My Little Man

Nathan is now imitating everything we do! Just the other day, Joe was scolding our cat, Bumpers, for clawing the furniture. He showed Nate how to shake his finger and say, "No, no." So what does Nate do when he sees Bumpers a few days later? He shakes his finger and says, "No, no." Joe and I laughed so hard! Another thing he started to imitate is snapping. Of course he can't actually snap, but he makes the motions. The following videos show Nate doing both. You have to listen and look hard. I love this little man so much!

Dinner Time

Joe went to a Bucks Basketball game with our brother-in-law Greg tonight, leaving me to prepare and feed dinner to our children. Here is how dinner time turned out tonight.

Looks thrilling, doesn't it?

My Skinny Husband

I am so proud of my husband. He has lost over 40 pounds since we started our diet about 5 months ago. 40 pounds! Joe and I got into the bad habit of eating fast food and eating in front of the TV prior to having children. Even when Ella was born, we were all about convenience, and we still ate in front of the TV! Once we moved to our house in New Berlin, we began to sit at the table, where the TV was out of sight. Ella had started eating "big people" food, and we wanted to actually sit down as a family to eat our meals. I didn't think too much about my weight, and thought it was pointless to lose weight if we were going to try to have another baby anyways. So we continued our bad habits...but at least we were sitting at the table, right? During my 2nd pregnancy, I didn't eat as healthy as with my first pregnancy. I basically gave myself free reign to eat whatever, whenever. I think Joe did the same thing. I felt like I had a free pass to eat and eat.

6 months ago, after I had stopped breastfeeding, and pounds slowly started adding up and Joe and I realized we needed to do something about it. I decided to try Slimfast and Joe decided to try it along with me. At first, we followed the plan to a T. We bought the meal bars, snack bars, and meal replacement shakes. We signed up with the Slimfast website and tracked all of our calories and exercise. We made recipes suggested. And guess what? It worked! We started seeing results after the first week, and just kept on going. Now we feel comfortable enough to substitute some things so that we don't have to keep buying all of the Slimfast products, which can get expensive. What is comes down to is watching calorie intake and exercising daily (or at least 5 times a week.) And not eating fast food so often. Sure, we splurge every now and again...I think we have to, or else we'd go crazy restricting ourselves.

Joe has needed to buy all new pants. His old pants were literally falling off of him. Since he is so tall, he has to order them online, but luckily has found that Old Navy carries the right length...and at a pretty decent price. Fortunately, and thankfully, my parents got Joe a nice gift card to Old Navy for his 30th birthday and then he got another one from his parents for Christmas. So at least we haven't had to spend too much money on replacing his wardrobe! Yay for birthday presents!

Joe might get angry with me for posting these pictures, but the difference is amazing. And if you see Joe often, it's hard to see the little differences, but man, it's obvious now! Way to go Joe! I'm so glad we decided to change our eating habits together. We support each other and encourage each other on a daily basis. It's pretty easy to stick to the plan when you have another person doing the same thing. Thanks for cheering me on, Joe.

The top picture is from August 2009 while on vacation on Lake Michigan. The 2nd picture was taken at Kelly and Tom's wedding on October 31st, 2009, just 2.5 months later.

30 and 6

I turned 30 on January 15th. I celebrated by coloring my hair to cover up the grey. I did. Seriously. My parents are in town searching for a house (which they found...more on that in a different post!) so my parents cooked me an excellent steak dinner. It was amazing! My parents bought me a pair of Keens, which I have wanted for a long time. Now I just have to wait until it is sandal weather. I DO NOT wear socks with sandals...nobody should. I just want to thank everyone who called me on my birthday or sent me a card. It was much appreciated. Yeah, e-mails and "Facebook" are nice, but the real deal is always better. I mean, even my bedridden friend, Christine, was on the ball and sent a birthday AND anniversary card. Impressive. I think we forget about "snail mail" and phone calls in the new age or texting and e-mail. Sometimes the old-fashioned way is the best way. I am very thankful for everyone who remembered and for the thoughfulness!

