Not forsaken

This is my beautiful niece, Xiomara(pronounced see-o-marah) and she is two days older than India. She is India's cousin, my niece, my sister Vanessa's daughter. Xiomara means 'prepared for battle' and little Xiomara is a miracle and long-awaited gift from God! You can read more of her miracle story here.

Xiomara will be having surgery at a Children's Hospital to fix a hernia, and as any parent knows, turning your child over to the care of someone else is difficult. Placing your child in the hands of someone else, trusting them to perform a surgery and not permanently damage any organs on such a petite little baby, is even more heart-wrenching. Especially when they are so little and fragile. Xiomara even more so, as she was a preemie, so she still remains significantly smaller in size than India. My sister and her husband have weighed the pros and cons of doing this surgery at such a young age and small size, but they have calculated the long-term risk to be greater the longer they prolong this procedure.

So, will you join us as we pray for Xiomara, her doctors, and family on Thursday, September 16th? Thank you!

Wordless Wednesday: My 5 youngest sisters

Back to work!

The time has come for me to go back to work. I'm very blessed in many ways working for my parents; flexible hours, I get to work with my siblings, I get to talk to my mom AT work, and best of all, I get to bring my baby to work with me. It really doesn't get much better than that! I don't think that at this point I could do it any other way.

I worked two days last week, and while I was cleaning, cooking, organizing, doing whatever needed to be done, Miss India was either nestled up in a laundry basket or taking in the scenary in one of my I-can't-go-a-day-without-them slings or carriers.

I begin teaching piano lessons this week, and I'm a little more nervous for that. It's right during my daughter's prime naptime. If she misses her afternoon nap, my sweet little girl turns into a hysterical monster, fighting sleep for 3-6 hours in the evening. Daddy will be watching India while I teach, and he will do a great job as always, I'm sure! But, if you think of it, would you say a little prayer for us, that India will sleep during that time, that Dallas will have the patience and wisdom to know how to handle her, and that I won't be anxious about it all??

Thanks, friends!

Wordless Wednesday: Joy Unspeakable

Move my Butt, Go Berserk

"1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and get them sit-ups right and
Tuck your tummy tight in, do your crunches like this"

Ahhh, it's time to get in shape. Meh. I suppose I could stay this way, but I really don't like being so mushy and wobbly. And I've developed a case of Mom Butt, aka Saggy Butt. In addition to all that, I want to set a healthy example for my daughter. I want to be able to run a few miles, play volleyball, wrestle with my brothers and sisters, or Dallas. :) Plus, I really do love working out - it's quite euphoric.

Last fall, I picked up Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred because of all the hype about it being pretty hardcore. Well, I was disappointed. I suppose it was because I was already SO buff. No, not really, but it really wasn't hardcore enough for me. I guess I should have bought P90X, but I found that out after my 30 Day Shred purchase. Because I'm very frugal, I still put my 30 Day Shred to good use and used it on my resting days in between my normal workout routine.

Throughout my pregnancy, I really tried to stay in shape, but being that my only remedy for my daily nausea was food, I ate A LOT. And therefore gained A LOT. I ran up until 30 weeks, when I quit running because any time I ran I could barely get out of bed in the morning from hip pain, and had to go to the chiropractor to get all cracked up. My dear chiropractor told me it was time to stop running as my hip was literally turning backwards and I really needed to take it easy. Dangit. Around 30 weeks is when I stopped most activity besides walking, which after a mile or two of that I would be in excruciating pain and have to stop and go home and eat frozen pizza with buffalo sauce on it. :) So there went my plans to stay in shape.

Sooooo....now it's time to do something. I know I said in a previous rant that it's impolite to ask a pregnant woman how much weight she has gained, but I did really gain a lot. (Hint: it rhymes with nifty-nive lounds) Praise God I had a midwife who was happy with my weight gain and didn't chastize me(like the mean WIC lady did....grrrrr). She always said that my body knows what it needs, so listen to it. Thankfully most of the weight I gained was gone by two weeks postpartum, but I've been at a standstill since then and have about 10 more pounds to go. Yeh, that means 10 pounds of mostly fat.

I've been walking regularly with India, which is great, but not enough for me. I went on one 2-mile run 3 weeks after India was born, which was incredible, but sadly, that has been my only run so far, as it's pretty tough to jog with a newborn. I do have a membership at the YMCA, but my husband isn't home very often to watch India. I'm fairly hyperactive so sitting around nursing most of the day has left me with lots of energy to burn.

Genevieve + energy to burn + no outlet = crabby Genevieve

So what did I do? I brought out the old standby, the 30 Day Shred. AND I was even a little SORE after my first rendezvous with Jillian. Mmmm-hmmmm. So, thank you Jillian for kicking my butt. But I am still contemplating P90X because I need a MAJOR butt-kicking.

"That's right, go to work
Move your butt, go berserk"