I've missed you

Life has been crazy! Sorry I have been gone. I hope to get caught up one of these days. Until then....

Hamburglar

Well... sorta. So two nights ago Chris and I were enjoying some homemade pizza and watching some television in the living room. I cut Carsyn's up and set his plate on the end tables by ours so he could keep playing and eat when he was ready. Alec comes cruising up in his walker stretching and reaching with all of his might for our plates. He wanted some too, in a bad way. I moved the plates further back on the end table so he couldn't reach them. A few minutes later I realized I hadn't seen Alec cruising around the living room (he is getting really good with his walker). I turn and look behind the couch which butts up to our dining room. There is a small space between the couch and our kitchen table. That little stinker-butt finagled his walker around and behind the couch so he could reach the pizza and there he was chowing down all of Carsyn's dinner! Believe me, we don't typically feed our nine month old pizza. *shakes head and smiles* He is just too much sometimes!!!

Nine month update...

Alec officially turned nine months on the 12th! Wow, time sure does fly. He had an appointment with his pediatrician who says Alec is doing wonderful. Here are the numbers:

Birth: 7 lbs 10 oz, 20.75"

Now: 21 lbs 14 oz (71st percentile), 29.5" (85th percentile)

What he is doing now:

Alec is a champion crawler! He pulls himself to standing on everything, walks with his walker toys, and walks along furniture. Sits, rolls, and anything in between without any problem. His two bottom front teeth popped through right at eight months and now his top front teeth have also broken through. 

He eats everything. We feed him cheerios, puffs, mum-mums, yogurt drops, pureed veggies and fruits, toddler meals I made for him, and whatever we eat within healthy reason. If I can mash it or throw it in the blender, he eats and loves it. He babbles, blows bubbles, yells, coos, "da-da-da-da-da". When I try to teach him Mama he just laughs (apparently thats funny!). When we nod yes he laughs and shakes his head no.

 He tries getting into EVERYthing (outlets, tried climbing in the bath tub with Carsyn, the dog dishes, name it - he is into it). He is much more active and wild then his big brother. He has no fear and we are fairly certain we will be making a lot of ER trips with him. There isn't a cuddly bone in his little body. When Carsyn was his age I would peak in on him every night when I got home from work. I cannot do this with Alec. He is the lightest sleeper EVER.

Alec loves his big brother and follows him everywhere. Anything Carsyn does Alec believes and tries to do also. He cranks on the baby gate in front of the steps trying to pop it open. He also loves any and all toys (surprised me, Carsyn was not a fan of any toys except "trucks") If Alec isn't in site and you hear him hollaring - you can bet he got himself stuck someplace again.

Happy nine months baby boy! I love you!!

(Picture to follow)

Great weekend with family

On Friday Chris's parents came to stay with us for the weekend. His sister, brother, and brother's fiance joined us for dinner. Then on Sunday all of us went to the Vikings game against the Cardinals. We bought his Mom two tickets for her 50th Birthday this year and we all wanted to tag along. The game was awesome. In the 3rd Quarter things were starting to look grim so Chris and I occupied ourselves downing giant hot dogs and beer. *BLISS*. Then in the 4th quarter when a good chunk of the stadium gave up on our team, we made an amazing come back tying the game and winning in overtime!

Family Photos don't get much better then this!

(I kind of stand out in the white)

Me and Sharda enjoyed gawking at Hank's backside!

golden and delicious

A little bonus pic... I mean c'mon - look at that face!!!

Weigh-in Thursdays

Maybe you noticed and maybe you didn't. There wasn't a weigh-in post from me last week. To be honest, I did 'ok' the last two weeks. I didn't track for several days at all and ate out way more then I had the points for. I had gotten scheduled a slew of overnights (ya, good luck trying to control how much and when you are eating when you completely flip your life upside down, its tough!) So, a few days ago I snapped back into attack mode. At the meeting I told the WW leader that I knew I gained and was excited to get that weigh-in behind me so I can continue on. To my VERY pleasant surprise!!! I lost.... point two pounds. Hey. Its still a loss isn't it? Now I feel better knowing I didn't take "two steps back", rather I just slowed the process. Its been a month and I am down 6.6 lbs. Hoping to lose ten in the next four weeks!






