We get by with a little help from our friends

Hey Nathan, can you touch your ears and say, "Let Seth Hear?"

No, not your mouth sweetie, your ears.

Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to upset you.

I know you just wanted to taste them first.

Now, let's try again. Can you touch your ears?

That's better, but can you touch both of your ears and say it??

Sorry, I know I always ask you to perform, but this time it is for a good cause. Can you try one.more.time???

Great job buddy!

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I just wanted to raise awareness of a cute-as-can be little boy in need of our help. He was born deaf and is going to have surgery for cochlear implants. Our wonderful health care system will not pay for the entire surgery so they are trying to raise money to cover the remainder. I know everyone is feeling the economic pinch, but a little bit can go a long way. Please take a minute and visit El's page. You can even be as cool as us and sport these wrist bands for a wonderful cause!!

No Pain. No Gain.

That's the old adage for exercise right? But how much pain should you really be in after taking a group fitness class? Lemme tell you just how much pain I am in after subjecting my poor, unsuspecting, still-way-too-out-of-shape-to-be-taking-a-boot camp-class body to 50 minutes of torture...

My legs hurt.
My butt hurts.
Geeze, even my hair hurts.
It hurts to sit.
It hurts to stand.
It hurts to walk.
It hurts to go up and down stairs.
It just plain hurts!

Why is it that I think I can just jump back into the classes that were hard for me when I was in shape when I am just getting back into the swing of things?? I guess I must be a glutton (pardon the unintentional pun) for punishment. Jumping the gun aside, I am doing really well with my renewed commitment to getting my body back. I have been to the gym at least 4 times a week for almost 4 weeks. So far I have lost 8 pounds and 2.4% body fat. I have managed to get back up to running intervals for 45 minutes each time and am aiming for 60 by the time I go on vacation at the end of March. My clothes are fitting better. My attitude is getting better. I guess there is something to gain from the pain after all!

Gift of Spa-Winner!

I love that random number thingy. It makes things so easy! I don't know if you can see that or not, but the winner is number 9! That would be....Liz @ Loving Mom 2 Boys! Congratulations Liz! I hope you enjoy your little piece of relaxation!

Not Me! Monday

Why not me on a rainy day?
Why not me to love your cares away?
Why not me?
Why not me when the nights get cold?
Why not me when you're growin old?
Why not me?

Um, excuse me Wynonna. Yeah, you too Naomi. Sorry to interrupt the song, but didn't you get the memo? You know, the one from MckMama?? No? Well, why don't you pop over to her blog and check it out. Maybe then you'll understand.

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I did not just write that intro. I am not secretly hoping that people get it.

I did not take some me time this week and have a girls night at a spa with my friend. I didn't tell my hubby on my way there that if he had any questions he should ask them before 5pm since I didn't want a phone call about meatloaf or the location of the remote while I was getting a facial or pedicure.

I am watching what I eat. I am going to the gym 3-4X a week. I am loosing weight. This being said, I most certainly did not attempt to eat the candy from my wedding favor that I had on the shelf in my cubicle, in a moment of desperation. It was not there for decoration. It was not 2 1/2 years old and way too old to be consumed. The jelly beans weren't rock hard and the gummies weren't the chewiest thing ever, um, ahem...not eaten.


I did not google "not me" only to come across this website!! WTF??? Some men would probably think this is the greatest invention ever. I'd comment more, but I don't want to ruin the surprise.

I never curse, so this is not something I am actively working on changing. I am not replacing bad words with lesser words so my son does not belt out the f-bomb at an inopportune moment, you know, like the pediatrician's office or something. This being said, I did not bang my head getting him in the car last night and say "dang it!" only for him to repeat it. I was not proud of myself for not using the real word. This proud moment only lasted a minute since my BIL, who thought I had said damn it, said it out loud and Natey copied him. I did not want to make him walk home at that point.

What did you "not" do this week?

Spa Day...Saturday..Giveaway

I have officially hit my 100th post!

What better way to reward myself than a spa day with my awesome friend Joelle?? Ok, so it had nothing to do with my blogging accomplishments, but I am going somewhere with this, so stay tuned.

