Belly Aches, Sore Muscles and Lots of Laughs..

I know, random name for a post!  But that's all I can think of to update you on today!

1.  Poor little Mac was sick again this weekend..  he had the projectile vomit and d going on again on Sunday..  I hate the feeling of helplessness when he's sick. I finally broke down and called the PED b/c I just didn't know what to do anymore to make him feel better.  He seems like he's on the mend again now, but we'll see.. seems like there is a nasty stomach bug floating around like crazy here! 

2.  My girlfriend Angela and her little one Delaney came to visit this weekend.  We had a good time and of course lots and lots of laughs.. that girl just kills me everytime I see her! She hadn't met Mac yet so it was good to have her meet him and Delaney was just so sweet to him!! Here are some pics of D and Mac and then one of Mac at the Wildlife World Zoo on Saturday.. I mean, does it get any cuter?? I know I'm biased, but for realzzzzzz..

I love this one.. it's like she's telling him a secret or something.. hopefully nothing about their mommies and how crazy they are!!!

at the zoo.. 

with his  "big sister" D!!! She kept calling herself that!! :)

3.  I'm super super sore today.. I started the 100 pushups/150 situps/200 squats challenges the other day and that's no joke!! I also did my iPilates class last night.. LOVE IT!!  Mac and I did a LONG walk this weekend when he wasn't crabbing/puking/pooping on Sunday.. I'm hoping the scale starts showing my exercise/hard work!

that's about all I have!  Hope you are all doing well!! And to those that got hit with the anon poster, I say screw them.. you are ALL FABULOUS!!

xo,js

10 Things Thursday

Hey all, I've been MIA for almost two weeks.. so much for my wanting to blog more!!

1.  I'm tired... really tired.. as in got like 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night tired. I had a projectile vomiting/explosive diarrea baby last night.. it was lovely.  I think the poor little Bubba had 3 baths, 6 pajama changes, and 3 bed sheet/mattress pad changes before all was said and done.  Thank goodness he's feeling  a little better today Apparently there's a little bug going around. hopefully we've seen the end of it.

2. I'm still obsessed with Pilates. I'm taking my group class at the gym and also doing it at another studio once a week...  I love the way it makes me feel after - hurts, but a good hurt and I feel like I walk a little taller!

3.  We are heading to Atlanta in two weeks!  Can't wait to see my Brother, SIL and niece and nephew, and most importantly, have Mac meet them!! Also, just really excited to have somewhere/something to look forward to!

4. So, before we had Mac, we were traveling fools. We love to travel and like I said above, I really need something to look forward to to keep me going!   2011 was the year of MAc and thus not much traveling, but this year, watch out USA, we are coming to a city near you!!! We have plans for San Fran in May, Chicago/Milwaukee in June, Michigan in July, Cabo (for our 10 year anniversary) in September and I'm definitely coming to BOOBs in September!  We'll probably go to San Diego as well somewhere in there since it's a short drive/easy trip. I'm so excited to start traveling again!!  Of course, there is a Brewers trip thrown in there a couple of times, but hey, if it gets us to go somewhere, I can handle the baseball games!

5.  My band is so finicky lately. One day it's locked shut and I'm Pbing all over the place and the next (as in last night) I was able to eat Sushi rolls and Gyoza.. and wash it all down with a beer. Ridic!!

6. I'm losing, slowly but surely.. I wish my weight loss was faster but I've always been a slow loser so I guess that's not going to change.

7.  My body is still revolting against me.. I'm apparently now allergic to SOMETHING.. no idea what it is but my chest is breaking out in hives on the daily and I'm itching like crazy.  I went to the allergist yesterday and am going in next week to be tested to see what it could possibly be.  Annoying.

8.  My friend Angela and her little sweetie Delaney are coming this weekend. Super excited. she hasn't met Mac yet either. Hoping he feels better b/c I have big plans for all of us!

9.  Spring Training starts in just a little over a month!! if you are looking for us, check the Brewers stadium b/c someone got tickets for every.single.Saturday and Sunday. game!!! Pretty sure he considered it the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!

10. I can't think of another one.. I seriously am about to fall asleep at my desk. I don't even have any cute new pics of Mac to show you..  bad mom this week!! 

Hope you are all doing well!! VEry excited for a couple of girls who are getting close to being banded!!!  So exciting!!! 

Ten (or maybe just 7) Things Thursday.. on Friday!

Hey all! Hope you have all been having a good week! I've been super busy thus the lack of blogging!

so, I meant to do this yesterday but never got around to it..

