Well that job didn't last long. I found out I have no stomch for retail unless I'm selling something I love. So Canadian Tire is out. Not that it was a bad job, just horrible for me.

Other then that new peice of new for some of you I have new floors in my basement! No more carpet! Yippy! It looks really great. Lots of wood I do have to addmit, but it looks homey like a wooden cabin. Which I think suits the house.

Well just a quick post. I'm X-Mas decorating today. I'm stuck in the house do to - 1. weather. yuck! (why haven't I moved to Cal with my sis yet?) - 2. Earl stoll the van today until he can get the winter tires on his truck. He's been slippen and sliden.

That's it. Luv Ya!

I'm a working girl once again

Yup that's right, I'm a workin Mom. Same deal as the last job. Evenings 6-close (when ever that is. I didn't check. lol) plus every second weekend.

I'm pretty happy at least it's not some other less respectable place like that store that starts with a big W. Which I did apply at, hey at least the discount would have been used on a regular bases. But they called today and all I had to say is I found another position, few! I'll be working in Seasonal and house wears for the winter months, then of course come spring I'll be back where I'm most happy, with the flowers in the green house. I stood in line for a short time at customer service at the big store in the west end. Half an hour later I walked out with a job, well that was easy!

I'm excited to get back out there and earn some $. With no money coming in on my end I always feel bad for spending it. Not on the stuff we need like pull ups and food, but the things I want, a new purse, a pair of jeans etc. I know I shouldn't feel guilty, Earl doesn't do or say anything to make me feel bad, its just the way I am.

My battle with the bulge has hit a really big mountain, I don't want to diet! I'm not horking down a litre of ice cream or eating fast food all the time, but I'm also not trying very hard. I think I chucked out at least 2 bags of salad that went bad this month. Opps. I'm just sick of veggies! I'll get on the band wagon soon, I'm hoping working again will help to motivate me a little. I'll keep you posted.

Have a good one ladies.

I'm back to this blog

Well since number 2 is not on the way I figured I'd concentrate on my fight of the bulge once again. I was super lazy durning my 11 weeks of being preggers so I gained 10 pounds putting me back over 200. Here's hoping one underland will be easier to hit this time. There is a difference of over 60 pounds but who knows. The smaller you the harder it is to lose it at times. I have a couple of things on my side this time, knowledge and a new wee fit!

So I've set my goal at losing another 30 pounds before we try again for #2 this winter, probably around Jan. So do you think I can do it? I'm hoping so. Christmas is in there so I guess we'll see.

Dispit the tears I'm trying really hard to have some goals. I'm going to keep busy, lose some more weight and really fit into those cut m-wear cloths in the regular sizes next year. Oh and don't get me wrong I am going to take my time to morn. I have already bought 1 liter of ice cream I plan on polishing of in the next few days. Oh and I may need some comfort food, Squirly Jiggs may be on tomorrow nights menu.

Well that's it, that's all, Mini challenge anyone?

Time 4 number 2

Hey there ladies! I figured I'd start a preggers blog. Go and see! http://time4number2.blogspot.com/

I have 4 walls!

Well I have 4 walls on my newly expanded garage. Yup that's right 4 walls that's the way it should be. All Earl has to do tomorrow is get the walls sheeting and level for the big barn raising party on Sat morning. I'm really looking forward to it actually. I'm looking forward to seeing some big changes in the yard in the next few days. As soon as the garage is even slightly finished, meaning with 4 walls and a roof, I can start laying the brick and getting my flower beds in. I really want to have them finished before it's time to plant fall bulbs. I want some tulips and daffodils in the spring. Maybe even some crocus!

I'm super excited! I have where all the brick is going to be outlined with the metal edger and I can imagine what it's going to look like done. I'm really hoping that mother nature is good to us and gives us a nice sunny weekend. That would help a lot.

Well that's it for me! Have a great weekend ladies.

Before and After

I found these pics of my house before all the work was done. I can't beleive the diffrence.

Potty Time!

Okay so I know it's been like forever since my last post. But I have a good reason! Honest! Our home computer network has been on the Fritz. I so wanted to write since I have big news!

Yup it's potty time! Evan went pee pee on the potty! I was so proud! He told me it was time, he wanted to do it!

Here's the story. I know Leanne has already heard my potty story but for those of you still tuning in once in a while here it is.

