15 Months

Charley is 15 months old today...and our poor baby is sick. I am sitting in her room right now writing this post, because I had to do something tonight that I never wanted to do, said I wouldn't do and have done. Put her back to sleep with her milk, yep her sippy cup is in her crib. So I am sitting here typing this waiting for her to be in a deep enough sleep so that I can grab the cup and get it in the fridge without her waking up.

The past 3 days have been tough - Charley has a double ear infection and a bacterial infection. Poor little girl. She has been consistently running a fever around 102-103 in between Motrin doses. So there is about 2 hours out of every 6 where she just wants to be held and to lay on you. Don't get me wrong, there is a part of me that loves every second of that time, since it is now incredibly hard to get her to sit still. But then when she wakes up at 1:45am and won't go back asleep unless her entire body is touching yours at all times, makes for some rough nights. Especially when we have been blessed with a baby that has slept through the night consistently since she was 12 weeks old.

She goes to the Dr tomorrow for her 15 week check up - I am glad for that, because I am not sure if the antibiotics are working, so hopefully the Dr can give me some incite on that. Also I am excited to hear about how she is growing. I also want to talk to the Dr about the things that will be coming up, potty training (I have been talking with Midwest Mommy about this and she has me very hopeful about the ease of potty training, I hope Charley agrees!) and I also want to find out if the Dr thinks the ear infection was caused by the swimming pool (I really hope not or this is going to be a VERY long summer!)

There hasn't been much going on here this week other then taking care of Miss Charley, which is our A number one top priority. I have only been to work one day this week and I think I am more exhausted then ever. Having a sick baby is HARD WORK.

Our long weekend was amazing! It consisted of the 1st day of the pool being open, Charley's photo shoot!! (more to come on this later!), my cousins son's tball game, a 5 mile run with Kath, Matt, Roni, Abbie and Alyssa around the Harbor, , another trip back to the pool on Memorial Day aka free guest day, where Roni, the Toddler and the Husband came along with my best friend/Charley's best Aunt and a trip to the park/creek with Roni and the Toddler. It was a fun filled weekend that I didn't want to end. Though we have many a weekend coming up with exciting and fun things planned...so on to the next one :)

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend...

Charley at the t-ball game...

Charley's 1st day at the pool for the summer...and she LOVES IT!! We think she is addicted to the water slide!! :) (Though there are no pictures of that since one of us has to make sure she gets up the stairs and one of us has to catch her at the bottom!! One day I'll get someone to take a pic!)

My new favorite picture of my 2 favorite people at the park...

Roni and the Toddler at the park...

Charley thinks the Toddler is hilarious!!! And he loves making her laugh!

She was so excited she could walk across this bridge!

Another Favorite...

Here is the picture from our run on Sunday - Jimmy and Charley came along and they along with Matt lead the run while us girls chatted behind them :)


Roni, Charley and I went for a nice short 3 mile run today in sauna like heat - it was a great run (well until Miss Charley had enough of the jogger with about 1/4 of a mile left) I haven't looked at my Nike+ yet, but I am sure we ran the fastest mile last, as there is nothing more motivating then a screaming kid to get you to run fast to the finish! We ran past Roni's new house - well what is of it since they have broken ground, which is a fenced off lot with some gravel :) So excited that she will be living closer, more runs, more play time for Charley and the Toddler and hopefully more adult dinner dates!

Go visit Roni's site and wish her luck on her first ever 1/2 marathon this weekend!! She is going to kick some serious butt in the Zooma 1/2 in Annapolis on Sunday!!

Alright, I think Charley is knocked out enough that I can steal the bottle and make a run for our bed...please, please, please don't wake up little girl...you and Mommy both need some sleep!!

I'll be back tomorrow (naps pending) to post my Mamarazzi's Swap Photos!!

Night all...

I want these shoes for Charley!!

Amy over at Swag Studio is having a contest for a pair of handmade adorable shoes from Ivory and Moss!! I want to win these for Charley's feet!!

Catch up...

Well where to begin...how about some bullets!!

