The Women

OK, so do yourself a favor, grab some girlfriends and go see this movie. Once you get over how Meg Ryan has butchered what once was her pretty little face, it is quite a good movie. My friends and I laughed and cried and then laughed some more. I highly recommend it.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say,...

... that maybe, just maybe, he likes Baby Food.

So, today we ventured into the new and exciting territory of Baby Food. On today's menu: Sweet Potatoes.

And yes my friends, that is yummy sweet potatoes all over his face, hands, in his ear and on his eyelashes. He's taken "enjoy your food" to a whole different level.

I'm not really sure why I'm so surprised he liked it. The child eats his morning cereal like he hasn't been fed in a couple of weeks ~ eagerly, almost desperately, opening his mouth and lunging forward in his chair. And he usually stares at me while I eat, mimicking me while I chew my food (which in all honesty, is a little creepy sometimes). Yeah, I think he's actually ready for a big ol' plate of meat and potatoes, but we'll stick with these "solids" for a little while longer.

Oooh, I almost forgot ~ notice his two little bottom teeth on the first picture. How cute is that? Him gnawing on our fingers these days? Yeah, not so cute anymore. Pretty painful actually.

It's definitely a good thing!

I stumbled upon this site earlier today which is filled with hundreds of fun little mindless quizzes. After having some fun with a few of them I decided to do this one and basically confirmed what I've known for years ~ I am my mother!

And you know what? There's no one else I'd rather be like. I love my mom so much. She is an unbelievable woman who I have grown to respect and admire more and more throughout the years. She's my best friend. She's my biggest cheerleader. She's my favorite teacher. She's my favorite preacher. She's smart and caring and loving and considerate and unselfish and compassionate.

You Are Totally Like Your Mom

You and your mom are practically clones. You think alike, and you even seem to read each other's minds. You're definitely you're mother's child... and that's just fine with you.

Are You Like Your Mom?

I know there's no rhyme or reason for this post and it's as random as it gets, but I wanted to say I love you Mami and I pray that my children and I will develop the kind of relationship you and I have.

Our Beautiful Dancer

Seriously, is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen in your whole entire life?

Isabella started dance classes today. As much as this girl likes to "dance" or show us "her moves", in all honesty I wasn't sure how she would do in a class environment: would she be interested, would she follow directions, would she participate? After much research I finally settled on a school that offers non-competitive, come have some fun and learn some steps while you're at it type classes. And you pay monthly tuition, so there's no long term commitments. If she's absolutely miserable, then you're not out an obscene amount of money.
Although moms don't get to actually sit inside the dance studio and observe while class is in session, there is a two way mirror so that we can peek inside and watch them in action. Oh my goodness, all I can say is ADORABLE! It was so great to watch her follow the teachers' leads and enjoy herself as much as she did.
After today all of my questions as to whether she'd like it or not have definitely been put to rest. She loved every single minute of it. So much so in fact, that when they came out to the parents' waiting area she was crying because she didn't want to go home, she wanted to dance some more. So let me just tell you ~ what was originally just ballet lessons quickly turned into ballet and tap classes going forward. Next stop? Payless to pick up some tap shoes for our little dancer. Can you imagine? All these cute little three year olds tapping? Seriously, can you stand it?

Hello, old friend ~ we meet again!

Well, it was bound to happen and it finally did. I'm totally fed up with the way I look and feel. Which means what exactly? I've finally joined Weight Watchers,...again.

I went this morning after dropping Isabella off at school and met up face to face with my nemesis ~ that awful scale! Of course the number it spat back at me didn't surprise me one bit since it was precisely the reason I was there in the first place. But still, GEEZ!!!!

Please don't let my (,...again) comment confuse you. I happen to be a HUGE (hmm, I might want to choose my words more carefully) fan of the WW program. The first time I joined was back in 1999 and I was unbelievably successful. Back then I was single, working crazy long hours in a new town with no friends. With not much else going on in my life at the time I gave the program 150%. So what happened you may ask? Well, I met and fell in love with Scott. I was happy and in love and eating late night dinners and desserts and drinks. As my personal life was on an upswing, apparently so was my weight. At some point I stopped going to the meetings altogether, which is a big NO NO for me.

I rejoined WW when I worked with my friend Lynn in St. Louis. Remember, Lynn? It couldn't have been more convenient; the meetings took place during lunch time in the building that we worked in. It was definitely fun to have someone to do the program with, go to weigh-ins, make little wagers and serve as a support system ~ you know especially at times when you're standing there unable to breathe while staring at a box filled with a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Then at some point the doughnuts won and it all went to downhill.

