A little bit late...but so worth the wait!

I have been horrible at posting about Halloween and what fun we had Trick or Treating with Alex. I wasn't sure how well he would do since he refused to take a second nap that day, but he did wonderfully!

Alex & Daddy Getting Ready to Go!

We went up to a neighborhood right near us that is a little bit quieter. It has 3 cul-de-sacs right next to each other and there aren't really cars driving on them unless the people live there. They also do a big Christmas lights display on all of these cul-de-sacs every year called Candy Cane Lane. Its wonderful and I can't wait to take Alex around to see all the lights this year. But back to Halloween (one holiday at a time!).

The cutest Pug doggy ever!

Starting to get sleepy

Having so much fun!

He did so well and had such a great time. He caught onto the concept of Trick or Treating really well. After a few houses he was knocking on the doors himself and sticking his hand into each bowl that someone held out to pick out his own piece of candy. We did have a few people who I could tell were a little upset that we were at their house trying to get candy since Alex is so little. They probably figured we were doing it just so Mommy & Daddy could eat the candy. That was never my intention at all. We were just trying to create memories for us with Alex and letting Alex have a good time. In fact most of his candy went to his Aunt and Uncle since Mommy & Daddy are on a diet.

All in all the night went great and Alex had a wonderful time. Now I can't wait to see his reaction to all of the Christmas decorations and events.

My New Adventure

Well, since yesterday, I am officially "dieting". I gained 40 lbs when I was pregnant with Alex and right after having him about 25 of that went away very easily. Well the other 15 lbs has stuck around. I kept hoping that if I just ignored it long enough it too would go away. Boy was I wrong! For about the past two months I have tried to get the weight to start coming off by eating better and walking daily. I lost a couple of pounds, but seemed to keep putting it back on. After a few days of doing well, I would fall back into a rut and go back to eating whatever and drinking soda (my big downfall). This was all until a friend of mine introduced me to SparkPeople.com. It is a wonderful website that has TONS of tools to help you lose weight and maintain your weight loss. Its basically the same "diet" as Weight Watchers, however you are counting calories instead of using points. It has a nutrition calculator where you can put in everything you eat and it totals your calories, fat, protein, carbs, etc. It also has an exercise calculator where you record everything you do to workout..you can even count playing with your children or housework :o) When you first sign up it asks you how much you weigh now and what your weight loss goals are and when you want to be at that goal. It then creates a "program" for you to help you to know how many calories you can eat in a day and how many you need to burn throughout the week in order to get to your goal. They provide meal plans if you want them, but you do not have to use them. It is teaching me portion control and that way I don't have to give up the foods I love..I just have to eat them in smaller portions. I definitely think this is going to be that extra motivation I have needed to get those last 15 lbs off. Scott has joined forces with me and is working towards his goal as well. He put on a few pounds-I think it was sympathy weight-during my pregnancy. We both want to get back to where we were when we met and we have a goal to do that by our 4th Anniversary in February. We said if we both make it to that goal we are going to reward ourselves with an Anniversary weekend away.

So I guess this was my way of promoting SparkPeople.com at the same time. :o) No seriously though, I think everyone should check out their site. They have so many tools and things to help you along your weight loss journey! Even if you are just looking to drop a couple pounds. They have great recipes and tons of articles, videos, blogs. Go check them out and if you join..add me as a friend..my username is Sarahmay143.

I have to watch what I say from now on

Alex is becoming so independent. He is turning into a little person. Now I know he has always been a little person, but with him now walking/running, understanding the things we say and talking, he seems more like a little person now. Alex's first word was "dada" and has now progressed to "Daddy". His second word was "mama" but he has yet to say "Mommy". His favorite word is "doggy"..it comes out more like "dah-gi", but we know he is saying doggy because he says it and points to the dogs. He loves dogs. I definitely think he is going to be an animal lover just like his Mommy! He loves watching the birds fly around outside with Grandpa and when we took him to Sea World last month he couldn't keep his eyes off all of the animals there.

Now the reason I titled this blog "I have to watch what I say from now on" is because he has also entered into a mimicking phase. Anything we say or do he tries to say or copy. For instance, yesterday I yelled "No!" at the dogs and Alex proceeded to chase the dogs yelling "no!". Also he learned from his Daddy how to wave his hand in front of his nose saying "stinky" when he has pooped. Could this be a step towards potty training?? :o) Some of his other favorite words or sayings include: "stop it", "moo" for what a cow says, "shhh" for when he is telling the dogs not to bark, "that"-comes out more like "dat".

My little boy is growing so quickly. I am trying to cherish all of these times when he is little because I have learned how fast time flies. Before I know it, he will be talking all the time and potty trained and going to preschool. Gosh I feel old!

I'm officially..

in the holiday mood. The holidays are my favorite time of year. As soon as Halloween rolls around I start to get very excited because that means it will soon be Thanksgiving and soon after that Christmas!!! I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Just all the pretty lights and decorations and wonderful music and cool weather and well just everything about the Christmas season warms my heart. I get it from my Mother. My childhood has the best memories of decorating the house the day after Thanksgiving...a tradition that still stands to this day. We always listen to Christmas music and eat leftover pie from Thanksgiving and sip hot chocolate (with marshmallows) while we decorate. Another memory is decorating the Christmas tree. This was my favorite part! Then when it was all decorated we would always layout our sleeping bags and pillows and sleep by the pretty Christmas tree that first night. Baking Christmas cookies is a fond memory as well. Also going to look at Christmas lights on Christmas eve. There are so many I just can't list them all. I can't wait to carry on these traditions and also to create new ones with Alex. Last year at Christmas time he was only 3 1/2 months old so he didn't really know what was going on. This year is going to be so much fun. He is going to love all of the lights and the tree and everything. I'm going to have a fun time chasing him away from the decorations and the tree!