• The weather here has been GORGEOUS all week!! I am in heaven. I went for a run on Tuesday outside a nice 4.5 miles - it was great. Not speedy, but wonderful. I am going to go for another one today! I can't wait!! Then on Sunday I am meeting up with Kath and Roni and some other Baltimore area bloggers for a 4-5 mile run around the Harbor - it should be great
• It's a 3 day weekend!! Yeah!! Then next week I only work 2 days! :) Now I just hope the weather keeps up...because
• THE POOL OPENS TOMORROW!! My parents gifted us with a membership to the local pool this summer! I can't wait! Not only is it a pool, but they have a water slide, baby pool, huge sand pit/playground, a water mat spray thingy, lily pad walk, tennis courts and new for this year...a FOUR SQUARE COURT!! We used to play Four Square in the parking lot of our townhouses in college...it is so much fun!! I can't wait to take Charley there on my days off and to go there as a family on the weekends! Oh...and train for my up coming triathlons!! :)
• Weigh in tomorrow IS.NOT.GOING.TO.BE.PRETTY. I had 3 nights of eating out this week and though I made good choices my body hasn't been liking it. I have also been lifting weights a lot more to tone up too - so that hasn't been helping. Though today I am wearing size TEN Gap jeans :) So I am still feeling good and liking what I am seeing - though I wish I liked the numbers better...oh well can't have everything I guess!
  
• Speaking of lifting weights - I finally got Jimmy to go to a class with me at the gym and he loved it!! We went to body pump - a class where it is geared toward lifting weights. We have been twice now and plan on doing it 2 days a week from here on out. :)
  
• Ms. Charley had a fall on Tuesday morning - she is a-ok though. She is one tough cookie!! Hopefully her 2 little bruises won't show up in...
• Her photo shoot pictures tomorrow!! I am SO EXCITED!! One of my best friends from home gave Charley a photo shoot with a professional photographer at home in DE for her 1st birthday!! We were supposed to go last weekend (pre-bruises) but it rained...so we are on for tomorrow morning at 10am!! I can't wait, because now Charley is walking and moving around, so he should get some great pics! Plus I want a new family picture too! I got Charley this uber-cute dress to wear and flip flops!! (with straps...don't want to challenge her new walking legs too much!) Hopefully he will give me some pics that I can post on here!! So stay tuned!
• Tomorrow before the photo shoot we are going to one of my favorite little boy's t-ball games! I went last year and took some pictures of him and my cousin (his mom) has requested some more pictures...I love taking pictures!! I wish I could do that as a living...hmmm... I can't wait to see him play - he is pretty awesome for a 6 year old!!
• So Saturday is pretty packed for us...then we have no plans on Sunday or Monday :) We have tons we'd like to get done around the house...but we might just spend those days relaxing at the pool!
  

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! Be safe and enjoy your family and friends!!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year was GREAT!

Just like last year we spent it at the beach (except last year we stayed there all weekend - this year we had too much going on the day before). It was a surprise that we were going there - Jimmy told me he had plans but wouldn't tell me what they were until that morning.

He was too cute - he woke me up REALLY EARLY to tell me that there was a card on my nightstand - it was from Charley and was SO CUTE. It told me we would be going to the beach!! So excited...I LOVE THE BEACH! Then after that surprise - Jimmy gave me a card from him with $$ in it to buy me some new skinny clothes (as he called them) :) Could it get any better!!

Though he did put a stipulation on me getting rid of all my too big clothes that I have been holding on to for post pregnancy next time. He said for me to get rid of them for good - that if I needed bigger clothes after we have our next baby - we can get them then. Though he said since I will be so much smaller before we have our 2nd baby that I shouldn't need bigger clothes after...I hope he is right!!

Here is my little monkey on the beach - she didn't mind the sand on her feet...

But when it came to getting it on her hands...that was a completely different story!!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day...Jimmy loves to (carefully) toss Charley up in the air and she LOVES it...and just look at the blue skies!! Oh and the tongue...this girl always has her tongue out of her mouth...as you can see here and in these older pics at the bottom of the post :) (and there are more tongue pics to follow in an upcoming post!)

Another one of my favorite pictures!! She really is a monkey...she tries to climb on, up and over everything!! She was loving that she was big enough to climb on this bench on the boardwalk and that I'd let her stand on it!! Jimmy was just to the right there...so don't worry!

