Our little dancer

We went to Irish day at Emerald Downs on Sunday, which really means nothing we found out. M joined the Irish Heritage club, hoping he'd meet some fellow Irish but to this point, we still have met none. It wasn't even anything where you might easily meet anyone but really just a bunch of people watching the horse races. It was a nice day out though and E loved seeing the horses (although she calls them 'puppies'). She would even pump her arm in support as they would run by.

We were wandering around and a good Irish sounding song came on the tannoy and our girl started dancing, as she does. There were a couple ladies standing by watching, that's why she is kind of leaning over at the end to see if they are still watching her. ;) We took a couple of funny videos but by far, her dancing is the most entertaining. Oh and she had her first s'more camping this weekend, THAT was funny too.

I don't know if I mentioned that E is in swim 'lessons'. Well, I searched high and low for a swim class with warm water so that we could work on e getting over her dislike of water. Although she doesn't really dislike water, she will splash around in a wading pool or even Puget Sound (last week when we were camping) and we all know how damn cold that is! But she doesn't like getting her face wet. We'd gone 6 times and she was progressively hating it more and more, screaming crying when the instructor would take her across the pool.. basically take her FROM me or her dad and then swim across and hand her back to one of us at the side of the pool. I guess it makes sense but the instructor was not really telling us what to do until she told M not to wait by the edge of the pool. M doesn't like the water and just being in an enclosed swimming facility was likely making him sick each time we went. It's highly possible that she was feeling a vibe off of him but more likely it was us handing her off each time to the instructor. She was freaking. I eventually called the registration area and told them I wasn't feeling the love, the instructor wasn't giving us any idea of how to handle things and I was not signing her up for the next session. We had a good chat and she suggested a bunch of things to try, starting with getting in the water. We've gone 3 sessions with me in the water with her and her dad stayed home. Last night was by far the best, there was a bit of apprehension and crying before we got in but I took her in the water and had her practice holding onto the edge while we waited for the instructor.. I warned her when it was almost her turn so she knew what was coming and when the instructor came over, e went with her and i swam beside. She even high-fived the instructor each time (even when the instructor blew in her face and then dunked her face in the water - blowing on it makes them hold their breath), which was a big deal because the last two times she was like 'no way' to the instructor. She wasn't sure she wanted to but she went down the little slide into the water and she even 'jumped' into the water as well (the instructor hangs out and 'catches' her). All in all, it was a GREAT class. She was really relaxed and we had a fun time together.

Last but not least, I am 1 pound or so away from my first 10% loss. I haven't weighed this since I graduated from college and frankly, I don't know where to go from here. Lose more or stop here and see what happens... I still have flappy underarms and leftover baby belly (much less than before) and I know I need to keep toning... I just wonder if I need to keep losing too. As you might see from the video, I don't look all that 'thin' to me.

Wk 1 - 180
Wk 2 - 176.4
Wk 3 - 171.4
Wk 4 - 168.2
Wk 5 - 164.6
Wk 6 - 162.8

Recovery

We are still in recovery mode after our guests left last Sunday night. The nice thing is that M has gotten back to work finishing the little jobs that will make this house sale-able. He and his dad put up a fence out back, cleaned up some junk and mowed the grass. So we no longer look like The Clamp3tts out back... well, maybe a little. We still need a run to the dump but you've got to start somewhere!



I don't know why I like this photo - maybe because her eyes look blue (I don't know how clear it is but there is a brown speck in her left eye - left eye in the photo - and I like the fact that she truly has a bit of us both) and they are usually so dark that you can't see that. Anyhow, she had a great time with the grandparents... it was wonderful that she got to spend more than a few days with them and really got to enjoy them. M's dad would feed her breakfast every morning and they'd share a bit of his morning sandwich as well. We got a lot of lovely photos of the two of them sitting on the chairs facing each other and munching on a bit of bread.

As beautiful and fun as she can be, she seems to have become the devil's spawn during the in-between moments. Oh.My.God. Some days I have to laugh because really it's all I can do. The poor thing is mostly frustrated with the fact that she can't communicate what she wants all the time but it comes out in whining, screeching, shouting, laying on the floor in hysterics (that one makes me laugh, I don't know why) and it is truly a trial. I read that the "Terrible Two's" is very similar to having a teenager so in that case, I'm worried. ;) Mostly though, she a joy to be around, she laughs a lot (hysterically at times) and it's the best sound in the world. When did we stop laughing like that?? I wish I knew.

