Be Careful What You Ask For...

I'll have an Operation: Lose the Baby Weight Week 2 update as soon as possible (it has been a crazy week for the Minute family this week!) but I wanted to share a funny anecdote from yesterday...

I've been flying solo in the evenings the majority of the past few weeks while SuperScott is working some mandatory overtime, so it's been a juggling act of feed/bathe/diaper/clothe/put to bed in the evening. So last night, I have a very messy, very naked toddler standing in her room while the bath is sitting, waiting for her. Needing just the slightest moment to dispose of the dirty diaper I've just removed and a moment get her PJs out that isn't interrupted by  her yanking everything else out of the drawer, I distract her by handing her a towel and asking her to "Please go take this to the bath."

So, off she toddles to the bathroom (yes, she's so smart and obedient that she really does do what I ask of her, about 80% of the time - the rest I chalk up to free will). I grab the PJs, ditch the diaper, and follow her into the bathroom just in time to see her walk over to the bathtub and follow the directions I gave....

So perfectly in fact that I see her reach over the side of the tub, releasing her grasp on the towel as it falls INTO the bath.

She was quite pleased with herself. And we had a good laugh about it.

(Safety note: She was never out of my sight so there was no risk of her climbing into the tub by herself - which she doesn't know how to do yet, but hey, there's a first for everything.)

Operation Lose the Baby Weight: Week 1 Results

First of all, apologies for the brief hiatus. Life and times with a toddler can get pretty hectic, and with all of the other things going on in our world...work, school, preparing for Angelica's first birthday (next week!) Superdad Scott putting in some long hours at his job, preparing to move next month, trying to overhaul my whole lifestyle...blogging took a back seat. (And I know I'm preaching to the choir here!) But never fear! I am now returning to my regularly scheduled but previously preempted blogging.

Starting next week this will probably be a video blog series - time didn't permit me to record the video I wanted to record this week, but I wanted to go ahead and get something posted.

So let's get this out of the way first:
WEEK 1: SUCCESS! -5.4 pounds!

This 5.4 pound loss is really over the course of ten days. I started the Operation Lose The Baby Weight "program" about 11 days ago, on a Monday, but designated Wednesday as my official "weigh-in" day. (Because really, who wants to wake up Monday morning and get on the scale first thing? That could get the week off to a bad start, depending on the results!)

So how did I do it? Well, not with any amount of precision. The first week of making any big change in lifestyle is pretty difficult and so I had to employ copious amounts of patience and restraint. Restraint from eating the chocolate doughnut...restraint from yelling at myself for caving in and eating said chocolate doughnut...restraint from saying, "Hey, I already ate one, why not have another?" It is a vicious cycle.

In order to have guidelines from which to begin rebuilding the healthy lifestyle, I signed up for the Weight Watchers Online program. I'm no stranger to Weight Watchers. I was a member years ago, attending meetings and did pretty well on it. With a toddler...work...school...you know how it is...adding in the weekly meetings to my schedule was just daunting. So I didn't. I'm giving it 30 days and if I "fall off the wagon" then I'll have to reevaluate. So far, so good though.

Now I won't say I was perfect for the first week -- oh no. (See the previous reference to a chocolate doughnut!) But having these guidelines in the back of my mind helped steer me in the right direction, and thankfully, I ended up with a loss instead of a gain (and a pretty good loss at that).

So what's on the agenda for this week? EXERCISE. Last week I focused solely on breaking the cycle of eating unhealthy foods, this week, I'm striving to work in at least three days of exercise. SuperScott is picking up a copy of EA Active for me possibly later this week and I'll give that a try. (I have Wii Fit but I want something a little more challenging.) So far I'm at a whopping ZERO days, but today is only day 2 of week 2.

My first non-scale goal is to be able to wear my wedding band by our four year wedding anniversary - July 5th. I haven't been able to put it on since I was 5 months pregnant with Angelica and I miss it.

Tune in next Wednesday for what will hopefully be the first video blog (and here's hoping for more good news)!