And she was LOVING the boardwalk...she loves to see birds...and where are there more birds (seagulls) then on the boardwalk...she was in HEAVEN!! :) (Margie...I have a feeling in a few years Charley will be following Nature Girl around picking up wounded birds!!)

Another highlight of the day was taking Charley on her 1st rides!! I wasn't sure how she'd react, but as usual...no emotion! :) She took it all in, looked around and just chilled! I'd have loved to have seen some excitement or emotion - but not like the little boy in the one next to us, who was about Charley's age and screaming!! So I'll take what I can get!! Here we are in the little hot air balloons...

And here she is with Jimmy on the merry-go-round. It is tough to get good pictures of a moving merry-go-round! She held on and even a few times reached forward and patted the horsey :) I love her!! I can't wait to take her on her first real horse/pony!! I am scoping that out for this summer!!

And last but not least...my two most favorite people in the whole world...who made my 2nd Mother's Day just as memorable as my first!! I love them and love this picture!! I hope that spending Mother's Day at the beach is a tradition!! Because that would be great!!

Oh yea...I got lots of great deals at the outlets too!! A bunch of size 10 pants :) and a few shirts!! Now the mission for the weekend...the closet clean out!! I have to say, it will be very nice to be able to look through my closet and have everything fit and be brand new!!

Since this post is delayed from last weekend...and I am writing it at the Honda Dealer while my oil is being changed and tires are getting rotated...I did have my WW meeting this morning and am down 1.6 pounds!! So after a gain of .6 3 weeks ago, and 2 weeks of staying exactly the same...I lost the .6 and another whole pound!! WOO HOO!! Have a great weekend everyone!!

And I hope all my Mommy friends out there had as great of a Mother's Day as I did!!

Some things I have been loving recently…

3 Recipes

White Bean Hummus delish!! No oil required – simple to make – low in points and YUMMY!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chopped green onions** – I left these out in hopes jimmy would try it since he hates green onions!
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame-seed paste)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (19-ounce) can cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 garlic clove, peeled** I used about a ½ - ¼ tsp of the pre chop ped stuff

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor, and process until the mixture is smooth.

CALORIES 108 (30 percent from fat); FAT 3.6g (sat 0.4g, mono 1.2g, poly 1.6g); PROTEIN 5g; CARB 15g; FIBER 2.2g; CHOL 0mg; IRON 2mg; SODIUM 144mg; CALC 48mg

Turkey, Salsa, Rice and Beans!

Our go to lunch…TSRB. So easy to make – makes 6 servings – good for us for 3 lunches each. YUMMY! And has all of things you need in a lunch, protein, whole grains and a little salsa

It is as easy as it sounds to make!!

Ingredients:

-1 package of ground turkey meat (I use lean)

-1 jar of your favorite salsa

-1 package of brown rice (I use the Birds-eye Steam Fresh Brown Rice that takes 4 minutes in the microwave)

-1 can of great northern beans or any kind of beans you would like to use - rinsed and drained

Directions

Brown the Turkey in the skillet until cooked. Mix in the beans, rice and salsa!! :)

KALE CHIPS!!

ok Jeannie over at Points and Pounds talked about these…and I have read about them on KathEats.com too – and I was like YEAH RIGHT – then my WW leader talked about them in our meeting last Saturday – AND we got a bunch of them in our delivery box (more about this later) this week – so since all the signs were pointing toward me trying them AND we had the Kale in the house – I did…AND OH MY!! Just like thin crispy chips!!

And SO EASY TO MAKE! I have had them twice already and want to go to the store to buy some more! I used the directions on Kath's site above - but just sprinkled mine with a little seasoned salt...as I heart seasoned salt :)

Door to Door Organics!

So Jimmy and I were thinking about joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Co-op this summer to get some fresh fruits and veggies. Well I looked into it and it was going to cost us a lot more then we thought (all in one big payment) and they were full for this season, so I wrote it off. Then I read about this company on another blog (sorry right now I can’t remember which one), and looked into it. And we have now been getting our ‘Bitty Box’ for 2 weeks AND I LOVE IT! We get GREAT, GORGEOUS, delicious fresh fruits and veggies every Wednesday and we even get new things to try!

