a quick update

remember that time i took an unexplained bloggin hiatus for 2 months? yeah, im not going to try and explain, lets just say, life gets in the way sometimes, and unfortunately this little blog here of mine ends up going on the back burner. No need for me to try and make excuses, ill just skip over all that and jump right back into blogging.

note: i wish I had some elaborate reason like we won a million dollars and have been vacationing for the past 2 months, or hey baby #2 is on the way and i just havent had the energy to blog, but instead you get the lame "life happens" reason, sorry.....

moving on......lets do this is bullet fashion for the time being

• Matthew turned 1 three weeks ago today! I cant believe how time has flown by so quickly. We had an awesome mickey mouse inspired birthday celebration the Saturday after his birthday. Man does this kid have alot of people who love him and want to spoil him! You should see all the new toys, to the point where im thinking of hiding a few and rewrapping for christmas? what?! dont be jealous you didnt think of it. is not like he will even know, especially if he never gets to play with them in the first place

• Speaking of Matthew turning one, i still havent published his birth story. i know total mom & blogger fail. Part 1 is complete and i should just hit publish, but if I do that it means i have to finish part 2......

• We got family photos taken a couple weeks before matthews birthday by the same photographer who did my maternity pictures. I think they turned out great and I promise to share them all with you soon!

• We also took Matthew to the beach for the first time. I know, kinda odd considering we live so close. It was a quick trip with just me and hubs, but i wanted to do the monumental "First trip" before summer came around so that my sister could take him and her kids to the beach if she wanted.

• Operation Bathroom Renovation is in full swing. We're currently living at my parents house and have been since Memorial Day weekend. The first week we were here my parents were actually still in New Jersey, but all the following weeks we've been all living under the same roof again. it was nice in the beginning, having that extra hand to help with Matthew, my laundry getting done every day (my mom has a laundry addiction), and home cooked meals on table before 6:30, but now, lets just say its time to have our own space again. Hubs is working on the bathroom as much as he can, but with him working a regular M-F 9-5 job, he only has the weekends to work on the bathroom, and the past couple of weekends have been extremely busy.

• The big project i was working on for my day job has come to somewhat of a completion. Allowing me a few extra spare moments during the day to catch up on blogging. There are a few lingering projects, but for the most part it was a great success rebranding the entire company. Looking back, i understand why i was so stressed, i mean hell i lost about 10lbs just from skipping lunch everyday for about 3 weeks, but it was all so worth it (not the skipping lunch part, i actually missed that). And because of my hard work and all the effort i put into the project, the head of the company actualy gave me the "Pony of the week" award that our company gives out each week. It was nice to be acknowledged in front of the entire company and rewarded (even if it was only a $25 giftcard) for all the hard work i had done.

• On a completely separate topic, im really starting to get the baby fever over here again. I dont know if its all the mommy bloggers who are pregnant again, the fact that I am planning my sister-in-laws baby shower for this august, or one of my best friends is pregnant again with another baby girl. But im not going to lie, my ovaries are definitely feeling the need for more babies! probably not a good time to bring it up to hubs tho, you know considering the fact that we are currently leaving with my parents again! oh yeah that thing :/

• And also, the next lingering thought in my head, that relates to the last bullet, if we do decide on baby #2 relatively soon, we will most definitely be in need of a bigger home. What am i talking about? whether we have another kid or not we need a bigger home! a 2/1 is just not big enough for us anymore, and I am way over having my office in the dining room, and in return having no dinning room!

• Weight watchers has been going really good for me lately (probably due to the whole stress thing....) and Ive lost a total of 28.2lbs. I felt extremely proud of myself at the birthday party when everyone kept complementing me on how much weight ive lost. Its always nice when someonve else sees the difference and dedication.

• That being I bought my new rollerblades but with the welcoming of summer it has been just WAAAAAAYYY to hot outside down he in SoFl. Plus my stroller isnt really made for that kid of exercise. Ive been on the hunt for a Bob Revolution SE stroller. I tried it out when I went with my SIL to register at BabiesRUs and fell in love. Im not even embarrassed to admit Ive been scouring craiglist like a mad woman. Thinking of maybe stopping by the local consignment shop too to see if they have one.

Ok so now that Ive bored you all with a not-so-quick update like I promised in the title, and no pictures, i let you know that I do have a list of posts i want to get out that include Matthews updates, Bday party, Weigh-ins, photo dumps, etc.

hopefully theyll be posted sooner than later. we shall see.

wednesday weigh-in: week 16

So Ive been really proud of myself all week long. Ive made it a point to go out and walk everyday this week. Even saturday & sunday! Go me! I kind of made it a mommy & baby thing too. You see theres a local park in our neighborhood. Not real big or anything, but definitely holds some sentimental value. Seeing I used to play on that playground when I was little. And softball on the fields till I was in high school! So after I pick up matthew from my sisters I would rush home, throw him in the stroller (not literally) and then walk the long way around the neighborhood, with our final destination being the park. We'd swing a little, climb on the slide, and eat wood chips meet neighbors. Then walk the long way home. Yesterday I even made it a Mommy, Baby, & grandma thing! I convinced my mom to walk with us and then to come over for dinner while hubs was at his award ceremony for work.

