And The Pool Is Open!

Emma and I broke in the swimming pool on Saturday for a few hours...And yesterday, the whole family took a little trip to the pool, which was Kate's first time.  Something about summertime just makes you feel good!  Certainly helps that the pool is about 1/2 mile from our house!

A few pool-related  items:

Love this "puddle jumper" float - it is an approved floatation device - and provides a lot of peace of mind.  It came highly recommended by the swim instructor at the YMCA, and Emma even doesn't mind wearing it.  You can find it at Toys R Us and Target, but I ordered through Amazon because I wanted a cute color (very important...we have the yellow one).  

I just bought this gigantic pool bag...still waiting on its arrival.  Can't believe how much stuff is needed for a successful trip to the pool.

We've had a lot of success with Blue Lizard baby sunscreen.  I am a sunscreen fanatic, plus want to make sure whatever I use is gentle.  It's pricey, but still cheaper than California Baby (which is also good).

And here's your reward for stopping by...some sweet summertime fun pictures.

Hodgepodge

"Hodgepodge" - one of Emma's new words, so funny when she says it, usually to describe a very randomly put together dinner of leftovers - and it also describes this blog post.  A little bit of this.  And a little bit of that.

Sisters
Here's a picture that warms my heart...


















Emma
Questions and assertion: Emma has begun asking a million questions all the time.  Everything I say is followed by a "why?" from her.  I know this is part of normal development, and most of the time I enjoy explaining a little bit more. She has also started saying "I don't want to" when I ask her to do something.  That isn't nearly as much fun to deal with!

Potty: Emma is doing pretty well using the potty, though we have not begun full-blown potty training.  She sits on the potty to pee a lot and can go pretty long stretches with a dry diaper.  AND the big milestone last week was her finally pooping on the potty.  She was quite proud of herself and was rewarded with some yummy chocolate.

Kate
Eating: Kate is 7 months old, but still feels like a little baby to me...she is on the small side and finds herself still wearing 0-3 month clothes once in a while...but I'm guessing it is more because I'm comparing her to Emma's size now.  She is a very sweet, usually quiet baby, but she is the most impatient eater.  As soon as I put her in the highchair, she is screaming and flapping her arms.  I can't get food to her fast enough.  And she will eat, eat, eat, rarely ever signaling that she's full.  Guess she could use the extra weight.  Emma tells her all the time to "be patient," which is pretty funny.

Milestones: She sits up really well now and has started to crawl just a little bit. I need to lower the crib because she is now sitting up in her crib and trying to chew on the side rail.

Me
I've lost 6 pounds so far and have been running 5 days a week. Yesterday, I did a 5 mile run and it felt great.   My goal is to lose an additional 13 pounds, hopefully by the end of July.  We'll see.

I guess that is enough hodgepodge for now.  Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!!!

Weight Watchers

Up until doing IVF with Emma, I was pretty thin.  I was very conscious of my eating, I ran 5 miles at least 5 days a week, and I took a regular pilates class.  I even did pilates and continued to run past 30 weeks pregnant, until the doctor forced me to stop because I had a low amniotic fluid level.

I was finally able to lose all but about 5 pounds of the Emma-related weight and then...I got pregnant with Kate!  I exercised up until about 20 weeks with Kate, but my hips and back hurt way more than they did with Emma.  So I stopped.

At my heaviest with Kate, I was a good 40 pounds more than my pre-Emma weight.  Since giving birth to Kate, I've lost about 15 pounds, still making me a good 25 pounds more than I wanted to be.

I'm kind of lucky because I'm tall and no one really notices the extra weight on me.  But I sure do!

And now I've had enough!  I am back to running at least 4 days a week (though, admittedly, more like 3 miles at a time, not 5).  I've already run 2 races since March.  And I'm signed up for a 1/2 marathon in September.

AND I've signed up for Weight Watchers.

Since having kids, I've totally stopped paying attention to what I eat.  If I'm hungry and something sounds good to me, I eat it.  It has to stop!  What I like about Weight Watchers - I'm just doing the online points tracking, where each food has a certain number of points and you get a set amount of points a day - is that I'm back to paying attention to what I'm eating.  And since fruit and veggies have ZERO points, I'm eating so much better.

I've been on it now for 2 weeks and I've lost 5 pounds.  Not bad.  My goal is to lose 15-18 more.  I'll keep you posted.

Emma at 2

While there are a lot of things that come with a child this age - a strong will, the start of a sassy mouth, and quick mood changes and temper tantrums, just to name a few - there are so many more awesome things.  

Like...

• An unsolicited "I love you"
• Emma sweet showing ownership by calling us "my mommy" and "my daddy"
• Talking, talking, talking (and a lot more understanding on our part)
• Learning, learning, learning (like how to spell her name, numbers, colors, new words used properly, pretend play)
• Showing more love to her sister

She is such a ball of fun and energy these days.  

And here are a few pictures from Emma's 2 year photo shoot with hubby's cousin, who did a terrific job.

Second Year Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

I just finished Emma's 2nd year photobook.  While I do get $10 for posting this to my blog, I have to say, I love making these books on Shutterfly.  It is so easy and they have tons of ways to personalize, just like a scrapbook.  I made one for Emma's 1st year, as well, and plan to do the same for Kate.  Much easier than getting hard copies stuffed into photo albums, in my opinion.