lost 20 pounds - 10 to go

Annona was asking me today how much weight I lost.

I lost a lot but I am not ready to be in a bikini yet!

The good news is that I am eating as much as when I was pregnant and yet still losing the weight.

Breast feeding does open an appetite!

Sweet things are always on my priority list.

We buy chocolate bars on a regular basis.

M told me yesterday :" I never see you eating chocolate but the bars keep disappearing."

I answered :"Hey, a girl snacks during the day!"

Once I start swimming again to get back into shape, I will cut down on these goodies just a bit so I can wear my favourite bikinis again...

Until then, would you like to try a Ritter Sport?

poupou all over the bed

I don't even know the boy in this picture but he illustrates well how Mateo felt this morning

Let me tell you the story :

When Mat starts a new day, I like to change him into a fresh pajama.

This morning, while I was undressing him, I thought : "Hey, he just pooped and pipied so I'll leave him naked for a little while." 

So I brought him to bed with us (we like to place him in between us and just look at him!) - but we barely had the time to admire his cute little body and kiss him all over that he started to fart !

I was prepared : I had kleenex with me - but it was not enough...

The farts became explosive and in a few seconds the bed was full of poo!

I thought it was pretty funny - but not M - so we did not really laugh at the situation!

But hey come on, that's funny!

I am sure Mat was laughing his head off!

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summer plans

I have been on maternity leave for almost three months already.

I am as busy as if I'm at work - even busier I would say.

Days go by even faster than before.  

It scares me a bit because I don't want it to go so fast - I want Mat to stay a baby for a while.

And since it is going by so fast I want to make a summer list of some things that I want to do (Isabelle gave me the idea!):

-Have a picnic

-Eat loads of ice cream (check mark on this one already many times!!)

-Go to a drive-in theatre

-Go skinny dipping

-Get rid of old clothes (can't wear them anyways -they are still too tight!)

-Learn something new (a photography class! yeah!)

-Lay in our hammock as often as possible

-Learn to give Mat baby massages

-Swim

- Have drinks with umbrellas in them - M and I want to have drinks in fancy hotels this summer

- Go to a museum

- Look at the sun set

and

- Look at the stars and picture where I want to be in a year.  

I am already dreaming about his future...

what I eat, he eats

They say that a baby taste buds develop with what the mommy eat.

Mateo likes almost everything.

He is lucky because he is starting his life with a summer menu.

Last week, I had a "fall" dish  :beet soup.  I find it delicious - especially with sour cream and dill-  but my prince did not like it all - he cried all evening with cramps.  Poor M was stuck with him - he is better than me with calming him because he lays him facing down on his arm (I am not strong enough to do it for more than 5 minutes). 

I love to have plans and list of things that I can cross out to feel that I am accomplishing something.  

I know that being a mom is big job but I still like to have other things going...

So I plan to make a new recipe every week from our many cookbooks and make it very summery:

Eaten already and will eat again :

-spaghetti alle vongole

-orzo salad with roasted vegetables, feta, pine nuts and basil

-creamy pasta with lobster

- strawberry, raspberry and grapes salad with a dash of Cointreau

- key lime pie (ok that one was bought!)

- bbqs with special dips and rubs

on my list next week:

-nectarine crumble

- zucchini stuffed with italian sausages

and yesterday, I made lemonade

- it looked good but wasn't that great - I did not want to put too much sugar!

stuffed animals and other surprises

some people still had not seen baby Mat!

Doris, Ranko, Norma, Micho came on a sunny Saturday morning and we had mogli (not sure about the spelling but mmm...an arabic dessert made of rice and cinamon topped with nuts that is served when a baby is born)

and 

Joe, Cynthia, top model Nicolas and lovely Pamela came by on Sunday

thank you !

a first date

M and I had our first date last Friday - yes, an outing without Mat!

It was a real date - M bought me flowers, we dressed up and we went out to a nice place...

I pumped some milk all week so I could have a few onces ready for Lily and Zouzou - our babysitters for the evening...

