Weight Loss Post

Bruce has been hitting the gym really hard lately...he started a new job a few months back, and the guys he works with have been a great support system...instead of going out for lunch every day, they rock out at the gym instead. :o) He got his body comp done today...

I am SO proud to announce that he has lost 47 lbs since we started bootcamp in MAY!!! I've lost 25-30 lbs in the same time frame. I just told him that our goal together should be 100 lbs by Christmas.

Way to go Brucie!!!

PS: Check out Chase and Addy's crossed legs...goofballs

Princess Prissy Pants

Addy has turned into a little big girl OVERNIGHT I tell you!

I don't know why this shocks Bruce and I so much...maybe it's her size...at her 18 month checkup (that she just went to at 20 months...SUCKY MOM award right here!) she weighed in at 21lbs...she's only in the 5th percentile for weight, and 25th percentile for height and head circumference. Just for a little comparison (breaking out Chase's "stats") Chase was 21 lbs at 6 months...at 18 months he was 30 lbs and 95th percentile for everything...BEAST!

She is talking so much sooner and better than Chase did...I don't know if it's a girl thing or a second child thing...but homegirl can talk...in sentences.

All of a sudden at the park, Addy has no fear, walks up the steps to the slide herself, and then hurls herself down the slide as fast as she can. As soon as she gets to the bottom, she scoots off herself, and runs right back around to do it again. Maybe we babied Chase too much at that age? I don't know...it's just amazing to see how much more agile Addy is. Here are a few pictures from a walk around the lake and park this weekend...check out her "track suit"...she was stylin ;o)

Lookout below!!!
Addy LOVES animals and is obsessed with her "Chachis" (the horses and burrows that my mom takes care of) Chachi is the name of one of the burrows...Say hi to Chachi:but she likes to call them all that. She knows all of their names though, and says horse, etc...so I'm not sure why she's hung up on Chachis...it's cute though. This AM I took them up to the barn for a visit. Here she is peeking through the gate watching Chase help my mom

I love this picture of her
Here she is eating the piece of apple that was meant for her buddy :o)And here she is trying to feed it to one of them...she freaks out last minute and pulls away...we're working on that ;o)

My excuses for being so lame lately!!!

Holy cow...I haven't blogged since 9/10...so not like me! Wanna hear my top 5 excuses?? ;O)

5) The kids have been sick...Chase more than Addy...we finally got a referral to see an ENT (ear, nose and throat specialist) and Chase will more than likely have his Tonsils and Adenoids removed in the next few months...my poor little guy can hardly swallow. This means I've been out of the office ALOT for sick days, drs appts, etc...

4) Work is BUSY...which is really great. The foreclosure market is keeping me swamped. Real estate is a real challenge right now, and I know alot of my friends are in the same business, so you can appreciate how thankful I am to be able to "complain" that I am busy...SO busy in fact, that I hadn't been on myspace or facebook for almost 2 weeks now, and my blog reading is so ridiculously behind...I've only been reading my personal friends blogs and ignoring the 75+ other blogs that I normally would spend an hour a day reading...

3) I'm FINALLY getting to re-design our website at work...thank goodness! Our current one is just really out of date and lame...our new site should launch by Mid-November at the latest...yay!!!

2) The past few months life has been really bad/crazy, I am SO, SO happy to say things are back on track, AND better than ever.

1) I've been working out instead of taking my lunch break to read/blog. I haven't been able to do Michael's Bootcamp for the last 2 months, which I really miss, (BY THE WAY...please check out his blog, he's been doing a really great job at it!) and hope to start back up in November. In the meantime, I've been going downstairs to La Boxing to do their kickboxing classes a few days a week...nothing comes close to Michael's programs, but the kickboxing has been a good band-aid in the meantime

A GOOD ENOUGH BAND AID (combined with not eating/drinking like an IDIOT) THAT I AM WEARING PANTS TODAY THAT HAD A DRY CLEANING TAG ON THEM DATED

***2/18/04!!!***

That's only 6 months after Bruce and I got married and I didn't even know I was pregnant with Chase yet...I've been a fatty for almost 5 years now, and I'm NEVER going back. Boo-yah!!!

Just had to share, and let everyone know I'm still alive...I hope to be catching up with everyone soon!!

Kiddies are starting to feel bettter

Man, I just looked at my last blog, it's been over a week since I've posted...things have been rather dismal on the home front, the kids have been super sick with pink eye, upper respiratory infections, and then after a long, gross weekend of sickness, Chase was able to add an ear infection to his list as well. This first picture is of us before bedtime over the weekend, watching Beauty and the Beast, both kids propped up so they weren't coughing so bad, babies, blankies and all

I am happy to say that yesterday was really the first good day that BOTH the kids have had since the middle of last week. They finally ate a real meal, played outside, and were in better spirits. Addy was showing signs of improvement on Monday, but Chase needed a bit more rest. When I got home from work yesterday we headed down to the park to see if they wanted to play for a bit...I had taken them for a walk on Friday and Chase didn't even get out of the stroller down at the park, that's how cruddy he was feeling.