Weeks on the program: 4
Weight lost/gained this week: -.2 lbs
Total of weight loss: -6.6 lbs

Woody and Buzz

Halloween 2010 was a lot of fun! My parents, my brother, his girlfriend, and her daughter came over for trail stew, lots of snacks, and of course trick or treating! We handed out Capri Sun juice pouches. We had 147 kids stop at our door! Once we ran out of our juice pouches (I had 140) we gave out the rest of our candy from our little party and had to turn out the lights. We would have had a lot more! Carsyn and Alec were Buzz and Woody this year. It was a hit!

A sad day.

Today was probably one of the worst days in one of my best friend's life. Me and my other besties rallied around her while she lay her big brother, and only sibling, to rest. I got the news Sunday that her brother had passed away the night before. I was shocked and hurting so badly for my friend. You don't expect things like this to happen and when they do, what do you say?

Chris accompanied me to the funeral to show his support for Kara and her parents as well. It was heartbreaking looking at all the photos. Pictures of her and him in the bath tub together when they were little, photos of him cuddling with his Daddy on the couch. I have those same photos of my boys. I can't imagine what her parents are going through. How do you tell your son goodbye? Her parents are so strong.

Kara gave a beautiful speech about her brother. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. She shared numerous memories of her brother and talked about how much he loved his three year old daughter. I choke up just thinking about her words. I am so proud of her for being able to do that and I believe Kevin was listening.

Our hearts ache for Kara and I hope she knows how much we love her. She will never be alone especially during a time like this. I believe in Heaven and I know she will see him again. That won't make her miss him any less between now and then - but I hope she knows it will happen.

Please pray for the McElwee family.

News report here

Alec's Birth Story (long)

Since I never did share Alec's birth story I thought now was a good time.

I started having severe gallbladder attacks just before 36 weeks. I couldn't take it anymore so went to L&D. The doctor decided to do an amnio at 37 weeks and if his lungs were mature they would induce me that day so I could have my gallbladder removed the following day. I was really nervous because Chris was gone for the Army and they were going to allow him to drive the 14 hour drive home for two days so he could make the birth. Well, the worst thing that could have happened given that situation happened. His results came back 'borderline' meaning they had to physically drive the results to the U of M for further testing. The test would be another five hours before an answer. Chris was already two hours into his drive by this time. If he turned around and waited there was no way he could drive that far on zero sleep. If he stopped and waited the same issue. If he drove home and the result weren't that he was ready Chris would be home then and not for the birth. Chris decided he was coming home. I was bawling at the Hospital. How could this happen?

The nurse really felt bad for me and I was even more upset when the results took longer then originally planned. Finally, at 9:15 pm the nurse came into the waiting room and said "YAY! The results are back and baby is READY!!" I was so excited!! I called Chris and told him I was being admitted. They put some medication (cerdival) in me at 11 pm and 2 am to help ripen my cervix while I slept. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep due to the anticipation of Chris coming home and getting to meet my little man. Chris showed up around 4 am and crawled into bed with me. The doctor came in at 8 am and checked me getting ready for my induction. Amazingly enough the medication they gave me to ready my cervix put me into labor!!! I was 4 cm dialated and contracting every 2.5 mins!

I walked the halls with Chris until they broke my water at 9 am. My contractions never got too painful for me but I was nervous because I remembered how bad it was with Carsyn. At 11 am they started pitocin because my contractions slowed and I asked if I could have my epidural. My doctor said if I am laughing and smiling at her there is no way I was getting it yet. I pouted a little bit but the truth was I wasn't in too bad of pain yet.  My contractions started to increase rapidly so the nurse came in and ordered my epidural. The anesthesiologist was there in no time. I had tons of visitors this time. My mom, Chris's mom, my brother, and a couple of friends. I literally never felt like I was in labor at any point. While I was talking to people around 2 pm I said "Oh, I can feel him coming down now". The doctor thought it would be several more hours until I delivered. She checked me and I was 8 cm. Ten minutes later I said I thought I could feel his head coming down. They checked me and sure enough 10 cm! That was quick. I told them I didn't want to push yet and just let him come down on his own. At 2:30 I felt like he was ready. They asked everyone to clear the room and told me to give a push. I did and the doctor yelled "STOP!" She said "he is right there". I said "right where?" She said "right there, you can touch his hair if you want". I opted out of touching his hair, I figured I could wait a few more minutes, lol.

