Post-Baby Weight Debate

It's been almost 4 weeks since I've given birth and of course my mind has gone to the topic of weight.
Prior to getting pregnant I was trying to lose weight. I had a goal weight of, let's call the number x, and I was, on average, 15 lbs over that number. I had kind of plateaued and had been there for awhile. I was happy there, and a nice enough size, but realistically would have liked to be 15 lbs less.
With Chloe I gained about 25 lbs by the end. So, nothing near the 87 lbs I had to lose with Matthew (that I lost except for 15 lbs, but it took me 3 years). With Matt I was able to lose about 10-15 lbs, and then I had major problems. A huge part of it was over-eating which I later learned should have been attributed to ppd. But, the point is, I found that the numbers didn't really come down. Or, they did and would go right back up.
For me it was horrible going clothes shopping because we had very little money, so I was watching every penny I spent, but nothing fit. And, really, the larger you are the worse cheap clothes look on you. (I could show you pictures). And I refused to wear my maternity clothes. Talk about setting yourself up for disappointment.
So, with this birth I decided that I didn't want to go through all of that - hence less weight gain. I was worried about how long it would take to lose the weight.
here's the funny thing. I now weigh exactly the same amount that I did before I got pregnant. Great, eh?
Not so much. I still need to wear clothes that are 3 sizes bigger (which, thank God, still lands me in regular sizes). I'm afraid to pull out most of my pre-pregnancy clothes because I know trying them on will be discouraging - and painful. I'm not sure if it's cause of the c-section or because of being pregnant - or both - but all of the excess weight is in 2 places: my boobs (not a bad thing) and my lower tummy. It's like my body has completely re-shaped itself.
I've been doing some research on this, and it is apparently fairly normal, but it can take 1-2 years of exercise and LOTS of sit-ups to get your normal tummy back. That would be fine if I even liked my normal tummy, but I've never liked it. So, who knows ...
I find the whole thing rather baffling. If you think about it, if I'm the same weight now that I was pre-pregnancy and I'm fat in 2 specific places, there should be some places where I am skinnier. Right? Ummmm ... nope. I've looked. I would love it my legs were suddenly more sculpted or I had thinner arms. But no - same old body plus extra tummy. NOT fair.
I'm pretty sure that I can't do sit-ups yet (my doctor said 6 weeks before exercise), but I am walking. And, in a couple of weeks we're joining the Y as a family which means we get to do my favourite exercise - swimming!!! (though bummer that I will need to get a new bathing suit - cause that will be fun times. And a bikini wax. Ouch!)
Part of me is trying to be content at this weight, but then another part of me is thinking that we're going to Disneyworld in July. So, I'll have about 8 weeks to get in some sort of shape - and between eating healthy (easy to do in the summer), and exercising (going to the Y and bringing Matt to the park a lot - and we walk there) I could realistically lose about 10 lbs. Not quite a goal weight. But, enough to like my body a bit better. I can only imagine how many pictures we will be taking while we are there.
What I'd really like to do is come up with some sort of healthy meal plan to keep us all on track for being in slightly better shape for Disney. One day at a time.

Oh, and speaking of working out ... as you may remember, last year I did a 5k race in June. I put it on hold to have the baby, but plan to take it up in the summer or fall.
My friend, Lou, was an amazing help to me. He was the first person I ran 5 k with, gave me tons of encouragement and didn't let me give up when I said that running was not my thing.
Guess what? At the age of 66 he completed the Boston Marathon yesterday! His time was 4:35:31 and he came in 19,114th Place. I was pretty impressed! It's been his goal for a long time to do this, so the fact he made it there is pretty amazing.

Loving Age 4

There's a funny phenomenon happening a our house. Our entire family is loving age 4.
I know.
Weird.
I kept hearing to watch out for the age of 4 because it's called the "f*&%ing fours."
The thing is, I haven't seen it yet. Sure it's early days. But still. I'm loving it.
In the last couple of weeks Matt has decided being 4 means he can do a whole bunch of stuff. For instance, he's insisted for the last year that he CANNOT put his own shoes on (and how fun is it when you're 9 months pregnant putting your child's shoes on?). Then he turned 4. And "four-year-olds know how to put on their own shoes."
And on it goes. Forget about needing help with his clothes, he's 4.
Forget about being bad at a restaurant. As soon as we remind him he's 4 we're back on track.
Add in the whole big brother thing and it's amazing how much of a change is happening in our house. He wants to do his own bedtime routine (brushing teeth, putting on pj's). He's not fighting us in the mornings anymore because he chooses his own snacks to bring to daycare. There's no screaming and crying and bickering.
I think we've been laying the groundwork for this for awhile. But, it's amazing to see how it all comes together.
His new "thing" is the thumbs up. Okay, so I taught it to him, and I do it a lot. But, it's just a really easy way to say "good job" if he's listening well or doing something great. And, he's totally adopted it. I LOVE it!
Really. I just love age 4.
Matt has about 9 days left in daycare, and I'm finding that I'm looking forward to being home with him and his craziness full time.