I got Joelle a Spa Finder gift certificate for her birthday and since no girl should ever have to go to the spa alone (ha! such torture, I know!) we planned a much needed girls night! Besides it was number 16 on my 101 anyway, so I just HAD to check it off! Joelle found a spa close by that has a girls night special on Thursday evenings. We got a facial, brow shaping and spa pedicure. Boy, did my winterized skin need that!

Don't we look refreshed after our facial?? I have to say though that we both got a talking to about our skin care routine. Joelle, for washing her face with Dove bar soap, and me for ,um..ahem, not exactly having any kind of routine to speak of. The esthetician seemed rather shocked when I asked..."What exactly is toner?".

If I haven't been taking care of my face very well, my feet were even worse! I mean, come on, it IS winter after all. I haven't really seen my feet since the snow started falling. They are usually covered by my cozy Uggs when I am forced to brave the cold or in slippers or socks when I'm home.

If felt great to get a little pampering in the middle of the harsh New England winter. My polish is no longer growing off of my toenails and my feet feel silky smooth.
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Sorry if you were blinded by the glare of of my translucent legs. To make it up to you, and in honor of my 100th post, I am going to give away a little piece of heaven to one lucky gal (or guy if you're in to that kinda thing). I am giving away a $25 Spa Finder gift certificate. These are good at spas across the country. You just have to go to their website to find one in your area!!


So, how do you win this awesomeness you ask?? Leave me a comment with your best skin care secret. It could be a way to ward off dry skin, wrinkles, your favorite brand of cleanser or moisturizer, anything you wish! I will pick the winner on Monday evening! If you comment you get 1 entry and if you post about it and link to me you get an extra entry. Just make sure to tell me that you linked!! You too could be as refreshed as me!! Good luck.

Day at the Museum

I know, I know. You miss me. I haven't been posting that often. You know you're slacking when your sister tells you she goes to read your blog and is disappointed because there's nothing new to greet her. The sad thing is, there has been tons of stuff going on and I just haven't had the time to write about it all. I will try to make it up to you....In my next post! (Which by the way will be my 100th!)

Last Saturday my friend Joelle and I took our boys to the Boston Children's museum. The boys are getting to such a fun age. They get excited to see each other and have fun when they play together. The night before we were going, I told Nathan we were going to the museum with Tyler. At dinner daddy asked him where he was going tomorrow, and he yelled, "zeeum"! Then he asked who he was going with and Nate replied, "Tyler, Tyler, Tyler"!! He never ceases to amaze me, this kid.

We have been trying to save money, which means no spending on things that aren't necessities. I was so excited when I found out my work has a membership to the children's museum so we got to go for free! It even admits 6 guests so, if the hubbies weren't enjoying their alone time, they could have come for free too.

I threw Natey's other car seat in the back seat, picked up Joelle and Tyler and we were off to Boston. The boys were so cute riding in the back together. They are used to being back there by themselves so the were chatting and making each other laugh. They entertained themselves the whole 45 minute ride!

The cool part of the membership is the early "members only" admission to the museum, an hour before the public gets in. It was so nice to have almost an hour of time where it wasn't very crowded because by 11am you couldn't even walk without almost stepping on a munchkin.

The boys played and had a great time. I got a workout just chasing Nathan around. I swear he has the shortest attention span of anyone I have ever seen. He was like a pin ball and I was trying to catch him bouncing from one thing to another. They played, had a snack, played some more, we ate lunch and then it was time to head home for nap time.

Apparently they couldn't wait to get home. :o)

Too bad Netey decided that the 40 minute nap on the way home was the all he needed for the day because I was exhausted!

Not Me! Monday

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one Monday everyone will freely share their follies without fear of judgement.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that we can all laugh at ourselves because no one should take themselves too seriously.

So let freedom ring! The freedom to be who we are without apology! The freedom to laugh and be laughed with as we share our weekly blunders!

This dream is not mine alone. Visit MckMama's blog to share in the Not ME! dream.

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I did not attempt to give blood TWICE this week to no avail. The first day I didn't get turned away since I was wearing my down coat in a sweltering room and my temperature was slightly above 99. When sticking to my guns and coming back the next day, I didn't make it past the questions, temperature and iron test only to get poked with a giant needle for nothing. My veins are not the tiniest of all time. They also didn't inform me that I am not a good candidate for the future. I am so NOT taking this get out of blood giving free card since I am deathly afraid of it in the first place.

