Leslie Lee’s Weblog

This morning Olivia woke up with the most incredible hair-do! It was thee most awesome mohawk I’ve ever seen happen naturally. Anyways, so John just had to set up his “studio” in the living room to take some shots of it, and they turned out sooooo cute! First he brought out the white shaggy rug in Olivia’s room, and of course Cash was all over that right away, but it worked out great. Cash started off as John’s tester, and then we stuck the two of them together and they were adorable. Anyways, here are a few shots….

Oh, and if anybody is looking for a photographer, John is doing this as a business, so please, let me know!

This last weekend was our first “family trip”. We headed up to Tahoe on Friday for my girlfriends wedding. I was nervous about the drive, it was our first long distance drive with just the 3 of us. Olivia did alright, we didn’t leave as early as we had liked to, but oh well. We made it to South Lake around 10, and put Olivia to bed shortly after. We were lucky enough to stay at (what I think is) the nicest hotel in town, the Marriott Grand Residence. John’s cousin works for Marriott, so we got a really good discount on a 2bd/3ba villa. I highly recommend it, even at full price! The “room” was 1150sq ft with a full kitchen, dining room and living room with fireplace. There were 2 bedrooms, the master had a king bed with a fireplace as well and balcony and it’s bathroom had a huge jacuzzi tub! The other bedroom had 2 queens and a full bath. There was also a huge bathroom off the living room with a jacuzzi tub too. It was fit to sleep 8 people, we shared it with another couple, but we’re definitely going to consider this place again next time we go snowboarding, splitting between 8 would definitely be worth it! I think that this was the nicest hotel we’ve ever stayed at!

The weather was wonderful, we spent Saturday morning checking out the shops downstairs, and nursing a hangover at the pool. We attended the wedding that afternoon/night, it was a beautiful ceremony at a vista point in Emerald Bay, the view was amazing and the vows were moving. I don’t usually say that bout weddings either, but it was truly touching. I even cried! Olivia was very well behaved, especially considering she was exhausted, and she made it through dinner without too much of a fuss. Unfortunately there was no way she was going to make it to the after-party, she was overtired and miserable, so we had to call it somewhat of an early night and take her back to bed, it was disappointing, but I guess that comes with the territory.

We packed up and headed out on Sunday morning, the drive home went exceptionally well with Olivia. She slept all the way past Sacramento, we stopped at a Starbucks, I fed her and we headed to the Nut Tree in Vacaville. That was fun! How silly a little kids “theme park” could be so much fun, but it was. We walked around and went on the little train ride, her first train ride! I didn’t even really care that it was a million degrees out and I was dripping with sweat! We got ice cream at the cutest ice cream shop too, Fenton’s Creamery. Then we got back in the car, and O slept the whole way home, it couldn’t have been more perfect!

My new life as a stay at home mom slash nanny is going great. I’m having a really good time. The kids are all great, and all the extra exercise is well worth it all. Last week Olivia, B and I walked all the way to Starbucks at WestGate – a 3.2mi walk (round trip).

This whole baby thing has really changed every facet of my life.

(WARNING! Cheez ahead! I’m about to get all insightful and sappy)

Besides the obvious life changes that comes with a baby – not going out as much, being tired, etc – I expected all that to change, but I didn’t expect the way I looked at myself to change so drastically. And so easily.

First of all I have had body image issues my whole life, even when I was a skinny little thing wearing a size 2 in high school, I thought I was a huge pig. But when I got pregnant and (I can’t believe I’m admitting this) and weighed over 200lbs, well, that was the most comfortable I’ve ever felt in my own skin. I didn’t care how big my thighs were, it didn’t matter that my chub chub knees went straight into toes. The way I thought about my body changed, and never in my life had I experienced that kind of freedom.

Giving birth was such a proud accomplishment. I am still in shock that I actually did it. I DID IT. I was strong enough to actually push through all that fear, it’s wasn’t really about the pain, but the fear – that was seriously the scariest thing I have ever done. Way scarier than the dark (yeah, there’s a nightlight in every room in our house), although now that I think about it, it’s a lot like the dark. Like the unknown, and I really that’s what made the whole thing scary. Then would you consider the epidural a nightlight?

So now that Olivia is here, I feel complete. I know, I know, so cliche. But really, I feel like I have a purpose now. Like before I was just waiting for something, just going through the motions. It’s different now. I have a reason to go outside, I have a reason to get up off my butt.

Anyways, what this is really about is that I went shopping last week, and I bought a new pair of jeans, actually 2 pairs. And they were 2 sizes smaller than what I was wearing before I got pregnant! Omg, do you know how excited I was?? And it hasn’t even been hard. I haven’t really been dieting but I have been walking, and walking, and walking – oh, and breastfeeding. So my advice, who cares how saggy your boobs are gonna get after breastfeeding, it burns hella calories! I figure my ass is gonna look so good, nobody’s gonna notice my pancake boobs anyways, right? And that’s what a good bra is for! They don’t sell underwire for your butt, do they? So now I’m well over 70lbs lighter than I was the day before Olivia was born, which is about 30lbs less than before pregs. And I have never felt better.

Enough bragging. I just want to express how much joy this baby has brought. It’s not just about loosing weight or being able to push a watermelon through a mousehole, it’s about perspective. She has changed my perspective on not just myself, but the world. I am by no means skinny, and I don’t care, I just feel good. She makes me feel good. And for that, I thank you Olivia.