7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 38)

Hello! I'm back from a wee blogging break. The break wasn't intentional, it just kinda...happened. At first I was busy getting ready for a trip to Chicago for my adorable little niece's 1st birthday. Then we were there for 6 days. Then I was in recover/return to real-life mode. And by that point I had several ideas for posts and just didn't know where to start. So, today I decided to just dive right in. And what better way to dive back in than with 7 randomly scattered thoughts?

1) It seems that I change Joseph into a new outfit every time he's about to eat (don't ask me why). Then as soon as the meal is over the clean outfit is no longer so clean. You would think I'd learn not to bother changing him until after each of his meals, but I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake...or maybe it's just that I love doing extra laundry.

2) My niece (and Goddaughter!!) had her 1st birthday a couple weeks ago. Joseph and I headed to Chicago for her birthday weekend and had a wonderful time. We really enjoyed visiting with my sister and brother-in-law and their kids. We also got to see my younger sister, Alyse, and my parents as well as a couple of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was great visiting with everyone.
Happy 1st birthday, sweet Clare!!!

3) Speaking of my adorable niece. Check out this video of her....getting around. We have yet to figure out what to call it. It isn't a walk, and it isn't a crawl. And we can't seem to think of a good way to describe what she's doing. If you think of a good name for this please let me know.

4) It's May. You know what that means? It means I'm 1/3 of the way through my New Year's Resolution! That's right, people, I've stuck with my resolution for 4 whole months. How are you doing with your resolution? It's not too late to get back on the bandwagon.
I will say I greatly enjoyed my first day of sweets on Easter day. And (confession) I kinda sorta...adjusted my resolution to include all 8 days of Easter (although I didn't decide that until the last 2 days). So, I got 3 days of sweets instead of just one. And it was mainly so I could eat the delicious cookies I made on Easter day.
But, now I'm back to no sweets until Joseph' birthday. You better believe I'm counting down the days.

5) I've recently begun planning out our meals a week at a time. Before I did this I found myself at the grocery store at least 2-3 times a week (sometimes more). Although I often end up switching around what days we eat what it has gone pretty smoothly for almost a month now. It has been especially useful in planning when to try new recipes. I've been able to try two new recipes so far (thanks Pinterest!) and revive a couple old ones that I haven't used in a while.
I've also been able to cut down on our consumption of spaghetti and breakfast for dinner (not that we don't love those dinners!).
Before I began planning out our meals I would often realize at 6pm that my husband would be home soon and I needed to get crackin' on dinner. This usually meant I hadn't given one teeny tiny thought to what we would be having and thus wouldn't have thawed (or bought) any meat or other ingredients. This meant we were having spaghetti or breakfast for dinner...or if I really couldn't get it together we might order Chinese or grab some Chicken Out. This has only happened once since I began menu planning and that was in the couple days after we got home from Chicago and I hadn't had a chance to go to the grocery store. I am very pleased with how the menu planning in going, and am looking forward to (hopefully) staying this organized.
Perhaps I'll even join in on the Menu Plan Monday linkup one of these days...

6) I still can't get over Joseph's cuteness. He's walking even better now. He can take 10-12 steps at a time and tries to walk pretty much every chance he gets. He definitely wants to be able to walk at all times, so I'm pretty sure he's going to master this whole walking thing soon. Until then, he'll continue crawling and climbing to get where he wants to go...

Nomnom. The dishwasher is my favorite!

What? This drawer wasn't made for babies?

7) Today is my dad's birthday. Happy birthday, dad!!!

Sorry, mom. I realize that's not the best pic of you, but dad and the babies look so cute!

Have a great weekend, ya'll! Go visit Jen at Conversion Diary for more quick takes!

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 37)

1) Will, Joseph and I had a lovely Easter. We went to the early mass at 7:30am and Joseph seemed to enjoy that there were so many people (he's a little ham). We then relaxed throughout the morning - I was in the kitchen cooking and Will and Joseph were playing, relaxing and napping. Then we went to a friend's house early that afternoon for Easter dinner. It was a really nice, relaxing day - a great way to celebrate Easter.

2) Easter was the first time I've had sweets since the new year began. I had the whole day planned out before hand as to what I was going to eat, but when the day finally arrived I was surprised by how little I cared about eating sweets. Sure - I had a chocolate chip pancake for breakfast and I had some dessert after dinner, but my whole plan for the day didn't exactly come through.
But all day I had been wanting a chocolate chip cookie. So, around 9pm I finally decided I was going to make a batch. That cookie was delicious, and, surprisingly, I didn't even care to have more than one. 