Two contractions and four pushes later, he was born. I didn't even break a sweat. It was honestly the easiest delivery known to man. I even told Chris I felt weird because it didn't feel like I just gave birth. When I saw his face I thought he looked a lot like Carsyn but also like his own person. He had a perfectly round head (Carsyn my 10lb'r had quite the cone head!) He also had extremely bright eyes. Carsyn had brown when he was born so I remember how bright Alec's eyes were more then anything. He had a hard time breathing due to inhaling a ton of fluid so he was admitted into level two nursery. He was able to come home one day late. It was such an awesome experience. Having a baby isn't something you do every day. But, you sure do remember everything about it forever. I had to wait until 7:30 pm until I got to see him again. But - now he is a super happy and healthy big boy!


Alec Daniel born February 12, 2010, 2:44 pm at 37 weeks. 7lbs 10oz, 20.75 inches.

Weigh-in Thursdays

Today was my Weight Watcher meeting which means week two is complete. Happy to report another loss on the scale. I have already lost half of the weight I gained over the summer (Yay!) I look forward to another week.


Weeks on the program:    2
Weight lost/gained this week:   -2.8 lbs
Total of weight loss:       -6.4 lbs

Weight Watchers

I just want to start out by saying that I love Weight Watchers. Honestly. I joined in June 2009 and quickly lost 10lbs in one month without exercising. I found out I was pregnant and had to quit my membership. In February, six days after Alec was born, I rejoined excited as ever to lose my baby weight. By May I weighed 35lbs less then when I originally joined in 2009 (plus I had an entire pregnancy in there!). I must confess though when summer hit I decided to take a break until winter.

About the program:

You are given a set amount of daily points based on a number of factors like height, activity level, weight, etc. They give you all the tools you need to easily transfer foods into point values. In addition to your daily points you get 35 bonus points to do whatever you want with!! You can go out for dinner, eat candy, whatever you want. You can eat all your bonus points in one day or spread them out throughout the week. I had pizza and beers with Chris the other night (and still have 14 bonus points to spend this week). You also earn points with activities/exercises. You can choose whether or not to eat the activity points.

I rejoined the program 10 days ago. I like to go to the meetings because it gets me back into being excited about it every week, plus you learn a ton of great ideas/recipes. It also makes losing weight seem more doable. Instead of looking at the BIG picture, I look to the next weigh in just a week away. I don't get discourage by a two pound loss, I get excited!! Its very psychological for me but it works.

I like my weigh-in on Thursday because by then my weight has leveled off from the weekend and my bonus points are reset for the next weekend!! On Thursday I am proud to announce I was down 3.6lbs! I can't wait to see what the next weigh in brings.

Weeks on the program:    1
Weight lost/gained this week:   -3.6lbs
Total of weight loss:       -3.6lbs

Check out Weight Watchers here

Carsyn the fashionista (where does he get this stuff?)

Boys just wanna have fun...

Although, Alec doesn't look too sure about all this... LOL!

Baby food: Stage 2

We are almost all out of baby food at our house so its time for me to get cracking on a new supply. I plan on making my new supply with vegetables of different textures and consistencies. My original supply lasted two months! (Well, I did make some acorn squash, green beans, peaches, and pureed chicken breast along the way). I am hoping this batch will get us through the 'baby food' stage.

Last night I made:
Garden Medley: Green bean, pea, carrot, and corn combo. I purchased a couple microwave steam bags of this already combined and pureed with water.
Cauliflower and broccoli combo: I purchased a microwave steam bag of them already combined, steamed and pureed them with water.
Brussel sprouts: YES. Brussel sprouts. This could get interesting. I bought them frozen and cooked them with a little water in the microwave the pureed them with that water.

I bought some whole grain brown rice, whole grain pasta, pork chops, chicken breast, tomato sauce, and turkey/beef/chicken gravy. I also bought 4 - 8 pack packages of 1/2 cup Glad mini-round BPA free Tupperware. They say they work great for freezing so we shall see. I will make Stage 3 meals by mixing the things listed previously with different veggies (chopping a bit) to create meal combos and freeze them in the containers. I am really excited to get working on that!! I just think the ice cube trays are a bit too small for that task.

