Don't Mess with Madelyn

My mom had a party at Capri last night. Madelyn doesn't do crowds. She had been passed off to someone, started crying, handed back to Mama, calmed down and passed back off again for about 3 hours at this point. I changed her into her jammies and put her in her carseat. This girl loves her carseat because it means no one can hold her if she doesn't want them to. However, the little Italian women couldn't help but get in front her and coo in an attempt to elicit a smile from a very crabby 2 month old. This was the result.

My sister caught the image on her phone and sent it to Nick. The caption "Don't mess with me. My sock monkey and Ugly Doll army will mess you up"

Barish Home Movies

Santa brought Madelyn a new play mat for Christmas and Ziggy had a hard time figuring that thing out!


The big reveal after 41 weeks of waiting! Pardon my camera man's filming - he was sleep deprived. My favorite part is that people are barely conscious and getting news that is the completely opposite of what they thought they'd be hearing.


One of our methods for getting Madelyn to stop crying and go to sleep. It worked twice and then she caught on to our game and switched up her demands.


Disclaimer - these are in not in chronological order.

Weight Loss Check In

I'm beginning to think something is wrong with my scale. I've noticed if I get on and off several times, I can get 3-4 different weights and they fluctuate in a 5lb range. I got the same weight 4 times this morning so I'm going to count it but I might be investing in a new scale if this keeps up.

In other news, I did a better job tracking this week and was able to hit up Randazzo's so we had more produce in the house which was nice. I did work out! Once. But, hey it's something! I felt the pain of the 30 Day Shred after having not worked out for 10 months. 10 months! Yikes! My thighs still hurt this morning.

I've set the alarm a couple of times this week with the intention of getting up early and working out before Madelyn wakes up. Both times, Madelyn was up in the middle of the night, once from 3:30am-6:30am. I've decided to go back to my original plan of not having a plan and squeezing in working out as Miss. M allows.

I figured out how to fit water in or at least remind myself to drink water. I've started setting the oven timer for 1 hour. Every time the timer goes off, I drink a glass of water. Sad, isn't it?

Week 0 - 182.2
Week 1 - 176.8
Week 2 - 176.8
Week 3 - 171.6
Weekly Loss - 5.2
Total Loss - 10.6

I had to set a new goal since I achieved 5% weight loss. The new goal is 10% weight loss and I need to hit 163.8

My goals for the week are to track every day and fit working out into 2 days.

Weight Loss Check In

Ugh! I was terrible about tracking this week and the scale shows that. I can't complain too much but it just goes to show I can't take the extra breastfeeding points for granted and really need to focus. I also failed miserably at exercising this week. I am going to keep my goals the same for this coming week!

Week 0 - 182.2
Week 1 - 176.8
Week 2 - 176.8 - that's right, completely flat
Total Loss - 5.4

Madelyn's Second Month

I came to a conclusion this month - we didn't get our easy baby first. That's right - I'll admit it! If this blog is still kickin' around when Madelyn gets old enough to read, I'll let her read it too. Don't get me wrong - I love my baby. Those smiles melt my heart and hearing her babble is awesome but she can wear you down! We've decided the Davis temper can't be bred out and can definitely be traced right down to my daughter! She will smile at you and literally 5 seconds later she turns and is screaming her head off for no particular reason other than she wants her opinion heard.

That being said, we've come up with a pretty good list of ways to get your baby to chillax. If you are reading this at your wits end, feel free to try some of them out.

1. Stand in the bathroom and turn on the shower. I would recommend cold water since it is for the sound, not the steam and Consumer's Energy doesn't get you a break on your bill because you've got a baby at home. I use this time to get caught up on my magazines while I hold her.

2. Put her in the stroller and walk around the house. She loves her stroller and this has successfully lulled her to sleep a few times. It is especially fun when you get a train of animals following you and you get to feel like you're part of the real live circus!


3. Go outside! I don't care that it is 10 degrees in Michigan right now. I don't even care if it is in the middle of a snowstorm. When you bundle her up and take her outside the crying stops within 10 seconds. We've walked the neighborhood several times but if I need a quick fix, I will throw a blanket over her and just step onto the deck for a few minutes. It's usually calms her down enough to realize she's not that mad after all.


4. Sing. Yup - I'm now one of those parents who is singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" at the top of my lungs while I dance around with a crying baby. It works - don't judge.

