new year, new me.

I know. That is SO cliche.

I promise to post a Christmas post about how we toted Will around from house to house & eventually ended up in our PJ's eating Chinese food. It was epic.

I feel like with the turn of the year, everything magically fell into place. I've always been worried life would start to slow down, the days would drag by. Quite the opposite has happened & I know I owe alot of that to my running up the stairs, try and catch me toddler. (What the HELL happened to baby!!?) School consumed me 2 months after Will was born, the summer was full of swimming, a trip to Hawaii, birthdays, & late night wine-drinking on the new patio set. The Fall came & went with my Algebra class I've put off since my first semester of college (dumbest.idea.ever) & BAM just like that, Will's 2nd Christmas has come & gone.

& folks, thats where we are now. Just as all the seasons bring a change - January brings a new sense of "I can do it." I haven't made any resolutions, as I hope to make this a lifestyle. I'm so happy that my days are consumed with Will, with new friends, new goals, & new things to do. We started gymnastics yesterday with 3 other mommas I've met around the area. It was a blast! Weight Watchers weigh-in was the morning....I switched over to Woodland & sure enough ran into my neighbor who I had briefly ran down one afternoon, but haven't been able to meet up with since. Another huge motivation for keeping up with the meetings. And my half-marathon running group. That starts next week but I feel as though it is going to be a monumental time in my life. I'm blessed to be surronded by great friends, good health, & amazing family.

I can't wait for 2011 & what is holds. RN school? a baby? (I'm NOT pregnant...sheeeeeesh....but if RN school doesn't happen in the Fall...you never know!) Its been a week of nothing but good & I hope its a taste of whats to come.

I'm dreaming of a white { puke } Christmas...

We enjoyed the sounds of the UCC choir & children's choir last night. We sang Christmas carols galore & my heart was so full of happiness having Will right there with me trying to sing. We carried the Christmas festivities over to this morning and made it to the Christmas Parade on Main Street. I like living in a little town, we still have a Main St. & thats about it. The cousins' joined us, I pulled Bailee & Will in the red wagon & we waited for Santa.


This was moments before I picked Will up because he started crying & then proceeded to projectile vomit all over me & the sidewalk. Like the most puke I have ever seen come out of a little human. Poor bubba. It was so awful. He turned white as a ghost. We packed up & headed out. I just got out of the bath & a shower & think I still smell more.
I hope we don't have a repeat when we go visit Santa later this week!

Merry Christmas!!

I had to share our amazing Christmas card from Shutterfly! I LOVE Shutterfly!!!
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Merry And Bright Christmas Card

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a vent of sorts.

I should be beaming, through the roof: Will sleeps from 7-7 consitantly, one thing I thought I would never count on. But I'm in a rut. I lost it at Crossfit this morning. 4 minutes into our workout & I started crying. Whaaaat? I promptly sat on a stack of weights with my knee throbbing after every thurster & burpee I tried to do. Just when I get in the grove of things, thinking I CAN really do this running thing, I get shoved on the ground. 1 step forward, 2 steps back. & want to know how I did it?

an 'effing HANDSTAND. Well more than one, you see I got a little cocky & started doing them anywhere, anytime. (This was right after we got back from Mermaids for dinner at my parents house...I even took pictures off the wall so I'd have room = )
Anyways, I needed to blow off some steam. I can't run now, had to back out of the CIM this Sunday. Time heals all, right?

Thankful.

A few days late with the Thanksgiving day post. But I guess that just shows how we are so busy & that means we are constantly surronded by people who love us = )

Turkey Day as awesome this year. I love this time of year. My heart could explode with the love I have for the Fall & Christmas time. We started off the morning with my 10K Run to Feed the Hungry which was awesome! This has been my goal since June & I DID IT! I ran 6.2 miles in 1 hour 7 mins. I had tears in my eyes when I crossed that finish line because for once, I had accomplished something I had set my mind to. It was so invigorating. & I get to do it all over again on Dec. 3 for the California Internation Marathon (running the relay: 5.8 miles!) For a girl who could barely run a mile 4 years ago, this is a huge accomplishment.

We then headed to my father-in-laws BEAUTIFUL house (where we got married) & joined my family & Eric's fam for dinner. (This was after I googled "Is McDonalds open on Thanksgiving?" I was pretty sure those 6.2 miles were going to be the death of me around noon & I hadn't eaten....yes, I ate a cheeseburger = )
Dinner was great, being surronded by the ones we love was even better. I'm sure the highlight of everyone's night was when I got my camera out to take a picture of everyone at the table & went to sit in the circa-1800's antique chair which had a pillow on top, but no bottom & fell right through = ) But thats what family is there for: to laugh with you, not at you!

