6.29.2010

In the summer swing

Summer seems to arrive a little late in CO, but it is totally worth the wait. I'll take late summers that extend into October and give me little to no humidity. Granted, if I forget the sunscreen, 10 minutes outside can leave me a little pink. I guess that's what happens when you are 6000+ feet above sea level. The funny thing is, however, I would give it all up in a heartbeat to live closer to family. That is another blog post though.

The last 2 weeks have been full of firsts for our little man. On Father's Day we went to theCheyenne Mountain Zoo here in the Springs. Archer only seemed interested in a few animals, including the giraffes, gorillas and birds. He did fantastic though for most of the trip, only getting cranky while on the lift to the top. Have you ever tried holding a squirmy, crying 9 month old while on the equivalent of a ski lift? Dave was thankful that I had to deal with it.


Later in the week we finally gave Archie his first haircut. I loved his little tufts, but he was starting to resemble a flying nun or a creepy clown - depended on the day. I broke the first rule of haircutting by cutting horizontally instead of vertically. Now he has perfectly straight lines of hair on both sides of his head. Oops! He does look more like a toddler than a baby though. I cannot believe how fast he grows!


This past weekend we travelled back to the 16th century at the CO Renaissance Festival. There is nothing like a beer and Celtic music at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Who needs church? Don't answer that question please. Anyway, we had a great time and I got to indulge in a "fryed" pickle! Sooo good! We saw the Ded Bob Show, Hey Nunnie Nunnie, listened to the Carillon Bells, went to a petting farm, saw Celtic Legacy play and walked around looking at a bunch of stuff Archer will want us to buy him in 3 years. Good times.



What do we have planned in the upcoming weeks? Not much. We kind of take it one day at a time around here. I think we want to try and make it over to Durango, CO for a long weekend plus we are headed the Portland way in July. Until then, I am going to finish enjoying my free time until Archie wakes up.

6.14.2010

Look who can feed himself!

DAVE!!!!
but so can his son.



I think Dave and I have not given Archer enough credit. We talk about how he hasn't been hitting his so called milestones when the other kids in Gymboree have, but then we do everything for him. We knew that would be our biggest challenge before we had him though. He has to make his own efforts and mistakes and we have to let him. That is how he'll learn.

Anyway, the other day we decided to try and let Archer give himself his bottle. I put about 2 oz. of white grape juice in a bottle, let him taste it and then set the bottle down next to him. Essentially that is all it took. It also works with formula. What a smart kid!

What doesn't he understand yet? Finger food. He will pick it up, look at it and then drop it on the ground where Piper and Dewey snatch it up. At least the dogs have gotten the finger food concept.

6.13.2010

iPhone to Blogger in one easy text

Trying to see if my text to Blogger actually works.

This is a picture of Archer feeding himself while barely awake!


The Weight Post

This post is more for me than you. It is about my weight over the last year and I want to put in out there to help keep me motivated. I have no real support system here in CO, sans my wonderful husband who thinks I am beautiful no matter what, to help keep me on track.

When I got pregnant with Archer I weighed 155 lbs. That was the most I ever weighed in my life, but still I was content. Over the course of my pregnancy I gained 40 lbs. and lost about 15-20 shortly after his birth. Being a new Mom I did not really concern myself with what I was putting into my body. I ate whatever when I was hungry. About 6 weeks ago I weighed 170 lbs. and decided that I needed to change a few things.

I started with an iPhone app called "Lose It" which helps me track my daily caloric intake. The hardest part in the beginning was being honest about what I was eating. It is hard to see that those 2 bowls of tortilla chips add up to a lot of calories. I set a goal of losing 1/2 lb. per week. which is a realistic limit. This allowed me about 1900 calories a day and would force me to really think about what I wanted to use them up on.

I got some new cookbooks to help me come up with healthy, low calorie meal and snack ideas. If we were planning on going out to eat I would look up the nutritional info of the place we were going to. I have spent more time in the last 6 weeks thinking about what goes into my body than I ever have in my life. I am not the most active person and no matter how many times I start going to the gym I always quit. Changing my eating habits has been the most practical avenue for me to help get healthy.

Yesterday I tried on my favorite pair of pre-pregnancy jeans and they fit great. I stepped on the scale and I weighed 156 lbs. I cannot believe that changing my diet had such a huge effect in a short amount of time. I must have been eating like crap. Another good thing about this is that we are planning on expanding our family in the not to distant future and I would like this pregnancy to be healthier.

I really want this to be a life change and not just a post pregnancy trend. That is why I am putting this out there in the Internet world. I really want some culpability if I start to lose my motivation.

I have to go make sure my child eats now!

6.05.2010

90 degrees and in a Sudafed fog.

Summer has descended upon Colorado Springs. Archie can finally wear his summer wardrobe before he outgrows them, Dave's allergies are acting up and I've got a cold. I think that our little man has inherited his father's allergies too. The poor thing keeps sneezing, but it doesn't really seem to bother him.

Our garden is looking fantastic this year. We've discovered that some of the plants from last year that didn't do so hot are now thriving. I also decided to make my own hanging baskets instead of paying $25/basket. I put some begonias and a red leafy annual that I cannot remember the name of right now. The nice thing is that I can reuse the pretty baskets so the cost will be even lower next year. Dave started some vegetable from seeds and we will hopefully get them in the ground this weekend. He is really the outdoors guy in the family, I just blog about it!

We had bought some ceiling fans over a year ago and didn't have them installed until after Archer was born. Now that the weather has turned hot, we are wondering why we waited so long. We do not have air conditioning so they are truly a lifesaver. Next up my amazing husband will be replacing our fence. He cemented his first post last weekend and survived. Now there are only about 25 or so 8 foot segments to complete.

Archer is still a wonder and delight. He now sits pretty confidently and has started to kick his legs while on his tummy. He really prefers bouncing though and will go to town while in his exersaucer. We walked to our neighborhood park last week and Archie went swinging for the first time. He just kind of laid back and took it all in stride. He only got excited if I made a fool out of myself cheering him along. My favorite though is when he just starts squealing for no apparentreason. This is not much fun while at the library, but all other times are good!


Other than that we are looking forward to the rest of the summer. In July the sisters, Archie and myself are making our way to WA to stay with Marlene and go to the Portland Brewer's Fest. Fortunately, Mary and Amy's plane has a layover in Denver and I got on the same flight as them. It will be nice to have some helping hands. I have flown solo with him once and we did okay, but it is still stressful. We are still planning on taking some weekend camping trips around CO and hopefully in September we will have a meeting of the college friends in Ann Arbor.

That's the digs for now. Archie is napping and I'm going to go get ready for the day. Enjoy the video of Archer's first swing time!

(Please ignore the Mommy voice)