Baby weight, I hate you. Closet full of beautiful clothes, I miss you.

Why am I in such a post- baby weight loss rut?! I'll give you a few reasons why...

#1- South Dakota is in the arctic tundra stage of the year which means no outdoors exercise. Blah.
#2- Indoor "Sweating to the Oldies" DVD's aren't cutting it. They just aren't fun no matter how happy your host is. (Although the few that I have done seem quite entertaining to Alex and sister Ally)
#3- I got into the horrible habit when I carried little mister of ending most dinners with some sort of sweet treat. I still want sweet treats.
#4- There is literally one gym here and they were excited to tell me that I could join for the low, student discount rate of $40 a month. I never thought Gold's Gym would seem so appealing.

The first two weeks after Alex was born, I dropped 30 pounds by doing nothing. Motivation, I better find you soon.

(*8 months with child belly)

junior mints and junior baby

Run, don't walk for these tasty little holiday treats.
Love regular junior mints, and these are even more scrump.



Going through pictures and I can't believe how fast babies grow. Here Alex is swimming in his newborn onesie...


And here he is filling it out quite nicely. Handsome little mister.

Thanksgiving What-nots

We had a lovely Thanksgiving. First holiday in 6 years that I've been home because of work and retail. I had so much time I didn't know what to do with myself! So, I baked yummy treats for our Thanksgiving celebration.

This is for Emily and Josh. Mom turns her house into a winter wonderland every Christmas and this year is no exception, so pretty. Really bummed that the Utah Lockharts got snowed in and couldn't make it here. Would have been so fun to be together!


Alex started Thanksgiving in his best, and after a diaper blowout, he was passed around in rugby socks and diaper. (Not because he didn't have more clothes, because Mike enjoys stealing him from me when I am dressing him. He prefers a baby in socks and diaper.) Those arm rolls are pretty irresistible...

The Haddock house Thanksgiving starts with the traditional, "What I'm Thankful For..." We missed that somehow at our house, so here is a short list of a few of my Thankful Fors...

-Miguel. Heart him.
-Alex. This little babe is just perfect to us.
-Staying home with Alex. I'm pretty sure I would cry everyday if we had to put him in daycare.
-Along with that is the hard work hubbie does that makes it possible for me to stay home with my sweet little tootie.
-A great family.
-A warm house to live in.

thursday thoughts

I just hate walmart. Maybe it's because I'm a target snob. Or maybe it's because it is always dirty- no matter what city I'm in or because it's always busy (which means germy)- no matter what time it is. Now, I hate that it is the only place to buy inexpensive groceries here. I miss my supertarget that had all our food basics at lovely prices. The only thing that I love about walmart are these organic cotton onsies and pants at $2.00 each. They wash up like a dream.
Alex and I might take trips every now and then to BabyGap to shop their clearance racks and we might have come away with this cozy sweater since it's turning into an Arctic tundra here. We might have also found a few other goodies at amazing clearance prices...


I'm procrastinating writing my talk for Sunday. I hate giving talks at church and always have. Better get back to it, since it is Thursday...

Had a hat photo shoot with little mister the other day- here he is in a little russian-esque hat and pretty happy about it. Most kissable cheeks and toes I've ever seen. Seriously.

hooty hoo...

A late Happy Halloween from the cutest little owl I've ever seen. I found this idea from Martha Stewart's website. After I ditched her complicated instructions that made it seem like rocket science and went by the pictures, it was a breeze!

Alex tolerated the aviator goggles for a few, but didn't look too thrilled about the idea.

We put the little sport back into the costume a few days later for a photo shoot. A good time was had by all.

Great faces, Great places (that's the SD state motto)

Some pictures and a few updates to note:


#1) We made a decision about law school and Michael will attend University of South Dakota next fall as a resident of South Dakota (which means in-state tuition, which means we save thousands). So we made the move. Exciting to be here in the same state as my mom!

#2) Likely implied, but #1 also means that I am no longer with Nordstrom. Sad to leave the company- I just loved my job. Nordstrom was an amazing employer. I am excited for our new adventure though and feel lucky to stay at home with our little bug. Such a different pace from my non-stop job, and yet I just can't imagine not watching him and all the cute things he does all day.

#3) Micheal is now an official teller at Wells Fargo and a part time server at a fancy restaurant here. Yay for money making jobs with benefits.



Alex at 2 months:

• he is 14.14 for weight which puts him at 97% percentile and 24 inches which puts him at 90% for height. currently wearing 6-9 months!
• smiling up a storm now. he was a big tease for several weeks and would do little smirks and then turn away embarrassed, but now he is giving ear to ear smiles that show his cute gummy mouth.
• as great as he is at smiling, he is equally (if not more) pro at scowls. he gives us funny raised brows and skeptical faces.
  
• mornings are his time to shine! so happy and coo-ey. that's our favorite part of the day.
• he has his mom's funny lips. mike calls them expressive. i think they are bird-y lips.
  
• found his fist and is constantly fascinated by it! seriously, he goes cross-eyed staring down that hand
• his favorite singer is Andrew Bird.
• cannot stay awake in his car seat. tries so hard to stay awake, but just never wins.
• perfect little eater and has a cute little belly that bulges over his diaper after he eats.
  
• he HATES the nose suctioner... that's the hardest I've ever seen him cry.
• absolutely loves bath time. so happy in that tub.
• he loves being on his changing table and loves being changed too.
  