1. You have not seen crazy until you've read a Birth Board on BabyCenter.. I'm a member of the July 2011 board and lordy be, those girls are kookoo crazy.. I joined so I could get some good advice while pregnant and beyond and now it's purely just entertainment.. there's not a lot of support, but just bitches hating on other bitches.. it's hilarious.. It's my go-to reading material when I'm bored at night!!! It just goes to show that you can be anyone you want on the "internet" and you can say whatever you want b/c you are pretty much anonymous if you want to be.. I sure hope some of these women do not talk to their real life friends the way they do their internet friends!!

2. Speaking of crazy.. there is a girl I met on a blogging site years ago and I am "friends" with her on Facebook.. she makes ME crazy. I'm debating deleting her but her kind of crazy is also very entertaining.. she's a quiverfull christian and believes that she should have as many kids as God's plan is (a la the Duggars) which is all fine and good, no judgement there, but she goes on tangents literally every hour on things that are soo fundamentally opposite of what she is claiming she believes.. this is how I feel when I read her posts:

Thanks to Leslie for pinning that on Pinterest yesterday.. I literally laughed out loud!!

3.  Yesterday, I wore maternity jeans..  don't judge. I only wore them b/c they were one of the first ones I bought and I was smaller back then and the legs are a little snug but I like the way they look on me with long sweaters.. so I wore them and was comfy all day long..

4.  Today's Mac's 6 month birthday.. so hard to believe. Of course we did a photo shoot this morning:

You can see his little toothies in this one.. 

and in this one, he discovered he had a sticker on.. which was promptly pulled off and ripped up and end of photo shoot..

5.  Went to my band doctor on Monday and got a small .5cc fill. I'm back up to 9 now which is what I was prior to getting 1/2 taken out in my 11th week of pregnancy. I am TIGHT though so I'm thinking I may go get some taken out.  I haven't been able to eat a thing at breakfast this week and have been PBing a lot (my friend Maria now refers to it as "making room" when I go PB!) will see how this weekend goes and make the call on Monday.

6.  Not much planned for this weekend!  Timmy and I have a babysitter on Saturday night and are going on a dinner date and then over to a friends house to watch some football. I really hope the Broncos lose.. so tired of the Tim Tebow talk!!

7.  Sunday, my friend Jenn3 is running the PF Changs marathon again and being the good athletic supporter I am, Mac and I are going to go cheer her on again as we did last year! 

I may have to end at 7 b/c I honestly can't think of anything else to tell you!! I got tagged by Grace but will do those questions in another post this weekend!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend and if you are in an area that is getting snow dumped on.. stay warm!!!

 

Great Weekend and Questions Answered!!

Hi All!  Hope you all had a great weekend. We definitely had one of the best in a while...  we were so busy and that's how I like it!! I was sick of sitting around the house every weekend and we definitely did not do that this weekend.

I saw "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" on Friday night with my friend Julie.. It was soo good!!  I hadn't read any of the books but I'm definitely going to do so now.

Saturday, I had a facial in the morning at a beauty school in Scottsdale and she did a really good job and for CHEAP!!  My skin was sooo dry.  She asked me early on if I was claustrophobic and I didn't think I was until she started to put this gauze on my face and then started to apply some crazy heavy mask..  I kind of had a mini-panic attack and she had to stop!! I guess I"m more clautrophobic than I thought!! 

Saturday night we went out with friends to a local sports bar and watched the Lions/Saints game.. the poor Lions.. maybe next year!!

Sunday morning, Michelle organized a little hike up in Cave Creek. It was a fabulous way to start the day. It was a bit chilly but we all had fun and then went and had a nice little lunch.  Mac was a trooper!  He started to fuss right at the end but he did sooo well just hanging out in front of his daddy!!

Finally, last night we went to the Phoenix Suns/Milwaukee Bucks game..  we had front row, center court seats (not physically ON the court) but 1st row in 1st level.  We got sooo lucky with these tickets and only ended up paying 1/4 of what they are usually worth!!  Too bad the game was a game between two stinky teams!!! Would have been more exciting had it been like the Lakers or Heat or something, but oh well.. it was a fun, random night out and our friends Joy and Rob volunteered to watch Mac so a win-win all around!!

So, back to the grind this week.  I have all my workouts planned out and am ready to start the week off strong!!  I got on the scale this morning and am down 4 total for the last week and half. Want to keep that momentum going so I'm trying to stay focused.  I've done pretty good on the Less-Gluten diet this past week and I do feel a little bit of a difference. I'm sure I'd feel a whole heap of a difference if I went full g-free.. 