Tuesday Timesavers: Warehouse Shopping

Welcome to this week's edition of Tuesday Timesavers - helping busy mom bloggers everywhere save time each week!

This week, I'll be talking about Warehouse Shopping. I am a big, big fan of warehouse stores such as Costco (where I have a membership), BJ's, and Sam's Club. I love them not just for their money-saving potential, but for their time-saving potential as well!

If you're going to shop the warehouse stores, though, you have to do it right - otherwise you'll be shelling out a lot of money on big packages of things that will eventually go to waste. If you think of shopping at the warehouse store not as an alternative to grocery shopping, but as an aid to grocery shopping, you'll be in good shape.

For example, at the warehouse store, I pick up big boxes of the staples we use all the time, and easily-preservable perishable items.

For example, the items I might buy at Costco (monthly) over Albertsons or Publix include:

• Shampoo and Conditioner


• Granola Bars (or 100 calorie packs, or any other type of snack)


• Soap


• Pasta and Pasta Sauce


• Frozen Lunches (our Costco carries both Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine)


• Diapers (Costco's brand diapers are amazing, and at under 18 cents a piece, are so worth it)


• Wipes (Again, Costco's brand is great and saves money over buying brand-names)


• Formula (TWO cans of Costco-brand formula for under $20...that's less than $10 a can!)


• Ground beef/turkey/chicken (refrigerate a few portions, freeze the rest)


• Milk (they still sell Milk by the gallon, but it's cheaper than the grocery store)


• Toothpaste


• Animal Crackers (one of Angelica's favorite snacks - Costco sells organic animal crackers under their store brand)


• Cereal (two boxes of Cheerios for a grand total of $4.99 versus $3.50 a box at the grocery store)


• Frozen fruit/vegetables

Doing a 45 minute Costco run monthly saves me time in that instead of making weekly trips to the grocery store, spending an hour or so each time, I usually only need to go two or three times a month to replenish the staples.

At the grocery store, I usually buy:

• Fresh Fruit/Vegetables for salads


• Bread (Though larger families may benefit from buying bread at Costco - the three of us just don't eat it fast enough and it gets moldy).


• Milk (if we run out of the gallon from Costco)


• Yogurt


• Soda (our store brand's soda - diet, of course - is good and very inexpensive)


• Juice


• Eggs

Of course, this isn't the entire shopping list - but it covers the staples and I fill in the gaps where needed.

I hope this is helpful information!

Got a suggestion for Tuesday Timesavers? Comment on this post, or email andrea@minuteformom.com.

Operation: Lose the Baby Weight!

Today is day one of "Operation: Lose the Baby Weight" - which is really just me trying to kick myself in the butt to lose the last 25 pounds of baby weight. It's about time, given that my daughter will be a year old in 2 1/2 weeks.

I am really just posting this to throw it out into the great wide open so I can't change my mind. I'll be complementing this task by posting a video every Wednesday night describing my success and/or failures from the week.

My weight has been a source of anxiety for me over the past decade. It's time to take control!

Any other moms out there who have had success with ditching those last few post-baby pounds, feel free to post a comment with some suggestions!

Memo to Angelica #3

Content idea courtesy of BabyRabies.com.

To: Angelica
From: Mommy

Thank you for the best first Mother's Day a mom could ask for! Spending time with you and Daddy was exactly what I wanted. You make me so proud! I promise to return the favor in a couple of weeks when you have your first birthday. Love you kiddo!

Five Last Minute Mother's Day Ideas

So, you're sitting there, thinking to yourself..."Mother's Day is tomorrow, and the stores close in 4 hours!" (Give or take, depending on your time zone.) You haven't bought a gift yet, and you're in need of some ideas...now! As a mom, I've come up with five simple, quick, and inexpensive ideas that you can easily accomplish tonight and have ready to give to mom in the morning. (These last minute Mother's Day ideas will be geared toward husbands, but could really be used by anyone!)

