Emma's crawl

The backyard saga's

When we moved into our new house there was no backyard. Well, there was a space with a fence around it, but it was just filled with dirt. Since then, our dirt has grown a multitude of different colored weeds. Some of them are quite pretty. However, we want grass. And flowers. I want flowers.

Anyway, a few weeks ago when our friends Mike and Ivy came out to visit us from California they took us to a nursery and bought us three trees. We got a Texas red oak, a crepe myrtle and a lemon tree. They also helped us come up with an overall plan for the yard. It will be really nice if we ever get it done. Considering the fact that it took almost three weeks to get the trees in the ground (because as it turns out our dirt has a layer of rock under it), I'm thinking that we may have our official unveiling of the yard sometime in 2011. Meanwhile, I'll document our progress. This promises to be almost as riveting as my diet diaries. So, here's what we started with:





The first thing we did was to seal the fence. I got half of it done before we ran out of sealer and have not been able to finish it since it has been raining cats and dogs here ever since.



Then, Mike dug hole number one and planted the red oak.


It's branches are a little wonky right now, but I'm sure it will be fine once it outgrows this awkward teenage stage.

Next, he attempted to dig hole number two for the crepe myrtle but ran into the solid layer of rock. So, we decided to plant that tree in a raised bed rather than go rent a jack hammer to try and break up the rock. Now, I think we're going to have to put a box around the oak to make them look similiar because my OCD is not liking the different styles out there right now.





Next week on the backyard saga's: topsoil, how much do we need and what's it gonna cost? i'm telling you, this is good stuff.

Diet Diaries

Slow and steady wins the race, right?

Emma Mae

Emma has officially started crawling! She's been practicing for several days now. Unlike Jake who took off as soon as he tried it the first time, she has had more of an evolutionary process to the art of crawling. She started off with the typical rocking on all fours, then started pulling herself along the carpet with her hands and finally progressed to the official crawl state. I'm so proud of her! I'm posting a picture of her in what I think is one of THE cutest brands of little girl clothing ever-Rufflebutts. If you have a little girl, you should check out their website. So cute. The clothes are on the pricey side but they have occasional sales. Of course, I bought this outfit on sale and it is much cuter in person. Someday, I'm gonna take a photography class. And someday, Emma is going to stop squinting when I bring out the camera.

The hands have a mind of their own...

Recently I've noticed that Jake has started talking to his hands. That's okay with me. I figure it's kind of like having an imaginary friend except he can actually see his friend and there are two of them. Then I started to listen to the conversations he was having with his hands. They all go pretty much like this, "GO TO TIME OUT!" "YOU'RE GOING TO GET A SPANKING!" Hmm. I wonder where he gets all THAT from?

Last week it seems his hands were having a really hard time with self control and keeping to themselves. We were on our way to school one morning when I realized that my child was in his carseat hitting himself upside the head multiple times. Hard. Really hard. Then he would say "HAND! Stop doing that or you're going to time out!" So, just to clarify, I asked him who was hitting him. He said it was his hands. I said make them stop. He said "I trying to make them go to time out!" Try explaining to a 2 1/2 year old that he actually controls his hands.

Then I started realizing that it must be hereditary. Because I too lose control of my hands at times. How else can we explain the unstoppable shoveling of chocolate cake or brownies or whatever into my mouth even when I know I'm not hungry. Even when I tell myself I really shouldn't be eating all of this junk. Well, it's my hands fault. They are of the devil.

The ultimate in mind/hand control happened to me last Friday. I've been suffering from a pinched nerve or just really sore muscles for some time now. So, I finally decided to cash in on a massage gift certificate my wonderful hubby gave me at Christmas time. I went in and met my masseuse who was a very nice lady. However, she was a little overweight. Normally, I could care less about what a person weighs. Heaven knows I'm struggling right now too. It's just that at one point she actually had her belly resting in the palm of my hand during my massage. It freaked me out! I didn't know her well enough for that. My first reaction was to exclaim "OOOHH!" But I thought that would be rude. So I just laid there with her tummy in my palm. Then, I felt my fingers starting to twitch and realized just at the last second that they were planning on tickling that tummy! I couldn't get the thought out of my mind. And then I thought about Jake. I just put that hand in time out for the rest of my massage and told those fingers that if they didn't behave they would be getting a serious spanking when we got home.