3) Joseph fell asleep after nursing one night around 7:30. I didn't want him to sleep too long because bedtime was quickly approaching, so I figured it would be a good time to test and see if he would continue sleeping if I just laid him on the floor....

...yep. The boy just rolled right over and got comfy.


4) Joseph took 4 steps several different times last night. I think that officially makes him a walker. Watch out world - here comes our little guy!
My husband said I was like one of those overbearing parents who keeps saying "try again, again. You can do it. Just one more time." Even when the kid is clearly done trying. I kept having Joseph try so we could get it on video last night, but I think Joseph enjoyed it ;)

5) Giving up Facebook as part of my Lenten sacrifice made me realize how very little I got from it. Going mostly without it (I checked it briefly on Sundays) for 6 weeks brought into focus how much negativity the website could actually bring into my life. I am now trying to keep my Facebook time and interactions to a minimum. I think the main way I've done this so far is to simply hide people who don't enrich my Facebook experience. I have thought about deleting my account altogether, but I do like being able to connect with my family (both immediate and extended) and close friends.

6) Joseph started standing fairly well on his own right around when he turned 9 months old. Here's a picture from our 9 month photo shoot of him standing on his own.

7) Aaaaand I'll end with some cuteness :)

So serious.

Hi, mom!

Why yes, I do enjoy playing with Henry the ceramic (?) dog.

Happy Easter ya'll! Now go visit Jen at Conversion Diary for more quick takes.

New Years Resolution Update #1

It's February 1. That means we're one twelfth of the way through the year and I'm one twelfth of the way done with my new years resolution.
The first couple weeks without sweets were pretty hard, although I'm fairly used to it now. But that doesn't mean that I never crave sweets anymore - it just means I don't crave them many times a day every day anymore. I also think not having any sweets in the house is helping. A lot.
I've already lost about 3 pounds (woohoo!), and I hope to continue to lose weight/inches so I can finally fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. At least I can now get several of my pre-pregnancy pants on (well, my fat pants anyway). They don't exactly fit, but I can get them on. And that's better than where I was a month ago. I'll take what I can get.
I've also been pretty good about exercising a few times a week. Joseph and I are enjoying our swimming class on Fridays, and I meet up with a friend to work out on Tuesdays. I also try to take a walk with Joseph at least one or two times during the week. So, even though exercising wasn't an official part of my new years resolution I have been trying to incorporate more exercise into my weekly routine to help with the "fit back into my pre pregnancy clothes" goal.

How are you doing with your resolution? If you've already derailed, get back on the train - it's not too late!

Are You In?

Happy New Year!! I've decided that I am going to give up sweets for the year 2012. Am I crazy? Maybe. But I've been thinking about it for a while now and I've decided the time is right. It will be good for me both physically and spiritually.
Physically, I'm pretty sure I'll lose some serious poundage. Goal-wise I don't have a particular weight I'm aiming for, but I would like to be able to fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes comfortably. I do plan on keeping track of my weight, but don't want to put too much emphasis on it.
Spiritually, I'm sure I'm going to have to lean on God to make it through the entire year, and hopefully I will get a better grasp on eating in moderation (I am the worst at this when sugar is involved). I am thinking of this as a sort of year-long Lent. I hope to find ways to offer up my desires/urges for sugar.

Beyond the physical and spiritual aspects of giving up sweets I also think it will be good for me to model good eating habits for Joseph. The first year of eating solids is so important for the development of lifelong eating habits and I want Joseph to have the best foundation possible.

Here's my game plan for the year.
I won't eat sweets except on pre-selected days throughout the year. These days include:
Easter
Joseph's birthday day/birthday party
My sister's wedding
Thanksgiving
My birthday
Christmas


Items officially not included in the "sweets" category
soda/pop
plain pancakes

Items officially included in the "sweets" category
doughnuts
chocolate chip pancakes

I only make the above distinctions to hold myself accountable. All of those items (in my mind) can be debated as to whether they're officially "sweets."

So there you have it. My new years resolution is set. And now I actually have to follow through with it because it has been declared to the entire blogosphere. I'd love if you'd join me. I am so grateful to already have three people joining me (thanks to my sisters Julia, Jeannette and Alyse!) - it will be helpful for keeping me on track.

If you're not up for this particular challenge, do you have some other new years resolution you're making?