Dexter's 2nd birthday

Par for the course, I'm a little bit behind on posting about Dexter's birthday.  His celebration lasted for about a week with several separate mini-celebrations.

His birthday was on Monday 5/13.  On the Saturday morning before (also the day before Mother's Day...busy weekend!), we met a friend at the bounce house and they played for maybe an hour and a half.

Afterwards, we had lunch at McAlister's and took the boys home to put them in bed.

 I fixed cheesy potatoes, homemade rolls, and homemade funfetti cupcakes complete with homemade milk chocolate and buttercream frostings.  We also marinated and grilled shrimp and pork chops.  Ryan's parents came over for dinner and we decorated a little bit with some fun sports balls balloons, plates, napkins, etc.

Of course there were gifts and big brother "helping" Dexter open them.  If that's what you want to call it.

Theo helped Dexter pick his ice cream... mint chocolate chip.  Why?  Because Theo is obsessed with GREEN.  All things must be green.  So when we were at Target the night before and Theo was begging for green ice cream but we told him that ultimately it was Dexter's choice, sweet Dex had mercy on Theo's soul and conceded.  Turned out to be quite delicious. 

It was nice enough to play outside for a little bit, despite being a little chilly for MID-MAY. Come on, weather. Get it together. 

Dueling lawnmowers.  Gnomeo and Juliet, anyone?

On Monday, Dexter's actual birthday, I decided to forego sending any treats to the babysitter's house, as cruel as I felt, due to the amount of JUNK that had been consumed over the weekend and knowing that we were having friends over for a cookout that night.  Some good friends that live nearby helped us celebrate yet again.

Ladies' man!!

On the Thursday after Dexter's birthday (5/16) we drove down to Pigeon Forge, TN and met up with my mom, sister, and her family at a cabin.  We spent Friday at Dollywood as another quasi-celebration of Dexter's birthday.  I had intended to have more cake, more ballooons, and more ALLTHATSTUFF but I think we were all sort of partied out and caked out.  So we settled for more presents and lots of family time.  Perfect way to cap Dexter's week-long, two-is-terrific, birthday hurrah.  

So as you can see, we've been a bit busy. I have much more from Pigeon Forge and Memorial Day weekend to share, but I'm trying to do things in order.  And yes, we intended to get our money's worth out of that 2nd birthday shirt Dexter's wearing in the majority of these pics.  It paid off because as we were eating at Miss Lillian's Chicken House (at Dollywood), Miss Lillian herself sung Dexter a very special birthday song. Extreme fun!  

So that's sweet Dexter's birthday.  A special week of fun for a special little boy!  Not quite the huge circus-themed bash we had last year (here, here, and here), but it was perfect to all of us.  :) Loving having these 2 & 3 year olds.  It's definitely a different stage, but so much fun. 

xo, 

~C~

weigh to go: 4 months in

Read the previous updates and see the previous photos here. 

My goal starting out in January was to lose 20-24 pounds and remain in that range.  I'm happy to finally report that I made it! I have been in this range for about 3 weeks now.  I lost about five pounds in a couple of days when I had strep throat at the end of April, and gained a couple of them back.  Here I am in January (after my first trip to the gym in 2 or more years) and after my run tonight:

I feel much better, but I still have work to do.  I still feel squishy.  I want to feel fit.  I feel healthier but I don't necessarily feel like a fit person.  Strep throat threw me off track with Couch to 5k and I still have not completely gotten back on track.  And now I've lost track of whether I'm just one week behind or two.

BUT.

But.

I WILL finish Couch to 5k by the end of May.  I will make it happen.  Why?  Because I've registered for my first 5k on June 1st!  I'm excited and a little nervous.  I've made a lot of progress considering that I struggled to run for 1 minute at a time when I started Couch to 5k and now I'm struggling to run 28 minutes...but I'm doing it!  I loathe it during sometimes, but afterwards it is one of the best feelings in the world. Truly!  I think I even saw a glimmer of a calf muscle tonight. I'm running outside more than inside, which (for me) is much more difficult physically.  The treadmill is boring though and I tend to stare at the clock, so either way it's a challenge.

Tonight was the first night I had to run 28 min. The last three runs were only 25. Doesn't sound like a huge difference but you better believe I threw my everything into those last three minutes while I was jamming out to Alicia Keys' Superwoman because I wanted to quit. Bad.  It was hot.  The path I chose was very hilly.  I had just eaten dinner.  It was rough and I was super slow. But I made it without walking. Woo! Afterwards, I was anxious to find out if I ran further than I had the previous week and sadly, it was the exact same.  Given the environmental challenges, I'm not beating myself up about it too much since I did finish without stopping (and that's my goal for the 5k, not speed).  But it would have been nice if I'd gone further than the 2.2mi that I have been running for the past week in 25 minutes.

Long way of saying I got behind, but I haven't given up. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. I only have 5 more Couch to 5k workouts remaining and I kind of don't know what to do with myself once that's over. Aside from walking, this has pretty much been my only exercise since I started it 9-ish weeks ago.

Suggestions?  I get bored going to the gym and doing cardio & weights.  I've thought about P90x but we don't have a great place for that until we get the basement finished.  

xo,
~C~

Mother's Day 2013

cheating a little - this one was taken Saturday. 

Sunday started out with a blank slate - no plans.  "The boys" got me a gift card to my favorite spa for a pedicure and 1 hour Swedish massage.  So looking forward to that pampering!  Theo has been asking to go to Scotty's for a few weeks now, so I told him to ask daddy if he could take me there for Mother's Day.  If you're local, and especially if you're local and you have kids, you need to go there!  They have a great kids' menu and kids eat free on Sundays and Tuesdays.  Little did I know that moms received a free dessert as well on Mother's Day!  All around win.  Food was delicious. The boys cleaned their plates!

Afterwards, we talked about where we could go and what we could do downtown that the boys would enjoy. It was a beautiful day, but a little chilly so the Central Library seemed like a good option. The boys had never been and I had not been there in a long time.  I think we were all awestruck at the enormity of the open space inside.  It is a beautiful, historic building that underwent a huge renovation a few years ago.  Modern function meets classic beauty.  The boys had fun playing on the computers, running from one end of the kids section to the other, and picking over a few million books.  Afterwards, we strolled around outside a little bit and I only snapped a few pics on my phone that I am having trouble transferring to my email/computer. Boo.

We went home and the boys took LONG naps, Ryan cut the grass, and I tore everything out of our bathroom vanity and re-orgainzed like a mad woman. Then cleaned the soap scum out of our shower that had been building for longer than I care to admit.  Doesn't sound too relaxing, but it's what I wanted. TIME. Time to do things that go beyond the basic laundry folding and dishwasher unloading.  I need lots more of it, but nothing is so pressing that it can't wait.  After they got up, we enjoyed a nice dinner and lounged around the rest of the evening.   I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day!

Oh, the boys were funny.  Dexter kept saying Happy's Mother Day instead of Happy Mother's Day.  Then Theo  got confused and kept asking "can you tell me the words again?"  I love those two little crazies.  And their dad is a-okay too. 

xo,

~C~