5. Carseat on the running dryer. One night, Nick and I considered sleeping in the basement. Madelyn woke up 5 minutes later and we ended up nixing that idea but it worked for 20 minutes of silence.

The month hasn't been all crying baby - there's been some awesome moments as well.

1. Madelyn started sleeping through the night at about 7 weeks. She has kept it up for a week and a half now! I don't take a single night for granted, and I think that's key. I always plan on getting up at 4am and view it as a pleasant surprise when I don't have to. That first morning I woke up at 7am and freaked out that I hadn't heard her cry. I promptly checked that she was still breathing - she was! I nudged Nick and in his sleepy state, he jumps up and says "does she need a diaper change". I told him no, she's still sleeping! We then went back to sleep for another blissful hour!


2. Baths have gotten to be fun! She likes when we fill the kitchen sink and hold her while she splashes in the water. She can really get her feet going and would prefer we keep her there until the water gets cold. Getting her out of the water is a bit of a screamfest but we've started tossing her towel in the dryer for a few minutes first and it goes much better.

3. Madelyn loves naked baby time. I think her favorite time of the day is when I strip off the diaper and just let her hang out for awhile. Her legs kick nonstop and she shrieks in absolute happiness.

4. She is recognizing people and smiles when you talk to her. She loves when you sing and could hang out on her changing pad for hours just babbling. Adorable!


5. She loves getting read to and we can usually get a book or two finished before she gets distracted. She will just sit on my lap and listen to the story and I can't wait to figure out which ones will be her favorite!

Crash, Boom, Bash

Just a couple quick videos of my chitlins. Neither child is very coordinated in these.

Up first....Ben's first car accident


Up next...Madelyn

Barish Home Movies

I finally figured out how to get the videos we have been taking since summertime off the video camera and onto the computer. I then spent hours watching and organizing our lives for the past 6 months. Here is what we did on Thanksgiving - how about you?


Crazy Great Grandma planning her 99th birthday party!


And here's her answer to the question....


And here's a preview....


Lastly - I wasn't aware Grandma was in a gang


If you can't tell, the lady was schnockered on 2 bourbons and 7-ups!

Weight Loss Check In

This week was a bit of an adjustment period. I was learning the online system of Weight Watchers since I had done the class system last time. They have also changed their program considerably since I last was on the wagon and all the points values have changed so I found myself looking everything up again. The biggest adjustment is figuring out how to eat as much food as breastfeeding allows. It has been a bit of a struggle, especially since some days it is 11am before I'm putting my first bite of food into my mouth. I also need to work on increasing my water intake and start exercising. I have taken Madelyn out in her stroller a few times this week to pick up Ben but it is hardly the exercise that gets your heart rate up.

Week 0 - 182.2
Week 1 - 176.8
Total Loss - 5.4

I should be really excited but I can attribute some of this loss to switching scales. The original weight was recorded on my doctor's scale which has never been friendly to me. Today's weight is from my scale at home. I would say 1-2lbs are from this but overall a good week.

Goals For This Week:
Drink my required water everyday
30 Day Shred at least twice

here's another adorable pic of Miss. M for reading this week's entry!

Operation Lose the Baby/Marriage Weight

I successfully lost 25lbs a few years ago. I credit my success to Weight Watchers and training for a marathon. I then got lazy and the weight started creeping back on. I managed to keep my total gain during my pregnancy to 30lbs and have lost 20 of those pounds so far. Georgette and I have bonded together to get healthy this new year! Nick also wants to lose some weight. Rather than gaining sympathy weight while I was pregnant, Nick seems to have picked up all the pounds I lost post pregnancy. I am holding myself even more accountable by posting weekly updates in this blog for all the world to see. If you don't see an update each week - call me out on it!

So here is the plan:
Join Weight Watchers online - done
Start training for a 5k with the hubs - waiting until Spring so I can push Miss. Mad in her stroller.
30 Day Shred - in progress

The crazy thing - I get an extra 14 points EACH DAY due to breastfeeding. That is a huge amount of food!

Week 0 - Opening Stats (yikes - I can't believe I'm about to publish this!)
Current Weight - 182.2
First goal - 172.9
Final goal - 145.0

Before picture (with a little cuteness to keep you interested)