Back to the Zoo - and a couple of lonely days ahead

Well we were back at the zoo today. If we were smart we would have gotten a season pass by now. (if we were really smart we wouldn't go to the zoo when it's 100 degrees outside!) But this time was especially fun because we got to go with Uncle Pablo! So we all had a great time once again, and as always, it was lovely to hang out with Pablo.

I also gave Finn a hair cut on Wednesday. I was very tired of his bowl-cut. When Laci is around to keep it up it looks great - but when it grows out it just looks silly. Kind of a lot like mine.
One day I was in the Target parking lot and saw this woman with 2 little boys. She was impeccably dressed, as were her two boys. They just looked like a cute little trio. Only problem - both boys had this Horrendous bowl-cut of a hair-do. The worst I have ever seen. And that's what Finn's was starting to look like in my opinion. I know Cody likes his hair to be longer and it has been so for about a year now. But I couldn't take it anymore! I dislike the bowl and it just looked so warm all the time. So I shaved up the back and sides and now he has his little skater do again which I always like. And it looks better this time since I was paying attention to how Laci cut his hair last time.


Ok, so there't that. Then Cody is gone until Sunday. boo. So for the first time ever - after the kids were both in bed I felt lonely instead of a sense of relief! I was in talking to Finn a while before he went to bed and it was fun to hear his little recollections about all the things we saw at the zoo. I guess I must be warming up to motherhood and/or my kids are just being good little buggers. Because i just enjoy hanging out with them. (I do still love nap & bed time though, don't get me wrong)

And then there's this little picture (note the impish grin):

I walked in the room today to find Burgundy pulling herself up on the laundry basket. Maybe she will just skip crawling altogether. Finn learned to crawl and 4 days later pulled himself up to walk. Well she creeps and gets where she wants to go but isn't crawling yet (sorry Erin, you had the only guess of when she would crawl, but it didn't happen on Cody's birthday). She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. It's pretty cute. But she's looking like she's soon to be on to bigger & better things! That, or she just wanted to help me fold the laundry.

Busy Week

Well I don't have too much to write about tonight, so I'll just tell you about my busy week! Yesterday was quite busy, luckily it all went off without a hitch, well mostly anyway.

In the morning, we woke up and as soon as we were all dressed and ready we had to go get Cassidi so she could stay home with Burgundy while she took a nap. So after I got her down, Finn & I left to go to the dermatologist. I got my cheek frozen again so now I have a big red spot again. For those of you who don't know, about a month after I had Burgundy I got a dry red patch on my cheek, and a few months later it was still there. So I tried lotion and neosporin and nothing seemed to help it. So after having it about 6 months I went to the dermo and he shot it with the liquid nitrogen or whatever it is and froze it. It did actually get better and was almost gone but it was still a little dry. So I went back yesterday and they shot it again. He said that dry skin moves around so if you have a dry patch for a long time like that it's probably pre-cancer so it's best just to zap it.

So then we got Cody's present of a gift certificate for laser hair removal from that office, and we went to lunch in the hospital cafeteria which has really good food. During all this my cell phone stopped working, so I was pretty anxious about being out and unreachable while Burgundy was home. So we rushed home after that and Burgundy had just woken up from her nap. So then we took Cassidi home, and went to the cell phone store. Luckily he just had to do a hard reset on my phone (which i could've easily done but when I asked how to do that before I was told just take the battery out - not so). So that fixed it but I lost all my info, pictures, ringers, etc. Lame. Luckily it's a palm phone so I could re-sync all my phone numbers and dates.

Then we had to go to Sam's club to get Cody's cake. Around Valentine's day they had these yummy little mini-chocolate gnosh cakes that we loved so I ordered one of those for him.

Then we came home a did naps. Then we had to go to the store to get stuff for daddy's birthday dinner of homemade pizza. While trying to get into the checkout lane, some woman was trying to edge me out and get into the lane before I could. That was annoying so I was trying to get there first and in doing so I caught the edge of power-ade display they had with my cart and sent 50 bottles of power-ade flying everywhere. Of course one broke open. That was fun. Luckily the cashier and the kid who cleaned it up were very nice and funny about it. The crazy thing was I got home and realized I forgot something so I had to go back to the same lane again! So I just laughed and said I'm back and I promise I didn't spill anything this time! Crazy.

