Follow Through Friday - Just Maintain

Well, I've come to the conclusion that I'm OK with just maintaining my weight through the rest of the month, through the holidays. I seriously ate more cookies this week than I've probably had in the last 2 months combined, not to mention all the holiday festivities I attended this week and have planned over the next 2 weeks. If I can maintain my weight through all that, I'll be happy. I'm not committed enough right not to refrain from indulging in all the foods. On the other hand, I have been committed to getting in my runs. Even after binging on cookies all day. I think the runs are helping balance out my poor eating choices, well sort of, I have gained back a little.

I didn't make it out for my long run on Saturday with the MRTT ladies as I chose to participate in some beer drinking the night before during our neighborhood Christmas Lights parade. I rescheduled it for Sunday morning with another MRTT lady but woke up with a pounding headache so missed that one too. I did get my run in later that day on Sunday though, after my headache finally went away and actually felt pretty good after it, even if it did consist of running in circles through the neighborhood. I totally regretted not going out to the trail. I squeezed in my other two 30 minutes runs between working and parties. G was away on travel this week, so it always makes it more difficult to get my runs in as he definitely helps motivate me when I'm being lazy (and/or stays home with the girls when I want to run outside).

Results for the week:

Weight: 171.8

Pins Moved (lbs lost): one in wrong direction (1.4 lbs gained)

Half Marathon training:
     Run 1: 7.05 miles in 1:25:21 (12:06 pace) 

     Run 2: 2.75 miles in 30:17 (11:00 pace)

     Run 3: 2.44 miles in 30:00 (12:17 pace)

     Strength Training: none

Other:

     Walk: Friday – 1.8 miles

     Walk: Sunday - 1.11 miles (multiple walks)

     Walk: Monday - 0.53 miles
     Walk: Wednesday - 0.53 miles
     Walk: Thursday - 0.8 miles

Total Weekly Miles Logged:  17.01 miles

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14: 4.8 lbs

Plan for Next Week: 
Continue the half marathon training plan, for Friday through Monday it will include: an 8 mile run, two 30-minute runs (one at race pace), and two strength training days (I'm not even going to include this going forward as I'm clearly not doing them). 

Linking up with Carolyn and Fitnasty for Life with the pledge to get #FIT4FIFTEEN! 

Follw Through Friday - Business Travel and Holidays

Considering how busy this weekend/week was, I’m happy with my results. I was on the go ALL weekend and ate out a lot of meals plus had to take a quick trip to Memphis for work which also included eating out (and eating a LOT in general, if you ever go to Memphis and want an amazing dinner – check out Folk’s Folly… pricey but omg, so good!). Luckily I got my runs in anyways! I got up nice and early on Saturday morning and did my 6 mile run with one of the other moms from Moms Run This Town (MRTT). I was a little nervous about essentially running with a stranger and being able to hold a conversation. Not because of lack of things to talk about, but because of being able to catch my breath. This mom was great, ran at my pace, and I surprisingly was able to talk the whole time without gasping for air. I usually run alone with music so it was a nice change and the 6 miles went by much faster and I even kept a decent pace (for me).  I plan to meet up with some other MRTT ladies tomorrow for my 7 mile run on the West Orange Trail. I did my first 30 minute run before I left for the airport on Tuesday morning as I knew we had a business dinner planned in Memphis so the chance of running that night would be slim and then Wednesday I had a half day meeting and had to get back on a plane to come home with landing around 9pm(ended up catching an earlier flight but still wasn’t home until 8) so I knew Wednesday would be a bust for exercise as well. The run wasn’t very fast, and I walked a lot of it due to a cramp half way through (probably shouldn’t have eaten seconds before jumping on the treadmill but I was pressed for time), but at least I got it done! I did my last run, last night and was actually rather impressed, especially because I had a huge lunch (my boss took us out). It was supposed to be a “pace” run but I started it without figuring out what speed I’d need to run to get that pace with intervals so I just set the speed on the treadmill at 5.5 MPH and increased it gradually as I went. I managed to do negative splits and ran the entire 30 minutes and ended up right around a 11 min pace, which is my goal for the half, so I was very happy with that! I’m normally an interval runner but lately for my shorter runs, I’ve been enjoying the straight through running more.  