Its amazing to think that last year I had a 3 week old & this year I had a toddler crawling & walking & hanging from the foosball table. Time is so precious & for that, I am thankful.

all the fun things Will says

A much needed update on what Will does & says! So Will's favorite word is "Ball." Hands down. He does use it only when appropriate though. For intance, we were walking past a trunk that had a huge bag full of soccer balls (think circa 1990's AYSO) & he shouts "Ball," well it sounds more like "Baaaaaaa," but I'd like to point out that a it is NOT the same sound a sheep makes according to Will. He will tell you what an elephant, duck & horse sounds like. The horse is my favorite. I was frantically making dinner to a screaming babe when I said, "Just hold your horses," & without skipping a beat I hear Will's horse-clicking sound. I almost peed my pants. Sunday morning I came downstairs and Eric & Will were watching Horsepower TV on the Speed Channel, I picked him up (Will, not Eric) & asked if he had fun watching Horsepower TV not even thinking about it, & sure enough, I got the clicking sound!! It makes me melt everytime knowing that what I've said to him has rubbed off & his little brain is working! Per Eric's request Will can make the sound of a racecar. Another favorite is whenever he sees himself in a picture or sees another baby, he says "Baby," which sounds a little more like "baba." He will walk up to Eric's laptop, point & shout, "baby!" (Maybe he's indicating he wants a sibling!? I'd like to think so!)

I'm sure I could bore you with more stories of my perfect kid, but I'll leave it to that. Eric dug Rockband out of the closet & has been playing since 6:30. I have some butt to kick!

i think its safe to say...

I have a pregnant mama all the way in Alabama asking for blog updates. talk about motivation because as you know...you don't mess with pregnant ladies = )

I think its safe to say that Will sleeps through the night. so many times before I've posted those exact words & its come to haunt me at 2am. So I've waited to actually make it known to the world. It was literally the night of his 1st birthday. He must of got the memo that he was a big boy now. Well ever since November 2, with the exception of I think 3 times (where I had to change his jammies because he soaked through) he's slept 7pm-7am. I'm so thankful because alot of you know what an awful sleeper we've had. I kept thinking oh he'll STTN when he's 4 months, then it was 6 months, 9 months. By then I'd given up! But you've never met an adult who wakes up in the middle of the night for a milk bottle, right?! I wasn't into letting his cry it out....he sleeps well, he just would get up for a bottle. I realized around 9 months I could keep a can of formula upstairs & use the sink to make a bottle (yeah it took me that long!) Last week I finished the last can of formula upstairs & have yet to buy a new one because he hasn't been eating in the middle of the night. Thank you Lord!!!!!

Will is almost walking! SO exciting as I think of all the fun places we can go without having to worry about crawling on the yucky floor. He's taken 6 or 7 steps by himself & is getting more confident. I'd like to think by Christmas we will have a walker. Thats about all the exciting updates on him but I'll leave you with a few of my favorite pictures from our session on his 1st Birthday! Enjoy.

so much more than a baby book

At this rate, I think Will's baby book will be done by his 10th birthday. I thought I'd scrapbook every moment: first smile, tooth, crawling, words. I should of re-evaulated when I failed to scrapbook a single page of our wedding. **sigh** Blair, over at Heir to Blair had bought a baby book for her son. It was a more fill in the blank type of thing. I thought about it & decided I would be a loyal scrapbooker. Ladies & gentlemen, I have 3 pages of Will's scrapbook completed to date: The day we found out we were pregnant complete with a picture of my pregnancy tests, another page of ultrasounds & then my baby shower. Thats it. As most mama's know, time is precious. WELL I finally gave in & ordered my Baby Book from Edna Mae & I'm truly IN LOVE. This will be my go-to baby gift for new moms. I think its so important to be able to document all of those memories but also have a stylish, scrapbook-like look. You are able to add pictures & all that fun scrapbook stuff but the pages are beautifully detailed with inscriptions & have a fun print. I got the Chocolate book with the Modern boy page design. Thank you Edna Mae for such a great product!

just call me martha (or paula or ree)

I know I'm a week early, but I just put my very first Turkey in the oven....actually Will was the first turkey in my oven *bwwhahaha* (I couldn't resist sorry.) Despite cheating by using a Reynolds oven bag, Pepperide Farms stuffing, canned cranberry sauce & having my momma make sweet potato pie, I think its going to be an epic meal. My girls group, a group of 7 of us that have been good friends have set aside a day a month for girl time - free of whining babies & husbands alike. I asked Eric why he didn't get together with his buddies & do a Thanksgiving guys' night, the response: "OH yeah Jason I'll be sure to bring the green bean casserole." I guess it just doesn't work with a group of guys who lives' revolve around surges of testorone via tractors, race cars, & Playboy. Anyway, can't wait to share this relaxing Thursday night with the girls & enjoy some good cooking.