And it was fun to run around all over the place with Finn. I enjoy taking him on errands with me because he is my good boy. It is fun when we can go places just the two of us, so that he can feel like he has some one-on-one mommy time. And it will be fun when Burgundy can walk! The carrier is breaking my arm!! But of course it is fun to take her places too, because she is just my sweet, smiling girl who is up for whatever. I am a lucky mom.

So today I cleaned all day. Seems like I haven't cleaned in a while because everything was in disarray from painting Finn's room so it really needed it.

Tomorrow morning I have a couple of mom friends coming over with their boys to have a fun playdate. Then after that the babysitter comes and I go to a LASIK consultation. (i'm so excited about that!! hopefully they tell me I am a good candidate. I am SOOOOO done with needing contacts or glasses!)

Then Thursday, Cody is leaving for his weekend of fishing and debauchery. (well hopefully just fishing) And also on Thursday, we are going to the zoo with Pablo. That should be a lot of fun!

So Cody will be gone all weekend until Sunday night. I think we should be ok though. (I hope!) If I know he will be gone I am fine, because I am mentally prepared. It's when he comes home an hour late from work that I am ready to fall apart - because I wasn't prepared!

So that's our week in a nutshell. The things we have planned for anyway.


And since I don't have any pictures for this post, here's a cool painting that Finn did 3 weeks ago.

Fun at the Fair

We didn't make it to Clinton City Days this year, but we went to Sunset's Fun Days on Saturday for a little while. It was, well, fun!

At first I didn't see the little kid rides so I was a little disappointed. Cody was not at all into it so I thought maybe we shouldn't have gone. We came across a little fishing game where Finn fished for hamburgers or "Grampa Pennies" (crabby patties). He won a toy car which is, for now, his prized possession.


I asked Finn if he wanted to go on the Indiana Jones "big slide" and he did. I was worried he might be a little afraid but he tackled it fearlessly. Better than I did! I didn't like the 2nd rope bridge at all! But luckily, from the top I saw that the kiddie rides were hidden around the corner. So from there, we went on the cars (twice) and the boats and the big slide again - this time with daddy.


It was fun to watch him on the cars. He barely smiled at all and looking at pictures you would think he didn't have any fun, but he was just so deep in concentration that smiling would have been superfluous. (kind of how daddy gets sometimes).



We are trying to teach Finn about choices, so he did very well with choosing which rides he would go on with the amount of tickets we had.

He had a great time. In the end, we all did.

Paint! The saga concludes.

It is finished. And I love it. The blue is not too BLUE, it is not really a kid's blue (we don't love kid's colors - if that makes sense) - it is a nice calm, tranquil silver-blue. And the brown is a rich, delicious, chocolate brown. It makes Finn's bed look more brown - which is great (I dislike the reddish tones of the bed), and it just matches all the stuff that's in there. Perfect.


So now his room is a few inches smaller, due to the many coats of paint, but it looks great.


I think I can safely say I won't be painting for a while. But I can also say it was worth it to see it through and not to settle because it looks fantastic. (Aside, of course, from all the little specks and dots of paint on the ceiling/baseboards/carpet - which got there because by the end I just didn't care anymore.)

