Weekend's here.

 

We had another amazing weekend at home. When you are gone every weekend, you really start to appreciate stuff that you normally don't think twice about. In our household, we are starting a new tradition of "Family Night" which includes just the three of us staying in and watching a family friendly movie. With my parents and siblings being so close, we are fortunate enough to get to hang with them A LOT, so we have to remember to spend time with just us three. It's so nice. Friday night we got Pei Wei (a family favorite) and set out to watch a "Princess Movie" (because that's all the Isabelle requested, which was fine by us as long as it wasn't Dora). Mr. T. and I were set on watching The Little Mermaid because we know it's a goodie, but we had no idea it would be IMPOSSIBLE to find. We searched everywhere and are not quite ready to buy it on Amazon for $50! Seriously! Arial is a hot commodity! Since we couldn't find the movie, we watched The Lion King. Isabelle really liked most of it, but not quite as much as Mr. T. and I did. I know I sound like an old lady by saying this, but they don't make cartoons like that anymore. The theme of the Lion King is so good and the soundtrack is even better!

Our Saturday was filled with TONS of my nephews basketball games. It was a blast and of course, Isabelle loved being a cheerleader with her cousin.

I always said that my child would NEVER wear a character shirt....but then I actually HAD a child and I had a child with a crazy, strong opinion. So I lost. Or I will say, "I choose my battles" because that's mom talk for my toddler just won.

This is what she does when you bug her...she pretends to be asleep. Seriously.

 



On Saturday afternoon, Isabelle took a nap at my mom's house so Mr. T. and I could get a good run in. As soon as we started our run, it started raining and was freezing cold(we're talking 20's with a crazy north wind) so by the time we finished, we knew we deserved a night of beer and bowling. That's how we reward ourselves around here.



I'm terrible at bowling, but I will blame it on being distracted by the cutest bowler ever wearing the tiniest and most adorable/hideous bowling shoes.

So What!

It's that time of the week. So come on over and join in!

So What! :

• That I always promised myself I would never be "that runner" that chose running shoes on looks. I have always gone with ugly/practical shoes....until now. I went into my normal running store, expecting for them to hand me my normal shoes and then I saw beautiful colors and rainbows and I got distracted. I bought the rainbows and colors and I love them. Hopefully, they don't tear my feet apart, but if they do I will still love them.

 

• That I "tooted" and Isabelle heard me and said, "eww mommy, that's gross. You need to go potty! " I laughed so hard that I could have tooted again.

 

• That I toot. And sometimes I even fart. And I always sometimes laugh at them. Everyone does it, I just don't mind talking about it.  

 

• I am obsessed with the new Bachelor season. Sean seems really normal and the girls seem really far from normal. That's my favorite. Watching it was so painfully awkward and I loved every minute of it.

 

• Isabelle has worn the same skirt for four weeks in a row. Now before you get all weirded out on me...know this: It's a tutu and she wears it over her regular/clean clothes so we're keeping things sanitary. If there is one thing that I have learned in motherhood, it's that you have to pick your battles. This is not one I am willing to pick. I guess I got what I wished for when I wished that she would have the same love of Christmas that I have so I have to say, go on with your bad self sister and you wear that tutu year 'round:

 

 

 



You know you're desperate when...

 

You take your child to a "Bouncy Barn" during flu season because she HAS to get her energy out, or you might just go insane. Of course there are kids everywhere full of phlegm just waiting to share their germs, but we took our chances. That's what living on the edge is all about, right? Avoiding the flu and judging other moms who brought their germy kids. Yup. That's for sure what it's all about.

I take these "unneccesary" risks strictly for this reward:

 

Refreshed

So, I'm back on the running train. I took about a month and a half off from ANY activity and it was completely necessary (after the Tulsa Marathon), but now I realize how much I missed getting out and running. The weird thing about running is that the more time you take off, the easier it becomes to take MORE time off and then when you FINALLY start again, it feels like you developed the black lung. Yuck.

Sure, it's cold and dark when I get out of my nice warm bed, but I never regret it when I'm done and I realized how much I needed that little quiet time. When my alarm goes off, I try not to think of what I have to do, I just lace up my shoes and try to be HALF as excited as my dog is about what we are about to do. Have you tried it? I promise you won't hate it....well, you might hate it for a bit, but you'll get over it. Promise.

