Currently (7-3-12)

Currently I am...

Remembering that it took more than a month to gain the additional weight that I have, and it's going to take more than a month to get rid of it. I've lost ten pounds so far and it's been the most work ever to lose it.

Learning about vaccines through a class at Penn (University of Pennsylvania). It's through a program called Coursera. It's a pretty amazing program and it's FREE. If you're  someone who loves to learn for the sake of learning, it's the perfect thing for you!

Wishing for someone to make an offer on our house in NC. Seven months of praying and hoping that each showing yields an offer... we're coming down to the end of our savings and have no more money. It's scary to think of our next step if we don't get an offer soon. Two mortgage payments is slowly killing us.

Considering our next steps for adopting baby #2. I'm in the researching phase which is stirring up a lot of emotions and feelings. Sometimes I HATE that we have to adopt, mainly because it's SO EXPENSIVE. The process is very intrusive and I hate that I have to be an open book and share intimate details in order to adopt, but two crack heads to make a baby and not answer to anyone. :-/

Cooking a lot of things that I've found on Pinterest. It's seriously been a life-saver and inspired more creativity and fresh ideas! Steve loves it and I love finding new things to try! It's saving us money from going out to eat... we're definitely dining out less. :D

Stressed

I absolutely HATE feeling stressed. Sometimes I think about my situations that cause me stress and I'm not sure why I allow myself to get stressed out. I'm not getting paid to be stressed and everything that's currently stressing me out is something that SHOULD be enjoyable and NOT stressful. Grrrr.

I'm so excited for my parents to come down for their visit on Monday. It's been a month and a half since we last saw them and it's so great to know that they're going to be here for a whole week! It'll be just us and them for seven days and I can't wait!!! 

It's so different when they come here to visit. I feel like we have them all to ourselves because they're not working. We can do whatever they want and they'll be happy just to be with us. It's fantastic. When they're here, we're not trying to see other people AND see them too. It's just us and them and we can focus on just really enjoying our time together.

Tomorrow Gus and I are going to the local Dairy Queen for a tour! I'm excited and I KNOW he'll love it since he LOVES sweets (especially ice cream)!! We're going sunflower picking on Monday and then we aren't doing another MOMS Club activity until the following Tuesday! I have a board meeting on the 6th, but other than that, it's nothing until the 10th, and then nothing again after that until the 16th! It'll be nice to have some down time at home. :-)

I'll be sure to take some pictures tomorrow of the tour and will post them in the afternoon. The good news is that Gus IS napping again. He must have had an off day before, because he napped well yesterday and today. :D

Alright-- I'm off to bed! Here are some pictures from today:

 

Sharing ice cream after our dinner (it was a 2 for $20 deal with an app/2 entrees/dessert)

6-26-12 KangaZoom

This morning, Gus and I headed to KangaZoom to meet up with Kathryn, Aubree, Kirsten, and Sam. We were supposed to go to a place called Sky Zone for toddler time on trampolines, but when Kathryn called yesterday to double-check, she found out that they don't do the toddler time during the summer. We had to make a last minute change and we decided to check out KangaZoom since none of us had been there.


It was great. Very clean. Exceptionally clean I will say. It was decorated really cute and had AMPLE places to sit and be comfy while your kid plays. It was $9.25 to get in, but thankfully, since we came as a group, we saved $3 each. It's still more than Catch Air, but it was fun. They have a lot more inflatables at KangaZoom, but Catch Air has the train table that Gus LOVES, plus the ball pits, the monkey tree, lots of toys, and the blocks. I think Catch Air is more for your money, but we had fun at KangaZoom.


Kirsten had a Groupon/LivingSocial deal that was 10 visits for $25. If I see a deal like that again, I'm for sure going to buy it. Otherwise, it'll be a while before we head back. I still have five visits to Catch Air on my card and then ANOTHER card to activate from Groupon. :D  Yes, we like Catch Air.  :)


Here are a few pictures from our morning out:

After spending the morning playing, we all headed to zPizza for lunch. At KangaZoom, we were given a $5 coupon and each of us used it for lunch. They had a pick three deal for $8 and I got a piece of pizza for me and one for Gus and then a side salad. I also got drinks for both of us and it came to $11. With my coupon, Gus and I ate lunch for $6 and it was delicious!!! I'll definitely go back!!


When we got home, we played for a bit and then I thought Gus was ready for a nap. He chose (again) to not nap. I am so very afraid that our days of him taking an afternoon nap are over. :-/


He'll still have an hour of quiet time in his room, but I don't know if he'll be sleeping. He yawns and appears sleepy, but when he's up in his room, he's talking, singing, counting, or jumping. I don't know. We'll see.


I'm excited to have the next two days to do nothing and stay home. Gus and I have been going, going, going every day with activities and it'll be nice to just chill here. I won't complain about having too much to do, because it could be opposite and we could still not know anyone, be miserable, homesick, and lonely. 


Anyway, we had a good day and I'm eager to spend tomorrow relaxing at home.

Super Saturday

Yummmm

This morning, Steve took Gus to his first Gymboree Play and Learn class. They're doing it together, just the two of them and I think it's great. It's the first time EVER that I've been at home by myself and Steve and Gus were off doing something. The house was incredibly quiet... too quiet.

Steve said that Gus had a great time, but he was ready to go before the class was over. He said there were other dads there, so I'm glad he wasn't the only one (not that it would matter).

Right after they returned, it was time for me to leave for my nail appointment. After I was done, I stopped at Staples and got some stuff to organize my MOMS Club stuff into one binder. It's a much bigger binder, but I'm pleased.

I stopped and grabbed lunch for us and brought it home for us to enjoy while we watched some television. Not too long after, Gus went down for his nap.