Paint III & IV (that's right IV)... the saga continues

ok well I think we finally got it right. I started the grey that Cody picked out and it was a nice grey but I just didn't love it still! And I really didn't want another grey room! I love our grey, but I wanted Finn's room to be colorful and cheery and not a cold grey. So I got one coat on as far up as I could reach and stopped.
So the other day, my friend Gina came over. I told her about how I tried to match the blue to the curtains and how it didn't work and it was a downward sprial from there. And she asked the most obvious question - have you taken the fabric to Home Depot or Lowe's to use their color matching machine? NO! Why had I not done this most obvious thing? Probably because I was getting the paint from SW and they just give you what you ask for. The End.
So, thank you so much, Gina, for asking me this most provocative question - and for getting my brain in the right place again. When the first blue didn't work, I should have immediately done this rather than trying 4 other colors before admitting that I would hate any color that wasn't the blue that I had in my mind!
So, I took a swatch of the curtain fabric, a blue frame and a brown shirt and went to the new Lowe's. They were not busy and the girl was so extremely helpful. That was very refreshing. I had tried to go to Home Depot earlier in the day and after I fiddled with the machine for severeal minutes, the girl - who had been watching me the whole time - told me (AFTER I asked WTF) said, "oh it's broken." Nice.
So anyway, she did the color matching and the only problem with that is it shows you the color on a computer screen, it is darker than it would come out and it is about 1/2 inch sliver of color that you are trying to judge. Any other time I might have put my faith in the computer, but on the fourth attempt, I just had to be sure. If it was wrong one more time, it might very well break my spirit, and Finn might have to forever reside in his tye-died room.
So when I was unsure about what to do, she whipped out the Big Book of Color Swatches. And she found a swatch to match the frame, the fabric swatch and the shirt. The frame swatch looked too green, so we went with the one that matched the curtain fabric swatch, and I picked a brown that was a little richer than the one that matched the shirt.
So, I will post pictures when all is said and done, but I got the first coat of the blue up today and I can finally say I LOVE IT.
You can kind of tell what color blue it is in the corners of these pictures, as I had just started to cut in the corners when I remembered to take pictures. (and see how it matches the curtains finally?) So I am VERY excited to be done picking colors, almost done painting, and even more excited to have it be the way I want it. It will match Finn's stuff and it will feel good. It won't feel BLUE, or blah or cold. It will just feel right. I am stoked.


So thank you lady at Lowe's, thank you Gina, thank you Erin for moral support, thank you Cody for reaching up high again & again (and putting up with my indecision), and thank you Finn for living in a barren, plastic-covered room for a week and for telling me each time that the colors were "pretty".

Binkless

Well here we are, day two - sans bink. It was definitely time. We had cut down to pacifiers only at nap- and bed-times. Then this past week Finn had a cold and he always regresses when this happens. He wants to just lay on the couch with a bink and a blankie, and since he is sick and miserable we let him. Well, it is difficult to go back to sleep-time only rules after that.
This time, it was really bad. He was throwing fits when I wouldn't give it to him.
Cody and I had discussed him giving it to Cody for his birthday (that's how Cody got rid of his - he gave it to his mom for her birthday when he was 3). It's a cute idea but I feared that it would make the day miserable, honestly. So, in order to not ruin Cody's birthday with a moody child, I decided that yesterday was the day.
Monday, I told him it was the last day he would have it. As Tuesday rolled around, he was quite distraught about not having it. Ironically, he never asked for it at nap- or bed-time, just during the day while he was up. He cried long and hard a few times. Today, no tears at all. He asked for it once - about an hour before bed-time and that was it.
I am very glad for Finn to be done with the bink. They are wonderful things, but difficult to get rid of when the time comes. But I noticed his teeth are starting to point out the slightest bit and I think that's why. The dentist said we could start trying to get rid of it but it wasn't terrible.
But I am just very relieved. I have learned, that with my little son if I wait until he says he is ready, it might never happen. Like with potty training, we just said ok we are not buying any more diapers so you have to go on the toilet. So he did. But if we hadn't done that, I believe he would still be in diapers.
I think Burgundy is the child who will say I am done with this or ready for that. She has already exhibited this. And Finn is the guy who will just keep going as long as he is able, whether it's a good thing or not!
So anyway, I am rejoicing for being potty trained and for being binkless! and for being able to observe the differences in my children, as well.

Paint I & II - the saga

oh boy. where to begin. Well I had the bright idea to paint this weekend. It got out of hand. First I thought we should paint Finn's room, and I have been wanting to paint the guest bathroom so I figured two birds with one stone, I'll just get that paint too.


So I picked two colors for Finn's room. One was a tan suede for the window wall and the other walls were to be the same color blue as his curtains. I didn't want a BLUE room, but his curtains are a nice almost silvery blue. Then I thought, hey that window wall is small and I have a whole gallon of suede paint so while I'm at it I will paint the hallway wall with the arch by the front door.