We were supposed to go to a fancy restaurant but finally we decided to go for drinks.

We started by going to cool boutique hotel but nobody was at the bar so we went to a cozy tapas bar nearby.

M and I did some peoplewatching like we always do and then we talked about Mat and how great he is and how nice he is...which made me cry.  Big tears! But happy tears.  

After one drink, M asked me if I wanted to go back home and of course I said yes.  Our babysitters were surprised to see us coming back so soon.  We were not even gone for two hours!

what I love about you

you are only five weeks old but there are so many things that I love about you:

-the way you wiggle your feet

-your smiles when we touch your face

- the way your frown all the time

-your appetite when you eat

-your spiked hair

- your dark skin - you always look tanned you lucky dude!

- you love to have your picture taken

- you love going out to see places

You are SO great!

his many funny faces

papa's knees and so much more

yesterday was father's day.  

Mat, you are so lucky to have him as a dad. 

You should see the way he looks at you ,the way he smiles at you, the way he already plays with you. 

In the morning, when mommy is still tired he cuddles you on his chest and you always fall back to sleep. 

He makes you dance by giggling your body.

He sings all kinds of songs - the voice is not great but you seem to like it!

lily made a cake

Mattie was one month old yesterday and yes, Lily made him a cake and we even sang happy birthday to him!

The month flew by.  Feels more like a few days.

celebrating the new house, the new baby and ...drinking wine again

last week, we had many things to celebrate.

We had a real supper, sitting down and enjoying the evening outside.

M is happy that I am drinking wine again - he opened my favourite: burgundy.

m and m

Mommy and Mat

his mouth

a room with a view

except for the breast feeding at night that I always do in Mat's room, I try to follow the sun in order to breast feed in a sunny room (since I have the impression that I am ALWAYS breast feeding, I thought I might as well choose a nice environment!). 

In the morning, I serve  Mat breakfast in the "Miami Room".

Midday, I serve him lunch in our in our bedroom.  (We have a balcony in our bedroom that we never use because it is on the second floor of the house and the whole neighbourhood can see us. I decided to put a few flowers on the balcony so I can enjoy the view - I am using it in a different way....)

And in the afternoon, I serve a snack and supper time in the "TV nook". 

spending a lot of time in his room

a few pictures from the last week

a beautiful flower from France and Lucien

bath time - he goes so silent when M washes his hair - youpi, he loves water!

my new job - breastfeeding!

close-up of our monkey

hanging out

A  few days ago, my buddy Dominique sent me an e-mail saying : "Oh my God - did you see? Hula (hulaseventy.blogspot.com) is organizing a new postcard swap?"

Half an hour after, I had cards, magazines and scisors out on my bed ! I was so excited to start a new creative project ! The setting was perfect : our bedroom was lit up by a great afternoon sun AND Mateo was laying beside me. 

I had to take a picture of this great moment !

So I got into bed, relaxed and happy to do a bit of arts and crafts...

I started cutting pictures and then... Mat started crying...

and was fussy for about two hours...

I did not get to do my postcards - but that's okay...

Humm...does that mean he will not like to colour and play with paper?

Let's wait and see.

so many thank yous

We had so many visitors over the last two weeks.  We received so many beautiful gifts.  

To all of you, thank you a thousand times! We are so lucky !

first night out

no- my first night out was not with M

my first night out was with the girls to see Sex and The City - and it was so good!

Tried on a lot of clothes the night before for one hour, knowing that all the girls at the cinema would dress up too.

Was hoping that something would fit me - but no -  I had to wear maternity clothes ! But I think I still looked somewhat fashionable with makeup and accessories...

The movie was SOOOOOOOOOOO good, whatever the critics say.  We cried, we laughed and we were in ahhhh...(how do you spell that word ?).  A true feel-good movie. 

I had my phone with me just in case Mateo cried too much and I would have to rush back home in a taxi but that night he slept for five hours in a row - his first long stretch since he was born. He knew that mommy was having fun and thought : "What the heck, I will sleep a bit longer and wait that she comes back."