Labor Day 2012

We enjoyed a very quite Labor Day weekend.  Mackenzy and I went to the pool twice and on Labor Day I took her to the playground because she kept asking to go play and ride in her jogging stroller.  We weren't outside long because it was extremely hot and poor Mackenzy was sweating and turning read.  While I was gathering all of our stuff so we could head back home, my little stinker stole my popcorn!  I can't blame her, it was really good!

 



Our Dishwasher

Nicholas makes a great dishwasher!  It makes him so happy!  On this particular day, he got rid of all the chicken juice on my plate before I loaded the dishwasher.  Who needs to pre-rinse when you have a doggy!



The. Popsicle.

"Hi Everyone!  Mommy finally bought me a helmet and it has Dora on it!!!  When she brought it home, I put it on and wore it all  day!

 





 Later on we went to Mimi's house.  When we got there, "J" was sleeping.  Shhh... tiptoe... he's taking a nap.

 

When he woke up, he saw my new helmet and witnessed me devour Mimi's popsicle.  All while still wearing my helmet...

 

That popsicle was DELICIOUS!  You should go ask you Mimi to get you a popsicle too!"

 

Say Cheese!

Silly Faces

Beach Trip 2012!



This years beach trip was fantastic and much deserved!  We drove down to the beach with no whining from Mackenzy thanks to her early birthday present from my mom- an iPod Touch.  Yes our 2 year old has an iPod touch...  She was very happy as you can see watching her movies and playing her games and even stopped to pose for a picture!

 



 

Unfortunately, all of the excitement meant that Mackenzy didn't take a nap.  All.  Day.  Long.  Which lead to a hysterical, crazy, toddler that became NUTS as the day went on.

 

I wasn't able to capture the essence of her complete meltdown, but she screamed in the car after dinner and all the way back to the hotel for about 1.5 hours.  When I asked her if she was sleepy she would say yes and scream some more!  Luckily after sleeping about 14 hours that night she woke up a much happier child and all was good!

 

While she slept, we enjoyed the beautiful from all of our 3 balconies!  The hotel room had 3 bedrooms and was bigger than our first apartment!  I could definitely get used to that view every day!

 

The good thing about being behind the camera is that you can't have your picture taken while in the pool!  Mackenzy enjoyed her morning swim with Daddy and Mimi!

 

Here's my mom doing water aerobics in the pool!  We all managed to work out at least twice while on our vacation in addition to all of our shopping.

Making macaroni and cheese in the pool.  The pool deck on the outside was very slippery and poor Mackenzy couldn't keep her balance.  After slipping about 5 times in 5 minutes we decided to stay inside and she wasn't allowed to move without one of us holding her hand.  That deck was a law suit waiting to happen...

 

"Hey Mommy...  Can I ride the cow???"

 

"Thanks Mommy!"

Ray even took her to "ride the horsies!  She was very excited!  Ray's such a good daddy!

 

We also went to Wonder Works, which I highly recommend by the way.  Mackenzy loved most of it but was a little scared of some of the exhibits because they were loud, and for some reason it was very crowded that day...  Anyway, her favorite floor was the space floor.  Maybe she'll be an astronaut!

Ready for School!

I got her a new napmat for school.  She had to try it out!  I think it's a keeper!

 



CrossFit: My New Obsession

As some of you may know I did gymnastics when I was younger for roughly 10 years. I was a beast and a pretty decent gymnast. My nickname was diesel in high school because I was so muscular and I've been told by my husband that he was afraid of me in high school because I was so muscular.

I was always a little self conscious of my muscles because people pointed them out everywhere I went. When my gymnastics career ended I was on a mission to get rid of my muscles and just do cardio because I was sure they would go away... 

 

Boy was I wrong! As I've gotten older, become a wife and mother, worked full time, and started school again, my workout routine has suffered. My shape has gone through several transformations over the years, but my muscular physique is still there, even though I never did weights.

A few months ago, I looked at myself and realized I need to get back in shape so I could feel like myself again. After I lost 13lbs, the first thing I though was, "I wish they had a class that just offered gymnastics conditioning." Ironically, the workouts I hated when I was younger, I was suddenly longing for. Within a week or so, I saw a clip about CrossFit on the news and watched the CrossFit games on ESPN and I was hooked! I had to start CrossFit.

So you're probably asking, "What on earth is CrossFit?". You can read about it here or you can just watch a video below.

 

So now that I've been blessed with a flexible schedule and a heightened self awareness thanks to the Center for Creative Leadership, I've joined College Hill CrossFit and become a CrossFitter!  I'm back to working out at my box (aka gym) and enjoying every minute of it (except for the running...).  Everyone there pushes me much harder than I would ever push myself and when I walk through those doors it reminds me of the time I spent in the gym doing gymnastics.

I admit, I've been talking about CrossFit an awful lot lately but that's a good thing right!  It means I'm enjoying myself.  Ray says I'm obsessed but I disagree.  I love going there because the workouts are different every day, they don't involve weight machines (which I hate) and they aren't taught be poorly trained instructors.  Everyone that does CrossFit is there because they want to be there and they continue to come back despite the pain. 

CrossFit is a way of life, not an obsession.

Me after a Saturday workout.  Still smiling.  And yes that is sweat!

 

NC Tax Free Weekend

I've been whining (yes I'll admit to that) all summer about wanted an iPad.  My biggest pleas might have been "An iPad would fit so nicely in my backpack!" and "If I had an iPad I could take it on conferences with me instead of my big laptop."

 

Well one early morning, Mackenzy and I stood in the long Apple store line to purchase my iPad.

 

One hour later, I walked out with my lovely iPad and pink cover!  The people in the Apple Store were amazing and I've decided that we will eventually become an Apple family!

 

 

And for the record, my iPad does fit nicely in my bookbag and I've enjoyed having it for note taking in class! :)

New Bed!

Happy (early) Birthday Mackenzy!

 

It's hard to believe that in 2 short weeks our little girl will be 3 years old!    She's getting so big and very tall!  She's roughly 38 inches tall and weighs around 28lbs now, but we'll have the official stats at her 3 year check up at the end of the month.  With her being so tall and skinny, we've not only had to buy 4T dresses for school (she starts pre-school in 2 weeks as well!), but we had to get her a new bed! 

 

While she kept Nana and Pop Pop company, Ray and I drove down to IKEA to pick up her bed which I put together all by myself the next day!!!  She loves her new bed and her freshly painted room (it's a pale yellow) especially the tent.  When she gets older we'll flip it over so she can sleep in the loft.

 



We went to check on her that night to see how she was sleeping because we didn't buy a rail for this bed.  I envisioned her rolling out of her bed on the first night and not wanting to sleep in it anymore...  The good news is that when we went to check on her she was still in the bed, but had turned around!  After we repositioned her we put her pillow pets on the floor just in case she rolled off!

Randomness!

Naptime on Mimi's couch... with her favorite blanky (it goes everywhere with us...)

 



 

Painting is her favorite activity to do and it keeps her busy while I'm cooking!  Yay for washable paint and scrap paper!

 

Riding the tractor at Sears while waiting for the store to open!