Still have lots of other "Stage 2" stuff to make so will be busy this week!

2nd Anniversary

Tomorrow, September 29th, is my second wedding anniversary! I had a surprise celebration for Chris on Sunday. Since we work together I was able to get his shift covered without him knowing. I then purchased Vikings vs. Lions tickets and rented a hotel room at The Marquette in downtown Minneapolis. We stopped for Burger King lunch on the way down. We parked at the hotel and walked to the metrodome. VIKINGS WON! Doesn't get much better then that! We went back to the hotel room to check-in. The room was super nice and quiet. Chris watched some more football on television while I took a nap.

We then wandered around downtown in search of dinner. I wanted a nice steakhouse but couldn't find one. We bumped into a lady on a street corner that could tell I was lost. She asked what we were looking for and she pointed out a steakhouse only a block away. It was "Murray's Steakhouse". OMG it was sooo good. The drunk guy in the booth behind us was moaning and having the BIG-O over his steak I swear. I had to ask which one he ordered (new york strip) and ordered the same. He was right! Amazing!! Went down great with a few beers. The cesar salad is to die for. I will admit I have never spent that much on a meal for two people before in my entire life... but do hope to do so again someday.... SOMEday, lol. The drunk guy and his drunk friend were loud and obnoxious hollering about their sex lives and everything else. I think the restaurant was lucky we got put by them because anybody else paying that kind of money for a meal would have been pissed - we found it quite entertaining.

We wandered around for a little while downtown before heading back to our hotel room. Not a lot going on because it was a Sunday night but it was perfect. Quiet streets, tall buildings, nice cool breeze. It was a nice little stroll. At the hotel we rented 'Prince of Persia'. Chris wanted that one and I was like, no thanks. BUT being its our anniversary I obliged. We brought beer in a cooler so we laid on our big comfy bed in our amazingly clean hotel room enjoying a few beers and a movie. I ended up being the one that really liked the movie. We were in bed asleep by 11pm. I laughed with Chris about how being a parent now the greatest night away from the kids together is laying around doing nothing!

Chris woke me up at 10 am (glorious!). We soaked in the whirlpool tub together for a little while before getting ready to head home. On the way home we stopped at Applebees and totally went all out to top our getaway off with a bang. We ate an appetizer sampler, split a three-cheese penne pasta dish, and ordered two desserts to share. (I think I am still digesting all that food today).

We had a wonderful time. I couldn't have picked a better way to celebrate alone with my husband.

We ran into some friends at the Metrodome

From MN? Try Murray's
Stay at The Marquette (I recommend the whirlpool room!)

A new journey

I want to be completely honest about my personal fear of church and religion. From a young age I remember the whole thing making me extremely uncomfortable. I attended and was baptised in a Mormon church until our family left the church when I was about eight years old. Since then my only experience with church has been weddings, funerals, and a few rare midnight mass attendances in a beautiful large Lutheran church. The members of the Mormon church are all really nice people but it is just not my personal cup of tea.

Since then I have avoided religious discussions like the plague. I do, however, feel it is my duty as my boys's mother to expose them to religion so they can make their own choices in regards to faith and beliefs. If I don't expose them to it I in turn am exposing them to my fears. I am in no way saying I do not believe in God. Please don't misunderstand what I am saying. I spoke to Chris about this and he is completely like me in regards to his feelings about church/religion. He also agrees that we should expose our children so they can learn about the Bible. As you can probably guess he and I are in no position to teach them!

I received a flyer in the mail for a "church for people who don't 'do' church". As you can imagine I was interested immediately. They are established in two other locations and were opening a service in my city... of all places the local bar! They host service before the bar/restaurant opens for brunch. I believe it is non-denominational. The flyer says to put on your flip flops and jeans and head over... so we did!

We found our church. When we first arrived Chris and I were insanely uncomfortable. I actually said to Chris "what in the hell are we doing?" We relaxed when we saw everyone in Vikings jerseys and jeans!! Instead of the typical church music they have a band with a girl who has an amazing voice. It was awesome. The way they taught about the Bible was in a way that didn't make me feel guarded or insecure. We discussed proverbs and they compared religion to football. "In order for your life not to SUCK and for you to SUCceed... you need to 1) listen to the coach 2) read the playbook and 3) attend practice. We were challenged to read one chapter of proverbs a day for the next 30 days, say a prayer when we wake up (even if its just "God give me wisdom, Amen"), and attend. Chris and I talked about the experience and we are both certain this is the place for us. We also agreed to follow through with the challenge. I can't wait to bring the boys to Sunday school next week!!