We where at Walmart to pick up a few things, one of which was bum wipes. Next to the bum wipes are of course the potties. Evan was going crazy while I was grabbing my preferred brand. He was pointing and carrying on at the Tomas the Train potty seats. It's one of those ones that fit over the toilette. I ignored him since we already have a potty, but as I walked away he went nuts so I thought screw it. It's not like its a toy or something. I guess if it works it will be worth the $15 bucks, yup I'll get it. So I did.

When we got home from Walmart Earl and I showed Evan what he had chosen. We put it on the toilette and sat him down. He clapped happily, had his bath, and went to bed.

The next day was the big event. That morning I went up stairs around 10am to get a coffee refill. When I came back down stairs Evan got my attention. He was trying to physically turn me back around. So I did what he wanted. He got in behind me, planted one hand on each butt check and started pushing me up the stairs. So I did as he asked. He wasn't fretting he was just communicating. We got to the kitchen and he continued pushing my up the next flight on stairs. He then pulled down his pants and pull up, climbed on the potty and went pee!!!! OMG! I was ecstatic. I wanted to rush to the phone and call everyone I knew! But I had other things to tend to, mainly Evan. At this stage of the game it's of course important to teach him the steps. Go pee, wipe, flush, wash hands. While he was washing his hands, and brushing his teeth. (he likes to bush his teeth, and rinse and spit of course) I called Earl to tell him the big news. He was not as excited as I wanted him to be. (jerk) I got an "Oh....good...well I'll see you tonight." So I called the one other person that would be just as excited as me. Yup my big sis! She was so mush more proud then Earl. I guess pee pee on the potty is a women thing.

Well that was the big event.

The only other things I got going on is:

1. Earl and I said the hell with it...Protection out...baby making in...I'll let you know how it goes. Cells could be dividing as we speck. Oh...I have had heart burn on and off today. That's how I know last time. I'm going to test at the end of the week. I'll keep you all informed.

2. Yard, Yard, Yard....Garage, Garage, Garage. Have a mentioned I can't wait till it's done?

We're having a get the trusses on the garage party next Saturday starting at 10am. We're hoping having an extra few people will help get the work done. The rest of the yard, and any thing I can do to help finish depends on getting the garage as done as possible and soon as possible.

Well that's all my news.

Have a good one ladies.

The back yard is coming along...

Well my back yard no longer looks like this. Well this side anyway. This side "the kid side" is completed. I now have those rubber tile under his slide, sand box, and his new water table. Hey, I got it on sale at Toys r Us for 24 bucks!!!!!! It has these buttons you can press that makes water spray and move a little boat around. Its cool and I got Earl with the spray, he was socked and I couldn't breath from laughing so hard. It was super funny I guess you just had to be there. We laid new sod on the parts with no tile, I'd say that side of the yard is 40% rubber tile and 60% grass.

The other side of the yard on the other hand looks like crap! At least there's crush down now so we no longer have muddy lake potter. "long story" The deck is still in tacked along with my newly expanded flower bed, but that's about it. The rest had to come out to make room for the garage expansion and the paving stones. It was mostly weed infested grass anyway.

Have a mentioned I just want it to be done? Grrrrr...dogs + mud = cleaning my floors daily.

The only other new thing is our master bed room has gone through some changes. Its now blue!! Yippee no more pail boring old yellow! I love it! It goes great with our new furniture. That's right! We joined the 30 + world and ditched the Ikea furniture. No more drawers falling apart, no more slats hitting the ground in the middle of the night, no more sore back, yippee!

I'm slightly nerves about this garage expansion thing. I may need to exit stage left this weekend when that's going on. The pad part of the project will be done on Thur which means 2 things. We are that much closer to being done, and that's less crush to sweep off my floors.

On the Evan front all is well. He's of course growing like a weed. Another growth spurt is in full motion this week. There has been disturbances in the force that last few nights and his face is doing the big head big checks catch up game again lately. He's been showing his true 2 year old colours lately. There's been a few sit on the floor and scream misshapes which are to be expected.

Well that's it for me. Have a good one ladies.

My Front Yard

Yup that's right! Its done! These pics where taken a couple of weeks ago before we had all that rain, so now all the new sod looks like a lush green carpet. The only other thing you can't see is our ram sitting up by the hose thing, for some reason Earl didn't get that angle when he took these pics.