The next 2-3 weeks are going to be super tough with the holidays in full swing. I’m actually really worried about meeting my month 3 DietBet weigh in on January 6^th. Oh yea, speaking of DietBets, last week I mentioned my 2^nd month of diet bet weigh in being the following day. Well, I hit my goal and won $29.92 (so $17.42 profit)! I have to get down to 167.4 to hit my goal for this month. I feel like if I keep up with my running, it should at least help balance out the bad eating. I’m not going to deprive myself of holiday goodness, but hopefully try to eat REALLY good on the days I don’t have anything going on and then only indulge for the MEAL on the days I do have something going on, rather than all day. That’s my plan anyways and hopefully it’ll be enough to meet my round/month 3 goal! This week I have a work luncheon/pot luck on Monday, an ornament exchange party with the MRTT ladies on Tuesday, and a Wine Tasting party on Thursday.

I also didn’t schedule my facial yet for hitting my goal last week, but now I feel like I don’t deserve it since I gained some back and am above that incentive again. Guess I’ll just wait until I hit it again and then schedule it.

 Results for the week:

Weight: 170.4

Pins Moved (lbs lost): one in the wrong direction (1 lb gained)

Half Marathon training:
     Run 1: 6.01 miles in 1:11:41 (11:55 pace) 

     Run 2: 2.38 miles in 30:00 (12:36 pace)

     Run 3: 2.71 miles in 30:00 (11:04 pace)

     Strength Training: none

Other:

     Walk: Friday – 2.32 miles

     Walk: Saturday - 0.5 miles

     Walk: Wednesday - 0.5 miles
     Walk: Thursday - 0.5 miles

Total Weekly Miles Logged:  14.92 miles

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14: 6.2 lbs

Plan for Next Week: 
Continue the half marathon training plan, for Friday through Monday it will include: a 7 mile run, two 30-minute runs, and two strength training days. 

Linking up with Carolyn and Fitnasty for Life with the pledge to get #FIT4FIFTEEN! 

Follow Through Friday - Back on Track!

After my last two weeks, I really needed to “detox” myself from terrible eating. Exercise doesn’t really help you lose weight if you eat like crap. I did pretty well this week, which can be seen in my results below. I made my first "goal" and can now get my first incentive, a facial!! Totally booking that ASAP! I also have my 2^nd month weigh in of the Transformer Diet Bet on Sunday, which cumulatively needed to be a 6% loss. Based on today’s weigh-in, I’m pretty confident I’ll make it, which means hopefully I’ll make a few bucks again! Score! Next month I only need to lose another 2% (8% cumulate), less than previous months, which is good considering it’s the holiday season and the weigh in for month 3 will be right after the new year = lots of holiday parties! Plus the more you lose, the harder it gets. Story of my life right there!

My runs this week were tough. I hadn’t been feeling great Sunday and was just going to run to catch up with G while he was taking the girls for a walk. Well it took me a while to find him and he encouraged me to keep going, so I figured I’d just make it one of my 30 minute runs. Well, once I hit 30 minutes, I had been feeling pretty good so I decided to keep going and completed my 5 miles. My legs were a little sore Monday when I did my first 30 minute run, hence the slower pace (for a short run). My other 30 minute run didn't happen.  I made the decision to stop pumping this week, so starting on Tuesday afternoon I did my last pump (ever!) and dealt with the leaking and the engorgement pain until about this morning. Still a little engorged, but at least the leaking has stopped! (sorry, a little TMI? at least I left out the part about putting cabbage in my bra.. oh well, now you know - btw it helps!) Luckily, it didn't affect my weight loss this week. Now I just have to adjust my eating again as I can't have those extra "breastfeeding" calories anymore if I want to still lose weight as I was only eating them for my milk production. My long runs are getting to be too long to do in my neighborhood without doing multiple loops, so tomorrow I have plans to knock out my 6 miles on the West Orange Trail with some ladies from the local Moms Run This Town running group. I’ve been a part of this group (online FB group) since I found out I was pregnant with AB (that’s when I discovered it­) but haven’t made it out to any of their group runs since I didn't run while pregnant; so I’m excited to finally meet and run with some of the other moms! Plus it gets my long run out of the way nice and early in the week!

