how to kill your blog traffic in one simple step

 

 

 

So I’ve been busy living life over here. Turns out the more I have to write about, the less I actually write. Also not blogging turns your blog traffic to zilch! nada! nothing!

I’ve clearly not kept you updated on the #sexyback11 challenge as promised. Whenever we left off I had gained back  1/2 pound and the following week I had stayed there and then the next week I forgot all about weighing in and well I don’t even really know where we are now. I was within 1 pound of my goal when I stopped and it seemed like it was over. However, I am now back to lose that last 1.5 pounds before Labor day. Had to take up the entire challenge with those 8 pounds you know. As for working out, yeah haven’t done any of that in weeks, but I do stairs! Lots of stairs, God bless the two-story house. But not eating out has been a huge win. We are doing fantastic in that area. I’ve kept with the e-mealz and we’ve had food that tastes good for dinner, at our house! Turns out it’s much harder to not have seconds when you really like what you’re eating…who knew? Enough about the challenge.

I’ve picked up a few hobbies in the last few weeks. The first is Battlestar Gallactica, OMG. I fear I may be obsessed, even now as I type this my brain is screaming HURRY UP WOMAN! THE KIDS ARE IN BED YOU COULD BE WATCHING BATTLESTAR GALACTICA! We have a few weekend trips we are planning and I am trying not to think about having to go days (like two, maybe even three!) in a row without watching a single episode, it is going to be torture, torture I tell you!

But onto saner things…like knitting! Yes knitting, you heard me right. Despite a myriad of jokes about going grey (which I already am under the dye anyway, so there!) and aging over night, I have indeed taken up the craft of knitting. I find it fun and I can multitask while doing it, which is always a plus in my book. My first project was a little wash cloth, which came out fairly good. The next was a baby doll blanket for Jena. This was a more complex pattern and let’s just say it had a bit of a learning curve, that and they kids got a hold of it one Saturday while I was sleeping and it turns out ripped out stitches turn into holes! learning! Jena, however, was still thrilled with it, and I’m pretty impressed myself. I’m currently working on blanket binding for a blanket for Jacob’s birthday. I’ve wanted to make him a blanket since before he was born. Being a third child he had not a thing made for him, while the other two, a first boy and a first girl, had tons made for them. I am very excited to be able to rectify that. I’ll try to post a picture of it when it’s done. In the meantime, enjoy the picture of Jena and her new dolly blanket. When she say the picture she said, ‘I habs sad eyes.’ I asked her if she wanted to take one smiling and she said ‘no, I like da sad eye one.’

my titles suck lately

It’s thursday! Do you know what that means yet? Time for a challenge update. 1.5 LBs down this week! Woo hoo, back on track. I think I finally hit my exercise goals this week. Two workouts with the kinect trainer and two walks, I could majorly feel the difference. I’m also sore, feels good. As for eating out, I don’t think we ate out once this week. We are rocking.

On to more important things. I have been meaning to write my little angel a letter lately and after writing it in my head for the past month, I am finally putting pen to paper…you know…in the figurative sense. Here goes.

Dear 22 months and 2 days,

Even though you are almost two, you are still my little baby. From your scraggly baby hair to your limited vocabulary you still retain babiness, I am enjoying it. A few months ago you exited my favorite stage and entered what had been my least favorite. I say had because once again you’ve changed all I know about parenting. Some day you need to thank your brother and sister for being such difficult strong willed 2 year olds, they really set you up for sainthood. I am still in awe of you, your fits, when you have them, last all of 3 seconds. You express your frustration and move on, and you don’t even get frustrated that often. You are still your happy go lucky, easy going self, you amaze me.

You have decided it is time to start trying this talking thing. It’s probably been about a month since you turned parrot. You don’t always know what to say when you need it, but you can repeat most of what we say if we ask you to, and you’re so easy going you’ll even do it almost every time we ask you! (can you tell that was not our previous experience with new talkers…) I taught you the sign for please a few months ago, it was taught to get you to stop screaming and tugging my legs when you wanted to be picked up. You picked it up right away and about a month ago decided you could use your mouth to say it too. You now walk around the house saying please for everything, which sounds more like peeeaas! I find it absolutely adorable that I have the most polite almost two year old on the planet…even if it has slightly backfired as I no longer know what you are saying please for anymore…you literally use it for everything. You’ve also decided we are mommy and daddy, instead of mama and dada. The cutest part is that you have added y’s to most of your other words too, including wawa. It took me 2 days of serious frustration for you to realize you’d turned wawa into wawey. It still makes me laugh, it’s too cute.