We've also added some moon lights up the side walk and around all the bark beds. I love it! it looks completely different! As you can see our new fence is up as well which gave Evan a whole pile more room in the back. I'm truly getting sick and tired of all the mud! The back behind
the fence still has the dirt patches
from the old flower beds. On Monday we're having a bob cat come in and take off all the old sod so we can lay fresh sod and those rubber paving mats under Evan's sand box and slide. I can't wait for it all to just be done! I've had to clean my floors almost daily to keep up with all the dirt and mud being tracked into the house! I'm getting so tired of it! GRRRR We're hoping to have all the outside done including the garage expansion in mid August, here's hoping we get it done so we can sit back and enjoy for a while before the snow flys.

Well that's pretty much it for me sorry I haven't been writing that much, but now that you've seen the pics I hope you can understand why. It was a lot of work but worth it don't you think?

Our yard is taking shape!

Our yard is now taking shape.

The new fence is pretty much up minus the gates. We have most of our front beds in with mow strips, and today we went and bought the shrubs! Yup, we went and bought some bush! lol. I'm super happy with the way everything is turning out. It doesn't even look like the same house any more! Our lot looks huge with the new fence at the front. I can't wait till its done and we can just sit back and enjoy! If only it would stop raining until after we seed then lawn, then it can rain all it wants!

I've been weighing in on my regular days, mostly to see if all this hard work is paying off. I seem to be leveling out at between 190-193, but my pants are again feeling a little smaller. I think I must be putting on muscle and losing inches. To bad my arm wings arn't going away. Grr...will I be a bird forever?

On the baby front I went into see Dr Coe on Tues to get my IUD out. I arrived after waiting a month for the appointment, I sat in the waiting room for an hour, then I was told he didn't have the tool to remove it! WTF! I was livid! I gave the receptionist a piece of my mind! Why wasn't I told that when I made the appointment a month ago! I told the lady on the phone why I was making it! Or even more why didn't you pre screen me when I came to check in at the desk! I sat in your waiting room for an hour! I payed my baby sitter for and hour! OMG I was and am so mad! I think I scared her because not even 2 hours later I got a phone call about the actule removal appointment. So now I have to go to the Sturgeon out patient on my anniversary (July 2nd) to get it removed, because that's where the tool is!?! Sucks. I would still use this form of birth control again, it's super easy and now that I have this info about it's removal I'll know for next time. For the next few months Earl and I are planning on using store bought Birth Control. I think we'll try and get preggers some time this winter. This will insure that Evan can be moved into the bigger room and in his big boy bed (yet to be bought but definitely on the budget books), also this will insure that Evan and the new babies birthdays on opposite times of the year. Good for future birthday party costs and such.

Well really, all that's new with me. I hope everyone is well. I'll try to write more often but I really don't have much to report. Have a good one!

Crazy busy

Well my front yard still looks like a construction zone. We now have a front sidewalk which is good. But there is now a tandem load of black dirt sitting on my front lawn. Since it's raining that dirt will not be moving anywhere but turning into mud instead. This sucks! I just want to get it done! I want the front of my house to look nice when people walk by!

Life is soooo funny. Last year we had no money but all the time in the world to get things done. Evan wasn't walking yet so we could have but him in his saucer and went to work. This year however he is of course a goer! We can't work on the front because one of us has to watch him, his napping schedule is so sporadic we never know if he's going to actually nap or not, and I'm working every second weekend and 3 nights a week so that takes Earl out of the game until I'm off again the next weekend! Then we're back to Evan again.

Most of the jobs out front especially putting in the lawn edging kind of needs 2 ppl. Once that's done I can lay the brick for the mow strips durning the week, here's hoping mother nature gives us a couple of rainless hours this weekend.

Well my IUD comes out on June 24th. Which means the need for birth control or getting preggers again is in the front of my mind. I'm not sure yet another baby in 9 months is a good thing. I can't imagine all the things we would need to do to prepair, and the short amount of time we would have to do it in. That is of course if I get preggers right away, which lets face it is a strong possibility. The Wood girls are blessed when it comes to getting with child.

I'm hoping things are calming down now, so I'll get a chance to blog more often.