Oh yea, and I've been tracking my miles all year, and November ended up being the month with the most miles logged (probably of all time!)  - I logged 56.58 miles in November!

Results for the week:

Weight: 169.4

Pins Moved (lbs lost): four!! (3.8 lbs)

Half Marathon training:

     Run 1: 5.08 miles in 1:02:08 (12:13 pace) 

     Run 2: 2.47 miles in 30:00 (12:08 pace)

     Strength Training: none

Other:

     Walk: Wednesday - 1.0 Mile
     Walk: Thursday - 0.6 mile

Total Weekly Miles Logged:  9.15 miles

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14: 7.2 lbs

Plan for Next Week: 

Continue the half marathon training plan, for Friday throughMonday it will include: a 6 mile run, two 30-minute runs (one at race pace), and two strength training days. 

Linking up with Carolyn and Fitnasty for Life with the pledge to get #FIT4FIFTEEN!

Follow Through Friday - Happy Thanksgiving!

After last week’s TERRIBLE week, I knew I wanted this week to be better. I knocked out all my running by Monday night since I knew Tuesday night we’d be doing date night and then Wednesday night and Thursday we’d be busy with a house guest and Thanksgiving. I did pretty good with my eating and was down to 170.4 on Sunday (even after slightly indulging on Saturday at a baby shower) but then of course I couldn’t resist all the goodness that is a Thanksgiving dinner which resulted in a not so pretty weigh in this morning. Although surprised it wasn't worse. I usually allow myself to cheat a little over the weekends (one full day) and then I’m not as careful for one day and then good the other 5. This week I’m only allowing one real cheat day, which will be today. Today we’ll be tailgating for the UCF vs. USF game (we’re on our way there now – GO KNIGHTS!!) and I don’t plan to be good by any means but not really go crazy either.  I’ve got literally nothing else planned all weekend and week so I’m pledging to have no cheat days this week after today. I will only eat my allotted calories and do my workouts. Well, at least my runs. I really need to incorporate my strength training, but I haven’t been in the mood to do it. I guess just running is better than nothing at all and I’m not going to lie and make it seem like I have intentions of doing the strength training because right now I don’t.

Results for the week:

Weight: 173.2

Pins Moved (lbs lost): one in wrong direction  

Half Marathon training:

     Run 1: 4.02 miles in 24:00 (11:50 pace) 

     Run 2: 2.66 miles in 30:00 (11:16 pace)

     Run 3: 2.56 miles in 30:00 (11:43 pace)

     Strength Training: none

Other:

     Walk: Sunday – 0.48 miles
     Walk: Wednesday - 0.48 miles

     Walk: Thursday – 2.02 miles

Total Weekly Miles Logged:  12.22 miles

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14: 3.4 lbs

Plan for Next Week: 

Continue the half marathon training plan, for Friday through Thursday it will include: a 5 mile run, two 30-minute runs, and two strength training days. 

Linking up with Carolyn and Fitnasty for Life with the pledge to get #FIT4FIFTEEN!

