12.6 down! 5 more to go!

Well, as many of you know--I started doing Weight Watchers a couple of months ago. It's been a very interesting experience. In a sense, I LOVE it--because now we constantly have a fridge full of fresh veggies and healthy snacks...but I don't love it because I LOVE to cook. Let me rephrase, I love to cook with butter, and pasta, and cheese. All of which are things that I would never lose weight if I continued eating them the way we did. During my pregnancy, I gained almost 60 lbs! (Granted, a big chunk of it was water weight, but 60 none the less. Yikes.). When we moved to Austin, my partial-italian man got me addicted to sweets and to pasta. Ugh. It tasted sooo good. I still may or may not have dreams about strawberry shortcake icecream from Cold Stone. :) Anyways, after trying on all of my pre-preggo summer clothes...I knew it was time for a change. Not a temporary change, but a lifestyle change for our little home. So, that meant me enrolling in Weight Watchers and both of us working out. I can now say that I am 5 lbs. away from my goal weight of 140 lbs, and I couldn't be happier! I've struggled trying to find a workout plan that I really enjoy because some of the times I have to have Grace with me, and others Dan can watch her. So, I started the Couch 2 5k running program and have been doing it for 3 weeks. Today was the first day that I had a pretty tough time completing my workout. Previously, the longest stretch I had run was for 1.5 minutes. This week, they bump it up to 3! Are they trying to kill me? Joking, but as some people may remember. I'm the short distance sprinter. Well, I was. I'm talking highschool time. Yikes, that was a long time ago. Anyways, 3 minutes of running in a hilly neighborhood pushing a 20 lb. baby and a jogging stroller. No bueno. Oh well! Because guess what?! This girl DID IT. Woohoo. I was really dreading this week, because I felt that it'd be the most challenging for me. But, I did it. And I'm a bad ass. So, anyways--I think this is the first post where I haven't rambled on and on about Grace. Hey, this Mama still matters. Right? Dan and I are on a track of a healthy lifestyle, and I only hope that Grace will always see us like this. Being conscious of what we put in our bodies, and how we take care of ourselves. Hopefully this summer we can run a race as a family. Hm, sounds like a short-term goal for me! Like I said, it's a lifestyle change. I'm dedicated to giving my family the best, and while financially I can't really do that, I can educate myself and help to guide my family in to living and being as healthy as possible. So, there's my schpill for the day. I know Dan probably doesn't read this--but if you do, I love you and can I please have these shoes for finishing week 3? :D

 Okay, if Dan isn't reading it--then Dad, can I please have these shoes for completing week 3?
I also have to throw in a new picture of Grace and I that I just love. I adore her sweet smile, but sometimes seeing her not smile is just as sweet!

Happy Good Friday everyone!

Summer in April?

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to one of Dan's co-workers house in New Braunfels and enjoy their beauuutiful little oasis in their backyard. Grace also got to swim for the first time! It was the cutest thing because the water was a little too cold for her at first--then before we knew it, she was splashing around in her floatie. Adorable! For all of your North Easterners, can you believe we are already swimming? It was almost 90 that day. I predict a HOT summer again! Thank the Lord I won't be pregnant this time. But, we need to enjoy these days now because before I know it--it'll be too hot to let Grace play! I predict many a day like this in our near future. Here are some cutie-pie pictures of our little family! :)

You want me to do what?... With a 7 month old?!

FLY FOR 8 HOURS?!

