Booyah!

Can I just brag for a second?

I am 14-2 in my brackets so far...In 2nd place in a pool of 32 (mostly guys).

I'll probably lose at the end again since I have UCLA taking it...my tie-breaker is 184 points...Bruce chastised me and said that UCLA and Kansas are both low scoring teams...whoops!

It's a fun way to keep up with the games though...I can't get as irritated with Bruce being glued to the TV if I'm following along too. This must be why he makes me do it every year!

Exercise is such good medicine

Back in the pre-marital days I was a gym rat with the best of them. Once Bruce and I got engaged & married, I realized I had put on 40 lbs since we had gotten together! That is ALOT!!!

(This was back in the day, on a trip to Colorado...I was probably 165...I'd LOVE to be there again!)

Anyway, after having the kids back to back, I now have no reason not to drop all of the excess weight I am carrying around. After Addy, I was able to drop 20 lbs fairly quickly (beyond my pre-pregnancy weight), doing a women's bootcamp-like thing after work 3 days a week. I loved it, the only down side is that Michael Thrash, the trainer, doesn't DO cold weather, so he only holds his bootcamp in the spring/summer months.

Back in September, I kind of went stagnant with my excercise for a while, and then Bruce and I joined LA Boxing downstairs from my office (DUH, how much more convenient can it get?!?!!?) once I realized they had a shower there (so I could go on my lunch break) Anyway, we joined in November, got through the holidays, worked pretty hard in January, was pretty lame in February, and was making work a priority on my lunch break and/or just making excuses.

I feel that if I put this out there, I will be able to stay more accountable. I weighed in at the Dr's Office on Tuesday at 197. I don't look 197 lbs in clothes, I carry alot of muscle, but I still need to drop at least 40 lbs to be at a more healty size and weight for my frame. I know I'll never be stick thin, but I want to feel good about myself.

Anyway, back to the title of my post, I went to kickboxing Monday, I don't do Tuesday's (b/c I take the morning off to be with the kids) and I was back down there today, really pushing it. I know that I can make it 4 days a week, as I was when we first started. There is no reason I can't lose at least 2-3 lbs a week following a healthy eating program and taking the time out of my day to get my butt moving and work out.

Sitting here now, I feel fantastic...some days I just have to remember that when I'm feeling lazy and want to blow it off. It is such a stress releiver and a way to clear my head.

So, with that, I'm off to eat my lunch and get on with my day...thanks for listening :o)

Naptime...a rambling of sorts

So, I hope I don't jinx things, but we had an interesting weekend with Chase...

When he wakes up in the morning, he usually comes in our room with his blankies (yes, at least 2 all the time) and climbs in bed, requesting to watch his "show". Since the time change, it's been darker in the AM, and he doesn't like the bright light of the TV that early. On Saturday morning, he got up earlier than usual (6:30 or so) and crawled into bed with us and slept until 9am!!! Addy is our great sleeper, and that's the time she's normally getting up, so it worked out perfectly!

All that being said, Chase is at the age where he's working out transitioning out of nap time, I'm afraid! Since he didn't get up until 9, there was no chance he was taking a nap on Saturday, which actually worked out great, because we had a friend of a friend come take some pictures of the kids to use on her new website
http://www.crissietraugottphoto.com/

and the kids were wonderful and from what I could see on her camera screen, the pictures are going to be awesome! I should have them by the end of next weekend. I just checked the website and there is a picture of Addy under the toddlers portfolio and one of Chase under the kids tab...they are famous, haha. I think she had some better shots of the kids, but was looking for a variety for her portfolio. I can't wait to see them all!

Sunday, Chase came into bed with us at about 7, so I didn't' think he was going to go back to bed, after tossing and turning for a while he played quietly while Bruce got up to get showered and get to the early service at Church. I took one for the team :o) and stayed home with the kids. Chase and I had a date at Panera for lunch yesterday while Addy stayed home with Bruce, and then we walked the outlet mall (MAN! Pottery Barn is having a huge sale, I had all kinds of stuff I wanted, and I turned the corner, realizing how long the line was and put it all back...bummer, I may sneak out of work for a bit and run back up there!) Target and the grocery store, by the time we got back it was dinner time, watched some basketball, and then it was bath time! He definitely was showing signs of "I can only be good for so long-ness" by dinner time, when he decided his spaghetti was better off on the floor. Other than that, he did great.

This AM, he got up at 6:45, so I'm sure he'll get a nap in today. It worked great for us over the weekend though, b/c it ends up being such a fight with him, to get him to lay down, that you end up wasting half of the day! Now, hopefully, we can just time stuff around Addy, which is way easier!

He was made to be a big brother!

Chase loves Addy so much...he kills me. This AM, we wanted to get in her pack and play with her to watch Barney and snuggle. She couldn't be bothered...she is so my child! :o)

At least she's getting her, um, roughage!

Chase and Addy are different in SO many ways, and I love it!

Yesterday while at the park, it was all I could do to keep her from eating all of the mulch! She loves to pick it up and show me, then quickly shove it in her mouth. Chase on the other hand just barely tolerates the mulch...we've come a long way from him freaking out and holding his hands up in the air for us to wipe off when he goes down...now, after a wipe-out, he quickly gets up and brushes it off, and goes about his business.

I have a feeling Addy is going to be our little sea-shell collector at the beach this summer...Chase hates the sand!

A few pictures of my silly girl...in the first one she is mad b/c Bruce and Chase had already headed out the door without her while I was trying to get her jacket...she kept smacking the glass!

Addy's Boo Boo

My Little Ladybug is healing up rather nicely after her big spill last week.

Look at those cheeks! She is rotten but she makes my heart melt! I just want to squeeze her!

Tuesday Morning Stuff

So, I work full time outside the home, but I realized while pregnant with Addy, that Chase would really benefit from some time outside the house playing with other kids. I worked it out with my boss that I would have Tuesday mornings off, to spend some time with him before he took on the very important role as big brother.

Over the past year+ our Tuesday AM's have consisted of Tiny Tots at the Ida Lee Rec Center, after he grew out of that we moved on to MyGym in Leesburg, which he really loved. At the end of the last session over the winter, he was to move up to the next age group, and they didn't have a class that would fit into my schedule...I don't think they had anything on Tuesdays at all. After that, we went on a Target/Grocery Store adventure for the next few weeks...Bruce was about to kill me...I can't go in to Target without spending $100 on "stuff". The last thing we tried was fun, it was Messes and Masterpieces at Ida Lee...it was a great arts and crafts class that would let the kids play with stuff like glitter, paint, glue...you know stuff that we wouldn't dare do at home. I think I had more fun than Chase did!

Anyway, here's my dilemma: I'd love to find something to do on my Tuesday mornings off where I could involve both Chase and Addy. The pool is out...I don't have enough eyes or arms to manage the two of them at this point. We like to go to the indoor moon-bounce but Addy is too young to play so I'd have to carry her around the whole time and try to keep an eye on Chase at the same time. Grocery shopping is boring and they don't get any excercise.

HMMMM! Tapping nails on my desk....

I guess this will be all resolved soon when it warms up enough that I can take them for a walk (I wish I was a runner!) around the neighborhood and then burn an hour playing at the park. I just wish there was something else I could do with the two of them so that Addy and Chase could get together with some other kids their age to play. It's tough to get into play-groups or to meet other mom's with kids their age since I don't stay at home, and can't meet up during the day!