If such a prize existed, I would not have nominated myself for worst mom ever after I forgot to buckle Natey in to his seat on the way to daycare. I did not drive the 10 minutes there only to pull up and hear, "Whoa, weeeeee" coming from the back seat. When I turned around I absolutely did not see my little man sitting on the edge of his car seat smiling wide and buckle free. I would never do that, nope, not me!

It was not so freezing here this week that, when I tried to fill up my gas tank, the door was frozen shut. I didn't stand there stunned for a moment before using my credit card to scrape the ice away. Since the windchill was -15 I didn't break the rules by not standing there and pumping my gas. I didn't quickly search through my car until I decided my gym socks (clean, don't worry) would work to jam into the pump handle!!

I always allow ample time for every task I have to do. I never have to rush through a shower so we can run out the door. Since this never happens to me, I would not forget to rinse the conditioner out of my hair before exiting the shower. I would not miss this fact until after I am fully dressed and combing my hair. I would not have to run my head under the bath faucet while my 19 month old son smacks me on the bum almost knocking me into the tub. I am so glad that would never happen to me!!

What did you "not" do this week??

Weighing in

A new year and a renewed sense of purpose. It's not like I was slacking on my goals. I do have over 2 years to complete the list, but some of the commitments are weekly things and one in particular I was screwing up....the exercising. I have mentioned before that I was very committed to working out in the past. In reality, I have never really liked it, but I committed to doing it because I know it is just one of those necessary evils.

I guess I should start at the beginning of the struggle. I have had a poor body image for as long as I can remember. I had a chunky phase as a kid and, unfortunately, my brain never separated what I used to look like from how I looked at any given moment. In high school I wasn't fat, but I thought I was. I graduated and went crazy with dieting and exercise and by 19 I was the thinnest I had ever been as an "adult". I was 5'7" and 135 pounds, in a size 6. I still thought I was fat. I wish present day me could go back and slap the crap out of 19 year old me because she was blind!!! I got into a not-so-positive relationship when I was 21. At that time I was in a size 8 and probably weighed ~140. Over the next 3 years I gained 51 pounds and ended up in a size 15. I was miserable, I was smoking a pack a day, eating poorly and trying to get through grad school.

I had a wake up call one day when I was so winded just going up a flight of stairs.

I decided to kick the smoking, kick up the exercise and eventually kick out the relationship. I lost 50 pounds in 6 months by eating better, not smoking and running 4 miles 5X a week. I guess that is the only time I actually enjoyed running. I felt at first like I was running away from something so I ran as fast as I could. As I began to loose the weight and feel better about myself I felt more like I was running toward something new and amazing.

I met my future hubby and I got comfy in that relationship. I yo-yo'd the 10 or 15 pounds that always seem to haunt me and ended up back at 160 a few months after we moved to RI. With an upcoming wedding and a dress to fit into, I hit the gym again with a vengeance. I lost 10 pounds but gained a ton of muscle. I was toned and happy and slept great. I had an overall sense of well being. Even when, 3 months later, I got pregnant I was determined not to let my body get out of hand. I told myself that I would never get back to the heaviest weight I had been at (190) and kept exercising up until 2 weeks before I had Nathan. I ended up gaining 38 pounds which put me 1 pound over that old weight. I wasn't happy about it, but as I think about it now, I DID have a baby in there this time!

After I had Natey is when things started to fall apart. Of course you loose the quick 20 pounds the week or 2 after they are born, but that left me at ~170 with a body that didn't resemble what I used to look like. I didn't really make any attempts to loose the weight for a while after he was born. I guess I expected breastfeeding to just suck the pounds away, but nope, didn't happen that way for me. I got back down to 158 but was still in teetering between a size10 and 12 because of my new shape. For some reason, I got lazy or busy and stopped going to the gym in October. With the lack of activity and the holiday eating I bounced back up to 168. That, folks is my official weigh in as of January 5th when I went back tot he gym. I have been back in the gym 4X a week for the last 2 weeks and I feel great. As of Wednesday I have lost 6 pounds and am down to 162. I can't believe I just put my current weight on the Internet, I must be loosing it. I guess I want to be accountable and the best way to do that is to just put it out there for all to see.

