Catch Up

Let's see. Christmas went really well. Thankfully Noah really isn't mobile yet, so he didn't destroy our beautiful tree. He thought that the unwrapping presents thing was pretty cool though. The paper was of course, his favorite part. We had to make sure he only had each piece for a little while since he's drooling like mad right now, and the paper would get pretty soggy pretty fast. He got a bunch of new clothes, a few toys, and his first sippy cup and box of cheerios. We tried out the sippy cup today and he got the hang of it pretty well. He can't hold it himself, but I think he'll take it just as well as he does a bottle in a few days or so. We also tried out the Cheerios last night......he's really not ready for those yet. Lots of choking and gagging and soggy cheerios ended up on the floor. We'll wait a few weeks and then try that adventure again.

Zander's new toy for Christmas this year is the shotgun that I bought him. Yes, me, the one who really really hates guns, bought Zander a bright "shiny" black shotgun. He's really excited about it and likes to show it to everyone, and really wants to go blow some stuff up with it. He also got some new movies, and a few new shirts.

My big Christmas gift this year was my wii fit from Zander. It's really a very cool system, and the programing behind it just hurts my brain. Kudos to the people that can figure things out like that. We started working out on it for at least 20 minutes a day....and then I got sick. So pretty much all I've been able to do on it the last few days are balance exercizes, and a few yoga poses. The good news is though, that my Wii Fit age is 20!!! woot!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

New Toys

Noah's favorite new toy to chew, slobber, grab, and bang his head again......Mommy's face.

Momma's Boys

I usually really don't like watching reality shows, but Zander and I happened to see the first episode of this last night, and I think we might continue to watch it. It's like watching a car wreck, you know that it's going to end badly, but you just can't seem to tear your eyes away from the horror. I can't believe how flat out STUPID some of the people on this show are!!! But they amuse me, so I'll likely continue to watch it.

Squealing in Delight

All of the baby books say that learning to squeal in delight is an important achievement for babies. I'd say it's kind of an annoyance. Granted it is stinking cute, but man, he could shatter glass with how high he gets on some of these!

Beef Stroganoff

I made this from scratch last night. The recipe is really good, I've used it before, but I've come to a conclusion with this meal. It's way easier to just use cream of mushroom soup, and it tastes just as good. So I'm going to be lazy from now on with it.

Six Months and December Happenings

Ok, so I'm a little early on the six month thing, but I'm just baffled by the fact that my little baby is now 6 months old tomorrow. He's growing up so fast, and learning so much every day. His latest achievements include: sitting unassisted (still with supervision), eating meats (in a jar, they all smell like tuna), and squealing in delight. I thought that he' d love meats straight off, considering how interested he is in food, but that first night I think he got more on his face and bib than he did in his little tummy. Notice that it's on both hands, under his eye, and yes, that's a chunk on his forehead as well. He's starting to loose that newborn look in his face as well and is starting to look more like a little toddler. Thankfully he's still a ways away from toddling. We still have to master rolling over before he'll manage to get the balance for walking. Noah, you can't read, but I love you sweetie. You're the joy of my day, and you keep me constantly entertained and in awe.

Let's see, what's been going on lately. We got our Christmas decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving, oh the joys of a pre-lit tree!!! Seeing as that's how and when Zander proposed to me, I think we'll keep that tradition around. And what's the point of having a really pretty tree if you're only going to have it up for a week or two? I figure we might as well keep it up as long as possible. We actually sent out Christmas cards this year too! If you didn't get it there are two reason: 1- we probably should have ordered more and 2- I probably keep in pretty good contact with you.

Zander is still loving his job. In these troubled economical times his company is still very stable, and he's not at all worried about layoffs. The company is still finding ways to save money though, but thankfully not through firing people. They're no longer providing cups for everyone in the break room for one. Yeah, I know, it's weird. And they aren't providing Christmas bonuses either. That's a pretty big disappointment, but at least we know that it's not his companies fault directly. Wingate web was bought out by Active Network earlier this year, and it's Active Network that is directing all of these changes. But if we don't get Christmas bonuses, and he has to start bringing a mug from home, I'll take it if that means he gets to keep a good and stable job.