Follow Through Friday - Just Terrible

This week was terrible. I made a lot of very bad decisions and sabotaged my efforts from last week. I never want to move pins OFF the "lost" rope, but unfortuantely when you do what I did, that happens. Let's see all the bad choices I made: I ate at Chili's twice, celebrated my daughter and father's bday with two days of cake and big meals, went to happy hour and had 2 beers and a bunch of yummy (unhealthy) appetizers and only ran twice. Oh yea, and I still didn't pick up any weights. I went back to work this week which actually wasn't that bad, most of my sabotaging happened before I actually made it back to the office. But there is no sense dwelling on it, there is always next week (which includes Thanksgiving the night before my weigh in, eeek!). If I want to improve my running endurance and lose weight, I really need to FOCUS!! This is not a good start to my training or my goals and only I can do something about that! Oh yea and last week I said I only needed a 2 mile run, so that's what I did, but then when I went back and looked at my actual plan, it was supposed to be 3, whoops!

Results for the week:

Weight: 172.6

Pins Moved (lbs lost): Two in wrong direction (2 lbs gained)

Half Marathon training:

     Run 1: 2 miles in 24:00 (12:00 pace) 

     Run 2: 2.52 mils in 30:00 (11:54 pace)

     Run 3: none :(

     Strength Training: none :(

Other:

     Walk: Monday - 3.00 miles

     Walk: Tuesday - 0.23 miles

     

Total Weekly Miles Logged:  7.75 miles

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14: 3.4 lbs

Plan for Next Week: 

Continue the half marathon training plan, for Friday through Thursday it will include: a 4 mile run, two 30-minute runs, and two strength training days. 

Overall, like I said up there, terrible week. Carolyn from Fitnasty for Life wrote a great post on discipline vs. motivation today, and I'm clearly missing my discipline. It seems like whenever I start "training" for anything, my discipline goes away. Mentally, I must be taking the fun out of it or something because I have no desire lately to do anything. UGH, must re-FOCUS and get going! I don't have any big plans over the weekend, so I'm going to try to knock out as much of my runs as possible before my 3 day work week and Thanksgiving. I figure even if I'm not running on the "right" days according to my plan, as long as I run, it's better than nothing!

Linking up with Carolyn and Fitnasty for Life with the pledge to get #FIT4FIFTEEN!

Thursday Thoughts - First Plane Ride and Pool Parties

this picture just cracks me up!

Linking up with Jen over at Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for  today's Thursday Thoughts!

Tonight EM and I are heading to Long Island! The main purpose of the trip is to attend my Cousin's baby shower, but since almost ALL of my mom and dad's family still live up there, I'd feel bad not trying to see as many people as possible during my 3 days there. This results in us driving all around Long Island, which means it will not be relaxing at all but it'll be nice to see a lot of people and introduce Emily to them since many have not met her yet. My cousin is having a very unique baby shower, unique in the sense that it is also going to be her gender reveal.. to herself and her boyfriend! I don't know how she has waited this long nor how everyone who knows kept it a secret (the invites told us all what the baby was but to keep it hush hush). I think it's a really unique way to find out, although I just can't believe no one slipped. (or she's really good at keeping it a secret if someone did slip!) Can't wait to see her reaction on Sunday when she walks in and finds out if it's a boy or a girl based on the decor of the shower! 

This will be EM's first time on a plane. Since the flight leaves a good hour after she normally goes to bed, I'm hoping she'll sleep on it. Otherwise, I'm nervous how she'll be, espeically since she's a "lap child" and doesn't have a seat. Since we are flying Southwest and we pick our own seats, I'm hoping it's not a full flight and no one wants to sit next to us so we can have more space. A lap child on a 5 month pregnant belly doesn't sound enjoyable (sometimes I wonder what I was thinking booking this flight without G coming along). EM also has very little interest in movies or technology so if she doesn't sleep, keeping her entertained for 2.5 hours will be interesting. I've brought snacks, her favorite books, and her favorite stacking cups. Wish us luck!