But I also want to talk about Halloween since it is only half-way through October. We got Alex's costume last weekend and we also went to the Pumpkin Patch. He had so much fun running around touching all of the pumpkins and trying to pick them up and carry them. Here is a picture of Alex in his costume..hes going to be a Pug dog:

And here are a few from the Pumpkin Patch:

Helping Daddy carry his Pumpkin

I want this one!

The pumpkin was bigger than him!

Finally got him to look at the camera!

Here is a video of him walking around getting excited about all of the pumpkins. Him and the little girl at the end kept running to the same pumpkins and they would just stare at each other. He already attracts all the ladies :o)

So with only 2 months and 2 days left until Christmas....I better get shopping!

In Memory

I think each and every one of us Americans will always remember exactly where we were or what we were doing when we found out about the terrorist attack on our nation on September 11, 2001. I was in my senior year of high school and my Mom woke me up to tell me what had happened. It turns out I wasn't feeling well that day anyways so I stayed home from school. I remember I was glued to the tv the whole day. I don't think my eyes left the screen. I just couldn't believe what was happening to us. I think I cried more that day than I have ever cried before. I was so scared for our nation. I think we all were. I had always felt pretty safe and secure and had never given much thought to anything like that happening..does anyone though? Nobody wants to think about those kind of things. But then something like that happens and it forever changes a nation. I gained even more of a sense of pride for our great country. I was always proud to be an American, but seeing how we all pulled together made me even more proud than I had been.

I just want to take this time to remember all of those we lost on that horrific day and all of the troops we have lost fighting for our great nation. Not just in this war, but each war in the past as well. I also want to pray for all of our troops over there now in harms way. May our great Lord keep you safe each and every day. Thank you for your sacrifices.

I am now the Mommy of a TODDLER!!

Alex turned 1 year old yesterday. Where has this year gone? Honestly, I have no idea. I guess I really know the meaning of the phrase "time flies" now. I swear it seems like just yesterday that he was a little newborn who just ate and slept and pooped. Now he is talking (quite a few different words) and running (yes running!) around everywhere! He has gone from this

to this

in what seems like only a few months time.

I cannot believe how fast his 1st year has gone by. I have mixed emotions. I am happy and so proud of how smart he is and how much he learns every day. But at the same time I am sad because I wish I could go back and re-live all of those "baby" days. I don't have a baby anymore..hes now a toddler. He is still and will always be my sweet little boy though. He still finds time to give Mommy a hug and kiss every day which always lights up my day. Wow I just still can't believe it has been 1 year since he was born. I just don't know what else to say except that time goes by WAY TOO FAST!!

Growing Up

Alex will be 1 year old 2 weeks from today. I am not quite sure what to feel. I am happy and so proud of him, but at the same time I am sad. I cannot believe it has been almost 1 whole year since he was born. It seems like just yesterday he was born and I could hold him in one arm. Now I'm lucky to squeeze in one cuddle a day. There are far too many toys to be played with and things to get into to waste time hugging Mommy. :o)

I have been spending a lot of my time planning out his 1st birthday party. On his actual birthday we are going to have a small get together with my family at my parents house and have some cake and ice cream and let Alex open some presents. Then we are having a bbq/party at the local lake/park with family and friends that live in the area about a week later. The theme will be Blues Clues. Here are some pictures of the cake and cupcakes I am going to make (wish me luck!):

Alex absolutely LOVES dogs and I think this is why he loves to watch Blue's Clues. He will just sit there and babble at the tv the whole time the show is on. Every time he sees Blue he screams "dah!" (dog). I usually put it on while I make his lunch and he gets so excited. All I have to do is ask him if he wants to watch Blue's Clues and he makes a beeline to the tv.

I'm sure I'll do a fair share of crying at his party, but I'll also have so much fun just watching him enjoy his special day. I never realized how quickly time goes by until I became a Mother. I try to live each minute to its fullest and enjoy every day I have at home with my baby boy. I know one day I will have to go back to work, but for now I am enjoying being a stay at home Mommy.

And off he goes!

Alex is officially walking now! He has been taking steps without assistance here or there since August 5th but starting Thursday he has been doing much better. This video was at Gymboree on Friday and even since then he has gotten 10x better at walking. He takes off on his own now. I can't believe how big my baby boy is getting. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting on my birthing ball at home barely getting through each contraction just waiting to go to the hospital and meet our baby boy. This year has gone by WAY TOO FAST! Alex is at such an exciting age though. He is becoming his own little person and its so funny to see his personality. I thought I was in for it with him crawling, but now that I've seen how well he walks and how quick he is getting, I realize I'm REALLY in for it now! Who knows maybe he will be a future Olympian :o)

Here we go...

Well I know quite a few people who blog and thought I would give it a try. It will be a good way to keep my family and friends who don't live near us updated. I'm sure the majority of what I write about will be about Alex. What can I say...I'm a PROUD Mommy! I think it was the best decision that Scott and I ever made for me to stay home with our little boy. Making sacrifices in other areas in order for me to stay home is well worth it. Each and every day I get to watch Alex discover new things and each day he amazes me with how smart he is. We just enrolled him in a Learn and Play class at the local Gymboree. We go for a 45 minute class every Saturday. Alex has a blast! Basically they have a teacher who sings songs and does different activities with the children and parents to help the child's motor and social skills. There are different obstacle courses, tunnels to crawl through, slides to slide down and plenty of things to play with. We thought it was important for him to get that social interaction with other babies/children his age. So far it has been a wonderful experience. Not only does Alex look forward to Gymboree..so do Mommy and Daddy :o)

Alright I am off to bed because I'm sure Alex will have me up bright and early. But I don't mind when I wake up to a smile like this: