Out for the evening...

My hubby and I are attending a Marraige Enrichment thingy at our church this evening and tomorrow morning. My mom is coming over to spend the evening with the girls. All parties are excited about the impending evening.


My trainer from Baby Boot Camp did her thing today but will call me with the results after she runs them through some system or something...whatever...I can't wait! I do know that I weighed 146.5. 11.5 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. She actually seemed to thing my body fat measurements looked pretty good and my recovery heart rate was, oh, I can't remember. I thought 180 but I just looked it up and that would be REALLY BAD! So, let's just say I DON'T KNOW!

Well, I better go get ready. The baby napped for 2 hours again today. I'm so happy. She's really doing well as far as going to sleep with out a fight and napping well and waking up well. Now to deal with the night wakings and feedings. Poor kid, she doesn't know what she's in for...but in the long run she'll be so much happier. Sleeping better and getting more rest.

Oh well...I'm going now. I'm so excited about tonight.

BY THE WAY... I now have all 3 of my books. I'll link better in my posts so you can go back to what I'm talking about if you're new. I'll do that tomorrow.

I'm so excited!

Weighed and Measured...

Today my Baby Boot Camp instructor has given us the chance to do a little assessment testing type stuff to give ourselves a baseline to compare with once these 6 weeks are up. SO...in 30 min I will leave to go and have an endurance test, a strength test, have my body fat measured, have myself weighed and have a picture taken...and more I'm sure that I've blocked out of my mind.

Actually, I'm a bit excited. I worked out about 10 years pretty intensly and I actually had my body fat down to 14.5%. I'm guessing it's quite a bit higher now but I love knowing where I'm at and setting goals and seeing how close I can get to them so things like this always interest me.

I will let you guys know my results and then in 6 weeks I'll tell you how I compare.

I won't let these numbers get me down because I really think I look pretty good for having a baby 15 months ago (almost), considering I haven't worked out until now. It can only get better and whatever the numbers are today will just be incentive to work hard.

Ok, now that I've convinced myself, I'm gonna go do the dishes before I go. Who am I kidding? It will take me then next 30 min to finish getting ready and getting the baby ready...oh well, they'll be here when I get home I'm sure.

Here's a picture of my girls from this morning. The baby was so cute sitting on her sister's lap. She wouldn't move. She was just chillin!

So little time...

Thank you to all of you who read my blog and all of you who comment. I'm the type of person who likes to respond to my comments but I haven't seemed to get around to responding to all of them yet. I know I don't have to but I like to SOOOOO....keep checking back and one day I will have responded to something you've said.

Thanks so much for all of the kind comments you've left.

Keep reading and keep commenting because I really enjoy reading what you all have to say.

THANKS!

I'm out!

I'm tired, I'm tired, I'm tired.

For some reason, while my hubby is lying under the warm blankets in our bed, and my girls are both sound asleep, I have decided to stay up and read everyone's blogs and comments. And now I've decided to write my own post for today.

I've been cranky and grumpy with everyone today. I guess I can figure out what that means. I've cried a total of a million times in the last 2 days, bless my wonderful hubby's heart for not losing it with me! Everywhere I look I see what needs to be done.

On the flip side, my mom and I re-did the baby's room and turned it from a nursery into a toddler's room. My little girl LOVES IT! Toys, open space, a spongy floor...what more could she want? This was one of the first steps in my qwest(quest?) to unclutter my home and organize myself. I got my 2nd of 3 organizing books today. HOORAY! The last one comes tomorrow. It may sound like overkill but I like to have a plethera of ideas to choose from. I can't wait to get started.

I made the best beef stew tonight. Carrots, potatoes, onions, cabbage, beef of course, celery....yummy...i want more. Maybe for breakfast....ha ha

I think my baby is having some issues with weaning. I'm only nursing in the middle of the night now. Not even in the morning or before bed. Today she just followed me around and cried and wanted to be picked up, so we did a lot of cuddling today, which is fine with me. I know that will be cut short one day.

My oldest didn't go to school today. She wasn't feeling good. My hubby picked her up from her other mom's (for those of you new to my blog, she is my stepdaughter but I HATE using that term cuz she's my baby too!) Her daddy took her to a movie and to eat. She's feeling better this evening.