My goal is not a number, it is a feeling. I want to feel comfortable in my clothes, my old clothes that don't currently fit, that stare at me from my full closet!!! I was talking to my friend Joelle last night and we decided that it takes a dramatic change in your body to make you realize and appreciate what you looked like before. I have a new found love of my body, even in the state it is in right now. I carried my boy in there. I will love the new shape, even if I never can squeeze my mom hips into my old skinny jeans. And like my good friend (OK so I don't know him at all) Robert Downey Jr. once said, "Life is 70% maintenance". Once I get to my goal I won't quit this time. I will maintain so I don't have to work this hard again...until I have the next baby!!

Wordless Wednesday

If at first you don't succeed

...try, try and then QUIT!! I did my best people. I tried to give of myself, even though I freak out and hate it so much. It was such a challenge for me that I even made it goal 55 on my 101.

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Ok, I won't make you go look, I attempted to give blood. We had one of those vampire-on-wheels mobiles show up at my work for people to donate blood. I hadn't planned on conquering this goal so soon. I do have over 2 years to go before the end of my 1001 days you know, but I sucked it up and made an appointment for 1:00pm yesterday. I even drank 80, not a typo people, 80 ounces of water before my appointment so I would be nice and hydrated. You see, I have the smallest veins in the world (thanks mom) and I wanted them to be nice and plump when the time came for some poor, unsuspecting, phlebotomist to find one of them.

It has been hovering somewhere between freezing and I can't feel my toes out, so I wore my down coat to walk outside to the blood mobile. When I got in there it felt like Hades and I had to wait 10 minutes before I got to the little room (the 7th circle of hell) where they ask you some questions and then check you out before they take your blood. The woman put me through the inquisition and then took my temperature. It was 99.6 degrees. You can't donate if it is over 99.0. Hello, people, it is hot as hell in here!! I'm wearing what might as well be a comforter. Of course I'm hot. You can try to come back tomorrow, she says. Ugh. Fine.

I make another appointment for 12:45pm today. I don't get to drink as much water, only 40 ounces since I am working in the lab all day. I don't wear my coat and half freeze to death walking out to the blood mobile. I have to re-fill out the same paperwork that I did yesterday. Oh and one of the questions they ask you is, "Have you accepted money or favors in exchange for sex since 1977"? Hmm, nope! They ask me more of the same questions, take my temp and it is 96.8 (since I'm frozen), check the iron content of my blood and I am a-ok to donate!!

I tell them they need to pick their best vein finder since mine are tiny and elusive. Two woman come and try to find a suitable vein in either one of my arms. One of them says she thinks she can do it. Have you seen the size of the needle to donate blood???? They might as well take a bendy straw and shove it in there!! She tries 3 times to get a vein, with no success. Oh, and by the way... If you are trying to get a gigantic needle into some one's arm, please don't make sounds like, "tsk", "ughhh", and "hmmmph". It doesn't instill confidence in your pin cushion, aka ME!!

In the end, she couldn't make it happen. My blood is destined to stay in my body. She told me I am not a good candidate for donating, so I am not going through that trauma again. I am marking goal 55 off of the list as completed. I earned it. I have a hole in my arm and a giant bruise to prove it.

Countdown to the 2s begins

Hi Natey. Today you're officially closer to being 2 than you are to 1. 19 months of bringing laughs and love to your mommy and daddy. Although, you are definitely acting like you are raring up for the, dare I say it, terrible twos. You are a very willful child, but I suppose I am getting the karma of my baby days with that one. Let's hope we can all sit back and have a giggle at your antics one day.

• Your new favorite words are NO! and Mines! I do not like these words. I do not like them Sam-I-am!



• You have figured out how to walk on your tippy toes and you crack me up every time you do it.



• You have learned the phrase "wake up!". When daddy or I have our eyes closed you like to bam us on the head and yell, "lake up!" When we open our eyes you feel like you have to have a reason for us to be awake so you say, "daddy, look". When he asks "what?", you don't have an immediate answer since you are flying by the seat of your 24 month pants and look around until you see me and then yell, "MOMMY!!!" and are very proud of yourself.
  


• You are getting very curious and want to know what everything is. If you don't know the name of something you point and say "that", which is our cue to tell you the name.