I'm excited for the upcoming seasons. Thanksgiving kicks it off next week: while you are sleeping in, I'll be lacing up my hot pink running shoes, shoving my thunder thighs into running tights (remember, its like running naked) & heading to Sacramento to run in the 17th Annual Run to Feed the Hungry - along with 60,000 people who wear turkeys' on their head. My sister and I set the goal of running the 10K this year which is 6.2 miles so I feel as though it will be well deserved to induldge later that afternoon. I informed Eric that we would be putting up the Christmas tree up on Friday after Thanksgiving. He was excited to get the lawn decor & Christmas lights up because our neighbors down the street started last week. He told me there will be a complete Santa scene on our roof (SO tacky) but whatever. This is coming from the guy who lent his buddy a generator when the power went out over our entire town just so he could keep his Christmas lights on. (You could see a glow halfway across town of their house, it was quite a site)

LOVE Shutterfly!

Christmas is coming!! You know what that means....the enfamous Christmas card plastered with my freaking adorable son. Well SHUTTERFLY...I love you. Last year we sent out Will's birth announcement from Shutterfly. You can't go wrong with them. Excellent customer service & you can even pick up prints at Target. This summer, Jamee & I made a slideshow DVD for big Will when he left for West Point. Shutterfly provided an excellent template & fun music & was here in 2 days. I think everyone cried.

Since there are about 800 different designs to choose from for Christmas cards, I need to start picking now...& SO DO YOU!! I might use THIS, or MAYBE THIS, ooooohhh but I LOVE THIS TOO!

Go check out all the the beautiful designs for yourself HERE.

Wow this made me realize that I really have NO idea which design I'm going to use...decisions, decisions!

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One more reason to love Shutterfly!!!

my favorite day.

So this is what a 1 year old looks like! (Thank you to Michelle from Moments to Remember!)

Will is one. It has a rhyme to it doesn't it? If you were to ask me about the best day of my entire life, it would be the day Will was born. My wedding went right out the window on November 2 (sorry honey!) I could tell you play by play exactly what happened that sunny, crisp Monday morning (but I won't.) I'll leave you with my life was changed forever, in the best possible way.

We celebrated this past Tuesday with our family. It was a beatiful day. We jetted up to Yuba City where Michelle from Moments to Remember Photography captured our little family. I love knowing that when I look back on these pictures, I will be able to recall that day so well. It's funny how pictures can tell such a story. Both of our families came over for dinner & "dirt" for dessert on his real birthday. The grandparents were beyond generous & our house is turned upside down with toys. I think we might need to buy another house just for Will. Yesterday was party day & had all of our closest family & friends over. It was soooo much fun. I cannot thank everyone enough for celebrating with us!

eat. run. love.

I've never been a runner. I cringed since 6th grade at the thought of running. I got out of PE by befriending all my teachers. Then I weighed 220lbs. WOW. (cannot believe I just wrote that!) Okay I didn't really weight 220 - Will weighed 10lbs. of that. & by the time I left the hospital I was 190. & I stayed there until September. I've been doing Crossfit at DAC since April & LOVE IT. But the scale wasn't showing me the love. I knew it was my eating. I still had the mentality that I could eat anything I wanted whenever I wanted (& let me tell you that will NOT be my mantra for my next pregnancies)Show I started Weight Watchers. I lost 8lbs. That was a start. But do I really need middle-aged ladies pointing a finger at me when I gained .4 of a pound? Its definitly un-motivational. Not to mention dropping $40 to step on a scale for 3 seconds 1x/week? I decided to try on my own & have been pretty successful since quitting Weight Watchers. I started at 190, I'm now at 176. I was 172lb. when I got pregnant. We are makin' progress folks. K, now back to running. I still suck at it. But I really enjoy it. Crossfit helps with my running & running helps with my Crossfit. I ran the farthest I've ever run last week: 4.5 miles. My goal is a 10K on Thanksgiving morning & then a leg of the CIM Marathon which will be about 7 miles. Next year I want to run the Nike Women's Half Marathon in SF. Its fun to meet & surpass these goals & I love seeing the results on my body.

pumpkin patch.