When Steve went up to get Gus, the worst fear I had about our crib tent had come true. The reason it was recalled was because if it's inverted, it can kill a child. Well-- Gus must have been trying to hang from the top, because when Steve went in to get him, the tent was inverted and Gus was laying on top of it (picture a dome tent... pull the middle and it becomes like a bowl). Steve was changing Gus while I was atttempting to pull the tent back into position and IT WAS SUPER HARD.

So, had Gus been under it when it collapsed, he could have been seriously injured. We pulled the tent out and he's now just in the crib with nothing keeping him contained. The time we have with him in there without climbing out is limited... when he does climb out, he'll be moving to his new room whether he wants to go or not.

Steve worked on my computer all day (THANK YOU BABY). A few weeks ago I got a new hard drive and he's been slowly adding my stuff back on. Today he set up my printer and scanner and hopefully tomorrow we'll have iTunes ready. :D

After Gus was up from his nap, we headed to Bobby G's for dinner. You might remember a few weeks ago when Gus and I went there with my MOMS Club for a tour, and they gave me a $10 gift card. Well, we decided to head out and use it tonight. IT WAS DELICIOUS.

We both agree that it's totally worth the drive. I think we'll go there next Tuesday for Family Night with my mom and dad. I think they'd like the atmosphere and I'm certain they'd love the pizza. I figure my mom will probably get a hotdog... just my guess.  ;-)

I weighed in this morning and I didn't gain or lose. I'm a little disappointed. I feel like I'm watching what I eat (I allow myself one "cheat" day where I don't count calories) and working out... so I thought I'd be dropping weight like crazy. However, it's just coming off slower than I had expected. I guess it's normal-- my dad said that the body tends to hold on to fat cells because it goes into starvation mode.

While my point of exercising was to just get moving (and I am), I also wanted and need to lose weight. I know it's not a race, and I am going slow and steady, but it's frustrating. I'm not giving up-- I'm staying firm to my routine and I am proud of myself for sticking with it this long. I know it's not an option to stop... this is a lifestyle change.

Anyway, I had just hoped to lose more than nine pounds in the two months that I've been at it. That's all. If I lose 5 pounds a month... I guess it isn't too bad. Just puts me at taking longer to achieve my goal... maybe once I start running for longer increments, I'll lose more??? Who knows.

I'm going to bed.

6-22-12 Buford Dam Park

 

Completely exhausted

We went to Buford Dam Park today with some friends and had a GREAT time! We left here around 9:30 and got there right at 10am. It was $4 for the car. Kirsten and Sam arrived just behind us, so we walked to the beach together from the parking lot.

Going to the beach, Kirsten had her stroller and offered to put my umbrella, bag with towels and his Puddle Jumper, two chairs, and bag on her stroller so all I had to do was carry the cooler. It was great!!

We arrived on the scene and Kathryn and Aubree were already there. The kids hit the water while we set up umbrellas and chairs. I'm SO glad that Gus's Puddle Jumper arrived yesterday-- it paid for itself today. He has zero fear when it comes to the water-- which is scary and exciting at the same time.

 

My friend Sheri arrived shortly after we did, with her two boys Hunter and Michael

 

He barely had lunch-- he was too excited and wanted to head back into the water!

 

He went past the orange buoy SEVERAL times and ended up getting TWO time outs because of his choices!!! It didn't bother him one bit to be in water OVER HIS HEAD and floating

 

Enjoying a snack

 

 

Lake Lanier

We had a 2:00 mobile groomer appointment for Ned and I wanted to be home by 1:30. I thought that we'd need to leave no later than 1:00 to get home on time. At like 12:30, Kathryn started packing up and when she said she was leaving, I decided to start getting Gus ready too.

By the time I had everything packed up... I realized that I was going to have to carry everything myself, because Kirsten wasn't leaving yet. She offered to let me use her stroller, but I had Gus and the cooler and it wasn't possible to carry everything.

It was so hot as I was trekking over the beach. I had to stop numerous times to catch my breath because I was exhausted. I didn't want to have heat stroke or a heart attack... so I took my time, but it resulted in me taking more than 20 minutes to reach the car.

When I got near the car, I told Gus (who had refused shoes and was barefoot) to wait so I could pick him up (the asphalt was black and VERY hot)... he didn't listen and ran across to the car. He started screaming because his feet were burning and I had to drop everything to get to him. It was a mess.

THEN... when I did get to him, I noticed that he had poop running all down his legs (not all the way to the ground yet). I put him in the back and as I was trying to get a diaper and a wipe, he decided to close the lift gate on me... totally cracked me in the head. 

I got his swim diaper off (BTW-- they don't absorb anything so everything oozed out of the diaper) and it was a gigantic heap of explosive diarrhea. I presume it was from swallowing lake water. It was so gross and he was so upset.

It was a traumatic ending for both of us.

I got him cleaned up, and got him in the car and while it cooled off, I got him some cold water from the cooler and a snack and he was happy to have Mickey on the DVD player and sip on some cold water. I cleaned up the poo-tastrophy and then finally got loaded into the car. It was 1:15.  I had left the beach at 12:40.

It's a good thing that we left when we did. I got home right at 1:45 and had just enough time to change and cool off before the groomer arrived.

Overall it was a fantastic day. I think for the future... I might go with a smaller cooler. I don't know. It was a lot to carry and I was exhausted just from making the trek back to the car from the beach. Now I'm really tired and ready for bed.

Tomorrow, Steve is taking Gus to his first Gymboree class. It's just the two of them and I'm excited for Gus and Steve to have an activity just for them. It'll be SOOOOO weird to be home alone without either of them here.