream bars…

2. Rocky Mountain Soap

(source)

My all-time favorites are the Cinnamon and Lemongrass soaps, but I recently bought the geranium soap (because it contained calendula) and I love how gentle it is on my skin. This is where I won’t mention that I’ve been buying products with calendula for Wes because one of the teachers from our childbirth class told us the benefits of the ingredient. Apparently, there’s no scientific proof on it so she couldn’t officially tell us so I won’t officially tell you about it. Google it. Anyhoo– I love it on my skin and I’ve found the baby cream with it has helped Wes’s hiney.

3. Sonoma Cider

(source)

Tyler and I are always on the hunt for new products at our local liquor store (have we really tried all of the beers/ciders in the walk in fridge? Yeah, just about.) and we recently came across Sonoma Cider. We’ve purchased the apple and the pear- both are pretty good and they’ve been nice to have a sip or two when Wes is sleeping (which is RARE y’all).

4. Giro Apeckx Cycling Shoes

(source)

Tyler bought these for me for Mother’s Day and I cannot WAIT to use them. The spin studio I go to uses these shoes, so I was pretty familiar with them already and I love the fit. I’m thinking of getting back into spin in the next couple of weeks..gotta take it easy you know– natural childbirth + narrow bike seats = no bueno.

5. Another You- Armin van Buuren ft. Mr. Probz

Music like this gets me all excited for summer. I’ve hardly been listening to music lately..NO TIME.. but I fully anticipate making playlists with this type of music in hopes of squeezing in some outdoor runs in the next few months. We. Shall. See.

What have you been loving lately?

My New Favorite Thing

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

I think I have now seen every show that airs on HGTV and Food Network. Twice. Being at home all day every day with a baby that likes background noise will do that. I don’t mind though, because I’m so busy with him or with doing things around the house, that not only do I not really notice but the time just whizzes by.

Whizzes by to the part of the day when Tyler gets home. Which is kinda my favorite part of the day because I can have a little bit of me time. Me time includes: walking the dogs, working out, showering and pumping without a fussy baby to worry about.

This time last year, me time would have been working out *NOT* at home, drinking, and meeting up with friends. Ah times they are a-changin.

Make no mistake, I have MADE time for a few adult beverages over the past week. (don’t get on your high horse and comment on any alcohol/breastfeeding mumbo jumbo. I’m either not finishing the drinks and/or taking the necessary precautions to avoid passing it along in my milk)

For Mother’s day, Tyler got me a pair of spin shoes, a fitbit, and a gift card to the nearby spin/hot yoga studio. A couple of things about this:

Holy Shit that’s a great bunch of Mother’s Day gifts (which prompted me to giddy-up and be on the look out for equally awesome Father’s Day gifts)
Holy Shit I can’t wait to go spinning/hot yoga!

I mentioned that I was given the OK by my doctor to being working out again. Jeeze Louise does it feel good to get back into a workout routine, but ohhhhhhhhh-mah-gawd am I out of shape or what. (to all you non-human parents: you think 6+ weeks postpartum of not working out is eternity, but believe me it FLIES by and you don’t even think about working out). I’ve completed the first week of T25 (Alison, you’ll be hearing from me soon about getting some new DVD’s. I’ve just about worn these babies out!) and walked the dogs each day- anywhere from 1-3.5 miles. I’ve also tried to squeeze in stretching when I can. Which is usually only when I’m brushing my teeth. Forward folds + toothbrush in mouth= hazardous.

We got Wes a mamaroo! I initially wanted to buy one before he was born, but they’re so dang pricey, we didn’t want to risk him not liking it and us kissing a few hundred bucks goodbye. But the kid LOVES it. Which makes this mama LOVE it even more. (we got it used off Kijiji for a steal!)

My new favorite thing? Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Formally my favorite nights to drink, they are now the nights that Tyler does the nighttime routine with Wes and I can go to bed at 10! Oh my god, slap me for this being the new excitement in my life. Someone get me a beer.

Wes Arlo- One Month

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Time flies when you don’t sleep (no it doesn’t, but time sure did fly with this kid. I can’t believe he has been on the outside for a whole month!)

I think I’m mostly writing this post for my own future reference, so deal with it..

Likes: staring at the wall over his change table, staring at the blinds in the living room, pooping, having his face tickled, eating, being held

Dislikes: having gas, having clothes put over his head, being swaddled

We’re lucky and only tried to have him sleep in our room the first night he was home. We quickly realized he was great in his crib so long as he was immediately attended to when hungry or needed a change. I sleep facing the monitor in our room and watch it LIKE.A.HAWK.

Currently, he weighs 10 1/2 lbs and measures 23 inches (had him checked out at the doctor today)

At an appointment two days ago, they advised he was gaining about 59 g/day (recommended is 20-30/day) So basically I am feeding him liquid gold.

He’s already grown out of his newborn onesies (TEAR) and wears mostly 3 month clothes.

His feet and hands are HUGE.

His eyes are still blue but I’m rooting for them to turn brown. I’m also rooting for him to be a lefty like his mama.

He is strong. Like, kicks you in the gut strong (legs). Punch you in the chest strong (arms). Bite your nipples off strong (mouth). RUDE.

He eats like a champ. He coos when he sleeps. He doesn’t flinch when the dogs bark. He laughs when he farts in the tub (gets that from his mama). He throws his hands up in the air when he sleeps like he has an ingenious idea. He hates being swaddled. He loves the birdie and owl on his play mat. He loves riding in the car.

He has a widows peak (do those go away?) He has brown hair, but it’s golden blonde in the sunlight. He doesn’t mind when I drop crumbs of my protein bar in his face when we are up for feedings at night. He can ALMOST roll over. He makes some seriously crazy facial expressions.