Zander is also in finals this week. WOOT!!! (for those of you unfamiliar with the term "woot", it's an exclamation of joy) I'll be glad to have him home in the evenings and on Saturdays for a little while before the next semester starts up again.

Me, I'm pretty much the same. Just puttering along. I've been doing a lot of cooking lately still, but I've been using recipes that are already tried and true instead of trying new things. I'd really like to try making truffles this year, they don't look like they'll be that hard. They do seems like they'll be an all day adventure though between freezing various stages and whatnot. We'll see if I get around to it.

Noah vs. Book

Just for you Stephanie!

I think that Noah actually won this round. Usually the book wins. Hear the victory cry at the end?

Stuff

So....let's see what's been going on lately.

It's been just over 5 months since we had Noah, and I still hadn't received bills from my doctor, or the hospital for my stay, so I called to see what was going on with those. Turns out that having double insurance covered both of those expenses completely. So Noah has really only cost us a total of like $600 to have. WOOT! The downside is that means we're losing about $800 that we had set aside in a medical savings account. :( oh well.

Speaking of Noah, he can sit up on his own now! For short periods of time, and only when he is well supervised, meaning sitting between my legs, or with my hands hovering on his sides for when he decides to teeter to one side or the other.

Zander's company part this year is going to be at the Grand America in Salt Lake. I've never actually been in there before, but I've heard wonderful things about it. And knowing this company, I'm betting it's a really nice party. They're also giving him the day after Thanksgiving off. I'm not sure if it's a paid holiday or not, but hey, it's a holiday. I'll take it. Oh, they also took the entire company (and me) to go and see the new James Bond movie a while ago. Good movie, even though I was lost for most of it.

I really hate door to door salesmen, they're annoying, and persistent, but I still feel the need to be courteous to them. I'd really like to have the guts to just tell them straight up "I'm not interested, and I don't accept solicitors", and then close the door right then. But I'm usually nice and listen to them for at least a few minutes. Maybe it'd actually be nicer to just shut them down in the first place than to let them think they might be getting a sale out of me. After this guy tonight, I secretly wished I had my neighbors phone number so I could call her and tell her not to answer her door in about 10 seconds.

I'm sad to think how horribly unhealthy Chinese food is. I really really like it, but most of it is either battered, or fried, or both.

Teething...

I really hate it.

Tongue tied

Noah has recently discovered how to stick his tongue out and curl it up. He does it all the time and it's hilarious looking.

Friday Randomness

If you need something at the grocery store and ask if they carry it, and they say no, look for it anyway. Today I asked the guy in the meat department at Smith's if they carried ground pork, chicken, and/or lamb. He said yes to the pork and kindly showed me where it was. He said that they didn't carry the ground chicken or lamb anymore essentially because the high up executives decided they shouldn't anymore. So was looking at various other meats and what did I find? Ground lamb. It was next to the ground buffalo, duh.

Noah officially likes sweet potatoes, and his new chewy teething ring. Out of curiosity I tried both. No wonder he likes the teething ring! It really is kind of fun to chew on.

The word of the day today on dictionary.com is Olfactory: adjective, of smell; having to do with smelling.

I'm going to go and get some Christmas shopping done tomorrow, and I'm REALLY excited about it. I'm also going to see if Good Earth carries Greek Yogurt, since Smith's doesn't. Yes, I looked even after the dairy guy told me that they didn't.

8 things

EIGHT

8 TV Shows I Live to Watch:
I don't have TV so these might be older shows...

1. LOST!!! Can't wait for season 5 to start!
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
3. Sex and the City
4. X-Files
5. Rachael Ray
6. Friends
7. Iron chef
8. Any nature show, specifically Planet Earth and Blue Planet

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Tucanos
2. Macaroni Grill
3. Bangkok Grill
4. Bombay House
5. Red Rock
6. Las Tarascas
7. Zupas
8. J Dawgs! Woot!!!