• he has pooed and peed all over us and a lot of our belongings in the first 2 months of his life. we don't mind.
  
• has the prettiest blue eyes. mike says all the time he hopes they are crystal blue like aunt emily's.
• lost a little hair in the past month, especially in the back. nice little bald spot, so cute.
• getting to be a great sleeper. goes 4-5 hours at night now inbetween feedings. yay for mom and sleep.
  
  
• 

More Alex

New Man Child. Pics tell it all.

Born Aug 14 8:59 am

8lbs 5oz, 19 inches

A boring post without pictures

About time for a new post. Our camera cord is missing in action- hence the boring post without pictures. We've been pretty busy around here doing the following:

1. Moving from our current house to Mike's parents house 9 months pregnant. Mike wouldn't let me touch anything, but the crazy organization side of me secretly went through box after box to get rid of stuff. Moving is such a pain.

2. Anniversary sale has been in full force at Nordstrom. I was recently promoted to the Department Manager 8 months pregnant, which added a fun amount of stress and hours. (Not too bad though). Doctor put me out as of August 1st so I've been pretty bored the last 4 days. It's hard to go from busy, busy, busy- to not much at all!

3. Washing baby clothes in preparation for baby who still does not have a name picked out. Poor kid.

4. Being embarrassed to go in public since I don't walk normal anymore. A nerve in my back must be pinched because I cannot put any pressure on my left foot without feeling like my spine is breaking in half. So I kind of waddle/limp around. Mike thinks it's pretty hilarious. It kind of is.

5. Gearing up for the big day to meet little man-child. He is due August 12th, which is very soon! Like next week soon!

More soon- hopefully with pictures!

Pregnant woman with man child

Our man child is to be born this eighth month of the year two thousand and ten on the 20th day or thereabouts of said month.

-ps this is mike's post.

chelsea just doesnt have that sort of verbal dexterity.

Cereal and Birthdays

I am hungry every 2 hours. Not just hungry. More like I haven't eaten anything all day and I might freak out/throw up hungry. So, cereal is my new best friend. I go on little kicks where I crave a certain cereal for a week, then I'm done with it. Most recently was Cinnamon Toast Crunch, then Frosted Mini Wheats, and Raisin Nut Bran before that. (The list is much longer, since it has been my staple the last 5 months, but who wants to hear about all the different cereals I eat? Boring.)

Anyway, this would all be fine and dandy, except that my brother Josh taught me how to eat cereal and his version includes pouring more and more cereal in each time you finish until the milk is gone. So, one bowl of cereal really equals three(ish). Oh well, little boy is hungry. A lot.


And...

Happy Birthday on Sunday to this boy!

Wish I could take you here tomorrow on our birthday date, but you'll have to settle for ESPN highlights since tickets are ridiculously expensive. (You can thank Kobe for that).

Anyway, Happy Birthday to a cute boy that I like.

Updates

#1) Starting to feel a little like this...

#2) We're ready for this team in the Playoffs (if they win against Oklahoma City, that is)... Get ready to see that face a lot.


#3) Went fabric shopping the other day to make a crib bumper and Mike thinks it's too girly. I think it would work with brown bedding- I'm trying to find a cute retro owl fabric or something extra boyish. What do you think? Is it too girly for our little man-child? I am a girl, so I could obviously be wrong...


#4) We are thinking about taking a weekend trip in May to Houston for me to see what it's like. Mike is considering applying in the Spring to The University of South Texas for Law School. I've never been to Texas and am terrified of heat, humidity, and cockroaches. He lived there once upon a time, but I've always been a cold weather, South Dakota gal. So, we'll see!

El Bubble

And we're very excited!

Hamster Cage

Every time we have a baby appointment, my doctor thinks I should start bawling every time he pulls this little heart rate machine out. Two times now, he has looked at me and Mike and says, "That's your baby. Are you bonding?" Don't get me wrong, it's so awesome to hear the heart rate, but it doesn't send me into fits of tears. Is that bad?

Last appointment, I told the doctor that I had read in the book that the baby was the size of a gerbil that week. He pulled out the fancy machine and found the heart rate. He said all the static we heard meant the baby was moving around and that was good. Mike said, "Yeah! It's the little gerbil running around in the hamster cage!" The doctor looked at us pretty seriously and said, "It's a human." I think we got in trouble...

Tired of being sick...

The other morning Mike made pancakes (he's been making them a lot for me and he's really good at it). We've been enjoying Sarah's delicious homemade blackberry syrup that we got for Christmas on our pancakes. This particular morning, Mike saw the tiny amount left in the jar- enough for one person only, and I saw the panic rise in his face. He joked, "She's my sister!"- in defense of the tiny amount going to him. We did find another jar in the cabinet, but it was a close call. Later Mike admitted that he almost had a mini babyfit meltdown. Only Sarah's blackberry syrup could do that to him!

On another note- I am getting a little tired of being sick. I am officially out of the 1st trimester, and I guess I thought that meant I would magically feel better. I can eat more foods that I've been able to (plain pasta, jello, and crackers)...but I'm still throwing up a lot. Hoping that will be over soon! We got to hear the little bug's heart beating really fast which was neat...now we're getting excited to see if little bug is a boy or a girl. On an unrelated note... here are a few pictures of our cute dog. I think he's embarrassed that we choose to keep him warm in the frigid Utah winters with puffy coats made just for petite canines. That's all I have for today.