Here we are on our way down the "buns of steel" hill...I had to take a picture on the way down, I'm too busy trying to suck in some air and wipe my sweat away without losing the stroller on the way up the hill. Adding the 60+lbs of kids and stroller to this hill really makes it tough!

Here are the munchkins...Addy LOVES sitting in this train
racing down the slide...Addy smoked Chase
Finally a big pretty smile from my lady-bug!
Chase going to check out the choo choo train

And finally...wait for it...a SMILE from my Chasey.

Ahh...mama can breathe a little easier now...wait, after I finish my coughing fit :o) Hope everyone is doing well and keeping as far from the germs as possible!

So fun I forgot to take pictures!

This weekend was a whirlwind! On Saturday The Parker Family made the trek up to Bluemont to come play with us. We went over to Great Country Farms and pretty much had the place to ourselves...it was completely different than going at peak pumpkin-picking time! The kids all commented on how stinky it was...haha. After our visit to the farm we had dinner outside, the kids were too busy playing to get much eating done, but they had fun, so it was worth it. By the end of the night all three were so filthy we threw them all in the tub at once...poor Addy was exhausted by that point and was aghast over having to share the tub with two dirty boys...when she was probably the worst of the group!!! We sent Cade home in a pair of Chase's jammies and he was super cute. What a great time! Thanks Megan and Chad!

Sunday I went down to visit with The Lillis Family for a little double birthday and a good luck to Gigi party...the little peanut is having surgery on Friday...please keep her in your thoughts! I ALSO had the pleasure of meeting The Kloehn Family's newest addition, Miss Abby, who was super sweet and slept in everyone's arms, including mine...she smelled perfectly "baby" if you know what I mean.

Monday was just "Monday"...you know? I'm so glad I got to meet up with Megan, Chad, Cade, Megan, Tommy, Gigi, Karen and Abby...it was great to see everyone! Next time I have to remember to pull out the camera!

A trip to the barn

My mom has her own horse, Maya, which she boards with another horse, Sailor, and 2 burrows named Chachi and Sarah. She helps take care of them all, as the owner of the barn, Dave is in his upper 70's (I think!). She lives about a mile away so she and the kids make the trip over to feed and visit often.

This weekend we tagged along and I was so proud to see how well Chase handles the animals, feeds them and knows his way around the barn. Once my mom opened the big red doors, he marched right in saying hi to all of the animals, acting like he owned the place. Apparently this has been a progression over the last few months, with him getting more confident and comfortable around the animals...no suprise there, they are HUGE!

Both kids bee-lined for the treat bucket to get the animals a snack but Mom had Chase help feed the horses first. He went right to it, like he does this every day (Ok, so he does do this every few weekends!)

A Little help from Grandma to get the feed in Maya's bucketSay hi to Chachi and Sarah...they liked the camera :o)


Addy liked petting Sarah, the smaller of the two burrows...they have alot in common, you know...being little and all

Here's my big boy helping Mom brush Sailor and Maya (they have their "sunglasses" on to help keep the bugs out of their eyes and ears) Sailor is the one closest, Maya is the smaller one behind my Mom)

I have to add the next 2 pictures, Addy was so cute...she was trying to feed a snack to one of the animals...look at her squatting offering out the treat:

And then see how far away she was...it was hilarious. So sweet!

A trip to the firehouse and police station

My Dad is a Lo. Co. Firefighter, so I always thought I was "too cool" to go to the open houses they hold at the firehouse. :o) (on a side-note, in elementary school I'd always be pissed off on the day they'd bring the firetruck over to the school, b/c my Dad could never be there...they sent the volunteer staff over...that was a bummer) Bruce's dad, Mike, is a retired DC Detective, and now he works over in South Riding at the Safety Center. They were having an open house on Saturday AM, and Mike thought the kids would enjoy it, so we decided to take a ride over.

We couldn't get over the turnout they had! I guess kids DO love firetrucks and all that jazz! They had a moon-bounce, Kid ID Station, you could go through the trucks, ambulances and police station. It was a fun little trip for the kids!

We got to meet a K-9 named Mr. B...he sniffs out bombs and had the softest ears. Here are the kids checking him out

and then Chase finally got the nerve up to pet himAddy loves trying on hats! She'll try them on but never wants to keep them on...it was pretty windy so she couldn't keep her hat on straight.
Chase getting to snoop around...he is so nosey!

And last but not least...Miss Addy putting out the vibe.