8 Things That Happened Yesterday
eeek, not much happens on Wednesdays...

1. I made yummy breakfast and dinner for us!
2. I went to the grocery store
3. I bought myself Arby's for lunch, hehe
4. It snowed about 3 inches, then melted.
5. Zander's pointless class was cancelled....again. Complaints will be filed to the Dean.
6. I got to sleep for 5 hours straight without waking up at all.
7. My visiting teachers dropped by. I love those ladies.
8. Noah took a bath, and gave me a shower in the process. (bath water being splashed all over me)

8 Things I Look Forward to:

1. Going to California in March
2. Sleeping at least 8 hours without interruption...that'll be great.
3. Zander being done with school
4. Eating. I really love food.
5. Getting an opportunity to move away from Utah for a while
6. Taking a shower.
7. Hanging out with the Wardles on the weekends.
8. When Zander gets home in the evening.

8 Things I Love About Fall:

1. When the snow is on the mountains but not in the valley yet
2. The anticipation for the holidays
3. Making pies!
4. Hot chocolate in the morning
5. Breaking out my coat and searching through the pockets for lost "treasures"...or cough drops
6. Wearing Scarves and gloves.
7. Sunsets. They always seem more colorful in the fall for some reason.
8. The sensation of the year coming to a close.

8 Things on My Wish List:

1. A Piano
2. To loose 15 pounds
3. Going on a Carribean cruise
4. For all of the medical bills to finally come through so I can get them paid and stop worrying about them.
5. To be able to paint like Bob Ross. It looks so easy and fun the way he does it, and I think I could do it even though I lack any sort of artistic or creative talent. I just need someone to show what brushes to buy, and get me started.
6. To dance again. I miss me some waltz...*sigh*...
7. For my children to be well behaved, well adjusted, well educated, and well rounded. (not fat)
8. To maintain certain friendships for life.

8 People I Tag:
I don't think that there are 8 people that read this. So if you are reading it, consider yourself tagged!

HOA

It's not very exciting new really, but I found it interesting. We had our very first HOA meeting tonight. Now that the complex is 100% built and occupied, the hoa is going to be run by the actual homeowners instead of the builder. For a while now I've been wondering what all was involved in this community we live in. They've always said that it's a 4 stage master community, but I didn't know what all four were. We have condo's, town homes, single family homes...and commercial it turns out. there's a fairly large area just north of the town homes that we live in that hasn't been developed at all. It's got a road that dead ends into it, but that's about it. They're going to be putting in a few stores in that area. No word on what yet, but it's a fabulous location for just about any business to come into. It's right on SR73, and anyone that commutes that road would be passing it on a daily basis. Plus there is a light on that intersection now that would help people to be able to access any businesses easily. Hopefully they put in something pretty cool. It's like a two minute walk from my house. I just hope that they don't put in a gas station. Those tend to draw some of the not so nice crowds, and there are a LOT of little kids living in these town homes, and there will be a lot living in the condos too I'm sure.

Impatience

I've officially decided that Christmas should be in November this year. I don't know why, but I'm feeling really impatient for the holidays this year. My house is decorated all cute in fall festivity for Halloween and Thanksgiving, but what I really want is to put up my Christmas tree already. We bought a new tree and a ton of new ornaments and whatnot last year, and I completely love it, and want it up. So if we can just skip the next month (but not the punkin pie) that'd be great.

Secondary Blog

For those who are interested, I've started up a workout blog. Thank you Krystal for the inspiration. All of the posts on there will be related to fitness, dieting and weight loss. Plus the occasional complaint about how sore I am from working out of course.

www.nomoresquats.blogspot.com

Sleep

Why is it that the more you sleep the more tired you are? I've gotten almost adequate amounts of sleep the last two nights, but I'm really really tired today for some reason. Even with a one hour nap I'm still fairly out of it and feeling really lazy. One of those seeming oxymorons that we probably won't ever understand. It might also have something to do with the fact that I haven't slept for more than like 4 hours straight in several months. *Sigh*. Some day I'll get to sleep again. Probably just in time to have another baby and start this process all over again.

Punkins!

