Photo Phriday

Bobby got this car for his birthday and I have a hard time getting him out of it. Anytime we go outside he heads straight for it...

Unfortunately, he may have inherited the automobile enthusiast gene from my father. Bobby identifies cars and car types and loves everything about them. I wonder if this is just the first of many automobiles he'll enjoy driving...

Moose A. Moose and Zee D. Bird

We had Bobby's 2nd birthday party on Sunday. It was a "Moose and Zee" party. They are his favorite characters from Noggin.I made him a special t-shirt to wear with Moose and Zee in party hats, and it even had Frisco the FireAnt! But my greatest endeavor was trying to make a Moose cake and Zee cupcake. I found the instructions on the Noggin website. I am ok with the baking aspect of the cake-making. It was the decorating that had me a bit nervous. Thankfully my sister came over to help. I don't think it would have turned out as well if I did it on my own. Here is the masterpiece:

and here's the Zee cupcake. I did this one all by myself :)
My ever-artsy and crafty sister made Bobby the greatest gift. His very own Moose and Zee dolls:

I really think she should start selling these on Ebay!

TWO!

Bobby is 2 years old today. I wanted to finally write down the story of the day he was born, so that the little details wouldn't be forgotten, and someday he'd be able to read about his arrival. But, I've been up since 4:45...we had a stressful morning at Children's Hospital, and I spent the rest of the day doing anything I could to try to make him happy and comfortable.

His surgery went well, and any guilt I was feeling or doubts about whether we really had to put him through this were put to rest when the surgeon came out and said everything went perfectly, and he really needed the surgery as he was as tongue tied as he could be.

So, Bobby, I promise that someday soon I will write about the day you changed my life and fulfilled my dream to be a mother. I will share every detail, from the first labor pain right to the moment I first held you and you peed on me. I love you, Bobby, and just like our song goes....God picked you out from all the rest, just because he knew that I loved you the best!

This was just before you peed on me. The first of many times!

This was taken right after we brought you home. Your dad and I didn't really know what to do with you. At least we figured that part out!

A Contract With Myself

At exactly 12:34 p.m. tomorrow, May 21, 2009, I will officially be a mother for 2 whole years! Unfortunately, in spite of giving birth 731 days ago (2008 was a leap year), I still maintain a little way too much "baby weight". In the past 2 years I have done Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers (twice), bought a Wii Fit, started and quit Body for Life, Fit Yummy Mummy, the Carb Addicts diet and a number of other weight loss plans.

I don't know why I can't get back on track...it's like there is a broken switch in my brain. I previously did Jenny Craig over 10 years ago and I lost 65lbs. and kept it off! I was fully self-motivated. I ate healthy, I exercised, I weighed myself regularly to make sure I could step things up if the number on the scale started to creep upwards...

I put on some weight during the summer of 2001, when I was on Semester at Sea. Living on a cruise ship with a Greek staff cooking Greek food and no feasible to way to exercise will tend to lead to some weight gain. But I got right back on track after coming home. I was at my all-time lowest weight in October 2002, just in time for my 10 year high school reunion. Coincidentally, I met Rob the next month. I stayed about the same (give or take 5 lbs) up until about the time I got pregnant. Now, I did not go crazy "eating for 2" but I put on a healthy amount of pregnancy weight.

I lost about 20lbs. fairly easily after giving birth (7lbs. 4oz. being all-Bobby)...but then I just hit a wall. Nothing I did seemed to matter. I was breastfeeding and hoped that would help, but it didn't. I think I've lost and gained the same 15lbs. over and over during the past 2 years. I have never gotten back into my pre-pregnancy clothes, of which I have a closet full.

I have never liked exercising, I've only done it because I knew I should. Now, between work, spending time with Bobby (and Rob) and doing stuff around the house, if anything needs cut from my schedule, you can bet it's going to be exercise.

Recently, my childhood neighbor started blogging about his weight loss journey here. He is married with 4 boys under the age of 4. I have found some inspiration in his story. He lost weight to get healthy and be active with his kids. He found the time in spite of everything going on in his life. Maybe my prior motivations just won't work anymore. The last time I lost any considerable amount of weight I was single and definitely ready to mingle...

Now, maybe I have to picture a healthier (not just thinner) me, running around the park with Bobby and not being so sluggish and tired. Perhaps I should lose weight to be a better mom to Bobby. Period.