So, if you are still hanging with me, I got tagged by two of my new bandster friends on a little survey thingy going around..  I love having new people to follow and get to know!!  I'm totally cheating and not following the rules by not posting 11 random things about myself or tagging anyone else!!  By now, there is really nothing new I could tell you that would be random that you didn't already know!!

These questions came from Lisa

1) Do you have any pets? Yes! I have two Beagles - Frieda (6) and Murphy (9).. right now, they are on my list though b/c I think Murphy is acting out b/c of Mac.. either that or she's just getting really old and a pain in the ass..

2) If you could have dinner with any person dead or alive, who would it be? hmmm, that's a hard question.  I'm not sure.. may have to come back to that.

3) Do you prefer the country, city or beach if you had to choose a place to live? I prefer City.  I would move back to Chicago in a heartbeat if I could work it out that I would have my fantastic job there!  I love Chicago b/c of the city aspect and you have the water too..

4) What is your #1 vice?  Facebook... not going to lie..I'm obsessed with checking it.

5) Do you love your career? If you don't have one, are you satisfied? I would not call what I do my career.  I had a career in my 20s and then when I got laid off, I ended up in a field that I had no intentions of ever staying in.  I consider what I do now just a job, but a job that I love and am planning to stay at until they give me the boot.

6) Do you have any artistic abilities? Ha! If you asked any of my friends, they'd laugh.. I'm pathetically not artistic in ANY way, nor am I crafty!!

7) If you were cooking to wow someone, what would you cook? What is your best dish? I'm no cook.. but I do make a mean banana chocolate chip muffin!! and excellent sausage balls!!

8) What is your favorite sport to watch and to play?  I love College sports - football and basketball.  I don't really play sports though, but when we lived in Chicago, we played in the beer softball league.. does that count?

9) Are you a morning person or a night owl? I'm definitely a morning person. I prefer to be in bed by 10!!

10) Do you have a doppledanger? (Is there a celebrity/famous person you resemble the most)? Nope!

11) When you get to mini goals, how do you reward yourself or how will you?  I am bad about setting goals.  I am generally the type of person who if I want something, I'll just buy it for myself. I should do better about setting goals and rewarding myself!!

These questions came from Jenn
1. Paperback, nook, kindle or other? I have the iPad with the Kindle on it.  I will never go back to paperback!!


2. Favorite place to vacation? Up North Michigan at my parents house on the lake

3. Mommy or daddy's girl? I'm definitely a mom's girl..
4. Tomboy or girlie girl? Kind of a mix - I was kind of tomboyish growing up but am now pretty much right in between


5. Did you play sports in school? explain - I played soccer growing up and I was also a gymnast.  In high school, I was a cheerleader and believe me, cheerleading in Mississippi IS a sport.. we did all sorts of competitions.

6. PC or MAC? PC

7. Favorite band or singer of all time? I love Madonna but I don't really have a  favorite - ALL TIME singer. I also am pretty obsessed with Bon Jovi!! :)

8. Favorite movie of all time? The Sound of Music

9. When you go to Vegas...slots or tables? definitely tables. I love me some roulette!

10. Beer or wine or none? I'm a Coors Light girl

11. Favorite reason to blog? I like to see what people are up to and it's a good way to document where I'm at and where I'm going. 

MAC Attack!!

Holy Moly.. 3 blogs in 3 days..  what is going on?? I'm hoping I keep up this blogging momentum!!
Ok, so I promised that I'd blog more and not always about Mac, but I figure, one day a week, I get to brag a little.. plus I have some family and friends who read my blog who will want to see some pics here and there!

He will be 6 months next week!! Where does the time go?? bananas! 
Here are some recent things he's been up to!

He is a BIG fan of checking himself out in the mirror. He must get that from his daddy..  everytime I'm in his room, and brushing his hair or something, he's gawking and smiling at himself.. it's hilarious. 

All gussied up for New Years Eve. We had a bottle / champagne toast at 7:30 and told him it was midnight.. ha!

He's already trying out for the Michigan State Cheerleading squad... Go Spartans, class of 2033!!!

"Hey Baby, you got plans after the game??"  How bout you grab your sippy cup and pick me up and take me for a ride on your new bike??

Very proud of himself for getting a babe so early in life.. 

When I was working last week and Tim was home with Mac, it was always a fun little surprise to see what attire Mac was wearing that day.. on this day, Tim was home collecting money from clients so he thought Mac should be wearing his "tough guy" outfit..  so cute!!

that's all I've got!!