Last night we carved punkins with our dear friends the Wardle's. I don't know why but I've always really enjoyed carving punkins, especially cleaning out the innards. A lot of people (mom) think that the insides are gross, but I think that they're interesting, and kind of like the slimy texture with slipper seeds in there. Anyway, I carved a spider on Noah's and a gravestone on mine. I did my own pattern for the first time in years instead of using one of the patterns you get in the kits. I had great ideas.....they just didn't work out very well. I ended up piecing both of them back together with toothpicks because I cut the wrong places or just didn't do things quite right. Zander used a pattern and made a raven sitting on a skull. It looks really really cool. Steph has trick or treaters on her, and Craig....did something really cool on his. I feel bad that I can't remember what it was. I do remember that he had a giant sized punkin and his pattern ended up being really small. And we thought it would be cool if he added a moon to it. It looked really cool, whatever it was. LOL. I'll post some pics of them after they're lit on Friday night, if they don't rot and fall apart before then.

Noah Pictures

We took Noah to get his picture taken a few Saturdays ago. He wasn't exactly happy with this idea.....
We did get at least one happy baby picture though!

Baby Mama

Funny funny movie! Probably more so if you've had kids. Zander do good.

Little Kids

I've never thought of myself as a baby person. Growing up I never really did any babysitting. The first time I was REALLY put in charge of any child was probably Brennen, and he's not even 3 yet. So sometimes it seems crazy that I have a child myself, and am planning on having another one eventually. Tonight we had the pleasure of watching Marshall and Brennen, and yes, it was a pleasure. Of course it helps that B is a remarkably well behaved child, but still. It was just a lot of fun to have a bunch of little kids in the house. Noah and M are only a few months apart, and they were very interested in each other. I'm really excited for when they're a little bit older and can really play together. It'll be really cute.

Galoon!

Every year Zander's whole family goes to Lagoon togther towards the end of the season, but this year it got missed. And I was pretty bummed about that. So we ended up going last night to Frightmares with our good friends Craig and Steph. It was so much fun! We only did like 7 rides in 5 hours, ate some greasy rubbery over-priced theme park food, and just about froze to death, (it was only just over 50 degrees), but we had a blast. Zander and I did a fair amount of frolicking around the park, and showed the Wardle's our true spastic selves, a side that we usually don't show in public. Susan and Frisco were so kind and stayed home with Noah too, so it was 7ish hours of some much needed freedom from any semblance of responsibility. Seriously though I got really chilled while we were there. We got hot chocolate on our way home and had the heater on, and I was still cold enough to wear a few layers of pajamas and a pair of socks.

Now I understand that sometimes it might be hard to find a babysitter, or you want the entire family present for an outing, but Frightmares (especially when it's that cold) is a completely inappropriate place for little tiny kids. I saw a ton of kids all bundled up and sucking on their bottles and binkies. I think it was way too late and cold for them to be out like that. Most of them looked fairly miserable, and like they just wanted to be home in their nice warm beds.

Memorable Lines...and noises

-Nay then! (Luca)
-I...I...I......I already licked it. (Jenna, Jeff, Luca)
-Redbull gives you wings! (Luca again)
-You hit me in the muscle (Me)
-I'm never going to play with you again! (Ashley)
-I just can't wait to get my pants off (Stephanie)
-Attention: SHUT UP! (Radio Station, Dan)
-Boo! (Trevor)
-Shma (Blaine)
-And look back there, I have short arms (Mama)
-It squoke! (Me, Triana)
-Garbanzo, garbanzo BEANS! (Joseph)
-Bleh-ler (Fred)
-Are you talking? (Melissa)

"The Special Two"

I've hardly been outside my room in days,
'cause I don't feel that I deserve the sunshine's rays.
The darkness helped until the whiskey wore away,
And it was then I realize the conscience never fades.
When you're young you have this image of your life:
That you'll be scrupulous and one day even make a wife.
And you make boundaries you'd never dream to cross,
And if you happen to you wake completely lost.
But I will fight for you, be sure that
I will fight until we're the special two once again.

And we will only need each other, we'll bleed together,
Our hands will not be taught to hold another's,
When we're the special two.
And we could only see each other, we'll bleed together,
These arms will not be taught to need another,
'Cause we were the special two.

I remember someone old once said to me:
"That lies will lock you up with truth the only key."
But I was comfortable and warm inside my shell,
And couldn't see this place would soon become my hell.
So is it better to tell and hurt or lie to save their face?
Well I guess the answer is don't do it in the first place.
I know I'm not deserving of your trust from you right now,
But if by chance you change your mind you know I will not let you down
'cause we were the special two, and we'll be again.

