Check out this awesome giveaway!

On here real quick to post about Laura Winslow photography's HUGE giveaway! Check it out!

http://laurawinslowphotography.com/blog/2011/11/21/10000-holiday-bloggie-bash-laura-winslow-photography

Y3W | A New Direction

I haven't updated this bloggy in quite some time. Truth is, I just haven't been inspired to write. And then it hit me tonight, as I was drafting a note on facebook about my spiritual journey, a thought struck - 'Post it on your blog too!' To me, that was a pretty clear instruction from the Lord, so I thought it best to obey. So here it is, in its entirety:

To my facebook family:

I am so thankful for this medium called the internet, which keeps us all connected, though distance and time may separate us. As I've moved away from home and had to learn new places and meet new friends, I've come to realize several things. And I just have to share with you...

You are all in my life for a reason, season or a lifetime. I'm not sure now what the outcome will be, but I will say that I am blessed to know you and you have all impacted my life in some way. Which is why I'm sharing my journey with you, I hope you'll read it through.

I was immensely blessed to grow up in a Christian home and was taught biblical principles at an early age. For all these years I've known how to 'play the part'. But now I'm truly learning what it takes to be a true follower of Christ. So I'm asking a favor of you.

If you believe you are going to Heaven, ask yourself why you believe this. And then, check out what the Bible has to say about it. See Matthew 7:13-14, Luke 13:22-30

 If you call yourself a Christian, how are you serving God-does it align with the Bible? See Luke 9:23-26

I do not pretend to be a biblical scholar or minister. I am still learning, and He's still working on me. I'm sharing with you verses that I have studied recently that are helping me grow spiritually and deepen my relationship with the Lord. And I'm learning that a major area I have been lacking in is speaking boldly about the awesome God I serve. Christians are called to share the great news about Jesus with EVERYONE, so why wouldn't I at the very least talk to my friends and family about God? 

I hope that as I continue my Christian journey you'll allow me to share what I've been learning in my personal Bible study and I'd love it if you shared your journey with me as well. 

And I have one last favor to ask. Lastly, I'm asking for you to hold me accountable. The Bible says 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' Romans 3:23 As members of God's family we are to hold each other accountable, which sometimes requires that we correct our brothers and sisters, in love. If we humble ourselves and open up to other believers what we're struggling with, it will only help us grow closer to each other as well as the Lord.

So I ask-will you join me?

Please pray for me, and I will continue to do the same for you!

16 months old

Oh me, Oh my. I can't believe I haven't done a 'monthly post' since June. Which is bad, because she has changed SO MUCH since then. She's not officially 16 months until Friday, but I decided I probably shouldn't put off this post, lest another month go by!

Here's what Eva Diva is up to these days:

• Absolutely loves clapping. If she hears applause or sees someone clapping, she has to join. And when she's ultra excited (usually while watching Dora) then she starts giggling and clapping - almost to the point where she looks possessed, lol.
• Her current vocabulary consists of thank-you (dat-two), hi (usually said in a long whisper like: hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii) oh!, wow, juice (the last three I've heard a few times, but not consistently). She is a non-stop babbler, so heaven help us when she actually speaks real words.
• Is a dancing fiend. She now purposely turns on one of her toys that sings the alphabet song so she can dance to it. She's only got one move really, stomping really fast which is occasionally accompanied by clapping.
• If there is a door open, she will shut it. Which is why we keep all doors closed, especially the bathroom.
• She knows how to wave hi and bye bye. And as the true extrovert she is, Eva will frequently wave hi to complete strangers without any prompting from me.
• It's so annoying, but she is such a daddy's girl. I don't know if it's cause she's with me all day, or if that's the way she's built. The moment he opens the door (even if she can't see him, but only hears the door) she starts waving hi, doing her stomping dance and racing to the door to greet him. When he leaves the room, she cries. She falls asleep way better for him than me. Ah well.
• Like her momma, she already loves books. We get several books from the library once a week, and she'll often get them down from the bookshelf and 'read' them herself. (Note to grandma: this grandchild won't mind getting books for Christmas, lol) 
• If her shoes are off, she tries to put them on. If her shoes are on, she tries to take them off. Typical diva - never satisfied!
• Last month, we took her to the beach a couple times and she LOVED it. Playing in the sand was more fun than the water, but I think that's because we would only take her out so far. She's also been in the pool at our apartment complex - based on her enjoyment of both, I'd say she's a natural water baby. Which is a shame, because neither of her parents are! I do plan on doing swim classes with her this fall. Now that summer is (almost) over there are a lot of activities I can do with her during the week!

I weighed her on our scale today and it said 26 pounds. I would say she's probably closer to 27, since our scale has a tendency to be on the low side. She is still wearing 18 month clothes; she can fit into 24 month items, but she still has room to grow in them. She has six teeth (2 on top, 4 on bottom) and her two canines are about to cut through.

Here's a couple recent pictures of the diva: 

 Surveying what trouble she can get into at the beach

 I guess throwing sand is a fun game?

 Completely comfortable in the water

 First time on a carousel - at the mall with mommy

Typical weeknight shenanigans at our house

I continue to be amazed at the miracle of pregnancy, childbirth, and infant/toddler development. A year ago she could barely hold her head up, but now she's a little person!

Updated wish list

In honor of my pending birthday, I'm updating the wish list I posted prior to Mother's Day. Now my actual birthday is not until early October, but it's only fair that I give my friends and family and blog readers plenty of time to find these gifts, right? So here goes!

iPod - because, it's 2011. It's just time.

Victoria's Secret Gift card - We finally weaned off breastfeeding when Eva was about 13.5 months old. I REALLY NEED to get new bras.

MAC gift card - I still need new foundation. That stuff is NOT cheap.

