One Day at a Time

Doing Life - Week 4

2012-01-29T21:13:00.000-05:00

I had a great week, thanks for asking! I just posted about our Buddy Challenge and I have to honestly say it was exciting. I had fun pairing up with Kelli. Even though I'm 10 years older, I felt like we had a lot in common. It's nice to have someone new to talk to about the ups and downs of not only weight loss and healthy living but about life in general.

Before this week, I'd been struggling to get my workouts in. I would walk and do my C25K workouts while Nate was in school but that's only twice a week. It's hard with Mike's schedule if he was working on days Nate was out of school. This week Sallie came out to my 'hood and walked with me twice. One day we pushed 2 strollers and it was great to get out when I normally wouldn't have been able to. I also put a shout out to friends on FB and asked if anyone I had a double jogging stroller I could test drive. My friends came through and I picked one up on Wednesday. I had already worked out Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday but Nate was itching to try out the new stroller on Friday so when the weather cleared up and it got gorgeous out in the afternoon, we hit the road. About a mile away in our neighborhood is Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve. I don't know why we go there so rarely. It is beautiful.

We played. We threw 100 sticks in the water. We walked the Kids Trail three times. It was wonderful. The next day, Nate wanted to go to the lake again so we all went as a family. I'm telling you the double stroller is awesome. I worked out 5 days in a row. I got in 4 hours and 14 minutes of exercise. I'm so proud especially since last week I only managed 1 hour and 44 minutes.

I've also been trying to improve my plank time. I started at a painful 50 seconds. My new best is 1:20 seconds. My goal by next Sunday is 1:30. I can do it!

Saturday we had my friend Karrie take Claire's pictures. I'll certainly post those when I get them back. To hold you over, here are a few pictures I took this week. Isn't she delectable?

She's getting so big, isn't she? She's sitting up, eating baby food, and chatting up a storm. I'm still in awe every day that I've been blessed with my two kiddos. What was once thought impossible has become possible and is my life. How did I get so lucky?

The Do Life Week 4 Buddy Challenge

2012-01-29T20:48:00.001-05:00

This week our challenge was to buddy up with another member of the Do Life Challenge. I grabbed Kelli (aka Nikki) before others could get to her because I, too, was worried about the "being picked last" element of the challenge. It's a little out of my comfort zone to play picksies with someone I don't know, but I have to tell you how much I enjoyed Kelli's company this week.

Although we are a few *ahem* years apart in age, we both have similar struggles with juggling a family (she's got a daughter and 2 step-sons), work (she's a teacher), and working out (with plans of a half in April and in the Fall).

I knew I was going to love Kelli when the first text message I got from her said "Not to freak you out, but I'm looking for a half marathon this fall, and it's plausible that I can do the Rock & Roll one with you!" She lives in KY and I'm in VA. My first thought was "holy crap, that'd be awesome!". It really pumped me up that I would have someone from Do Life to do it with and it motivated me to actually visualize myself running it.

Kelli is funny, she has great insight and ideas, and it was so refreshing to meet someone new. She is committed to a healthy lifestyle. She has begun Clean Eating and vows to eat clean every day, no exceptions, no excuses. And you know what? She has lost 4 pounds since Monday! She sent me pictures of her food and DAMN - it looks yummy! There seems there are always temptations thrown in the way, but this week Kelli avoided a bake sale at work and made it through a huge potluck dinner without eating any of the offerings. She stayed on track and her willpower and determination really rubbed off on me and made me do the same.

Another awesome thing Kelli is doing is starting a Biggest Loser Challenge at her school. She already has 10 teachers signed up and she's taken it upon herself to put together a basket of goodies (cool stuff like work-out DVDs, water bottles, and yoga mats) that the weekly winner of the weigh-in can pick from. What a great incentive for the challengers! I want to be a part of it! :)

I could go on and on but you get the picture. She's awesome! She's motivating! She's Doing Life! Gooooo, Kelli!

Do Life Challenge - Week 3

2012-01-22T21:56:00.000-05:00

This week our challenge was a scavenger hunt. On Monday I looked at the list, rolled my eyes, and thought no way. Then I wondered when I got too old to have any fun. Well, fast forward to today and I hadn't completed any out of a list of 40. Here's what I've got tonight:

6. Longest run/walk of the week. 3.7 miles (my car said 3.8)

11. Ignoring (my own self-made) a warning sign. Don't Eat That Cupcake.

17. Me wearing 7 shirts. Bonus cute baby in the background.

18. Me and my girls holding Do Life signs. Claire ate hers.

20. Me in a plank position. Outdoors.

22. Do Life dog. Holla Bosco.

28. Wearing my favorite sports team gear with a double peace sign.

29. Holding a sign with how many minutes I worked out this week.

34. Standing beside a Ferrari.

39. Me in a top hat.

This week I finished Week 1 of C25K. I'm looking forward to starting Week 2 tomorrow. I've GOT to find a work out plan for the days with both kids and Mike working. Gah. Sob story.

My plank times have been getting better. I started at 50 seconds. I've done a 1:03 and 1:06 this week. I've got to do better with my eating. At the beginning of last week, I was up 1 lb, which means I'm only .2 less than when I started. We ate out too much this week. I ate too much this week. I've done well with my less soda goal though. Also, in the spirit of last week's Pay it Forward challenge, I paid for someone's lunch at Subway on Monday. I've been in this lady's shoes - she got to the register and realized her wallet was at home next to computer where she bought something online this morning. I felt for her. I paid and she was so appreciative.

This week I'm challenging myself to stay on track and use my SparkPeople app to track my food. Have a good week!

Yea for today

2012-01-17T23:31:00.001-05:00

I'm feeling good today! I got my work out in is morning. I did Day 2 of C25k and walked. It was 60 minutes and 3.8 miles. I felt a bit sluggish and slow today but I was out there! In the crazy wind! I did the C25K portion first so I could get it out of the way, honestly. I did feel different today. I didn't care if people were outside. I didn't care if they were watching me. I was just proud that I was out there.Tonight I timed my plank and I beat my time from last week by 11 seconds! That's a 1:01 plank, y'all. It was hard but bam! Done!See you out there tomorrow!

Do Life Challenge Week 2

2012-01-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

Holla! Another week down in the Do Life Challenge. This week's theme was "Do Unto Others".

I'm finding my way in these posts. I'm gonna do a list for my sake then expound on it. Boring, even to me but I need to see point-by-point what I've done.

Brighten someone's day. Twice (two different people).
-I went to the Naro Cinema on Monday night. I had two tickets left in my ticket book and after I used one for my admission, I gave my last one to the ticket window attendant and asked that she give it to the next person in line.
-When leaving the play place (at Chik-fil-a, ahhhh!), I told another mom (whom I didn't know) how well her son and mine played together. As a mom, I know how nice it is to hear that your kid is a good companion to others. I made her smile.

Reassess Push-ups.
-Did I even mention push-ups last time? Well starting week 1, I did 14.5 modified push-ups. Starting week 2, I did 16. Small steps, right?

Reassess Goals.
1. I'm still doing awesome with my water. I have only 1 soda a day (2 on rough days, which was 2x this week). Such a difference from 7-8 sodas a day with no water. Also, not buying canned soda is so helpful now. I LOVE an ice cold can of Cherry Coke Zero. It's helping to just avoid the temptation!
2. Still not stretching at night. Or day. Honestly though with more exercise, my back is not hurting near as much.
3. My sleeping habits are getting better. Slowly but surely. It helps that Nate is consistently asleep between 8:15-8:45 p.m. these days.
4. I did my best to take advantage of Nate's school days to get my exercise in. Tuesday he stayed home sick so I improvised.

Portion Sizes/No Seconds
-I'm more conscious of how much I'm eating. When I eat healthier items, I'm still wanting and granting myself seconds.

Exercise 150 minutes
-Fail. I got in 111 minutes. It's much harder when Mike is on his "Hell Week" at work. Friday I spent cleaning the house which should count as exercise but I don't how to estimate that.

Homework
1. Think about how someone did something for me that changed my day and/or life.
The one thing that I thought about was when I was in the hospital 12 years ago and needed so much blood. The good people who take the time to donate blood literally saved my life.
2. Where am I now physically and where do I want to be in 11 weeks?
Well right now I'm at my heaviest I've been with the exception of pregnancy. I don't have the energy or endurance I'd like to have. Even in the 2 weeks since the challenge started, I am noticing a change in that. I'd like to shed at least 12 pounds by the end of this challenge. I'd like to be in a consistent exercise routine. I'd like to be able to run 3.5 miles without stopping. I've got a Half Marathon Relay to get ready for, ya know! Oh, and the most important thing to me is to be out of maternity clothes for good.
3. Which area can I improve since Week 1?
Hands down, this one is food.

Okay, on to my week. This week Nate stayed home from school on Tuesday so I wasn't able to get out in the neighborhood to walk since Mike was working. I did what I could at home though. I did 200 jumping jacks (not in a row - in sets of 50). I accepted Ben's Plank Challenge and got on the floor and held a plank for 50 very painful seconds. Wednesday I got my jumping jacks in and took a good walk. Thursday I rocked it by taking a 30 minute walk and added on Day 1 of the C25K. I got a total of 60 minutes in and I felt awesome! The jogging portions were better than I expected them to be. I didn't let myself get ahead of myself by thinking about how many times I had to do the walk/run intervals. I just focused on each minute jog then each minute-and-a-half recovery walk. It was awesome. It was doable. I felt strong. I didn't feel guilty for taking time for myself (Nate was at school and Claire fell asleep in the stroller 30 minutes into our outing, so that helped).

I'll get to some of my 4 good things a day list in a second but I have to say how thankful I am to be making that list. Friday I cleaned my house in preparation for Bunco. It was a lot of work and I had errands to run. I had a feeling that not getting my walk in was going to make me spiral down and I was right. I haven't exercised now since Thursday and I haven't been very mindful of my food intake. That's not entirely true. I've been very mindful of EVERY little thing I've eaten and even though it was bad, I didn't stop. Well, at least I know myself. Next time I need to make better decisions to break that cycle.

So, all of that to say I was happy to have my list to look back on and see that my whole week wasn't a wash. I did good things! I exercised and felt great! I pushed myself! It's easy to forget those good things in just the few days I have been down. It's a reminder that tomorrow is a new day, blah blah blah. This is suddenly feeling very cliche. Ups and downs are typical. I just need to focus on having more ups than downs. So here are some things I did this week that I was proud of:
-I was down 1.2 pounds from the beginning of Week 1.
-I did 200 jumping jacks twice this week
-I used sugar free syrup when I ate pancakes for dinner (baby steps)
-I didn't have seconds on Carvel ice cream that I really wanted
-I completed Day 1 of C25K and survived
-I tracked all my food for one day
-I resisted apple pie and vanilla ice cream. I wasn't hungry and I didn't have enough calories left to stay within my daily goal.
-I cleaned my house better than I have in *ahem* the past year.

So here's to Week 3! I'm ready for ya!

Do Life

2012-01-08T16:51:00.000-05:00

Have you heard about the Do Life Movement? I'm a big fan of Ben Davis (and Jed and Pa) and his motto of Do Life. The best thing about Ben is that he feels like a friend. Like an IRL friend. Corny but I've been following his blog for well over a year and he's motivational, goofy, and just like you and me. No joke. And he's originally from Arkansas so I feel like I know him because I am originally from Oklahoma. Practically neighbors. Ha!

I signed up for the Do Life 12 Week Challenge. It's a great tool to become/stay motivated in the first 12 weeks of the year. It seems kind of involved (which I guess any committment should be) but I am really enjoying it. This week's theme is "Assess, Resolve, & Act".

My 5 quantifiable goals to work on this month are:
1. Drink fewer sodas (I was on the same path as Jed.) My goal is to make water and soda 1 for 1, starting with water in the morning.
The first few days I drank 3 diet sodas and plenty of water. It was much easier than it has been in the past. One day I only had 2 sips of Mike's soda and I had no ill effects. I drank one last night with dinner and none today. I'm feeling GREAT!