Let's see, what else have we been up to? Other than feeling like crap the last few weeks on and off (preggo related I believe) we haven't done too much. Our 2nd shot of EM's 18 month shoot went much better - well once G showed up -  and other than the fact that it was 90+ degrees outside and I learned EM does NOT like sand or the grass, this makes me very sad, I need her to like the sand, how else can we go to the beach?? The photographer gave us all of the pictures - over 100 - (even the not so good ones) and overall we are happy with how many good ones we got between the two shoots.  Here are a few collages of my favorites:

Last weekend, G's parents had a pool opening party. When we built our new house and then had EM, they decided 40 minutes was too far away and built a house down the street. We love having them so close and they put in an awesome pool and had a big party to celebrate the grand opening of the pool, complete with ribbon cutting!. My parents (they get along awesomely with G's family) came up for the party as well and we all had a great time at the party! G's sister was in town as well which was nice to spend some time with her since EM and I haven't seen her (besides facetime) since EM was a few months old. I wish I took pictures of all the cute pool party themed things my mother-in-law made like nutter butter flip flop cookies, center pieces that were sand pails filled with "life savers" and "pool noodles" (candy!) The pool has a swim up pool bar complete with 4 barstools and an awesome "beach" area where the water is only a few inches deep which is perfect for lounging (and for young ones to play!) There are also fun "extras" like lights, bubblers and water spouts which you can't really see in the pictures since they weren't on. They have a few fun mosaics including one that say "It's 5 o'clock somewhere' on the wall, fishes and turtles (you can see the turtles in the pictures).

EM had a blast in the pool!

kind of blurry but EM enjoyed her first lollipop!

the ribbon cutting, complete with jumbo scissors

EM and her Aunt Christie - FaceTime does help with being far away, EM ran straight to her!

Since I last posted, we've continued swim lesson, didn't see a Triple Crown win, celebrated Father's Day (just hung out at my in-laws, playing in the pool and having dinner) and the US won their first game in the World Cup! 

Playing while we watched the Belmont Stakes

Ready to cheer on the USA!!

Thursday Thoughts - Random Ramblings

Linking up with Jen over at Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for Thursday Thoughts today!

• Last weekend was pretty low key. We went to our friend’s condo for a BBQ and swimming but the weather was pretty crappy so the only swimming that was done was in the hot tub. It wasn’t too hot and EM loved being in there, especially since she was able to walk around the whole perimeter’s seats without going under the water.
• 

• This weekend will be pretty low key as well. No real plans besides EM’s swim lessons. EM “graduated” from Infant School - Part 1 of Swim Lessons last weekend (she’s doing pretty good and seems to enjoy it!) and Part 2 starts Saturday. I won’t lie though, when these lessons are over in August, I’ll be one happy Momma,8am lessons – every single Saturday AND Sunday for 3 months, sucks! I take her Saturdays and G takes her Sundays but it still sucks to set an alarm on the weekend, especially when EM would normally sleep till after 8. 

•  I’m getting my monthly pre-natal massage tomorrow, and I still stand that they are NO WHERE as good as regular massages, but I still look forward to it each month! I just REALLY look forward to my first post-natal massage after the baby is born and I can lay on my back/stomach and have my favorite masseuse again (she’s not certified for pre-natal so I have to use someone else). I love getting every other Friday off!

• We are attempting EM’s 18 month photos again tomorrow. The photographer didn’t like how they came out when we took some a few weeks ago although she did post one really good one,  but since she didn't like them overall, we’re going someplace else and trying again. Hopefully since it’s earlier in the day, EM will be in a better mood too. Speaking of photos, we won a free photo shoot (by a different photographer) from a Facebook contest I entered. Thanks to everyone who voted!

