Happy Birthday, Mocha Bear!

Today is the day that I have been waiting for for a long time! Our little mocha bear is finally two! Everybody keeps telling me...oh wait til she's two, she'll calm down. She really is a good girl, just a lot of work, like any dog. She loves her Daddy and Ellie. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Mocha!

60 things

60 Things You Possibly Didn't Know About Me

1. What is in the back seat of your car right now? Oh jeas, this could have been really embarassing a few days ago, but I just got a new van and all I have in it at the moment is my purse and Zach's backpack from school yesterday. Now, later on we are going to soccer and then to run some errands and it will look like I have had it for months!
2. When was the last time you threw up? It's been a long time!
3. What's your favorite curse word? Oh I love them all. Probably the F word, followed up by shit!
4. Name 3 people who made you smile today? Zachary, Ellie, and Steve
5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Ironing Steve's clothes for work. 6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Having a "party" on the couch with Zach and all of his stuffed animal friends.
7. What will you be doing 3 hours from now? Probably eating lunch.
8. Have you ever been to a strip club? Actually, no, but I have always wanted to go.
9. What is the last thing you said aloud? Please keep it down, your sister needs a nap!
10. What is the best ice cream flavor? Chocolate peanut butter
11. What was the last thing you had to drink? Diet Sunkist Orange...thought I'd give it a shot. It's not too bad, but it's not my normal Large Coke from Mickey D's either.
12. What are you wearing right now? Jammie pants, tee shirt and my coat.
13. What was the last thing you ate? Popem's chocolate glazed donuts.
14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? For the kids, yes, not for me!
15. When was the last time you ran? Again, funny question, becuase I DO NOT RUN...but yesterday, I did manage to do a little running on the treadmill. I am very impressed with myself! Before that, it had to have been at the airport when we went to Orlando with Scotty and Lori. Scott and I raced through the part that connects the garage to the airport...I thought I was going to die. It was bad, really bad.
16. What's the last sporting event you watched?? Hmm...I saw a little of the Cavs game the other night, but I wouldn't say I watched it.
18. Who is the last person you emailed? My mother in law in florida.
19. Ever go camping? Back in the day, yes.
20. Do you have a tan? Maybe a tad...but I need to start going tanning because I leave for Hawaii in 2.5 weeks.
24. Do you drink your soda from a straw? Love it!
25. What did your last IM say? I don'd do that!
26. Are you someone's best friend? I think so!
27. What are you doing tomorrow? It is Valentine's Day and Zach has school, so I'm thinking maybe Stevie would want to take his two lovely ladies out to breakfast!! He doesn't know that yet.
28. Where is your mom right now? In Hawaii, lucky lady!
29. Look to your left, what do you see? A wall with pictures of my beautiful babies on it.
30. What color is your watch? Silver with black face.
31. What do you think of when you think of Australia ? I want to go there someday.
32. Would you consider plastic surgery? A couple years ago, no. But, now I am really starting to look old, so it may be an option at some point in my future.
33. What is your birthstone? Ruby
34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit thedrive thru. 9 out of 10 times the drive-thru. The only place I go in is McDonalds when Zach gets to play.
35.How many kids do you want? 2 is good, but if I had another, I'd probably be okay with that.
36. Do you have a dog? Yeppers, Mocha Bear and she's a bear.
37. Last person you talked to on the phone? Prina
38. Have you met anyone famous? Seen, but not met.
39. Any plans today? Soccer for Zach and some running around.
40. How many states have you lived in? Just 1
41. Ever go to college? Yep, graduated from BW
42. Where are you right now? In my office, being very lazy.
43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now? Maybe just the fact that my house is a disaster and I HAVE to get it under control before Carol comes tomorrow. But the thing is, is I will and then 2 hours later, you won't be able to tell.
44. Last song listened to? Elmo's world theme song.
46. Are you allergic to anything? No, not really.
47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? If it's nice, plain ole flip flops.
48. Are you jealous of anyone? Nope.
50. Is anyone jealous of you? Not that I know of.
51. What time is it? Time to get my ass moving.
52. Do any of your friends have children? Yes.
53. Do you eat healthy? If you call fast food three times a day healthy!
54. What do you usually do during the day? Lately, stay home a lot because the weather is shit. Just take care of and play with the kids and pretend to keep up with the house.
55. Do you hate anyone right now? Hate is a strong word, but there are a few people I dislike.
56. Do you use the word 'hello' daily? Yep.
58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday? 28.
59. Have you ever been to Six Flags? Yes, but the old Geauga Lake, so it sucks compared to the other ones I think.
60. How did you get one of your scars? C-sections.

What a long day!

