10th Pic

My friend, Jen, had this thing on her blog where you pick the 10th picture in your first photo folder and post about it. I thought that was a cute idea, and since I am up entirely too late on the dang internet, I thought I would do it...

This is my sweet baby boy, Bubba, when he was about six weeks old -- a little over two years ago!!! He had just gotten out of the hospital where he spent a couple of days on IV antibiotics because of a high fever -- poor baby had bruises all over him from the nurses constantly having to re-poke him when he pulled his IV out. That was not a fun experience...

Anyway, this was a little photo shoot that I was doing to try to get a great pic for his birth announcement. This isn't the picture that I used, but it is pretty darn cute...

But, then, how could it not be?

7 Years

Seven years ago today I became a mother.

Miss Priss arrived four days late, and she was nine pounds of perfection. She was the most beautiful baby The Farmer and I had ever seen.

Since that day, Miss Priss has taught me so many things. She taught me how to get up in the middle of the night with a hungry, crying baby and how to survive on no sleep. She taught me how to tell if a cry meant hunger, discomfort, pain, or tiredness. She taught me how hard it is to leave a child in the care of someone else.

Most importantly, she taught me how to love someone else more than I ever thought was possible.

My firstborn is still teaching me things every day, and she will continue to teach me how to be a mother as she grows older. It is both fun and scary to face all of life's firsts with my first baby. Miss Priss is a sweet, loving child, and I cannot imagine a better child to teach me how to be a mother.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl. I love you!

No Rest

I am tired. I have been out every night this week for some reason or other. I just came home from a birthday party, ready to get a couple of things done and hit the bed.

But my kids are all awake. At 10 pm. On a school night.

Just what I wanted to be dealing with when I got home.

I guess there really is no rest for the weary...

He's Crazy, But I Love Him!

My son? Is nuts.

He growls all the time.

He turns anything and everything into a "gun" to get the bad guy.

He takes his mattress off of his bed at least once a day.

He always has his thumb in his mouth and his hand down his pants.

He starts to scream the second he gets told "no" for any reason.

He still screams when I drop him off at school. He has cried every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday since Labor Day.

He walks around with constant bed-head.

He has worn his cowboy boots every day since Aunt Sharon got them for him for Christmas. He has 3 other pairs of shoes that go unworn.

He likes to wear his raincoat backwards which is fine until it's time to put the hood up.

He insists on doing everything his way.

He would eat candy or ice cream all day every day if I let him.

He has started biting again.

But he's still the cutest, sweetest boy on the planet! He is my baby boy, and I love him -- his crazy "boy-ness" and all!

Weight Watchers Fail

First of all, yes, I am still alive and kickin'! I have been running around for the past week -- I am not quite sure what has taken up all of my time, but it has definitely been taken up!

As for Weight Watchers, I have decided to start over. In order for Weight Watchers to work, you have to actually follow the plan. I have followed the plan loosely at best for the past three weeks, and, therefore, I have had no results.

So, I am taking my weight from this week and treating it as my starting weight, and I am now going to dedicate myself to following the plan. Hopefully I will start to see some results!

Happy Birthday, Twinsies!!!

Today is my niece and nephew's first birthday! I can't believe that it has already been a year since they were born and The Farmer and I became an aunt and uncle for the first time. Happy Birthday, Twins! We love you!

Where I'd Rather Be...

With all of this freezing cold weather (which I do not like one bit), this is what I have been dreaming about:

My favorite vacation spot: Islamorada, Florida.

I have a lot of family down there right now, and it isn't exactly warm -- I think it is in the 60s this week -- but it would definitely be warmer than it is here. All I need is to be on that beach, with a cool drink in one hand and a good book in the other (okay, I would also need it to be about 80...).

A girl can dream, right?

Weight Watchers, Week 5

Weight Loss: 1.0 lbs

Total Weight Loss: 3.2 lbs

Does anyone else feel like I am just beating my head against the wall? This is going so slowly!!!

Dressing Like Mommy

Sassy has been "dressing like Mommy" lately.

Before I show you the pictures, let me give you some background info...

When I leave the house in the morning, it is usually for most of the day. I work out on the elliptical machine as soon as I get to work, but because I am out at work for such a short period of time (because of carpool, errands, etc), I don't have time to take a shower between working out and working. So, basically, I wear workout clothes most of the time.

That being said, here is how Sassy dresses like Mommy:

I will assure you, however, that I do not wear tanks with my belly showing! If only I looked as cute as Sassy...

Just So You're Down With The Lingo...