Another reason I liked them, is you pay by the week and can cancel for any weeks you don’t want them, you can get it every other week if you want! Once a month or whatever!! Also – you can put on the list things you don’t want and things you’d like them replaced with!! So since we don’t eat onions, we put on the list NO ONIONS and we get something in place of them every week!

You didn’t have any of these options with the CSA. It is great!! You also get a list of what is going to be in your box on Friday and you have until Monday morning to go online and change or substitute anything in the box! So as of right now I have 2 eggplants in my fridge, because I have no clue what to make with them and we got one each week so far, so if there is an eggplant on the list for next week, I am going to switch it out for something else! If any of you have a good eggplant recipe please pass it on!! (as you can see I added a new 'email me' button to my sidebar...as a wonderful reader pointed out I didn't have my email on here!! Thanks!! Midwest Mommy!) **I just checked my button...and it doesn't work!! If anyone knows how I can fix it please let me know!!**

A New Favorite Cup

My friend turned me on to this cup when we were at her house before we did the Muddy Buddy race. She sells Tupperware and had these cups – she too has lost some weight on WW and tries to get her water in – and I had been slacking in this department, and once she filled me up a cup I have been hooked!!

It keeps your water COLD, has a straw – so I drink more, faster – it doesn’t spill, it fits in my cup holder in my car and Charley LOVES to drink out of it! I had her order me 2 – since they are a little pricey, and a set of small ones for Charley to use.

But…the one that she let me use at her house, was in our car when we went to the Muddy Buddy race, and actually I used the water I had put in there the morning before we left for the race…after the race to clean off the mud!! Then I put the empty cup back in the car…only to find it 2 days after we got home under the front seat! YEAH! So when I get mine from her in a few weeks, I’ll return hers, but until then it is getting A LOT of use!!

1 New Toy

Jimmy bought me a Magic Bullet!! I had been complaining about the clutter on our counters, how we don’t have a lot of space and how I’d like to make smoothies in the mornings – but don’t feel like digging out the whole huge blender and how nice it’d be if we had a small one. Well my wonderful husband went to CostCo the next day on his lunch break and bought me this! The Magic Bullet Deluxe! I LOVE IT! I made my hummus with it – I pureed our salsa with it for the TSRB lunches (since we don't like chunky salsa) and I made smoothies with it!! And have more plans for it in the future…and it takes up like 5 square inches on the back of my counter – or I can put it in its nifty storage bag and pull it out when I need it!

Smoothie Mixes by Yoplait

This must be really new – because I can’t even find a picture of it on Yoplait’s website! I will take a picture of the packet when I get home and post it – though we took the packets out of the big bag and threw that away, but you’ll still get the idea!! We bought them at CostCo – I think it was like $9. And each packet makes 2 smoothies (70 cal per serving) and you just add 1 cup of milk! So it is a piece of cake, is a little sweet (which is how I like my smoothies, I’d usually add a smidge of honey, but you don’t need to with these!!) And yea, it is a little more expensive then buying a bag of frozen fruit – but it is so easy and convenient – that is why I love it!

My Wonderful Friends and Family

For donating to my Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure! I am over $500 now and still counting (and still have a long way to go!). Thank you to all who have donated! And please click on the bar at the top if you would like to make a donation!

Also my team for the walk has had a bake sale for 2 weeks now at my old job to raise money (I used to be an instructor at a school) and we have made over $300 in donations!! The first week I made 2 dozen cupcakes…and we made $100!! Then the next week we made a bunch of stuff and made a killing! So tonight I am making chocolate covered pretzel rods for the sale tomorrow! Hopefully we will have just as much success!!

I'll be back with a 'normal' post soon!! Coming soon...Muddy Buddy Race Recap, Trapeze Lessons and Mother's Day post :) With pictures!!

Hello World are you still there???

Hi It's me Carrie...I used to post here a lot...and the last month or two I have been slacking. Well not slacking in life, but in the blog department. This is not going to be an apology for my lack of posting since life, Charley, Jimmy, the dogs and me come before this blog...and that's that.

So what's new...here I go with the bullets to catch you all up! There won't be any pictures in this post, though I do have a lot to share...but I am at work and don't have my pictures here....so hold on...here we go!!

