feelin' good.

Today was a good day.

I got my workout in early-ish.  

(If I get to the Y before noon I consider it a victory now that I have two girls to find a babysitter for.)

This is my second week of this new workout plan I am trying.  So far so good, but I don't like making grand proclamations anymore.  They tend to jinx me.  So let's just say I am taking it one day at a time and thus far I am successful.

After a shower and tidy-up of the house, a good friend from my school days came over.  She has been in Georgia working with refugees since January so it was really nice to catch up with her, and also for her to meet Parker (who turned 7 weeks old on Monday btw).

Haven went down for a nice, long afternoon nap.  Meanwhile, Parker slept on my chest while I watched about three episodes of Bizarre Foods on instant Netflix.

Luke picked up Tasty Tacos for dinner and I gobbled it down.  Every time I watch a cooking show I get ferociously hungry.

When Haven woke up we took a family walk around the neighborhood. Haven rode her trike and I pushed Parker in the stroller.  It was the absolute perfect temperature with a nice breeze.

I decided I wanted to head to a craft store and pick up some things I need for a baby shower I am throwing, but the store was closing.  I plan to go back tomorrow and have a crafty sort of day.  

Actually, there was nothing special about today except for the realization that I made.  Being a mom of two doesn't scare me anymore.  I can do it and I can do it well.  It feels really good to know that.  I will be a great mom.  
Yes sir, I will.  

Visiting Papa's grave on Memorial Day.

    

oh boy.

My little sis, Chelsea, is back from school.  It makes me happy because I have been getting to spend lots and lots of time with her.  She helps me with my girls.  We watch movies.  We go to the gym.  We sit and do nothing - the ultimate test of how comfortable you are with somebody.  

When she came home for Easter she told us she is pregnant.  Not just pregnant, 7 months pregnant.  She is due July 1st and didn't tell us until she was 7 months pregnant.  She was scared of what people would think of her.  She's not married and her boyfriend and her broke up.  I am so grateful at the outpouring of support she has received since making the news public.  It really made me happy because my first instinct when I found out about her pregnancy was to watch out for my little sis.  As in, nobody better be judging her.  But like I said, everybody has been so great.  Thank you so much to those of you who have been so gracious during this time.

All that said, we are so excited to welcome a little boy into the family.  We were pretty sure our family was incapable of producing boys.  My mom had three girls and now I have two girls, so for Chels to have a boy was a big surprise to us.

Now she is 35 weeks pregnant and everything is looking good.  Baby and mommy are measuring right on schedule.  Parker and him are going to be best friends, and only two months apart!

today.

Today is my 24th birthday.

That is all.

baby weight.

I have a very simple question with a very simple answer:

How does one lose weight?  Simple, right?  Diet and exercise.

Why then does this simple question with an obvious answer seem to completely confound the majority of us?  It's not rocket science.  If you eat well and exercise regularly you will achieve the desired physique.  The answer to that question is: Because it sucks.

Monday, Parker turned six weeks old, and yesterday was the first day I was able to exercise full-on since she was born.  I used the treadmill for 20 minutes and then finished with free weights and some sit-ups.  I then headed over to Subway and had a healthy turkey on wheat sub.  We had chicken and steak cabobs, twice-baked potatoes and watermelon for dinner.  I did allow myself one soda because I am trying to cut back but don't want to quit cold turkey and make myself sick.  

So, day one was a success, but day one is always a success.  Day two is usually a success.  Day three is most-often a success.  But I'm worried about days four through infinity.  I always start out strong and then slowly dwindle.  Before I know it I haven't been to the gym in three months.  The real problem for me is this is supposed to be a life-long thing.  I was not raised in a house where my parents regularly worked out.  I was super fit in high school and college due to cheerleading.  When I was a junior in high school I weighed 125 pounds at 5 foot 10 in., because I was literally at cheerleading practice 7 days a week.  As an adult that's extremely difficult - working out just because.  But shouldn't healthiness and a fit body be a good enough reason for me to want to keep at it?  

I heard somebody say that being thin and healthy feels better than any brownie tastes.  I know that's true, so I've just got to make it happen - 10 pounds at a time.  10 pounds is a lot more realistic than saying I want to lose 30 pounds.  So I will go by that.  