So on Friday while everyone was sleeping and Cody was at work, I got started on the suede hall wall. I skimped on the paint because it was going fast and I still had to do Finn's wall with it and I had forgotten that that suede paint does NOT go far. So when I was done with the hall wall I didn't like it because it didn't look suedey enough. So if I went over it all again, then I wouldn't have enough paint to do Finn's wall so I had to buy a regular paint in close to the same tan color for Finn's room (I bought regular because I thought better of putting suede paint in a little boy's room - and Erin confirmed that thought)

You following so far?

So on Saturday we were all geared up to continue with our work. We got Finn's tan wall done then we did the blue. And it was BLUE. And it did NOT match the curtains. And I was not very happy with it. (it actually doesn't look too bad in this picture, but standing in the room it was just too much)


So then we had to get ANOTHER gallon of paint to RE-DO Finn's blue walls. Ugh. And Cody and I could not decide on a color. He wanted grey and I thought another, darker brownish tan would go better with the existing tan wall. So we did a brownish color. And I like it far less than I liked the blue. So guess what - we are going to paint it a THIRD time. (this is why I didn't paint it while I was pregnant with Finn - I could never decide on a color)


I am pretty disappointed. Erin - why don't you live closer!!?? There would've been about 20 times when I would've called and said "please come over - I need your expert color advice!!" I thought I was getting pretty good at picking out colors that I just love but I guess not. When I did my bedroom in the grey suede and our kitchen in the deep purple, I was just instantly like - I LOVE IT. Not so this time. I don't hate it but, yeah.

Meanwhile, I also painted the guest bath. And it turned out pretty good. I re-did the suede effect so now the hallway looks pretty decent as well. These are the first two times we painted Finn's room, and I will post the third and (hopefully) final color - which will be greys like Cody suggested (I didn't do that to begin with because I am not sure how 3 grey and one tan wall would look - I don't think I'd like that, but now we are doing it all 2 shades of grey) - unless of course I just decide to leave it the brown and paint the light tan wall the same color brown. I think it is that damn tan wall that is the problem. Hopefully I can just decide and like the outcome.


The only thing that sucks (only thing? ha!) is that I have Pampered Chef the next 2 nights so now Finn has to live with a bare room all week. Ugh.

Bubble Baths & House Couches

So, today Finn took all the cushions off the couch (not a new thing) and asked me to make a house out of them. So I made a couch house. Which Finn called a house couch. Then Burgundy woke up from her nap and Finn insisted that she play in the house couch with him.

And earlier in the day, he wanted to take a bubble bath. I was doing my hair and didn't notice that the water level was nearing critical mass. Here he is, nearly submerged, in a sea of bubbles.

Plastic Surgery

ok, here is my list of plastic/elective surgeries I need (want).

1) Lasik. Not much explanation needed. I just want to be able to see. Whenever I have dreams they always consist of me looking for my contacts, trying to put in my contacts or trying really hard to open my eyes so I can see (and I think I am actually trying to open my eyes in my sleep). And then it would also be cool to see in real life, too. I'm done with contacts. I'm way over it.

2) Nose job. When I was very little, my friend's late mom told me that I had a perfect nose. I always liked my nose. I used to have a cute little button nose. So, during both pregnancies my nose got quite wide - which annoyed me constantly. After Finn, it pretty much went back to normal. Not so after Burgundy. Look at this picture. All of you looking at this will probably think "so what?" but I hate it. Honestly. I can deal with my feet being enormous since they grew 1/2 size with each kid and never went back down. But I freaking hate my nose now.

3) Tummy tuck. Duh. After a 10 pound baby, my stomach will NEVER be the same. I would miss my belly button. I have (had) a cool T-shaped belly button. But you know what? I would be willing to part with it if it meant I could get rid of the tub of pudding that now resides permanently on my midsection.

4) Boob job. yep. Before kids, I never wanted/needed a boob job. I used to have good jugs. ha! When I heard about girls my age getting a breast enhancement, I thought, boy I'm glad I don't need that! Well now I do. I won't go into too much detail, I will just say they are deflated.

So, the moral of my story? Pregnancy ruins you. I would need Lasik anyway, but other than that my body is a sad remnant of its former glory. I supposed it's vein of me to want all these things. You know what? Too bad. I don't think it's a terrible thing. I selflessly donated my body to my children so they could grow and be healthy. And now I want it back!

