What the what? It's been a MONTH?!

Has it really been over a month since I blogged? Geez! Time sure does fly! We've been so incredibly busy the last few months, I've barely had time to catch my breath!


Adelae turned 4 in February. Her obsession with Rapunzel is alive and well.



Brinna got a new doll baby WITH HAIR that she absolutely adores. We call the baby Baby Nana. I'm not sure why, other than that's what Brinna decided to name her. The hope was that this would help her to stop playing with my hair as she falls asleep. Sadly, it hasn't worked. But, she loves the baby and carries it with her everywhere she goes.


We were able to take advantage of some very spring like weather with some outside time.


Adelae and I were fortunate enough to go see Disney Princesses on Ice. It was a wonderful show and I highly recommend it to anyone with girls obsessed with Princesses. It was so nice to be able to spend some one-on-one time with my big girl!



And last, but certainly not least, we were able to spend a few days at Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, Ohio. The girls had an absolute blast playing all the water. Hmm..I think I'll have to get some more pictures posted from that trip. It was awesome!


As always, the kids are growing like weeds. Brinna changes more and more every day. She's really developing her own personality. Adelae is getting more and more opinionated every single day. She made her very first big girl decision, she decided to have her hair cut short! I'll post pictures in another blog, along with all the feelings that came with that decision.

So,that's what we've been up to. Not to mention the regular daily grind. I keep thinking that our schedule is going to calm down at some point. Then I think "Wouldn't that be boring?!" There are a lot more fantastic outings to come as well. So far we have a trip to see some of my friends in PA in June, a camping trip in July, Brinna's 2nd birthday in July as well, and a few other things. I'm excited for warm weather and summer!

The one where I talk about weight

Last year I started working out. (Remember this post?) I did really well for about 2 months. I didn't work out every day, but I averaged about 5 days a week. Not too shabby for someone that hates exercise!

Then I weighed myself.

There's a reason why I don't own a scale. I hadn't lost a single solitary pound. Not one. Not even half a pound. Nothing. Nada. After all my hard work I was still the exact same weight I was when I started. I was crushed. I tried to blow it off and say "Oh, but my jeans fit better and that's all that matters." I didn't believe it. I wanted to have lost weight. Not a lot, just a few pounds.

So, I stopped working out. I figured what was the point? If I wasn't going to lose any weight than why should I even bother? If I wasn't losing any weight, why couldn't I just sit on the couch and eat cake? That's what I'd rather be doing, not sweating and grunting and feeling sore.

Then I started thinking about what my weight REALLY means. Is the number on the scale that important? I'm 5' 1" tall and at my thinnest I was 130 lbs. After 2 kids, I'm stuck at 150 lbs. I can't seem to get below that weight. According to the research I've done, that means that I'm obese. My jaw hit the floor when I saw that. Obese? I know I'm a little...jiggly, but obese? I mean really? Obese? What the hell?! I started feeling really depressed. Then and there I decided that I wasn't going to let the number on the scale determine who I was or how I felt about myself.

I knew that when I was working out that I felt better. I knew that I was losing inches because I had to wear a belt to keep my jeans from falling off. For the first time in years, I actually had muscles! So, I decided to start working out again. In turn, I'm making healthier food choices.

I have no idea if I've lost weight, and this time around I truly don't care. I'm focused on the way I look and the way I feel, not a number on the scale. My genes have predetermined that I'm never going to be stick thin. I'm always going to have curves. I love my curves! They're what attracted Ben to me in the first place. Why would I want to get rid of them?

I'm slowly learning to embrace the body that God has given me. I might be 150 lbs, but I'm determined to make that 150 lbs look good!

Conversations with Brinna

****WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS RIDICULOUSLY CUTE VIDEOS*****

Now that Brinna has hit the 18 month mark, her vocabulary has really expanded. She repeats almost everything we say, which is good and bad. Good because she's learning lots of new words. Bad because sometimes words slip out that she's not suppose to hear. I really do try to watch what I say, but sometimes the occasional bad word pops out. The other day I think she was walking around saying "Oh, sh!t." I pretended to think it was something else ;)

Her favorite thing to say is "Adelae." She's hit the phase where she knows that things belong to people. She spends most of the day bringing us our belongings, whether we want them or not.