And we will only need each other, we'll bleed together,
Our hands will not be taught to hold another's,
When we're the special two.
And we can only see each other we'll breathe together,
These arms will not be taught to need another...
'cause we're the special two.

I step outside my mind's eye's for a minute.
And I look over me like a doctor looking for disease,
Or something that could ease the pain.
But nothing cures the hurt you, you bring on by yourself,
Just remembering, just remembering how we were...

When we would only need each other, we'd bleed together,
Our hands would not be taught to hold another's,
We were the special two.
And we could only see each other, we'd bleed together,
These arms would not be taught to need another,
'Cause we're the special two.

Joy

It's been a really long time since I've been able to find a pair of jeans that fit me well. And as most women know, shopping for jeans is one of the most miserable things in this life. Well, we have family pictures today with Z's family, and I wanted to be wearing something that's going to look cute and make me look skinny and not too mom-ish. So I needed to go buy a new pair of jeans. *cringe*. So I headed over to DownEast Outfitters. There is little to no organization to their jeans, and for that matter I wasn't even sure what size I needed. So I grabbed a bunch of different sizes and headed to the dressing room. I figured out what size I needed and headed back out to the wall o' jeans. I finally found a pair that fit really well, were a good price, and were the color and wash that I was looking for. Then I looked at the price tag. They were Lucky Brand jeans, normally $80. I got them for $25!!!! WOO-WOOT! So not only did I find a pair of jeans that I actually like and that fit really nicely, but I got them for about 1/4 of their original price. Granted I do need to go and have them hemmed, (keep the short jokes to a minimum please) but that only costs like $8.

Pirates! Ahoy!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is every year on September 19th. Last year I celebrated as much as possible while working at a conservative company. I talked like a pirate to all those whom I thought would appreciate the humor of the day, and I think that I wore boots as well. I would have worn my pirate looking corset as well, but as previously noted, it was a very conservative company, and I didn't want to loose my job. This years celebrations aren't as much fun, seeing as I spend my days with a 3 month old, but he is dressed for the occasion!

Bedtime

Zander really doesn't get to spend much time at home during the day, what with working full time all day long, and then going to school most evenings. Today he surprised me and came home really early, mostly so he could do homework, but still, he was at least home. In my efforts to encourage some quality Father Son bonding time, I got Zander to read Noah's bedtime story to him tonight, and it was so cute to hear him reading, and making the animal noises, and describing the cow (and its udders...). The joys of motherhood aren't just those of watching your children learn and grow, it's also watching your husband learn to love and teach your children. Granted all the animal noises freaked Noah out and he started crying, but still. It was a great learning experience.

On a different note, but still related to bedtime. This week Noah has decided to try to boycott bedtime. Previously he would go down without so much as a whimper, but this week it has been full on crying. I started to let him cry the last few nights. I go in every few minutes and calm him down a bit without picking him up, then leave. He starts crying again, a few minutes we start it all over again. Tonight he cried for 5 minutes, I went and comforted him. He cried for 3 minutes and now is dead quiet. So either 1- he fell asleep 2- he's sitting there quiet but awake or 3- he burst a blood vessel in his head somewhere with all of that crying. I'm really hoping it's option 1. But being the concerned mother that I am, I'll probably peek my head in there in a few minutes to make sure he's still breathing....and then do it again before I go to bed. Yes, I had SIDS-a-phobia. But regardless of his current state, I'm proud of my little man for successfully crying himself to sleep in about 10 minutes total time from when he was put down.

Noah

Latest pics of Noah. Mostly I'm putting these on here so that I can manage to get them onto another site that doesn't have an uploader. dumb huh?

Something in the Air

Noah is really good about not leaking through his diapers very often, unless I'm bad and forget to change him. But even after sleeping in the same diaper for 10+ hours his clothes usually stay dry. There's an exception to the rule though: being at Grandma Jean's house. Seriously, the last like 5 times we've been over there he has pooped out of his diaper. He did it once or twice at home, so I changed him into the bigger size diaper and we haven't had a problem since. Until today when I went to mom's house. As I was leaving she was scooting him up a bit in his seat and noticed that his shorts had a wet spot on them. I figured he was already in the seat, I was going to be putting him to bed when we got home, so I just left it for a bit. I get home and oh is that not just a wet spot. It's a poop spot! I think there's something in the air at mom's house that acts as a natural explosive laxative for babies.