• I’ve been watching way too much TV lately. I’ve seriously had dreams related to 19 Kids and Counting twice this week! I don’t really recall the dreams, but I know they were related. Since I’ve been marathoning through their current season, it really has me thinking… what is wrong with a front –hug and hand holding? (and kissing for that matter)? You’d think their values are so strong and they are such good kids (well adults) that they could be trusted to practice self-control and stay pure (and I don’t think hand holding and kissing makes you impure) without a chaperone. I mean these kids are in their 20’s! I think a lot of their beliefs are way too extreme and a little “crazy” – BUT I do think they are good people, with good hearts, that do a lot of good things for the community. My friend and I was discussing this yesterday and she said “They’re good people and contribute to the world in a positive way. If anyone is having 19 kids, I’m glad it’s them” and I couldn’t agree more. There are plenty of people who are recklessly having children, living off the government, etc  and whereas I think 19 Kids is too many (remember I think 2 is good lol), I’d much rather have people like the Duggers doing it. They also live debt-free which many people with ZERO kids can maintain, so that is something to be praised for (although at THIS point they are probably making a ton of money from the TV series, but that wasn’t always the case).

• On the TV topic, I just can’t seem to really get into the Bachelorette yet this season. The last two seasons (Juan Pablo and Des) we did our own Fantasy League and it was a ton of fun, but this season we are using a website for the Fantasy League and it works a little differently (saves us a lot of time though so we don’t have to manually do anything) and I’ve already lost my 3 guys, so I’m stuck in last place. The way we did it on our own, even if you lost your team, you could still earn points other ways (although would still be hard to win, but at least you could move up in the rankings). I’m hoping once the group of guys dwindles down a little more, than I’ll be more “into it”. I also think they did a very good job with acknowledging and honoring Eric Hill’s death. This was certainly a “first” for ABC and if I was his family, I would have been happy with the way they handled it. It seems like ABC put a lot of thought into what would be the “right thing to do” and succeeded. He seemed like a genuinely good guy (not the RIGHT guy for Andi though, hence his exit) and it’s a shame he lost his life so young and tragically.

What are you up to this weekend? Doing anything exciting?

Weekend Recap(s) - Enjoying the Florida Weather

Well looks like I’m sucking at blogging again, here is a quick update in pictures of our last week and a half/ two weekends!

I helped host my sister’s baby shower! She and Baby William were spoiled with love (and lots of presents!) I think she was really happy with how it turned out!

EM had her 18 month appointment and weighed 22 lb 10 oz and is 31.25 inches. She’s perfectly healthy and on track for everything developmentally.

We attempted to take EM's 18 month photos, but the photographer didn't like how they turned out so we're going to re-do them. She did however send me one that came out great!

EM continued with her swim lessons both weekends. She’s doing really well and only had one “bad” day so far where she cried (and it was super chilly out, so I don’t blame her!) Her one friend from day care is in her class, and the two girls are so cute high-fiving each other after each new skill they learn.

We’ve been spending a lot of time in pools the last two weekends and EM loves it! Gotta enjoy the Florida weather before the heat gets too much for this preggo lady!

We spent Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend at my parents to celebrate my mom’s birthday! All of EM’s cousins were there and despite a really bad hail storm, they enjoyed spending time together and my mom loved having all her grandkids over for the afternoon! Emily even made her Grandma a special present!

the hail that destroyed 10 panels of my parent's screen cage

EM creating Grandma's Birthday Present!

One of my best friends has a 3.5 month old, and we got to spend Monday with him! EM and Scottie (and AB too when she’s here) are going to spend a lot of time together and become the best of friends too!

We are on week 6 of G traveling all work-week. EM and I enjoy making silly videos and sending them to Daddy.  It hasn’t been too hard on me YET although I am not looking forward to how it’ll be with EM and a newborn or when I get REALLY pregnant, but we’ll play it by ear and see how things go.

Thursday Thoughts

~Today, May 1^st begins sales tax being added to Amazon orders for us Floridians. Boo! I know it’s actually a good thing, because that means the Amazon facilities are opened up and many jobs have become available for others, but still doesn’t make me happy to start paying. Although, it really won’t change much, Amazon is still wayyy more convenient than most other shipping and still usually cheaper. The only store that usually compares is Target and since I always had to pay tax at Target, even after my 5% RedCard discount, Amazon would end up being cheaper and had faster free shipping (since we are Prime). According to a random article I read today,  Floridians are supposed to pay sales tax themselves when they buy from online retailers. I never knew this, wouldn’t even know HOW to do it, nor do I know anyone who has ever done that, guess I don’t have to worry about that anymore since Amazon was the only place I was getting stuff tax-free.