So someday, maybe I will get one or a few or all of these things. Donations to my "former glory fund" can be made payable to me.

Cody's Garden Update

Well, we got our first zucchinis last night! Cody's garden is growing beautifully. The zucchini plants are enormous! Just wanted to show some pictures so you can see how much they've grown in just 1 week!

dang.

well, I was hoping to go to the gym today and do the "abs & buns" class. Why didn't I go, you ask? I can never get a hold of my babysitter!! She has dial-up (Dial-up!! in this day & age!) and she does on-line school so her phone line is always busy and I guess there is no answering machine because today it just rang and rang and rang. Bummer.

The other sad part about that is I finally found a babysitter and she is moving to Florida in 2 weeks.

I need a babysitter with a cell phone. That's what I need.

Burgundy

My little Burgundy.

She is such a good girl. Having a baby like Burgundy is such a joy. She is a content, happy baby. She smiles if you look at her and laughs a lot at her big brother. They love each other like crazy.

When we go places, she happily comes along. When we stay home, she contentedly plays. She gets fussy if she is hungry or tired, but so do I. She wants to crawl and gets a little frustrated when she goes backwards instead! She is at the point where no one is quite as good as Mommy, but Daddy sure comes in a close second! If I am gone to do a show or to the gym, she misses me and gets upset if she has to go to bed before spending "enough" time with me. She sleeps a lot and naptime usually takes up the whole first half of our day. Sometimes more. She loves Cheerios, the cats, putting random things in her mouth and when daddy blows raspberries in her armpit. Her laugh is about the cutest thing I've ever heard.


Honestly, I didn't think I would have a girl. After Finn, I was pretty sure we would have another boy. I have always been a tomboy and I really couldn't picture myself as anything but a mom of 2 boys. But I find myself loving all the girlie, frilly things that go along with having a daughter. I look forward to the days of doing girl things with her. Going to the mall and out to eat. Going to a chick-flick. Buying shoes and makeup.

She is the best baby anyone could imagine.
I am thankful every day for my little Indi.

Pampered Chef

ok, so I have to admit: I am loving doing Pampered Chef. I thought I could like it when I signed up but I didn't know I would like it this much. I get really excited when I have a show and get butterflies in my stomach and everything.

I just really like it. See, I'm not a social butterfly. I was never the girl with the most friends, but as I am getting older I find it easier just to talk to people and relate. Especially now that I have 2 kids I find it much easier to relate with other moms, and as this is the majority of the guests at my show it's working out well.

As I said at my show last night, there is very little I actually have control over in my life. But I have control over this. For the most part. Sometimes I don't have as many shows on my calendar as I'd like, but hopefully that will come as I get more shows under my belt. But I have control over when I want to do the shows, and I have control over the show itself.

If I think deeply about it, it probably feeds certain needs in me. I have always had a thing where I feel like people aren't listening to me. And now that I am a mom of a 3-year old, that is amplified 100-fold. And so to be the one who is center-stage, doing most of the talking, steering the show - I guess I feel like people are actually listening to me.

I also like to feel appreciated (who doesn't?). And when someone has a question and I can answer it for them, or give them information they didn't know before, and they are thankful for the answer - I quite enjoy that as well. And I'm sure that is the part of me that always thought I would become a teacher.

Anyway, I feel pretty lucky that I have that to do. It gets me out of the house, able to meet new people and make some new friends (which has happened), and on top of all of that I get paid to do it. Not a bad deal.

Birthday at the Zoo

So today, I turned 31. It wasn't a bad day. 2 weeks ago, I took Finn & Burgundy to the zoo and we had a very fun time. So I thought, why not do it again today?


Anymore, my birthdays are a little ho-hum and if I let myself think too hard about it, I get stuck down in it (hence the days below water). But, getting out of the house and doing something fun is always a good thing.


I am lucky to have my little ones. I hadn't been to a zoo in several years and usually find them depressing because I feel sad for the animals. But when you have kids, you put that all aside and allow yourself to enjoy things like a kid. And they are so good at the zoo. Burgundy just rides in her stroller all day enjoying the sites, and Finn stays right with me and it is awesome to see him get excited about it all.