2. Stretch daily. I have some PT stretches that work wonders on my back and hips. My goal is to stretch before bed and work up to doing it 2x/day.
I feel better when I do it, but honestly I didn't do it every day this week.

3. Get more sleep. Feel better. I'm quite the night owl. I crave the time alone at night after the kids have gone to bed. I'm normally watching TV or on the internets and end up staying up way too late. I've been working on 5-6 hours a night.
Shocking, I know, but cutting out soda has helped. (Duh) I still like my quiet time but I'm also working on my addiction to my iPad. Nothing is really THAT earth-shattering that I need to be connected so much. So, my point is that I've been getting more sleep and in turn feeling more rested when I wake up. That also means I have more energy during the day.

4. Exercise. Especially use the Tuesday and Thursday mornings when Nate is in school to get my work out in. Walk. Use time wisely. Get the family involved. *The goal for beginners this week was 120 minutes.
I tried to be gung-ho on Tuesday. (I put my Do Life shirt on before taking Nate to school so I'd be reminded to not let my morning slip away.) It was the coldest day of winter so far but Mike, Claire, and I bundled up and took a 40 minute walk in the freezing-ass/windy-ass cold.

We did it. We survived. My legs hurt for 2 days after. But yesterday I walked for 51 minutes and today I bundled up Nate and walked for 31 minutes. *Note - the best motivator for exercising is telling your 3 year old he's going to ride with you when you exercise the next day. He will then wake up at 7:45 a.m. and say I'm ready to go in the blue stroller, Mama. **Side note, on our walk Nate asked what year it is. I said "2012". He said "2012 is exercise" and he's damn right. I made sure to tell him that he was right and that in 2012 we are going to exercise and be healthy.

5. Watch portion sizes. Don't eat 2nd helpings. Eat healthier snacks. Cut back on dips and dressings.
I did much better with the quantity of food I ate this week. There is still room for improvement.

We were asked to identify our biggest excuse and how to eliminate it. I started with "No Time" but I knew that was bullshit since I'm home every day. It's really I'm too tired or too lazy. Even working out these 3 days, I feel much better and feel like I can do this.

I used the message boards and found others who needed encouragement. That's what is great about this. We are all there to support each other.

The hardest task of the week was to take time each night and write down 4 things I did well that day. Some of my highlights during the week were:
Choosing Baked Lays over french fries.
Eating all meals at home.
Drinking more water.
Getting out of the house and being more active than sitting on the couch.
Committing to running the Rock n Roll Half Marathon Relay with Mike. You heard me right. It's Labor Day weekend so we've got 8 months to train and get ready. There is a 7.8 mile section and a 5.2 mile section. Training will decide who is doing which (I hope to do the longer run).

So this is my official submission for the Week 1 Challenge. I'm looking forward to what next week holds!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T22:02:00.001-05:00

From our family to yours!

October in pictures

2011-11-20T11:14:00.001-05:00

So, when you don't post often, you often forget lots of things that have happened. I just went through all my October pictures and we had quite a month! I may have 31 pictures for the 31 days of October. You've been warned.

Mommy went to Howl-O-Scream with her friends

Looking all soccer-y

Claire and Poppops

Nate loves his bike rides with Daddy

Claire Bear is 3 months old

Daddy the Fire Fighter came to Nate's school and taught the 3 and 4 year olds about fire safety. Nate was SO happy!

Nate had his first school field trip. Claire and I joined him and his class at the pumpkin patch.

How fun are slides?

Claire's 1st trip to the pumpkin patch

Nana and Claire

That's my boy!

We celebrated Mike's birthday at the fire station. We ate a yummy dinner and we brought cupcakes and ice cream. When Mike came home the next day, Nate showed him the special card he picked for Daddy.

Daddy and his boy

Daddy and his girl

Melting crayons onto our pumpkin

Nate's Halloween crafts

Trip to the farm

How freaking cute is she?

Hmm...so Nate's class had a parade for the parents on Halloween. They dressed up and sang songs. When Nate saw Mike and me, he covered his ears and refused to participate. The teacher assures us he's only shy when we are there. Also to note it was Nate's idea for the whole family to dress up like Angry Birds. However when it was time to get into costume for school, he dressed up in last year's Buzz Lightyear costume. Good thing I didn't stress about it. I knew where the costume was in case this happened.

Nate was the line leader at school this day so he was super happy that he was first in line when they trick-or-treated around the church.

Gonna eat her up

Angry Bird family picture - fail. I blame Nate. He didn't cooperate when the camera came out.

The "Boomy Bird" according to Nate.

Two Months Old

2011-09-15T23:05:00.001-04:00

Claire is now two months old and just as cute as can be. At her check-up she was 11 lbs 1 oz and 22" long. She is doing great. Now for your baby Claire eye candy:

So much has been going on around here besides cute kiddo pictures. Nate started pre-school (ZOMG!) and soccer. Many pictures to come!

TMI

2011-08-27T13:04:00.002-04:00

Hurricane Irene and the return of aunt flo all on the same day. How did I get so lucky?

Welcom Claire

2011-08-26T22:29:00.000-04:00

My sweet baby Claire will be seven weeks old on Monday. The time has certainly flown by if my lack of posting is any indication. I'm totally having Mommy Guilt as I think that I'm already succumbing to the "Second Child Syndrome" by not posting already. I guess there's something to be said for that... it's true. It's much harder to document everything that is going on here when there is a 3 year old in the house.

We've been having a great time as a family of four. Nate is a great helper and is lovey with his sister most of the time. (The other times is typical 3 year old behavior of "put her down and hold meeeeee!") Tonight she was crying in her swing while I was switching over the laundry. Nate put her paci in her mouth and was singing "I love you, I love you, I love you...." in his little voice. So sweet.

I'll post pictures more frequently - pinky swear!

Peace out - I'll keep y'all posted on our Hurricane experience too (electricity permitting).

I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures. <3

Hello baby

2011-07-25T20:14:00.000-04:00

It's been two weeks today since our sweet Claire arrived. I will post soon...

Mikey beat me to it with this: My oh my

Surprise!

2011-07-08T21:59:00.000-04:00

It appears to be baby time here. I know I was scheduled for my induction next Wednesday, which is only 5 days away, but it seemed awfully scary when the docs told me today to go next door and check in to L&D.

Two weeks ago during a growth ultrasound I was told that my amniotic fluid was really low (like 1 pocket of fluid instead of say at least 12 that I should've had). I started having non-stress tests 2x a week (which I was scheduled to start the next week anyways since I'm on anti-coagulants) and the baby has been looking great each visit. Today's ultrasound to check fluid showed that it was still too low and it's not good for Claire to stay in there any longer.

We're still on board with an induction and not a c-section. I just can't start that until at least noon tomorrow since I took my Arixtra shot this morning. Even the cervix-softening meds are off the table tonight in case that would cause me to start having contractions. I'm okay with all this especially since I need the option of an epidural and anesthesia can't hook me up until for at least 24 hours from my shot. Okay, they actually said 36 hours but I'm in denial because I'd like to have a baby tomorrow and not Sunday. Not that anything is wrong with Sunday, it just seems like a long damn time here in the hospital.

So guess what's been on my To Do list for the past 3 weeks? Hmmm, make a birth plan and pack a bag. Apparently this is what I get for procrastinating like I do! :) I guess I thought I'd do that this weekend so the joke's on me!

So, after my mini panic attack at the doctor's office, I tried to get ahold of Mike to no avail. To his defense he was at a fire department funeral and didn't have his phone with him. I called my parents and asked them to drop everything and come. My friend Medina took Nate (Thank you Medina!) and I ran home to leave a key for my Mom and grab Mike's clothes and of course my ipad and chargers. Amanda (awesome Amanda) met me at the hospital so I wouldn't be alone. Having her here really helped calm me down. Matt called the dispatchers and explained the sitch (non-emergency - but track down Mike to call me) and they did track him down at the funeral. Thankfully everyone was so understanding and helpful.

So in a nutshell, so far so good here. Since I'm "high risk" all the teams have been contacted (hematology, anesthesia, surgery, etc) and we have a plan together. I'm sure everyone will be sick of my FB updates until I'm actually in labor. Too bad. I gotta do something and my WWF isn't loading. I'm thinking it's bed time so goodnight all.

It may be a long wait now but I can't tell you how ecstatic I am to meet my little baby Claire.

Love to all! I have awesome family and friends and I'm so thankful!

Big News

2011-06-02T22:34:00.000-04:00

The docs say they are going to induce me the week of July 11th. Holy crap that's only 6 weeks away.

31 weeks on June 1st

The baby's room is coming together nicely. The furniture is finished. The clothes are being washed. Now to finish up with the decorating part - curtains, art work, etc. Got a couple of prints on Etsy and now I'm in search of frames.

Love this! From Lisa Leonard Designs

I'm having a belly cast made and decorated next week and I'm really excited about putting that in the room as well. The ladies doing it make such pretty creations. You can check out some of their designs at Modern Maternity - VB.

So, it's getting close. I'm excited/anxious/nervous tummy-ish. Normal, I'm sure.

I'm also starting to feel exactly how big I am too. Good thing it's only 95* with the same amount of humidity here. Otherwise, I might also be a raging bitch.

On pregnancy...

2011-05-16T12:57:00.000-04:00

First and foremost, my pregnancy is going so great that I feel like I might jinx something just by saying that out loud. I can't believe that I'm already 27 29 weeks along. It's flown by. I'm not ready for it to end. I'm sure I'll be singing another tune when it's 95+ degrees outside. But for now, I just want to savor it. We never thought I would be pregnant. Didn't even think it was possible. Now I have moments that I'm already sad because I know it's the last time.

I love my belly. Maybe it's because this is the first time I've ever NOT loathed my stomach. I've always (ALWAYS) been self-conscious of it. Now I just want to flaunt it. I like that it's getting bigger. I touch it all the time, especially when I'm out in public as if saying "HEY EVERYONE! I'M PREGNANT! LOOK AT ME!"

I love feeling baby Claire kick me. It took a long time to feel it (21 weeks) since my placenta's up front against my abdomen. Now I feel it all the time. Mike just felt the first kick two weeks ago. On Mother's Day, I had my first alien belly experience and it was so cool. I laid down and for 15 minutes watched my stomach move all over the place. After one big kick, I pushed down and she kicked back in response. It was awesome.

Over the past week, I've started feeling like a tank. I'm really tired if I don't space out activities throughout the day, etc. My biggest complaints are heartburn, arm numbing, excruciating hand pain, and moderate left foot pain. I guess that's minor compared to the whole creation of life thing going on inside of me.

Mike and I took the tour of the L&D at the hospital on Saturday. Still super nervous about the whole birthing thing, but I am feeling more at ease knowing where I need to be, seeing the floor, knowing where to park, etc. Yes, as if parking is going to be MY concern when I get there.

Nate has continued to be my big helper. He helps me with my (anti-coag) shot every morning and my prenatal vitamin every evening. He's really been great. I think he's going to be a fabulous big bro but I know we're going to have some jealousy issues. I'm sure all kids go through that, right?

So, here I am. Only 8-ish weeks left to go. I am stoked that the nursery's coming along quite well. We had our bi-annual trip to Mecca (I mean, IKEA) two weeks ago. So, now we have the dresser for the room. Crib's up and the changing table just has to be re-painted. I love the wall color - thanks Mikey! Clothes (from my awesome friends and family) have been sorted by size and just have to be washed. I'm so excited!

Here are a couple of preggo pics - just because I love preggo pics.

23 weeks

27 weeks

Psst - it's GMBOA time again!

2011-05-03T19:41:00.000-04:00

Go check out Rainyday's post to kick off the GMBOA giveaway! Follow the rules, enter to win, and good luck!

Sweet boy

2011-04-27T10:03:00.000-04:00

Last night I was lying in bed with my What to Expect book open. Nate was next to me. He saw a picture that looked something like this:

This is our conversation:
Nate: That's Claire in your belly.
Mama: Yep, Claire's in my belly.
N: I wanna be in your belly.
M: You do?
N: Yea. I'm too big. I need to get small so I can go in there and play with the toys.
M: Really? What kind of toys do you think are in Mama's belly?
N: I don't know. Probably baby toys.

