No One Looks Good in Spandex
Posted: August 6, 2009 at 1:33 am
It seems every minute I am not playing with/feeding/cleaning up after/disciplining/etc… I am either doing laundry or working out. Or at least thinking about working out. 
Mostly I’m doing laundry. My trainer asked me to write a paragraph about my experience and how using a personal trainer helped me – this will be posted on a board along with a “Before” and “After” photo. I’m excited about what I’ve accomplished and am eager to share it but I’m also a little embarrassed to have my mug up on a board. Especially since I forgot to ask a few pertinent questions like, “How big will this photo be?” and “how long will it stay up?” and “what do I have to wear in the photo?” That last one was a big factor.
After I agreed (which was mainly to help promote my trainer because I think she’s awesome) to do it, she told me to be sure my ‘after’ photo was “fitness-looking” and showed me a few examples. The examples included people working out at the gym or next to a bicycle.. etc… In other words, my favorite photo from Vegas wasn’t going to cut it – they wanted me to show some spandex.
Now, before you all start judging my spandex wearing behind let me explain. I sweat like a fat man. Anything other than this “spandexy” type material shows that sweat in all the WRONG plays. I usually spend an hour on the bike before I go to the weights or step master – the step master includes side leg lifts and NOBODY wants to witness that after an hour of cardio in regular workout pants. G.R.O.S.S. Let’s just say I am nasty and leave it at that.
Some of you may wonder why I don’t opt for pants/shirts that are looser fitting that would have as much of an issue. Did I mention I sweat like a HUGE MAN? I’ve tried everything and that which does not fit tightly rides up, that which does not ride up shows nasty sweaty spots and that which neither rides nor shows sweaty spots is called Spandex. Technically i don’t think it is actually spandex but it may as well be. One thing I decided early on about going to the gym is that I’m way past embarrassment. I had to lose the inhibition, the stress of how stupid I looked working out, the uncomfortableness of looking gross in my workout clothes… I had to just let it go and focus on getting in shape. I’m totally okay with my Spandex as long as I’m around people who don’t know me.
That being said, here is ‘Before’ (December 2008) and ‘After’ (July 2009)
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Sticky Situation
Posted: July 29, 2009 at 12:42 am
As a mom of three small children I often find myself covered in stickers. A lot of stickers don’t scare me – it’s when there are only a few that scares me. Odd as it sounds, a few strategically placed stickers are much more obvious than a pants leg covered in them. I hope when people see me out and about in public and notice the stickers on the back of my shirt or the butt of my jeans or the (fill the in the blank…)… I hope they see a mom who loves to play with her kids and doesn’t mind getting sticky.
Sometimes the stickers I unintentionally wear have messages on them such as “The Best”, “Super”, “Terrific” or something similar. These are the ones that usually end up on my rear and I wonder if people think I’m applauding the appearance of my a…. backside. My butt has been known to carry many messages and I’m sure I only know about half of them. The rest I may not want to know.
The other day, my darling daughter, who is usually the culprit, saved me from leaving the house with a humiliating message on my rump. Ladies, you know those feminine hygiene stickers they put in the crotch of a new bathing suit? yes. that’s the one. Apparently one was stuck to my butt and we were walking out the door when Gracey said “Mommy, you have a sticker on your butt… I like your sticker!” I started to just say thanks and blow it off because she would say that about a tiny scrap of tape….. THANK GOD, I reached behind me to see what sticker she was referring to. Can you imagine seeing me walking through the mall with the message “Warning! Do not remove! This is for hygiene” stuck on the butt of my jeans? (or something to that effect)
Two very important lessons: 1)ALWAYS listen to your children and 2)ALWAYS make sure the hygiene stickers make it to the trashcan
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Sheer Genius
Posted: July 22, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I think my child is a genius. I mean, we may be talking the next Albert Einstein here. He is so smart and so young to be able to grasp the complex concepts I see him mastering every day. For example, the other day he picked up a comb and brought it to his head and mocked combing his hair. How is it possible that he understands what a comb is for? As if that isn’t proof enough, yesterday he was looking at a book and then got distracted with something else. I told him to “put that down” and then said, “Mathew, bring the book to mommy and I’ll read it to you.” And that unbelievably intelligent 13 month old walked right over the book, picked it up and brought it to me as he climbed in my lap.
