Family Fun Part 1!

He's a rock star already

The end of July/beginning of August is super busy with family visits and my sweet little baby's BIRTHDAY party. Oh my. How can he be almost one?!

Anyways... Last week my parents (Mimi and Grandfather to Conall) came to visit. We had a great time, and Conall loved all of their attention. He is such a happy and loving baby, and he showers his love on his family, even if he doesn't get to see them that often.  During their stay we went to Avery Island where Tabasco is made, which was a first for us.  Every time my parents visit (or at least in summer when there's not much to do cause it's so stinkin hot) we visit the Tanger Outlet Mall in Gonzales. Conall also got to show off his splashing skills in his baby pool that Dorie got him. We had a great time and look forward to not only his birthday party but Jordan's family (Dorie, Poppy, and Aunt Sarah) coming the next weekend. We're busy, busy!

 

Tabasco peppers

Pretty Buddhist shrine on Jungle Grounds Walk

Conall and Daddy playing with the new toys Mimi and Grandfather got him

I might be a bit crazy (a fitness update)!

I've set myself a new GIGANTIC goal-more than just a 10k (which to me is already is a big goal). For my birthday I bought tickets to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon. Catch that? HALF MARATHON. 
I might be a little crazy.  It's not until February, so I have a long time to train, thank goodness. Last night after I bought the tickets, I ran 3 miles and it was the hardest 3 miles I've ran in a long time. It was all a mental block- how am I going to be able to run 13.1 miles if I can barely run 3??!?!?!  But I have time. And I'll have Jordan running besides me and Disney characters throughout the course to encourage me on.   So I'll probably do more updates about my preparing for this humungous goal. 

This will be me in February!! Well, not quite- I'm definitely not going to be the first one to finish!

But anyways, here are a few stats:

In 10 months I've:

• lost 25.4 pounds
• lost 0.5" around my neck
• lost 1" on my arm
• lost 5.4" around my waist
• lost 5.2" on my hips
• lost 3.2" on my thigh
• lost approximately 5.1% body fat

In addition to that I'm also the strongest I've ever been. I'm strength training three days a week and cardio (running) three days a week. From about February to June I had an off and on again relationship with running. I had nothing really to train for except two 5ks in April and May. So at the end of June I decided to push myself further and train for a 10k. I'm only three weeks into my training, but I've run 3 miles a couple of times now- a feat which I could never have done any other time in my life. I've ALWAYS hated running and could barely do the two laps around the football field in band during high school. I'm still not fast and not in love with the sport, but I do love pushing myself and seeing my body rise to the challenge. I love meeting a goal, and pushing myself to the max to make that goal. So maybe if I'd been better about running the first half of this year, my stats would be a bit different.     

For the first time in a long time, I feel comfortable wearing shorts or being in my bathing suit. My legs are leaning out and I'm more confident in my body mainly because I'm working it hard. If I don't work out for a few days I start to feel lethargic and frumpy. I need to release some energy and have some mommy time apart from Conall (he loves the gym nursery).

I'm not writing this to brag, because A)I'm nowhere near perfect or at my goal weight/fitness level and B)who wants to read a post of someone bragging on themselves? Not me. When I get frustrated with trying to stay healthy, because I'm sure it will happen, I can come here and remind myself of these accomplishments. If I can do this, anyone can. Seriously!

11 months

One more month and my baby will be a year old! Well actually less than a month cause I'm a little late in writing this.

Some quick stats:

Weight: 21lbs
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair: blonde and a lot of it!

Favorite toy: his little car (and his big car too), pretty much anything he can push, especially with wheels.

Food: He's pretty much mainly eating table foods now. For breakfasts he loves pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, mashed bananas. For lunch he likes string cheese, lunch meat, avocado, fruit/veggie puree, crackers, etc. And for dinner he likes chicken, fish, pasta, pizza, sweet potato, mashed potato, broccoli, asparagus and more! Some days he will be picky with eating and only want one type of food, and other days he'll eat anything.

Clothes: Size 12 and a few size 18 (but just in pjs since we have limited size 12 pjs)

Diapers: solid size 4

Sleep: Mostly better. He'll have exceptions with teething or growing but right now it's waking up once a night usually around 11 or so. We're also transitioning to one nap a day. I'm not so excited about that- for some reason I thought toddlers slept through 2 naps a day. Sad reality. 

 Teeth: He is VERY SLOWLY getting his top front teeth in. This is taking forever!

New skills: confidently walking around anything and everything. Opening any drawers and cabinets (that he can) and taking everything out in them. Taking everything off his bookshelf. He used to wave at people with a floppy arm, and now it actually looks like he's waving! He has also started pointing at things.

Words: He talks all the time but the only words he can say are mama, dada (which he says all the time) and baba, which I think might be Piper... not sure.

New experiences: Although not NEW, he went to the beach again, flew to Tulsa on an airplane, and swam in a pool. He went to his first wedding and was only minimally loud. From our trip to Pensacola he got hand, foot, and mouth disease, which could not have been worse for timing. He also got promoted at the church nursery to the toddler class because he's much too active for the baby class now. 

Favorites: Honestly his favorite thing is to get into anything and everything he can. He LOVES water and playing in any water he can (dog bowl, toilet bowl, tub). He still loves his dogs and loves to feed them his food, he thinks that's great (me, not so much). Conall loves to read his books!