I promise

to have a real post soon. To put up pictures of Daven's first birthday and his parties and all of that. I suck. I know. I'm trying to get with it, Shelbs!

Daven slept through the night last night! Do a dance! Say a cheer! Make a banner!

In other good news, I lost 5 pounds last week! We are weighing in at school every Friday. I've been using the scale in the nurse's office since we don't have one here at home. When I stepped onto the scale Friday I couldn't believe it! I hope that I can keep this up. We made dinner at home all week and have been trying to work out.


Here is bubby with no diaper because he got away from me while I was changing him. I think he likes being free.









Bubby had his bath in the sink last night because our tub has decided to stop draining. I was worried it would be a disaster, but it turned out just fine. It was easier on my back, too!

Daven has been waving like crazy and can now give high fives (when he wants to anyway). And of course his kisses are great!

We still haven't decided what to do with Oreo and Coheed. I hate to even think about getting rid of them.

Snow day!

This is what it looked like a bit ago, and it's still snowing.




As you can see, Daven has taken over the living room. It's ok though - he can have it. We barricade him in there. The least we can do is let him have all his toys! So many of them have annoying songs, too, but I can tolerate it because I want him to grow up having a love for music.

After two days of working out, I didn't get to it yesterday. As I should have figured, it's harder to find time to do it during the week. That with the fact that I've blown my nose so many times it's red and raw, I didn't get to it. Even though I still feel icky today, I'm hoping to get something in today.

So what's in a snow day? Daven and I ate some apple cinnamon muffins. He played on the floor and the White Collar marathon has been on all morning. He's finally napping on me. Not sure what we'll get into the rest of the day.

I've got to get-ta-gettin' on Daven's first b-day plans. We have decided to have two smaller parties instead of one giant one. We will celebrate with A's family on Friday and with my side on Saturday. Then on Sunday, on the actual day, we will spend as a small family. Other than that, the details haven't been nailed down yet.

At least it's a start

Yesterday I worked out with Dance Central for the xbox kinect. The workout mode keeps track of how long you danced and estimates your calories burned. I danced for a half hour, and it wore me out.

This morning A's mom made breakfast because his sister has to go back to school today. After breakfast I walked on their treadmill for 30 min. I took it pretty slow and only did 1.41 miles. But it's still something.

A bought me a workout game for the kinect so I'm going to try it out later today hopefully. I'm hurting for sure, which is a good thing. Daven deserves a healthier mommy.

Lets hope I can keep it up. ::crosses fingers::

Happy Saturday!

This is what we did bright and early this morning. Usually bath time is reserved for the evenings, but bubby woke up this morning with one loaded/exploded diaper. So into the tub he went. He enjoyed it though, and I got to play with his soapy hair.

We've had a good start to our Saturday, despite the absolutely disgusting diaper. After bubby had his bath, we took showers and went out in the snow to iHop. I was craving some delicious breakfast. Plus, we hadn't been there since Daven had really started to self feed so I was anxious to see how he would like our food.

He ate some of my omelet and pancakes and I think A even gave him a tiny piece of bacon. He loved it! So cute. I'm proud of our little self-feeder!

Then we stopped by Target to get a few things and Daven loved riding around in the cart. Now he's taking a nap on the couch while I sit next to him. I think he's about to wake up though, because his legs keep moving.

I've downloaded some free books to my nook and I have a list of other books that I want. Not sure what I want to use my giftcard on yet. But I really want to get to reading!

I decided to do our weight loss program at school. Initial weigh-in was yesterday. And I will tell you - I currently weigh 253 pounds. Now I'm going to try to eat healthier and we are going to make sure to add a lot more veggies in with our dinners, but I know that I am not going to be able to give up tasty cold turkey. So I'm hoping to be able to exercise. I want to do our Dance Central game on workout mode, and I'm hoping that we can get Zumba Dance soon. Also, I want to start using the treadmill at in IL's house. Anything that I can do to better my health and make me a healthier mommy.

Oh, and here is our bub this morning, when I had to get A out of bed to come help me with the diaper disaster. Daven decided that we was going to do a Captain Morgan pose and wave for the picture. Classic.

I just realized that I haven't taken a picture of bubby all week long. I almost had a panic attack. Why? Not really sure. I guess maybe that I'm going to miss something? He's changing every day and I want as many pictures as possible to look back on. I need to calm down.

This week has been a long one. Adjusting to going back to work and trying to get Daven back on schedule has been rough. Christmas break definitely spoiled me. The kids at school are having to make similar adjustments and have been w-i-l-d.

I'm having a hard time thinking straight at the moment because it's almost 7 pm and we haven't eaten dinner yet. I am so hungry! I swear earlier today I had in my head all kinds of things I wanted to write about, but it has all escaped me.

They are starting a weight loss thing at school and the initial weigh-in is tomorrow. I want to do it, but I have no idea how well I'll do. I have no will power and no energy. But I'm trying to be positive.

The boy calls. It's about that time that he wants to cat nap before staying up late. yeah, we're trying to fix that.

