Purim 2008

Sophie had such a fun Purim! She dressed up as a bee and had a great time! She helped bake hamantashen (by napping so that I could bake them), helped assemble the mishloach manot (by handing me the items as I put them in the bags), and then helped deliver them! We had a blast at the Fifth Annual Messing/Diamond Seudah! Here are some pictures:




In her costume:

The Messings and Diamonds:

Our Shalach Manot
(They were honey themed and said,
"Purim is a time to BEE happy! Hope your chag is sweet as HONEY!"):

Sophie and Kira:

Sophie and Yoni:

Sophie and Hadar

Sophie and Hadar met at shul in utero two summers ago. Once they were both out of the "baby" stage and could play, we started having play dates. They also go to Music Together every Tuesday, which they love. When they are teenagers maybe they'll start a band! For now they like hanging out together and looking at each other from their strollers when their mommies make mad dash walks to the shopping center. Here are some pictures of them from a recent playdate, courtesy of Hadar's mommy:

Would You Like to Buy an O?

No, I'm not a dealer. I found some old Sesame Street tapes from when I was a kid. I was both surprised and HIGHLY amused to find a song titled "Would you like to buy an O" on the Alphabet tape. I thought I vaguely remembered a muppet selling a letter O in a trench coat, so I looked it up on YouTube and sure enough, here's the clip. Don't you love love love finding adult references in children's entertainment? I had no idea when I was 5 that I was enjoying a song with an illegal drug reference. I doubt this would fly in today's Sesame Street. But it is funny as hell!

BTW- a nickel for an O? That is quite the bargain!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajHVLJG0298

Here's the Secret

Having successfully lost, and now kept off for two months, 22 pounds since joining Weight Watchers, I find myself being asked how I did it very, very often. I am very proud of myself and very happy to help you become proud of yourself too! I have given it some thought, and these are my "tips." Having made it to the other side of weight loss, I can honestly say that the annoying cliche is dead-on: If you want to lose weight, all you have to do is eat less and exercise more. It really is that simple. So here is my secret. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

I’m just going to list everything that comes to mind. I also know some things may not work for everyone, but, again, I’m just going to tell you what I did/do and what worked for me.

- In the beginning I actually made sure to eat all of my points. I found that eating a little more, especially eating breakfast, helped kick start my metabolism. I think I ate more the first month of WW than I had been before I joined. So skimping on points in the beginning may not be best.

- I found that WW does work if you just follow points and don’t exercise, but it works a lot faster when you do exercise. Additionally, I never gave myself extra points for exercising. I think I could have something like an extra 4 points a day because of how long and intense my work out is, but I never bothered giving myself those extra points.

- I also stopped giving myself extra nursing points as I cut down on feedings. When I was only nursing 3-4 times a day I only gave myself 5 extra points instead of 10, and when I cut down to 2 feedings a day I stopped giving myself extra nursing points at all.

- I never let myself fall back on the 35 extra points per week. Shabbos was never a day off. I never ate whatever I wanted and however much I wanted just because it was shabbos. There were many times I had to refuse dessert and/or seconds at someone else’s house.

- Forget the saying "everything is okay in moderation." This is BS. What is moderation? Having one bite of something or one piece? Eating something once a week or once a month? This gray area will bite you in your fat butt every time.

- When I plateaued, I found that cutting back my points by 2 a day and working out for an extra 15 min made a HUGE difference.

- It is soooo important to make sure you know portion sizes. It is very easy to mistake these. Until I forced myself to actually measure out a cup, tablespoon, etc., I had been putting 2 cups of milk in my cereal, but only counting it as one portion size. That’s a big deal!

- This is what I eat. I am a picky eater and I am a boring eater. I eat one of a few choices for each meal.

Breakfast:
1. cereal and milk
2. yogurt and fruit
3. oatmeal
4. low fat whole grain waffles or pancakes (when I was being very strict I would substitute sugar free jelly for syrup)
5. If I’m on the go, a slimfast meal shake (3 points) or meal bar (4 points)


Lunch:
1. pbj on WW bread with reduced fat pb and sugar free jelly
2. a Morningstar farms patty (chick patty, griller, or 4 buffalo wings) either on WW bread or plain; sometimes with mayo (2 g fat per serving kind); sometimes with smart beat fat free cheese slice
3. low carb whole wheat wrap (la tortilla factory has 0-1 point depending on size) with beans or Morningstar farms griller recipe crumbles and shredded cheese (the finer the cheese is shredded, the more it will seem like you are using even though it is the same 1 ounce portion)
4. mini pizzas on WW English muffins


Dinner:
1. salmon or other fish- marinade in a fat free dressing or other 0 point food grilled chicken breast cooked on Forman grill
2. sautéed mock crab
3. sautéed Morningstar farms chikn strips meal starters with pasta (look for ones that are whole grain, low carb, and high fiber- Ronzonni Smart Pasta and Dreamfields are two good ones)
4. Hearty soups with veggies, beans, lentils


Snacks:
1. fruit!!!!
2. Handful of nuts like almonds or walnuts- they really do fill you up, plus WW wants you to eat some “good” fat like nuts or olive oil
3. 94% fat free popcorn
4. Baked tortilla chips (Guiltless Gourmet is a good brand- I think you can have 15 chips for 3 points + salsa is 0 points)
5. WW cakes- these have saved my life. They are small cakes (about 3 bites) that come in several flavors- caramel and chocolate are very good! They have 1 point in each little cake and totally satisfy a sweet craving.
6. I am the kind f person who gets hungry a couple hours after dinner, but I’m out of points, so I drink a nice big cup of hot tea. Hot liquids calm the contractions of the stomach. Plus, it takes a long time to drink a big cup of hot tea, and by the time I’m finished, I’m over the craving for food, or it’s close to bedtime.