I've spent 8 minutes so far typing this and I think that's enough. I'm going to bed.

I'm so happy it's almost Christmas....I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!

Tomorrow I will make it a better day. It's all in my head...well, not really but I keep trying to tell myself that. It will all be over next week at this time and I will be back to normal...whatever that is.

GOOD NIGHT ALL!

Here is an unflattering picture of me and my baby, but I love the look on her face. She's just too cute.

The Queen of Sheba

Here is a picture of my daughter and my mother. We just got her (my daughter that is) this beanbag so last night she decided she wanted her pre-bedtime snack while lounging in her beanbag being fed by her Gram Gram. She laid and watched her Baby Bach video like a little princess. She was so funny. She didn't even flinch when the flash from my camera went off and trust me, I got a bunch of pictures.

#4 

#3 

#2 

My Poodle Girls 

My Poodle Girls

Here are my girls yesterday. I'm a little peeved at myself because these pictures are from the initial try-on session....when we got ready to go last night when my oldest had the bow in her hair and around her neck and her hair in a high ponytail and her white tennis shoes on....my batteries in my camera were dead. I have to pairs of rechargables for my camera and the other set weren't on the charger...so I didn't get any pictures of my oldest completely made up! Boo Hoo!

Oh well, she still looks cute here. I didn't leave the petticoat this long. I made the poodle skirt (not the actual skirt mind you...I used one of her's and hot glued the poodle and the leash of the poodle on. I made the petticoat too which was too cute.

My baby girl was possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen walking around in that poodle costume. She had everyone at the restaurant and at church cracking up. She's quite the card.

We didn't actually go trick-or-treating...my oldest made the "green honor roll" so we took her out to eat and then went to our church's Family Fun Festival. It was fun...yes they got candy.

My whole body is in pain today after yesterday's workout. BUT...I worked out here at home today with Denise Austin! Once I get moving it's not too bad...Baby took a great nap so I got a great nap in too. I have a bunch of things I want to do today and it's already 2:00, but I will keep moving on my way to being more organized.

I'll keep you updated. Oh, by the way...thank you for all the prayers about my daughter's sleeping habits! So far this is how it's going. I began putting her to bed a the exact same time every day for her nap (she takes 1 now) and every evening for bed. I do the same exact routine at the same exact time. SO...she is sleeping later in the morning, going to bed without fighting me at all for naps or bedtime (some crying for max 5 min sometimes) and her naps are lasting 2.5 hours. She is still waking 2-3 times per night for a short time and I still have to work on that, but now we are trying to adjust to the time change slowly so after that I will move on to the nightwaking. And also, I am down to only nursing her in the middle of the night so that's about 2-3 times per day for about 10-20 min each so we are close to weaning...and I will take care of both the night wakings and night feedings at the same time. I am getting more sleep and feeling much better about it so THANK YOU THANK YOU!

I gotta get going....until later...

Neigh

Just had to do this. I saw it briefly on another website when following comments.

You Are A: Pony!

Who doesn't love a pony? You are one of these miniature horses, renown for your beauty and desired by many. Full of grace, you are a beautiful and very special animal, full of strength and majesty.

You were almost a: Kitten or a Squirrel
You are least like a: Turtle or a DuckThe Cute Animals Quiz

B-DAY

No, it's not my birthday (yet! a month and half still left)....It's Baby Boot Camp day! I begin today on a 6 week workout plan. I will go Mondays and Wednesdays and on the other days I will workout with Denise Austin from the tapes my mom has made for me of her workouts. Today I am 145 lbs. I want to be 130-135. I have no doubt that by 6 weeks from Wednesday (my last day of bootcamp) I will have reached my goal.

I'm also embarking on my organizing adventure today. My mom and I went shopping yesterday and bought a bunch of things to help me organize my home. I'm also taking some tips I've heard on several blogs and a tv cooking show and I'm pre-making a bunch of dinners on the weekend and then using them during the week. I still have to sit down and plan my meals but I will do it.

I'm just so excited!

Today I get to make my oldest daughter's costume which I'm very excited about. I got pink tulle to put under her skirt to look like a petticoat type thing that they wore in the fifties.