Oh on the weight loss front, I've gained back about 3 pounds. My weight has been fluctuating between 188-193. So with in 5 pounds. I've simply not been watching what I'm eating, and frankly at this point I don't really care. I'm happy, busy but happy, maybe after baby #2 I'll concentrate on getting to my goal weight. But for now I'm okay with me and my girth.

Have a good one ladies.

Avleen

I am proud to introduce the newest addition to my familly.

Introducing my new neice Avleen Iris Carroll. Born today May 26, at 9:30 am Cal time. 6 pounds, 9 ounces.

Yahoo! I hope I'm as lucky to have a beutiful baby girl some day.

Congrates Big, Little Sis, Mike and Mannix.

Tub of Tues...Quick Post

Quick post...to busy...to much going on.

Weight - 189.5

Working on the yard. Flower beds, front side walk, new shed, fence going up in June.

Potty training not going well, I've put it on the back burner, Evan isn't ready yet.

Work is crazy.

Crystal is almost ready to pop, my first neice should be born on May 27 by c section.

That's about it. There is much more but I don't have time to type it all.

Take care!

Tubb of Tuesday on Wednesday

Well Evan is doing much better today. His nose still sounds stuffed and he still doesn't want to eat much, but he had a few mouthfuls of oatmeal this morning so here's hopping he's taking a turn for the better.

I totally forgot to weigh in yesterday, so this morning I stepped on the scale. I was very happy to see 191.4. That's exactly one pound off my lightest weight of 190.4 that was last recorded on my ticker. This is also another relatively large loss, about 2 pounds. I'll take it with a smile. Looks like my hard work at Rona is paying off in pounds. Since the last two nights have been pretty nice we've been reving up for our busy season, this involves some lifting and yup running trying to help customers and get stuff done.

I'm having a love hate relationship with our summer season. I remember the craziness, but the shifts flew by. I also got to keep thinking I've got more experience under my belt this year, so here's hoping that makes a big difference.

I got some calling to do. I have to call my Uncle Ian about my sister's baby gift. She wants a double stroller that we can order on line. I think my Dad, Uncle Ian and Earl/I will be chipping in to get it for her. She has her c section scheduled for May 27! I can't believe how fast time is going! I can't wait to see pictures of my new niece.

I also have to call my other Uncle Denny, it's probably about Gorden's wedding, which Earl and I aren't attending for two reasons. 1. it's in Vancouver, can we say $$$$$ 2. no kids aloud at the reception. What do they think we would do! Evan's only 2! Grrrrr. I guess we'll see what Denny has to say, but we aren't going. I don't mind the no kids aloud thing, they sent the choices of dinners in the invitation. It looks pretty fancy, not my style, not fun to me, and definitely not kid friendly. I'm cool with it, it frankly just gives me more amo to say "nope we can't come"

Well that's it for me today. Have a good one ladies!

Board Earl

I'll get to the reason I'm posting in a minute.

First I'll update you on Evan's condition.

Dr Anderson said it's just a virus and that Evan should be improving day by day till the virus runs it's coarse. So that's that, he's a okay.

I know he probably would be, but it's better to be safe then sorry.

Okay so on to my post "Board Earl" I had to work tonight so Earl was stuck at home with sick Evan. Earl got the munchies, Earl decided to bake! Yup that's right I typed bake! Well sort of anyway. He made cupcakes from a cake mix box. He didn't get to the icing since Evan throw up again. He did however clean my kitchen because he had to clean the floor anyway. He also had to do laundry. I won't get into the Gorey details but I figure I should make him board more often, at least I got cup cakes minus the icing out of it. Now if only I could get him to clean the kitchen and at least start the laundry when Evan throwing up every where isn't involved.

Oh well I guess I'll just have to settle for the cupcakes. lol.

Have a good one ladies!

Sick Evan

Well ladies it's been a long weekend of no sleep. Our little boy has one dussy of a cold, or at least I hope it's just a cold. Just to be safe I've made him an appointment today with his Doctor.

He's been running a fever for about 3 days, Friday night it was just a little fever that I thought was just teething, by Saturday night it was a full out sweat fest. He's thrown up twice, once each night Sat and Sun. His nose is like a tap, dripping and dripping, oh and he keeps grabbing at his throat. The throat thing is what's got me the most worried. That's the main reason I've made him an appointment.