On this the eve of Bobby's 2nd birthday, I am going to commit to living a healthier life. I'm not going to do another "diet" but I'm going to make healthier food choices. I am going to commit to exercise not focusing on weight loss, but on being active and healthy. I need to set a good example for my little boy and I want to be able to fully participate in his life!

Photo Phriday

This was my first 2-wheel bike. I think I was about 5 years old in this picture so this is vintage 1979! I wonder how long it took my parents Santa to find a BLUE girls' bike? Because that is all I wanted. Thanks, mom, for letting me ride the bike all around the house since it was too cold/snowy outside. You taught me to put people ahead of "things". That carpet eventually got replaced, but I'll always have the memory!

I can still remember the day that I first tried to ride it without training wheels. My dad took us to South Park. I was riding around thinking he was holding onto the back. Unbeknownst to me, he had let go and I was balancing on my own. Of course, I was so focused on balancing that I kindof forgot to steer. Heading straight for a set of stairs that went down to the field, I was a deer in headlights. Frozen, but with my bike moving beneath me. Luckily my dad caught up to me and grabbed the back of the bike just as I started my descent. Thanks, dad, for giving me independence, but also for keeping a steady hand close by!

Irrational Fear?

It's that time of year again. Bees are buzzing. I am freaking.

I have an irrational fear of getting stung by a bee. Because I have never been stung by a bee. or a wasp. Or any other stinging bug/insect/critter.

I'm not afraid of the sting, the pain or the icky stinger in me. No, I've convinced myself that because I have not been stung by a bee, I have no way of knowing if I will be one of the 2 million people in the U.S. that is allergic. If stung, will I suffer a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction?

On my last day of my last summer working at Kennywood I was assigned to the lemonade stand. It was hell. The lemonade was homemade so we were cutting and squeezing lemons into glasses with sugar and water. Do you know how many bees were attracted by the mass amounts of sugar water in the plastic cups, spilled on the ground, and on the counters?? Swarms. I was near stroke stage by the time my shift ended.

*Bzzz Bzzzz Bzzzzzz*

DIBS!

After many failed attempts and months of trying, we finally got Bobby to voluntarily ingest a dessert-like food item. I was so excited when my Dad informed me that Bobby had eaten three whole Dibs!Rob went and bought 2 containers the next day. Bobby refused to eat any on Saturday. However, he ate another 3 Dibs yesterday. This made up for the Mommy guilt I had when we went for Ice Cream on Mother's day. Sitting in the front seat of the car, Rob and I ate our Coldstone ice cream with mix-ins. In the backseat, Bobby whined and screamed anytime we even tried to put a spoon of ice cream near his lips. Passersby probably saw him fussing in the backseat and thought we were horrible parents for enjoying a summer treat without sharing any!

The Merry Merry Month of May

Here's a rundown of my May calendar of events:

May 2-Wedding Shower

May 4-Rob's birthday

May 9-Wedding Shower-Killarney's birthday

May 10-Mother's Day

May 12-My grandma's 89th birthday, my brother's birthday

May 13-My birthday, my sister's 1/2 birthday :)

May 21-Bobby's birthday/Surgery day

May 24-Bobby's birthday party

May 27-Bobby's 2 year check up and post-op check-up

May 30-Wedding

May 31-"Diaper party"/Baby shower

*whew* I think I'm going to need a vacation from "May"!

CREATORS OF THE SNUGGIE--CALL ME--LET'S MAKE A DEAL!

Open Letter to all Ad execs, Marketing Gurus, Internet sales personnel, Product Research people, and all Readers:

I was shamelessly self-promoting the idea thinking of starting an on-line campaign to get this blog sponsored by SNUGGIE- THE BLANKET WITH SLEEVES.

"The Snug" and Snuggie-The names certainly lend themselves to cross-promotion. Read the Snug while curled up in your Snuggie! Your hands would still be free to type your comments! I am always cold, and curled up with a blanket. Rob and I battle over the thermostat as I wrote about here. Perhaps I could be persuaded to exclusively use a Snuggie for all my warmth-providing needs. I could agree to only blog while wearing my Snuggie.

Also, with the advent of the "Snuggie Pub Crawl" it seems like a natural sponsorship to my blog...what with the idea of this being a virtual private drink room in an Irish Pub!