Diet Diaries

Yipee! Oh, I know it's not a big weight loss, but it's something. The main thing I did this week was to cut back on snacking and add more veggies into my diet. By more, I mean at least one a day. I'm not a huge fan of the veggie unless it's dipped in chocolate. Really, I think the biggest thing so far is that I switched to Coke Zero from regular Coke saving myself over 100 calories everyday. Also, I have pretty much given up my nightly bowl of ice cream. Life is hard.

Not every meal we eat is healthy by any means. But here is one I'm proud of. Baked salmon with an avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro relish with lemon and lime juice on top. Delicious! We served it with asparagus and a baked sweet potato. It was prettier than the picture gives it credit for but I'm pretty sure I had already devoured half of the potato when Mike took the picture.

Wordless Wednesday

Goodbye to an old friend

This is what's left of the last chocolate cake I will make until I see 130 pounds on the scale. I know it's hard to tell what it is what with the frosting being gone and all. I had a moment of weakness on Sunday and while I was on my way to the trashcan to throw away the cake I buckled and just mowed down the remaining frosting along with that thin layer of moist topsoil at the top of the cake. Oh, and it was good. I highly recommend making this coca cola chocolate cake if you're looking for a cake that will stay moist over time. It was in our house for a week (which is a miracle in and of itself that a cake could last a week with me around) and it just got better with time. Much like fine wine, blue cheese and Patrick Swayze's performance in Dirty Dancing. Here's hoping for a better week in my diet diaries.

We have a sitter!

Diet Diaries

Okay, don't ask me how I managed to lose almost a pound this week eating the way I did. But I'll take it! The only thing I can think of is that I didn't snack all day long like I usually do. So, my plan for this week is to try and cut back on sweets and incorporate one vegetable a day into my diet. I'm shooting to work out four or five days this week. The problem I'm having with working out is injuries. Seriously, how long can a person have a pinched nerve in their shoulder/back area? I'll tell you how long. At least four weeks and counting. It looks like I'm going to have to walk for exercise for awhile instead of doing my workout videos with all the weight lifting and push ups. Tune in next Sunday to see how I did!

Diet Diaries

Last day! Well, it's the last day that I will bore you with my eating habits in detail. From now on I plan to weigh in every Sunday and I will share my weight with you but no more detailed menus. Clearly, I have a problem. And I think we can all see what it is. Sweets and carbs my friends, sweets and carbs.

Breakfast: bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, water

Snack: half a piece of cinammon streusel coffee cake

Lunch: two pieces of leftover Digiorno pizza (supreme), coke zero

Dinner: steak, baked potato, dinner roll

okay does it count as a piece of chocolate cake if all I did was to eat the frosting off of a section of the cake in the pan?

Workout: 25 minute walk through the neighborhood

Diet Diaries

Wow! Two more days of writing down what I eat every day. This has been some quality entertainment my friends. I'm starting to see a pattern about my diet which may have something to do with the fact that I'm not losing weight. But I'm gonna wait until Sunday after I do my weigh in to put it into words. Here we go for Friday.

Breakfast: bowl of Kashi cereal with blueberries, tall non-fat vanilla latte from Starbucks

Snack: one cube of cheese, one very small cheese quiche

Lunch: small prime rib peppercorn sandwhich from Quiznos, coke zero

Dinner: avocado cheeseburger, water

Diet Diaries

I almost didn't post my daily eating for Thursday because I'm just so ashamed. But, here goes. Apparently, it was Taco Thursday at our house.



Breakfast: bacon, egg and potato breakfast taco with hot sauce

Snack: little, itty, bitty piece of cinammon streusel coffee cake

Lunch: taco bell bean burrito w/extra cheese, beef taco, grilled steak taco

Snack: some m&m's

Dinner: two fish tacos, water, chocolate cake, milk