I thought it was so funny that we relayed the story to Daddy a few minutes later. Nate informed us that I probably have "bathtub toys" in there. What a cutie.

I love my life.

Happy Day

2011-04-24T20:51:00.001-04:00

Nate and I had a relaxing day today. Nate woke up and found that the Easter Bunny left him a basket. He loved his new light up toothbrushes and his jelly bean filled eggs. We also got a new Cat in the Hat book that I'm sure we'll read tonight. A cute little story is that Nate calls jelly beans "Sweet Rocks". He's watched The Ant Bully on Netflix (a million times) and that's where he learned it. Sweet rocks just sound better than jelly beans, don't they?

Protecting his identity. Forget you just saw his face one picture prior.

We had our friend Rebecca and her boys over for brunch - it was delightful. I was feeling fancy with my grape juice and ginger ale cocktail. It's the pregnant girl's mimosa.

Cheers!

When my sister and her girls were here on vacation just a few weeks ago, we also had an Easter celebration. We had a nice dinner with all the family , the kids decorated eggs, and we had an Easter egg hunt. They were some mighty happy kiddos.

Molly

Jill

Nate

On the hunt

Checking out their loot


Jill made cute faces on all the eggs

Last weekend we also headed to a park for some Eggstravanza-tastic fun. Nate loved the bouncy house (he was first in), the petting zoo and he took his first pony ride. He LOVED it (although it lasted like 30 seconds). His horse's name was Rocket.

According to Nate, this is the REAL Easter Bunny. Her name is Polka Dot.

Here is our 2011 attempt at visiting the Easter bunny. Very timid and shy. This was as close as he'd get...after much prodding. Hope you and your families had a great day!

Opening Day

2011-04-22T20:53:00.000-04:00

I posted some pics from my sister's trip out here on facebook the other day and told my mom.
Mom: "Posted them on the blog or on facebook?"
Me: Laughing "yeah, like I've gotten around to updating the blog."
Mom: "I was giving you the benefit of the doubt."

Anyhoo.

Last Sunday was opening day for our Norfolk Tides. It was a gorgeous sunny day game and we had a blast easing our way back into baseball season. They won 9-3 in what may be the first game we've actually seen them win. Go Tides!

Over the Moon

2011-03-19T14:59:00.000-04:00

We had a great ultrasound on Monday. In the course of an hour, we saw all the anatomy of our little one. Everything looks great and I'm so overjoyed!

I bawled like a baby when I found out we are having little baby Claire!

It's been a flurry of paint picking (Imperial Lilac) and Etsy shopping since I found out! I want Blankies! Owls! Leggies! Wall Art! It's so much fun looking for girly stuff. Mike's a little worried... as well he should be.

Odds and Ends

2011-03-02T23:11:00.000-05:00

Good grief - it's been another month since I posted. That GMBOA? Still ready to go and sitting on my kitchen table. SO SORRY, Rainyday! I promise it'll get mailed soon.

Nate's going to be THREE on Saturday. I can hardly believe it.

We had a big milestone last night too. Nate pooped in the potty like it was no big deal. Two reward stickers and not a lot of fanfare. When we talked to Mike at work last night to tell him, Nate was more anxious to tell Daddy that Bosco was eating dirt outside.

My big ultrasound is only 12 days away. I'm anxious to find out the gender of this baby! I took the baking soda gender test tonight and it says boy. Hmmm...that's not what my instincts are telling me.

Well, that was riveting. Thanks for stopping by! :)

The Official GMBOA Winner Announcement

2011-02-04T17:06:00.006-05:00

Okay - first things first. {I know you'd rather have the winner first so skim ahead if you must!}

The boy names I like right now are Seth, Silas, and Bennett. I really like Gibson too but I'm not sure it goes well with our last name which also ends in -son. I think Gibb is a cute nickname (dude, it's John Cusack's name in The Sure Thing).

But after reading the posts from yesterday, I've been mulling over Griffin in my head. I was surprised that there were two Griffin's on the list. I kinda left it at that, letting it bobble around in my head.

Then I had this conversation today with Mike:

A: What do you think about Griffin?
M: Nodding
A: Two people posted it in response to my question.
M: Griff
A: I think I like it. Griffy. Grrrr...
M: Finn
A: Oh, I like that.
M: Nodding
A: I think I really like that.
A: I might love it.
A: That may be a contender. Griffin W-----son. Finn W------son.

Time will tell. My 20 week ultrasound is scheduled for March 14th. Hmm, pink or blue? I can hardly stand the wait!

So, the scores are crazy. Mike advises I pick randomly. I'm taking his advice because seriously, when I scored Day 3's responses I got the following:

Day 3 scores: Rainyday 6, Whimsy 5, Amanda 4 which makes the total scores: Rainyday 13, Whimsy 13, Amanda 13. A three-way tie. For real.

Maybe I didn't think through the scoring prior to the contest. In any event, I'm excited to award the GMBOA to any one of you. I've compiled a spreadsheet of scores by day and the responses are 1-39. Random.org chose 22. Here's proof.

Congratulations, Rainyday! Please send me an email with your address. And thank you all for playing!

Countdown to a Winner

2011-02-03T22:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Thursday night!

Congrats to Rainyday for winning Day 2!

Day 2 points: Rainyday 6, Whimsy 5, Amanda 4
Total points so far: Amanda 9, Whimsy 8, Rainyday 7

It's a close race! Can't wait to award a winner tomorrow night!

I'll post my top 3 boy names and the scores for Day 3 tomorrow after 5 p.m. Good luck all!

GMBOA - Final Day

2011-02-03T05:00:00.027-05:00

Congratulations to Amanda for winning Day 1!

Day 1 scores: Amanda 5, Whimsy 3, Rainyday 1

I've always wanted to skydive. I was very close to scheduling a jump for my birthday several years ago. I didn't for some reason and now that I have Nate, I'm not sure I'm willing to take the risk. I did go indoor skydiving with my sister last summer when we took a trip to Denver. It was so much fun and I think I've gotten my flying fix.

My dream vacation? Mike and I would like to travel to all the MLB ball parks. Seeing as how that will take years to achieve, I'm not sure I'd can lump it into my dream vacation. So, I'd love to go somewhere warm and tropical, all inclusive, no scheduled activities during the day unless I want to, yummy food (that I can mostly recognize), clean water, pool and beach, spa services, etc. I'd like to take Nate but would definitely love to have a nanny along to help out. Hell, sometimes just staying home and having a nanny sounds like a dream come true! :)

Moving along to the last day of contests...

The final questions are close to my heart and totally self-serving. If ya don't know, I'm pregnant.

13 wks, 1 day

We are ~~slightly~~ convinced it's a girl and have chosen a name. In the unlikely event we have another boy, I may need some help with a name. We have some boy names picked but we're not 100% sure we're in love with them.

Day 3's first request is to tell me your top 3 name choices for a boy. {Our other L.O. is Nathan.}

I'm debating if I should share the names on our list. Hmmm...Let's just say if one of YOUR names matches one of OUR names, I'll award you some bonus points!

The second question (so I can totally freak myself out) is what one thing do you wish someone would've told/warned you about during your first pregnancy and/or labor and delivery?

Good luck! Today's contest closes Friday, 2/4 at 5p.m. and the GMBOA winner will be announced soon after that!

Thanks for playing!

Gifted

2011-02-02T19:09:00.000-05:00

Nate just howled out in pain and was crying when I hopped up and ran into the kitchen. I was worried he burned himself on the hot cookie sheet I left on the stove. When I asked him what happened, he held out his thumb and managed to whimper that he bit his thumb. He bit his own thumb. AND let me add, this is the SECOND TIME THIS WEEK he's done it. I consoled him while silently laughing. This came to mind:

GMBOA - Day 2

2011-02-02T00:01:00.004-05:00

I've decided there will be 3 days of questions. Each day's question will close for eligible responses at 5pm EST the following day. I will choose a winner on Friday evening.

After 14 years together and 10 years of marriage, I have lots of favorite memories of Mike. I've been waffling over lovey dovey stories all day, but the thing that I just remembered that strikes me as funny happened when we first started dating. I was still in college and Mike was a firefighter in my home town over 2 hours away. We saw each other a lot but due to his work schedule and other obligations, we were also apart frequently. He had a pager and he told me to page him whenever I thought of him. We were still in that sickening sweet lovey stage, so I swear to all that's holy, I paged him every probably 30-50 times a day. That was cute and sweet until he got his bill one month and between all the pages and all the times we talked, his bill was over $500. Holy crap. It wasn't so funny then, but I can look back and laugh about how young, dumb, and in love we were. These were clearly way before the times of cell phones and unlimited minutes and texts.

Two questions for Day Two:

What have you always wanted to do but haven't? {It can be something simple or something major like a life's dream.}

If money, time, and child care were no object, where would you go and what would you do on your dream vacation?

*Today's contest will close Thursday, 2/3 at 5 p.m. EST.

Are you ready to GMBOA?

2011-02-01T05:00:00.002-05:00

Happy February and welcome to the Golden Minion Box of Awesomeness contest - Valentines Day edition!

If you're new to the world of the GMBOA, check out the rules HERE. To be eligible to win, you must be a follower of Whimsy's blog, The Creamery.

The GMBOA is a traveling box of goodies. The goodies are chosen by yours truly. If you win, I'll send the box of awesomeness to you, you'll host your own contest, fill the box with goodies, and send it on to the next winner. Alrighty then.

*Note - judging is totally subjective. I'll pick my favorite of the day and award points. The person with the most points at the end of the contest wins.

The first question of GMBOA week (or coupla days) is the following:

What is your favorite story about your significant other?

*Edited to add: Day 1 contest ends at 5pm EST on Wednesday, 2/2.
Also, if you don't have a S.O., tell me a story of your worst or best date.

Hello Monday

2011-01-31T15:00:00.000-05:00

I'm borrowing "Hello Monday" from Lisa's blog. {Hope she doesn't mind!}

Hello 2nd Trimester! So glad to meet you!

Hello trip to the Virginia Living Museum with Nate and our friends.

Hello no rushing home for a mid-day pet sitting client.

Hello Mikey - home from work until Wednesday.

Hello house full of my family only.

Hello less stress from aforementioned lack of house guests. {In my defense, watching 2 extra kids for 5 out of 7 days including overnights is a LOT.}

Hello fresh laundry.

Hello clean bathrooms and clean sheets.

Hello Monday!

Vent

2011-01-30T18:53:00.000-05:00

I'm so sick of people in my house. Not MY people in my house but the others. 14 more hours. Tick, tick, tick...

Winter

2011-01-30T12:52:00.000-05:00

So it appears I have skipped over all things Christmas. I'm blaming it on 1st trimester fatigue. Yea, that's the ticket. I actually found an abandoned post titled Christmas, but that was as far as I'd gotten.

We had two great celebrations. One with family...

And one with friends... A Pajama Christmas
I just realized I don't have many pictures. There was dancing going on but I had to swear not to post any video. This is the best I can do.

Nate may have beaten some of the guys with his mad dancing skills.

Amanda's reaction to our pregnancy news. There was confusion, high-pitched sounds, crying, and hugging!

The day after Christmas, we had 14" of snow. That's a big deal around here. We had fun playing in it but my most favorite part was making snow cream for the first time. It was AWESOME.

Adding fresh snow to our milk, sugar, and vanilla mixture.

YUM

After dessert serenade. He played the guitar and sang "You've Got a Friend in Me" in the cutest little voice.

Nate and I also went to Christmastown at Busch Gardens with our friend Sallie. It was f-f-f-f-f-reezing but we had a good time!

Nate's none too happy about getting his picture taken.

Christmas carols at Sesame Place

Penguins from BG's sister park Sea World

Nate's first carousel ride. And second and third.

Germany and das Festhaus were gorgeous!

The GMBOA is here! The GMBOA is here!