Finn's favorite part, of course, is the train. Burgundy's favorite part was the gorilla. They have this window into the gorilla habitat and on the other side is just a little shady spot set off from the main area. Well, apparently that is where they nap. When we pulled in there was nothing there. But as we looked for a minute, this huge gorilla came wandering around the corner. He kind of stopped and looked, as if to say, "why are there always people there when I want to take a darn nap?" But he reluctantly came over anyway and laid down not 5 feet from us. Well I looked over at Burgundy and she was transfixed! Not too long afterwards, another gorilla came over to nap as well. It was pretty neat.


So all in all it was a fun day with my two kiddies. We just wish daddy could've come with us! I got a lot of birthday wishes and some great presents (like my gym membership and my Pampered Chef starter kit among lots of other great things!) Not a bad day.

Cody's Garden

So we finally planted a garden this year. Or should I say, Cody did. Gardening is one of those things I have always wanted to do and just never really did. When we put in our lawn we set up the sprinklers for a garden, even though we knew it would be a few years until we actually had one.


Well I got bent out of shape at one point and gave Cody a hard time saying it would be "his" garden and not ours because I wanted to do it, but he would end up taking it over. Well I was right. And good thing, too! I picked out a few seeds I wanted and other than that it has been Cody who has been slaving over it.


He is out there every evening, meticulously taking care of it. For those of you who know Cody, you know there is no other way he would do it. And I have to say that it is a beautiful garden. Not huge, but wonderful.

Look at this Swiss Chard! It's Audrey II!

I help when I can, which means telling Cody how wonderful it looks, and shaking the tomato flowers to mimic the pollinating breezes.

So, someday, when I have more than 2 minutes to myself a day, maybe I will do a garden. But until then, I have this one - and I barely have to lift a finger. How lucky am I?

When will she crawl?

So Burgundy is this close to crawling! Everyday we think it's gonna be the day, and she sure gets close... but she isn't actually crawling yet.

History Lesson: we noticed Finn's first two bottom teeth poking through when he was a week shy of 7 months old. He learned to crawl 10 days after that. And (get this) he pulled up to standing 4 DAYS after that!


Now, we noticed Burgundy's first little tooth 2 days before she turned 7 months. And it has been over 3 weeks since then. So when will she crawl? I think half of it is she wants so badly to crawl to keep up with Finn that she usually just ends up rolling after him (which, incidentally, is how Cody locomoted as a baby). And on the other hand, every time she is so close, Finn swoops in and foils her attempt.

I certainly hope she learns soon though - poor little dear has rug burns on her belly! Because usually when she tries, before resorting to rolling, she ends up going backwards.

So, place your bets. Add a comment with your guess on the day Indi will finally crawl! The winner will receive special mention in my blog! What could be better than that!?

Finn's First Time Fishing

So we drove more than anything that day, but we finally found a little spot that was not teeming with people and threw in a line. We didn't catch anything (although a group of guys about 15 feet to our left did), but we had a worm, hook, line & sinker.


Burgundy was not thrilled with the waves, and the sun was hot and inescapable. Nevertheless, it was a fun little time and it was wonderful to see Cody and Finn fishing together. I am sure that someday in the not too distant future they will be inseparable as they wade up rivers together in search of big, beautiful trout. Funny to think that is not too far off.

Bear Grylls

Okay, so you probably noticed that the latest books I have read/am reading are by Bear Grylls. And those of you who have a myspace page also know I was somewhat obsessed a few weeks ago. Did you ever have a dream about somebody and then you just want to know more about them? Well that's what happened, and while I admit that I have a full-on celebrity crush on him, I will also point out that he is not just another pretty face (although he is that too).

In reading his first book I have found that he is a regular good guy who does amazing things. He has done a lot of spectacular things in his life, set numerous world-records, and does a ton of work for charity.

He broke his back in 3 places and was very nearly paralyzed. But he made a full recovery and 2 years later, went on the be the youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest. Pretty amazing. I am about to read the story of how he led the first team across the freezing North Atlantic Arctic Ocean unassisted in a small, open, rigid inflatable boat. He also led the first team to circumnavigate the UK on jetskis, broke the world record for the highest ever open air dinner party, slung under a hot air balloon at 25,000 ft. He led the first team ever to attempt to paramotor over the remote jungle plateaux of the Angel Falls, Venezuela, in aid of the charity 'Hope & Homes for Children,' and he became the first man to fly a powered paraglider to a height above Mt Everest in the Himalaya, raising over $1 million for Global Angels and other charities, looking after some of the world's poorest children.

