Why I like having a little caboose

Here are some benefits of having a little baby when your kids are older:


I like to tell my kids I had this baby for them........because they think he is there own personal toy. Lucky for me the novelty hasn't worn off yet.

This one likes to feed him




This one volunteers to watch TV with him on the couch while I get ready. Can you see the TV trance that they are both in??


This one likes to take him on walks while I am cooking dinner



This one will even change his outfit and his diaper if requested



These guys love to hold him all the time, except of course when he's fussy or crying or when I really need someone to hold him? Why is it that they all want to hold him during church when he is peacefully sleeping in my arms? Then it's like battle for the baby. Who can get the baby first and wake him up and bug all the people we are sitting by!

What would I do with out my little nannies????!!!!

To cut or not to cut?

To cut or not to cut? That is the question of the hour. Here I am superficially thinking about what to do with my hair. Rather then listen to GW talk on the news about the bail out plan, or stress out about the doom and gloom economy, or watch the stock market make more dramatic drops or worry about how bad all of this is effecting the retirement funds or wonder if my house value could go any further down the toilet, or stress that I am not sure which candidate to vote for in Nov. Those things don't make me happy. So I am going to wonder, debate, worry, stress and ponder about my hair instead.

This is me last summer (with Christian) I am a bob girl. I've had an a line bob most my married life. I have been admiring all the lovely bobs lately. (they are everywhere)

While I was pregnant with baby #4 my hair grew with the help of prenatal vitamins and okay maybe a few hair extensions. I know call me what you want, but this girl has baby fine hair and I needed a little volume okay and some length.

So here is my current length of hair (hopefully the double chin is going away though.....BTW Wednesday weigh in, down another pound this week.)

I like my hair alright, but I find myself putting it in ponytails most of the time unless I actually take the time to style it. And it's a little bit more of upkeep with the extensions. So now do I succumb to the peer pressure of all the darling bobs or do I just keep it long hair for a while?

Sweet September

What do you love about September?

I love the

The cool nights and crisp mornings

Fresh produce, picked off the vine and right off the tree

Heirloom tomatoes and Brown Turkey Figs

Getting out recipes of my favorite fall soups

Kids in school and a little me time

knowing the holidays are just around the corner, but not having to deal yet with all the craziness

The change in the air, even if we don't really get the fall colors here, there is something different in the air

Birthday Girl

Dear Anna,

Happy Birthday!!!! 15 years ago you came into this world with a mop of blond curls on your head and a happy smile on your face. Uncle Markie and I had just been married. We would go over to your mom's house and visit you. It was love at first sight. Sometimes we'd steal you away from your mom and pretend you belonged to us. Even now when you visit us, I like to pretend you are mine. I am grateful to your mom that she has let me share you with her. When your mom named you she stole the name I had always wanted to name my first daughter. As it turns out you are the girl I will never have and I am glad that she gave you that name. It is a name you and I both share. I am proud of the girl you have become. You are smart, artistic, talented, beautiful, funny, kind, loving and a good teenager. Remember those qualities about you, they will take you far in life. I see you holding, watching, loving and playing with my 4 babies and I'm so glad that you are like an older sister to them. You even tease them like a good older sister. It really does seem like last week when I was playing, holding, and loving you as a baby, but here we are 15 years later. We all love you and hope you had a wonderful 15th birthday. Wish we could have been there!

concert

Last night I went on a date with him (minus the baby)


To see these guys in concert:

And it was Heavenly! Adam Levine is a whole lot of eye candy! Okay,maybe I just like them dark and handsome??

Wednesday Weigh In

I am the biggest loser!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I weighed in and I am the first to reach our 10 pound goal. I am pretty excited, but now I am on to the next 10 pounds.... Yes I have at least 10 more pounds to lose. This whole accountalibility to other people is really motivating me. I didn't know I could be so competitive. Wish me luck for the next 10 pounds. It might be a little harder. I notice the closer my body is to my comfortable weight the harder it seems to lose the weight. So it might take a while, but I am still motivated. Off to go spend my prize money........