2011-01-28T15:32:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, I found this delightful box on my doorstep.

THE GOLDEN MINION BOX OF AWESOMENESS

Oh Yeah - I won the GMBOA (of The Creamery fame) from EightTwentyEight's contest this month! Rose hosted a fun week of contests and put together a wonderful box of goodies! Thank you Rose!

Nate spied the M&M's first and the airplane second! He was a happy boy!

The goodies were chosen with care, as they are some of Rose's favorite things and things that are found in her local area in Washington state. There's honey! berry jam! lip balm! wee travel sized bottles! What's not to love? Also, have you ever heard of Rent the Runway? You can rent designer clothes and accessories there. It's very SATC to me! Seeing as how I'm with child at the moment with no fancy events to attend, I'm eyeing some fabulous jewelry instead of couture. I'm spoiled with a $50 gift card and Rose even included a discount code when I order in January!

So now that the GMBOA is in my hot little hands, it's my turn to think up some awesome gifties for the box and to host a contest so YOU can be the next winner of the coveted box. The rules are here on Whimsy's blog. If you haven't read her blog, you should. Her little Bean is worthy of some serious cheek squeezin'. When you're finished checking out The Creamery, you should follow her blog so you're eligible to win.

This isn't officially a contest question, but what would you love to receive in a Golden Box of Awesomeness?

Nate's Secret

2011-01-05T09:21:00.000-05:00

Nate has a secret he just can't keep anymore.

He's going to be a big brother in the July-ish time frame.

My secret? I never knew I could get pregnant so I'm still a bit in shock (yet so, so excited) that I'm growing a baby.

Happy New Year!

Hello stranger

2010-12-28T12:33:00.001-05:00

Oh hi! Here I am! You know it's bad when you're snowed in and your Mom tells you "since you're not doing anything else, the blog could stand to be updated!"

I know, I know. We have been doing a lot but I'm so tired lately that sitting down to write something instead of just wasting time on Facebook seems like too much effort.

We've celebrated Thanksgiving twice and Christmas twice in the past two months. We've had such a good time with our family and friends.

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving in October at my parents house with Michelle, Jill, and Molly who were in from Oklahoma. It was a wonderful week.

Playing at the park

Testing out the water

Cute Molly

Mom and Dad walking on the beach

Roasting marshmallows may have been my favorite part of the week

Learning the art of roasting

Mom and Dad

Amy and Michelle

The whole family

Since we had the whole fam damily together for the first time in a LONG time, Mom had a photographer come and take pictures. They turned out so great - I loved them all! Happy Thanksgiving!

Blue Angels

2010-12-28T12:19:00.000-05:00

So, I'm trying to catch up and update the blog. I found this draft from back in September.

Nate loves teh airplanes. We saw the Blue Angels a few ~~weekends ago~~ months ago and it was so much fun. An aside - Nate made some little friends while playing a pick-up soccer game before the show. When asked, he told the boys "I'm 4." WTH? :)

Gobble Gobble

2010-11-22T19:51:00.000-05:00

Gotta admit I'm proud to say I made this cute turkey shirt for Nate. Ideas are in the works for a Christmas shirt too. I'm so giddy I can hardly stand myself!

I followed the tutorial found here.

We're headed down to Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to spending time with them and another delicious Thanksgiving dinner, much like the one we had last month while Michelle and the girls were there. Speaking of which, I need to dedicate another post just to that week. If I don't talk to you before then, Happy Thanksgiving!

Crafty

2010-11-19T17:48:00.001-05:00

We're feeling pretty crafty around these parts lately. Since Tuesday AM when I hosted a craft play date, Nate has been all about making his own creations. It was the first time he just hopped up and wanted to do the craft with me. He had me trace his hand about 10 times. He discovered scissors and there's no looking back. I'm quite a proud Mom too, because he holds his scissors correctly. I think that's awesome dexterity for a two year old.

We made Skype calls to Daddy at the fire station and to Nana and Nate told them all about his "turkey craft". He told me what he is thankful for...it took all day for that stinker to admit he was thankful for Mama. I was determined to only write down what he told me although I would've cried myself to sleep over the absence of my name. :) Good thing he came to his senses.

We've since made those cute turkey cards to send to our family.

Nate wants to "cut scissors" all the time now. It was actually the first thing he asked to do this morning when we came downstairs (even before milk!). He's taken quite a shine to gluing too. He's made a lot of "glue paper".

Last night I asked Nate what he wanted to make and he said a cow. He did all the gluing and here's our finished product.

I've gotta admit, I love this phase - I could do construction paper crafts all day long.

Tonight we're waiting for Daddy to come home and Nate's relaxed and watching Stuart Little 3 for the umpteenth time. I heart that Netflix is available on the Wii.

Umbrella

2010-11-17T14:49:00.000-05:00

I don't get why this isn't a good idea, Mom.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-15T16:12:00.000-04:00

This is hands down my favorite time of year. I look forward to cooler weather and warm jammies. Crisp air, the changing leaves, and wearing a sweatshirt. Since Nate came along, I've loved taking him to the pumpkin patch with our friends. It was warm on Tuesday, but we enjoyed it anyway.

Almost 3 feet tall

Happy and eating a cupcake

This one is juuussst right.

Puff

2010-09-17T00:05:00.000-04:00

I knew it was too quiet upstairs...

What?

Big Boy stuff

2010-09-12T23:23:00.001-04:00

It seems like just five months ago, we transitioned Nate to his toddler bed. Oh wait. Yes, it was just 5 months ago. Well now he's in a BIG, big boy bed.

How awesome is the convertible crib? LOVE the headboard

Nate loves it. He had been wanting to take naps in either the guest bed or our bed so we thought maybe he's just ready for the big time. I love it because now I can get really comfy when we read books. I was giddy to shop for bedding too. I love his new quilt and the cute polka dot sheets match and were a bargain at Target.

Also, way back when I said we were working on potty training. Well, when I said working on potty training, I meant just doing what we've been doing for months. Nate's a nudey butt a lot of the time when we are home. He pees in the potty 100% of the time when he's naked. Poop is another story. He has sat on the potty a few times to poop and mostly it's false alarms. I think he likes the idea of sitting on the potty and reading books. He has gotten a wee nugget out twice so that's good. But other times, he'll start freaking out whilst nudey and saying "Poop! Diaper, Mama!!". I've tried to put him on the potty in those instances, but he gets wigged out and I just put a dipe on him and then clean him up 2 minutes later.

We did try big boy unders the other day. He was excited to have a choice of characters. He picked Lightening McQueen. It lasted about 20 minutes until he was calling for me saying "Pee pee come out, Mama!" When I took a look, he had only tinkled a bit, but he turned around and it looked like he had a tail. So he peed and pooped in his unders despite our reminders to tell us if he had to go potty. Oh well! It was cute while it lasted. He really hammed it up!

Wonderful Weekend

2010-09-12T22:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had gorgeous weather so we hit the Taste of Suffolk for a couple of hours. We had some really good eats - a jerk pork sandwich, chicken curry (even Nate liked it), a hot dog for Nate, and ice cream. Now that's my kind of lunch! We ran into our friends and the boys were so excited to see each other. We ate ice cream together then checked out the animals at the petting zoo.

Nate took off his hat and wanted to take off his shirt so he could GET IN the fountain!

Today was a rainy, stay in bed kinda day. We did get up long enough to eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then we headed back to bed around 11 to watch (what other than??) Toy Story 2 in bed complete with popcorn. I "rested my eyes" while the boys watched the movie. Once it was over, Nate rolled over, closed his eyes, and took a great nap. Nate enjoyed his first (and second) pig in a blanket for dinner while Mike and I ate grilled cheese and tomato soup. Did I mention I love this weather? After dinner, we went to the store to add a new member to the family.

Meet Pookie:

HOME!

2010-09-11T22:54:00.000-04:00

Dad's home from the hospital! Happy dance!!

Happenings

2010-09-09T00:35:00.000-04:00

It's been a bajillion days since my last post. The past 6-8 weeks have been so long. I've thought about what to write a hundred times, but I couldn't decide what to say.

My Dad had what we thought was routine gall bladder surgery back in July. He recovered quickly and felt great. Then he got pathology results a week later that showed malignant cells in his bile ducts. It was a crushing, frightening, life-changing moment when he called. You don't want it to be true. There are so many questions, yet no answers. I know people get cancer all the time, but not MY people. It sucks. And that's truly the most eloquent I can get about it.

He was referred to a surgeon and then on August 13th, he had surgery. We didn't know what the doctors would find. We didn't know what the surgery would entail. In the end, they resected half of his liver. Even with that, there were some malignant cells along the margins so there will be chemotherapy in his future. He is still in the hospital. It's been an up and down/ forward and back journey. When there is progress, there are also setbacks. So much has happened and so many emotions are involved. I want to write about it, even if it's just for myself, but I don't think I can yet.

We hope he goes home this weekend but I'm afraid to even say that aloud - I don't want to jinx anything.

I love you, Daddy. Now get your ass home soon and I mean it!

Buzz

2010-08-07T14:31:00.000-04:00

Last month I took Nate to a paint-your-own pottery place ~~against my better judgement~~. I knew his attention span would be very short. Knowing that, I just let him do his thing. We looked at the pottery pieces. He chose a dinosaur that I didn't like, so I steered him to a different one. He was happy with that until I spotted Cars and Toy Story themed money banks (that were double the size and double the price of the dinosaur). His obsession with those movies have apparently turned into my obsession too.

He chose the Buzz Lightyear bank. While I was kicking myself for not remembering which colors make up the "Buzz", Nate was making himself at home looking and touching and selecting paint brushes.

Such focus

The artist at work

There were 2 tootsie pops, 3 lazy susans, 4 or 5 paint colors, and about 15 paint brushes that contributed to this piece. Let's just say the whole experience from start to finish lasted about 45 minutes and that's because I was trying to stall. Why I was trying to stall I'm not sure. I knew he wouldn't paint the whole thing, but I guess I was hoping for a little more. At one point to make it more fun, while he put the paint brush to the pottery (red paint), I spun the lazy susan around. That was the most paint he got on the piece at one time. And it was fun for 3 seconds. Score!

Buzz is ready for the oven

Behold! The masterpiece

Nate loves his Buzz. And to tell the truth, I do too. I think it's exactly what it should be and I wouldn't change it.

We have been putting coins in his bank daily. Nate gets a coin for the following: feeding Bosco (2x/day), finding coins (at home or out and about), and when Mama is bribing him. Whatever the reason, he loves it.

It may just be me, but I see pride in his work in this picture.

Denver

2010-07-22T12:59:00.000-04:00

I had so much fun with Michelle on our quick trip to Denver last week. We decided we've not had that much time alone together for at least 12 years. I'd say we were long overdue!

Reunited and it feels so good!

We did lots of talking and laughing. There were lots of U-turns and picture taking. We visited old apartments and other places of significance.

Helga's German Restaurant was for certain a highlight. My mouth watered for weeks before I even got there. We enjoyed schnitzel and conversation with our neighboring table.

Helga's schnitzel and pan-fried potatoes

Jaegar schnitzel, spaetzle, and red cabbage


Mmmmmmm

We did some shopping followed by happy hour with cocktails, guacamole, and people watching - my favorite things!

The next day before we headed out to Lilith Fair, we went skydiving. Yes, you heard me correctly! Skydiving. Okay, INDOOR skydiving but still. We had so much fun! And we looked like dorks doing it! Good times!

All the fun without all that pesky worry about possible death

Ready to fly!

Sweet googles

Hahahahahahaha! And we wore helmets in the tunnel. Holy rat's nest.


Ahhh...Jason.

So Lilith Fair. My official report - not nearly like it was 12 years ago but still fun. We wandered through the tents and heard some music on the small stages. We found shade and hung out till it was time for the bands to start on the main stage.

Ingrid Michaelson was awesome. Her set was great and she was really funny. It was especially fun when she and her band closed with "Toxic" by Britney Spears complete with choreography. This video isn't from our show but it's still fun to watch here.

Of course, Sarah MacLachlan was who we were really there to see. She was amazing as usual.