Somewhere in the midst of all his world-record setting and charity work, he got married and had 2 sons. (he met his wife on a beach in Scotland while skinny dipping on New Years Day - Mad Englishman!) He also travels around the world as a motivational speaker. So, in a nutshell, he has overcome insurmountable odds and is living the life he wants to live. And I think he is definitely a note-worthy person.

So while I will fully admit that I think he is good-looking, I will also add that I read his books and find out more about him because he is truly an interesting and inspirational person.

Burgundy loves her Bouncer

Joining a Gym

So I joined a gym today. Yay for me! I have been telling Cody since the beginning of my pregnancy with Burgundy that for my birthday this year I want a gym membership and a personal trainer. So going along with my eat healthier, get my hormones in line, etc., I am going all out.

With both of my pregnancies, I gained about 15-20 pounds before I even knew I was pregnant, it's like my body just had a default weight that it thought I needed to be at in order to support a pregnancy or something and so it just instantly took me there. Then after Finn, I think at about 9 months the weight just started coming off. Looking at his first birthday party pictures, I was pretty slim.

So being pregnant with Burgundy, I gained the standard (for me) 60+ pounds and must now begin the long, arduous task of taking it back off. I ate a very high protein diet so as not to go into pre-eclampsia again and I allowed myself to indulge. So I said seeing as this will be my last pregnancy, I don't have an excuse not to lose weight afterwards. I can't think, "well I am just going to get pregnant again so it's somewhat pointless to kill myself to lose all that weight." So I indulged knowing that the time would come that I would join a gym and say goodbye to the excess baggage that I am carrying. All 30+ pounds of it.

So, to that effect, I have joined a gym (which was my birthday present from Cody - thank you Cody!). And tonight they had a class called Zumba! which is like an aerobic Salsa-dancing class. It was very fun and kicked my butt. It was also somewhat comical. I used to fancy myself a dancer. Not so much these days. Here is this hot little Latina teaching the class, and just looking in the mirror I saw all the rest of us oafs, looking overweight and uncoordinated. ah well. It was fun anyway.

The gym is Lady Fitness so no boys allowed. Doesn't really matter one way or another there, but it has some good classes and some nice machines so I am excited. They don't have personal trainers per se, but they works with you for a couple visits, get your weight & measurements and show you how to use the machines and maximize your work out. then they get back with you every 6 weeks. So I wish I had someone to kick my butt every time, but hopefully I can kick my own butt.

So that's all for today - obviously I am in a better mood than last night, as I have some endorphines running through.

One of those days...

Some days I think it might help to sit and write something. I have a journal that I try to write in and only do so sporadically. I also have a myspace page that I try to blog on occasionally. Today I am just feeling blah and can't think of anything to write. Today Finn pooped on the floor on his way to the toilet and nearly set the house on fire - not with his poop, it was a separate incident.
When Cody got home it was all I could do to sit pleasantly and try not to explode. It has been one of those days.

I was pretty disappointed today. July is shaping up to be a very slow month - Pampered Chef-wise. I only have 2 shows scheduled and despite my best efforts it doesn't look like that will change too drastically. I tried to approach a lady at the bank and got attitude and my neighbor who has been saying she will host a show for 3 months now told me today that her husband doesn't want her to. So I am a little down in the dumps about it.

I am also PMSing. blah. Lately everything just bugs me. Like just now, Cody asked me don't you already have enough blogs? How am I supposed to respond to that? And yesterday I got my hair cut and even though he mentioned a few times to me that it was good I was able to get my hair cut, he never said anything about it once he saw it. I don't even ever play the "will he notice" game. He knows I am getting my hair cut, he brings it up in conversation, and yet he doesn't say "hey, looks good," or "hey, I hate it," or anything. Sorry but that just bugs.

Ok, well I better stop blogging while under the influence of hormones.