Check out The Crossing Church here

Holy food bill Batman!!!

As previously mentioned I have been working in dispatch at work to help out while they are short handed. This week I have been scheduled overnights and let me tell you, overnight shift in a 911 dispatch center can be quite long (& boring). I decided to check some books out at the library to occupy my time. While looking at cookbooks I came across the book: Feed your Family for $12 a Day. I thought - why not! I can't believe I hadn't looked into this before. I just sat down and calculated all the money we spent on groceries (or other walmart/target expenses like shampoo, etc) and also how much we have spent eating out between August 9 and September 9. HOLY CRAP.

Groceries:   $836.07
Eating out/bar related:  $481.85

THESE ARE NOT TYPOS PEOPLE! WE ACTUALLY HAVE SPENT THAT IN THE LAST 30 DAYS! The sad part is this is typical for us. Nothing extraordinary has happened in the month. We always use our charge card for groceries/going out and then pay it off every payday. We never really paid much notice to what exactly we were spending it on. This does not include ANY of Alec's formula or baby food as I had bought all of his formula on sale when he was a month old and made all his baby food. This is what we spent on two adults and a two year old. We don't eat like complete pigs either. I don't understand where this all is at because we both constantly complain about our cupboards being empty. Our biggest down fall is I NEVER write a list. I just go and pile stuff in my cart. Then when I go to cook something is missing so we run to the store and instead of buying one $5 item we spend $45 on whatever we see. In my defense I did stockpile diapers this month also. Ugh. I could just cry right now. It also doesn't help Chris and I are on opposite schedules right now so we have a lot of "convenience" foods and don't cook often.

The Fix:
I am only 14 pages into this book and I already have come up with several ways to save money. First being writing a weekly meal plan. Then writing a list mapping out all that we need (checking cupboards for what we already have), then scoping out the Aldi which is located 10 miles away. I am also going to look into a Cosco membership and search for online coupons for items I TYPICALLY USE, not purchase things just because I have a coupon. I will also set a certain weekly dollar limit and forcing my meal plans to fit this budget.

ANY ADVICE/TIPS?  WHAT WORKS FOR YOU???

Going cloth!

We are doing it! We are going to try cloth diapers. The first five I bought are medium (20lbs-30lbs) all-in-ones from an Etsy shop with great reviews. I love that these are exactly like disposable diapers, just Velcro them on. No snappi/pins required!!! They arrived today and Alec couldn't wait to try them giving mom a nice poop in the very first one he wore! I was surprised it was really easy to clean. I put the washer on cold rinse cycle with the lid open so it stops after the water fills. I then added baking soda to neutralize the urine. When I change a dirty diaper I plan to just plop them in the cold water to soak until the end of the day. Then I will shut the lid and let the rinse cycle run to get the urine and poo out. Once that is done I can run a regular laundry load with the diapers in warm water with regular detergent. I can dry them in the dryer or hang to dry depending on how soon I need them. LOVE this!! I purchased a slug of one size fits all, all-in-one diapers that will last until he is 36lbs (Carsyn isn't even that big yet!) I will try those on Carsyn when they arrive. So exciting!! So far so good!!! Alec started drinking from his bottle on his own today. Here are some pics of him playing on the floor with his last ounce of dinner (and new diapers!).

I must also add today that Carsyn now calls his baby brother by his full name "Al-eek Danio". Its friggen adorable!

Who's Hobby?

I decided I need to learn some things to occupy my time. I decided to try my hand at knitting! The girls at work are teaching me how to do it in between calls... its not going the greatest but I am hanging in there! I decided to work on my blanket some more today and couldn't figure out why I kept loosing my slack... one peak under my recliner and I found out why....

Then he decided to try stealing it...

Who's hobby is this anyway? Alec's or mine? He is too cute!!