In 2004 I joined again and was doing great. I lost a little over 20 pounds within the first month and that was all the motivation I needed to stay on track and keep going. Then one day SURPRISE! I was pregnant with Isabella and could no longer follow the program and/or attend the meetings. But I had such a wonderful pregnancy and such a beautiful little girl, I wasn't discouraged. I knew I'd be able to go back and give it my best when I was good and ready.

So fast forward a couple years and there I am walking right back in there with an additional 10 pounds. But it was OK, I was just as motivated on following the program as I had been the other times. Again, history repeats itself ~ I lost about 20 pounds that first month. I was feeling good and totally determined to do this, just like I knew I'd be, and then BAM! Pregnant again!!! This time with our wonderful "little" Sam.

Anyhoo, here are a few observations on my very personal journeys with the WW Program:
* I do GREAT when I have NO life
* I do OK when I do the program with someone I know
* Weigh-ins and meetings are a definite requirement for my success, without that accountability I might as well not even waste our money
* Apparently I love a good challenge since every single time I go back I show up with 10 extra pounds than I did the time before
* As soon as I'm down 20 pounds I'm going to have to send Scott to sleep on the sofa, at least for a while ~ I mean seriously!

I am very excited to have rejoined, feeling super motivated and looking forward to my weigh-ins. And the reason I am telling you all about this is because, like I said before, I do much better when I have a support group and accountability. So every Monday I will update the blog with my progress, which will hopefully be pounds lost.

So wish me luck for this coming week. I'm definitely gonna need it!

Festival Fun

This morning I woke up with a desire to get up, get ready and get going. Lucky for me not only is the Fair still in town, but this is also the weekend of the annual Germantown Festival. I really wanted to go to the festival and I knew that presenting it to Scott as an option to the Fair was definitely the way to go, since I just happen to know that he would never willingly go to the fair.

So off to the festival we went. It was a perfect day for it ~ overcast, in the high 70's and breezy. Although we did walk around and looked at a lot of what the vendors had to offer, it mostly turned into a fun little trip for Isabella which included some face painting, some games and a whole lot of rides.

I managed to get one picture of her face painting seconds before her hair blew right into it and turned it into a very colorful mess, which we then had to clean up. Mommy has some serious OCD tendencies, as you may already know,...

Other than a rinky dink train she's been on the last couple of years during our visits to Uncle Fudd's Pumpkin Patch and the local mall Merry-go-Round she's never really been on rides before. Personally, I was little uncertain on how she'd like them because she's a pretty cautious little girl and not really into things that have the potential of causing bodily harm. But she loved it. Ride after ride ~ the rides kept getting faster and she kept asking for more.

A lot of the rides looked like they came straight from the 1940's. And I'm not talking about the style. Oh no! It all looked like it had barely survived a few World War II attacks.
Yeah, I got dizzy just watching her go around and around at a very fast speed while trying to get a decent picture,... she on the other hand enjoyed every second of it.
Spin Art ~ my favorite part of the day. Oh yeah,.. I like to live on the edge. Hmmm, I wonder who Isabella gets that from?This is pretty much what Sam looked like during our little morning adventure, except of course while he was napping.
In all honesty, what we probably should have done when we left the festival was run, not walk, to the nearest hospital to make sure Isabella got a Tetanus booster with all those old, rusty, metal rides she was on, but we were tired and hungry and decided to go have some lunch instead. Hey, I practically bathed her with hand sanitizer before we got in the car so that counts,... right?

She's officially a Preschooler

Yes ladies and gentlemen, today was her first day of preschool. And honestly I gotta tell you, as ridiculous as it sounds, I'm feeling a little weird about the whole thing.
Although it's the same location she attended last year, she's no longer going to MDO (Mother's Day Out), now she's going to Preschool. She no longer takes a sippy cup, now she takes a juice box. She no longer has an hour allotted for nap, now it's 30 minutes of rest time. She can no longer take her special blankie to sleep with. I no longer pack diapers in her bag. Her classroom looks like it's for big kids. When did this happen? When did my little girl get to be so big?
Oh, she was so excited to go to school this morning. Two of her little friends from last year were going to be in her class again and that's all she could talk about on the way there. She even made us leave a little bit earlier than usual. We got to hang out in front of the school and take some pictures until they opened their doors.
We walked inside to her new "big kids" classroom and after hugs and kisses she walked right in without missing a beat, like an old pro. Me? Well, I just stood there blocking all the other parents' way and looking like an idiot. But I did mange one final shot of her inside the classroom before leaving. Seriously, she looks so big.

Not an educational read by any means,...

... but definitely an entertaining one.

If you were a 90210 fan like I was back in the day and constantly wondered what the point of Donna Martin was, then you might also find it pretty entertaining.