He loves books and will almost always sit still enough to have one read as long as he can turn the pages. He especially likes books with “touch and feel” pages. I just can’t get over how smart he is and how much he understands. And then I catch myself wondering at his genius and laugh as I realize that 90% of other 13 month olds can do the same thing. It isn’t a high IQ (though I’m sure his is through the roof) that brings about this new knowledge but the natural progression of things.
But I still like to ponder the possibility that my child is ACTUALLY the smartest 13 month old in the history of the world. It is so easy to assume the best about our children and I hope that never changes. it makes me consider how God expects the best of me and how He believes I am the best, the most unique, the smartest, etc… and He thinks the same of you. Even when we fall short of our potential, God still reaches for the best in us. Still believes the best for us. Yet many of us struggle to believe Him period. Not believe in Him, but believe HIM. Believe His word and His promises. Believe that if we “delight ourselves in the Lord He will give us the desires of our hearts”.
I believe God takes great delight in each one of us and that He celebrates the smallest of our accomplishments.
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Itchy Itchy Fourth
Posted: July 4, 2009 at 2:21 pm
We’re having a few people over today for burgers and swimming and really looking forward to relaxing in the backyard…in the 100 degree heat. 
Poor little Mathew has a rash and won’t be able to play outside with us which means I won’t be playing outside much, either. Which is fine because I enjoy having one on one time with my little guy. And I’ll get to play while he is napping after lunch.
Mathew has eczema pretty bad and something has set it off – I think it was the shredded cheese I let him eat the other night. My child has allergies that do strange things – for example, if ice cream gets on his skin and stays there more than a minute or so, he’ll break into hives wherever the ice cream touched his skin. And if he eats carrots and mushes them on his skin he will get hives there, too. Not all milk products affect him, or at least not to the same degree. I’m going to have to start writing down what he eats every day and then writing whether or not he has a runny nose and if his eczema is better/worse.
I’ve found a few things that seem to help with the eczema but am looking for miracle products if you know of any?
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Weekend in Vegas?
Posted: July 3, 2009 at 2:03 am
Hubby and I got away for THREE glorious nights without the kids. We traveled to Sin City with some friends and did our fair share of sinning…. and had a blast. It’s the first time we’ve gotten away since bringing our children home and we were like kids in a candy store! It was fun to just be us and have a small break from being anyone’s everything.
Daddyo was more relaxed than I’d seen him in a long time; he wasn’t thinking about his job or constantly fielding calls from his office. He had so much fun and loves to play Craps (which, by the way, he is very good at). In fact, the last night we were there we stayed at the Craps table until about 3am and we had to be up at 5am to catch our flight home. The downside was the ride home and the afternoon trying to stay awake and spend time with the kids. The upside is we won enough money between the two of us to pay for our trip!!!
Nicole and I were acting like silly teenagers shopping for prom dressed in the weeks before we left – we hit every store we could find to buy our “perfect vegas outfits” and I was more coordinated on what I would wear every day/night for that trip than I have ever been before in my life. It was SO. MUCH. FUN. Here we are in the front yard about to leave for the airport:
Once we arrived we headed out to walk the strip and check out all the hotels. Nicole and Chris hadn’t been before and we were excited to show them the crazy layouts and designs, etc….. they were excited, too. I don’t remember the “card flappers” being out during the day before but they were there in full force that afternoon. Our initiation to “Sin City” was being bombarded with stacks of “business cards” with x-rated photos of women for hire. It was gross. And sad. And mostly just gross.
Anyway, “New York New York” was one of the first hotels we stopped at and Nicole wanted to ride the roller coaster. I used to love thrill rides but as I’ve gotten older I’ve turned into a big fat chicken. And you can tell by the look on my face that I was NOT thrilled by this ride:
But I don’t think i was as afraid as Chris:
I don’t think I’ll be doing that again.
We went to downtown Vegas which was really neat – so different than the strip and I assume when waitresses/dealers/etc… get too old and wrinkly to work the strip they end up downtown.
The best night was by far the last….and not because we won the money although that helped. On our last night in Vegas we went to see Wayne Brady. If you aren’t familiar with him, he used to be on that show with Drew Carey “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” where they did a lot of impromptu comedy. His show is very similar and he uses several audience members on stage. Since Nicole got us tickets 4th row, center stage! we were excited and perhaps a bit apprehensive. Well, Daddyo has no apprehention whatsoever – he was ready to go and being silly and talking big about getting himself onstage:
For those of you who haven’t had the privilege of spending time with my uninhibited husband, you should know that ‘embarrassment’ is not something he truly understands. It’s like it never occurs to him to be embarrassed about anything which is both a blessing and a curse when you are his spouse. As soon as the show started and he saw what the volunteering was all about he got REALLY quiet. Suddenly his desire to take center stage vanished and was replaced with super glue on his rear, holding him firmly in place on the seat.
