Embrace the Camera: April 9th

This is a little scary for me... pictures of Carson are sooo much cuter than pictures of the two of us together, and I'm not a photographer by any stretch. But I like the idea a lot. (Click on the picture above to read more about Embracing the Camera.)

I love looking at pictures of myself and my mother and father when I'm small... and I know Carson will love it one day too. Enough of the "I'll take a picture with the baby the next time I dress up" mantra (firstly because I hardly ever dress up, secondly because when I do, I forget to take a picture).

So here I am... embracing the camera for the first time.




Yes, of course I let my child chew on old toothbrushes, doesn't every good mother do that? And, yes, we are sitting on the bathroom floor.



Big, fat, blurry (terrible photographer, remember), open-mouth kiss. Sigh. I don't even care that he slobbered me up and most likely left a little snot somewhere on my face... that's love.



"Mama? What is going on here??" (Oh, snotty nose. This has been a long week of pink eye, sore throats, and snotty noses. Long. Week.)

This is life around here. PJ's, ponytails, smudgy mascara, babies with snotty noses... not perfect or pretty. But absolutely just. right.

Happy Birthday, Sean!

Saturday was my sweet husband's 30th birthday. I asked him repeatedly what he wanted to do for this monumental occasion... and he said a quiet dinner out to his favorite steakhouse. Well... I guess I thought 30 was too big of a birthday to celebrate with just a "quiet dinner." I decided that a surprise birthday party at his favorite steakhouse was much more appropriate.

SURPRISE!!







Some of our most favorite people in the world... thanks for making this surprise so special!



My beautiful mom and sisters.



Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Robby... out for one of the first times since little Mason was born one month ago. Stephanie looks amazing!



Sean's wonderful parents, Cindy and Jerry.

Strangely enough, Sean wasn't all that happy about his party at first. To be honest, I knew he would probably react that way, but come on... it's his 30th birthday!!! I can't just let it slide along like any other birthday! It needed to be a big deal! I wanted him to know just how loved he is!



As we lit the candles, he still looked just a little ticked off.



But here he's looking a little happier! Ha! I guess a round of "Happy Birthday" did the trick.



The whole bunch. I can't thank everyone enough for coming out and making this such a memorable birthday for Sean. We love you! Sean finally admitted on the way home that he felt pretty special... but I'm not allowed to even think about another surprise party until he's 50. Ha!



It's hard to believe I met this man when we were only 16, started dating at 17, and at 30 I feel like we're still the same couple from high school... totally in love and amazingly blessed to have each other. Here's to the next 30 years together, Sean. Love you.

Whole 29 2/3

I'm DONE! I finished the Whole 30... but not exactly. Yesterday was day 30 and Sean and I met our friends Barbara and Robert for a wine dinner (it was AMAZING) so we actually only completed 29 2/3 days. And I don't care! It was SO fun! I had lots and lots of delicious wine and Italian food... pasta! cheese! osso buco! cheesecake! So, so good.

So to sum up the experience...

week 1- sucked. Carb withdrawals are terrible.

week 2- not so bad. Felt way skinny.

week 3- sucked because Carson and I had terrible colds. The eating was a non issue because I had no appetite.

week 4- sucked because I was so close yet so far away from all the foods that I missed (and hormonal issues made me crave some serious chocolate and wine.)


And results? I lost 5 pounds. Yes, only 5. That number really annoys me. Five pounds sounds like nothing. I mean, I could gain 5 pounds after one big meal, and lose five after one trip to the bathroom. Five pounds is totally nothing. (I seriously doubt I've ever lost five pounds in one bathroom trip, but you get the point.)

Sean made me feel more successful by telling me how great I look (gotta love that, even if it is his job as my husband to do so) and that those 5 pounds were lost in a very healthy manner- and although it doesn't sound like much, it is actually 2.5% of my body fat that is now gone! I was working out consistently so I maintained muscle and lost fat. Not bad I guess. I couldn't fit into about 75% of the clothes in my closet before I started, and now I can't fit into about 50%. An improvement to be sure.

Other benefits- better skin. My skin is "glowing" according to Sean... so that basically means "zit-free" to the rest of the world (plus a slight tan doesn't hurt). I have more energy for sure. I canceled my housecleaning service (Gads!) and have had a fairly easy time keeping up with housekeeping, laundry, errands, and the like. I have more patience with Carson as well. He has this lovely habit of waking up from him afternoon nap a needy, whiny, bad little bunny who insists on being held and thoroughly entertained until after he eats his dinner... and I have been handling that a little better now. My new solution is to take him for a run as soon as he wakes up and has his snack. Before my solution was to begin cocktail hour. I think the running is probably better for both of us.

Would I do it again? Sure. Not anytime soon, but yes, I would. It's a nice lesson in self-control, patience, and planning. I do feel like I've accomplished something and I feel better about my appearance. We have a little Caribbean vacation coming up soon and I'm pretty sure I won't frighten the locals anymore. I'm feeling pretty good.

Would I recommend the Whole 30? Absolutely. You really can go 30 days without sugar, grains, dairy, or alcohol. It's not impossible and if you're thinking about it- just do it. And let me know if you do- I'm curious!

Back Yard Renovation

Shortly after Sean and I moved into our house, almost five years ago, our backyard was something we wanted to change. It had a wooden deck that collected leaves from the two Live Oaks like crazy (and animals lived under it... opposom for instance... GROSS) and it was surrounded by this lattice wall that I'm guessing was used by the previous owners to block the view from the levy behind our fence. Our first summer was a really, really rainy one and we discovered that we had serious drainage problems back there. It was like a swimming pool after even the slightest rain.