Jumping back to bubby's first Christmas

(Sorry I didn't have the patience to organize the pictures in chronological order of the day.)

Best. Christmas. Ever.

I loved every minute of it. And so did Daven. We started off the morning at 6:30 am when Daven woke up. We went right downstairs to see what Santa had brought. A walking/riding dino, a learning table, a drum filled with instruments, and more, and more. He spent time with each toy, excited with all his new toys.

Then we were off to A's parent's for breakfast and gifts. His favorite there was his ball. Although he wasn't too happy that he was not allowed to play with the catnit kitty presents.

Then to my parents for lunch and gifts. As you can see from the pictures above, the Mickey airplane that my mom got Daven was a huge hit. He also loves the singing, talking tool workbench that my sister got him.

Just when you think the day should be over, off we went to my grandpa's for dinner. We were all exhausted, but I was really glad that I got to spend some time with my aunt and my grandpa. And Daven was a trooper.

It was incredibly bittersweet on the short drive home, having had an awesome day, but sad that not only was Christmas over, but bubby's one and only first Christmas was now behind us.

About an hour after Daven went to bed, he woke up crying hard. Instant cold. Couldn't breathe through his nose. Poor thing. He slept in bed with us, which was fine with me, of course. It ended up being a rough night. I think we overdid it!

Daven has been playing with his new toys nonstop. Of course he still insists on getting out all of his "old" toys too. I know our living room floor is somewhere!

I cannot believe that the only first holiday that we have left (well besides MLK Jr. day, and they don't make special bibs for that!) is his first birthday. Someone pinch me because this past year has been a dream.

First book on the wish list - Show me How

I want to thank my internet friend at RockyMountainMama for bringing this book to my attention. Part of the anxieties of becoming a parent stem from worrying if you're doing enough, interacting in the right way, doing what's best for your wee one. (Or at least that's how it is for me) And as I said in my previous post, one of my resolutions to start the new year is to find time to read more.

Show me How is written by Vivian Kirkfield and she explores ways to positively engage your child. Not only would this be a helpful tool in my journey as a mommy, but it should also give some good ideas for the classroom. Yes, it is true that I currently do not have my own classroom, but I do work with special needs preschoolers that need all the attention they can get!

I'm crossing my fingers that I win the giveaway and score this promising book!

New Year's Resolutions

In no particular order

1. Be a more consistent blogger.

It's not that I have a ton of internet readers sitting in the edge of their seats waiting for my next entry. That is definitely not the case. The whole reason I started this blog was to help me keep track of trying to conceive, being pregnant, and documenting everything Daven. There are so many notable things that have happened that probably won't be remembered because I haven't been blogging.

2. Find time to read again.

I have my wonderful nook, but since I only had that for a month before Daven's triumphant arrival, I haven't gotten to use it as much as I want. Or hardly at all. I want to read fiction (my Sookie Stackhouse collection has been neglected) and hopefully I can find a few good reads to help me become motivated to be a teacher again.

3. Keep a list of my books read and what I thought about them.

I'd just like to keep track of what I've read and try to make that list as big as possible.

4. Let go

I'm finally back on Zoloft, although it's been for less than a month. I'm not depressed by any means; it's my overwhelming anxiety with Daven - am I doing things right? How can I stand to be away from him? What can I do better?

I feel like I've made strides already - bubby has been sleeping in his crib for a while now. There are still rough nights where he wants us, or when he's sick like earlier this week and we need to keep him elevated. But considering a couple months back when just the very thought of having Daven sleep a room away made my heart race and bring tears to my eyes, things are getting better.

I've also let my mil watch Daven overnight. New Year's Eve. Granted, I had to get drunk to help deal with the separation anxiety, but baby steps. We had friends over and had a good time. And bubby loved spending time with his grandma and grandpa. But my mom was totally jealous, so I'm going to have to give him up for the night again soon.

5. Learn to cook more recipes and eat at home more.

I've gotten to the point where I can make a handful of dinners and they actually taste good. But who wants tacos or chili every single week? I wish I enjoyed cooking more. So I'm going to try. Especially now that bubby is eating more and more table food, we need to eat at home more. I don't want him growing up having the stereotypical mom who's food tastes like pet food.

6. The typical

Eat healthier, exercise, lose weight. Boring. Difficult.

7. Be more organized.

Our house isn't dirty, but it's often a mess. There's always laundry about, whether it's dirty or it's cleaned and needs to be put away. One giant project that I want to accomplish is to organize the basement. Go though A's boxes, holiday boxes, Daven's clothes and label everything. I have a ton of stuff at my parents taking up space that needs to be brought over here. But I don't want the basement to be a disaster. I want to be able to access and find everything easily. Giant task.

8. Redo the front porch.

I said I was going to do this last summer. And it'll have to wait until this next summer. But I want to be able to sit out there, for Daven to be able to play out there, for it to not be an eyesore.

So, what do you think, few readers? Any suggestions?