Let me give you a little background on our luck. We re-scheduled our engagement pictures twice because of the rain & then it ended up raining on the day we picked, but we stuck it out. 2 days before our wedding we had the worst thunder & lightning storm N.California as seen in years. The morning of our wedding it was cloudy but somehow by 4pm the sun we peaking through. We decided to take our nephew to the Rivercats game & it POURED - in the middle of September, don't think its rained since. & most recently: we decided to head to the Pumpkin patch on Sunday. You guessed it: it rained = )

It was a lot of fun though. We met up (for about 4 minutes!) with Laryssa & baby Jack. This was not the way I had envisioned this post to go, but I had to as I came across these pictures! Laryssa & I have a bond that is so awesome from sharing our first pregnancy together. It was amazing to share the entire journey of starting to wear maternity jeans, to first kicks, to eating 4 pieces of chocolate cake at a wedding, to waddling around downtown Davis about to pop!




The pumpkin patch never seems to fail me, even if its raining. I think a make-up day is in order so we can stay a little longer!

& this coming weekend we have Will's first birthday pictures. outside. & its supposed to rain.

milk(shake) drunk.

I don't get a whole lot of "me" time. I kind of threw the towel in the day we got home from the hospital. We are constantly on the go. School, gym, MOPS, playdates, Grammys. The days cosume me & before you know it, its 7:15pm. I love our hectic life because it reminds me how we are constantly surronded by friends & family. The list of to-do's is constant around here: cleaning, laundry, picking up, dishes. I really enjoy my role as a stay at home mom, because I have some sick form of OCD where everything has to be perfect before I go to bed. But last night, I didn't do a thing. I sat. Completly mindless. Watched House. I knew Will wouldn't make a peep. Eric even went to In-N-Out for me & got a chocolate milkshake (I had two fillings & my mouth hurt!) & maybe some french fries.....
It was so nice letting go, leaving the house a disaster, taking a moment (or 2 hours) for myself. Just what I needed.

Now off to clean our entire house = )

doula.

I like these one-named posts.

Okay so I didn't want to jinx myself & write about this last week. But I'm ECSTATIC to say I can write about it now! This is ALMOST as cool as getting accepted into a RN program.

The hospital here in town has a top-notch Birthing Center. After Will was born, I have not gone a day I don't think about my birth story. & of course the hospital plays a HUGE role it that. I started volunteering there once a week: pretty simple stuff - filing, making charts, tearing down charts, delivering food trays, running specimens to the lab, etc. I loved it, but my heart was behind those closed doors where you can hear the vague screams of laboring moms. My sympathy for their pain, my joy for what their lives' were about to come. The unit secretary had told me I should look into the volunteer doula program if I wanted to be behind those doors. Coincidentally enough, American River was offering a 4 day intensive workshop through DONA (Doulas of N. America). So back in June I went to the workshop & loved every minute of it. I loved hearing that your birth can have a profound impact on your life forever & that I really wasn't crazy because I thought about November 2 every day since. A doula is a person who recognizes & respects everything about birth and recognize that this is going to be a key experience in a mother's life.

So the hospital here has a volunteer program like I said. I e-mailed the coordinators thinking, "shoot who wants to be a doula, it can't be that popular." Well apparently close to 100 people were interested in 20 spots. So when the application came this is a tiny bit of what I wrote:

I want to be a doula because I believe that every women should have a strong support system behind her during labor. Whether I am the key labor support person for a laboring mom or I am a warm body in the room to provide encouragement & reassurance to Dad, as a doula, I can make a women's labor a positive experience. I feel as though I was extrememly mis-informed on what a doula was when I was pregnant. I envisioned a 60 -something Jewish women chanting to me while I screamed for an epidural. I'm often told I have an old soul, but being 23, I feel as though there is a younger group of women who need to be informed about the support a doula can provide. I know I cannot pick & choose the moms I work with, but I think I bring a breath of fresh air & can provide excellent physical, mental, & informational support for the parents-to-be.

Well apparently they liked my shout-out to the 60 year old Jewish women because I just learned today that I was one of the 20 picked!!!!!

More to come...I have a sleepy head waking up = )

bar.

I swear this is not a fair represenatation of our life.

Last Friday I went out with Kaeley & the sissy Rosalind. It was a much needed girls night. We went to PF Changs for dinner & decided to go to a few bars in downtown Sac in hope of finding Kaeley a husband. We wander into Streets of London where I show the bouncer my Visa card instead of my ID & then we head down the street to Hamburger Patties.
I'm not quite sure why this is my luck, but we begin to look around while sitting at the bar in Hamburger Patties and realize that the guys all look gay. The bartenders are practically ignoring us...so weird. So I whip out the iPhone...google "Hamburger Patties," & sure enough I get a review on Yelp about it being one of "Sac's hottest gay bars." Sorry Kaeley.

