Slacker

You can call me a slacker.  It doesn't matter.  I really have not been updating this blog as much as I would have liked.  But things around here have just been busy lately. 

-Rick has orders! (finally) We will be moving back to California in September while Rick drives to Alabama.

-Liverpool v. Tottenham game---This was the end of July and we had a lot of fun, even though the game was boring (ended up being 0-0). 

-Scheduling the moving of our stuff has been super stressful because everything is so last minute.  I have a feeling that this is what's always going to happen in the military.  LAME.

-My birthday this month was a lot of fun.  I went shopping, ate sushi, and ate the Gelato Key Lime Ice Cream Sandwiches.  These ice cream sandwiches are amazing.  Seriously, they may change your life. 

-Too many trips to the Amish Market.  I am going to miss that place when we leave.

-A lot of working out.  I have a gym membership that I am taking advantage of as much as possible.  They offer great classes, including step, yoga/pilates, zumba and kickboxing. 

-Playing with the boys as much as possible.  We've been painting, writing, laughing, wrestling, and dancing together.  Evan can write "Evan", "Mommy", "Daddy", and "Logan" in all capitals.  We're working on counting as well.  The other day I told Evan to climb into his car seat and counted to three in order for him to get in a timely manner.  I said, "one, two", and then Evan piped up "twee!". 

-Not doing so well with eating right.  I am a stress eater.  All of the military nonsense is driving me crazy, and I tend to eat with my stress.  It's okay---I am learning that instead of eating, I should go run it off instead. 

I guess there hasn't been that much happening, but, I am still going to just spend as much time with Rick as I can before he leaves for three months.  I probably won't update again until we're in California. 

And I just realized that the name of our blog is "Adventures in Maryland".  Which we'll have to change, so I have to think about that now... hmm..

A Summer Baby Shower

 I threw a baby shower for my friend Sarah the other weekend.  She's having a baby girl, and of course, since I have two boys and no girls, I really went overboard.  I could have done more with decorations, but just didn't have the time to do EVERYTHING that I wanted.  It still turned out really nice and I think everyone had a good time!  Some of the pictures (taken on a camera fine cause I couldn't find our camera in time). 

The clothesline for Sarah's baby girl Aubrey. 

The gift table. 

Sarah with Claire and Leslie.

Rachel, Nicole, Ariane, Tracie and Angela (and Ian)

Melissa, Courtney, Amanda and Jennifer

The centerpieces...It just looks like oranges and lemons in there, but there are also limes too.

Another view of the table decorations.

The food---including the yummy lemon bars that Tracie made.

Rachel reading her table's winning mad lib.

Leslie and Claire making a play dough model of Sarah's baby.

Rachel's model (she was just going for minion look from Despicable Me.)

One of the babies.

Sarah starting to open up her gifts.

Sarah got a lot of new stuff for herself and her baby girl Aubrey.  I am really excited for her having a little girl! 

4 Months Old!

My littlest baby (Rick and Evan are also babies!) is now 4 months old!  His doctor's appointment was yesterday.  He now weighs 12 lbs, 10 oz (he was 6 lbs, 1 oz at birth) and is now 24 1/4 inches long.  My sister bought him a Liverpool FC kit for the soccer game later this month. 

There he is!  My little soccer player! 

Logan and his little hands.  He loves those! 

What can Logan do now?  (in addition to staring, eating, crying and pooping)
-Rolls over from his tummy to his back
-Holds up his head to look around.  He's not too wobbly anymore!
-Lifts his back to try and sit up
-Kicks his feet like a crazy soccer player
-Eats his fingers and fists, stares avidly at them.
-Sucks his thumb
-Laughs and smiles, especially at big brother, mommy and daddy.
-Stares intensely at us while we eat
-Does not sleep through the night (wakes up about once or twice now)
-Tries to crawl.  While on his tummy he moves his feet and legs back and forth like crazy!
-Babbles and coos.  Has a lot to say to us
-Wakes up like mommy and big brother
-Still eats a lot

Playing the Waiting Game

There are a few things that I don't like about the military.  One of those things is the "Hurry up and wait" mentality!  Rick was just accepted to OTS, and now we're just waiting to hear from them on when he'll go to Alabama.  He could go for the end of July, beginning of September, middle of October, and the end of November.  What's hard is trying to get everything done that needs to be done in the time frame that they gave us.  This happened in Rick's tech school also.  Because his classes were always backed up, we had no idea when he would be going.  So, we ended up having about 3 weeks to get ready to leave.  I am seriously hoping that they give us more notice than that!  Rick wants to go in September, so it won't be so hot.  I wouldn't mind him going in July, because the sooner we start this new stage, the better. 

So that's basically what we're doing at the moment.  Just playing the waiting game and hoping to hear soon about a class date for Rick so we can begin planning everything. 