**On the workout front, I did my Pilates class last night and man, in combo with my biking on Wednesday night, my legs and lower half of my body are SORE!!  LOVE IT!!! ***

Happy Weekend!!

It's like riding a bike...

I got a bike for Christmas. I may have mentioned it in my last blog.  It's a cute little thing, kind of like a cross between a cruiser and a mountain bike, nothing hardcore but it'll serve it's purpose.

I've ridden said bike once since Christmas.  Partly b/c I had some excuse or another that I was too busy, came home too late, Tim wasn't home to watch Mac, blah, blah, blah..   whatever, you know the drill..

Last night was different.  It has been beautiful here in AZ this past week, like in the high 70s in the afternoons and low 50s at night.. perfect weather.  The only thing that sucks is that it gets dark pretty quickly, like around 6. 

I arranged for Tim to pick up Mac from daycare so I could go home, change and take Suzy for a spin (yes, I've named the bike Suzy).

It was duskish but I was determined to get a good ride in. 

I cruised on out of my neighborhood onto a trail up the street..  I encountered a dog and a human on the trail, just as the trail was heading on a downward slope, into sand and then was straight uphill..   I thought, Holy Shit, I have to pass this person and not only try to keep my balance on the sand but get up the ginormous hill without falling off Suzy..  I did it, but kept thinking, "he's probably thinking, look at that chubbo huffing and puffing to get up that hill".. he would have been right.. I was breathing like I had been runnning from an African Mountain Lion, trying to save my life.. 

The rest of the ride was hard, I hit pavement and the route I took was mainly up hill b/c where I live is on the way to a couple of hiking mountains so it's an incline most of the way..  I ended up going around 10 miles last night and the best part was downhill..  with the wind in my hair.. although I was going pretty fast and it was dark and I was a little terrified that I'd run off the sidewalk..  It felt great!!  I'm going to try to do a ride at least 2 times a week and incorporate it in with my Pilates and then throw in a few sessions on the Elliptical as well.. we'll see how that works out!! 

Oh, and I jumped on the scale today.. down 2 lbs since this weekend!  yay me!!

Resetting..

Happy New Year!!

I've been reading lots of blogs with hugely motivational New Years Resolutions and plans.  I usually don't do resolutions but this year, I feel the need to Re-Set a couple of things. 

2011 was a wash in terms of weight-loss obviously with the birth of Mac.  I NEED to lose the rest of the weight I had planned to lose when I got the band.  I still have 70 lbs to get to my initial goal and 85 to get to where I would LOVE to be. Heck, to be honest, I'd be happy losing 60 lbs b/c that would be less than I've weighed in my adult life. But, I want to strive for more. Honestly, I'm sick of doing things half-assed. I know I do it, I fully take accountability for why I've not focused on the weight loss.. there really are no other excuses! My band is pretty good right now, I'm just not making the right choices.  Time to stop the madness!! 

I recently had a food intolerance test done at my doctor.  It was pretty eye-opening.  I'm apparently extremely intolerant to gluten and sugar. GREAT!!  I'm going to try to limit both and see how much better I feel.  I'm also going to follow the recommended foods list pretty closely and see how that makes me feel.  I'll keep you posted.

Other things I'm resetting: 

• I've been taking a Pilates fundamentals class and I love it!! Once I "graduate" from that, I've signed up to take it 2x a week, so I'm excited to have a "commitment" each week for that.
• I got a bike for Christmas. I love working out outside, so I'm hoping that this will motivate me to get out more as well.
• I worked out a schedule with Tim so that there are a few nights a week where I can work later and then get to the gym.  I just can't go home, do the stuff I need to do with Mac and then go to the gym.. I know that it doesn't work for me, so if I don't go straight from work, I know I won't go.
• I'm really reevaluating some of the relationships in my life.. I have always been the one who makes the plans, the one who reaches out to people, etc..  honestly, I'm kind of done..  I feel like if it weren't for me making the plans, I wouldn't have plans with anyone.  I've said this before, but I'm sick of being 2nd choice with most of the people I know.  It sucks, b/c I'm such a good friend and it's unfortunate that people are missing out on that part of me. 
• I'm going to be blogging a lot more and NOT just about Mac!!  I need to blog more, regardless of whether or not anyone reads. It's a good release and I love catching up and following what you are all doing. 
• I'm definitely considering coming to Chicago for BOOBS 3.0..  it's something to look forward to and will help me with keeping myself committed b/c I want to look gooooooood!! 

2012 is definitely the year of Jen!! I can't wait to see how it all unfolds!!

xo,js