All the Lilith performers

A gorgeous Denver sky

It was a great trip. I'm hoping for an annual sisters only trip! Love you, Sha!

Today we are...

2010-07-21T16:09:00.001-04:00

working on potty training and drinking from a cup.

Nate's been very good about using the potty (pee only). I bought him some cute little unders... I can't believe it's that time already.

Wish me luck!

2010-07-19T23:07:00.000-04:00

Be-Be-Be-Benny and the Jetsssss...

I don't know where he gets his fashion sense. Today he used Bosco's collar as his Mr. T starter set. When I told him he couldn't have it around his neck in the car, he was so defiant "No, Mama, NECK!" Rest assured, I won that argument.

Riding in the car IS a great time to catch up on all the news of the world. Ha!

Much better

Who's there?

2010-07-15T23:40:00.000-04:00

Nate's new hide-out

Complete with pillow and sheep (and nudey boy)

Easy does it

2010-06-16T22:03:00.002-04:00

I'm going to ease back in to this whole blog thing. I can't go wrong with pictures of Nate. Who am I kidding? That's pretty much all I do anyway!

Chopstick indoctrination

Man, take off the swim suit and suddenly Nate starts strutting his stuff BIG time.

Prodigy? Only time will tell. If he starts playing concertos on this violin, I'll be sure to report back.

Saturday night we spent our time with some of our most favorite people. That makes for a happy Amy.

What have you been up to?

Love on 5.28

2010-05-29T00:23:00.003-04:00

Mikey-love and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary today. Ahh, 10 years ago on a beautifully sunny day in Denver, CO we said our "I Do's". What a great day that was. We're the lucky ones because more days that not, we're still having great days together. Having reminisced all week over our years together, we've both been pretty emotional and lovey-dovey this week. Mike made me a lovely photo tribute which made me bawl. Then went out today and came home with another present. A permanent one. He had a wedding ring tattooed on his finger. Now he can always wear his ring - even at work. I love it.

I got him a box of rocks. I think we're even. Actually I had this cool thing custom-made on etsy. Coincidentally it ties into the modern tenth anniversary gift idea of "Tin/Aluminum".

To top off the night, we enjoyed a nice leisurely, toddler-less, delicious dinner out. Wonderful!

Happy 10th anniversary, Mike! Here's to the next 10!

A Joyful Week

2010-05-28T23:59:00.000-04:00

I've actually had a great week. It makes it much easier when you focus on the small things that bring joy into your life.

I have found joy in letting Nate watch Cars only when I want him to. That means distracting him by other doings during the day then when I need to relax (FB, eat, veg out), I act like it's a big treat and I'm cool Mommy again because I'm letting him watch "movie Cars, Mama". I swear he thinks that's the title of that movie.

My sister Michelle's birthday was yesterday. I find joy that she loves her new purse from Mom and me. I love that I've talked to her on the phone about 47 times and on Skype a couple times this week.

I love that I got a Lilith Fair 2-for-1 coupon code last night so I finally got off my tush and bought tickets. IN DENVER. FOR MICHELLE AND ME. SISTERS-ONLY TRIP! My only anxiety is that I've not even been away from Nate for one night in his entire life. Now I'm going to leave for 4 days. Happy and nervous. And definitely excited.

I'm full of joy that I have a great husband who I'm celebrating 10 years of marriage to today!

Thanks Whimsy for the joy challenge this week. It's been, well, joyful! Mission accomplished.

Joy on a Tuesday

2010-05-26T09:51:00.000-04:00

Keeping up with Whimsy's challenge, I was finding joy all over the place yesterday. Some of it was truly found in the little things.

Joy #1: Finding and being able to pluck a stubbly chin hair before it had grown to be an inch long crazy black hair. Woo-hoo!

Joy #2: Hearing Kings of Leon on the radio while driving with the windows down.

Joy #3: A freshly vacuumed house that I didn't personally vacuum.

Joy #4: Having dinner with Amanda, Matt, Zack, and Skyler. It's been too long since we've had a big family dinner with all of us together. It was lovely!

Joy #5: The Biggest Loser finale. It inspires me. *SPOILER ALERT* Michael, who started at 526 lbs, lost 264 lbs (over 50% of his body weight) to win. It's amazing to watch the transformations on this show.

Joy #6: Alone time with Mike after Nate's bed time.

Joy #7: Nate slept all night with no wake-ups. It's been an off and on battle over the past 3-4 weeks and it was quite delightful not to be awakened in the middle of the night.

It's starting off to be a good Wednesday. I already have a few joys on my list for today! Have a great and joyful day.

Finding Joy

2010-05-24T23:52:00.000-04:00

So. I've been having a rough time lately. I feel exhausted and frustrated. The boy-child is doing his best to make me insane and I've gotta be honest - he is, in fact, making me crazy. It's a whole combination of things. Too much time together, he's two, I'm PMSing, and did I mention HE'S TWO?

We've been dealing with lots of throwing, hitting (for fun and because he's mad), and just in general just two-year-old-ness. He likes to say NO to us. Let me just say the rage I feel makes me see fiery red lightning bolts every time he says it. GAAHH!! I'm at my wits end.

But...never fear. I'm trying to find joy in each day. I can't take credit for the idea, but it has come at an ideal time. My dear whimsy has posted a challenge for us to focus on the joy we find in each day.

Today, unlike yesterday and the day before, I didn't even have to look too hard to find it.

Joy #1: Mike's home from work today. We met at the mall so Nate could run off some energy on this rainy day. When we got there, my friend and her boys were there and Mike sent us mommies off to shop without the kids in tow. I love this man! The joy of shopping and time alone for me AND my friend. We giddily browsed a new accessories shop for about 40 minutes. It was quite blissful. I've got me a winner in that guy. BTW, celebrating 10 years of wedded bliss on Friday.

Joy #2:Nate and I were coloring while watching Cars for the trillionth time (don't get me started on THAT). Nate leaned over my arm to look at my page and said "It's NICE, Mama". He can be such a sweetie.

Joy #3 and #4: HIMYM and The Big Bang Theory were on tonight. Woo! Also, Nurse Jackie and United States of Tara, but I think I'll add those to tomorrow's joys since I'll catch up on those during naptime tomorrow. Which reminds me -

Joy #5: DVR

Goodnight, y'all.

Berrylicious

2010-05-18T22:31:00.004-04:00

You know why I love May?

Strawberry-picking time!!

It was overcast and sloshy outside, but we all donned our boots and headed to our favorite strawberry patch. It was Nate's first time wearing his boots and thankfully Mike was able to get Nate excited for it. The verdict was in our favor - Nate loved his bug boots.

Fancy moves went awry

All set for serious picking

My berry boys

The fruits of our labor (hahahaha!)

Showing Nate how to truly enjoy a freshly picked berry. (Don't be jealous of my outfit)

Success!

My favorite part (not including that picture of Nate)

Mon petite Pet Sitter

2010-04-23T00:26:00.003-04:00

Most of the time I love having Nate come with me to work. I like the company and he is my little pet sitting protege. I love that he's been around animals since he was born and he loves them, plays with them, and is generally gentle with them. Cute story - today after giving some doggies their treats, one pup was blocking the door. Nate patted her and said " Scuse me, Gracie" to get around her and out the door. Sometimes he hollers "love you" as we leave the houses.

I remember when he started "helping" by playing in the yard and sometimes presenting me with little gifts.

Over the past couple months or so, Nate has increasingly wanted to help more.
He wants to walk the dogs. (Shout out to Barney and Bailey!)

And play ball (Holla, Annie!)

He likes to ~~taunt~~ play with the kitties too. (Here's Finny - or "Finnegan Begin-Again" as I like to call him)

That's all fine and dandy, but let's get down to the real reason Nate loves to pet sit... the poop. I know I've mentioned it before, but right now he's all about the poopies. When I ask, "Do you want to go see the doggies or kitties?" he always replies with "Poop! Bags! Cat/dog poopies!"
(Deep down inside, I really hope it doesn't lead to any weird poop fetishes in the future!)

He likes to scout the yard for poopies.

Then he likes to look at them and tell me "Poops! Mama, Poops!" about a million times. Then he reminds me that I need to use a bag to pick it up. It's kinda cute and a pretty good value to instill about picking up pet waste, but he expects me to pick up every poop, everywhere. Goose poop in the yard? "Mama, Poop, Bag!" Another dog's poop while out on a walk? "Poop, Mama, Poop!". GAHHH!

Once I pick it up, he wants to look in the bag to size up the cool poop we just captured. Sometimes he likes to look multiple times. I do like that he wants to take the bag and put it in the trash can for me. It IS pretty helpful so I can't be upset about that.
(Hey, Gracie "the one-eyed wonder"!)

Just this week, he's ventured into scooping litter boxes too. Actually he likes me to do it, then he simulates poop scooping.

Aside from the poop fascination, I think I'm well on my way to getting him trained properly. I'm hoping in another year or so, I can just sit back and read a book while he does all the work! Is that so wrong?

Current Obsessions

2010-04-18T00:46:00.001-04:00

In addition to Nate's love of BALL, he is also quite the fan of the following things:

(Read: I hear about these things ALL.DAY.LONG)

Fire trucks. We visited a local fire station last week with some friends. We also spent lots of time at the fire station with Daddy when he was on shift on Sunday. Nate can't seem to get enough. "Daddy, Fire Truck" is what I hear when we see an ambulance, fire truck, hear any type of siren, or play with his many fire trucks.
Snakes. Nate has a fake snake that he likes to tote around. He likes to say "Eeek, snake!" because that's what Mama says. We went to the zoo last Saturday and even after we visited the reptiles, we had to hear about snakes all day long. I took him back to the zoo on Wednesday morning and all we did was visit the snakes. Three rotations through the reptile and nocturnal galleries. Squee!
Poops (dog and cat). I've got a whole post planned for this. I can tell you're waiting with baited breath.
Pee-pee and poops (of the human variety). Tis the season for bodily function awareness. I'm hoping a few more months of talking and mimicking and we'll be set to start full-blown potty training. *You know you're a toddler's mom when you say "Bye-bye poopies" before flushing and then realize your child is upstairs napping.
Counting. Nate can count to 10 and he likes to practice counting all the time. When we read books, he counts butterflies or piggies or candles or bunny tails, etc. We also do lots of countdowns and 1-2-3 GOs!
Worms. I'm not sure the fascination but I'll just chalk up to boy-ness. Alive, dead, big, little - it's all a good time to him. I especially love it when he picks them up and hands them to me. Double squee.

Hey, what's this?

2010-04-18T00:28:00.001-04:00

Wook - It's Nate's big boy bed!

Mike converted the crib into the toddler bed on Thursday afternoon. Nate likes it and has done so well! He pretty much stays in at bed time (he's only gotten out once to come say hi). He pretty much likes to have his entire book collection in bed which is fine if that's what keeps him in there. If by some chance we forget a particular book, he'll hop out, get the book, and hop back in bed. Last night though, Mike and I heard some racket and we were very curious as to what was going on up there. When we peeked in, Nate had dragged out his little Leapfrog keyboard and was sitting in bed, fingers on home row and banging out something very important. I told Mike that Nate must be updating his blog which in my head is called "The Life and Times of Nate Double-You".

Here's the last picture of Nate in his crib *sigh*

Testing out the new digs while Daddy works

First night in his bed

Playing Ball

2010-04-14T00:36:00.000-04:00

Nate's been all about "BALL GAME" since our trip to the baseball game last week. Even when we're watching baseball on TV, he stands in the middle of the room waiting for the pitch. And then he swings. It's so cool! We got him a t-ball set and brought it out today to play. Nate wasn't timid at all. After watching Daddy take a few swings, he got right up there and hit the ball. What was even more awesome was when Mike pitched the ball to Nate and HE HIT THE BALL! I guess the tee isn't so necessary! I'm a proud Mama, obviously.

I can't get the video to embed but here are some links to see Nate hit the ball.

Nate hits the ball
2nd hit!

