Getting back into shape postpartum without a nanny

 Let me start by saying I am not a nutritionist or a certified trainer.  I'm just someone who loves eating well and exercising. When I became pregnant I was in great shape, and though I had no energy and was easily winded, I made an effort to do some sort of fitness at least 5 times a week until having the baby. I believe that getting back in shape was a balance between what I was eating and my level of activity.

I had an emergency c-section leaving me feeling like I was hit by a mack truck. I was panicked I wouldn't be able to hold my baby let alone take him for walks for weeks.  However I had a relatively quick recovery and I attribute that to staying active beforehand. I was out walking 5 miles with the stroller two days after getting out of the hospital in January, leisurely, but walking none-the-less.

I do not have a nanny, sitter or daycare at my disposal, and the majority of my workouts are done with my son at my side.

First 8 weeks:
My doctor prohibited strenuous fitness for the first 8 weeks, because I had to let the scar heal. What I did for these 8 weeks was to walk everyday for miles. I have a dog who has a ton of energy and demands exercise, so regardless of snow freezing temperatures or rain, getting outdoors was a necessity. I bundled the baby in the stroller and walked with them both twice a day, which kept my sanity and helped get my abdominals to wake back up.

At 6 weeks I started doing 30 minutes of post natal yoga at home using Yogaglo which was the same site I used for prenatal yoga at home.

Living in NYC means access to tons of great workout classes. I did some research on a baby and me yoga class to do, and at 7 weeks we began going once a week to a class in the upper east, which we still go twice a month.

8-16 weeks:
I did my first run at 8 weeks on the nose, I ran 2 miles on the tredmill in my building, and then could hardly walk for three days. After that I decided to slow my pace down and my mileage, keeping in mind that my body was still in recovery.

 I introduced myself to the Tracy Anderson post pregnancy workout video at 8 weeks, which I still do now.

We went on a trip to Jackson Hole Wyoming at 9 weeks, and hiked daily.

16-26 weeks:

At 16 weeks the weather had started to thaw out a little, and I could start running outdoors. I would either run first thing in the morning while my husband was still home or right after he got home from work, this ensured a little bit of me time and the ability to run outside.

We took another trip and took the baby on 3 more hikes, which seemingly was harder as his weight was now at 15 lbs up from 10 lbs at 8 weeks.

At 23 weeks my doctor confirmed that his neck was strong enough for me to start running outside with him. I do not have a jogging stroller, because I don't have space for more than just one, and felt that a city stroller was the way to go. I have been running with the Uppababy vista and once you have locked the wheels it runs beautifully.  Running with the stroller is upping my cardio indurance and toning my arms, and abs a great all around strengthener.

I am still doing the Tracy Anderson method once a week and either a Barre class or baby and me yoga once a week to keep my body on its toes. I walk everyday anywhere from 3-10 miles, which when you live in Manhattan is easy to do. I run 5-6 times a week, I still can't seem to break a 5k and my pace is way down, but being able to run outdoors is very freeing.

I can confidently say that my post baby body is not the same one I had before pregnancy, however it is strong and lean thanks to staying active and eating a very vegetable heavy diet.  It is easy after you have the baby to say I don't have the energy to workout, but you will have more energy from going on a brisk walk with your babe than from laying on the couch. Eating lots of leafy greens and lean proteins will help give you the energy you need to get through the day after getting only two hours of sleep.

Pretty much how the first three months in Central Park looked

Our first yoga class at 7 weeks where he stayed
in shavasana the entire time.

Hiking in March in Teton national park, Jackson Hole Wyoming

Hiking in May at Indian Springs Canyon, Palm Springs

A hutch for storage

I've recently started to stockpile yarn. My local yarn shop is on my walk home from my daily run in the park, and instead of simply walking by, I inevitably go in and pick up a few skeins. This has coincided with my love of the Paelas baby and toddler patterns, which I can't get enough of. Currently the three baskets that my yarn lives in is doing the job, but if I don't slow down my yarn purchases I will run out of space.

One day, when I have room for it, I would love to have a beautiful glass hutch to store all of the yarn in. It would allow my yarn to be organized and color coded, instead of thrown into baskets without any organizational plan.

These hutches would be the perfect addition to any room.

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A week of vegan meals

I recently wrote about how I've gone vegan since having my son. My husband is not vegan, so I've made sure that the dinners we have every night together are not lacking in flavor, and aren't repeated nightly in order to make it exciting for him as well. I initially assumed I would be living on salads, which has never been my thing, but with the help of some amazing cook/baker bloggers out there I've been able to make dinner exciting and delicious.