Ok so fast forward to Saturday morning. Eric, Will & I are sitting on the couch & I begin to tell Eric about out night: "Well we walked into this bar, " & before I can go any farther with the story, Will looks up with his big blue eyes and says, "BAR." Clear as day. Mind you besides babbling constantly & saying Mama when he is tired/needy, this is the first real word. Go figure. I tell my sister in law & in between her laughter, her response is, "You guys are so NOT bar people!!"

So.not.fair. but it sure makes an excellent story = )

kelle.

I want to share with everyone a blog that I adore beyond words. Kelle Hampton writes "Enjoying the Small Things," she is an incredible photographer & always writes the such inspirational blogs. From her daughter Lainey's birthday party to lounging in PJ's all weekend to the birth of her daughter Nella who was born with Down Syndrome & they didn't know, she has such a way with words. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE start here and read this:
Nella's Birth Story.
I don't know whats wrong with if you your not crying tears of happiness afer that = )
After that you can check her daily updated blog at kellehampton(dot)com.

I love reading her blog every night after Will goes to bed. Its become a routine. It brings me back to the important things in life & really makes me cherish every single moment of every single day.

Just thought I'd share with ya'll.

word.

I suck at this blog thing. Its like a I have baby or something. I lay in bed every single night with a flood of ideas to write about & then I sit down at my computer & stare at a blank screen. I finally started putting notes in my handy dandy iPhone 4 so I have a few topics lined up! I suppose to we will start with the inevitable attention whore-ish update of my incredible handsome son. & then we can move on to ME.

Will is 10 months. 10 FREAKING MONTHS OLD. 2 more months & he will no longer be a baby. We will have a toddler on our hands. His toothless smile is no more. I begged him to stay all gums & I would buy him dentures around the age of 3 but he didn't listen. Every morning I walk into his room & stare at piercing blue eyes has he jumps up & down in his crib & realize my little baby is growing into this handsome little boy! He is still as sweet as can be with quite a voice. He loves screaming at the top of his lungs just because he can. He sqawks "mamamamamamamamamama" whenever he wants something & his favorite food is bananas. Did I mention he crawls? Everywhere? He is a crawling machine. He really only likes to play with things that are not his toys like the cabinents, vaacum cleaner, the outlets, the bookcase, the TV clickers - the norm. My life literally changed in a matter of 2 hours when he figuredo out to move those legs. Its so fun wathcing him conquer new things...this is probably my favorite stage so far. Its so fun to watch how proud he is of himself.

As for myself, I currently have a sore throat & nasty dry cough because the newly graduated high school seniors in my beginning Algebra class (graduation requirement, FML) egged on the highly austistic kid (bless his heart) to blow the chalk off the overhead & slam the erasers together during our 5 minute break. & guess who sits in the front row?
I applied to two RN programs last week & have to wait until November to find out if I was one of the lucky 30 students out of 2000. I sat on my couch & hugged my applications for about 10 minutes while I had a long talk with God. I then proceeded to kiss them before heading to the post office where I begged the postmaster to put an extra stamp on for goodluck (he told me I needed to trust his scale) Anyways cross any body part you can & pray I don't have to wait 3 years to get accepted!

I have a new current obession: running tights. Yeah I know I'm fat but it feels like you are running naked. & I LOVE it. I'm trying to get this running thing under control. Will & I go about 3x/ week. I'm hoping to run a 10K on Thanksgiving morning: next will be a half-marathon (ya right).

I promise to be a better blogger. More to come this week. xoxoxo.

my first mother's day

Its been a great day so far & I'm thouroughly enjoying all aspects of being a mommy. I woke up at 7am, not to screaming, but to a Starbucks Mocha on my nightstand. (which was followed by giggles as I jumped in the shower) Next I was able to see some adorable new babies at the Birthing Center. I headed home & just left the nail salon with my sister-in-law for a much needed pedicure as I approach upon my last 3 days of school!!

rough nights & even rougher mornings.

Will was up every.single.hour last night. This is one tired momma. I have no idea what is going on. He is such an inconsistant sleeper. I cannot wait for school to be done so we can keep up with a regular schedule & he can have the comfort of routine. Without looking in mirror this morning, I buckled Will in the carseat & hopped in the car & drove all the way to drive-thru Starbucks in Davis. Simple laziness - yet well deserved.