30 Days!

Well folks, I made it to 30 days!!!  If you have no clue what I’m talking about, let me share with you.  I accepted a Challenge from my friend to exercise for 30 days.  We were to exercise for 5 days straight, take two days off, and continue that for a total of 30 days of exercise.  That took us about a month and a half (6 weeks). 

During the challenge, I mostly walked.  I walked around our neighborhood, I walked at the park, and I Walked Away the Pounds on days I couldn’t get out of the house.  Rick and Jack joined me for two weeks walking in the park.  I loved that!  Rick would push the stroller, while I got busy walking.  We are up to walking 3 miles a day!

 (this isn’t me!)

Last week, I noticed a change in my walking.  I walk pretty fast to keep my heart rate up, and after a while, I was having trouble keeping up with Rick – he always pushed me to walk a little bit faster.  All of a sudden, I started to speed walk.  My stride changed, my hips swayed differently, and my arms were bent like a runner’s.  I found that I could not only keep up with Rick, but I could go even faster with no extra effort.  It was amazing!  I felt like I could walk more than 3 miles.

This week it rained every day! So, I stayed in every evening to Walk Away the Pounds.  Rick tried to watch Jack while I walked in my living room, but sometimes Jack just wanted me to hold him.  At one point, I did a knee raise right into his little cheek!  It was then that I decided to put him in the baby carrier and walk with him on my back.  That lasted for a little while, but thankfully, he asked to get down not too long into the walk.  That did add a little more intensity to my workout though.

(This is me!)

I’m pretty proud of myself for sticking with this challenge for 6 weeks.  I don’t see any difference in my body or the way my clothes fit right now, but I’m planning to give it another 4 months to really evaluate how it’s working for me.  I figure that after 20 or so weeks, I should see some difference in the way my clothes fit!  I can tell a difference in my stamina though.  I don’t get winded as easily, and I feel like I can walk farther than I did when I first started.  I don’t get winded walking up the stairs either!

I’m not sure what the next 30 day challenge will be, though, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be about food. Heather said something about giving up sugar.  I stopped reading her blog right after I read that.  No, just kidding.  I don’t think I’m going to go so extreme yet.  For now, I’m going to add more plants to my diet.  I need to eat more fruits and veggies.  I’m not sure how that will translate into a 30 day challenge, but we’ll figure something out. 

I can’t wait to report back in 4 months on my weight loss and how my clothes will be fitting better. I better stick with this!

Some Growth Chart Moments

I haven’t stopped to mention all the new things Jack has been up to in a while.  He’s growing SO FAST!  It seems that he’s getting smarter by the day. 

Some of the words he has now include (but are not limited to):

Hi!: Which started out as “Hi-ya!” and has now become just “Hi!”

Bye: He will say “Bu-Bye!” constantly around the house or in the van. I think he likes how it sounds

Bus: This was one of his first words. But until this weekend, it was just “buu”. Now he has added the s at the end.

Shoe: It sounds like “tschoo” And he can also match up his shoes.  I ask him to go get his shoes, he’ll bring me one shoe.  When I ask him to get the other one, he picks out the matching shoe every time.  This is only impressive because all of his shoes are just thrown in a pile, so he really has to dig to find the other one.

Woof: this was another first word, but it still sounds like “fuff Fuff!”

Free: Just yesterday I pulled him out of his high chair and said “You’re Free!” Now he’s saying “Fee!” all over the place.

Amen:  At dinner time each night, we hold each other’s hands and say grace.  Jack will grab my hand and sit patiently until Daddy’s done saying his prayer.  Rick always ends the same way, so Jack figured out when to shout “AY-MEEEE!”  It’s so adorable.

Choo-Choo: he loves everything that has to do with Choo-Choo trains.  He says “Choo Choooooo” and something like “chgga chgga”

Animal noises: Baaaa, Meeeeee (which is really Moooo), Cuck cuck for Cluck cluck, and a weird oink sound that I can’t type into words. It sounds like he’s clearing his throat.

He LOVES books.  I mean LOOOOOVES books!  I think he’d let me read to him every minute of every day.  He has definite favorites, and he’s learned how to ask for them.  Two books that I love the way he asks for are Goodnight Moon and Clickety Clack.  He’ll say “Hushhhh” for Goodnight Moon or a sound like he’s clearing his throat for Clickety Clack.  (he must not get the K sound yet)

He has become a very stubborn boy.  (Though, I guess I saw that back when he was stubborn about not going to sleep all those times!)  He is mostly obedient, but he does like to test the limits with most things.  When I say “Don’t do that,” it’s must sound like an invitation to “see how far you can go before Mom says NO again". 

(Like here, where I told him NOT to get into the bag of charcoal. You can see that he just heard the invitation)

And he is a MY-BYSELF kind of kid.  When my sister was little, she would say, “No! I do my-byself!”  That has stuck with our family to this day.  Jack definitely doesn’t want anyone’s help when he’s determined to do something on his own. 

I can’t believe he’s already 16 months old.  Even though this second year isn’t nearly as fast as the first year, it’s still going by so quickly.  He seems to know more or do something new every day.  He is  a total blessing to our family, and I can’t wait to see what he does next!  (maybe it will go to sleep without a fight – a mom can hope!)

*oh, and by the way, for anyone who is interested, we’re no longer breastfeeding.  He was completely weaned after my Mommy Retreat.  All went well!

