MIA, again and lots of fun stuff

I just can't seem to find the time energy to write more often.  Now, I have so much to update and I can't think of it all. 

We are getting ready for our upcoming San Francisco trip.  I am really excited to see the city because everyone who has ever been loves it there.  While I am excited for it, I am also dreading it because of the 5+ hour plane ride and what it is going to do to Weston's schedule.  He has been doing so well lately with sleeping through the night and I'm afraid that the time difference, schedule change, and travel are all going to mess with that.

Hopefully it's not too bad.  Wish us luck!

I have also been deep in the throes of planning.  Don't make fun of me but I'm already planning Weston's first birthday party(ies).  While I'm sad to realize how fast time is going, I'm so excited to see what lies ahead.  I love it when he learns new things like when he discovered just how much fun it was to clap...and clap...and clap...you get the idea.  I love it all though.  I think I'm throwing myself into the planning so that I don't have to think too much about him actually turning one.

Back to the party; we are doing a Sock Monkey theme.  Weston loves them so that is what we decided on.  I have spent a lot of time on Etsy finding the perfect items for his party and one year pictures.  So far I have purchased these:

I also bought a party hat that matches the diaper cover and tie but I won't have a picture until I actually get it.  I can't wait to get all of this stuff!

This is my inspiration board:

Another thing I bought was some mini red heal socks so I can try my hand at making miniature sock monkeys for any kids that come to the party(ies).

In addition to the Etsy finds, I started looking into his smash cake.  I want to do a photography session with a nice looking smash cake.  At first, I was all set to buy a cake from a bakery but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it might be better if I just make it.  That way, I can control what goes into it and it won't cost an arm and a leg (well maybe my arm but more on that later).

So today I decided that I needed to do a trial run to see if I could even work with fondant.  We went all over the place collecting things for me to make the cake when I finally thought to try Michaels.  If you are ever in need of fondant or other baking supplies, check there.

Because Weston is not ready to have all of that sugar, I was making the cake for myself and Mike and then to take to my mom's group.  I decided to make the cake following this recipe and this one for the icing to help cut the calories somewhat.

Let me tell you...fondant is very time consuming!  I loved it though.  Here are a few tips and things I learned along the way.

• If you don't like spending time on baking, pay someone to make it
• Buy the pre-colored fondant...TRUST me
• Have a plan before you purchase anything
• Plan to spend the majority of the day on the cake
• Have a Magic Eraser on hand for cleanup
• Watch videos on working with fondant

If I can think of anything else, I'll add them later.

So, after purchasing all of the things I needed to make the cake (this included a fondant smoother, a rotating cake stand, an angled spatula, and fondant cutters) I got to it.  The cake and icing were super easy.  Once that was all ready, I started rolling the fondant out.  This is what I was talking about when I said it may cost an arm...that was tough!  I got the cake covered in a layer of fondant and then started working on the design.  I couldn't find a brown fondant so I bought the powder to color the white fondant.  It took the better part of an hour to mix the color in and I never did get it to the shade I was going for.  This is why I say to buy the pre-colored stuff.

After about 6 hours of working on the thing, I'm finally done!  I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out considering it was my first time working with fondant.

Finished product

There are a few things that I plan to change for the big day.  I am going to use red frosting along the bottom of the cake instead of the brown fondant that I used tonight (this was a pain to do and unnecessary).  I am also going to use white fondant in place of the blue and I'm ether going to try to find a dark brown pre-colored fondant or use a pre-colored black fondant.  Other than that, I hope to make it a little cleaner looking.

I'm exhausted now so hopefully I'll do another update soon.  Let me know what you think of the cake!  Be honest.

Happy Birthday to ME!

That's about as excited as I'm going to get.  It's so funny that Birthdays are less and less exciting as you get older.  Really, it's just another day for me.  When I was younger, my mom would make sure it was OUR day.  We didn't have to lift a finger around the house (which was a real treat with a mom that worked long hours and a family with five children).  These days, I am no longer afforded that luxury.  I am basically a "single" mom through the week since Mike is gone so there will be no rest for me.  Honestly, if Weston sleeps through the night, that would be all that I need.

I am excited for dinner.  Mike is coming home early for the week for a few reasons and is taking me out to dinner on my actual birthday which is nice.  We are going to Wildfire which is delicious!