I am not going to make any public proclamation that it will happen.  That's just jinxing myself.  I would love to make it happen.  I would be so proud of myself.  But if I claim here and now that it will happen, chances are it won't.

I guess here is to hoping that I can maintain enough will-power and to make exercise a daily habit.  I think I just need to re-read this post if I get discouraged.

hijacked.

It's true. My computer has been hijacked by my 2-and-a-half year old. Since she learned how to use the mousepad a few weeks ago she has been unstoppable. We have Sesame Street and Nickjr.com set as favorites so she can access them herself. Who knows if that was a good idea or not because I haven't used my own laptop for days. All this to say, I've really been wanting to blog but haven't really been able to. I'll do some writing during one of her naps in the next couple days, so stay tuned!!

Love, a blogger disconnected.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

movies i love

There are some movies that are just so good that they never get old.

There are movies that are therapeutic and help you get through hard times.

There are some that make you remember your first love.

And some are just an amazing story that you fall in love with.

Here are some of my favorites and reasons why they made my list.  I probably could have come up with a much bigger list, but I only wanted to put movies that really strike a cord with me.

#1 The Twilight Series

Yes, I know.  You're thinking "stereotypical."  But it's true.  I could watch these movies all day, every day.  I love love love them.  Why do I love them?  I think the idea of remembering your first love is intoxicating.  You remember those feelings of "I can't live without him" and the hormones take over.  Bella is a very typical girl and somebody she considers out of her league falls deeply in love with her.  He is beautiful and of course a vampire.  Stephenie Meyer, the author, did something right.  Girls (and some guys) across the world relate to these characters so well that it has become an international phenomenon.

#2 Titanic

What IS it about this movie?!  This is another one of those movies I could watch about once a week for the rest of my life.  Although this one has a sad ending, the love story is so enticing.  But besides that, I love the outfits, the movie sets, the story line with the old lady telling the story of what happened to her personally.  Just a great movie.  Hands down, one of the best movies of all time.

#3  Harry Potter Series

These movies are magical, literally.  I love everything from the plot to the music to the characters to the sets.  I've read all the books - starting many years ago.  (I was still in high school.)  It's so awesome that there are so many movies and I think every single one gets better, so there's constantly something to look forward to.   My sister and I visited The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando back in August and it was seriously one of the coolest days of my life.  I joked that it rivaled my wedding day.  If you are a HP fan, you MUST go! 

#4 The Notebook

So sweet.  Seriously.  I love the time period.  I love the love story.  I love the innocence of them falling in love.  I HATE when they fight and lose each other.  But I LOVE when they find each other again.  It's perfect.  SO perfect.  I am kind of weird and actually have a hard time watching the sad parts in this movie.  I have seen it so many times that I just kind of skip around to my favorite parts.  And did I mention sexy?

#5 The Count of Monte Cristo

There's a funny story behind this movie.  This is one of the first movies I saw in theaters with my husband.  He really wanted to see it and I was kind of like "ehhhhh...", but I was a good sport and saw it anyway.  Talk about a surprise.  Easily one of the best movies EVER.  If you haven't seen this one, you definitely should.  I remember telling my mom how good it was, and it took her a while to actually sit down and watch it.  But now she loves it so much, she's always telling people to see it.  I don't want to give anything away about the plot... so just watch it and thank me later. 

I actually had a few more on my list, "Shawshank Redemption" and "I am Legend."  But I think this list is pretty perfect how it is.  So I'm not gonna mess with it.

There they are.  Movies I really love.

hopeful.

Have you ever just felt hopeful for your future?

For me a lot is going on to be excited about in a normally repetitive world.  Don't get me wrong, I love being a mommy.  But it can get dull, especially on days where we don't leave the house.

First of all, it's almost summer.  A lot of my friends are coming back to Iowa from their colleges, and that is super exciting to me.  While I love my life, I am often sad that most of my friends have moved away, either because they go to college far away or they moved out of state.  I understand that my friends don't have to stay in Iowa because I settled down at a young age, but I wish I could see them more often.  The winter is especially dull with everybody gone.  So summer coming is very exciting.  Plus, my mom's pool is open.  Yesssss!

