Had two exams this week and got high "A's" on both. I also worked out everyday this week except Thursday. It's my long day and so I figured it would be the best for a rest day.

Today Brian and I are going rock climbing. I'm really excited; I haven't gone in a REALLLLLLY long time. And Sunday we're going to Phx to see Autumn so that will be another rest day.

Yesterday we did a pilates warm-up in my Bellydancing class. It was awesome but I had already done a hard full body work-out earlier in the day so I had a hard time and I'm pretty sore today.

Yesterday's class was the first one in which I didn't feel like a complete goof, progress, I say!


We've started giving Aria rice cereal. Sometimes in her baba and sometimes a little thicker and with a spoon. It's soooooooooo cute.

Okay I think that's all for now really. Life has been pretty great lately. I'm broke as crap but I'm just enjoying the things that are free: my baby, working out, learning... It's pretty nice.

The other afternoon I could hear Aria gabbing away in her room after a nap so I went in to check on her and this is what I found:

She untied one of her bumper straps and made an impromtu fort. It was so cute but I've tied the straps a little tighter now!

Can't stop the beat.

Sooooooo. In the library at school right now.

Had a Spanish exam and got out early. I had to get dropped off at school today, though, so now I have to wait until proper let out time to be picked up.

Figured I might as well update.

Went for a slow jog twice in the last week on the treadmill. It works out rather nicely because I can study my Anatomy notes while I jog slowly and it takes me about 30 minutes to get through them so I log 30 minutes on the treadmill.

I was doing really well on my eating yesterday. After I put Aria down to bed, though, I was a ravenous beast... I binged hardcore. Probably about 600 Cals in spanish rice, tortilla chips and rice milk. :[ At least the rice was brown and I had made it so I know it was healthy...
Sigh. My weight was down a pound this morning, though, so I guess that's good. I had gained 2 pounds though so I'm at 151.

I'm thinking about getting the Mirena IUD. I never thought I'd say this but I HATE not getting a period. Everytime I get cranky I freak out and get paranoid that I'm pregnant without knowing it and buy a pregnancy test. My wallet and mental health can no longer tolerate an absent period.

Aria has been an angel lately. She no longer needs to be swaddled to fall asleep so that's great. I just feed her and put her in her crib with her nuk and she does okay.
And last night she slept from 7:30-11:00-6:00 to 7:30. That 7 hour break was GLORIOUS. I haven't felt so rested in a LONG time.

I had my first Anatomy exam last thursday and I got an "A" so that's good. I should be excited but the few questions I missed were simply because I didn't take my time and read all the choices. So I was disappointed in myself a little bit. :-( Oh well.

Went to Phoenix and saw Autumn and Aria's cousins on Saturday. Had a really nice time. I feel kind of bad though because everytime Jenie and I are together it's pretty much a Brian-hate extravaganza and I always leave pissed off at Brian... I usually get over it by the time we get home (2 hour drive from Phx to Tucson).

Between school, Aria and Brian, I have literally NO social life. I think there are plans to go to Mary's house this weekend and play drinking games. I REALLY HOPE this happens. I need it desperately. I hate feeling like I can't juggle the things in my life better.
I do live far from my friends, though, and that does make it dificult sometimes.

Okie dokie, I have a lab practical I need to study for.

Here is a picture of the girls from this weekend. Aria looks slightly uncomfortable but I still really like it. It's weird how much I love Autumn. But Jenie loves Aria like that, too. Weird...

Waking up

Aria is normally very sweet when we go to get her out of her crib in the mornings. She is here too but slightly distracted by the camera.

Testing... Just found the recording feature on my cam

Nothing special. Just recorded to see what it was like and then uploaded to see how long it takes and it took like forty five years

Slowly, Everything is Made Right

Went to my OB appointment on Friday morning for a cervical biopsy or a Colposcopy.

Hurt like a bitch. You know it's bad when your practitioner goes, "Ooooo I know that hurt, sorry!"

