Slacking

I know, I know..I have been slacking. It was a long week in our household for many reasons and I am praying this week goes better than the last!

We did go to the doctor on Monday for Zach's 2 year and Mark's 4 month appointments. Both boys are healthy and doing well for the most part! Zach for the first time ever was not fond of the doctor. It was kinda weird! Mark was a champ and even handled the shots pretty well!

Zach is almost 28lbs (50%), 35" (75%) and still a big head at 75-90%!

Mark on the other hand, here are his stats at 4months:

Weight- 15lbs 9.7oz -75%

Height- 26 1/4in -90%

Head- 41.3cm- 25%

Compared to Zachary at 4mo:

Weight- 16lbs 4oz- 75%

Height- 25 5/8in - 75%

Head- 17 1/8in- 80%

So they are about the same, just Mark is a little longer and has a much smaller head! LOL! All and all though, a good visit and thankful everyone is healthy!

We also talked about giving up the paci soon. Zach really only uses it for naps/bed/upset but we know the longer we wait, the harder it will be. We haven't bought new binkies in FOREVER and even though we have 3 in the house, he will only use his red one. Well, it got left at school on Friday...and I am happy to say he survived all weekend!! He did ask for it a few times but never got upset without it and still wouldn't take the other ones, so I think we may be finished with the binkies! Woohoo!

Matt and I enjoyed a dinner out on Saturday with our friends/neighbors Kerri and Michael and it was very nice to have an evening out. And today we spent the afternoon with the Rays celebrating Evan's dedication. Good times! Thankful for the nice weather to enjoy it!

Anyway, that's about it for now. I will try to do better about posting! :)

Ready for Spring

We enjoyed a good weekend with good weather!! What a nice change! We spent a LOT of time outside either in the backyard, on a walk or at the park. I cannot tell you enough how much we love where we live. The neighborhood park is literally right behind our house so it is really nice to just hop in the stroller to go play instead of packing up the whole car.

Although we still do pack up the car to go to the "big" parks too. Saturday we drove over to Meyer Park to feed the ducks, enjoy the 3 different playgrounds, and the soccer grounds. We brought our own ball and Z spent half the time on the fields with daddy! he is really good at kicking and seriously can follow through with kicking the ball down the field and into the net! He does like to pick the ball up too, but man, I think he is going to enjoy it in a year or so when he can play soccer. Grandma stopped over on her way home from work and got to enjoy lots of Zach and Mark smiles and giggles!!

We also have a new normal in our house in the mornings...Z had mastered door opening long ago but thankfully his door had a weird stick and he had trouble opening it. But starting on Friday, he figured it out and we woke up to a smiley little face in our face in the morning!! Only good thing is he now wakes up happy instead of grumpy so I guess I will take the morning visitor over crying in the room!

Not much else going on. The boys have the check ups tomorrow (Z's 2 year and M's 4 month so that should be interesting trying them both!) Wish me luck!

Hope you all enjoyed the weekend and the slightly warmer weather...supposedly we could have SNOW on Tuesday. We shall see! Enjoy your week!

I Am Alive...

Yes, friends, I am still here. Going on week 3 back to work. Crazy how you just get back into the routine of things I guess. It is definitely challenging. One good thing about Matt still looking for a job though is that I am able to just get up and out of the house in the morning and leave while everyone still comfortably snoozing away. I have been getting to work at 7 and leaving at 4, woot woot! It makes such a difference!

The tough thing about is that once I get home from my long day and commute, Matt just wants to get OUT of the house! So we are still trying to find our groove with the whole evening procedures but it is getting better. One thing for sure, I do not miss having to wake my poor Z up early in the morning. He does so much better with just waking up on his own. We will definitely be looking into a nanny once Matt is back working.

What's new in the boys' world? Well Z is just a typical 2 year old! He has new words and phrases all the time and generally just cracks us up. He has his moments of course as they all do, but all and all, he is just a sweet toot. When he is good, he is very very good...and when he is bad, he's terrible ;-) He is also eating up a storm these days but just as lanky as ever. Growth spurt perhaps? I am anxious to get his height prediction thingie at his 2 year appointment next week!

And Mark...well he is simply a joy. Seriously, just such an easy going loving little dude. He is always smiling at strangers at church, the mall, the grocery, the bounce house, where ever! He went to daycare twice last week while Matt had things to do, and he was the hit of the nursery room! Minus the spitting up. LOL, guess we should have warned him about that. I tell ya, the kid spits up.ALL.THE.TIME! We do a lot of laundry around here. I tease him that I don't know how he is such a little chubs when it seems so much of his milk winds up on me, him, or burp clothes!! I am anxious for his 4 month appointment next week too and to compare to Z! How FUN! Sleeping is going okay. I was telling Allison last week that I thought we were making some progress and been having some good 6-8 hour nights (even if they started at 7-8pm)..and then the last 2 nights have been like back to newborn nights! AH! Need to get consistent again with bedtime procedures and see if that helps. He is still in the bassinet in our room, although that wont be lasting for too much longer because his head and feet are about to hit the edge. Time for the pack n play...or maybe upstairs?? We shall see how he does over the next couple of weeks!