Just the other day I was talking to a friend about how sometimes you can just look at a child and catch a glimpse of who they are going to be in 5 or 10 years. I get that feeling with this picture.

Action shot - right after he hit the ball

Ball Game

2010-04-09T16:02:00.001-04:00

The Tides home opener was last night. Mike prides himself on making the past 6 opening games in a row. For the first time in a few years, the weather was awesome. We ate hot dogs the size of our legs, ate french fries, drank lemonade, and had a grand old time. Nate loved it. He learned to "stomp, stomp, clap" to We Will Rock You and he learned "Charge!", although we're still working on the timing of that. He loved clapping and cheering and getting in and out of his seat a million times. He shouted Baseball and Ball Game all night and first thing this morning when I got him out of bed. It was a great time!

Eating french fries from a helmet (always a fun time)

Watching the pregame fanfare

Telling Daddy he wants his own glove

Our seats were 2 rows from the field

Picture with Daddy

Nate's new hat

Cheering on the team

Drinking lemonade (he thinks he's hot stuff)

With Mama (aka proof I was there too)

The joke's on me

2010-04-02T00:06:00.001-04:00

So. Guess who got me good today on April Fool's Day?

Nate.

Yep. My barely 2 year old ~~beast~~ angel of a child.

It was an early morning start for us this morning. He got up around 7:30. I prefer 8:15-ish but it's not like I can control it that much. By 9 a.m. he was getting a little fussy, whiny and that lasted a few minutes. Then we pulled out the PlayDoh and there's always some dramz about that at some point. "Worm Mama, Worm!!" "NOOO!!! BALL, BALL!!!" And so it goes. I just chalked it up to getting up early. Then we were going to head out the door for a quick errand around 11. Then Nate went into full melt-down mode after I took his socks off to put on the sandals he insisted on wearing. Once his shoes were on he was all "SOOOOOOOOOOCCCCCCCCKSSSSSSS, MY SOCKS" while being angry and crying and rubbing his socks on his face. God forbid but I tried to take off his sandals to put his socks back on. FREAKING A. It was more than I could take so I put him down for a nap. He was fit to be tied (where the hell did that phrase originate??).

So. Nate in crib. Me barely in my room to turn on TPIR. I heard a loud bang which I assumed was Nate hitting his head (he likes to do sometimes when he pissed).

And then... He pulled off the ultimate prank on Mama.

Foot steps in the hallway and into my room. He was still pissed and screaming but I think at one point I heard him mutter "Now what, biznatch?"

In my naivete, I thought to myself "Self, maybe he was so fired up he had a crazy built up energy that allowed him to propel himself out of his crib."

Mike and I talked on the phone (because of course it's a work day for him) and we discussed IF this may happen again (hahahaha) what will we need to do? Anchor the dresser to the wall. Put all the lotions up and out of his reach. Start closing his door and putting a safety lock cover thingies on the door knobs. Convert his crib to the toddler bed so he doesn't injure himself trying to get???

So we have a plan of attack, but we're not gonna need it. You know, until oh, 3 hours later when Nate wakes up from his nap and hops the rail like he's been doing it all his life. And then again 10 minutes after bed time and I hear the pitter patter of his little feet looking for me upstairs until he finally goes to the gate and bellows "Mommy". When I went up there to retrieve he simply said "Hi Mommy!" and let me pick him up and put back down for the night. At least I hope it's for the night.

So, the little stinker must've been planning his prank for a long time. He certainly found a trick that will last way longer than just one measly day. Good one, kid. Ya got me!

It's a good thing he's so cute.

Spring time!

2010-03-25T22:13:00.000-04:00

We are loving the Spring weather here! We've been spending lots of time outside and taking in lots of fresh air. This afternoon was awesome... Sitting on the back porch with my boys, feet up, 80* weather, and a big margarita in my hand.

Nate and his friends welcomed Spring on Tuesday, making flowers and flower pots. They turned out so cute!

Nate and I took a trip to visit Nana & Poppops last weekend too. We enjoyed gorgeous weather and Nate loved all the new things to do. Poppops got Nate a basketball goal, so we had to play all weekend long! We also went to the aquarium and had so much fun. We saw the Live Dive Show in the shark tank, the river otter show, snakes, frogs, turtles, and we touched the stingrays! Nate has been telling everyone about the sharks - "Big Sharks!" and he's told me at least 15 times today, "Poppops, shark" so I know he's associating the two just like "Poppops, basketball". Smart kid!

At the Dive show in the shark tank

LOVE this one with three of them!

Hangin' with Poppops

This look tells me he knows he's not supposed to be in the garden

Nana showing Nate the minnows in the pond

At the big park

A fierce competition on the balance board! :)

Thanks for an awesome weekend, Momma and Daddy!

I Should've Known

2010-03-11T14:28:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a great day. Nate woke up happy and was happy all day long. He laughed all day and had a blast. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping.

Today it's been a few giggles, lots of whining, some crying, toy and food throwing, and a couple tantrums. I've been doing my best to not pull my hair out. There have been many "Calm down, it's not the end of the world" talks which I think were more for me than they were for Nate. I'm also trying to believe in the power of deep cleansing breaths.

Wish me luck. Here's hoping things are better after nap time!

Two

2010-03-10T00:53:00.001-05:00

It's been a big week around here. Nate turned the big T-W-O on Friday and I can hardly believe it. Where has the time gone?

Today at the zoo, the wagon was more a prop than anything else as Nate didn't ride in it at all. He pulled the wagon like a big boy and he walked the entire zoo - with energy to boot when we left. Yesterday I was struck by the fact that Nate was walking down steps without hanging on or sitting down. It seems like these things just happen overnight.

I just glow when I hear "Thank you Mama" when I give Nate his breakfast or when he asks "Peas may have paci?" He's becoming such a little boy, and a polite one at that. I just look at Mike and say "We did that." And I feel so proud.

Mike's at work today and every time I talked to him, it was to brag to him about something else Nate did. Like when we were walking a dog and Nate stopped at the curb and looked both ways and said "cars" because he knows that we stop, look, and listen to make sure it's safe to cross. It just warms my heart. And to be honest, I have moments that these same things make me a bit sad. Time just goes by so quickly and I hate that one stage ends even though I know it just means that an exciting new one begins.

We've had a great time celebrating Nate's birthday. Last week we celebrated with our friends who also had birthdays. It was an awesome day! We went to a bouncy place and the kids (and all us parents) had a blast on all the inflatables. Nate started out small, going down the slides with Mike and me. That didn't last long - Nate went down the biggest slide, "The Fortress", solo many times after!

My big boy

This is Nate's sign for I Love You

Superheroes

7 Boys, 6 Birthdays. All with adorable shirts!

On Nate's birthday, we had a nice family day complete with balloons, music, a trip to the park, presents, dinner with Amanda's family, and topped off with cupcakes!

We spent Saturday morning at the Botanical Garden with Nana & Poppops. It was a bit chilly but fun!

King of the tree

Mike made Nate's Jack's Big Music Show cake - how awesome is that?

I love this family photo!

Phew. I'm exhausted. So that about recaps everything we've been up to lately! Happy Birthday, Nate!

A Story of Olympic Proportions

2010-02-12T10:39:00.001-05:00

Hey! In honor of the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympic tonight, I'm going to share an Olympic story with you. Yea!!

Didja know that Mike ran with the Olympic Torch?

Back in 2001 I nominated Mike to be a Torch Bearer for the 2002 SLC Winter Olympics and he was selected! He was technically a Support Runner for the Olympic Torch Relay but that was just as exciting! We lived in Denver at the time and Mike's portion of the Relay was in Leadville, CO (with an altitude of over 10,000 feet!).

As a Support Runner, Mike ran along side three Torch Bearers and if at any time they had difficulties or for some reason couldn't carry the torch, he would carry the torch in their stead. The third runner Mike was paired with passed the Olympic Torch to him for the portion of the run where I was on the side of the road, cheering my fool head off! You guys, it was so cool! I was and am still so proud of Mike!

Flawed

2010-02-10T22:21:00.000-05:00

I was really touched by Ashley's post about being contentedly flawed. I've been reflecting since I read her post and watched this video.

I have a big, scarred, scary-looking belly. I've been thinking about it quite a bit in the past few months too. I've not talked about it before, but November marked the 10th anniversary of my near death experience.

I've been wanting to share just because I thought it would be cathartic to tell my story. There is so much and I don't know what to tell and what to leave out. On top of that, in the 9 weeks I was in the hospital I was out of it a good deal of the time so I'm not even certain of the time line of all the events. Here's the briefest synopsis I can give.

Not to be dramatic, but I did almost die. I had a portal vein thrombosis. After being hospitalized and put on heparin for about a week, I had some invasive procedures to break up the clot (to no avail). The procedures included injecting a solution directly in and around the clot in my liver. Turns out I have a heparin allergy and instead of breaking up my clot, the heparin was creating more and more clots. My liver was punctured during the procedures and long story a bit shorter, I ended up bleeding out into my abdominal cavity. Cue the dun-dun-duhhhhnnnn sound effects.

Mike and Michelle were in the room when I coded.

CPR started, I was intubated, my parents (in the waiting room) were notified for consent, and I was whisked off for emergency surgery. Careful, cosmetic-surgery-like cuts were not a consideration. It was a crude cut meant to get in fast so the surgeons could to find the problem and hopefully save my life. *Spoiler Alert: They saved my life.

The scar is not pretty. It spans from my sternum to down past my belly button. The scar tissue inside is so dense that my abdomen is really hard from the calcification. It makes my belly look like I am pregnant (which is so ironic since that won't ever happen). I've learned to get over it. I'm working on embracing it. After watching the video about being flawed, I wanted to stand up and show off my scar too. When I looked at all the pictures I took, I thought my belly looked like an upside-down heart. Maybe that's a sign that I should just love it and everything it represents.

App-ohs

2010-02-02T15:47:00.000-05:00

Nate has a newly developed obsession of apples or App-ohs, if you ask him. We had some out the other day since I making apple crisp. Mmmm...

The child went nuts over them. You'd think I'd never tried to get him to eat them before. I helped him eat one then he was ready for #2. He was also wearing his cool new Marvel Comics shirt that I scored on clearance at Target for $1.74.

"What's with all the pictures, Mom? It's an app-oh for God's sake."

How cute are these boots? Nate was marching around the house, breaking them in for Blizzard 2010 the next day.

Today's Offering

2010-01-28T13:48:00.000-05:00

My sweet boy was raising his arm saying "Peas Mama" to offer me these flowers today. I love him.

Pockets...

2010-01-23T22:49:00.000-05:00

Not just for looks anymore. It won't be long before I have to empty out rocks and GI Joes before I do laundry.

Bathroom update

2010-01-23T14:44:00.001-05:00

I'm loving my new bathroom! It's a wonder how much just a fresh coat of paint will do! I don't have any "before" pictures but trust me, this is sooo much nicer! Thanks Mike!

A new coat of paint

A pretty new light fixture and mirror

A storage cabinet

My colorful shower curtain is the only thing that made it back into the bathroom.

These are the things that make me happy. Well that and having my own personal bathroom back.

Blocks

2010-01-21T12:01:00.000-05:00

I've been doing my mom-ly duty by allowing the blocks to come out. I kinda despise them. Nate likes to build stuff but when he starts, I have to hold the blocks. And then he puts 4 piece long ones on top of singles. Then he looks at me and bitches and whines when the thing falls over. What can I do? What? Put them on the floor? Not unless I want to get an ear full.

In all seriousness, it's great that he's building and creating. And it's super-fantastic that he finds great delight in knocking them over and throwing them all over the living room. That makes it difficult to actually get all the blocks back into the bag (which I do mostly myself) on the first try. Don't ya hate when you put the bag away and then find strays?

Creating a masterpiece

Very focused

So tall he had to stand on the couch to put the top blocks on.

And now he's moved on to more coloring.

The Garden

2010-01-18T13:10:00.000-05:00

I was going to post about going to the Botanical Gardens this weekend but why make more work for myself? Go read Amanda's post!

xoxo

Cuteness

2010-01-14T16:18:00.001-05:00

Hey looky! A blog post I started 5 days ago and just now remembered!

