Vegas Vacation

My sisters and I went to Vegas for a few days recently.  Since we each have very young kids, it was quite a feat for all of us to be able to get away!  But, it was nice to take a break from motherhood and just have some girls time in a carefree location.

 Silly guy dressed as a gondolier during the Carnevale celebration at Palazzo

Me and my sisters

 
Luckily our husbands are superstars, so there were no worries about the care our kiddos would receive while we were gone, just worry about missing them so much!  It was definitely weird to be away from my little man for an extended time, since I'm used to spending so much time with him.  I missed him like crazy, but Meezy did an awesome job of texting me pics to keep me happy:

I also got a really cute pic from his daycare, showing off his sitting skills!

It's crazy to think about how much he progresses in his development in just a few short days.  I feel like he has had so many advancements recently- sitting up, holding his own bottle, babbling more, sprouting two teeth, and trying various solid foods.  He's turning into such a big kid!  

A Slight Improvement

Slowly and surely I'm upgrading things in our house.  In the three years that we've lived here, we've added hand-scraped hardwood to three additional rooms, installed a stainless steel cooktop, replaced light fixtures, replaced our fence, added landscape lighting, closed in the office with french doors, replaced all the doorknobs, replaced a faucet, replaced toilet paper and towel bars, and now replaced the dishwasher.  Yay!  This last item has been on my list for a while, so I'm glad we finally pulled the trigger.  As you can see, the new one is just a slight improvement over the old one...

 
And by slight improvement, I mean MAJOR improvement!  The new one looks so svelte.  We opted for a stainless steel Bosch with the controls hidden in the top for a more streamlined and sleek look on the front.  Next on my list for the kitchen is adding hardware to all the cabinets and drawers (already picked out the style we want, so need to purchase them and install), and then replacing the built-in microwave and oven we have now.  I want stainless steel and I want newer models.  That's a little harder to find because we have to buy them together (it looks like a double oven but really one is a microwave) and are limited to what will currently fit in that space since we don't have room to expand in the cabinets surrounding them.  I think we'll make that happen before the end of the year, but I've just been too busy lately to devote time to researching what we should get.  Somewhere down the road we're going to be laying down travertine in place of the existing ceramic tile, but that's also a large undertaking that seems too overwhelming to me right now.  Oh well, little by little!

 

An Awesome Tribute

Today was the memorial service for my beloved Oma. My sister put together an awesome tribute that really touched our hearts. I could listen to the last part of this video over and over again. If you've got three minutes to spare, please watch this with your sound turned on.

As part of the ceremony, I read the following poem. It wasn't easy to get through, but I think the message was conveyed.

She is gone

You can shed tears that she is gone
Or you can smile because she has lived.
 
You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left.

Your heart can be empty because you can't see her
Or you can be full of the love that you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her and only that she is gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

David Harkins

No Time!

I've been too busy lately to write any blogs, so this will just be some picture updates!

Learning how to be a big boy and sitting up in the cart

Finding the part that wasn't covered

Love, love, loving his baths!

Starting to dress more like his daddy (just needs flip flops!)

Fell asleep, but still clutching his favorite teether

Being a smarty pants and turning on his toy

Supporting his daddy's favorite team

 Having fun at daycare while mommy shows houses

Small Victories

My sister and I completed the Summer Bath Run 5K at White Rock Lake on Sunday, and we achieved our goal!  We weren't hoping to finish in any particular time; we were just hoping to finish without having to walk any part of it!  It was mother-flippin' hot, and we definitely got the urge to take a break towards the end, but we held steady and ran all the way through.  Our time was a little less than 33 minutes, which is nowhere near impressive, but it's a great step for us.  Now we know we can run 3.1 miles without stopping, and we know what time to beat in our next 5K.  I don't remember what my best time has ever been in the past, but I remember running about a 31 minute 5K two years ago.  I need to at least get back to that point!  The funny thing about this race was that there were so few participants so we actually placed pretty high up for our age and weight range.  I missed out on getting an award in my age range by 2 seconds.  My sister actually placed second in the "Athena" weight range and got a trophy!  Haha.  We were stunned, but I think we've stumbled onto something - enter the really small races and you might get a prize!  We're looking to enter another 5K next month, and then we're already signed up for the Jailbreak Run too.  Gotta keep moving!    