1. Letters to mom
Depending on the child's age, either have the child write down what they love most about mom. If it's a baby, an adult can write the letter to mom for the baby. Put it in an envelope and give it to mom first thing in the morning. This would be a keepsake that, as a mom, I would treasure forever. (Especially since this is my first Mother's Day!)

2. Flowers
This seems like a given, but let me explain my reason for including this on the list. In my opinion, there is absolutely no reason why someone needs to order flowers and have them delivered -- so if this is what's stopping you from getting flowers -- either it's too expensive or the florist won't deliver by tomorrow -- don't let it.  Stop at your neighborhood grocery store and pick up a bouquet. (In my experience, flowers from the grocery store last longer anyway!)

3. Photo frame
Who doesn't have eight million pictures of their kids laying around? Even if you already have photo frames all over the place, pick up a special one just for mom. Find that picture laying around of mom and baby (or mom and teenager, as the case may be) and put it in the frame. 

4. Online gift cards
So, maybe you got off of work late and couldn't get to the mall in time to pick up a gift card for your favorite mom. It happens. Fortunately, a lot of online retailers sell e-gift certificates in many denominations. For example, Sephora.com sells e-gift certificates as low as $10. Makeup not her thing? Try Amazon.com, which sells e-gift certificates as low as $5. These can be sent right to Mom's email box to use whenever she wants! Amazon's even have special Mother's Day graphics that can be included. 

5. Hit the gift card rack
Here's another good alternative if you didn't get a chance to hit the mall. Many grocery stores are open 24 hours, and many of them have racks of gift cards for other businesses. When you stop to pick up flowers (refer to #2), why not grab a gift card to your favorite mom's favorite store? 

BONUS IDEA:
This one is the most important, and best of all -- it's FREE! While much hype is given to gift giving, ultimately, Mother's Day is all about celebrating being MOM, and the best gift of all is your thanks. Tell the top mom in your life that you love her, and thanks for doing all that she does.

Post-Surgery Update

I meant to post this yesterday, but as you can imagine, it was a hectic day! This post may be a little longer than the norm, so bear with me...

We woke up around 4 a.m. because we had to be at the hosptital by 5:30. Surgery was scheduled for 7:30 but they needed time to get her checked in and take her vitals and get her nice and happy. Surprisingly, Angelica tolerated the getting up early part of things very well. She didn't make a peep the whole ride there, but she was wide awake. That's my girl!

The whole process went pretty quickly. We went to Arnold Palmer, got checked in, got taken up to the third floor surgical waiting room, got taken back to pre-op, got her vitals taken, and then she got some medicine in her nose that made her very happy. Scott had stepped out of the room for about ten seconds...she got the medicine right after he stepped out, and before he got back she went from being tense and agitated to being very relaxed.

That part was actually really funny. She hates doctors and so she was all tense about getting her vitals taken. She had napped, woken up, got more tests and then the medication. Within about 10 seconds she turned into dead weight in my arms and just looked up at me and started giggling. I though to myself, Oh my gosh, my baby's drunk! That was probably the only part of the experience that made me laugh.

At that point she loved everyone, doctors included, so when the nurse took her from me to take her to the OR, she just smiled away. At that point, Scott and I went to wait in the lobby.

It was about an hour later, Dr. Johnson came out to let us know how everything went. She said Angelica did fine, she tolerated the anesthesia well, and the surgery went by the book, no complications. They got all of the cyst and said they were confident that it was a dermoid cyst, as they had suspected, but it's going to pathology just in case.

We then went back to wait for a few more minutes for her to wake up, and then we got to see her. She was still drowsy, and was for pretty much the rest of the day.

She woke up at home around 1:00 and ate, and then we snuggled on the couch and had a good time. She was back to herself by the evening and today she woke up at her normal time, ready to go.

I have to say though, she does look rough. Her right eye is swollen shut and is a little tender if she tries to rub it, but otherwise it doesn't seem to bother her!

She's got a follow-up appointment on the 28th -- the day before her first birthday. My only hope is that she's made a good recovery by then so she can enjoy her birthday party!