Nate's not usually a fan of hats unless someone else has one on. Here he is in his Oklahoma State hat looking oh so freaking adorable.

And by the way, when and how did he get to be such a big boy?

"Tao" the Cow has been a friend for some months but the love has increased ever so much in the past weeks. Tao has to come downstairs, eat, read, play, and color with Nate. When he's not with Nate (even in the other room) it's "Tao?" in a sing-songy voice until we find him. It's so cute I could just eat him. Case in point:

Go ahead - tell me how cute he is!

Allergy Update

2010-01-05T20:49:00.000-05:00

We got a note from the allergist and the blood work came back negative for fish and tree nut allergies. We can re-introduce those foods to Nate one at a time and with the epi-pen nearby, just in case. I am very excited about this good news!

Resolutions

2010-01-02T00:04:00.000-05:00

I don't usually make any New Year's resolutions but this year I figured I'd give it a whirl. Hopefully by this time next year, I will have been successful with at least one or two.

*Send a card and/or care package to Alex at least once a month. Some days walking to the mailbox to the get mail was the highlight of my day in college.
*Make weekly meals plans. I hate panicking at 5pm every day wondering what I'm going to make (or take-out) for dinner. Hopefully this will also keep me from picking up a few items at the store every other day - that's really getting old.
*Take one day off from the computer each week.
*Establish some TV "off" hours aka "Turn the damn TV off. It doesn't need to be on 12 hours a day."
*Cut back on diet soda. I'm going to start with 2-3/day limit. Believe me - that is cutting back for me. I'd like to eventually go caffeine-free-ish too.
*Start saving money from home projects.
*De-clutter the house - starting with my bedroom.
*Use our reusable bags more often. I tend to forget them a lot - okay, almost always.
*Be in bed before midnight at least 5 days a week.

Alrighty. Let's see how this goes. :)

Lucky 13

2009-12-28T23:05:00.001-05:00

Today marks the 13th anniversary of our first date.

Applebee's + Walk in the park = True Love Always

Love you honey!

Santa's Coming!

2009-12-23T23:50:00.000-05:00

We're celebrating Christmas tomorrow since Mike works on Friday. I'm so excited! We went to see some Christmas displays downtown and it's so magical to watch Nate's face light up. This is what life is all about...the joys and excitement you are reminded of by seeing them through the eyes of a child. I'm so excited to see his face tomorrow morning!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

So Much to Say

2009-12-23T00:20:00.014-05:00

Lots of stuff has been going on the past week. Last week Nate's rash got way worse so we went to the doctor then the allergist. I was going to play "Guess the rash" complete with pictures and maybe a give away of some sort, but I'm over it. After a 2.5 hour+ appt with the allergist, we found that Nate's allergic to dust mites, cats, fish, and tree nuts. They did the tests on his back and then after getting all the info from the doc we headed down for a blood test. The doctor's take on the food allergies is not to panic until we get the blood results. Right now we are obviously avoiding fish and tree nuts, we're armed with the epi-pen, and so forth but Nate has had tree nuts and the obligatory fish stick prior to testing and we never noticed any reaction. Either we are shitty parents who don't notice shit like that or the allergies aren't too severe. I'm hoping it's the latter.

We had a much needed adult night out last Friday. We celebrated my friend Rebecca's 30th birthday (I know, 30. Puh-lease).

My favorite girls - have I mentioned how much I love my Moms group??

I think our husbands were there that night. We told them all to sit together so we could have girl time at the other end of the table. It was a fun evening and I hope we can make it a standing date every couple of months of so. Getting so many moms out in one night is a logistical nightmare though, especially when the husbands come with us. Who's going to watch all those kids??

We didn't get hit by "BLIZZARD 2009!" but we did see a few flurries on Saturday night. I took Nate out to enjoy it. That started well but ended badly as he really wanted to go "bye" in the car and didn't want to take no for an answer. I won, if you can call listening to a toddler cry and scream about not going bye in the car whilst trying to carry him thrashing wildly in your arms winning. Score 1 for Mom.

We went to the Garden of Lights on Monday and it was fun. I think Nate's favorite part was sitting on Sallie's lap (and not his seat) to see all the pretty lights.

Nate's still in love with the Christmas tree. He likes to ooh and ahh over it at least a couple times a day.

He's also loving the beautiful tulips that his Aunt Shel sent us.

Enough for now. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Hockey Night

2009-12-12T13:04:00.005-05:00

We had a cold day yesterday - about 35*. Here's Nate modeling his cute new hat.

Last night we met up with our Moms group friends and had a fun night at the Norfolk Admirals hockey game. I just checked the score and the Admirals lost 4-1. It was tied at 1-1 when we left after the 2nd period.

In true Nate fashion, he was drawn to the team mascot Hat Trick. He gave him a high 5, took a picture, and had to see him a second time later in the game. The kid loves all characters - Red Robin, the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, etc. I'm going to bet he won't be scared of clowns either.

Nate and Daddy watching the game

Happy as a clam with his big bucket o' corn

Have a wonderful weekend!

Just for Michelle

2009-12-04T19:14:00.007-05:00

Sometimes it takes a swift kick in the ass and a "For God's sake, update the blog already!" to get me to post something new.

We had a great Thanksgiving with my parents and Nana down in NC. Nate loved being around the family. By the 3rd night, he was giving goodnight kisses to all. He hadn't even done that much at home. Mike worked on T'giving, so we dined on steak and all the fixings on Thursday, saving the big turkey dinner for Friday. I was so excited for Nate to enjoy eating his first Thanksgiving meal this year, but we had an afternoon meal and he was passed out cold for his afternoon nap when we ate. Oh well. Next year.
We had gorgeous weather and a great park day on Thanksgiving day

About to enjoy some baby back ribs

Rock star

Thanksgiving 2009

The king of downtown New Bern

Loving the fountain

Mom, Dad, and Nana

While out and about, Nate stopped in to say hi to Santa

Yea for Nate and Mom pictures!

I didn't do any crazy Black Friday shopping and I'm not one bit sad about that. I think I'm almost finished shopping. Big thanks to my friend Amazon and his friend free super saver shipping.

I'm getting in the Christmas mood and really want to start decorating. That pesky bitch "cleaning" is getting in my way. Really, I've GOT to clean up this place before dragging out all the decorations. I did pull out a few things tonight and Nate is already driving me crazy with the whining and touching. I'm not sure what to do with the Christmas tree. Decorations from the middle to top? Soft ornaments on the bottom? Anchor it to the wall so it doesn't get pulled over? ARGH! Maybe I'm not too anxious to get everything put up.
Checking out Santa and his plane

Other news - Nate let Mike cut his hair with the clippers yesterday. His hair looks cute. I love that the top is shorter now. He has a heinous cowlick in the back and of course his hair wants to go the opposite direction. Problem solved!

Words

2009-11-18T22:12:00.008-05:00

Nate's vocabulary is really starting to blossom. It makes me happy every day to hear his new words. Here are just a few I can remember off the top of my head.

Eyes: highs (like eyes with an H in front)
Train: go go (instead of choo choo, I'm guessing)
Outside: ow-die
Plane: pane
Book: boop (pronounced like book but with a P on the end)
Stick: ticks
Butterfly: bye
Banana: bye
Pillow: a bow or my bow (like a bow you put in your hair)
Mine: MINE! Shockingly, no trouble with that word!
Clock (his newest fascination - the smoke and CO detectors along with my watch are all clocks): cock
Sock: ocks
Car: car
Truck: cuck
Elmo: bobo
Cheese: CHEESE! He says this when there is actual cheese or when I'm taking a picture
Please: peas!
Apple: app-oh

I was going to end with a video I took last month but srsly, it's been uploading for over 20 minutes now. I'm stopping the insanity and heading to bed.

And down she falls...

2009-11-12T11:12:00.005-05:00

At 5 a.m. we heard the tree crash down. I thought it was the portion that was already against our bedroom window, but alas it was the other half of the tree. It fell towards the neighbor's house. This is what it looked like once the sun came up.

Mike went out right away since the tree was blocking the neighbor's front door, much like it did ours yesterday. Here's the progress so far. I was impressed - I looked out and one of our neighbors had come over to help Mike wrangle all the big branches. Thanks person who (or whom?) I've never met!

Today in (mostly) Pictures

2009-11-11T23:42:00.007-05:00

I slept in until 9:15 this morning! Then I came downstairs to be serenaded by Mike and Nate. And my super duper cutie boy met me at the breakfast table. I was treated to a special birthday breakfast complete with pancakes, bacon, flowers, cards, and presents. What more could a girl ask for?

Yes, it's a Snuggie (TM)! I even told Mike that I was completely prepared to give him shit about getting me a Snuggie for my birthday until I actually put it on and laid on the couch. Turns out I love it! Today is perfect Snuggie weather too. I'm also going to be pampered at the spa courtesy of my boys!

Later in the day...
Heard a loud racket outside and looked out the front door to find this:

A tree. On the house. Aces! This would be the same tree I called Mike about 2 years ago when part of it blew over on my car at 5:30 A.M.

This is what it looked like today.

Mike cut back what he could today before it got dark. He's my hero with a chainsaw!
The Nor'easter is to worsen overnight and tomorrow so we're still crossing our fingers that the wind doesn't do more damage.

Nate had an obsession with Bosco's bowls today. He got in trouble twice for playing in the water. Then he thought it would be fun to put the food bowl on his head. And then put it on the floor and pretend to eat out of it. :) Goofy kid!

My lovey

My requested chicken schnitzel dinner! Dee-licious!

And cake to die for!

Happy Veteran's Day

I'm baaack!

2009-11-11T23:22:00.005-05:00

Just now getting back to normal after Nate was sick with a stomach bug for SEVEN looooooong days.

At Nate's request, I won't go into the horrific tales of the copious amounts of diarrhea topped off with random vomiting. You're welcome.

Loving my sporty little man

(I'm going to do my damnedest to be paci-free by Christmas. Tips/advice welcome.)

Amanda called on Sunday to see if we wanted to take a hike over at First Landing State Park. We took a nice 3.1 mile trail. I was impressed with Nate - he walked a good long while. We had lots of fun. (Although after walking 4 miles that morning with some friends, I did feel crippled the next day.)

Such joy!

Hey, wait up!

I like Amanda's face in this one! :) hehe

So what have you been up to?

Dane mother-freaking Cook

2009-11-11T23:07:00.007-05:00

I first found out that Dane Cook was coming to town back in early August. I was like a giddy school girl when I found out! I got tickets as soon as they were available on pre-sale and I've been looking forward to the concert ever since.

Saturday was the day and our tickets were so good! (Too bad my camera isn't great.) We weren't on the floor but we were in the 3rd-ish row. Squee!!

Here are a few yummy pictures of my boyfriend.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T23:28:00.004-04:00

Although Nate wasn't quite sure what was going on tonight, he was leading the pack down the street when we ventured out into the neighborhood. He mostly greeted the wonderful givers of candy with a Hi and Bye, but he also added "Peas!!" (please) many times (at my coaching). We even heard a bonafide "Trick or Treat" on the way up one driveway!

We saw a few houses all decked out. Nate wasn't scared of the projected ghouls in the windows or the big blow-up monsters. In fact, he was downright captivated by them!

Picture time with our friends before heading out.

CANDY! Woo!

Wilkinson Totem Pole

Hitchin' a ride with Daddy

First Haircut

2009-10-22T23:52:00.010-04:00

It was a big day around here. After many weeks of contemplation, we finally decided to get Nate's haircut. It was getting out of control. He had wings coming out from his ears that really gave him a mad scientist look. A very cute mad scientist.

His sweet curls

We went to a cute place that caters to kids. Nate picked the airplane chair.

The first snip

Not too concerned. Ms. Shalonda gave him animal cookies. Expert move.

Hey look - a kids movie is on!

Now he wanted to get down to play at the train table with the other boys.

Looking good

All done!

Cute card

Squee - Pumpkins!