• You think every piece of lint or speck of dirt on the floor is a bug. You blow on it and say "go bug" and watch it move.



• You are your daddy's kid and fish is your favorite. You've got some of me in you too because you love mushrooms and can handle spicy food. That must be because of the mass amounts of Indian food I consumed when I was pregnant with you!
  


• When we tell you someone is sleeping you pretend to snore and say "seepin".



• When you are looking for something you call out, "Bankalee, are you" (Blanky, where are you). You do this while holding your hands up to your mouth...just to make sure the bankalee can hear you!



• You almost have 16 teeth!!!!! Too bad you still don't feel the need to chew anything. We have to tell you chew, chew on almost every bite you take. It's not like we don't feed you buddy. You'll get more, just slow down and enjoy it!
  


• You have mastered the spoon and like to say, "scoop it, bite" with every bite. It is funny to watch you stare at the spoon all the way to your mouth, still a bit unsure if the bite will make it there safely.
  


• When you want out of something you say, "Mout". We are pretty sure this means come out. You sometimes do this when we are carrying you around or when you are done being in your car seat, stroller or highchair.


• Your favorite books are Mickey in the Night Kitchen and Where the Wild Things Are (go figure).

You have the most wonderful and infectious laugh.

I look forward to each passing day with you, my boy.

Not Me! Monday

Monday, bloody Monday...make that Monday, snowy Monday. Well, snow or no snow, I made it to work and am about to embark on my favorite post of each week! Like a blanket of snow makes everything seem clean, so will cleansing your soul by admitting to the oopses, the uh ohs and the did-I-really-just-do-thats of the past week. If you want to come clean, head on over to MckMama's blog and play along. You'll be glad you did!!

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I did not mope the majority of last Monday because my vacation was over and I missed my boy even before I dropped him off for daycare. I have 3 degrees and I should feel happy about putting them to use. I would never just want to stay home with my family. Nope, not me!!

I did not manage to drive the speed limit for an entire day. It wasn't one of my 101 goals and it was not absolutely painful to accomplish. I was not very proud that I did not give up half way through the day while I was being passed by semis and elderly ladies on the highway. I am a law abiding citizen and wouldn't even think of of speeding. You hear that officer..I don't speed...EVER. ;o)

I am never clumsy. In fact, I am a picture of grace at all times. This being said, I didn't slam my knee into our side table and proceed to tell my hubby, "When I ask where this {newest} bruise came from, remind me that I ran in to that table". I shouldn't need to be reminded. It's not like I run into every stationary object in sight and end up with bruises all over me that I can't remember how I got! That would just be ridiculous.

What did you "not" do this week?

Life in the slow lane...

Surely make you loose your mind!

Today I definitely had

I tackled goal #90 today. Yup, I did it. I drove the exact speed limit the WHOLE day!!! Some of you may be scratching your head right now thinking, "Um..doncha know you're supposed to obey the speed limit all of the time". Yeah, you try it and tell me how it works out for ya!

I have a 24 mile trek to drop off Nate and then head to work. Several parts of my ride are 25 or 30 mph. I thought those were going to be the worst parts, but it turned out the highway was much worse. I drove in the slow lane the whole time driving, either 55 or 65mph, as governed by that pesky black and white sign. Thank God for cruise control because I never could have maintained that snail's pace with my lead foot! Everyone, even an elderly lady who couldn't see over her steering wheel and several semi trucks, passed me! I was almost embarrassed. I was that person, the one I call names and question their right to possess a license. I dared not talk on my phone. I didn't want people chalking my pace up to "that dumb ass on her cell". I wanted to have a sign on the back of my car that screamed "EXPERIMENT IN PROGRESS", but I thought that might be cheating a bit. Luckily I'm terminally pretty. If not, I may have been intentionally run off the road.

On the way home I hit some traffic and, believe you me, I was never happier that it was rush hour. I felt like it finally leveled the playing field. Before I hit this traffic, however, the highway was flowing freely. I noticed a state trooper sneakily {is that even a word} hiding to catch people speeding. This time, people, it was not me!!! Any other day I would have had a ticket. ANY.OTHER.DAY. I'm serious. Then I saw an 2 more stateys in the next 5 minutes. Seriously? I have never seen that many on one 10 mile stretch since I moved here!

