8 Things You Can't Do Once You Have Kids

I frequent the Nest and the Bump for articles and information, especially now that I'm a new mom. I saw this article on there and was immediately annoyed. Sure there are limitations to what you can do once you have kids. Sure I can't go out and get wasted (mostly because I'm still breastfeeding and that would be a bitch to pump and dump, plus we're still sort of co-sleeping), but I really don't do that often now that I'm married anyways, so no loss. I can still meet up with my girlfriends for happy hour, dinner, movies, etc. It just takes some careful planning on our part. I can still read books. I'm not going to trade in my library card for a subscription to Us Weekly. Not gonna happen. I love books! I can still talk to my friends on the phone, watch TV, etc. I imagine that going to the bathroom by oneself is difficult, but I have yet to experience toddler-hood. If I had read this article before having Joel, I would think my life would be over after having kids. In fact, it couldn't be further from the truth. I get to do the things I love, plus I get to experience life again through his eyes. I now have an excuse for singing in the car -- it makes him laugh. I've always wanted to buy a Kidz Bop album (I know!), and now I can. I get to hear sweet giggles each morning from his nursery. When we go shopping, I have somebody hugging my body the entire time (in his Ergo carrier). If Happy Hour is boring, I have an excuse to leave early. When he gets older, I'll get to hold his hand to cross the street, watch him at sporting events, go to the Circus, go to Spanish story time at the library, etc. I basically have an excuse to be a kid again. I just do it in adult clothes!
Speaking of clothes, I went and bought new clothes yesterday. I didn't even think about if it were going to get stained by Joel because there is this invention called dry-cleaning, people! Sure Joel may ruin a shirt here and there, but at least his mama will look good holding him!
Going shopping post-pregnancy was not as bad as I envisioned. Even though I still feel fat, I can fit in cute clothes! I bought some cute tops, some dress pants and some capri pants. I can actually still fit into a small top and I can fit into my old pant size. The only thing is that my hips are now huge. I knew this would happen because it happened to my mom. Our hips tend to just stay after giving birth. So, before I was small-waisted big booty girl and now I just have hips.
One thing I never thought I would say is that I wish I had smaller boobs, but I do. When I was pregnant, I totally appreciated having big boobs. It was kind of like playing dress-up. Then the lactation consultant told our breastfeeding class that they would get bigger after giving birth. I thought to myself, "how can they get any bigger than this?" Well, they have and it's not fun (it is for my husband). Every top looks inappropriate no matter how modest it is. I now have a new respect for big-busted women. They say the boobs go away after breastfeeding, but we'll see next year if they do. For now, they're here to stay.
One thing that is difficult to do is lose the pregnancy weight. It's coming off though, so I can't be mad. I calculated my desired weight like this:
wedding day weight: 123
pre-pregnancy weight: 135 (they say when you're in love you eat!)
pregnancy weight: 165
Weight loss goal: 130
Current weight: 144
I'm getting there, slowly, but surely...