4th of July weekend is HERE! It's a time to celebrate our Independence, enjoy hot dogs, family, sunshine, fireworks, and SALES!:) Just a friendly reminder if you love a deal, now is the time to snag some good sales from just about every store! Pottery Barn Kids have most of their summer stuff on clearance (including these cool bean bags, my boys love them)! Gap Kids, Children's Place, Nordstrom, Target, are just the tip of the ice burg! My in-law's are coming up from Florida with my sister-in-law and her little boy to visit. The boys are giddy and keep counting the hours until they arrive!! It should be a grand weekend for sure. Each holiday that comes I just try to enjoy it and take it all in because we are finally near family again and I am so grateful for that. Monday it's back to work! Enjoy your weekend, be safe and enjoy the great blessings that our wonderful country has to offer!
I can't believe I captured this on film...one of Garrett's FIRST smiles!! He's almost 7 weeks and I've seen him crack a grin a few times but I thought it would be a while before he would POSE for the camera! Lol. Looking at this photo reminds me what an amazing gift a simple smile can be.
Here is baby Garrett getting frustrated. It breaks my heart when he cries because he has little lip tremble, then he scrunches his face (like the photo) and lets out the sweetest, most heart-breaking little cry! It makes me want to rush up and hold him now just thinking about it.
Here is his "thinker" pose.:) He will be 7 weeks old tomorrow!
The countdown is on! One week from today I'll be back to work full-time. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at work again, doing the show, and being part of a great team again. I'm NOT however, looking forward to waking up at 3:00am again.:) The past 8 weeks have flown by and it seems like just when I'm getting everything figured out, it's about to change again.:) Thankfully though, the entire going-back-to work stress has been pretty much lifted altogether because my boss is allowing me to bring the baby to work for the first month. I am so grateful I work for such a wonderful company! Talk about a blessing! By the time I have to leave Garrett at home, Gabe will be just about in school again, so my mom will only have to watch the baby and Grant. So it looks like things are coming together. I wish I could say the same for my house! I'm trying really hard to turn over a new leaf and be Mrs. Organization (my friends are laughing at this right now). My entire life I have struggled with that, and although I'm good at house cleaning, etc. my weakness is keeping track of important papers and making sure all the files have a place. Thankfully Jim is excellent at being organized and we balance out.:) With school starting, 3 kids, and working full-time though, I really need to get my act together so that's my new goal. If you have any tips to stay organized, I could sure use them!:) We have a big dry-erase calendar in the kitchen that helps a lot, but I'm looking for something a little bigger I think. If it's too small I'll just pass over it and probably ignore it completely so I need to find something I can't miss! Lol. I went to the fly-lady website and I might get that calendar : http://www.flylady.com/pages/FlyShop.asp. Speaking of goals, I've been doing pretty good with my running so far. I did 3 miles yesterday. I won't win any speed records but as long as I keep my feet moving and continue running (albeit slow) I'll be in good shape. I have a 5-mile race on July 29th so I think I'm on track and should be ready for that. I am so excited about my i POD too, I think the key is finding the music to get you going and it really can make the workout fun. It's like Lance Armstrong says, you have good music and it takes an hour run and makes it feel like 30 minutes. I love "Dani California" by the Red Hot Chill Peppers, that is my new power song for running, it really gets you going! Well I better get going. Check back soon, I am going to post a new picture of Garrett since he has grown so much! I will try to do it by Tuesday for sure.
Here is a picture from "Alive" yesterday! I brought Gabe, Garrett and Grandma and we had a blast! Jim had to work and Grant stayed behind because I knew he would be bored 5 minutes into it (trust me though, he was in toddler paradise with his babysitter)! I am a huge Third Day fan and have already seen them in concert 3 different times, in 2 different states so I wasn't going to miss this one! They were fantastic as always. It was such a gorgeous night and such a fun atmosphere, we definitely want to go back again before the weekend!-One more thing! I wanted to address a question that was left in the "comments" of my last blog. Krista asked if the Ojon hair products really work? In all honesty they are okay, but I won't be spending the money on that again. Maybe it was just my hair? I didn't notice any difference or improvement after using the stuff for about a month. Just my two cents.:)
Today was my 6 week after baby checkup. All I could think about was stepping on the scale and facing the numbers. I wore flip-flops and light clothing, anything I thought would help my cause! I realize that it's not something I should waste my time worrying about but a small part of me always does. Anyway, after the weigh-in and moment of truth, it wasn't all that bad. I still have 10-15 lbs I would like to lose but that will hopefully come off in due time. It's just so easy to snack when the kids are snacking, or finish the supper they didn't want to eat but all that can slowly equal extra calories. Last week I started running again and did 2 miles, then 2.5 miles. By the end of this week I'm hoping to get up to 3 miles but the challenge has been finding the time! Our schedules will be changing soon though, Jim will start his new job and I'll be back to work full-time in July. I've already started telling the boys that we have to make the most of our days while mommy is still home full-time. I will miss being a SAHM again, but I have to admit I'm excited to get back to my job too. The kids will be in good hands and that makes all the difference, and I am blessed enough to work with awesome people and a great company, so it's really a wonderful setup overall. Well I have to get cleaning. Tonight we are going to "Alive" to see Third Day, I can't wait!!