- Basic Substitutions: These may cost a little more money and not taste quite as good, but they help make a difference, especially in shabbos foods. Substituting 50% will taste better than 100% and is always better than nothing!
- only use olive oil
-when possible, use applesauce instead of oil
-use egg beaters instead of eggs
-use corn meal instead of bread crumbs (i.e., to bread chicken)
-switch to smart balance margarine (tastes great and has 1 point per tablespoon)
-use Splenda instead of sugar
-ask the butcher for extra extra lean ground beef (this is actually healthier than ground turkey)

That’s all I can think of for now! Hope you can find some of this helpful! Remember- something is always better than nothing, so do what you can. Setbacks are inevitable, but don't give up. Perseverance is the key. Good luck!

Sophie's First Birthday Party

This past Sunday we celebrated Sophie's First Birthday with our friends and family. There were about 50 people here, including 15 kiddies. Let's just say, I was happier than usual when the Merry Maids left today. In all seriousness, though, it was a lot of fun! I tried to have something for everyone. There was kid-friendly food- as one friend put it, "you know you're at a one year old's birthday party when there is yo baby yogurt on ice." There was a make-your-own cup craft for the older kids. The little ones just played with Sophie's personal Toys R Us. I felt like I was running a daycare in the basement. We made a montage of sorts that ran on the tv upstairs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC-CXYYw10k
It is only 2 minutes long, so I felt pretty bad for my wheelchair bound father-in-law, who could not move away from the tv and watched/heard this thing run continuously for over 2 hours.

I still can't believe how much this kids has grown over the past year. We have her doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I don't have the exact stats yet, but I'm guessing that she weighs around 22 lbs (that's 16 more than when she was born!). She has 10 teeth (that I can count without losing a finger). She can pull herself up to a standing position and take a few steps holding on. And.... drumroll.... she is actually crawling. Ha! I was so sure she'd go straight to walking, but she is finally crawling. The days of her sitting in one place and pointing to the hazardous thing she wants are now over. It finally sunk in today when she crawled over to my drink and pushed it over. She says a few words too- fish, uh-oh, daddy, mom (it sounds like Cartman from Southpark: "meh-ehhhmmm"), and book. When we were in Charleston she had been saying kitty, but it's hard to reinforce that word now that there is no real-live kitty to play with.

Here are some pictures from the party:

The older kids designing their cups:



Playing with her little friends:


So excited!


Cake:


Mommy and Sophie (with frosting all over her face):

Sophie is 1!

How do I even attempt to put into words the way I feel today? This has truly been the most amazing year of my life. Starting yesterday evening (a year after I went into labor) I have been constantly thinking, "what was I doing this time last year?" From dinner last night all the way up until 4:35 pm this afternoon the answer was "still in labor." But after that, the memories got more interesting... and less painful. When I laid Sophie down in her crib tonight and we looked into each other's eyes, I remembered the first time I locked eyes with her one year ago. As soon as she was delivered, she was not laid on my chest in the picturesque scenario they show you on TV. Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice and was in a true knot. They called all available staff to rush into the room to help her. Once she was okay, Thank G-d, they were cleaning her up. She was laying down and one team of nurses was with her, while my doctor was still finishing up on me. I remember looking at Sophie and our eyes locked into each other's. We just lay a few feet apart staring at each other- our bond already unimaginably strong. That bond has only grown stronger over this year. Even though she is gaining independence by the day, every so often during playtime she still climbs over to me, buries her head in my shoulder, and snuggles in tightly, as if to say, "I still need to feel your love, Mommy." I hope she always does.

Look how much she has grown over this year:

Then: a week or so old in her Daddy's hands


Now: today on her first birthday wearing a 1st Birthday Princess tiara!




I cannot believe how quickly the year has flown by. I cannot imagine my life without my beautiful daughter!!!

Do you feel like a grown-up?

That's what my friend asked me on Monday after I told her that Shimmy and I were going out that night for New Years Eve and hiring a babysitter for the first time. I laughed at the question, because I have felt like a grown-up for a long time now. But later on her question rang in the back of my mind. As I got ready to go out, got dressed, put on my makeup, and sprayed my perfume, I was taken back to the Saturday nights I would spend as a little girl watching my mom get ready to go out (it was the '80's and I can still picture my mom's heavy eyeshadow and smell her Estee Lauder Beautiful perfume). When I picked up the babysitter it was so odd to be the one in the driver's seat making chit chat with a teenager instead of being the teenager. And it was especially daunting to be the one handing over the money at the end of the evening instead of the one receiving it! (I paid her VERY well.)



It was a big step for me to leave Sophie. We have never left her with a non-relative before for more than about an hour, and that was only a couple of times and with people we know well and trust. As soon as we walked out the door I told Shimmy I wanted to stay home. But we went out and we had a good time. Since we had put Sophie to bed before picking up the sitter, she never even knew we were gone. I was only slightly paranoid while we were out, and only had minor anxiety attacks when Shimmy's cell phone rang (he got two wrong numbers, which was quite nerve-racking). All-in-all, the evening went well. And one day I will take pride in telling Sophie that she never had a babysitter until she was almost a year old.