Holy Nutella

Yesterday I had a run in with the nutella jar. It was not good, I mean it was good, but also very very bad. The boys were playing nicely in the bonus room, Mark and baby were taking naps and suddenly I had an urge that I couldn't shake. Before I could stop myself I had broken my accomplishment of almost 3 weeks of no refined sugar. The after math today is not pretty, I woke up with really bad stomach pains and I am blaming it on the nutella. Which I am sure it is not from the nutella, but perhaps it will make me think twice before I decide to raid the jar. If you've ever had nutella you can relate to the creamy chocolaty deliciousness. I forgot how addicting it is and how it taste good on pretty much anything and everything including: bananas, toast, pretzels, crackers, crepes, pancakes etc. It is a lethal weapon to have in the house when you are trying to lose weight. In fact Mark had just bought like 3 jars of it, because of course why should they all suffer when I am dieting.

Wednesday Weigh In

Today was my Weekly weigh in with my neighbors . We are doing a biggest loser challenge.

I admit it I have never been good with numbers. Luckily I am married to a numbers guy. Especially handy when I was taking college math and needed a tutor. I had my own personal tutor, he pretty much carried me through the whole semester and I got an A. So here is some confusing math for you to compute, maybe you can help me figure it out:

fewer calories each day - refined sugar + healthy food - junk food + 72 laps of swimming + smaller portions - late night snacking and bowls of cereal + increased exercise = 0 pounds lost this week. What is up?? My eyes could not believe themselves. I worked hard this past week. I am not giving up, but I was a little discouraged. I still am the biggest loser so far and I hope to reach my 10 pound goal very soon.

What could it be?? Was it because I was bragging too much last week and boasting about my huge success. Maybe my head was getting to big, thus the no weight loss. Is my body rebelling against me because I am not giving into it's normal cravings of processed foods and refined sugar???? Help!!!!
So I will endure and continue my journey. Want to hear a funny story. I was reading a tabloid magazine the other day and was reading about Jennifer Lopez and I learned a few things that she and I have in common. (besides the millions$$$$) So I said to my neighbor, "Guess what J-Lo and I have in common?" and she responded by saying, "what you are both married to skinny Mark's." I laughed and said no we both need to lose 20 pounds from having babies and both want to do a triathlon.

Nicknames

My name is:

E-boy (the boys name for him)

E-dog (because the boys wanted a dog)

Baby E (don't know why, but it works)

Mr. Smiles (especially cute with his dimple)

Mr. Happy (because he's mostly very content)

Sir poops alot (because he does)

Quattro (spanish? #4)

Missing but found

Someone was missing from our home this week. We had one less mouth to feed, one less carpool to deal with, one less shuttle service to provide, one less happy, helpful, smiling kid hanging around the house.

And this is what I found today after spending 4 days in the mountains at 6th grade Science Camp. One very hot, a little stinky, kind of sweaty, dusty and dirty but extremely happy boy. Welcome Back Christian! We are glad that all went well at camp.

Blind Spots

As I was completing my traffic school online. (which is a really good story how I got my latest and greatest ticket) I noticed there were a lot of questions about blind spots, blind intersections etc. Did you know there is a speed limit for blind intersections? Ya, I didn't either.

It got me thinking about my own blind spots. You know those things you do, but you don't realize. Or those things your kids and spouse do and you just don't seem to see it. Why is it always easier to see other peoples blind spots and not our own? You know what I am talking about. "I can't believe she lets X do that and doesn't she see X. Why the blank does she do blank, doesn't she see what's going on?"

Is it because we don't want to see them or can we truly not see them? And why can everyone else see them? So now I am thinking of my blind spots in life and I guess will try to turn my head around so that I can see them more clearly. Or maybe according to the advertisement above I can get some Scopeout and it will eliminate my blind spots. Wouldn't that be nice?

Wednesday Weigh in....

Wednesday weigh in.... 7 down and 3 more to go before I get my prize money and bragging rights. Although now my one neighbor doesn't want to do it anymore because she isn't having any success. I told her no fair we are in this together and she must continue the journey, that's why we did this in the first place, to push each other and have some good old fashion competition and fun. (was I too harsh??) Oh well, on to my weight lost quest!!!

Monterey for the Day

We took a little day trip to Monterey.

First stop was the Monterey Bay Aquarium but after fighting the crowds we decided to enjoy the beautiful nature outside.

We biked along the coast in a bicycle made for the whole gang.

The boys did boy things like climb on the rocks

and play near the water

And attempt dangerous stunts

And pose for pictures so mom can post them on her blog

And eat lots of fresh seafood and of course no outing is complete without a little ice cream.