Yesterday he ate, pooped and generally did what Evan's do, today he will not eat, and he doesn't want to put cloths on!?! He's just not being himself, this scares me. He wouldn't let me put him down last night, I couldn't leave the room! Earl had to distract Evan with his Black Berry so I could just go pee! Crazy I tell ya.

His appointment is at 12:50, so I'm off to have a shower.

So here's hoping its just a nasty cold.

Hope you have a good Monday. Grrr Jordanna, I would much rather be in Dominican with you drinking fruity drinks!

Tubb off Tuesday

humm Blogger isn't letting me add a picture to this post. So I guess Tub of Tues will have to go picture...less.

Well I stepped on the scale today and I was thrilled to see 190.4! That's like 4 pounds!?! I have been working more hours at work, and despite the snow there's quite a bit left to do, inside anyway. Outside is another story. Rona had to cancel orders for bedding plants, our shrub order has been put off, and our trees are being forced on us. We'll have to find a decent home for them inside, but who in there right mind would buy an apple tree in this snow!

Here's hoping mother nature wakes up soon. I'm so sick of this snow! Especially when its this miserable out, I don't even feel right about taking Evan to the indoor play park!

I don't want to be house bound any more, and frankly either does Evan!

Well that's my snow complaining for the day.

I want to be in Jordanna's shoes, off she goes to the Dominican today. Lucky lady!

Have a good one Ladies, or should I say Lady.

Sam the Suck!

So our newest addition to the Potter familly has now intergrated himself into a full fleged member. Not only is he great with Evan he's also very attached to Evan.

For the last couple nights Evan has been waking up at 3am, I think he sprouting yet another 2 teeth. Anyway, Sam hears him fussing before I do, and seeing that he's part Siamese he can sure scream if I don't get up right away to tend to his new best bud. He scratches at my door as if to say "hey lady! He's up!" He also gets loud when he's not permitted into the room to investigate the problem and make sure Evan is okay. Its funny but also a pain in my butt. He distracts Evan, gets up on the change table when I'm trying to change him and jumps into his crib when I'm trying to put Evan back down to sleep. Sam would sleep with Evan in his crib if I'd let him. I'm planning on letting him when Evan gets into a big boy bed, this way I'll have to leave the door open and hopefully Sam will be past the attacking feet under the cover stage. Lol, kittens!

Needless to say despite these minor problems Sam has turned out to be exactly what we wanted. A kitty with a great kid friendly personality. He actually plays with Evan! He runs past him with a meow to get Evan's attention, then runs and hides in the play tent. Evan of course runs after him, laughing his little head off. Evan gets to the tent and peeks in, Sam runs out past him to one of the tunnel tents, and Evan chases, and back Sam goes to the tent waits and this repeats. It's soooo funny to watch! It entertains Evan for 20 minutes! Believe me that's a long time for a 2 year old!

Well that's my little tid bit of daily fun.

I only have 2 more things to say:

1. Mother nature is a B with an itch. This snow sucks!

2. Have a great day ladies!

Funny for days!

So Evan is starting to have an extensive DVD collection. But what is a kids collection with out a potty video! Crystal suggested this one to me, not because she saw it but because she saw it in the store. Evan loves Elmo so I decided to go out and find Elmo's Potty Time. It took awhile, apparently it's popular. I ended up finding it at Capallano Walmart. If your ever in need of something and the other Walmarts in the city don't have it, give Capallano a call, more often then not they seem to have the stock.

So after calling over there and making the employee laugh his ass off, we headed over to pick it up. We of course throw it in the DVD player in the van right away. As we where cruising down Yellow head we hear songs like, "It's potty time" with a blues feel, "Accidents happen" sang by Grover, and "What words do you use" - a song about all the diffrent words for pee pee and poo poo as sang by Elmo's Dad. Earl and I where cracking up listening to it. It does have some adult hummer to make you chuckle as well.

My only beef with this video is the length. It's a lot of information for a little brain. But then again potty training must be info over load. Just think of it for a second. They have to learn what it feels like to have to go, then run up to their potty, go on the potty, flush, wash their hands, dry their hands. For a little one that can hardly use a fork and spoon that's a lot to remember.

Well Evan and I are off to go swimming. I've started tuckering him out every morning. I'm truly looking forward to the summer months, it was so great yesterday when we could just walk to the park he could run and run. When it's nasty out like today, I have to pack everything up and go some where. I am running out of fun places to go! Please mother nature! Let the sun shine in?