Little surprise we didn't spend a lot of time back there and now that we have Carson and we spend lots and lots of time at home, we want to actually use our backyard. Sean did most of the demo himself (including cutting down a tree and nearly cutting off his leg along with it), then we had a patio poured and drainage put in, along with new grass and landscaping. We LOVE it.

I don't have before pics from before he started the demo but I took some along the way and have several pictures of the finished project now that all the flowers and plants have started to bloom and the trees have leaves. When it was finished in December, it looked nice right away, but we really didn't get the full effect until this spring. The grass is greener everyday!



It seems as though I've just snuck in a picture of my cute (CHUBBY?!?!) son, but this picture is the only one I can find of the old deck and lattice. And the terribly overgrown landscaping in the corner.





Here you can see the TERRIBLE drainage problems we had. This was after some of the demo, but it was like this before the deck was removed as well. And check out the worst fence ever.



Here's the prep work for the patterned concrete patio. You can see the large hole in the yard where Sean dug out the stump after he removed the tree. At first I didn't want to cut down the tree... but it proved to be a great decision. It opened up the yard and now we have actual sunshine back there!









And after the patio was completed... already a major improvement. And now for the landscaping, grass, and fence!! (I should have taken some pictures as they were putting the drainage system in... the entire yard was dug up. It took a team of 4 men 3 days to complete it all. Here are the pictures from December...











And now, for some pictures I took a few days ago...





I love my little red tree.





Leaves!! So exciting!



Love these little flowers... I have no idea what they're called, but they sure are cute!



Love this plant too... so FUN!

Sean and I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out. At the end of this summer we're going to hunt for some outdoor furniture that's on sale, so for now we're just using the old table set. The grass is already quite a bit greener than it is in these pictures... I'll have to take some more pictures later...

Our azealas in the front yard were better than ever this year!





I really love this time of year in Texas. It's gorgeous. Love, love, love spring!

READ THIS BOOK

I know that sounds really serious and possibly threatening... but I have to tell you that you need to. You really need to read Why We Get Fat, by Gary Taubes.



This is not a diet book. It doesn't tell you to eat less and exercise more and spend your life feeling like a hamster on a wheel who is either hungry all the time, or exhausted, or both.

It is a book that completely explains, through lots of easy-to-read science, exactly what happens in your body when you eat carbohydrates, proteins, and fats and what exactly is making you fat, making you tired, making you sick, and putting you at risk for a multitude of diseases and cancers.

It is without a doubt the best "health" book I've ever read. I finished it in two days. My sister Jenni will tell you this is impressive because A- I "never read" and B- if I do read, I only read the first half of the book.

Read the book. Then pass it along to your familiy and friends.

Hale Lake

Yesterday, our little family of three went to Brazos Bend State Park (or what my brother and sisters and I used to call the "Alligator Park" when we were growing up) and walked the trail around Hale Lake. It was so exciting to see there was a Hale Lake- so of course we chose that trail!

It was a gorgeous day yesterday, and after an entire week of being sick and stuck at home, it was just what we all needed. Carson still isn't feeling better, poor baby, and you can see his red eyes and runny nose in all these pictures. But he was tired of being cooped up at home too, so we took advantage of such a pretty day and drove down to the park. Despite being sick, he was a trooper. He loves to be outside!





I absolutely love how he crosses his feet when he's relaxed. And I love those chubby legs!!

We stopped for a bit at the turn around point on the trail (Hale Lake is a small oxbow lake) and let Carson stretch his legs. And point things out to us. He wants to make sure we don't miss anything!











The wildflowers are in bloom around Houston, and in our yard we have azaleas and some other little annuals that I don't have a name for... so Carson has learned the word "flower." (His vocabulary has exploded lately- but his favorite word is "car." He is a true boy. He LOVES cars!!) After Daddy handed him this clover blossom, his "walking" was cut short. Flowers are distracting!!





He then decided he must hold a flower, or "wow-wa," as we started walking again (never mind that they're protected by the state of Texas and we shouldn't have picked them... oops.)



The trails were absolutely gorgeous. Everything is green again and there was honeysuckle everywhere! The whole trail smelled sweet!





We had such a great time. It brought back lots of memories of walking those same trails with my family years ago. And now we're making some of those same memories with our son. Precious.

Whole 30: Day 16

I've made it half way! And that's with baking cakes for three different occasions, and well as cupcakes just about an hour ago because my mom was here and wanted to eat the leftover buttercream in my fridge. It was a no-brainer. We don't let buttercream go to waste round here. So I just sent her home with three dozen cupcakes. We also don't do anything half-assed round here.

It hasn't been terrible going lately. I haven't been crazy craving carbs or anything (except when I leveled the almond cakes Monday afternoon. OMG. People. The aroma. Just, OMG.)... it's just getting a little old. I know in 14 days I'm gonna get to treat myself (I already have a bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge chilled and waiting) so I'm just ready to be done already.

I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to do after this... I mean, I don't want to gain back the weight I've lost (and it's fairly considerable at this point. I don't have a number because of the stupid Whole 30 rules, but I'd say it's noticable) but I also don't want to eat such a restrictive diet forever either.

I guess I have two weeks to figure it out. Will keep you posted.