It has been a very long day. I'm not really sure why I am so tired because I actually went to bed at 10:15 last night, but was awakened this morning by my sweet little Princess. She seemed to have a very restless night, but nothing worth going in her room for. Well...this morning at 6:00, she started crying and crying...which she NEVER does. So, I jump out of bed to go see what the problem might be. Well...there was a problem, alright. I have been leaving this little heater in her room because her room gets so cold at night. I keep it set at about 72 degrees...the fucking thing never turned off. It was 94 degrees in her room! She was so hot and sweaty and just miserable. I feld so BAD! Luckily, the damn thing didn't catch fire or something...it is obviously broke! So, needless to say, we started our day quite early.

It was kinda cute because she was crying even after I went in there and Zach woke up and he's screaming..."Mama, what's wrong with my baby sister...Mama, Ellie's crying!" He was a very concerned big brother. After I got her all settled down and practically naked, I went in his room to see if he wanted to start his day early, since he was up. He was so excited because I do not let him get out of his bed until 8:00. He just couldn't figure out how we were going to eat breakfast when it was still a little dark out!!

Other than that, nothing too eventful. Zach had school and him and Daddy played in the snow today, even though it was actually freezing rain coming down and not snow by the time they got to go out and play!

All ready to go...it only took about 20 minutes to get ready!

Zach was getting so pissed, every time he filled up the front part of that toy, Mocha would eat the snow!

There's Stevie! I never did get their picture together because my Ellie Belly was calling me!

Poor baby girl...I think she was pretty pissed that she didn't get to go out and play with the boys and her Mocha Bear!

And the last pic for the day...Ellie is THE biggest cuddle bug with her Daddy! She always gives him so much lovin!

Okay, I'm off to go watch the Biggest Loser with Stevie!

What a difference a week makes!

Here is a some video of Ellie pushing her lion across the family room. I am just so proud of my big girl. It was exactly a week ago that she first stood up by herself and now she is doing this and she's been doing it for a few days. I hope that she is walking before we leave for Hawaii because I don't want her Daddy to miss it! We leave in about 2.5 weeks, so I'm thinkin probably not, but ya never know!

My Workout Journey!

I decided on February 1st that it was time to get my butt in gear. I started working out and and I am doing pretty good. Today is the 10th and I still haven't missed a day! I am not trying to lose any weight, but definitely tone up a bit. My postbaby body is a tad flabbyish...I don't even know how to describe it, actually. I actually kind of enjoy working out. It is the most I have probably ever worked out in my life. I'm not a worker outer by any means, so NOT flexible or coordinated and these are the things I hope to improve. I'm writing down what I have done each day for my own good...I know that nobody reads this and if you do, I know you won't care!

• Day 1 - 1 mile from Walk away the Pounds - kinda funny because I've had these videos forever, but only done them a handful of times and basically...everyone is OLD, but that's okay because I feel like a 27 year old in an 80 year olds body most of the time!
• Day 2 - 2 miles from Walk away the pounds
• Day 3 - Hips, Buns and Thighs from Zoe's Hip Hop Abs
• Day 4 - 1 mile again! Lil' sore from the day before.
• Day 5 - Tae Bo basics - I love tae bo! That is the one thing that I DID actually do back in the day as far as working out!
• Day 6 - Hips, Buns and Thighs
• Day 7 - Weight Loss Pilates - complete waste of time...not flexible enough for that shit!
• Day 8 - 2 mile walk - kinda, not really. I started it and made it more than a mile, but did not finish it because of the children!
• Day 9 - Total Body Burn from Hip Hop Abs - I'm not totally sure yet if this is the one I did, but it was 45 minutes and I only made it about 23. It was very hard...and again, you have to be coordinated for this stuff...but I'm getting there!
• Day 10 - 2 mile walk

So, there it is. I'm hoping to keep it up. I don't want to jinx myself, but I feel like I feel a little better in the morning, as far as my whole body goes, especially my back. Usually, I feel like I got ran over by a few trains in the morning, every single morning...day after day after day....Okay, you get it!

Lions and Timers and Bears, OH MY!

Today we went to the mall with Auntie Zoe. It was pretty much pointless because the kids did not want to be there. Poor Ellie Belly, for some reason (maybe I should mention that I did forget the diaper bag in the car and didn't think I would need it, so we had no snacks, drinks, etc.), was not a happy camper and Zach was antsy because he wanted to Build-a-Bear today, which we were going to let him do AFTER we went to all of our stores. Naturally, after that there was a HUGE line at Build-a-Bear and we stood there for at least 20 minutes and never moved, so I told him that we could buy something at the Disney Store if we could make our bear another day. Of course, Zach thought "that was a great idea" and bolted out of there.

Another shit story...

Zachary was riding his Smart Cycle while I was trying to pick up the family room. He was sittin there on his bike, telling me what to pick up, what to put away, not to put away, etc. After I thought, he was done, he says...."Oh yea and don't forget to put all that Playdoh shit back where it belongs." I about died...again! He is cracking me up with this shit thing because he uses it like it's a normal word in the right context and everything. After I regained my composure, I said "Zachary....it's Playdoh STUFF." and he goes "okay, yea put that playdoh stuff back where it belongs." Oh that boy....