We enjoyed the comedy and I was hesitant about the end of the show because there were some bad reviews about his singing. not that he couldn’t sing well but that the audience wanted more of the comedy. When he started to sing I remember thinking, “oh no, here we go….” and little did I know….
Wayne sings many “old school” songs and one in particular is a collection of choruses from popular 80’s dance music. His dancers are even ‘performing’ the dances we all knew way back when and it was a lot of fun to watch. But the dancers onstage weren’t nearly as entertaining as the one in the seat beside me. Before he started this song, Wayne joked about growing up in the 80’s and encouraged the audience to “feel the music”. “get up out of your chair and dance if you feel it…if you’re moved….blah blah blah.” Daddyo was moved. With very little encouragement from me, he stood up and began the worst performance of “white man’s overbite….got not rhythm….redneck…….”. It’s important to note that in this rather small theater he was the ONLY PERSON out of his seat. Everyone was cracking up.
Everyone. And by everyone, I mean EVERYONE… including Wayne Brady. At one point, Wayne stopped singed because he was laughing so hard and pointed at my crazy husband and said, “you are the $H@T! You’re getting a free Tshirt!” I almost peed my pants.
After the show, daddyo asked us if he should try to get Wayne to sign the shirt. My response was simply, “what have you got to lose at this point?” Thanks to his inhibitions and willingness to act like a nut, we go to meet Wayne Brady, which was pretty darn cool:
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Posting…
Posted: July 3, 2009 at 1:47 am
Why do I have such a hard time getting the eloquent posts from my head to flutter out through my fingers as my latest blog entry? I think I’m just lazy. And busy. Crazy busy.
Mathew is full throttle walking and unstoppable. He thinks it is just hilarious when I say “no” and has the determination of a mule. I absolutely LOVE this stage but rarely have time to sit for more than 5-10 minutes at a time. Believe me, when I have those precious minutes I don’t want to start writing because I know as soon as I get going I’ll be interrupted.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. Not that I’m too concerned…. it’s not like i have much of a following after months of rare appearances in the blogosphere.
Here comes a whirlwind of updates and “catchups”.
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Happy Birthday, Mathew
Posted: June 18, 2009 at 1:10 pm
My sweet little Mathew,
There aren’t words to express how much joy you bring me each and every day. You are definitely a happy-go-lucky baby and love to laugh and play constantly. You are walking off and on but still use crawling as your main mode of transportation; when you walk you expect applause. It cracks me up when you turn to look at me just as you are about to do something you know you shouldn’t. And really, when you have something halfway in your mouth and see me coming to get it and quickly stuff it all in your mouth it makes me laugh but isn’t really funny.
You are spoiled rotten and probably will be the rest of your life. Typical baby of the family. My favorite thing with you now is how you will walk/crawl over to me and just put your head down on whatever part of my body is most accessible. Just to give me some “lovin’”, you’ll stop over while you are playing every now again and it makes my day. You have captured my heart in a way I didn’t know was possible.
I still like it when you sometimes cry if I leave the room but only with me (most of the time) – I know that is just wrong but I can’t help it. You love your mommy and I love that it is so obvious! You also adore Carter and Gracey and just cannot get enough of them – you chase after them and fuss if they get away too quickly and lock you out of their rooms. I do catch them being incredibly sweet to you and playing gently to keep you entertained. My heart melts to see them interacting with you and to hear your giggles as they do.
I knew about you shortly after your conception and I have loved you from the very beginning. I spent 9 months praying for your safety and homecoming while trying to imagine what it would be like to have a third child. Trying to imagine what you would look like and how long it would take to bring you home.
I felt certain you would be ours from that first phone call though my confidence waivered over the next nine months. I know God must have been shaking his head because He was making it as clear as He could that you would be coming home to us. He even gave you the same due date as mommy and daddy’s birthday.
The night you were born my heart stopped until I held you in my arms. Those 6 days were the longest of my life and the scariest. My heart shattered when your birthparents took you home and I stalked the caseworkers to find the investigator so I could know what was happening. Through a series of unmistakable miracles, God intervened and brought us together on June 19, 2008, just six days after your birth. Your were safe and I was overwhelmed with gratefulness.