 

Mr. T. and I decided that we would run a half marathon in Dallas for his dirty 30th Birthday(if he doesn't break a hip between now and then) but I am not planning on doing any sort of "training". My "training plan" is just to run enough that I don't have to buy bigger pants (funny how you stop working out and start chowing and your dryer suddenly begins shrinking your pants. Gah, I hate that) but not too much that I want to quit.
I hate the gym, so running is pretty much the only activity that I really enjoy. Maybe one of these days I'll get on all those crossfit/ bootcamp bandwagons, but for now I'm too big of a wimp to get yelled at in the gym. I'll stick to letting Spike the Dog motivate me.  
 

Wiggles

It may be freezing outside, but with an energetic toddler you have to FIND the motivation to bundle up and get some energy out...or a you WILL die a slow, painful death.
I don't know how teachers do it. The whole "inside recess" thing just isn't the same. Kids need fresh air, sunshine and to RUN. Especially my child. So we bundle up, wipe the snot and go outside. We take breaks inside to heat up and get bored again before we head back out. Thankfully, Isabelle's cousin is out of school so that means she has someone else to bug wear out.

 

I am no cold weather person, but cold weather when it's not snowing and when Christmas is over is just plain terrible, but I can't complain. So far, 2013 has been good to us. The Adoption Tax Credit has been extended (Praise the Lord!) and Isabelle put herself down for a nap!
I know this may not seem like a HUGE deal, but if you know my daughter then you know she is no ray of sunshine when you are trying to get her to go to sleep. Since she came into this world, she has hated sleep. She throws a fit just about every nap time and bed time and tries anything to get out of it (reality check: This is a blog. I don't post the pictures of her throwing tantrums and screaming. One day I will. And she will loathe me for it, but for now I will continue to show the happy, smiling little angel). She is so scared to miss anything in this exciting world, so she tries to stay awake 24-7. Well yesterday was a breakthrough day. We were at my mom's house when she said "I want to go take a little nap." So I told her that I couldn't go with her because I was busy, but she could go lay down on her Neena's bed. So she walked back in my moms bed and covered herself up and closed her little eyes. When I went back to check on her she told me " I need my sound" (We use a sound machine when she sleeps). After I turned that on, sister was out. I wanted to dance in the streets and sing to the birds....I settled for a picture because that sounded less crazy and allowed my mom to keep her neighbors happy.

 

Keep it coming 2013. 

Germs EVERYWHERE!

Right after Christmas, literally the day after Christmas, we all came down with a case of the sickies. It wasn't the flu, it wasn't terrible, it was just enough to piss you off and make you snotty. We were all exhausted, grouchy and unable to breathe out of our noses. It also made Isabelle even MORE sassy. Terrible I tell ya, but thankfully it only lasted a few days. Now we are good healthy and have no excuses on why we are grouchy and sassy.
Watching your own child sick and in pain is a slow torture. You want to help, but you know there is nothing you can do (especially when you are sick too!).
There is one awesome part of having a sick kid....cuddles.

I haven't seen you in so long!

Since last year! ( Ha ha, I know.) Let's start this year out with a corny New Year joke, I hear it's good luck. ONE of my New Years Resolutions is to blog more. I tell myself this all the time, but this time I really mean it. Plus I can say, " I need to do it to fulfill my resolution." I love to remember all the random things that happen in my life and I don't want to forget anything (except for maybe a few little teeny things). I am also going to get back into shape, because it seems like Santa brought me some muffin tops this year. He's kinda rude.
This New Years Eve was spent a little different then most. I didn't have to worry about what I was going to wear, what I was going to drink or how I was going to spent the day with a massive headache ( like I used to before the ol' baby graced us with her presence) . This year was even better. My nephew came over to stay the night and ring in the New Year with us as we ate leftovers, went to Dairy Queen for some ice cream, looked at Christmas lights and watched "Brave". Mr. T and I did make it to midnight, which we usually NEVER do (I'm telling you, we're oldies). We had a helluva time.

Watch out for these two in a few years. They are already doing "Cheers" with their dipped cones.

2012 was good to us, but I have a feeling 2013 will be even better.