ramona. i first considered this name while listening to bob dylan on an airplane in college. the song is called to ramona and, while it isn’t necessarily the lyrics that inspired the love of this name, it’s definitely where it all started. and, yes, i did read the ramona quimby books and loved them but, no, this is not where the name comes from. also, i love when spanish-speakers say her name. i wish i could type out how beautiful it sounds.
marilyn. she is named after my maternal grandmother, a great woman who i deeply love and admire and miss. after a mighty battle with ovarian cancer, grandma marilyn died at home surrounded by all her loved ones (including me) on my birthday, may 7, 2004. she lived life so truly and so generously and so lovingly. we yearn for ramona to inherit that legacy.
so after my whining yesterday about the baby pounds i’ve decided to share with you my plan to get back in better shape. i’ve always been fairly athletic and moderately active. now it’s nothing like the two-sport glory days of my high school youth (ha) but, nevertheless, i’ve been blessed with a body that can move.
i’ve been doing yoga for about two years now and did it throughout my pregnancy. i feel i deserve bragging rights in that i was able to do crow up until my eighth month. perhaps i could have done it longer but i stopped doing yoga around that time. i work for trade for corepower yoga. i clean their studio and they give me unlimited yoga (a $150/month value). seeing as how i am a stay-at-home mama married to a man who is in the midst of opening and running a restaurant (read: we don’t make a ton of moola) this is a terrific set-up.
five weeks after ramona was born i started going back to yoga. i was so nervous about how i would feel because i didn’t want to add insult to injury: not only was i a bit flabby but i was scared i had lost any strength i had during the pregnancy. surprise! i felt great. i could do all of the stuff i did up until the 8 month marker and more. in fact, i got to do crunches and twists and other no-nos for pregnant women. i had some pudge in my spandex, of course, and my thighs and jowls are still not as taut as i’d love for them to get back to being but, hell, i could keep up with most of them (yoga in denver, at times, is a competitive sport. you really can’t let those skinny-minis get the best of you).
in addition to yoga, i really want to add running to my regimen. i was a runner in high school and college but didn’t stick with it regularly after that. i miss it. knowing that i easily get frustrated at things i’m not good at (even more so when i used to be good at it) i needed to find a way to get back in the habit of running without giving up. my sister, beth, introduced me to couch to 5k, this wonderful, easy, accessible, and FREE program that leads you through 9 weeks of running so you can get the hang of running for 30 minutes straight without stopping.
now, i’m positive that, if i had to, i could go out right now and run for an hour without stopping. but i would hate it. my intention of using this program is to get back into running and not hate it. knowing that it’s only 20 minutes with a nice warm-up and cool-down makes it easy for me to lace up my shoes and head out to the running path. the music is acceptable and the lady’s voice who instructs you is encouraging. i’ve only done one week but i’ll keep you posted on how the rest go.
wish me luck!
what a beautiful bride susan made!
i picked out a breastfeeding-friendly dress from anthropologie for this event. it had only been 5 weeks since ramona’s birth when i wore it but, i will say, it’s hard to see me in photos still about 20 lbs over pre-pregnancy weight. i’ve been experiencing the same issues as andrea over at maiden metallurgist: breastfeeding does burn about 500 calories a day but in order for me maintain my milk supply i need to eat about that much more each day! this does not add up to less input and more output (the only weigh to lose weight, as we all know). i have embraced all changes making and having a baby entails but now i just want my body back.
of course, jp’s angle doesn’t bring out my most flattering figure (like a turtle). and you know what? i feel great, overall.
ANYWAY.
we had arrived to chicago that day and ramona had done fabulous on the plane and had done great while we grabbed lunch at the butcher and larder. we then went to my dear friend tara’s house where we were staying for the night. tara was going to an engagement party that evening so, like old times in high school, her and i crammed into the bathroom and primped and prepped for our nights out. the last thing i did: rolled perfume on my wrists and my neck. oops.
ramona is not a fussy baby. but that night, at the most unique and classy wedding i have ever been to–holy crap–she was a demon child. she screamed and warbled and would barely eat and was just so upset. i spent most of my time glued to the couch in the powder room of the womens bathroom at the stan mansion trying to soothe her. that was the worst idea because, we finally figured out after i’d missed dinner and cake, she wanted nothing to do w me. i reeked of perfume and this pissed her off. where was her mama?! she was wondering. i smelled nothing like the woman with milk-boobs she was used to. what on earth had i been thinking? i wear her in a wrap most of the time and her head is right around my neck and chest level. silly, stupid me.
jp came to the rescue. when i was near tears and demanding we leave he calmly took her from me, reminded me why we had come to chicago in the first place (this very wedding) and rocked her to sleep. i was not to go near her until after i had showered and certainly not before i was able to enjoy a drink (tito’s and soda, thankyouverymuch). i had a drink, chatted w the bride, and then we made our way to the logan square blue line stop, ramona dead to the world in jp’s arms.
i was so so proud of him. usually i take over in baby freak-outs but this certainly was his time to shine. he not only soothed ramona but his hysterical wife, as well.
we got back to tara’s darling bucktown apartment and i immediately showered. afterward, dressed for bed, i found my little bean, scooped her up, and inhaled her baby-smell deeply as she nuzzled her face in my neck. we fell asleep like this.
thought this photo would be an apropos juxtaposition to the photo in the post below.
jp and i got drunk at a wedding in cincinnati and fell in love.
cheers, darling. i love you.
welcome