I think that's about all for now. Ready for some nice spring weather. Sunday was gorgeous and we played outside all day. Want some more of that!! :)

Happy Birthday, Zachary!

Happy Birthday to my sweetest firstborn son...the Z Man. Hard to believe that 2 years ago at this time, we were staring in awe and wonder at the miracle of Z! Thank you precious boy for the best two years and I cannot wait to see where life takes you!

February 11, 2008

February 2009

February 2010

S.M.I.L.E.

Cant get enough of them! :)

To Get Me Through the Day Tomorrow.....

I will miss you boys! See you tomorrow afternoon!

D day and crockpotting

Well Tuesday is D-Day....WAH! It feels like the first day of school or something. I have nothing to wear, feel totally out of sorts and sync, wondering how the group has changed and if I will remember everything, and wishing I was still going to be at home with my baby boys. Still praying maybe Matt will get some sort of AWESOME job offer that would allow it to be so and at the same time just praying he gets a job offer cause I know how ready he is to work and be out of the house and around peeps. Ironically, the one thing that makes it easier for me going back to work is knowing that Mark will be home with Matt. Not the same thing as me being home, but I will be glad little M can spend some more time with one parent and individual attention.

So, with me returning to work and a whole new schedule, been thinking about ways to make dinner quicker and maximize my time with my man and my babies. I bought a ww cook book all on slow cookers and a lot of the recipes sound really good!! Question for you though....many of them say they only need to cook for like 3-4 hours. How does that work if you want to leave it before you go to work? You just put all your ingredients in and have it turn on later? What if the ingredients are perishable, like meats? Any tips are appreciated and please keep me in your prayers this week as I return to work and missing my boys and also pray for Matt as he is at home on his own with the boys....Irony anyone? ;-)

Books are Always Better Than Movies

Just watched My Sister's Keeper while Matt was watching Aggie basketball. I couldn't go when it came out and the book club ladies went and saw it so I have been looking forward to it being on rental. Ugh, so disappointed. What makes the book SO great is the ENDING and the movie is totally different. The book is one of my all time faves, but the change in the end was just too much. Anyone else see the movie and totally disappointed??

Matt and I agreed we think the only books that translated into really good movies were the Lord of the Rings series. What do you think?

Speaking of books, just finished March's book club selection of Day After Night by Anita Diamant (wrote the Red Tent). It was really good!! Got to a point where I just had to finish it, no matter when I went to bed. Love books like that! Now reading The Year of Fog. It is good but a little Lovely Bones-esque. Not always good things to read before bed....

Any good book recommendations out there? I have The Art of Racing in the Rain waiting for me on my Nook but first I need to get through some actual books I have had on my shelf for awhile!

So I finally joined ww about a week and a half ago and last night was our first weigh in. I am happy to report I lost 3.8lbs! Woohoo! Mom and I are going together and she also lost 3.8. Go us! Matt also lost 3 point something this week too. If only every week could be a loss like that ;-)

Anyhoo, I have been walking almost every day and hoping to figure out a way to continue to do so once I am back at work. The options are a)in the morning (or should I call it middle of the night b/c it would be like 4:00am!) b)go to gym during lunch (have never liked this idea but maybe i should try) or c) after work with the boys...pending they cooperate!! If you are a working momma, what works for you??

I have done ww on and off for prob about 8 years now...and even when off the program, I would never order a margarita again after learning they are like 5 points minimum a glass. I would rather my 2pt beer or wine. Well, one thing I have had to re-learn is that a 2pt glass of wine is different than MY version of a glass of wine! Matt and I probably make 4 glasses of wine out of a bottle where it should actually be 6 to 7!! Woops! That explains a lot!!

Anyway, I am feeling encouraged and motivated and am hoping by summer to have shed much more than 3.8lbs!! :)

Last Week :(

I am sad to say this is my last week at home with my two little munchkins. I have SO very much enjoyed my maternity leave and all the time spent with the boys. Although it is stressful at times with hubs and I both together 24/7, the time we have spent together is precious and I am thankful for it. The one good thing about big M at home is that means little M will be at home for awhile longer too. I am definitely nervous about the transition of me not being here though for Zach. We have quite a routine down and I am hoping Z does okay with the change. And missing Mark, well that's a given. He is my little sidekick and I will 110% miss being with him all day!!

One positive thing about going back to work? I will be showering and washing my hair every day again. Woohoo! I need to go shopping this week and pick up a few new tops. I swear my wardrobe is just a mess. I don't want to buy much since I am on ww now, but I need a few things to get me through the next few months.

So, will be making the most of this week as I can and grateful for my Mondays off. They will be so much sweeter even now!