Ellie Belly had a good day, once we got home from the mall. Now that she is standing up, I have really been working with her and her little push Lion toy. She never really knew what to do...it would move forward and she would just let the gap get wider and wider, not knowing really to take a step. Well, last night she started taking a few steps with it and tonight she was having a ball. We must have walked back and forth across the family room 6 times before she finally had enough. I did have to help her because I had to slow that Lion down, so to speak, but she is definitely getting the concept of moving those little leggers!

I have been working with Zach for the past couple days (wednesday night's dinner to be exact) on eating in a more appropriate time frame. Basically, we could sit at the dinner table anywhere from 1 to 1.5 hours before he would eat his dinner, same thing for lunch too. I would constantly have to remind him, take a bite, get back to the table, take another bite, please sit on the chair the right way, etc. It was very annoying, but it was something that I allowed to get worse and worse, over time and I knew I had to fix it.

So, I started setting the timer for 30 minutes. If he "beat the timer" that was great! If not, then he knew what the consequences would be. Let's just say that he went to bed without the goodnight show and cuddles the first night, no goodnight show, books or cuddles the second night, and the third day he had to take his afternoon rest in his room instead of on the couch while watching TV. It made for a very whiney couple days, but I held my ground and I'm thinking it WORKED!

Last night, meal #7 to be exact, Zach finished his whole dinner with 10 minutes to spare. He told me when he sat down to eat that he didn't have time to talk to me because he had to beat the timer because he wanted his books and cuddles at bedtime with Daddy. He told me that there would be plenty of time to talk and play after dinner! I was SO happy!! Today was Day 4 of our timed meals and he beat the timer for all 3 meals!! Oh jeas....it's those little things, right??

Mama...Do you know why I have all this Shit in here?

Okay, so on Tuesday morning, Zach was playing with his pirate ship and the day before he had put a bunch of his Cars in it. Well, I was getting ready to get Mocha out of her bed when he asked me..."Mama, do you know why I have all this shit in here?" So, I'm thinking surely I misunderstood the little man and he was just commenting on his Ship, so I ask him..."What did you say?" He replies...."Do you know why I have all this shit in here? It was at that moment that I glance over at the kitchen table and see my camera and I think to myself....do I REALLY want to get this on video or should I screw the funny moment and have my little discussion on how that is not a nice word....Of course...bad mommy decides this is some funny shit...I have to get it and I will talk to him after...

Okay...so I have my little talk with him telling him that that is not a nice word and next time he should use the word stuff....he looks at me and says...."oh you mean instead of shit?" I just said yes Zachary and that was the end of that.

Fastforward two days later and Zachary is using the restroom while I am in the kitchen by the garbage can and I said something about....shit. Well, he takes it upon himself to say...."Mama" I say "Yes Zachary" He says "Shit is not nice." I tell him he is right and that's that.

Now, why is it that the kid can completely tune me out when I am in his face talking to him, but when I am having a nice quiet conversation over the phone he can pick it up from 20 feet away...He is a very funny guy!

Enough about SHIT...

Ellie Pulled herself up to Standing

Okay, we had another HUGE event happen this week...Our little girl figured out how to pull herself up to standing position. Now...I know that this doesn't sound all that exciting, but she is going on 14 months and we have waited a very long time for this. She has been a few months behind on just about everything as far as her physical development is concerned (rolling over, sitting up, crawling, and now of course standing and walking). SO....a couple weeks ago, I was looking through some old pictures of Zach when he was Ellie's age and he was definitely standing and doing a few other things that our little princess wasn't even close to doing.

I decided to call Help me Grow. It is a program offered by the state and they come out and evaluate them to see what we need to work on. Well, I was not able to get an appointment until almost 2.5 weeks after I called. So, I set it up for Monday, February 4 and I knew that once I set it up she would be standing up because that's how it always works, right? The night before I was talking to Zoe about it and we had this long detailed conversation about it and how I figured by the time the appointment rolled around she would be standing...as of Sunday night before her appointment...still no standing.

So Monday morning, I wake up to Ellie crying...which she never does in the morning. She wakes up talking, never crying. I also always turn on the video monitor before I go to get her because I usually sit there and watch her for a few minutes before I can roll my lazy ass out of bed. Well, since she started crying, I just jumped up to get her and there she was....Standing in her bed! I was so proud of her...I almost cried. I was very mad because I did not get a picture of her...and if I would have turned the monitor on I would have seen that she was standing and then RAN for the CAM! But, anyways, she was crying because she didn't know how to get down! Once I walked in her room, she was ALL smiles, she knew what she had done and was so proud of herself! Good Job, Ellie!!

Of course, I did get the picture of her doing it later that day when she got up from her nap!

At first, she was only doing it in her bed, but now, about 5 days later, she is a pro! She will try to stand up on just about anything. She is still working on how to get down, but she'll figure it out.