I know it's the right thing to do, but I tell you, I won't be doing that again any time soon. I will enjoy my foot o' lead but I might lighten it up....just a bit.

Not Me! Monday

Hi..um, is this thing on??

My name is Kameron and I'm a blogaholic.

It's been 1 day since my last post.

{Hi, Kameron}

The first step is admitting that I have a problem,

so on to number 2.

They say denial is the second step.

Oh shoot, that's the phases of grief. I am just a mess.

Well, denial seems easier than the rest so I'm going with it!

If you want to attend our meetings, head over to MckMama's blog and step up to the mic yourself.

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I did not wake up this morning, check MckMama's blog and have a pity party for myself since there were already 151 people on Mr. Linky. I did not have a take-my-ball-and-go-home moment and decide not to post my Not Me's! I am way more mature than that and I don't care if people read this stuff!

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I didn't get to work and see all of the other posts of my bloggy friends and decide to stop being a baby and write it anyway!

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We did not run out of oil this week and wake up FREEZING. It was not completely my husband's fault since I had been asking him about the oil level for 2 weeks and he said it was fine. I did not close of the back of the house, turn on the oven and 2 burners on my stove to warm up the kitchen, breezeway and family room. I wasn't pleasantly surprised when it managed to get up to 64 degrees in the family room just by doing that! I did not take away the oil checking job from my hubby since this is NOT the 3rd time this has happened since we've lived in this house.

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I was not so proud of myself when I went to the mall with my friend (to pick up my ring from being cleaned) and managed to not buy anything. I have self control, so I don't even know why I was worried. I did not avoid looking at anything remotely cute just to make sure that I was in control.

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I ordered the weekend paper and on Saturday nothing was delivered. I looked outside on Sunday morning and still there was no paper. I did not ask my in-laws to pick one up for me only to have them arrive with a paper and MY Sunday paper, which was apparently thrown behind my husband's truck instead of on our porch. I got the paper to SAVE money (via coupons) not waste it by having 2 Sunday papers in my house.

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What did you "not " do this week?

Show me the Money!!!

Saving money. It is not a resolution, but a necessity these days. I have been going over and over our bills wondering how it is that we spend this much money. It is amazing how the amount you spend increases just as soon as the amount you make increases. When we lived in an apartment we spent about HALF of what we spend now! I knew home ownership was expensive, but it is ridiculous how much our house costs us. I guess we aren't that bad off considering we have no credit card debt. We nipped that in the bud a few years ago and will never fall into that trap again. That being said, I still stress every month about how much our bills are and how much we have coming in...which is about to shrink by 200 bucks a month. Ugh...

I have been looking for ways to cut back on the spending and I feel I am making small changes that will make a difference over time, but it's still not enough. One of my short term goals was to cut our weekly grocery bill by $50. I managed to cut $40 out this week by planning around the circular and clipping coupons.Some of the things I have done in the last couple weeks are:

• Changed most of the lights in our house to CFLs


• Stopped getting coffee at Dunkin Donuts


• Had our boiler serviced and he fixed a few things that were costing us extra money


• We put film up over a few of our leakiest windows to keep the cold air out


• Downgraded our cell plan (actually got more services but fewer minutes since we weren't using near the amount we had in our plan anyway)


• Have been trying to be vigilant about not going out to eat


• I cancelled my hair appointment (saved about 100 bucks right there)


• I subscribed to the Sunday paper so I can clip coupons for the market


• I planned this week's menu around the store circular (sale items) instead of picking dishes and shopping for them.

So, I think I have made a good start. There must be little tips and tricks that you have that could help me out. What are your favorite money saving tips? Also how much money do you spend on groceries a week? Please help a girl out! Oh, please don't suggest cutting off the TV either...I tried that and almost had a mutiny on my hands!

Best of Natey- 2008

I decided I would go the way of my friend Liz and do a photo journal of the last year instead of trying to write a lengthy post about all of the happenings. Natey changed so much of the course of the year that it seems fitting to take a look back at the evolution of my little man.

January

February

March

April

May
June

July
August
September
October

NovemberDecember

So there it is. My baby is more of a little boy than a baby now. He truly was the best part of 2008. I couldn't ask for more! Wait, yes I can...2009 will be even better!!