Have a good one ladies! Don't forget to read yesterdays post, it may clear up why I've all of a sudden bought a potty training DVD. lol.

I woke up to poop!

Sunday morning we woke up to poop! Since it was my morning to sleep in Earl got up to get Evan b-fast and such. All I heard was Earl yelling "Evan, don't touch anything!" So I of course got up. When I walked into Evan's room I found poo! On his bedding, on his crib rails, on his stuffed animals. I'm thankful he didn't draw to much with it, we've all heard the horror stories of moms having to clean it up from the ceiling to the floor, I thankfully have a relatively clean son, so I didn't have to deal with that. So with this new development the thought of potty training has finally hit the front of my brain. I know it was coming, I knew I'd have to start dealing with the fact that Evan is growing up, my little baby is gone, and it's now time to start treating him like a bigger boy. So I've started the first steps to potty training.

We've now got pull ups instead of diapers. This serves two purposes.

1. We can start calling them big boy underwear, and pushing the "big boy" things.

2. He can't get them off as easy as a diaper so we avoid the whole "who flung dung" thing. Lol -the "who flung dung" saying came from Earl, not me. But I thought it was funny.

Oh but you can't just buy one type of pull ups. Nope, you gotta buy two! One for during the day- these let them feel when they're wet in order to get them uncomfortable so they feel the need to be changed and they don't want to feel it at all, which leads to wanting to use the potty so they don't have to feel gross and wet. Few, that was a lot of typing! The other type is basically the same idea only a little more absorbent so they last through the night.

Then we move on to the choice in pottys! OMG! I got one for him from sears that converts to a step stool and seat that fits on the toilette for later. But what about when your out and about? Well the lovely retail ppl have thought of that too. They have smaller seats that fold up so they fit into your bag for when you go out. If I knew this I would have spent the original money on just that one potty seat and step stool and used it at home too! GRRRR!

This potty training thing is harder then it seems. It's kind of scary actually. Like most things child related there is an over whelming amount of information. Which as a mom you have to wade through and find your own way. I've been looking for web sites and talking to other moms. But the bottom line is you have to teach them the vocab and get them sitting on the bloody thing. Again easier said then done.

I'm glad Evan is such a fast learner. He may not say the words, but he understands them. He already knows what his potty is, where it belongs (stays in the bathroom) and what it's used for. Now it's just getting him to actually sit on it for more then a couple of seconds. I guess I'm just going to have to keep at it.

I'll keep you updated.

On the weight front (which honestly has been at the back of my mind since the potty stuff has flouted to the front) I didn't weigh myself this week, to much going on. I've started working 3-4 shifts a week so that should help my battle of the bulge. Toon in next week for my Tubb of Tues report.

Oh and Biggest Loser! You go girls! Yahoo for the first female biggest loser!

Have a great Thursday ladies.

Introducing Sam!

Well here's a picture of the newest addition to the Potter family. I would like to introduce you to Sam.

He's great! He's super affectionate. He follows Evan around like a puppy dog. Sam rubs up against Evan's legs and arms while Evan wants to play. He lets Evan know when he's petting him wrong with a little nip that doesn't leave even the tiniest scratch! Evan was actually getting frustrated when Sam was getting in his way while he was trying to play! It was sooo funny. I've posted more pics on face book if you want to go and have a look.

I did weigh in yesterday and was happy to see no gain and no loss. Well that's it for me today. Have a good hump day ladies.

My spoiled son

I don't want to ruin the birthday surprises but I had to show some one. To the left are the 2 biggest presents scheduled for Sunday. Both where on sale at Toys R Us for super cheap!

The sand box is our gift to Evan. It was regularly $200 and we got it for $99!!!! It's already out on our deck without sand of course. We're waiting for the snow to finish melting and a dog bomb clean up before we set it up in a temporary place until the fence is done. The other picture is being bought by Earl's parents. It was also on sale regular price $450 on sale for $250! I'm going to have a play ground in my back yard! It will be great to just let him rip around the yard in safety, I can relax. It will be especially handy when he have another baby. It's nice to know I can keep Evan active with a new born, the new baby can just hang out in a swing or stroller and I know diapers and bottles aren't to far. I don't have to pack the whole house just to go to the park. I also love how the climbing thing has 2 slides, hopefully that will mean less fighting.