My parents were saints and stayed with the kids on Saturday through Sunday, so Joe and I could celebrate our 6th anniversary.

We went and saw "The Blind Side" and then went downtown and checked into "Aloft" hotel. This hotel just opened last month and was super trendy and modern.

It was also right across the street from the restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious dinner. I had lobster. Enough said. The view from our room was pretty neat...a perfect picture of downtown Milwaukee.

We ended the evening with a drink and dessert at another restaurant and then relaxed the rest of the night. It was a wonderful evening!

So, now I'm 30. I'm in my 30's. It sounds weird, but I think I'll get used to it. And Joe and I have been married 6 years. We got married when I was 24, had Ella was I was 26, had Nathan when I was 28...and the story continues.

Please Pray

Please pray for my friend Christine. You can read her story here. She's pregnant with twins and she's in the hospital at only 25 weeks. Their family needs your prayers. Thank you.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2010! It seems like just yesterday everyone was up-in-arms about "Y2K." And here we are, 10 years later. Joe and I both had to work New Year's Eve day, but we were able to celebrate with friends later in the evening. Our very good friends Paul and April, and Brian and Jen, joined us for dinner. I tried my hand at roasting a whole beef tenderloin, and surprisingly, it turned out quite well. It was medium rare and so juicy! I also made peppercorn sauce to go over top of it. I was a little nervous about cooking tenderloin, since it's a little expensive, and I didn't want to ruin it. I looked up several recipes, and they all said that tenderloin is supposed to be served rare, but I didn't think my guests would want it that bloody, so I went for a more medium rare, which after a second round in the oven, came out just that way. It was definitely a treat. April made some yummy appetizers and Jen (and Brian too!) brought some delicious desserts. After the kids went to bed, (Paul, April, and Jackson spent the night) we brought out some games. We had some good laughs playing "Mad Gab" and "Taboo." We watched the ball drop and rang in the new year together. It was a great night!

Ella received a "Lite-Brite" from Auntie April and Uncle Paul. It's the new "flat screen" version. Remember the old school Lite -Brites?

Now they look like this:

She also got a custom-made tutu, created by Auntie April, along with a tiara, wand, and bracelet. April decorated a hat box for Ella's outfit, with a big "E" on top. She is so creative and talented!

Nathan got a Leap Frog caterpillar that teaches letters, colors, sounds, and plays music. Gotta love the educational toys! Uncle Brian and Auntie Jen got Ella "Dancing Dora" which Ella was just thrilled about! Nathan got a pull-along container with Mega Blocks, as well as some cute outfits for later this year. My kids got spoiled! And they absolutely loved it!

Speaking of my kids, which is what this whole blog thing was supposed to be about...Nathan is walking! He still crawls about 50% of the time, but he's increasing his walking distances every day. He continues to say "Kitty" appropriately (like when our cats enter the room) and is imitating sounds and syllables. He waves consistently now, which is just too adorable! He goes to bed just wonderfully, and is sleeping through the night, most nights. Still, at almost 15 months old, he wakes up crying some nights and needs a little visit from mommy or daddy.

Ella is a handful. We are working very hard on listening, which is quite the challenge. She is a smart one though. She plays on the computer all by herself, controlling the mouse with ease. Just yesterday, Joe and I watched her as she clicked on all of the right letters to spell her name during a game. Joe and I just looked at each other in awe. She says the craziest things as well. Today in the car, Ella said, "When Nathan dies, can I have a baby sister?" Joe and I looked at each other and tried are best to quiet our laughter. We tried to explain the best we could. Then a few minutes later she said, "In lots and lots of years with Nathan die?" I told her yes, that everyone dies when they get old, in simple terms. She replied, "Then can I get a baby sister?" I gave up trying to explain it at that point!