My girl is a trooper. I wish I could be brave like her :)

Edit: Anyone who is going through a similar experience and has questions, feel free to ask! I searched the Internet for information on what to expect when a baby has surgery or what to expect following surgery to remove a dermoid cyst and came up with very little. Just click the comments button and ask away!

Tuesday Timesavers: Mint.com

Welcome to this week's Tuesday Timesavers, a weekly feature where we talk about things that help busy moms like you save time every day!

This week's featured timesaver is Mint.com. I've been seeing tweets about this service show up on my Twitter feed over the past week and decided to check it out.

Mint.com is an online financial management service much like Microsoft Money or Quicken, except that it is free and done completely online. The process of creating an account is quick, easy, and completely painless. Simply enter your email address and password, and then follow the prompts to add your bank account, loan account, savings account, credit card accounts, and any other financial accounts that you have to Mint.com. It automatically downloads the account details to your Mint.com account.

After doing this, it automatically categorizes your spending (with relatively high accuracy - I had to go back and change a few things, like my daughter's daycare I had to change from "Education" to "Kids - Babysitter & Daycare") and helps plan a budget for you. With just a few clicks, you have have a complete analysis of your financial standing and net worth. You can even add the value of your cars and your house to complete the picture.

And if that's not enough, once you've added a credit or loan account to Mint.com, they send you email reminders letting you know when your next payment is due. These reminders are also posted in an "alerts" section when you're signed into Mint.com.

Finally, the site is secure. Security is verified by Verisign, Trust-e and McAfee, so you know your information is safe.

The only complications I ran into are with credit cards that have extra layers of security. For example, one of my credit card accounts requires that you enter your password and answer three security questions every time you sign in. That one I wasn't able to add to my Mint.com account, but it's set up to auto-pay anyway so it's not really a concern.

There's about a million more cool features on Mint.com, but why not check it out for yourself?

In the interest of transparency - the opinion expressed here is mine and mine alone - I was not compensated by Mint.com in any way for writing this review.

Surgery to remove cyst scheduled...

Today, we scheduled our baby girl for her very first surgery - it will be this coming Thursday.

Her's is so very minor - she has a dermoid cyst under her left eyebrow, which unfortunately has gotten bigger over the past few months. It's harmless, but will continue to grow unless it's removed. We had a CT scan done to make sure it's not connected to any muscle tissue that would affect movement of her eye (it doesn't) and so the surgery was scheduled.

Though this is a quick, outpatient procedure and she'll be back to normal in a day or two, it's still heart wrenching for a mom to think about her baby being sedated and operated on. Moms want to protect their children and I know there's really nothing I can do in this situation but trust the doctor and know we're doing the right thing.

And so I end with my entry in week's Memo from Mommy (a weekly contest at BabyRabies.com)

To: Angelica
From: Mommy

You're having minor surgery on Thursday and I know all will be fine but I can't help but panic. I'm taking comfort in the fact that you're a tough cookie, tougher than your wimpy mom. Keep on being tough, and remember mommy loves you!

The Birth Month

Today marks the first day of the month of my daughter's birth. Driving to work this morning, I thought of this same day last year, when driving to work I was hit with the realization that I would be having a baby this month. And this year, this month, my baby will be turning one. How is that possible? Wasn't she born two minutes ago?

Our daily interactions tell a different story though. She actually communicates now. Not just the wailing baby, oh please feed me type of communication, but communication that truly connects with you. For example, this morning I said to her, "Come on, let's go to Grandma's house!" and she looked at me, said "Bye" and waved. 

Not all of this communication is verbal though. This morning we went through the typical routine, which consists of her waking up, and then the two of us fighting over whether or not she needs clothing, when lo and behold she discovers that she can remove her own diaper. Yikes. Fortunately, this was the clean one I had just put on. But now, not only can she shake her head no, but she can tell me "No, mommy, I don't want to wear a diaper" by simply taking it off.

What a difference a year makes.