I typically plan out 3, or 4 meals a week ; and then use the remaining ingredients to make up the rest of the weeks meals. The more recipes I come across the more confidence it gives me to create my own menu, knowing what works together and what doesn't.

This is how our week has looked so far, and tonight I'm using the summer veggies we have and some leftover vegan sausage with my canister of saffron to create a vegan paella, we'll see how this goes.

On Monday  cauliflower "rice" tofu scramble

On Tuesday, Sweet Potato Tacos inspired by

Every night until it was gone, Bananas Foster's Cake

On Wednesday, Tempeh meatballs with fresh linguini

On Thursday, I made a Buddha bowl with what I had in the fridge
Sweet potato, golden beets, chickpeas, leftover "meatballs"
and a tahini, lemon dressing

When the Bananas Foster's cake was gone,
I made this raspberry, lemon cake. One day
I swear, I'll learn how to frost a cake.

Kitchen envy

Sometimes being a homeowner stinks, for lack of a better word. For the past month the hinge on our refrigerator has been broken, and the part we ordered somehow was lost in the mail. This means we have had to use a stool to keep the Fridge door shut.

There has been a stool in my little kitchen for a month taking up precious space and creating an eye sore. My kitchen is like my second home, and so it hurts to look at this stool and move it every time I have to open the fridge or to put something in the dishwasher right across from it.

I've been dreaming of what it would be like to have a big open kitchen with a functioning door since this happened.  If I had a blank canvas and could create a kitchen from start to finish, here are some that I'd use for inspiration.

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Shopping Guide to NYC

As a buyer I always have to keep my eye out for new designers, and trends. The internet and design magazines are a great source for keeping my finger on the pulse, but I'm very hands on, and love to comb through shops for product. Here is just a sampling of some of my favorite New York City downtown shops.

Williamsburg:
Mociun : Amazing jewelry, ceramics and fabric. Amazing custom work, this is where my wedding band is from.
Catbird: Jewelry
Joinery- Beautiful clothes and home accessories

Nolita/soho:
Love adorned - Jewelry, ceramics, home decor. Where my engagement ring is from, the designer is Elizabeth street.
Design Within Reach - Modern furniture, and home accessories
Steven Alan - Clothes, jewelry
Ochre - Home decor and furniture
Purl - A crafters heaven
Only Hearts - Lingerie and clothes
Loopy Mango- Knitting supplies, vintage clothes, home decor

Tribeca/Chelsea:
Just Scandinavian - Just like the name, Scandinavian home decor and furniture
School House Electric - Well priced lighting, home decor and hardware
Shinola- Gorgeous bikes and accessories.
Sokkerbit- Swedish candy shop

Making a 9x10 room function

As Christian gets older whats in his tiny room changes. Things come in, and others go out. I was lucky enough to receive this adorable series 7 walnut kids chair from my friends at Fritz Hansen and so out went the Eames molded plastic, which has moved to the "Dining room".

His room is only 9'x10' , so we have had to get creative on how we use this space, especially since we didn't want to lose the ability to have guests stay. My husband and I had installed these 6 white shelves a year and a half ago to create floor space for all of our books. When I found out I was pregnant, I had to send the books elsewhere for storage to create space for the baby's things.

We are using cloth diapers, which had we had space for a dresser would have taken up a drawer, but instead we have used one shelf as the diaper station, stacking them in as tightly and neatly as possible and using a wicker basket for all of his diapering needs. Baskets serve as storage for his clothes and accessories as well, since we have kept the amount of clothing minimal for this fast growing boy.

I'm a knitter and since being home with him, have become a knitting addict, which meant I needed space for all of the yarn, needles and patterns. We also wanted to maintain a nice space for guests, so we updated the sheets on the guest bed to some classic percale from Parachute and put a magazine rack in the corner for nighttime reads.

We kept receiving blankets as gifts, so I went into my closet and pulled out a market tote that I had for storage at the end of his bed. I wanted the few toys that I did have to also function, so I am using his push car as storage for his Danish block set. We removed the large print we had behind his bed, as I was nervous about it falling and expanded on our wall gallery with prints and objects from our journeys and family heirlooms. This wall is not finished yet and will probably be updated and altered over the years.

What has made it possible for us to use this room for three things I believe is by keeping baby items to the necessities and minimal amounts of each item. By using a travel mat as a changing table and a couple of baskets for the rotation of clothes we were able to skip out on a dresser and changing table. We have kept the toys and books to a minimum for several reasons, for starters he only needs a few at this age and as he gets older I would like to stay in that same school of thought; how many toys can one child play with in a day anyways. Keeping everything white is not only a personal style preference, but light furniture makes a space feel more open, and when you are working in tight quarters, that is key.  Using our own photos and making my own wall hangings makes the space personal and keeps costs down.