I am now reading the 4th book in the "Twilight" series. I am hooked. The books are huge, and I can only get through one chapter a night, but they are addicting. I never thought I would like books about vampires, and I never wanted to get into the books because of all of the hype, but I finally gave in, and I'm glad I did!

Joe and I are going to continue our diet this year. Joe has lost nearly 40 pounds! I am really proud of him. Living with someone and seeing them everyday makes it hard to see the changes, but as I was looking through a photo album earlier today, it was very obvious! I have lost around 15 pounds, but it fluctuates. My goal would be to lose about 5 more pounds. The holidays were hard...eating more than usual, and eating foods not that good for you! Working out was also put on the back burner during visits and travels. But I'm confident that we will get back into the swing of things and keep our healthy habits going in 2010!

I took Ella to see her first movie in the theater! We went to see "The Princess and the Frog" on New Year's Day. (FYI: It's SUPER crowded on New Year's Day. Didn't know that.) Ella got a kiddie sized popcorn and drink, and once the previews started, she whispered, "I like my first time at the movie theater!" I probably looked goofy with the huge grin on my face. It really was a special adventure and I'm happy that I got to experience that with my daughter. As funny as it may seem, it was a bit of a milestone, I think.

And last but not least, I finally took a picture of the incredible gift that Joe got me for Christmas. A heart-shaped pendant with my birth stone, Garnet, with the children's birthstones hanging off the bottom of the heart. Ella's birthstone is Sapphire and Nathan's is Pink Tourmaline. I absolutely love it!

My big 30th birthday is less than 2 weeks away, so that means you have less than 2 weeks to go shopping. Gift cards are ALWAYS accepted here! :) Just teasing...

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope it brings joy and laughter, health and happiness.

Traditions

Change is hard, but change is inevitable. Change is good! Trying to keep traditions from childhood alive, but also creating new traditions for new, young families can be challenging.

This year, Joe and I discussed how we would like to create traditions for our children, especially around the holidays. One thing that we threw around was that we will try to have our children wake up at our house on Christmas morning, if possible, so that they can open their presents and stockings by our Christmas tree. We did that this year for the first time, and it was really special to watch Ella and her excitement (about getting an umbrella, but whatever.) Nathan slept in and missed the fun, but he wont remember it anyways! On Christmas Eve, we all went to our church, Community United Methodist Church, for the "family service" which was intended for families with children. We decided to have Ella sit with us during the service rather than go to the nursery with Nathan. I guess I had this vision of all of us sitting together as a family, listening to the story about Jesus's birth, and then singing "Silent Night" by candlelight. Well, Ella usually goes to Sunday School during the service, so she is not used to sitting quietly for an hour. And quite frankly, a 3 year old doesn't have the development to do so. So, needless to say, it was a bit stressful, and not at all the vision that I had created in my head. Maybe she'll do better next year. Going to our church on Christmas Eve is also a tradition we would like to try and continue, if it works out that way.

After opening presents and having breakfast together, we piled into the van and drove to Stevens Point to spend a few days at Joe's parent's house. Joe's siblings and their families were there as well, so all of the cousins were together and had a blast! I got to spend some time with my 10 month old nephew, Harry, who we don't see nearly enough! He and Nathan play along side each other quite well. We received many nice gifts and Ella got a Big Wheel! Ella is still at Joe's parent's until tomorrow, when she will come back with her Aunt Liz and her cousins, Dylan and Henry. We got a much appreciated gas card and I got a beautiful new blanket and glass serving dish.

Next year will be different and new for us as well, since my parents will hopefully be living in Wisconsin at that point! Their house is on the market in Michigan and they've had several showings and a few offers, but nothing has come through as of yet. Next Christmas Day will be spent with my parents, but since they will be in the area, we wont have to travel, which will be nice. No more 7 hour car-rides! So maybe we'll go over to their new house, or they'll come over to ours. Maybe we can spend Christmas Eve with Joe's parents, so we can see both sets of parents over Christmas next year. New traditions and old traditions coming together, making the holidays exciting and special. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!