Have you noticed these shoes popping up all over? I heard of them about a year ago but didn't think much of it, because I assumed they would be too ugly to catch on.:) Now it seems like everywhere I go, everyone has a pair! So what do you think? I always hear how comfortable they are and after trying them on... I see why. Jim actually wants to buy a pair for the whole family and for the first time, I'm the one dragging my feet when it comes to buying shoes (literally)! Lol. If you own some Crocs, I would be curious to hear your review! I went to the website and they claim the shoes: resist bacteria and odor, easy to clean (now you've got me attention), and I have to admit they come in some cute colors too. For more info go to www.crocs.com.
Oh what a week! It started wonderfully with some excellent news...Jim got a new job! He really liked what he was doing but something else came along and he just couldn't pass it up. He'll be working helping disabled Veterans and I am so proud of him. We took a little trip to Columbus to finalize everything and had a great time in the big city! We went to the very first Wendy's restaurant and the boys loved seeing all the tall buildings downtown. I also researched the best shopping and found a fun outdoor mall where we ended up spending 8 hours (time flies when you are browsing)!!:)Garrett had his 1 month well-baby checkup this week too. He is 11lbs 12oz. and rolling right along! He's just such a joy and I'm so grateful he's healthy. The only little issue we are facing right now is mamma's-boy-syndrome. He won't allow anyone else to hold him (including daddy) without wailing. I love that he is attached to his mommy, but I worry about what will happen when I have to leave him. Yesterday I went running and he cried the ENTIRE time...non-stop until I came home (45 minutes later). Thankfully I won't be leaving him anytime soon so we'll just take it one day at a time. Meanwhile, Gabriel has been having some other issues. He's been biting his lip and I'm not sure what to do. It's really gotten bad and it scares Jim and me. I even took him to the doctor but there wasn't much they could do about it. His entire lip is constantly bloody and swollen and he claims he can't help it. I don't know if it's a habit or something deeper (it did start around the time Garrett was born). I'm hoping he'll get distracted when he goes to Vacation Bible School in a few weeks, and that will put a stop to it. As if things weren't crazy enough, we also started potty training Grant. It's not going so well right now! He's so smart and clearly understands how/when/where to go, he just doesn't want to do it right now. I forgot what a process that can be! Overall though we are getting the hang of things and getting into a nice daily routine. Having 3 kids is making me realize I need to step up and be more organized than I usually am. There is so much to keep track of and squeeze into each day and if I don't have an orderly schedule, things could get out of hand! Lol. One thing I do know...the slow cooker is a wonderful invention!!
30 toes...wow! I love this picture of the boys and their precious feet, each at a different stage. When Grant was born I took a similar photo and it's already amazing to see how much his little feet have grown. How funny it will be to look back when they are wearing size 10 and 11 shoes and see these delicate little feet when they were little boys. Okay, I can't even think about that or I will cry! Speaking of feet...and taking steps, we've got a big one coming up. Gabriel will turn 5 in September and we've decided to enroll him in kindergarten. I always thought I would wait another year until he was 6 (his birthday is near the cut off date). I just wanted to make sure he was socially and academically ready and I thought by waiting a year it would ensure he was prepared. After some researching and soul-searching though, we think he's ready now. We took a tour of his school today and were impressed by the curriculum, teachers, and overall atmosphere so I think we are going to go ahead and do it!! Ready or not, life keeps moving ahead and I'm not even sure I'M ready for some of these big events! I guess that's why it's so important to seize the day. Well I better run, Garrett is calling!
Long time no write! Life has been so full and most of the time I'm not even sure what day it is! I guess maternity leave can do that, along with days and nights running together. Earlier this week we rented a boat on Portage Lakes and had an amazing time on the water, and swimming and just enjoying time as a family. I also went to Beachwood with my mom and took the kids for a fun day of shopping. Next week we are going to Cedar Point and although it takes much longer to get out the door, things have gone great whenever we've gone somewhere (so far)! The hard part is still just juggling at home. Garrett wants me to hold him all the time (which I love) but it gets tricky to try and clean, do laundry, cook, and do regular things too. I have a sling which is nice, but I've also learned to let go of feeling like everything needs to be perfect, that is just impossible right now. I am posting a few new photos finally! The first picture shows Garrett just hanging out in his swing (I think he's even grown since this picture)! The second photo cracks me up, what a funny memory! Grammie and Poppa sent a gift package for Garrett...including binkies and a baby outfit,hat, bib, etc. I had it on the stairway ready to bring upstairs and the boys confiscated the items and wore them!! Gabe is wearing the hat and bib and Grant grabbed the baby binkies and started posing away!! They make me laugh!