Other things going on:  Logan and Evan are both pretty good.  Logan was having a couple of times last week when he would have huge crying fits at night, but I think he's getting better (crossing fingers that's true!).  Evan is just playing and having lots of fun with crayons, blocks, toys and other things.  He still isn't talking a lot, but I'm not trying to worry about it too much because I think it's there.  If by the time he's 3, and he still hasn't improved at all, then we are for sure taking him to someone to help.  But he's such a sweet little boy (except when he's overtired, of course).  He loves playing outside and going out with mommy.  Yesterday we were coming back from the store, (just the two of us), and he carried the grocery bag of bananas into the house for me.  I can't believe how big he's getting and how much he loves helping. 

Father's Day, scout camp and our anniversary are coming up this month (May and June are busy months for us).

3 months old and other stuff

Logan is 3 months old today!  We are so grateful to have him in our family.  He's a very happy little guy for the most part.  But he also knows what he wants and when he wants it, so he can be a little loud and demanding as well.  No major milestones yet, except holding his head up really well on tummy time.  He loves his mommy, daddy and big brother, even though Evan scares him sometimes.  :) 

This was my itty bitty baby at 6 lbs 1 oz when he was born.  He's not so little anymore.

I am guessing that he's between 11 and 12.5 lbs now. 

He sure loves smiling for us! 

In other news, Evan's been cranky this week and I knew something was off, but it didn't seem to be effecting him that much.  I noticed a few bumps on his body and didn't think much of it until my friend called to tell me that her little boy has hand, foot  and mouth disease.  And that he and Evan were drinking out of the same water bottle during fathers and sons.  It completely clicked that was what Evan had.  Hoping that the baby, Rick and I don't get it also.  :( 

We went to the aquarium yesterday in Baltimore.  Evan enjoyed the fishies a lot, and he got really tired out from walking everywhere.  He especially liked playing in the sand.  My sister Sarah came and had fun with us as well.  I thought the aquarium was too much money for what we experienced, but oh well. 

Then last week was some crazy times.  Rick and Evan had their first fathers and sons campout which was pretty fun for them (more for Evan than Rick because he was everywhere).  And last Wednesday, the official results were released for Rick's OTS board.  Rick applied to Air Force Officer Training School, and he got in with his first choice job!  We are ecstatic about this---Rick has wanted to become and officer since before he enlisted, just so he could have the experience with the job (still not sure if we're going to be "lifers").  So sometime he'll be going to Alabama for three months and I will be with my family in California. After that we'll be going back to Biloxi, MS for his tech school where we'll be able to live with him for that time. I have to admit that I am very much looking forward to leaving Fort Meade.  We have great friends here, but I'm not a fan of the base! 

Sugar Fasts

Since I've had little Logan, I've decided to try to be healthier.  Since I couldn't work out right away after having Logan, I decided to start with something small.  I made a goal to eat more fruits and veggies, and I have been doing it by drinking green smoothies everyday. 

It's amazing how much energy I get from these green smoothies.  I usually make a big pitcher's worth in the morning, and either have some of it for breakfast and save the rest for snacks.  Sometimes I have oatmeal or eggs for breakfast and then I just drink the smoothie as my snacks. 

I am proud to say that I drink about 6 cups of green smoothie a day, and I absolutely love it!  I started a candy fast after Easter as well, to try to curb how much candy I eat.  I am doing a great job of staying away from candy.  Two weeks ago, I stepped back from eating ice cream and other frozen treats (besides smoothies).  And on Wednesday, I am starting to cut out all snack cakes, cookies, brownies, bars and anything else that is a sweet baked good.  It will be difficult--- I LOVE baking, but I've realized that I really need to focus on eating better.  I love working out and exercising, but I have always struggled with my diet when I try to lose weight.  I will probably try to reintroduce some of these things a little bit at a time, but I really want to try to break the habit!

I'm starting to realize that I am in control of myself and my moods---food doesn't determine my happiness and it doesn't control me.  I have had more self control in the last few weeks than I thought was possible considering how much I LOVE sugar.  I have such a sweet tooth.  I've also realized that if I don't do so well on one day, it's okay.  It doesn't give me an excuse to completely binge or go off my plan.  I just have to keep going.  I'd eventually like to get to the point where I eat very minimal sugar, unless I make myself a treat, but I honestly have realized that I have to break the addiction that I have before I do that.  I also don't want to use asparteme or any other nasty chemically produced sugar replacement either. 

We're also trying to eat fish more often (once a week); drink more water; eat out less; and exercise more often.  Starting in July/August I am going to cut out FAST FOOD!  This will be so hard for us, because there are some days where I have such a hard time getting dinner on the table because of how crazy the boys are, but I know that we can do it.  Here's to a healthier body, more energy, and a happier lifestyle.  :) 

Cuties

Evan smiling while playing with his friends Mina and Teresa

Logan is getting big.

He moves that head all the time!

Evan's new haircut

Handsome little guy.  Does his hair look red to you too?  Cause it looks reddish to me!

A smile.