~I’m sooo anxious for a cruise. I know we “just” went on one in February, but going on one while pregnant isn’t as exciting which is why I refuse to go on another one anytime soon. Plus, the cruise lines won’t allow  you to go after 24 weeks anyways, so that’s not too far away and with G traveling for work, we wouldn’t be able to go on one in the near future even if I revoked my self-imposed “no-cruising while pregnant” rule.  I’m used to going on at least 2 or 3 a year (yes, I’m obsessed) so knowing we didn’t have ANY booked was killing me. #firstworldproblems So, then today Royal Caribbean puts out a special for Buy One, Get One Half Off most sailings in 2015 and 2016, and we all know I can't pass up a deal, especially a cruise deal so G and I booked a short weekend one for our anniversary in February. Since I’m saving all my extra 2014 vacation time for an extended maternity leave and all my 2015 vacation time for a 3-week, 30^th birthday surprise, I won’t have any extra vacation time for anything more than a weekend cruise. Not complaining though, need my fix. Even if it is SOOO far away!

~This past weekend, I ended up sleeping most of I. I had a 3 day headache and it completely ruined my weekend. We did get out of the house for a little on Saturday to go to my old work team’s cookout (my bike never got fixed so we skipped the bike ride portion) and then took G’s grandmother to dinner on Saturday night but other than that, I did a ton of sleeping and laying around. On a positive note, I haven’t felt better (in months!) than these last 4 days! Hoping this continues!

~Our patio extension/screen installation is finally underway! and we got our gutters put up yesterday too! Never thought I'd be so excited for things like this, really shows you I'm a full-blown adult! 

Day 1

Day 2

~We’re getting EM’s 18 month photos done on Saturday (weather permitting – the shoot is going to be outside) – it’s a little early since she’s still a few weeks shy of 18 months but it worked for my and the photographer’s schedule. We are using a new photographer who is starting out as the one we were using increased her prices SIGNIFICANTLY so we figured we’d try someone new. I’m sure she’ll do a great job and she lives in the neighborhood so it makes it easier than driving 40 minutes to the other photographer's location.

~Apparently, EM has been walking great at school. Like, she will just stand up and walk across the classroom and if she falls while in process, she just stands right back up and continues. At home, I am luckily if I can get 5 steps out of her every few days! The teachers did say they don’t acknowledge the fact that she’s walking until she gets to where she is going and then they praise her, as they’ve realized if they praise her while in process, she’ll just sit and crawl the rest of the way. I tried this at home, but she’s still never done it for me. It’s driving me nuts. Please walk for ME! More so, when we go back to the doctor in a few weeks for your 18 month appointment, please walk for the doctor so she doesn’t think I’m lying, ok EM? Thanks! 

but isn't she so cute?

~And finally, next week (Wednesday) I will get my script to get my next ultrasound, which will be our gender ultrasound! I can’t freaking wait! I wish my OB did ultrasounds in his office, but since he’s a small, one doctor, office he sends us to the hospital to get them done. Here’s hoping they have an appointment available two days later on that Friday (obviously G wants to be there for the ultrasound and since he’s out of town Mon-Thursday, I have to wait until a Friday appointment is available. REALLY hoping the 9^th works, although that might be too “early” for the real purpose of the ultrasound since it’s supposed to be around 20 weeks since it’s the “20 week anomaly scan” and I’ll only be 17+4 on May 9^th. Guess I’ll just have to see what my OB says and when the appointment is actually available.  I’m sure I was just as anxious about this when I was pregnant with EM but I feel like it’s worse this time. 

getting big!

Linking up with Jen at Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for today's Thursday Thoughts!