I got the coolest gift for M on Father's Day! I was reading kirida's website again and she had a little video on it and I followed the link to her review of the Fl1p Ultra camc0rder. M had been talking about getting on and this is about the size of a blackb3rry and super easy to use. He loved it. Hopefully I'll be able to post some boring videos in the near future! It's sooooo awesome!

I was truly sad to hear about T1m Russ3rt passing. I was a fan of M33t the Pre$$ (seemed like the only show that got real answers out of politicians) and we always watch the nightly news with br1an w1lliams and he was the political go-to guy. He seemed like a really nice guy - everyone has been telling the best stories about him... you wish that you'd known him!

Finally, last but not least.... WW is working! I bought a pair of jeans and shorts 2 sizes down!!! I guess since you know how much I weigh I can embarrass myself by saying I was in an 18 and now in a 14. With room to spare. Woo hoo! I actually saw some obliques showing up in the mirror this morning! I'm training with Couch to 5K so I've started running and I'm doing sculpte classes at the gym 3 mornings a week right now. Hopefully I'll find some Pilates Reformer classes soon, just to try something different. I better go and get to work!

Wk 1 - 180
Wk 2 - 176.4
Wk 3 - 171.4
Wk 4 - 168.2
Wk 5 - 164.6

Short, but sweet

Weigh-in post:

Wk 1 - 180
Wk 2 - 176.4
Wk 3 - 172.8
Wk 4 - 171.4
Wk 5 - 168.2

WOO HOO!

Just for fun

Stolen from my pal Mostly Risible. I didn't think I'd have time to do it but I did. :) It's kind of fun.

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.


2. Using only the first page of results, and pick one image.


3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

The questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food? right now?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. What is your favorite drink?

7. What is your dream vacation?

8. What is your favorite dessert?

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. What is one word that describes you?

12. What is your flickr name?

Happy days!

A couple weeks ago, I met up with kirida (who, by the way, if you have time to read another blog, cracks me up continuously) and her cutie patootie son N. She's a photographer starting her own business and she took this very cool shot of E. While she was taking it, I thought, 'oh this is going to be very cool, why didn't I think of that?' and I guess the answer is that I am usually following my child around making sure she doesn't fall off of things (we were at the park) so carrying my spiffy camera around can be cumbersome.

It's been awhile since I've written mostly because I've been busy working and on weekends, entertaining Irish folks. M's family is here since mid May and we are settling into a routine. The weather has been brutal which makes life difficult in this small house, also because keeping E in the house all day isn't something I relish. We've been sending to daycare most days, although picking her up early so the grandparents can have some fun. She and her grandad definitely have a bond - there is a LOT of hearty laughter from the upstairs that I can hear while I am still working. It's great to see. I'm sure it has a lot to do with this great age she is at - somehow I manage to block out the tantrums because there are so many smiles and words. She still calls M 'mama' (although when asked "where's mama?" she points at me and "where's dada?" she points at M) most of the time but we continue to correct her. I'm sure she's just playing with us anyway to see how frustrated we can get....

We started 'swimming lessons' on Monday. I did this because she does not like the bath. I figure a bit of time in the water can't hurt. I researched places and we drive about 30-40 minutes to go to a 92 degree pool for 30 minutes. I don't care, it's worth it to me. She has 2 classes a week, 4 other kids of varying abilities with her. She wears little styrofoam thingy's around her waist and the instructor managed to dip her face in the water with no crying! She blew on E's face just before she dunked her face. I think E was so shocked she didn't know what to do but she didn't cry. It was fantastic! There's also a small slide that goes directly in the pool, that's the last thing the class does and she LOVES the slide. I can't wait to see her jump in like the other kids. It may be a ways off but it'll be so worth it. She's amazing. Every day she amazes me.

I love my life.

Week 1 - 180
Week 2 - 176.4
Week 3 - 172.8
Week 4 - 171.4