Putting it all out there

I'm overweight. I have been as long as I can remember, but I've never weighed more than I do right now besides when I was pregnant. I think the fact that I've always been overweight made me not notice when I would gain more--sure, I felt fat in high school, but I would be thrilled to weigh now what I weighed then. After all, losing 40 pounds is a heck of a lot less daunting than losing 80. The fact is, I let it get away from me even though I think I've always thought that I could and would change. So why haven't I?

While I was pregnant and couldn't try to lose weight, I came up with a goal for myself. I turned 28 this summer, so the big three-oh is looming just around the corner and I want to be at my ideal weight by the time I reach that milestone. It's over a year and a half away, so it seems doable, but I have a LONG way to go. I need to lose 80 pounds to reach my ideal weight range, which sounds impossible! But I plan to take it 5 pounds at a time. A friend of mine who had a lot of success in weight loss recommended rewarding both small and large goals and that's what I plan to do!

I think putting this all in writing for the world (and by that I mean my 4 faithful blog readers) to see is my first step towards success. I think the reason I've generally failed to stay motivated is that I treat weight like money and politics--not pleasant or polite to talk about. But knowing that other people know that I'm trying will force me to get results so that I'll have something positive to report!

I've subscribed to Weight Watchers Online and it's my goal to log my food each day and stay within my daily points. Exercise is kind of tricky because now that I'm working and have Lucie, I don't have time for trips to the gym. But, I can walk with Lucie on days that it is nice enough to do so and I can do my workout DVDs in the comfort of my own home!

So here I go. Wish me luck!

3 months

This was supposed to go up yesterday, but we had technical difficulties. Happy Belated Birthday, Lu!

The second half of the slideshow has cute pictures taken by her Auntie Adrienne this past weekend. We had fun dressing Lucie up and doing a photo shoot, and Lucie had fun too (for about the first 5 minutes)! Thanks for your patience, Adrienne. :)

Lucinda is 3 Months old from Matt Kennedy on Vimeo.

Poop happens

"I'm naked because Mom had to strip me down and clean me up after a poop mishap in HER bed this morning! Oopsie Poopsie!"

Two Months

?Difacil o Facil?

You know those Geico caveman commercials? Forget the ill-fated sitcom about the cavemen, I'm talking about the commercials. For years they've made me literally laugh out loud. Somehow the joke doesn't get old as the commercials stay fresh and funny. Granted, its humor better suited for 30seconds rather than 30 minutes. We've been watching a lot of TV these days since Lucie arrived on the scene (as you can imagine, its been a little more difficult to get out with an infant around). There are a lot of crappy TV shows out there, but the Geico commercials make TV worthwhile.

Any honest parent will tell you that having a baby is hard. Everyday we come up with new questions and new mini-disasters befall us. Baby poops through her diaper, baby screams for three hours straight, baby wakes up every hour all night long... sometimes it seems like we don't have a clue what we're doing. Advice both solicited and not seems mostly ineffective. We scour our multiple books and scroll through endless websites for solutions but get muddled information and conflicting answers. There is a billion dollar industry that exists to convince you that to be a good parent you need to use certain gadgets to raise an intelligent and happy baby. There are also dozens if not hundreds of different "schools" of parenting that one must discern: ranging from "hippy-happy" granola parenting to authoritarian discipline and everything in between. Its enough to make your head spin. I start to wonder when I'll get the "bad parent" stamp on my hand.

But then I take a deep breath and remember that the human species has managed to perpetuate itself for thousands of years. Our ancestors didn't have all the newest baby gear nor were they schooled in scientific methods for raising children. Albert Einstein didn't have "Baby Einstien" products to nurture his infant brain. The reality is that we probably know very little about how to really raise our kids most effectively, but it still gets done. Its been done for millenia. I probably won't screw up too bad. Parenting, so easy a caveman can do it.

One month

EDIT: Oops, the videos were accidentally set to private. They should work now. :)

Lucie is one month old today. I feel like we've experienced so much already. We probably should have been taking more pictures, but for what its worth, here is a montage of her first month so far.

Also, the other day Nicole shot video of Lucie that shows off her athleticism.

One Week Birthday

Dear Lucie,

You're 1 week old today! We've learned so much about you this week. You've given us a hard time with sleep, until last night when you slept like a champ! We all felt so well rested that we took you to church this morning.

Other adventures have included your first pediatrician visit, a stroll around the neighborhood, a couple of baths, and a trip to a store. You've been a busy girl!

We love you!

Lucie on TV

A short little video we took of Lucie this morning. She's doing what she does best: being adorable.

I Love Lucie

Say hello to the newest member of our family: Lucinda Hope Gustafson Kennedy.

Early yesterday morning I left for work at the farmer's market, and just an hour later I recieved a phone call from Nicole letting me know that contractions had started. I rushed home, but as the day wore on it seemed to be a "false alarm". We went to bed last night around 11pm or so, and contractions started again. About 2:30am I awoke startled when Nicole announced her water had broken. I lept out of bed and nearly tripped over myself as we gathered our things for the hospital. Contractions began to come very quickly. The thought began to cross both our minds that we might not make it to the hospital. Fortunately, with great concentration we were able to make it down the three flights of stairs in our building and to labor and delivery at Swedish Covenant Hospital in time. Nicole only labored a couple more hours, and we were very surprised when with just one big push little Lucie nearly shot right out! Our midwife wasn't even ready yet to catch her!

We're glad to say that delivery went fine and that both mother and baby appear to be in good condition. Lucinda is 9lbs 7ozs with long black hair. The three of us have spent the day resting and recouperating from all the excitement.

We know many people have been thinking of us and praying for us. We're grateful for all the love and encouragement, and giving thanks to God for this new little blessing.

Getting tech ready

The baby countdown is on! I'm technically on maternity leave now (although if she hasn't arrived during the weekend and I'm not in labor, I'm going to go in to work next week--it makes me crazy to sit and wait!). Being the internet addicts that we are, we are hoping the rumors of wifi at the hospital are true so that Matt can send updates via this blog while we are there. But we have a back up plan in case of a lack of internet: I added Matt's Twitter updates to the side bar on the right so that he can update from his phone if nothing else. So hopefully we'll be online one way or another. We know at least the grandparents and maybe a few other interested parties will appreciate it!