Anyway, I have to be there in an hour and Lord knows it will take me that long to finish getting ready and get the little one ready.

I'll write when I get back between organizing, making my daughter's costume, doing the everyday cleaning and hyperventilating! But I really feel good about all of this!

I'm posting a pic of the baby from the other day. Her hair looks SO LONG and she looks like such a little girl, I can't believe it. She was in one of our desk chairs and daddy and I were pushing her back and forth between us. She thought it as great fun....I think she's gonna love amusement park rides! HOORAY!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I'm so excited today for so many reasons.
#1...Today is the 5th Anniversary of my hubby and my first date. It started as brunch and and art museum and ended up being brunch, art museum, basketball at the YMCA, Lunch, the mall, a movie and dinner. We've been together every since. What a wonderful beginning to a wonderful 5 years and 100 more!


#2...Thanks to Robin I ordered a book by Karol Ladd called A Positive Plan For Creating More Calm Less Stress. Like Addie said so well I am an organized person trapped in a disorganized person's body. I'm so excited to make a change and just get a grip on my home and life. I feel like right now I'm just keeping my head above water and I don't believe it has to be that way.

#3...So, on that same not, I'm gonna go WAY OVERBOARD...yesterday my mom bought me the book called Emilie's Creative Home Organizer by Emilie Barnes. And last, but not least, my mom is ordering Organization Transformation by Liana George. This is thanks to a comment left on Robin's Post by Susie.

Now I just need to find time to read....hmmm...

#4...We're going out to lunch today with some of my hubby's old friends...I love going out to eat and we don't do it much anymore.

#5...I got the stuff to make my oldest daughter's costume. She's gonna be a 50's girl. I'm so excited to put it all together. My baby is gonna be a poodle. I'll have to post pictures of them when they get dressed up.

UMMMM....I know there is more. It's just an all around beautiful day today so that helps too.

OH YEAH
#5...My mom bought my little one the Praise Baby DVD Collection. They are like Baby Einstein except they use all praise and worship music. I LOVE THEM (so does my daughter)! I have all of the Baby Einsteins(I think there is 17 or 18) and now all of the Praise Babies (there are 3).

SO FAR...that is what I'm excited about today...there are a few other things but I gotta go play with my daughter.

How was that for linking like crazy? Whew! I'm glad that's over. Ok, I'm going now.

My Girls

Comics Online

I love the internet, as I've said before, I can find ANYTHING...just ask. Why didn't I ever think about comic strips. I've always loved the comics but never EVER thought about looking for them online.

Then I saw on Leslie's and Addie's blogs they posted about Dilbert having a blog.

Now I've found an entire website of comics.

Now there is something to laugh at everyday. It's got a ton of different comic strips.

I just thought this was fun.

When did that happen?

I had to share pictures of my baby...

Here she is one year ago...

Here she is six months ago


Here she is 3 days ago.

My little secret....

Today I bought a 5.1oz bag of Lindt Lindor Truffles - Dark Chocolate with a Smooth Filling" (chocolate filling of course)and ate the whole thing. Every one. All 12. Yes, I did it. Monday I start Baby Boot Camp and there's no turning back so I had to go out with a bang...and I did.

My name is Stephanie and I'm a Chocoholic.

Now I have to go make those phonecalls I keep putting off while my little crazy kid is asleep.

I could pass 8th Grade Math!! Hooray!

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 8/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

I hated math when I was younger but now I really think I like it. I love these Blogthings Quizzes

My little one's voice

Ok, I thought this would be fun. Here is my baby giggling and saying "Hi" and kissing the phone.

My Big Brother Cody

When any of you have the time, visit my brother's website. He just redid it today. I'm so proud of him (shhhh, don't tell him I said that).

He is a Youth Pastor in Burlington, NC at Brookwood Church. Him and his wife Kristina have been through a lot in the recent years trying to conceive a child and then adopting. They have a wonderful story of the adoption's trials and tribulations and then the miracle of my beautiful neice Mia Rene. And, to top it all off, the story of how after my sis-in-law returned to the states after 11 months or so in Guatemala, she found out she's pregnant.

His website is really cool and he has his testimony and a link to a website about Mia's adoption.

www.mooseministries.org in case the links don't work for some reason.