That's about it these days.  We are making plans for a few vacations this summer and living in the moment.

Weston is into EVERYTHING!  He has also perfected throwing fits.  If he doesn't get what he wants, when he wants it, he gets red in the face and starts screaming.  It's not a baby scream either, more like a child.  Frankly, it scares the crap out of me.

I wonder where he got his temper...

Well, now that I have stayed up to see the day change to my Birthday, I'm heading to bed, hoping for a nice birthday gift from Weston.  Wish me luck!

ETA: Oooh.  I almost forgot....I ran my first 5K race last weekend.  Though I am VERY slow, I was pretty proud of myself for doing it.  I started with the Couch to 5K program just a few months ago and now I am trying to run every other day.  My next goal is to become a one hour runner (which I'm not that far from anyway) but at a faster pace.

I had my best time for the race at 42. 26 and found it to be pretty energizing.  I may have to find some more to run.  I liked this one because it was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure which supports such an important issue.  We'll see what's next.  I do find it funny that an *almost 80 year old woman had better time than me.  Lol.

A little of this, a little of that

We just got back from our first beach trip as a family of three!  I was so excited to introduce the beach to Weston because it is one of my favorite places to be.  We were in the Outer Banks for two nights for my friends wedding.  Too short in my opinion, but fun nonetheless. 

I will be adding pictures to this post as soon as they get loaded to the computer.

Weston loved the sand.  He had a blast crawling around in it and trying to eat it.  The water was a different story.  We took him down and let the water run over his feet and he freaked!  It was a bit cold though so hopefully next time is a little better.

I do have to say that I was a little hurt by some of my so-called friends.  There were quite a few of us that went down for the wedding.  I found out when down there that the rest of them had gone in on a house together but didn't invite us.  Now, I understand if they didn't want us because we had Weston and they wanted to party but they could have, at the VERY least, invited us over to the house the day before the wedding when they were celebrating.

I have felt for a while that these "friends" are some of those friends that are only around for a short period of time.  They were my coworkers before I became a SAHM.  I don't know...maybe they hold it against me.  Either way, I have found throughout my life that there are very few people that remain. 

I am also having a down time right now.  I have been running for 4 months or so now and have actually GAINED weight.  I also added the Zumba DVD to my off days (although this was a recent addition) and I gained more weight. 

I am getting pretty down on myself right now.  I have never been thin but I have never been this heavy either.  I decided today (and some may judge me for this) that I am going back on low carb.  It is honestly the only thing that has ever worked for me.  I realize that this has to be a lifelong commitment and I'm ok with that.  I have tried counting calories, fat, etc and that just isn't working.  I seriously cannot stand myself right now.  Hopefully the low carb things works as well as it did when we were engaged.

I am worried that I am going to lose my supply though.  I am hoping to make it to a minimum of a year of nursing so I am going to be watching that closely.  That is the reason I have held off for so long but I have had it and need to see change before I lose all motivation.  I really want to be the healthiest I can be, not just for me but for my son. I don't want him to grow up with an overweight parent setting a bad example.

Anyway, that's where I am right now.  Wish me luck!

Where have I been?

And where did my baby go?  I haven't been a very good blogger lately but I just can't seem to find the time.  The little man is all over the place now and rarely takes a decent nap so he keeps me pretty busy during the day and I am just exhausted at night.

We have our first beach trip this weekend and I can't wait!  The water will be too cold but I'm excited to see what Weston does with the sand. 

We also went to MI a couple of weekends ago which meant Weston's first plane ride.  He did exceptionally well with the plane.  Getting back on schedule once we were home...that's a different story.

First Plane Ride:

In other news...Weston is pulling up on everything and anything.  In fact, we were at a play date in the park and he tried pulling up on a 5 month old little girl!  Luckily her mom and I have become pretty good friends and she just laughed when I stopped him.

He also now has 4 teeth!  The top two teeth came in at the exact same time.  I miss the gummy smile but his teeth are so cute (unless he trying to bite me).

My new favorite hoodie:

Mother's Day:

One of my new favorite pics:

I have so much to update but I just don't have the energy or patience right now.  Hopefully I will get back into blogging more often.  Of course, with the trip this weekend, I won't have time again.