Oh lordy. I can feel the anxiety brewing now, and it's 3 weeks away! We're going to Boston for 9 days in April for Grace's baptism, and we are oh.so.excited! However, not so excited about the flying. We went previously in November for his sister's wedding, but that was when Grace was just a little baby! She was only 3 months old--and still loved to sleep on Mommy. Now, that is so not the case. I'm sure if she's sleepy enough, we'll get a little bit of sleep out of her. Oh gosh, okay. Anyways, so here I am--planning (doing what I do best!) for our trip. Making sweet Marianne a nice, extensive, list of goodies that Grace needs for our stay! So, what have you been up to lately? We've had all kinds of things going on! Mommy is having some sleepless nights (growth spurt/learning new things?), baby is crawling (backwards), and Daddy is torturing the dogs. Of course, Daddy is doing much more--but that's the first thing that came to my mind. As far as my sleepless nights, I'm actually okay with it. I'm surviving! Grace has started rolling over on her tummy, and enjoys sleeping that way. Unfortunately, she will wake up and can't roll back over! I'm not sure why, because that's what she learned wayyy earlier. Maybe the bed is too squishy? (Squishy the right word? Hm..) Anyways, it's pretty funny...because I've heard that babies practice their new skills while they're sleeping. And boy, is she practicing them! Once again, I'm going to go on a rant of how special it is to watch her grow. She's so funny! And has such a funny little personality, it makes me laugh. Somedays, she'll just be super calm and content and happy (maybe gets that from me?) and then other days she's also super happy, but hyper!, and loud!, and verrryyy expressive (must be from Daddy!) She truly is just a nice little blend of both of us, and I couldn't be prouder! So, last week I had several friends call me and say "well, hello Ms. Suzy Homemaker!"--turns out they had been keeping up with my little adventures lately, which include embroidering and cake-baking. I LOVE it! Both of them! When I was baking that damn cake, I was seriously obsessing over it. (Crazy, much? I think so!) Seriously, I would brainstorm different ways to make it work. And FINALLY! I came up with this...this little beauty is pretty much what Grace's baptism cake will look like. So proud, and not too bad for a 3 week baker!

Had to sneak in a little bit of this cutie pie! Love her!

Xoxo, have a great day everyone!

Crystal



6 months, fruit-cup!

Last night, I was holding Grace after feeding her last bottle of the night and she fell asleep in my arms. I didn't want to let go! I just sat there thinking about how fast these last 6 months have flown by, and by flown by--I mean, the fastest 6 months of my entire life. How can she have have gone from a helpless little 9 lb baby, to a little 21 lb. girl who is trying to explore and see the whole World around her? Amazing. So as I'm holding her, I say a little prayer to God thanking him for our sweet perfect blessing. She's changed my life for the better in so many ways, I can't even count them! Regardless, she's going to eventually grow up and be a grown-up one day...so I'm going to cherish those little snuggles that I get, from here on out.

As most of your know, I have the luxury of being able to stay at home with our little fruit-cup (yes, got that from Rango). It's most definitely a change of pace from working, but I wouldn't change it for the World. I get to experience every single move that she makes, and it's the most rewarding feeling in the world. Shout out to Grace's Daddy for giving us this opportunity to spend this time together :), love you boo!

So, anyways--here's what's going on with Grace. She is seriously almost OFF the charts on her growth. Her weight and head circumfrence--she's in the 99th percentile. Her height--she's in the 100th! oh. my. goodness. I'm thinking she's going to be tall like Mommy! Our Pediatrician is really great, she was so impressed at just how happy Grace was! She was impessed with her ability to sit up for long periods of time, and that her little teeth already grew in. Way to go baby girl, I'm so proud of you! :)

Wellp, time to go--nap time is over, so blogging and pinning is over too. Love you all, and thanks for listening to my ramblings!

Xoxo,
Crystal

Warmer weather brings more smiles!

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a tooth?

Fabulous Five Months

Hi, I'm Crystal, Mommy of Grace, girlfriend of Dan, maintainer of the home, and do-er of homework. All of this ultimately means, I'm a blog-less blogger. Well, I'm making time to update everyone on Grace. She is a big whopping 5 months old. Actually 5 1/2 now, because I'm a procrastinator! Our little chunk is just growing like a little weed! Not only physically, but I can see her just maturing as a little person. It's such an incredible thing to witness. She literally changes every single day! Just last week I was talking to a friend about her not being able to sit up unassisted. Then, bam! The next 2 days--she was doing it! Then, I had suspicions of her teething for a while...but nothing had happened. Then, I'm giving her a bath one day, and I see the glare of tooth. I FREAKED out. Actually, that's an understatement. After I got over the shock of the pain of chomping down on my finger--I called everyone! The response I got? Crystal...you knew it was happening! :) Mommy's intution, I suppose. So, here I am--witnessing all of her physical changes and then I can also see her personality forming too. She's such a laid-back, easy-going little monkey. She also has the funniest new laugh, it actually sounds exactly like Dan's. HA! She like chuckles, and then will let out big belly laughs too. Sooo funny! We couldn't have asked for a better baby, and I thank God for her every single day! Anyways, thanks for listening to my ramblings--I could talk about her ALL day long. Oh wait...I do!