hungry monsters

slurp

gulp

Truth...

This blog is mostly about Ellie and Jack and whatever other random thing I may want to talk about. I've never discussed my exercising or 'diet' (call it whatever you'd like), but thought I would today. Right after Jack was born, I was so exhausted (like most mothers) and just wasn't motivated to consistently work out or really be conscious of what I am eating. I'm really fortunate to work at a company that provides exercise classes and a gym with really nice equipment. We have everything from Boot Camp, Power Yoga, Spinning and Running classes. I thought I would have to do something before work, but realized quickly that getting up at 4:30 working out and then going to work downtown by 7 wasn't realistic. Working out after the kids go to bed isn't either, because by this time I'm exhausted too and just want to watch the Housewifes of somewhere or House Hunters. 

I started a new 'routine' in May and it's been going pretty well. So, my workout classes are during my lunch, usually at 11am or 1pm. I'm taking a Total Body Conditioning class on Mondays/Thursdays. This class is almost all cardio and tabatas for 45 minutes. Then I take an outdoor boot camp on Tuesdays. (SO hard) and a Turbo Kick (all cardio, with crazy turbo spurts built in) on Wednesdays. Fridays are my off days and the weekends are always busy with the kids and doing family things. During the week I try to be good and have cut out a lot of carbs, especially at dinner time. I usually do a basic lunch of turkey, apple, cottage cheese. At night I usually have Chicken or Tofu or a Protein shake. The weekends (including Friday) I am not so strict. I need to be able to enjoy life, so I've decided that the weekends are open :) I'm excited to say I've lost inches (wish I would have measured) and scale weight. I have a goal in my head, but it's mostly about how I feel and how my clothes fit.

Anyways... I was on Pinterest the other day and was browsing the humor section and found some pretty funny ones. These probably shouldn't be funny, but they are for me because they are so true (obviously I'm not a runner) and I love naps.

Thought I would share these....

Jackaroo!

My little Jackaroo is growing, growing and growing! 11 months and 2 days old.

1. Crawls. At speeds of light.
2. Pulls up. On everything.
3. Stands. All the time.
4. Likes the walker so he can plow things over.
5. Eating. A LOT. Stage 3 baby foods, tofu (loves), snack puffs (Ellie likes these too).
6. Drinks whole milk (we started giving him whole milk and yogurt about 3 weeks ago).
7. Drinks from a sippy cup.  Bath water is his favorite (yuck).
8. Has about 10 teeth. I think that's a lot for this age, but he needs them because he likes to eat.
9. Goes to bed around 8:30-9 pm and sleeps until about 7-8 am.
10. Still likes his nukie.

These two crack me up!

ha!

giggles!

Elliana's Hello Kitty Birthday

Ellie's 3rd birthday was a blast! We started out the morning with a balloon filled room and Hello Kitty. Ellie loved it! She was surprised to wake up to decorations in her room and was super excited about all the balloons. I got the balloons the night before at Party City. I had to have my dad come and pick me up in the mini van in order to get them home.  I'm not sure what I was thinking by trying to fit them in Wendi's two door car. It was pretty funny and embarrassing as we were in the parking lot trying to figure out what we were going to do. Thank god, my dad came to the rescue.

Wendi, my parents and I took Ellie and Jack to Lannon Quarry. We had lunch and relaxed. It was a nice warm day out and Ellie loves playing on the slides. We went in the water a little bit, but not too much.

We celebrated Ellie's birthday party with garlic bread, artichoke/jalepeno dip, pizza, cake and ice cream! Ellie received some really nice gifts. She got her first bike from Nick and I, first earrings from Wendi and Nick, and all the Hello Kitty stuff you can imagine. She loved opening her presents and hearing us sing Happy Birthday to her. Ellie is the sweetest girl every. I love her so much and can't believe she is already 3. Thanks to everyone for making her day so special. 

Good morning Birthday girl!

Surprise!

Jack and Ellie with their new friend, Hello Kitty

Balloons!

More balloons!

Lunch at Lannon Quarry

Ellie's cake

Playing legos

Baby Jack

Nick and his sister Kristi

Jack and Kristi

Nick, Auntie Diane, Dad, Wendi and John

Opening presents

Ellie with her new sunglasses and new earrings

Ellie and her new snow boots

Ellie's new bike

lighting the candles

Blowing out the candles!

yum!

Jack loves ice cream too!

Ellie's new sparkly shoes

Trying to get a family picture (minus Jack)

Such a great day!

Elliana's birthday.

Ellie's birthday was yesterday! More pics to come!

Cupcake

Ellie's school is doing "Christmas in July" this week. So they are doing Christmas things, like making ornaments, exchanging gifts, Christmas crafts etc. Since her birthday is tomorrow I decided to make chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I used this cookie thing that has different tips and it seemed to work ok. The first couple ones turned out really good!  Then I got tired and wasn't as 'perfect' with the swirling. I was up until 11:30 doing these. I guess that's what happens when you decide to do them last minute.  Since Ellie and Nick was sleeping Meeko and I were the only taste testers. We really liked them :)

Nick said she was excited to take them to school this morning!