Mommy and Dutch

This is one of my most favorite pictures that has been taken of me and Dutch.  I went up to his daycare on Thursday because they were doing a special activity where they learned about sea life, wore leis, did some artwork, played with bubbles, etc.  I got to take a break from my busy day and spend a few fun minutes with my son.  I think you can see the joy he brings me, just by looking at my face.


I love that he goes to daycare a few days a week and gets to spend time with other caregivers and kids.  The socialization is great for him, and I think it will be good preparation for when the time comes that he goes to school full-time.  He's too young to really "play" with the other kids yet, but he loves standing in the exersaucer and watching them.  You can tell he's intrigued by them, and wants to join in!

 
The part of my day that I always look forward to the most is putting Dutch to bed.  I put him into an adorable pair of footed pajamas and then read him a book.  Sometimes it's the recordable storybook that his Oma and Opa in Amarillo recorded for him, which means I just turn the pages and he listens to their voices.  Other times it's a silly Dr. Seuss book or a book with lots of pictures of animals.  If he starts fidgeting or twisting around to look at me, I know it's rocking time!  I put him on my shoulder and we rock back and forth in the chair until he falls asleep.  It's so peaceful and comforting...for both of us!

I have to admit, sometimes I continue to rock him long after he's already fallen asleep.  There's just something about having your kiddo on your shoulder, preciously sleeping.

Working on my Fitness

It's been a while since I've talked about my fitness, but the arrival of my custom Nikes seemed like a good time to give an update!

Yeah, one of them says 'Dutch' and the other says 'Vanweezy.'  I'm a proud mama, so I figured it was apropos!  I love that Nike lets you design your shoes from top to bottom.  I, of course, chose orange for the base color since it's the national color of Holland and one of my favorite colors.  I kept it simple with most of the rest of the customizable areas and just went with dark gray.  They're a little pricey, and take 3-4 weeks to arrive, but I totally love them!  Meezy agreed and designed himself a pair as well.

Okay, back to the fitness.  While I was pregnant, I gained 45 pounds.  That was definitely not my plan, and I didn't go out of control with the eating, but it just happened.  I felt pretty overwhelmed when I came home from the hospital after giving birth and had only lost 10 of those pounds.  I freaking had a 10 pound baby, so how was that little amount of weight loss possible?!?  Things got much better after a couple more days, and I was down about 25 pounds.  That was all just due to the birth, since I wasn't allowed to do any kind of exercising.  I told myself I'd be gung-ho about working out once I got cleared at the 6-week mark.  Pfffft.  I was still exhausted and had very little free time at that point.  It took a couple more weeks before I really started doing anything.

So, where am I today?  It's been 4.5 months since I gave birth, and I am officially back to my pre-pregnancy weight.  Those extra 45 pounds are gone, and I hope to never see them again (well, maybe 35 of them with my next pregnancy).  I'm thrilled I've shed the pounds, but in no way does that mean I'm in shape!  I still get pretty winded when running even short distances, and I'm fluffy around the edges.  My ideal weight would be about 20 pounds lighter than this, but I would settle for just tightening up my stomach and thighs.  This past week, I went to boot camp two days, ran with my sister one day, and ran on the treadmill one day.  Not bad.  My flag football season starts next week, so there's one guaranteed day of exercise.  I hope to at least get two boot camps in each week as well.  I'm sure if I changed my diet I'd have an easier time dropping a few more pounds, but I'm just not quite ready to take that plunge yet.  This mama enjoys her chips and queso!