Solitude

Yesterday was Zander's first day of classes for this semester, and it looks like they're going to be pretty good classes. They're taught by people who work in the field, so they know what they're talking about, and they understand the whole working and going to school in the evening thing. That's one thing that I really appreciate about UVU's night classes. It's not that they're lenient or don't teach as much in the evening, they just understand that people's lives are crazy and that school isn't their only priority.

With Z having school in the evenings it means that he is gone for 12+ hours several days a week, which kind of sucks for me. Thankfully Noah had a really good day yesterday and didn't get fussy or grumpy really at all until about 6:30, and went to bed an hour early. On days that Z is gone I'm trying to give myself something to look forward to around 5:30ish, just to help break up my day and keep me on a similar schedule. Even if it's something as simple as going on a short walk to get the mail. I'm also making sure that I get outside for a little while, even if it's just sitting in the backyard for 5 minutes while I eat my lunch.

Repeat

Ok, so this blog may end up being a workout blog, we'll see. But I did my second Slim in Six workout tonight, and again, it kicked my butt, but not nearly as hard as it did last night. I turned the music off, and while it was a little disorienting to be working out without music at first, eventually I didn't notice the silence. And I'm glad to find out that I do get a rest day on Sunday. *whew*

On a side note, I'm really missing my Missy Higgins cd right now. I'm not sure where it ended up, but it's one of those cd's that I can listen to for about 4 hours straight, just repeating it, and not get tired of it. Krystal can agree with me on that point, it's an awesome cd. Heck, even Zander doesn't mind it too much.

Noah is having a lot of trouble sleeping during the day again, and it's really starting to wear on me. I can usually get him to sleep fairly easily, but if I try to put him in his bed, he wakes up and gets really mad about it. So we struggle with that for about half an hour, then I get frustrated and end up holding him for a couple hours while he sleeps. It makes my butt hurt a lot, our office chair is nice, but not several hours worth nice. *sigh*. I know, it gets better...

Sweat

For a couple of years now I have been doing the Turbo Jam workouts, and while I absolutely love them, I think I got really bored with it the last year or so. But I know that I like the products that Beach Body has. Thankfully Alisha had another Beach Body program, and she's been dropping weight like mad. So she burned me a copy of Slim in Six and I tried it out tonight. OUCH! man, that program is going to seriously kick my butt in a good way. Of course there are a few things I don't like about it, like the fact that she can't keep time with her own music, but thankfully there's an option on the menu to turn the music off, so maybe that won't bug me as much. But I'm actually really excited about this program. It's been a long time since I've been this excited about working out, cuz I know that this is something that is really going to challenge me. It's not nearly as much FUN as Turbo Jam is, but I think it's a much tougher workout. I'll probably throw some of the cardio from Turbo in once in a while just because it in genuinely fun, and it's a great cardio workout. But I really think that I'm going to be sore tomorrow morning from doing this workout tonight. I've been trying to get my workouts in during the day when Noah is napping, but his naps are so inconsistent right now that I don't think it's going to work. Thankfully bedtime for him IS consistent, so I'll be doing my workouts around 8:30 at night after he's passed out for the night.

Eyes and Ears

No, I didn't forget about writing on the blog, I just haven't been able to come up with anything that I wanted to write about. Just barely, however, a random thought came into my head, and I shared it with Stephanie, but now I think I want to explore it a little bit more.

I'm sitting here working on the computer listening to music, and I keep thinking I hear Noah crying, but I know that it isn't him because he's dead asleep, and it sounds further away from me than he is, so I think it might be the neighbors little boy Jaymon. Anyway, it got me to thinking about how incredibly hard it would be to take care of a baby if you couldn't hear. You wouldn't know if he was crying in the other room, especially in the middle of the night when he wants to eat. You also wouldn't be able to tell the difference between tired, hungry, and gas cries, so instead of going straight to the root of the problem you would have to go through all of them to figure out which one needs to be fixed.