Ugh. I love my OB-GYN but she's definitely a bit of a ditz. She said they will only call me back if my results are abnormal. If it they are abnormal then the first option for me is to have a "leek" (I think). Which is a shave of my cervix basically... That sounds fun. She said that even if the results are normal but I keep having abnormal pap-smears they could do a leek as well. I don't really think I would elect to have my cervix shaved if it wasn't absolutely necessary though...

Bellydancing was Friday night. So much fun! I am kind of shy. Even though I lost weight and have successfully maintained that weight loss, I still have a lot of self-esteem issues. I feel ugly and fat a lot of the time. This class is in a mirrored room. It is good to see myself in a mirror with other women. It helps keep my self-image more accurate. I always think everyone is so much thinner or firmer or whatever. But when I actually see myself in a mirror next to other women that I think are smaller, I check myself and realize that I'm not as big as my brain thinks I am!

As far as dancing in front of lots of other people, I've just got to fake it until I make it! I feel slightly embarrassed but I am giving it my all and pretending to be the most confident person in the room! HA! :-D

Saturday was Autumn and Emily's (Aria's cousin) birthday parties in Phoenix.

I had to meet Brian's parents for the first time ever. The 2 hour drive up there was slightly nervewracking. When we got there I saw Jenie (Brian's ex) and Jessy (Brian's brother's wife and Emily's mama) I immediately flocked to them. As weird as it is, Jenie and I have become friends. We have our children in common among many other things. There used to be a jealousy issue (on both sides) but we've really gotten over it.

Jenie and Jessy are sisters, yes two sisters married two brothers... It's defintely not the weirdest part of everything that has happened. Anyway, I get along with both of them and so Aria and I bolted to their side when we first got there. The party was at Brian's parents house but no one came out when we first got there. I felt EXTREMELY awkward. His dad finally came out after about ten minutes and shook my hand and smiled and cooed at Aria. He left quickly but said he would be right back.

He is an amateur photog. and he took so many pics of Aria. It was cute. He's a really nice man and a seemingly great grandpa.

Anyway, party goes on and Brian's mom NEVER comes out of her room. I guess she is really close with Jenie and sees her as a daughter and Brian didn't tell her about me and Aria until a few days before the party (She has known for a while but Bri didn't talk to her until recently). I started to feel really ashamed and embarassed. And I felt bad that my presence kept the girls grandma from attending their birthday party.

After we had been there for a few hours I just flat out asked J&J if Mama (that is what everyone calls Brian's mom) was boycotting because of me. Everyone insisted, "Oh no! She's just not feeling well today" Blah, Blah, Blah.

Maybe 30 minutes later, she comes out of her room "coughing" and saying how sick she feels. Well, she said hi and looked at Aria and didn't hold her because she didn't "want to get her sick".
She did seem to warm up after a while, though. And we talked for a long time. They even bought Aria a cute outfit for when she's a bit older.

She told me that even though it was very wrong for Brian to keep the secrets he kept that she knows he learns from his mistakes and she has faith that he won't lie to me again. Hearing that really warmed my heart and made me feel so much more comfortable around everyone. Especially knowing that Mama really loves Jenie.

We finally got home around 9 PM and I put zoot down and she slept until 5 am!!! IT WAS AWESOME! She did the same thing Sunday night, too, but I put her down at 7 Sunday. So she slept from 7-5... 10 hours straight. My boobs were RIDICULOUS! It really felt like they might rip open.

When I nursed her at five, there was so much milk that she only needed one boob. So I pumped the other after she went back down and got four ounces.

Last night she did almost as good but she got up at 3:30. I will still take that, though.

This is already super long and I have lots of homework to do! TTFN! :-D

Day 1 Down

Today wasn't so bad really.

Put Aria down at 7 last night and she wouldn't stop spitting her paci out and then crying for it. So I let her cry for thirty minutes and when she didn't stop I went in her room, gave her the nuk and she sucked it up and fell asleep until 11. I nursed her and put her back down and she slept until 2, then 5, then 6:30. I wanted to get up at 7. So it wasn't all that bad.

I had Spanish in the morning and a lot of my classmates were in my class last semester and the last they saw me, I was 40 weeks prego. They were all asking to see pics of babe and I felt like a failure because I haven't any recent ones on my phone! Oh well.