Basically, I was feeling good about myself. Considering last week i gained .2lbs (oops did I forget to update last weeks post, my b). And Ive been eating healthier all week. You should see the amount of veggies I have accumulate this week! But back to my point, feeling good, and then all of a sudden I step on the scale this morning. The morning of my weigh-in. The scale Im not supposed to step on, because I weigh in at the meeting not at home. And it looks like Ive gained this week too. How is that possible? I was so good? And its so disappointing. :(

Im not going to get too emotional about it until I weigh-in tonight at the meeting. Hopefully my scale is off/broken? :/ I would hate to feel defeated after all the effort I put in this week. Wish me luck.

lbs shed this week:  -.8 (not too bad, better than gaining like I thought I would)

lbs shed in total: -17.2 

lbs still need to shed: 32.8

first goal: 10lbs - reached on 2/13/13

•     reward:  mani/pedi and possibly massage (still havent done this yet)

second goal: 25lbs

•     reward: new rollerblades (I need these ASAP!!! i want to rollerblade so bad! im hoping my want for these will turn into more motivation!)

final goal:  50lbs

•     reward: epiphanie camera bag

success: exercising everyday this week! eating lots of veggies.

set-backs:  not tracking every day. I do good Thursday & Friday, then the weekend comes and i try to remember in my head but forget to put it in my app, and then by Monday Ive just stopped tracking altogether.

exercise: lots of walking, even if it was only for 20 mins I made sure to do it everyday this week.

fridays letters

dear hubby, im so proud of you for receiving the blue diamond award from your company! I know you were a little let down and aggravated about your performance review a couple weeks ago. But look at it this way, you performance review is done by your manager, the blue diamond award is given by the executives. obviously, the people with authority (and not jealousy) are impressed by your work. and I know that youve been doing awesome! so keep it up! matthew and I are so proud of you!

dear matthew, i cant believe you are going to 1 in a little over a month, i know I keep saying this, but you are growing just too fast! slow down for mommy ok? until then I must start planning your 1st birthday party. why must your favorite show be little einsteins? there is literally nothing in stores to buy that are little einsteins!

dear disney junior, if you are going to continue playing little einsteins on air, whos decision was it to not produce any more merchandise or party decorations? wost idea ever. you are making this 1st birthday party planning alot more stressful than it should be. now I must hand make everything, and although pinterest is a great source, it is also time consuming. i could always go the etsy route, but thats just more expensive, urrggghh, whats a mother to do?

dear sister, i know you are just trying to help, but calling me this morning while I was working to let me know that not only do I need to indeed start planing matthews birthday, but also figure out whether I am going to get him the swingset, has now made me overwhelmed. thanks for that. not.

dear self, i know you want this whole 1st birthday thing to be oh-so-special for your lil man, but honestly, he isnt even going to remember, its more for your own pleasure. So stop being so stressed and make this as simple as possible, but with personal touches.

dear groupon, why must you always have such good deals? like the emeals groupon i bought yesterday? i honestly dont have the extra money to be spending right now, but I just couldnt pass up this offer!

screenshot was taken yesterday, so it ends sooner than whats in the pic, better hurry!

dear emeals, im so excited to start using you! Im hopping not only will you help me be more involved in cooking dinner (im not the cooker in the family lol) but also just help plan dinner in general, as well as save with grocery shopping. my only problem now is deciding on which plan to choose! low fat? low carb? slow cooker?

dear work-at-home-moms, does your little one stay with you when youre working? ive mentioned it a couple times on here that i drop my son off with my sister mon-fri while I work (at home). But lately ive been debating whether i should just keep him home with me? i would love to spend more time with him, and it would save me about $125 a week, but im also a little nervous about actually being able to get work done. any tips or suggestions welcome. tia

dear sister-in-law, i understand youre ecstatic about the little bambino growing in your tummy, as I am just as happy to meet my new nephew. however, your baby shower isnt going to be until august, so please excuse me if all of my attention isnt on this event, as my sons 1st birthday is fastly approaching and at this moment that is more important to me. thanks. love you.

dear mother-in-law, it would be greatly appreciated if you could please find a house before august and be all moved in. as it would be so much easier and less of a headache to have your daughters baby shower there, opposed to at the relatively expensive restaurant she has proposed to have it at. thanks. love you too.

dear hubby, because you and matthew always get two, im secretly hoping that your work kicks you out early again today (to avoid overtime) so that you can come home and vacuum and clean the house while I finish work.

dear matthew, tomorrow daddy and I are going to take you to the beach for the first time. i know, why we waiting this long is beyond me. but I do hope you enjoy it just as much as your mommy does. there is always the slim chance youll absolutely despise it like your father, but mommy is hoping not. im expecting lots of sand eating. And possibly some squeals of excitement. but no need to worry, mommy would never leave the house without her camera, so were sure to get a few good memories from the outing.

and because Ill never leave you without a cute pic.