I enjoy you every day and I can’t imagine a world without you in it. As I wrote in your adoption announcement:
I knew I love you before I met you
and cuddled you on my chest.
Before God brought you home to me,
I knew that we’d be blessed.I knew I loved you before I met you,
I knew it from the start.
Before I held you close in my arms,
I held you in my heart.
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Dear Children
Posted: May 26, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Dear Mathew,
You are at such a fun age! I love the way you crack up laughing and look at me like I’m supposed to laugh at you. While your independence is adorable, I really wish you’d stop reaching for things to help pull yourself out of your walker. It is a huge inconvenience when I cannot keep you in it. While I’m making requests, I’ll also appreciate a little more “stillness”. Trying to jump out of my arms because you want on the floor so badly is just not safe.
You are so dang cute! Yesterday in the playroom you came over to me and crawled through my arms and legs. (I was on all fours) As soon as you made it safely to the other side, you came back over to me and leaned your head on my back and cooed. you stayed there for several seconds and came back twice more to do it again. Loving on mommy will pretty much get you whatever want! It’s also adorable when you crawl over to me when i’m on the floor and rub your head against mine. I’ll take your sweet lovin’ any way I can get it.
Finally, I love that you almost always follow directions when I tell you ‘no’. Daddy doesn’t think it is quite so funny that he has to have me tell you ‘no’ when you use your walker to get to the DVD player and TV, trying to reach wires. When I tell you ‘no’ you move away and grin but when Daddy says ‘no’ you just laugh and go for it! I am enjoying these moments because I know they will be short lived.
Dear Gracey,
You are so funny I can hardly stand it. It amazes me how you engage people everywhere – you get them to talk to you and tell you how cute your are. Strangers everywhere will stop and talk to you becauseдивани you demand it with your sweet smiles and greetings.
I only have one request: STOP WHINING!
Dear Carter,
I am amazed at your ability to read and sound out words you see everywhere. You are so smart and have an incredible imagination. the past couple of months have been wonderful at school and everything seems to have balanced out with your meds and behavior….something I am eternally grateful for.
You will get to attend a few different ‘camps’ this summer and one VBS. You’re already excited about ‘Space Camp’ though I’m not it will meet your expectations as it is not an actual ‘Space Camp’.
I thought we were past the ‘getting into everything’ stage and would like this behavior to stop. Really, drawing on the hardwood floors with a red marker is just not cool. Especially when it is impossible to get it all off the floor. At least you did it in a inconspicuous spot – RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DEN FLOOR!!!!
While I’m making requests, I’d also greatly appreciate it if you would NOT spray the water hose into the house. I know it is fun for you but it is not fun for me.
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Dating again
Posted: May 20, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Bri and I have been out TWICE in one week without the kids. Saturday night he took me to dinner and then dancing and we had a BLAST! We used to dance a lot when were first dating and it slowly dwindled over the years. But I think we’ve rediscovered something we both enjoy and will do it more often. It’s even more fun than it was before because we get there so early it’s practically empty (except for the other old people like us) and not so smokey. And even better, I could care less what people watching us think – so we do a lot of stopping when i screw up because that happens regularly!
Last night we went to watch the Astros play and it was another nice evening. I’m not crazy about baseball but it’s something other than a movie which is a nice change!
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He Walks
Posted: May 20, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Well, yesterday Mathew took his first steps. That is, unless my mother lied to me and he actually took those steps when she was keeping him the other day. Which is entirely possible. It was adorable the way his whole face lit up and he was just soooo proud of himself. Only two steps after that and so far no more. I”m not encouraging it because my world will be turned upside down when he starts really walking. He is SOOOOOO fast. If you’ve been around from the beginning you will appreciate that the title ‘Carter’ has been officially passed down to Mathew.
He’ll soon turn 1 and I am continually astonished at how quickly time goes by. The moments we have with our children are so precious and so few and pass in an instant. I try to remind myself of that as the end of school is approaching (3 more days).
Carter and Gracey are the best of friends and enjoy playing with one another constantly. As Carter continues to mature he is sweeter and sweeter with Gracey, trying to keep her from getting in trouble (when he’s not encouraging her to get in trouble, anyway). He is very tender hearted and almost always asks me to give her a second chance when she has to go to time out.
And Praise God Gracey has been behaving more and more like my sweet little princess. I hope this is a trend that will continue! She still has a bad case of the whines but I supposed that it typical for a little girl – I can deal with the whining since she has been doing such a good job listening and following directions.
Life is good.