My Personal Trainer

The other day, while we were driving home from church, Jack was in the back saying “Up! Down! Up! Down!”  I caught him once even lifting his leg up and down as he was saying it.  We thought that was cute, and encouraged him to continue doing it by repeating him every time he said it.  We had no clue why he was saying “Up! Down!”

Then, last night, while I was doing my Walk Away the Pounds video, Jack started saying “Up! Down!” while Leslie Sanson was saying it on the video.  She only says it for one segment that I recall, and it’s while we’re lifting our weights doing bicep curls.  I was walking in front of my computer, doing bicep curls, and Jack was playing with his toy truck saying “Up! Down!”  It was the funniest thing!!

Now I have proof that I’ve been working out. Most days we go to the park, but we’ve been having a very rainy couple of days here, so I’ve been stuck inside doing my videos instead.  Evidently, Jack has been watching me.

I love how Jack is a little window into what I do and how I act.  I’m sure it will come back to bite me in the butt, but for now, it’s cute to see what he’s picking up on.  I remember a time when he picked up my broom and dustpan (he loves to play with the dustpan) and started sweeping the kitchen like I do.  I had to share that photo with my family to prove that I actually DO clean my house!

Story Time at the Library

Every Wednesday at 11:00 am, Boozle and I go to our local library and enjoy Baby Lap Time.  It’s a story time for 0-1 year olds.  Jack used to take a nap right through that hour, so for the longest time, we were always missing it.  At around 10 months, he decided to drop his morning nap, so we were able to wiggle in a trip to the library on Wednesdays. 

It’s usually a very small turnout.  For a long time, there were only about 5 babies (all of them boys) that came regularly.  We got to know the boys very well, and looked forward to seeing them and their mamas each week.  Then, all of a sudden, a few weeks ago, the population of our story time tripled!  There are so many babies now, which makes it SO FUN!

 

Today was our last Wednesday for story time for three weeks.  We are going to miss Miss Chrissy, the babies and their mamas (and a few daddies)!  I couldn’t leave without bringing a treat, so I made my banana nut bread into mini muffins to share with the crowd.  (They were a hit)

 

One of the favorite things all the boys like to do is play with the door stops.  They can’t open the doors, but they love putting the door stops up and down.  Jack had to wait his turn this time.

 

Jack loves books.  He especially loves books with Choo-Choo Trains in them.  We are always reading books around our house.  I had to capture this picture on our way home from story time today (sorry for the poor quality – it was with my cell phone) of Jack reading his new library book. 

 

I can’t wait for the first week in June when story time will start up again.  It will be fun to see how much all the babies have grown!!

Happy Mother’s Day

I hope you had a wonderful day today.  I spent today with my mother and sister and her family.  It was a beautiful, sunny, chilly day.  We went to the park to get some family photos.

Last year on Mother’s Day, we dedicated Jack at our church.  He was 4 months old at the time.

This year, we tried to get another family shot.  Jack was not going for it at all!  He wanted to run around, not be held captive for a picture.

 

This was the best we ended up with today.  It’s not horrible, but you can see the frustration in Jack’s face. 

Oh Pasta, How I Love Thee!

 

Today is a backwards WFMW.  Instead of sharing our tips, we get to ask for help from other bloggers.  My questions are about making pasta.  Here is the background….

Last week, I decided to make some pasta.  I had made up my mind a while ago to start making my own pasta, but I hadn’t gotten around to making enough to store it in the pantry. 

After remembering the recipe for pasta incorrectly, I ended up making a TON of pasta.  (I thought it was 2 cups of flour to 1 egg, and it’s actually 2 eggs to 1 cup of flour)

Here is what my kitchen looked like….

I really need a pasta drying rack!!

These little bits at the end made for a yummy pasta lunch (pasta with Prego.  You can’t get easier than that!)

After I was done making and hanging the pasta, Boozle and I went to the library for story time.  When we came back after a few errands, this is what I found…

The pasta had dried and started to break off onto the counters (and floor!).  It was quite a mess! If you just breathed, they broke into pieces.

  

In the end, I ended up with three big containers full of pasta.  The pasta is all different lengths, because they all broke at different points.  And, to get them to fit into the containers, I had to break them down even further.  It’s not very pretty! 

 

Believe it or not, this will only last a few dinners.  We really love our pasta!

If anyone out there is a pasta expert, can you tell me how to keep it from being so brittle?  And how can I make it straighter? I’m not sure I have enough countertop space to lay it all out flat.  Do you have a better pasta recipe? 

Thanks for stopping by!  If you’d like to see if you can help out other bloggers with their questions, head on over to We Are THAT Family and see who has linked up today!

Motherhood

This post isn’t a long dissertation on what it’s like being a mother.  I just read over at We Are THAT Family about Kristen’s definition of Motherhood.  She said '”…it’s about the impromptu kisses and hugs.”  I can only add one more thing to that short list.  Laughter.  Kisses, hugs, and laughter is what Motherhood is about.  Well, it’s what the good stuff is about.  I know it’s about the tears, fears, and spills too, but let’s focus on the happy times for now.

This made me think of these three pictures.  They are the definition of Motherhood.  One of the pictures is Jack with his Grandma, and it’s fuzzy, but it captures the best moment.  I have to imagine that the only thing better than Motherhood is Grand-Motherhood!

I love being a mom!!!