On Friday night our family is once again growing. One of the guys that Earl works with is giving away 8 month old kittens. They have their first shots and they are micochiped! We picked an orange stripped tabby. He's super cute and seems to do well with getting his tail pulling, so here's hoping he'll make friends with Evan and Gandolf. Goodness knows Gandolf can use some play mate exercise. We would have been bringing him home sooner, but the guys son wanted to have a fair well party, he's only 3 or 4 so we don't mind a bit, it's cute!

I'm so looking forward to Sunday, I've almost got the whole house spic and span, not that it was overly dirty, but when you have company over you just need to make sure. His cake is due to be picked up on Sunday around noon, and I'm planning on putting up the decorations on Sat night after Evan goes to bed. I hope they give everyone a chuckle. Then food prep etc will start on Sunday. If you ladys are board feel free to come early, for a visit, and maybe give me a hand? Just give me a call, but I understand if your busy. I have to work Saturday so that whole day time is pretty much a write off.

That's it for me ladies. I hope you have a great Friday and I'll see you Sunday.

Tubb of Tuesday (sorry its late)

Well I did weigh in this morning and I was pleasantly surprised to see 193.4. So just under a 2 pound loss. I know I can do much better, so here's to another week. I know this one will be a bust since it's Evan's birthday on Saturday and a piece of birthday cake is on the menu. Oh well whats another week. I'll only have a small piece. We are expecting about 15-18 people on Sunday, I only bought a quarter slab cake, so I'm hoping there won't be any left overs. I'm planning on having a healthy menu for the rest of the afternoon, fresh veggi's, fruit, some lunch meat and low fat cheese for sandwiches with brown buns. Oh but then there's the snacks, chips etc. Maybe I'll skip that, does one really need to serve chips to make a 2nd birthday right? I don't think so! I guess I'll see.

The only other thing I got on my mind is my emotional state as far as the big 2nd birthday. Evan has a habit of crawling into the edge of his crib and waking himself up. So he crys out because he's to sleepy to figure out where he is in the crib and is some how powerless to do anything about it. This happens about 3 nights a week. Any way, so I go into his room and move him, once he sees me he doesn't want to go back into his crib right away. So I usually take him back down stairs for a snuggle which puts him back to sleep within a minute. It's nice to be able to hold him to tell you the truth. During the day he's so on the go I don't really get the chance to just hold him and marvel at how much he's changed. His hands are still so small but so much bigger then they where even a month ago! He changes so much every day! I can't believe he's going to be 2 years old! I kind of miss my little baby boy! Don't get me wrong he's so enjoyable now, he does stuff, has a character, he's such a little wise guy! lol. Time flys so fast!!!! Remember how when we where kids 4 sleeps seemed like decades! Now I'm thinking OMG his party is on Sunday! It's already Tuesday! When am I going to get stuff done. Today I went to Walmart and got the plates etc, then stopped in at Sobes so that Evan could pick his cake. He ended picking the cake that had the most toys included! Little monkey! The bakery ladies where great! They took all the pages out of the binder and let Evan look at them. He has this new thing about putting is index finger on his lips and saying hmmm. I'm hoping he does it on Sunday for everyone, it cracks me up every time! Well he hmmed at every page, then put the ones he narrowed down in the cart and handed me the ones he wasn't interested in, these included the princess cakes, lol, no one can say he's not smart! It was fun to watch his little brain work, he really picked his cake, he's only 2! He had it narrowed down to the car and truck cakes. He really does recognize what he likes! It was so cool! I won't ruin the surprise, but I'm so stoked about my decor for his party, it's super cute.

Well that's it for me today, I know it was a lot of Evan stuff, sorry about that. I don't think I'll be getting around to posting again this week, but I'll see. But if not I'll see you ladies at the party.

Have a good hump day!

Side Affects

Side Affects to what you ask? My nasty side affects are from my husband! A side affect of being married to a computer geek!!!! Till now the other side affects haven't effected me to much. The fact that he's a hobby mechanic with junk cars in the driveway have only been eye sores. I can live with junk cars! But I can't live with out my TV!!!!

Here's the back round in a nut shell. As you both know we have a media center. Which is like the most expensive shaw box or Tevo (is that how you spell it?) but with more perks, we can down load pics and movies from the net and watch them on our TV instead of our computer screen. Anyway the X Box which was being used as an extender for the down stairs TV died. (the extender is like having a shaw box at each of your main TV's.) Earl being the computer geek he is, used this as an excuse to change everything!