I remember being in college and loving the show (as well as Melrose Place). I watched it religiously when it was at the height of its glory, but episode after episode I though to myself: "Wow, Tori Spelling sure is lucky that her Daddy's the producer. That has got to be the only reason she's in this show." I was definitely not impressed with her character or her acting or truth be told, her looks. (I know, I know, that's very shallow of me,... but isn't that what all stars subject themselves to for being in the public eye?)

Anyway, fast forward about a decade or so (although the show ran from 1990 through 2000, I stopped watching before it ended) and as I've tuned into a couple of her reality shows, I've actually thought that she seems dare I say, quite "normal and likable" and not the spoiled little rich girl I always thought she was.

I ventured into Amazon and was shocked to see that her book was #2 on the NY Times Bestseller list and most of the reviews were extremely positive and painted her in a very favorable light. So I ordered it.

After reading her book I've come to the conclusion that not only was I not the only person in this planet who thought those things about her, but her childhood and upbringing was actually a very sad and lonely one. Boy, am I happy my family did not have any money!

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha, ha, ha! Right! Whatever!

Moving on, if you're wondering if I'm going to tune into the new 90210, the answer is an adamant NO. I'm already hooked on too many TV shows that I have to record because I don't have the time to watch when they air.

And now, the good news,... Isabella starts preschool tomorrow so I'm sure the next posting(s) will be much more interesting and much less random. So please come back,...

I'm a Sucker for a Bargain

OK, so I've been eyeing this pretty little mosaic table and chairs at Gordmans ever since they first put them out this last spring. But all three pieces were marked at $14.99 each and although not too terribly bad, I just couldn't bring myself to spend $45 on the set, as adorable as it is.
Well, my neighbor Christie called me up last week and told me that Gordmans had marked them down on clearance to $12 each and that there was an additional 50% off clearance event. So I decided to go and check it out last Friday. I mean $18 for the three piece set? Yeah, I was definitely willing to pay $18, no doubt.
I got there and looked through what they had left in stock and picked the pink table (also available were yellow and blue) and two chairs with different butterfly backs. Everything was outside in front of the store, so I loaded all the stuff in a cart (no easy task with Isabella and Sam along) and took it inside to check out. The cashier scans all three pieces and says: "That'll be $9.83". So I looked at her somewhat confused and asked if she had scanned all three pieces. To which she replies "Yes, but everything's 50% off, remember?" OK, now I'm no mathematician ~ actually, I am and always have been pretty bad at math, but I can do the basic calculations as well as the next guy. So let's see:

Option 1: 3 pieces x $12 each = $36 and 50% off $36 = $18
or
Option 2: $12 divided by 2 = $6 and $6 x 3 pieces = $18

I'm pretty much arriving at $18 every time. But apparently what I didn't know was that the chairs were ringing up at $3 clearance price, therefore $1.50 after additional discount. So basically it rang up at $9.00 plus tax for the three piece set. Hey, who am I to argue? I'll take it!!!

We brought it home and immediately set it up in Isabella's room. We absolutely love it! On Saturday morning as soon as she woke up she had her very first tea party with her friends, crazy morning hair and all,...

It's Miller Time!

Our friends the Millers were here visiting this weekend and it was such an awesome time. For the last three years we've made getting together over Labor Day weekend our little tradition. They are without a doubt some of my favorite people in this whole entire world and we absolutely love spending time with them. We pretty much just hung out all weekend and did low key stuff that allowed the little kids to run around and play while the big kids got a chance to relax and catch up.

On Saturday Isabella was insistent that we had to take the boys to the Botanic Gardens so that they could feed the fish and the geese. Isabella loves feeding the fish and has been asking repeatedly to go back since our last visit in June. So off we went packed with drinks, snacks and bread for the geese. The kids fed the fish and the geese and then ran and ran and ran until they could run no more. Once we got back to the house we put their swimsuits on, filled up the little alligator pool and had them play outside until it was time for dinner.

Is this not a face of pure delight?

Feeding the fish was definitely a highlight for Jack as well.

On Sunday we went to church, dropped off all the kids at the nursery and enjoyed a wonderful service. The current series is on creating margin (free time/availability) in your life, yesterday it was specifically related to your work life. Afterward we went to Jones Orchard to pick peaches and apples. The kids loved being able to pick the fruit right off the trees and place it in their baskets. Even Sam got a kick out of pulling leaves off the trees.

This is Jack ~ he's such a charmer.Robby and Sammy ~ quite the duo.

Here are the kids reviewing and approving Rachel's pictures.This is Luke ~ he's the mysterious one.
Carrying the baskets around was the best part.

Jack & Isabella picking apples.Hmm, it appears some of us picked more than just fruit,...
Gotta love a man with so many talents.

Oh, how I wish we lived closer together and were able to see each other more than once or twice a year. Love you guys! Until next time.