• Charley is now a walking machine. People kept telling me when I was saying "she isn't walking yet" that one day we'd turn around and she'd be walking all over...well it is true. It used to be, she'd walk from one piece of furniture to the next, only if they were 3 ft apart or less. And it used to be, that if we put her down, standing up, she'd go to the floor and crawl. No more! Now we put her down and she walks to where she wants to go! Yes she still loses her balance quite a bit, but boy oh boy is it scary now...she used to crawl up to me in the kitchen and then pull herself up on my leg, so it would give me a few more seconds to get ready to pick her up...well now she walks right over and wants to be picked up!
• Charley is becoming a talking machine too! I have said this from the very beginning when she used to babble up a storm, that I was afraid for when she could talk because I would never get a word in between her and Jimmy - well here we go. She can say a lot of words now, some more clearer then others. But we have, bye-bye, ba-ba, woof-woof, doggies, please, balloon (which sounds like baboon), roar!!, e-e-e (like what does a monkey say), mama, dada and there are more I am sure, but I can't remember them all now.
  
• Charley loves to wear little clippies in her hair...and for those of you who know me pretty well, I am NOT a girly girl. My Mom used to always tease me that when we had a baby, it would be a girl and she'd be the girlyest girl ever. Just because I never wore dresses when I was little, I was always playing with trucks, in the dirt and with the boys. I wanted nothing to do with girly stuff - and I still don't. Charley is far from girly, but boy does she love it when you put a clip in her hair. I'll try and get a video of it, but she giggles, it is really cute...and she does look quite cute with the clips in her hair. So much so that I am making her a bunch of them :) I do love my arts and crafts! I am actually making her and some of her little friends some stuff this week, so I'll take pictures and get another post up about that soon.
  
• I am taking a day off and heading out of town tonight. My good friend from college had a baby girl (on my birthday!!) and Charley and I are heading up to Connecticut to meet her!! I can't wait!! I missed her baby shower and haven't seen her since her wedding a little under 2 years ago. But here is the part I am worrying about...it is just Charley and I (no biggie there) but it is a 3 1/2 hour drive from my parents (which are an hour away, but we are staying there tonight) and we have to go through NYC to get there!! Eh. So the plan is to leave around 4am and **hopefully** miss the NYC traffic and get to CT by 730-8am. And hope that Charley sleeps most of the way. I can't wait to meet little A and take lots of pictures!!
• I have been sucking in the working out department. Yes I had a race last weekend - the Port to Fort 6k in Baltimore and I kicked butt at that 3.72 miles in 32m 42s (the last time I did it - the year before Charley was born I ran the same race in 35m 15s. And we had the Muddy Buddy race this weekend - which was so much fun!! But it earns an entire post with pictures later. But other then that...the gym...what is that??! We went from going every day and hating if we missed a day, to not going AT ALL in 2 weeks!! AH! And my weight though it has stayed within the same 1lb...is not going DOWN - the way it should be, so after going away these 3 days...it is back on track hard core! Because I have a triathlon to prepare for!! We are also thinking of doing a 7 mile race, I might do another 1/2 and another tri this summer, so I need to get my butt back in gear!!
• Our house - is causing me much stress these days. We have TOO MUCH CRAP. That is what it is, it doesn't have a place and it all needs to go. So once again, after I get back from my trip, it is in FULL FORCE Spring Cleaning mode. Room by room with daily trips to Goodwill and multiple posts on Craigslist, to make our crap someone elses! I'd love to be able to post 'after' photos on here as I have BIG plans for our master bedroom...but I need to convince Jimmy to comply with those - as it requires our handy man and some $$ :)
  
• Rain...usually rain doesn't bother me, but when it should be nice and warm and sunny out and it has been raining for what seems like weeks...I am done with it. I want spring weather, I want family walks with the dogs after work, I want trips to the park on the weekend and some evenings, I want to eat Rita's outside and not in the car!! Just a little sun please!!
• Vacations...are coming up, but not soon enough!! Once plans are made and concrete, I'll fill you all in!!

I think that is all, well that is all that my brain can muster up right now, with the lists of stuff running through it that I need to pack when I get home and need to get done before I leave!! I will be in touch, I am taking my computer with me when I go away and should have time to relax and post some **hopefully** after Charley goes to bed. So here is to 2 posts this week!!

Have a great week!!