Class went well. I remembered a lot more than I thought I would and I think if I work somewhat hard I should be assured an "A".

The break between that class and my anatomy class almost did me in. Came home nursed aria and ate lunch then we played until 1 and I nursed her again and put her down for a nap and left for class. Exhausted fails to describe my energy levels at that point. I picked up again once I got to class, though. Thank goodness.

This teacher is awesome. He works hard to help his students understand the material. He seems like the kind of professor who actually enjoys it when his students succeed! Again, if I work hard here and do all the reading I should be able to get an "A"

Got home around 5:20 and at this point it had been about 4 hours since Aria had nursed. She was pretty cranky but calmed as soon as she saw me. Then I went grocery shopping and got stung by a bee that was on the handle of the cart. I felt pretty sad for him when I retracted my hand at the sting and saw a dying bee in my palm. :-(

Put Zoot scoot to bed and then made Mary's delicious faux fried chicken with some potatoes for supper and imbibed a tall glass of red wine!

Tried to pump just now and only got 2 ozs... Better than nothing I suppose.

At my Post-partum check-up, I had abnormal cells on my papsmear and I go in tomorrow morning at 9 for a biopsy. Joy.

And in the afternoon I've got bellydancing. I hope it's a fun class and a fun way to wind down at the end of the week.

Saturday is Autumn's (Brian's OTHER daughter ;-) ) birthday party. That should be interesting. I've met all of them a few times now and I feel exponentially better with each visit.

I never thought I would think this but I actually feel a lot of love for Autumn. So crazy the situations we find ourselves facing in our strange existences! In the grand scheme of things my life could surely be much stranger!

I'm meeting Brian's parents for the first time, though... Might be kind of awkward, introducing them to Aria a bit late :P Oh well, it is what it is.

School starts tomorrow

And with that I've decided to blog about being a mama and going to school. And maybe throw in bits about exercise. :-)

Starting the school year I am maintaining at 150 lbs. My pre-pregnancy weight. I am happy with that. I would like to get to 140 at some point in time but if it takes a year, that's fine with me.

I've got spanish 202 in the morning tomorrow and then a three hour break before Anatomy and Physiology pt. 2 (my last pre-req before I can apply to the nursing program!!)

Friday afternoon I've got belly-dancing! and then a child development class on-line. Seems very manageable. Mom will watch her for me while i'm in class. I shouldn't be away from her for more than four hours and that is only on Thursdays.

I suck at pumping my breastmilk so hopefully she can wait those four hours to get fed on Thursdays.

I've got her on a great routine. I put her down to bed at 7 and she gets up to eat again at 1, 4, and 7 (usually). She's been teething and sick the last few weeks and so she gets up about 10 times before 1 but she usually just requires a replaced pacifier or a re-swaddling. Usually, for the later feedings, She just eats and goes right back to sleep.

I really wish she slept through the night but I love her so much I never really mind getting up with her. Just bugs me to hear about other babies her age sleeping all night.

I feel like with the constantly interrupted sleep my memory has gotten SOO much worse. I don't remember anything. I'm going to have to use my planner diligently if I want to do well in school this semester.

Brian still hasn't found a job OR recieved unemployment. This has been very stressful on him and in turn, on me. We have been looking tirelessly for jobs. A very boring activity for Aria and I :-( He had a really good interview with a barricade company on Monday. He will work like a slave but a job's a job and unfortunately his felony pretty much excludes him from having a job that requires much thought. Added perk is these jobs keep his body super hot... :-D

Aria had her four month check-up on Monday, too. She's only 11 lbs, 12 ozs... 10th % for weight... I don't know why she's so skinny. She eats all the time. She is gaining weight, just very, very slowly.

She can roll over both ways and she scoots! On Saturday we got our first real laugh, not just a smile with a coo but a full on chuckle! Oh it melted my heart! Also, when we say 'hi' to her a few times she can say 'hi' back. Of course she has no idea what she's saying but it really is so freaking cute!

First post is so long. Hopefully, if I update frequently the next can be shorter!

Aria at four months.
She's discovered her feet!














And She fell asleep in her dragon towel after a dip in the neighbor's pool!