Please send me a message if you would like to know where any products are from. (All photos are taken from an iPhone)

Custom embroidered quote from one of my favorite books, "The little Prince". A jar for his
pacifiers that has been a baby key bowl, we always know where they are. Our wedding shot
and invitation, which we held on to. A few Kay Bojesen collectibles.

Child size walnut Series 7 chair from Fritz Hansen, which will be the perfect chair for him
 to do crafts from when he gets a little older. A nightlight to help me see during night time feeds.

Guest bed with cozy sheets , and our supply of Bumgenius and Tots Bots diapers.

Wall hangings

Much like everyone else, I've been obsessing over all of the beautiful woven wall hangings and dreamcatchers that designers have been creating over the past few years. I never bought one, because I figured this was something that I could make myself, though it would take a few goes before it was something really beautiful.

I finally got around to making my first woven wall hanging a few weeks ago, at "Loop of the Loom" in Manhattan's Upper East Side. They have so many different yarn textures and colors to choose from and a very peaceful setting to work in. They offer classes, which are very hands off, but helpful nonetheless for a first timer like myself.  If you would rather buy a piece from an artist in this field  instead; here are a few links.

For sale via

For sale via

DIY kits via

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My wall hanging 

Resources for nursing moms whose babes have food intolerances

To be completely honest, the first month of being a mom was rough. Christian cried pretty much the entire time he was awake, and the combination of that, mixed with multiple nighttime feedings, recovering from an emergency c-section, and all of the other postpartum hormonal changes was tough.

 I was lucky enough to figure out pretty quickly that the reason for the crying was not simply that we had a colicky baby, but that there were foods I was eating that his tiny stomach couldn't process. I immediately removed the number one offender, which is dairy, and quickly followed that with eggs, and peanuts. It took about 3 weeks for it to clear through both of our systems, but once those items were removed from my diet, a happy baby emerged.

The other thing that happened at this time was that I watched "Food Inc". I had read "Omnivores Dilemma" a few years ago, but somehow this was more impactful. I haven't had meat since, which made the new diet an even larger challenge, as I had no idea how to get the proper nutrients with all of these things suddenly not part of my daily eating.

I was stressed that all I would be eating was salad with different beans or pasta with tomato sauce, but it turns out that being vegan is just as much fun in the kitchen.

The blogs and sites below have been crucial to guiding me in cooking and baking as a vegan. I either follow them straight, or use the flavor combinations to whip something up on my own based on whatever is in my fridge. I find that I am cooking almost every night now, so it's nice to have places to go for inspiration. These links are great even if you are eating meat, as you can always add chicken or beef. Some of these are vegetarian sites with plenty of vegan or gluten free options or substitutions. Happy eating!

Minimalist Baker

The Purple Carrot

Ambitious Kitchen

Unconventional Baker

Foodie with Family

Will Frolic for Food

Oh She Glows

Dolly and Oatmeal

Bedroom mini makeover

Lately I've been having an urge to give our bedroom a small makeover. The makeover urge might have something to do with the fact that having the baby has moved things from his room into ours, making it more cluttered than I'd like. My perfect bedroom is very subdued, little distraction and few colors. Here are some bedrooms that I'd love to steal ideas from.

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Traveling with a baby

Christian and I are about to travel together on our third flight in his first 5 months. I was nervous before our first trip when he was two months old.  Would he cry the whole time? Would the air pressure hurt his ears? Would passengers cringe as I came down the aisle with him? It turned out to be a pleasant flight (two as we had a layover), and I found that as opposed to cringing, fellow passengers were helpful and complimentary. Our first trip was to Jackson, Wyoming, and the ease of the whole thing encouraged me to buy tickets for our next trip 2 months later.

In May we headed back west, but this time we flew into Phoenix and drove up to the Grand Canyon. We stayed in the park so that we would have less driving in the morning for our hike into the canyon with him. From here we drove 6.5 hours to Palm Springs for some pool time and some more outdoor adventures. We ended our trip in Los Angeles, opting to stay in Venice near Santa Monica to be close to the beach.

Here are some tips on what worked for us traveling and some places I'd recommend checking out if you are headed to the Southwest. We only spent about 36 hours in each location.

