New Life

Can I start by stating the obvious?  Its really been a long time since I posted on this blog. I have been carefully considering whether or not I even wanted to keep it, whether or not it fits into my 'new life'.   So much has changed for me in the past year, not the least of which is that I am a mom to this very adorable little boy.

See what I mean?  Adorable.  He also happens to be the most chill baby ever (despite the fact that he is starting to crawl -eek!), which means really I have plenty of time in my life to keep doing narcissistic things like blogging about my life, my photography and my woefully-neglected-but-still-there Etsy shop. 

And can I just say, the whole pregnancy/childbirth thing was really not some mystical magical experience so many women describe?  It was hard.  It was emotionally draining, physically demanding, and pretty much ruined my body.  Modified bed rest for the last trimester led to way more weight gain than I anticipated.  Unforeseen problems during childbirth led to a long, exhausting delivery that resulted in an emergency c-section, which meant a long and frustrating recovery (and delayed weight loss...as in, um, NO weight loss).  And a whole mess of circumstances (that I'd rather not go into cause I'm sick of talking about it) led to a difficult (but right) decision to bottle-feed formula.    Nothing, I mean nothing, about my pregnancy, or the birth, went according to plan. But on a happier note - I am glad to have had great health insurance, amazing doctors and midwives who spoke english, and an amazing husband who went to amazing lengths to take care of me through it all.  

Now I'm eight (!!!) months into the life of my happy kid and I am starting to slowly re-claim my body.  Which is proving to be as hard as the process that destroyed it.  Losing weight is difficult to do when you are trying to fit working-out into a baby's schedule - not to mention the fact that it hurts.  I have no core muscles left - which has led to severe back pain.  And its amazing how a year of very little physical activity (and an extra 30 pounds) can leave you in the worst shape imaginable.

But I am slowly breathing new life into my new life - picking up my camera again, getting back in the kitchen, working out and writing.  Autumn in Berlin is in full swing - which is one of my favorite times of year - and I am excited for the coming winter and holiday season (christmas markets yay! snow? boo).   Look for new and exciting things around here (and a possible change of venue?) soon!