Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend spending time as a family and working around the house, both indoors and outdoors!

I was kind of dreading doing the yard work, but I actually enjoyed it! I liked raking the vagrant leaves from last fall and cleaning up the beds of plants around the house. It was fun doing projects with Del, and maybe pride of ownership in our new house has something to do with it as well.

It was great to spend so much time with Nathaniel, too! He is growing up so fast. He loves to be outside, and he played and helped out as we worked in the yard. He’s such a good helper, too! We would ask him to bring us tools or the ball he was playing with, and he would follow our directions. I even asked him to pick up the brown leaves from the grass and put them in the trash can, and he did so for a few minutes! He was easily distracted by birds in the common space behind our house, though. He loves to watch the birds, just like his Grandpa Schiermeyer.

Nathaniel did well without his pacifier for much of the weekend, and he practiced using a spoon at mealtimes. He’s getting pretty good! He uses his left hand most of the time, but he tries using his right hand, too. Now that’s Nathaniel is nearing a year and a half, I want to wean him from the paci and bedtime bottles. I think he’ll be fine without them; I’m the one who will have to cope without a simple solution to Nathaniel’s fussiness!

All in all, it was a wonderful holiday weekend! We got quite a bit of work done and spent a lot of quality time just the three of us.

Happy Mother's Day!

It was indeed a happy Mother’s Day! On Friday, Nathaniel (actually Ms. Kim and Ms. Bailey at daycare) gave me a flower planted in a cup. Then on Saturday, Del made up an excuse to go to Bakers and came home with flowers for me! On Sunday, Del made cinnamon rolls (from scratch) for breakfast, and then we spent the afternoon at the zoo with Del’s family. It was Nathaniel’s first trip to the zoo, and he loved it! It was so fun to watch him looking at all of the animals, taking everything in. When we got home last night, Nathaniel played with me, throwing balls and tackling me. It was such much fun to laugh and play with my little boy!

I am loved!

Last night, Del made a quick trip to the store while I put Nathaniel to bed. When he got home, not only had he bought me ice cream sandwiches and filled my car up with gas, but he also brought me a bouquet of roses! He hasn’t given me flowers since we’ve been married because our cat will eat them. What a nice surprise! After I’ve had a few bad days, it feels wonderful to know that I am loved!

Derailed

I was all set to work hard at losing a pound a week…and then life got hectic and I lost focus. I feel so heavy now, even though I’ve only gained a pound back and have manage to maintain that, even though I haven’t been paying attention to what I put in my mouth. I need to get my head back in the game! I need to refocus and to take two steps forward after my step back this past week.

Proud of Myself & Ready for the Next Step

I feel like I’m finally making some progress on the weight-loss front! While I admit that I’m not doing everything that I can to lose weight, I have made some positive strides over the last month. I’ve been eating out quite a bit because of the move, but I’ve been trying to make healthy choices (though I do break down and have a vanilla shake once in a while!) and to control my portions by planning ahead to eat only half of my sandwich and to take the other half home for another meal.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve felt a difference in my body, and my mom and a gal from church both commented that it looked as though I was losing weight! It feels so good. This week, I haven’t always made good choices, and I can feel it now. I feel bigger and heavier today, and I don’t like it! Now that’s motivation!

Now that I feel I have a handle on eating out, I am ready to move on to preparing healthy meals at home and to beginning to exercise.

My kitchen is almost in working order again after the move, so now I need to set aside time to plan menus and to actually cook the meals I plan. I think this will be challenging at first, because I’ve never really done this before. In the past, I’ve been on my own and haven’t felt the need to cook for only one person. Even though I’ve been married for over 3 years now, I’ve rarely cooked a meal for my husband. I almost feel ashamed, but it worked for us to just put something in the oven or microwave at the last minute when we got home from work. Now that my son is eating table foods, I really want to start cooking meals. I know that it doesn’t work for me to come home from work and put together a meal then, so I have to put my organizational skills to work and plan ahead!

As far as exercise goes, I think my son may actually help me with that. He loves to be outside, and twice this past week, we’ve gone for a walk in our neighborhood after work/daycare! I hope that I can fit regular walks into my schedule…. Correction: I intend to fit regular walks into my schedule as well as to start exercising every morning.