I do want to talk about something that has really had a profound effect on me.  A friend had to give birth to her twin babies early after a long, difficult road.  The babies, a boy and girl, were born just shy of 30 weeks.  Her baby girl passed away shortly after. 
I cannot imagine what she must be going through.  A loss like that is beyond sad, it is tragic and no one should ever have to experience such a thing.  I found that I have held my little boy a little tighter lately and have cherished our time together a little more.  Please keep my friend and her family in your thoughts and prayers as she grieves the loss of her daughter and fights for her son's life.  My heart is broken for her and her family and I haven't stopped thinking of them.

I read this quote shortly after my miscarriage, and it has stuck with me.

An angel in the book of life wrote down my baby's birth,

Then whispered as she closed the book,

"Too beautiful for Earth"

-Unknown

Our New Normal

Today starts the beginning of our new normal as a family.  Mike will be traveling every week and only home on the weekends. I really didn't give it much thought until he said goodbye this morning.

I got a bit teary eyed when he said bye to Weston.  I think that is the hardest part, knowing that they will be apart so much.  I'm so grateful that we have Google Talk and Skype so they get to see each other every day. 

My little man was so grumpy today.  I think a lot of it had to do with waking up to say by to daddy at 5:30 this morning and then again at 6:30 to send off my in-laws.  The other part is probably because we have had a lot of visitors lately with my mom and then my in-laws.  I'm really hoping he sleeps well tonight.  I know we could both use the rest.

My run didn't go so well today.  It was 82 outside when I started my run and I think the heat just did me in.  I started to see stars after about 20 minutes of running so I decided to stop since I had Weston with me.  I'm so worried that something is going to happen when I am running with him.  Though my ppd seems to be under control for the most part, I still have those extreme fears some times.  I still have to push back the thoughts of accidents happening but at least those thoughts don't stop me from doing things anymore.

It's been a bit hectic here lately so I decided to just eat a Smart Ones for dinner tonight.  That's another thing I need to figure out...how do I cook for one?

I have tons of pictures to share but need to upload them and I'm too tired tonight.

6 month picture is up!

I updated Weston's Watch Me Grow page (link above) with his new picture and stats.

My little boy has really turned into a little boy.  He dropped down to the 25th percentile for weight and 50th for height.  I never expected him to be tall since neither of his parents were really blessed in the tall genes.  Time will tell where he will end up though.

He has decided that he wants to be a thumb sucker.

It's cute, for now, but how in the world do you take a thumb away?!?  That will be fun, I'm sure.

He also started saying mamamamama the day he turned 6 months but has decided that it is not nearly as cool as dadadada which is what he says all the time now.  Seriously, I was so excited when he was saying mama and now he won't say it at all.  Silly boy.

We have also officially moved from his infant tub to his ducky tub.  He had a blast in it today!

Yesterday was gorgeous outside so we took advantage and laid a blanket on the grass and played for a bit.

Today was not so nice so we played inside until the rain cleared up enough to go for a run.

Dinner tonight:
Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa (no cilantro tonight though because we were out)
Broccoli and cheese rice

Any Takers?

Anyone want to come clean my house?  I seriously don't know how I am going to get this done in time for the in-law's visit.  I tried cleaning when I was actually at home today and Weston has decided that he is now terrified of the vacuum.  He has been around it weekly since he was born so I don't know what's so scary about it now.

Weston had to say goodbye to his first friend today.  I was surprised how sad I was even though we have only known this mom and little boy for 2 months or so.  I'm also really sad that I have to move up to the crawling time meetup from tummy time.  I love the girls at tummy time and haven't felt the same connection with the girls at crawling time.  I'll give it time though and hopefully I'll make some more really great friends.  I am going to attend one more tummy time though even though Weston is full-on crawling now.

I will share Weston's 6 month pictures soon but they are on the other computer and I'm feeling lazy right now.

We have a lot of changes coming.  Mike got on a project in WV starting next week.  The good news is that it is a project that he is excited about and it means that we MIGHT be able to move back to PA within a year or so (YAY!!!).  The bad news is that Mike will be traveling there Monday-Friday so we will only get to see him on the weekends.  I'm so glad that we have things like Skype so that Weston and I can see him every day. 

Dinner tonight:
Turkey Meatloaf
Sauteed Asparagus