Nomination for What Not to Wear - because I seriously would like to gut my closet and start over. I think any mom can agree that even if you do lose all your baby weight, your body is just different after housing a mini-human for 9 or so months. I can fit all my pre-pregnancy clothes. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they look good on me. Plus, we've moved 3 times within the past year, and I gave away some things to downsize my closet. (at the time of move #1 and #2 I was still wearing maternity pants) Now I'm wishing I had some of my smaller clothes that I liked but couldn't fit. Just because I'm a stay-at-home mom doesn't mean I want to look frumpy on playdates. I'd love for my new style to be 'casual, comfortable, yet cute'. Does that make sense?

Cute hair accessories - I'm thinking headbands, clips and decorative pieces like flowers. I'm experimenting with either wearing my hair natural (meaning I'd stop chemically straightening it) OR just spreading out the time between chemical treatments. So I've been trying out some new hair styles which would look even cuter with some of the products shown here or here, just as examples.


Gym membership - I miss going to the gym. I'm not good at working out at home. Plus, I haven't been to a spin class since in almost 2 years (had to quit when I got pregnant) and I loved them! There's a couple local gyms that offer childcare and I would jump at the chance to join one.


Tennis shoes - The ones I currently wear were given to me as a graduation present from the hubby. That was 5.5 years ago. Me thinks it's time for a new pair.






ok, I think that's a pretty extensive list. I'll probably update it once more after my birthday for Christmas ;)

Hiatus

Let's just call my one-month gap between blog posts a hiatus, shall we? Because that sure sounds better than 'I was being lazy and kept putting off blogging until before I knew it a month had passed'. My mom had emailed me to see why I hadn't posted anything and here was my response: 'Best of intentions mixed with procrastination results in 2 weeks of silence on the blog ;)'

It's not like I didn't have anything to write about. I always had ideas for blog posts in my head, yet never actually sat down to type them out. Honestly, I just didn't feel like writing. As much as I love blogging my thoughts, I don't ever want it to feel like an obligation. 

I will note that this is only one side-effect of my lifelong battle as a recovering procrastinator. I don't think I'll ever overcome this genetic curse, but that doesn't mean I'll stop trying!

The 'in-between phase'

I'm going to whine in this post. You have been warned.

So if you recall my Take It Off Mondays series, it was somewhat easy for me to shed about 15 pounds. And then we moved. This threw off my workout routine because for 1) we no longer have a workout room at our apartment complex and 2) we don't live in the best neighborhood, so hour-long walks are out. And of course during/immediately after a move, you aren't in the habit of cooking wholesome meals and fast food becomes your kitchen.

After a couple weeks of unhealthy living I finally got back into the groove of grocery shopping and cooking, so I had mastered that part. But the workout part...

You know what's really annoying? I can work out on base for free. FREE. But there's this little problem called childcare. They don't provide it. So if I'm going to pay for childcare so I can work out - I might as well join the local gym that provides it. I even looked on our cable for an 'on-demand fitness' channel. Welp, turns out we don't have one here. Sigh.

Two weeks ago, I finally got into the routine of working out at night after Eva's in bed. Then my father-in-law came. And the routine all but evaporated.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that we weaned off breastfeeding (yay!) two weeks ago. Which is great, but I just lost the ability to burn an extra 200-300 calories a day.

As of Monday I started back with P90X and I've taken Eva on a couple walks (on the sidewalk of a main street. Although safer than our neighborhood, still not the best option because there's several busy intersections) So I've lost 2 of the 8 pounds that I had gained back.

I'm content with my progress but I have to admit I'm frustrated. I worked so hard to get where I was before we moved. And I honestly feel like circumstances are to cause for my 'two steps back'. I was at the point that I felt on the verge of being thin, and now I feel chubby again. I know I'm smaller than I was when I started this journey (and honestly, smaller than when I got pregnant) BUT, my end goal of wearing a size 10 seems so far off. And I just feel jiggly all over.

Ok, I had to get that off my chest. I'm back on the wagon, and I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Even if that light looks like a pin drop ;)

Dear Nickelodeon,

To my childhood favorite channel:

I loved watching your shows while growing up. They were funny, original and most importantly, somewhat educational. As an 80's baby, we grew up together. I remember when your first Nicktoons (Rugrats, Doug, and Ren & Stimpy) debuted and I was an avid follower. I also loved your sketch show 'You Can't Do that on Television' with its infamous slime scenes, and its descendant 'All That' captured my attention during my pre-teen/teenage years. Even now, I have to admit I'll indulge in the occasional episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

But I've got a beef with you now, Nickelodeon. What is with all the kissing and boyfriend/girlfriend stories on 'Big Time Rush', 'iCarly' and 'Victorious'??? Seriously? Isn't your demographic 0-12ish? Okay, maybe they're meant for the teen audience, but let's be real - what high school students watch Nickelodeon, especially at 5 pm? Most of them are doing after-school activities, working or hanging out with their friends at that hour. 

You know who is home at 5 pm? The tweens. The 8-12 year olds that you smother with images of kissing and songs about how 'You're looking for a boyfriend' (the video of which, I might add, had scenes in a CLUB) WTH is up with that, Nickelodeon? I'm thinking part of it may have to do with the fact that you're now operated by MTV (yeah, that makes total sense) and some of that influence has bled over to what used to be a great channel for kids. I just don't understand the need to push 'romance' onto children. This new generation (wow - saying that makes me feel OLD) is already growing up waytoofast, and the shows that you're producing are not helping that epidemic. At all.

I do love your Nick Jr. programming, and so does Eva. But because you choose to fill young kids head with unnecessary sexuality and lust, we're switching over to PBS Kids.

So long, Nickelodeon. It was nice knowing you. (The old you, that is.)