2009-10-16T22:43:00.006-04:00

I've waited patiently all summer long for the return of my favorite season. All that waiting paid off, because HELLO AUTUMN! On Wednesday Mike, Nate, and I joined our Moms groups friends at the pumpkin patch for a fun-filled morning.

He wouldn't stand still for the "I'm this tall" picture. Is it just me or does it look like he's saying "Sh$t"?

Ha ha! Look how cute I am in THIS picture, when Mama & Daddy finally gave up on getting a great picture!

This hay bale here? Yes, I'm going to climb it.

Then I'm going to give you my best Zoolander pose.

Yep - only kid who isn't sitting down. Where is his mother?? Oh wait.

Lemme see...

I'm liking this one right here...

It's as big as my head so it's a keeper!

How cute am I?

Craft playdate

2009-10-14T00:23:00.005-04:00

I hosted my first craft playdate last week. We had lots of fun. The kids (with a little help) made trees shaped by their hands and then they finger painted on the leaves. So cute...if I do say so myself. And I do.
Nate's is the 2nd from the left.

Such cuties!

Botanical Garden - twice in 3 days

2009-10-13T23:33:00.016-04:00

Sunday morning we wanted to get out and enjoy the weather. The zoo was uncharacteristically packed - the line to park was crazy so we whipped a U and headed to the Botanical Garden instead. Ah, the advantages of having memberships both places...

Random tidbit that happens to relate - Nate loves planes. The botanical garden is right next to the airport so we walked up the hill and watched some planes take off. It was great!

Going to check out the planes

This is the plane we watched taxi and take-off

"Pane!!" says Nate

In the sky

Lovin' the wagon

Nate loves butterflies or "byes". We think he's shortening butterfly by just using the first and last letter.

Nate loved the fountain. It was hard to persuade him to leave.

Peek-a-boo

Today we went to Tunes for Tots in the kids garden at the NBG. Nate didn't want to sit for the program, although he did walk over to the group a couple of times to shake his booty to the music. He much preferred to play with the toys and in the water.

I love the sunlight shining down on him in this one.

The froggie fountains

My little pumpkin head

Our friend Nate came too with his mom Ruby and sister Brielle

Just the beginning of the wetness

The boys LOVED splashing and getting soaked

Dumbo

2009-10-11T21:45:00.004-04:00

Whaddya think? I'm guessing we're going to have to decide on another costume. Something without long sleeves or something on his head, perhaps?

My sweet sleeping boy

2009-10-03T23:35:00.001-04:00

Rainy days

2009-09-07T23:09:00.009-04:00

I can just see him as a teenager.

It was rainy all day long and Nate brought me his shoes and my shoes several times. I finally gave in and got him set for the rain. He loves his jacket! I couldn't bring myself to just post a couple because he's just so damn cute.

Hiiiii!

He did this all by himself. I couldn't help but laugh and grab the camera.

Body parts

The Cute Thief

2009-09-05T15:16:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday Nate and I had a picnic lunch in the living room. Nothing fancy except for the tie on his shirt!

Nate loves the cheese grater. It pretty much stays in the dishwasher because Nate likes to play with it, toss it on the dog hair-laden floor, lather, rinse, and repeat. I say steal because he can be sneaky. Even this morning, I turned my back he snatched the grater and RAN away with it.

MIKE - stop reading now...

The grater-snatching was much better than when Nate grabbed a knife from the dishwasher (the sharp, pokey kind) and ran into the living room, tripping and falling as I chased him yelling "NOOOOOO!" When he fell, I saw the knife fly from his hand away from his body. It was then that I saw he had another knife in the other hand! He's making me lose years off my life, I swear.

Eighteen Months

2009-09-05T10:39:00.003-04:00

My baby boy is no longer a baby. He hasn't been for a while but today he is 18 months old. When I see friends I haven't seen in a while, they always are so shocked that Nate is so big. Yesterday I heard "Oh my gosh, Amy! He has hair. He doesn't look like Charlie Brown anymore!"

Nate gave me my first kiss last night! He normally just blows kisses but last night when I asked for a kiss he leaned over and put his very open mouth on my lips. I got teary-eyed. He is such a sweet boy...when he's not screaming and throwing a back arching, leg-kicking tantrum.

So much for that

2009-09-02T05:48:00.003-04:00

I knew I'd jinx the sleeping when I so confidently typed "Score!" when Nate went down without a peep last night. I've now been up for over 2 hours because he won't go back to sleep. I even tried to let him CIO a couple of times but I couldn't take it. I also feel guilty because it was 3:30 a.m. and we share a wall with our neighbors.

Let's re-cap. Insomnia or some BS didn't let me go to sleep until 2 a.m. Nate starts his 2 hour crying jag at 3:30. He's FINALLY quiet now and I can't go back to sleep. Work-wise it's my busiest day of the week today. Oh man, I'm going to be dragging ass later. Woe is me.

Aww, crap.

2009-09-01T22:43:00.007-04:00

I've taken to jotting down notes of what I want to post on here. I'm writing posts in my head throughout the day. Then comes the time I can actually get on the computer and my urge to post wanes.
My note today consists of these tidbits:
1. clutch - foot
2. poop - poop juice, leg smear, picking up poop
3. sleep
4. va-kay

Intriguing isn't it?

1. So Mike and I traded vehicles. It started when my brakes were really squealing and Mike took the car in to get fixed. Well driving Mike's SUV made me realize that it really is easier to get Nate in and out of the Vue instead of the Civic. So we've decided that we'll give this a go for 2 months and see how we're feeling then. Oh - how does this relate to my list? Mike's car is a 5 speed. I swear my left foot is achy/crampy from shifting. I'm a hoverer, especially at stop lights. I'm not riding the clutch but my foot's always up and ready so I don't get smoked by Granny when the light turns green. I'm trying to remember why I thought this was worthy of posting...
My first car was a stick-shift. I loved that car. So much I pulled out a picture to show you. What's not to love?

2. Nate picked up dog poop today. In both hands. And smeared it all around. We used wipes, washed and sanitized multiple times. Ewww!!! Even grosser for me was the other day when I went to gobble his outer thigh and came back with a wet lip/face. Apparently he had some really loose poop that had snuck out of his diaper and onto my face. *I'm shuddering as I re-live this. That same day Nate flailed about during a diaper change and smeared more poop all over his leg. Oh and I have I told you the story about diarrhea and a swim diaper? We were getting ready to head out to a pool play date earlier this month and I took Nate upstairs to change him since I felt the swimmy was soaked already. By the time I put him down on the changing table my arm and shirt were wet. So I smelled my arm, not once but twice just to make sure... poop juice. On my arm. And my shirt. UGH!

3. I have an almost completed post I wrote a week ago about our sleeping progress around here. I've decided to scrap it and just say Nate is now going to sleep in his own bed for naps and bed time. It's been over 2 weeks now and it's been pretty damn good. We had some screaming and crying in the beginning, but Mike has learned to control himself. Hahaha! (We had some parent growing pains too during the transition.) Tonight Nate didn't cry at all when I put him down. Score!

4. Our vacation is finally just one week away! We are going to Oklahoma to visit for 12 days. I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone. No one on Mike's side of the family has met Nate yet - crazy! And I can't wait to see my sis and nieces!! T minus 7 days!

Traveling in September reminds me of last year's quick trip - for our adoption finalization hearing! I don't think I ever posted pictures but here's one with our judge. Also, Michelle & Molly met us there to lend some moral support.

Remember?

2009-08-04T15:42:00.006-04:00

Remember when I used to update my blog with some sense of frequency? Me either.

We have had a great summer so far. Alex was here all of June and July and it was great to have her. A bonus for me is that she wanted to work while she was here. So I put her to work. Now I'm regretting it...only because now I have to care for all of my clients every day. I'm telling ya - work is getting in the way of my social schedule. Ha!

Speaking of Alex, we are super-proud/beaming parents because she is off to college in just a few short weeks. College. Holy hell - how did that happen? How is it possible that she's old enough to be in college? I of course am exuberant because she chose to attend Oklahoma State University (my alma mater) so I am going to re-live my college days vicariously through her. Yippee!!

I realize that I've only taken a fraction of the pictures that I once took. That's due in part to our "good" camera being broken (BOO!) so it's not at the ready every time I spy something super-cute and adorable (like ALL the time). The other reason for the no pictures is Nate doesn't want to pose for me anymore. I mostly get pictures of him from behind or pictures with his face obscured because he just wants to grab the camera and he means now!

This really is all I can muster up at the moment. Mr. Big Boy thought 330 a.m. was a grand time to get up and when he came to bed with me, he rustled around, sat up, flopped back down, flopped his arms and legs and head into my body until oh - about 5:45 a.m. I'm wiped out as I wasn't sleeping well before he woke up. I watched my friends boys this afternoon and lost out on my coveted naptime. Waaa!

Nate loves his little recliner. Now for more of a challenge, he likes to climb up over the arm.

Love balloons

We make Nate drink his milk while sitting under the dining room table.

Gimme the camera!

Yea! His smiling face!

I like this one too! (I bet he's crying because he can't have the camera.)

Three for Friday

2009-07-16T16:54:00.006-04:00

I'm joining in with Whimsy to share another Three for Friday. This time it's all about sharing three posts from my own blog that have a special meaning to me. Reading back through my blog, I noticed two things. 1) I've been a big time slacker as of late 2) I mostly share pictures of my cutie pie which is important to me because this is my outlet to scrapbook (for lack of better term) our life. All of the pictures are my favorites but surprisingly out of the posts I chose, only one includes a picture.

This post explains itself.

I chose this post because I can happily say the mundane stuff waited for another day and the Earth didn't stop spinning.

This one reminds me how hopeful and excited I was about starting my new business. It was/is such a big deal that I took the leap of faith into becoming self-employed. I couldn't be happier now with the decision I made. Although it was a little scary to embark on the opportunity, I can now look back and relish each day I've had at home with Nate. The playdates we've enjoyed, the long naps we took together, making new friends, cultivating Nate's love of animals, lunches with Daddy, making elephant sounds, reading many many books, and watching his (almost) every move - to include his rump-shaking to music! I would've missed out on all these things if I had kept a full-time, out-of-house job.

Many pictures, few words

2009-07-06T23:34:00.009-04:00

My little Magnum, P.I.

We spent Friday afternoon at the Botanical Gardens with the Molnars. Lots of fun, few injuries.

Can you spot Amanda?

Butterfly Gardens

Nate's injury involved falling on his face. His sunglasses broke the fall but left a few marks.

After frolicking in the fountains of the WOW Garden

At dinner Alex found love in a bag of Lays

Mike worked on the 4th so I invited my friend Rebecca and her boys for dinner. We headed downtown to see the fireworks. Even with minimal napping time throughout the day, the boys were great and stayed up late.

It really was more impressive than this picture makes it seem.

Three

2009-06-26T15:07:00.008-04:00

The wonderful Whimsy over at the creamery had a great idea of sharing blogs and/or specific posts from some of our favorite reads. I have a bizarre anxiety about this and I'm not quite sure why. It may be because I want to find my very favorite post from a certain blogger. And then I have a hard time picking because there are so many good blogs out there and within each blog there are so many are great posts.

Kid-isms are one of my favorite things. I can't wait until I can start a list of Nate's... you know...once he starts really talking and all. This post from Gina at my very last nerve was hysterical. I love her anyways but this one struck me as REALLy good. I love her girl. :)

Linda at All & Sundry makes me laugh too. She always knows how to put things so that I say out loud "YES! That's what I was trying to say!" every time I read her blog, especially when it comes to her little ones. This post on running is spot-on too! That expresses pretty much how I feel when I run. No wonder she's working on a book - she has such a way with words.

Ladies - if you ever need or desire to pee standing up, check out Emily's post here. Too bad I didn't post this earlier because there was a contest to win your very own "GO GIRL". I enjoy Emily's blog not that you asked in part because I can relate to her HGTV addiction and dislike for the Charmin bear commercials.

Have a great holiday weekend! Here's one last gratuitous shot of my loves.