In looking at the weight-loss goals that I set at the beginning of the year, I’m a little behind. I need to lose about a pound a week until Memorial Day to meet my goal. It’s time that I really focus on losing weight so that I can feel confident in my own skin (and less clothing) this summer!

Easter 2009

Easter with Nathaniel was so much fun this year! He became a pro at hunting eggs after five different Easter egg hunts in just over a week.

We kicked off our Easter celebration with an Easter egg hunt in our new neighborhood on Saturday, April 4! The day was cool and windy, but children and parents throughout the neighborhood gathered at the soccer field a block away from our house. This was Nathaniel’s first egg hunt, and he wasn’t sure what was going on. The field was bumpy, so Nathaniel didn’t want to walk around much. In addition, Nathaniel was afraid of the Easter Bunny, clinging onto Daddy’s leg when he came near. Nathaniel did manage to pick up two eggs, though!

At church the next day, the Sunday School teachers held an Easter egg hunt for all of the kids. They separated the youngest ones, so Nathaniel got to hunt for eggs in the preschool room along with his cousin, Alexander. (It’s becoming a tradition to have Sherry, John, and Alexander join us at church for the Easter egg hunt each year.) With more familiar surroundings, Nathaniel seemed to enjoy picking up eggs off of the floor, tables, chairs, and toys. We’re not quite sure if Nathaniel wanted the eggs or if he was just trying to get to the trucks underneath! He had quite a haul of candy, but I’m sure Daddy will be eating most of it.

On Friday, April 10, we went to a birthday party for Evan and Adam Rice (sons of Del’s cousin, Melodie), and with birthdays so close to Easter, an egg hunt was the perfect party game! Nathaniel ventured out onto the grass this time, and he picked up all of the eggs he saw. There were a few pennies in each egg, and Nathaniel liked playing with them as much as the eggs.

On Saturday, April 11, we had Easter with Nathaniel’s Grandpa and Grandma Gust. He got to hunt eggs again, and he was really getting the hang of it by now. He spotted eggs “hidden” on the patio and put them right in his basket. Again, there was money (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters) inside the eggs, and Nathaniel enjoyed playing with the coins as well as the eggs.

Finally, on Easter Sunday, we celebrated with Nathaniel’s Grandpa and Grandma Schiermeyer and Aunt Kelly. We hid a few eggs for Nathaniel in the basement, but that wasn’t enough for him. When he had collected all of the eggs, he kept looking around for more! It was so cute! So after lunch, we hid more eggs for Nathaniel to find. He was so good that he would have a hand on one egg while scanning the room to locate the next one! Again, he wanted more, so we took him upstairs and re-hid the eggs. After he gathered all of the eggs this time, he started to crawl up the stairs. I started laughing and asked him if he thought that the eggs would be hidden for him again if he went back upstairs. Of course, they were, so he had one final Easter egg hunt! Nathaniel found all of the eggs again, even when we made the hunt more challenging. It was so fun to watch his little mind at work!

Nathaniel @ 15 months

My baby is 15 months old today! Time goes by way too quickly. Here's a little bit about Nathaniel at 15 months:


Likes to brush his teeth (hooray for edible toothpaste!), and Mommy’s too!

Has started playing with others at daycare (rather than parallel play).

Likes corn dogs, pancakes, chicken nuggets (sometimes), watermelon, applesauce, Cheerios, crackers, cookies, and ice cream.

Points to indicate what he wants or where he wants to go.

Doesn’t say mama or dada much.

Says “uh oh,” “ah gog [all gone],” and “yeah.”

Says many other things in his own babbling language.

Is scared of the Easter Bunny.

Likes playing with balls, blocks, cars, and books.

Still uses his paci, but does well without it if he can’t see it (out of sight, out of mind).

Still drinks a bottle at bedtime and before naps on the weekends.

Likes chasing and “petting” Yoda, his kitty.

Waves bye-bye sometimes, but not consistently.

Likes to take lids/caps off of things and put them back on.

Walks all over the place, and almost runs at times.

Is learning to walk while holding onto someone’s hand.

Likes to go outside from the front door and back inside through the garage so he can put the button to close the garage door.

Likes to “get” Daddy when Daddy’s lying on the floor by hitting and crawling across Daddy’s stomach.

Plays with the phone, pushing buttons and holding it up to his ear, though at an awkward angle.

Sticks his tongue out and giggles like he’s the funniest boy ever (which he is!).