This first video is just a little chat that Brinna and I had.



Brinna loves her baby dolls. She has a ton of them and they all get loved and played with throughout the day. It's so cute to see her playing Mommy. She was playing with her baby yesterday and, for once, I was quick enough with the camera to shoot a video.

It's true....

...Kids really do say the darndest things! :) I used to get those email forwards with the funny things kids say and I would think to myself "Yeah right. Kids don't really say that type of stuff." Now that I have a very precarious almost 4 year old I know that truth. They really do say stuff like that!

A few of Adelae's latest gems:

On Monday morning she said "Mommy, why does Daddy always have to go to work? Doesn't he know we have enough money?"

After Brinna pooped "She's in poopy town, I'm in tootsie town, and you're in diaper changing town."

Upon hearing that the dog made Cinderella Barbie (her former favorite) a midnight snack "It's ok. She was kinda old and dirty anyway."

Adelae's preschool had a guest lunch the other day. As I was dropping Adelae off, I made sure that she knew that I would be back to eat lunch with her. She said "Is Brinna coming too? Please don't forget her. She's too little to stay home by herself."

As we were baking cookies a few days ago, I told her that she reminded me of myself when I was little. She said "Yeah, I know. Cause we both have brown hair."

Then she said something so cute, I couldn't resist getting in on video.

Some people just shouldn't dance

I'm not a 'gamer.' I can't play video games for hours on end. First of all, I'm not very good at them. Second of all, they're just boring. But, I was the one who hounded Ben to buy the XBox Kinect. We love it. I love it because you have to get up and move. I love it because we can play it for hours and all enjoy it. I love it because it gets all of us up and active on these cold and dreary winter days.
I love having Kinect parties. I love that when I have Kinect parties, I can convince people that don't normally dance to dance. Like my brother and my husband. I also reserve the right to record anyone and everyone that dances. And then post that video on my blog. (Insert evil laugh here.) You'll have to excuse the quality on the last two videos. I took them with my cell phone.







Rumor has it that my sister in law has a video of my pathetic attempt at dancing on her phone. If that video ever surfaces I promise to post it, just so I can share in the humiliation.

I want something

Adelae's new thing is to constantly tell me "Mommy I need something." As a wonderful and ever patient mother, my response is "What do you need." As a 3 almost 4 year old her answer is ALWAYS "I don't know....something." I'm glad that she's so specific. It's not at all frustrating to run through things like drink, snack, or something to do to only have her reply "Umm.....like what to drink, what to eat, what to do?" Then, because I'm a super patient Mommy, I list all of the drinks we have available, all of the available snacks and anything I can think of for her to do. You would think that something would appeal to her. You know what she does? She cries. Why does she cry? Because apparently none of the things I've spent 10 minutes listing is what she wants. Then she'll inevitably say "I just wanted XYZ." My dear sweet Adelae. If you KNEW what you wanted, why not just ASK for what you wanted? If I dare ask her that question, it causes more hysterics. She'll barely be able to get out "I told you I needed something."
Since I'm so patient this never frustrates me beyond belief. It never ever causes me to go just a little bit loony.
Seriously, it's a good thing she's so adorable.

Let Me Help You

Everyone in my house has been sick forever. Or at least it feels that way. Adelae and Brinna had the flu over Christmas, then Ben got it. I somehow missed the flu, but I wound up with the worst cold in the history of colds. It's not the nasal congestion, the constant runny nose or even the general feeling of blahness that's the worst. It's the darn coughing. I haven't slept in days (or that's how it feels). It seems like everytime I breath, I cough. And cough, and cough some more. As a result, my throat is terribly sore and I'm exhausted. As a result of that, my house is a wreck.

I decided we were picking up today no matter what. I couldn't take the toys, shoes, socks and who knows what else scattered all over the floor. In the midst of picking things up, I had a horrible coughing attack. My sweet Adelae took my hand, led me to the chair, sat me down and said "Mommy, what can I do to make you better? Let me help you." I tell you, my heart just melted. She then proceeded to pick up all of her toys with no complaint. I guess i must be doing something right!