You play nicely for the most part with other babies, another marvel. As long as someone asks you please you willingly give up almost anything you are playing with. Now if they forget the please, well that’s a different story we won’t tell right now. You are even fairly good at asking please for a toy before grabbing it, like I said, please is your favorite word right now. Though it is closely followed by thank you, the next sign you learned. You also say that one with your mouth too, though it is a bit garbled. What took me 2 years (ok maybe not quite that long, but it felt that way!) to teach your brother and sister you picked up in a week. You say thank you whenever you are given something, spontaneously most of the time and always when prompted. I would like to attribute this to my amazing parenting skills. However, once your siblings caught this one they got it down and I believe it is really a result of peer pressure. Which has gotten a really bad rap all these years, it can be used for good! Poor peer pressure, unjustly judged you have been…whoa yoda moment.

I also night weaned you this month. That has been an interesting process. You are still waking up asking to nurse in the second half of the night. You will go back to sleep when I tell you too, but you are up again shortly after. I have felt like I have a new born again this week. Oh I know what happened! You knew you had a little friend born this week! This is sympathy wakings isn’t it? You are so sweet, but you can stop now, really it’s ok. The gesture is appreciated though, I’m sure, by someone, somewhere…I’ll stop now.

I love you so much it feels like it will burst out of my body sometimes. I am enjoying watching you grow into a big boy.

love,

Mommy

sexyback#11 and a few other things

First things first, challenge update. I stayed the same this week. Got sick on saturday and exercised not a bit. Looks like the exercise really was helping! Who knew. I’ll be back on it this week, still happy I didn’t lose any ground.

In other news I learned a bit about myself and my family while my big boys were gone.

1) Turns out I’m a clean person, with the state of my house most of the time I would have never guessed it, but I am!

2) When I don’t cook for days I start to get creative and want to cook. I actually made stuffed mushrooms while they were gone, yummy.

3) It is ridiculously easy to keep up with three people’s laundry, I went 5 days in a row without doing a single bit of laundry, because I could, not because I neglected it.

4) I think I raised my voice, once, maybe twice, and only for a moment to get someone’s attention. I never lost my cool and actually enjoyed my kids, for 10 days. I think that is some kind of record, also wondering what I can do to make it more like that all the time.

5)I don’t have many rules. Play nice, don’t whine. I think that about sums it up. Amazingly they seemed better behaved with less rules.

6) I really am an introvert. Who would have thought all those nights alone would have been so enjoyable, certainly not me.

And a totally random bit of news. We finally have real live toy organizers, the kind my husband has been wanting since Jena was born. We didn’t have them because 1) at that point it would have been me putting all them away, not the kids and 2) they are usually 70 bucks a piece, we all know how che, I mean frugal I am. Now that the kids are older, these make much more sense. Then some one at work posted they had 2 to sell for 20 bucks each, it was made to be. I love a good deal, especially one I’ve been looking for.

Minus the big toys that go in the toy box, all the rest are now neat and organized in their little bins. I even have an empty one. Those of us who appreciate organization and order (and we are the majority in this house) are happy.

Behold, I give you…the toy closet.

week 2 progress

Quick update on the sexyback11 challenge.

Today is the end of week two. I went down another 2.5 LBs this week! woo hoo! So excited. Half way to that goal. On the work out front, I’m rediscovering how difficult this is to work into parenting life. So I’ve changed my strategy a bit. I did get one workout with system, then I swam with the kids and walked once. Still trying for more, but anything is an improvement, I’m happy!

Eating out, well let’s not talk about that. But I’ve gotten really good deals! And I’ve eaten half the portions I usually do, so I’m following the spirit of the goal…right? Yeah. That’s it. Spirit is good.

sexyback11 update and the boys are gone

First order of business, sexyback11. Lost 1.5ish pounds this week! yay! I say ish, ’cause it’s not a digital scale and really first thing in the morning I can’t see exactly where that line falls, and I am certaintly not going to weigh again later in the day. Anyone whose’s ever been on a diet should know that’s just craziness. I only worked out twice with my x-box trainer, but I swam with the kids and played kinect adventures with Grant so I’m saying I hit my goal. Eating out, well we ate out for father’s day and then again tonight. I’m not counting father’s day, so we’re good. Man I am good at justifying, bend a little here, stretch a little there, and it’s all good, scary.

In other news. Neil and Grant are off on their grand Michigan adventure, I will not see them for real again for 10 days. I’ve never been apart from either of them for that long. I’m feeling very mixed at the moment. Jena was not to pleased we left daddy and Jacob screamed half the hour ride home because he missed them so much already…or the sun was in his eyes…it’s really hard to tell at that age.

I have grand plans for us three (or just me) left at home, beach trips, blogging everyday, catching up with all my friends, play dates, reading a couple books. Since my head has only been able to process that there is one less kid to take care of it hasn’t really processed that there is also now one less adult to take care of the remaining two. All this free time I think I’m going to have is most likely going to end up being a joke, but for now it staves off missing them, so I’ll keep it thank you.

Grant wanted to take a picture of us before he left, which I thought was sweet. Here it is.