My sister isn't going back to Luther College next year and taking a semester (or two, haven't decided for sure) off.  I am so excited to be able to spend a lot of time with her.  She has a lot of life changes coming up and I am happy to help in any way possible.

It's been an interesting couple of years with my mom's cancer.  Ever since her major surgery in January she has been cancer free.  I am so happy that we can hopefully go without chemo treatments ever again!  It was quite a hassle.  Every time she had chemo she had to travel to Mayo in Rochester, MN.  It was annoying, but anything to get rid of the big C.

And obviously, I am looking forward to spending more time with my girls and the rest of my family.  There's not much more exciting to the mother of a new baby than watching her baby learn new things.  The first year of a child's life is so amazing, because they learn and grow so much.  In the last couple of days Parker has tried to mimic me talking.  I say, "Ah-gooooo!" and she works so hard to make a similarly sounding "word."  So stinking cute.  Those little milestones are what make parenting so wonderful.

one month.

One month ago Parker Nicole entered this world.

In a way it seems like yesterday and this was the fastest month in history, but it also seems like forever ago that we packed up and headed to the hospital to begin the induction.

When babies are so little every single second of their life is so precious.  Every single second they see something new and learn something they didn't know before.  They're like a little sponge, literally soaking up every instance.

So, one month later here is my take on being a mother of two.  Obviously it is challenging and you are pulled in many directions.  But if you just breathe and take it one step at a time it is doable.  It is definitely more time-consuming, that is for sure (getting ready for church in the morning is a chore!).  But I also feel like as a second time mom I just was more prepared.  The new baby thing didn't frighten me.  I knew what to expect for the most part.

I've heard people say that the adjustment from one kid to two kids is the biggest, but in my opinion the adjustment from zero to one kid is the biggest adjustment.  You feel like your freedom has been snatched.  You almost feel resentment at times towards this precious little baby.  But at the same time you wouldn't give it up for anything in the entire world.  The second time around you know what's coming.  You say, "Bring it on!"  And you welcome the challenge with open arms.  I love my girls so much.  

The sacrifice is worth it.  

The sleeplessness is no big deal.

The crying fits don't bother me as much.

My girls are worth it.

two thumbs up

Today I was able to go see an afternoon movie with my sister, Chelsea.

We never get to do that so it was exciting enough in itself.  

But we both LOVE Robert Pattinson so it was even more exciting.

Luke took Haven for the afternoon, and Chels and I took Parker with us.  It's so nice that she's still young enough to take to movies.  She was absolutely perfect except for the nice loud toot she let at the beginning during one of the quiet parts.  Oh well, at least our neighbors probably noticed I brought a baby in with me.

Needless to say, we saw "Water for Elephants."  I had heard it was good, but it was even better than I expected.  While it was a love story, I think this movie is something a guy can appreciate as well.  It had a really great story line and wasn't too romantic.

And honestly, who doesn't love R.Pats and Reese?  Swoon.

i wish.

I found the coolest website, Heart and Stone Jewelry.

It is a make-your-own charm necklace website.  They have the most beautiful charms.  You can even get a name or date or initial imprinted on some of the charms, and they are just so unique!  They even have some really neat autism awareness charms, which is perfect for my family as my little sis has autism.  

Well, unfortunately it is a little too cool for my pocketbook.

But here's wishing!

babies & dance.

Today my little Parker girl is three weeks old.

She had her first doctor appointment this afternoon.  It was supposed to be last week but we ended up having to move it because of the death of my hubby's dear Grandma Grace (Haven Grace's namesake).

Parker's birth weight & height:

9lbs. 1.5oz.

20.5 inches long

Parker's weight & height at three weeks old:

10lbs. 9.4oz.

22.5 inches long

Which makes her in the 95th percentile for height AND weight.

I grow big babies.

In Haven news....

She had her first dance pictures yesterday!

trying on her costume for the first time.

applying her own make-up for picture day.

On picture day with our good friend Ashlee who also teaches at Haven's dance studio.