Traveling with a small baby:
-Have multiple outfits in your carry-on as accidents will happen, and there is nothing worse than a wet, crying baby for 5 hours on a plane.
-Pack more diapers (cloth/disposable) than you think you'll need for your carry on.  Double what you would normally use in the time period of your flight incase of delays. On the reverse you can always buy diapers wherever you are going and save room in your checked baggage.
-If you are nursing, make sure you can easily get your baby latched with what you are wearing. Also make sure you can maneuver your cover in a small space; I found it very challenging on my first flight to not flash my fellow passengers while trying to get him to latch.
-If your baby is known to be fussy, bring some ear plugs for your seat mates.
-Pack light for the whole trip, your baby doesn't care what they are wearing or if they wear the same outfit several times on the trip and no one else will.
-Avoid bringing a stroller if you can.  We used the "ergo baby" the whole time including our hike into the grand canyon. It is so much easier to get around a city on foot without it and its one less huge thing to bring along.
-If you are renting a car, car rentals have the option to add a car seat to your rental, and it won't cost you very much, otherwise I would recommend getting one of these that has padding so that your seat doesn't get broken in transit.
-If your baby will take a pacifier, it will be a lifesaver for the flight.

Places we went that were baby friendly:
Grand Canyon:
-We hiked the Bright Angel Trail, Christian was the youngest baby on the trail, but it was easy enough to walk up and down while wearing him and there were areas to rest along the way to change and nurse him.
-Breakfast here was casual and inexpensive
-If your baby has food allergies like mine, you'll probably need to shop at the grocery store in the village as this is not a dairy free/vegan friendly place.
-We stayed here , which was not our original plan. We had planned to hike in and camp, but realized that was aggressive with a 3.5 month old and settled on this spot.

Palm Springs:
-We went out for some nice dinners while here, but were mindful of his bedtime and went out at 6 instead of 8.  Jake's and Hacienda Cantina .
-Breakfast was at the Ace, which had the perfect breakfast menu for this vegan nursing mama.
-We hiked in the Indian reservation which took you on a trail through one Oasis after another and up through some beautiful Cactus
-Of course there was also plenty of pool time at the hotel, since that's what Palm Springs is all about.
-My husband did a round of golf here early in the morning.

Los Angeles:
-We stayed here, which was the only place where the baby had to sleep with us, but they were right next to the beach and had a kitchen to make breakfast in the morning.
-We went out to dinner on our first night to Gjelina which was phenomenal.  If we had had more time in LA I would have dragged my husband and Christian to this area to do some shopping for the apartment.
-We did a hike with family at Runyun Canyon, one disclaimer, there is no public restroom here, so keep that in mind.
- We also went to the Getty museum which is FREE. If art isn't your thing I still recommend this museum as the views of the city are worth the trip alone.

Views of the Canyon

The little guy sunning himself by the pool

Hiking the Indian trails

Views from the Getty

Spring flowers means the hunt for a new vase

One of the best things about spring, with the long-awaited thaw following months of snow, are all of the colors. Flowers and trees are blooming, the grass suddenly doesn't look so dull anymore and there is color everywhere.  It is such an amazing transformation given that only a few weeks/months before there was nothing but brown.

I have had a habit for a few years now of treating myself to a weekly bouquet or two of flowers. I never buy anything extravagant, just something simple that also isn't too perfume. I have several different vases in different heights; colors; materials, and widths. but I could always use one or two more.

www.royalcopenhagen.com

www.kostaboda.com

http://www.lyngbyporcelain.com/da_dk

www.arhoj.com

Dreary June day

The weather in Manhattan has been anything, but cheerful for the past few days. We went from Sunny, hot and humid, to cold and wet overnight. Ive never been very good at sitting around inside doing nothing, so I decided to take advantage of being forced indoors to work on some summer knits for Christian and do some vegan baking for me.

Since having the baby I've had to become a vegan baker, as he has allergies to eggs, dairy and peanut butter and as a nursing mom that means I too have allergies to those foods for the time as well. It was a struggle for the first month to find good sources for recipe inspiration on vegan baking, however Ive learned there are quite a few. One of my favorites is www.minimalistbaker.com , they have a recipe for a deep dish apple crumble pie . However, it is not apple season, and what I had in the house were nectarines and cherries. I followed their pie crust recipe and then altered the filling and toppings to what I had at home, ending in a flavorful spring nectarine and cherry crumble pie with walnuts.

I stumbled upon a Norwegian baby knit pattern site this week, and immediately ordered a few of their patterns. www.Paelas.com has adorable knit patterns for baby and toddler that are in both Norwegian and English, and are easy to read. I made Quick Knit Suit for warm summer days in the park and am working on their popcorn suit this morning while the house is still asleep.

Let's hope this weather turns around soon!

Quick Knit Suit