Today, Sassy kept talking to our babysitter, Megan, about "text" boyfriends. Megan had no idea what a "text" boyfriend was (me either...), so she finally asked Sassy what that meant.

"Oh, you know, when you have a boyfriend, but then you don't like him anymore, so then he's your "text" boyfriend!"

Glad Megan got to the bottom of that one! ;-)

Girls' Weekend

Me, Muffie, & LP

The whole gang!

This past weekend, Muffie, LP, and I went away for a girls' weekend to celebrate LP's 30th birthday. LP invited all of her closest girlfriends, and we all met up in Raleigh. We stayed in a great bed and breakfast, The Cameron Park Inn (Muffie and I shared The Lavender Room), and we did all of the things that are necessary for a good girls' weekend -- ate a lot, drank plenty of wine, visited the spa, and talked long into the night. It was great to meet all of LP's good girlfriends -- they were all so sweet and fun -- and it was fun for us to all get together to celebrate LP's Big 3-0!!

Now I just need an excuse for another girls' weekend!

Weight Watchers, Week 4

Weight Gain/Loss This Week: +0.6 lbs.

Overall: -2.2 lbs

Yes, that says weight gain. Ugh. But I can't complain too much because I was away on a girls weekend to celebrate my friend, LP's birthday. And I confess that I did not count one single point while I was gone. And it's a good thing, because who knows how many points I consumed! The bed & breakfast where we stayed had little bowls of M&Ms and little Snickers and Twix bars everywhere. There was also plenty of wine and great meals eaten out.

So, this +0.6 pounds is worth it -- now I just have to make up for it this week!

Thanks, Parents!

A couple of months ago, I noticed a pink bug-bite looking bump on my back. It was really weird because it had a red ring around it. I showed it to The Farmer, and we both agreed that it looked strange. After a couple of days it changed from looking like a bump to looking like a flat, pink surface -- kind of like a scrape that has had the scab ripped off too early. Again, I thought it was weird. This time I showed it not only to The Farmer but also to my mom.

We all thought that it was a strange looking thing, and none of us could really figure out where it came from. I thought about getting it checked out if it stuck around.

But, I never did get it checked. I would think about calling and get sidetracked. I would think about calling and decide to do it later. I just kept putting it off.

Then last week I was reading a Parents magazine from last May, and I came to an article on skin cancer. I didn't actually read the article, but it had some pictures and facts about the different types of skin cancer. One of the pictures looked pretty similar to that spot on my back.

I made an appointment with my dermatologist that day. When I went to my appointment, he said that the spot did look suspicious, and he shaved part of it off. He said that he hoped it would be nothing, and he would call me by the end of the week to let me know the results.

The dermatologist called me this morning with the news: basal cell carcinoma. So, it is a skin cancer, and I have to go back next week to get the rest of it taken off.

I am extremely thankful that it isn't melanoma, and I am thankful that the Parents article made me finally go get the spot checked out (and how crazy is it that I just happened to read that old magazine...).

So, my lesson to you is to go get any weird spots checked. You never know what they could be! And wear sunscreen!

Something I Shouldn't Be Posting About...

So, as y'all all know, I am on Weight Watchers, so I am supposed to be watching what I eat. However, by the time Friday rolls around, I kind of have a breakdown and want something sweet. This past Friday I was craving cookie dough, and I remembered reading about Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies here on Life In Grace (a daily read). So I did some investigating, and that led me here.

Oh, boy. I shouldn't have gone there.

Because they definitely live up to their title.

I usually can make some dough, sample a little of it, then make the cookies and not eat them. These are a different story. I couldn't stay away from them. I finally ate got rid of all of them today. This is good news because those cookies were really tearing through my points!

The bad news is that I have been talking about them so much that my friend, LP, wants me to make them for her birthday getaway this weekend. And I can't just make them and not eat them!

Where is my willpower?

So if you aren't watching your weight, I highly recommend going to get the perfect cookie recipe! But you have been warned: they are addictive!

Weight Watchers, Week 3

Weight loss/gain: 0

That's right. I gained no weight, and I lost no weight. I blew it big at the beginning of the week -- I ate out Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights, and it is really hard for me to stick to the plan when I am not at home. Tuesday morning, I snuck a peak at the scales, and I had gained 2 pounds! I was depressed. So, I buckled down and did better for the rest of the week, and by Sunday I was back to where I was the Sunday before.

Phew.

I am trying to be really good this week. Hopefully I will get better news on my next weigh-in day!

I have found some good recipes and some great treats, but I will share those with you later. Bubba is sick, and I can only type so much between his constant demands!