Exciting day in my Mommy world

I would like to take a moment to introduce you to my miserable two year old. He has been miserable in this car seat since he was nine months old. I hate this thing. Very little padding and no support for little man to take a nap. Our kids are frequent travelers. They go to Chris's parent's house which is a 3.5 hour drive almost once a month, they go to the lake which is 1.5 hours away almost every weekend in the summer, and a lot of trips to my parent's house (my mom does my daycare) which is an hour drive. Its no wonder why Carsyn is always crabby in the car. So! Alec has pretty much outgrown his infant car seat (pause for a tear) which, I also didn't care much for so it was time to upgrade him.

I figured I may as well get them matching ones!! Comfort was KEY in my search. I scoured over online reviews and decided today was the day. I was so excited I literally could not sleep last night. I took Carsyn to Target to look at a couple to see them in person and went home to check for cheapest prices online (plus my G6 won't fit two giant car seat boxes). Well here she is.... The Graco My Ride 65!! I found it at Walmart.com for $126/free shipping. I paid for two of them the same price I was willing to pay for one. I put several on the ground and Carsyn kept going back to this one. Its soft and huge. Some may call that a drawback but their comfort is more important then extra space back there. They are slightly bucketed so they don't sit at a 90 degree angle when forward facing, but not too bucketed where they seem 'stuck'... SCORE! And TWO cup holders.

Success!
Check out the Graco My Ride 65 here

I don't want it to be over

Alec turned six months old yesterday! Oh my gosh time has flown by. I am so sad my baby is growing up!! I mean, its a good thing... but I am going to miss having my own baby. We got the boy's pictures taken today (and Monday... things didn't go well the first try). We were not able to get any of the two together because Carsyn was Mr. Meltdown. Oh well!! Alec has been cruising all over the house by rolling everywhere. Its hilarious. I wonder if he will crawl ever, he seems to enjoy rolling too much! Here he is loving his peas....

 ok, we got lucky with the pic... he hates peas!

M.I.A

I have been missing in action on here lately. Just popping in for an update (currently at work so will have to add photos later!) Sorry so long... a lot has happened this month!

In the middle of the month we took the boys to the zoo and another trip to the lake. The boys had SO much fun! I also enjoyed snorkeling in the lake. Yesterday I took Carsyn to a splash deck at the YMCA. A co-worker has a little boy who is almost three and they had a 'free pass' so we did a play date.

I was asked by my work to help out in dispatch for a little while. They let one of them go and the part-timer they have can't work anymore this year (exceeds days she is allowed to). There were a lot of vacations and shifts they needed to fill so they asked me to come in here since I am the only Deputy trained in on the new system. I don't mind, the heat and humidity have been making work pretty dreadful so the jeans and a/c are a welcomed change of pace. I dented one of the squads by scrapping a giant rock so there were all sorts of rumors going around that I was in trouble, and other rumors that I was pregnant again. I had fun with those! Due to my current gig my Internet activity will be on the rise!

Carsyn's hearing checked out and he is starting to talk more. He actually calls me Mama on a regular basis now! YAY!! Although, the other day he broke something and replied "oh, F&*K!" I about died. He said it in the same tone I would say it in. My Dad said "at least he used it properly". I may need to start a quarter jar to help keep me from using naughty words!!

Alec started eating my homemade baby food the other day. He LOVES it! We are starting with carrots. The first night I fed him he wolfed a ton of it. He was smiling and smacking his lips the entire time. Carsyn was never that excited about his food so it was really funny to watch.

After tomorrow Chris and I are off for seven days. We will be heading to Iowa for a couple days for a family reunion. Looking forward to the two days at the resort... not looking forward to the six hour drive with two little ones. We decided to leave a day early and stop at a hotel in Mason City (halfway point). Should be fun! Chris is leaving September 7th for one month of military stuff. More to follow!

Back to the grind

We had a great weekend over the 4th of July. We went to the lake up in Alexandria with our boys, a co-worker, his wife, and their nine month old son. We took the boat out on the lake for a few hours one of the days and had a couple camp fires (s'mores of course!)

It was a long week at work. I haven't been feeling myself all week. I ended up calling in sick one day and slept pretty much all afternoon. I am finding that since my tubal ligation my "fun week" of the month has been a lot more painful :( I didn't realize there were side effects of that type of surgery. Maybe I should have done a little more research!