After thinking about how glad I was that I could hear, of course I had to be glad that I could see. Aside from the obvious reasons of being able to enjoy the beauties of nature, I thought specifically of taking care of a baby. Mainly, how do you know if you got all of the poop off when you're changing a diaper? Or if your baby is starting to roll or walk, and they get away from you, it could be really hard to figure out where they went.

Side note: no, that is not my eye.

Two months

When you have a baby everything changes, naturally. And honestly not all of it is good. And when you're miserable it seems like everyone tells you over and over "don't worry, it gets better, usually around two months." They were far more right than I ever thought possible. About a week ago he finally started taking real naps during the day. Before he was just taking 20 minute cat naps and then being really cranky at night cuz he was so exhausted, but now he sleeps at least 6 hours during the day. And who knew the key to sleeping through the night was sleeping during the day? The night that Noah turned two month old he slept through the night, from 8:30 pm until 7 am with barely making a noise. of course I didn't sleep that long though. We went to bed around 1 am, after I made sure he was still breathing. I woke up again confused that my baby hadn't woken me up. I made sure he was still alive and then went back to bed. I passed off that first night as a total fluke and didn't expect it again. well, he did it again last night. So happy two month birthday, to both Noah and to me.

New Challenges

For quite a few years now I have had a fascination with Asian body-mind disciplines. I've toyed with Yoga and always loved it, especially last summer. I had a gym membership at 24 hour fitness and they had a yoga class several nights a week that I could make it to right after work. It was a great way to wind down and re-energize myself after a long day of being at a desk. While I really love Yoga, I've also really wanted to learn T'ai Chi. It's movements are so beautiful and controlled. So yesterday while we were doing a bunch of errands down in Orem, I got a beginning T'ai Chi video. I got Zander to try it out with me last night, and it's actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. I know that once I get the movements down and can flow smoothly between them it's going to be a good workout.

Trial run

I admit, this is not the first blog that I have created, but I don't remember the login or password to any of the others and I never did anything with them anyway. So here's hoping that this one survives. I feel like it's new years day and I'm writing in a journal saying that I'm going to do better at writing consistently, and then it never happens But this will be a good project for me and will help me find significant things in my somewhat monotonous life to write about.

Exciting things this week:
My cookbook is coming along really well, and I'm still very motivated to work on it. I have most of the recipes from my Cooking Light magazines done. Next I'll have to go through the recipe box and all of my cookbooks and figure out what I want from those. That might be more fun, cuz I'll have to work harder to get the pictures on those recipes instead of just copying them from a website.

Last night we went on our first REAL date since having Noah in mid June. We've gone out to dinner a few times without him, but that was only like an hour long, so it doesn't count. We were out for about 4 hours last night, and it was kind of like taking a big huge gulp of air, it was great. Don't get me wrong, I love my baby lots and lots, but it was nice to have a break from him for a little while. Brian wanted us to double with him, so we went with him and Amber out to Tucanos in Orem, and then went bowling afterwards and played two games. We hadn't met Amber before, but she was a lot of fun. Very easy to talk to and joke around with. I out-ate everyone at dinner (no, I'm not proud of that), and then won the second game of bowling. Zander wasn't having the best game on that second round, so he started trying to throw the ball as fast as he could. It was rather entertaining.

We've begun to actually think about the trip that we're taking to California this coming March. Our invitation for Craig and Steph has been officially issued, and we're starting to think about what we want to do while we're down there, which has brought up the issue of swim suits....Granted I've lost just about all of my baby weight, but I was a good 10 pounds heavier than I wanted to be even before I got pregnant. I've got a good 20 pounds that I want to loose before I put myself in a swimsuit in public. I'm incredibly motivated to start working out, but it's a whole new challenge when a newborn baby is involved. I can't always expect his naps to last long enough for me to get in a good workout, and I'd like to start running again, but I don't think that our current stroller would handle it very well. Not to mention I have a tendency to forget to eat during the day when I'm taking care of Noah. So we'll see what happens. I've always had the goal of being able to fit back into my wedding dress by our next anniversary, which is when we're going to California, and if I can fit into my dress then I won't be too ashamed to be in a swimsuit.