I quit Weight Watchers a couple months ago. I figured I had learned how to eat following the program without actually following the program so, why pay the money? I have been doing really well not eating crap at work and what-not but have not lost anymore weight. As a matter of fact I have gained somewhere between 5-10lbs back. Ugh! When I followed the WW program I was very conscious of only eating bad once a week... I find that I am doing it a lot more often! So, I decided to get back to counting points. I am not going to rejoin the meetings but am going to give it an honest at-home try.

I am also planning to start the Couch to 5k program. I will have to let you know how it goes. I am not going to start that until I am feeling better. I am  hoping that is soon!!! We want to bring the boys to the zoo tomorrow and to the lake Tuesday so hoping I feel much, much better tomorrow morning! Will keep you posted on the weight status!!

Fun for all...

My parents have a camper set up at a site in Alexandria so we spent a few days up there with them. Chris and Carsyn did some fishing with my Dad and brothers, we all went for a boat ride and did some swimming, had a campfire, and gorged on all my Mom's delicious cooking!! We plan to go up for the 4th of July with some friends as well. The last night we took Carsyn to his very first big screen movie: Toy Story 3! He did sooo good I was amazed. We made it through the entire movie with no problems. He got fidgety a couple of times but nothing some Dots, Popcorn, or Juice couldn't fix!

We took the boys to "Spudfest" today. It was just a quick trip to get Carsyn on some rides while we waited for Grandma and Grandpa to pick them up for their house. He had a blast! His favorite by far was the bumper cars. As an early Birthday celebration for me (My Birthday is the 29th) Chris said we could do whatever I wanted. I, of course, was exhausted from the days up north so chose to lay in bed watching a move, eating pizza, and having a couple glasses of wine with him. I enjoyed it thoroughly! We watched Shutter Island and thought it was a bit long (and I guessed the ending in the first three minutes) but I did think it was good. Off to another busy work week...

Alec's beautiful 4 month old face........

Carsyn LOVES Toy Story........

The Stats: Carsyn & Alec

Today was a big day for us! We had Carsyn's two year doctor's appointment and Alec's fourth month appointment. What were learned was quite the surprise....

Alec: at birth Alec was 7lbs10oz, and 20.75inches. At four months old our little monster has shot up to 16lbs10oz, 26 inches bringing him to the 80th percentile (previously the 62nd)!! This is so shocking to us because Carsyn (who was born 10lbs1oz) weighed in at 16lbs15oz, 26 inches at his four month appointment. Little brother is catching right up and will be the "big"brother in no time!

Carsyn: at two years old Carsyn in currently 31 lbs 13oz and 35.75 inches!! This keeps him in the 90th percentile. We were talked to by the doctor because he was concerned that his height/weight ratio is a little off. He says we need to switch from whole milk to 2%. This is just amazing to me because he looks really healthy to me and he has zero chub... I have been concerned that he is too THIN!

Other things of concern is Carsyn's speech. The doctor is having us contact the early intervention people in our county to make sure Carsyn isn't having any problems. Carsyn speaks very few words on his own without prompting. Mostly he mimics. The doctor says by now he should be talking to me in two word sentences. He told me not to freak out he could just be a slow talker but if not he wants to get a jump on it.

We have also been referred to a cardiologist for Alec. Our doctor noticed a heart murmur at his two month appointment. He believes it is an "innocent" murmur (basically meaning he would grow out of it) but this check up it was still there and he can now hear it in other areas of his chest. Praying its still innocent!

Carsyn is TWO!

We celebrated Carsyn's second birthday yesterday with style! We didn't do a big shin-dig for his first birthday because we prefer to do it for the second. They are still so young when they turn one that I don't personally feel like they get any enjoyment out of it. This year he appreciated all aspects... the guests, the food, the presents, and the CAKE!

We did a Toy Story theme since he seems to be currently Toy Story obsessed! We served pizza and bread sticks from Little Caesars (mmMMmm)! We had a great turnout, thank you all so much to everyone that came!

I admit I got very teary eyed that morning. It is a lot different then his first birthday. Like I said... he still seemed like a baby to me!! But this year he is turning into such a big boy that I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed thinking about that day two years ago when I met my big boy for the first time ever!! HAPPY (day late) Birthday Carsyn, I love you!