The computer box that was upstairs in our room is now in the basement, a new small computer box is going to go upstairs in our bedroom to be used as an extender,...and there is a new server to control them all in the computer room. Wow, that seemed like a lot of typing. But there is still more! He also changed the program from a Microsoft product to a new program called Sage TV. I like the options, but its not working!!!

I got up this morning and booted up the TV. ( I know it sounds funny, it takes some extra time, nothing good comes to easy. lol.) I fed Evan his b-fast, and brought him down to watch his regular program Toopie and Binoo while I take a couple of minutes for myself. (go pee, brush my teeth, wash my face, have a smoke etc.) This show gives me a 20 minute window of full Evan quite time. I look forward to this every morning. It gives me a chance to wake up, get my bearings, plan my day. Today this lovely time was turned into a night mare! The TV wasn't working!!! OMG!!! Now what do I do!!!! I yelled, screamed, and almost had a nervous brake down! I know this seems a little melodramatic but please try to understand. I'm not completely techno alliterate, but I do not have any patients. I have this crazy belief that what I buy to do a certain job should just work! When I buy a pen I expect it to write! That's it's reason for being on this earth! GRRRRRR!!!! Anyway I played with it for over an hour then finally just called and left a nasty message for Earl, bagging him to just either make it work by the end of the week or I was going to throw it out the window and call shaw to get a the most expensive box!!!! I could tell he thought I was joking. Earl if you read this I'M NOT JOKING!!!!!!

So since the TV isn't working I was able to finally figure out how to play a DVD for Evan so I could go about my morning routine. I feel a little better now. A little. I'll stress the phrase "a little". I'm one of those crazy people who doesn't like it when the routine gets messed up. Now I know I'll be annoyed by every little thing that goes wrong. If the dogs don't come back in when I call the first time, I'll snap at them, if I walk into a toy and hurt my foot a little it will be a bigger deal in my mind. If a day starts out bad, it stays bad! At least in my world. I'm going to try and make it the best day I can, what I do know is if Evan doesn't go down for his nap, the cat may have to call 911. I will have a nervous brake down for sure!

Well that's my rant for the day, hope you ladies are having a better day then me. I hope your husband side affects are not to bad. Have a good one!

Sorry it's been a while

I know it's been a long time since my last post. Between Evan, work and visiting family I've been hopping. (no Easter pun intended)

Life has been relatively uneventful despite my busy schedule. Evan is a handfull, I'm finding it more hard to get time to myself. So I stay up late at night, he still gets up early, so I'm tired when I'm forced to get up with him, so of course I take a nap when he does, etc, etc. So that cycle runs over and over. I also stay up late with Earl, so we can get some time for us. It's hard, but it's working, so I'm not going to mess with it.

My Uncle Ian was here for a week for my Dad's 65th birthday. It was great to see him, I feel a link to him I can't explain in words. It's like I was meant to be his daughter. We have so much more in common then I have with my Dad. It's weird. It was a great visit, so great in fact that he's thinking of coming again in May for my big 30th.

On the weight loss front I gained back quite a bit. I weighed myself on my usual Tub off Tues and wasn't shocked to see 193. Oh well, that's life, I know the eating out, not eating much, then eating birthday cake was going to catch up to me. I'm back on track now with a fresh NS order in the cupboard. At least I'm trying to be back on track. I'll let you know how it goes. Work will be crazy again soon, which will help keep me active again. The bulk of my weight loss was from working last summer. I know it will come off a lot slower this year. But having a more active day should help, I'm so sick of being couped up in the house all day long, I can't wait to get out to the park with Evan. I can't wait to get our fence up in the yard so we can throw a ball around in security. I just can't wait till all the snow is gone, and everything is dry and unmuckie. I just can't wait!

Speaking of Evan. I had a mommy triumph this week with has been the high lite of my week so far. I've been teaching Evan to clean up his messes. I'm simply encouraging him to put one toy away before moving on to a new one. I started with the crayons, since I don't want them getting lost and showing up later on walls, fish tanks etc. Anyway, he was colouring on the floor while I was watching one of my TV programs. The next thing I knew he's walking across the floor with his tin of crayons and his paper pad, he was walking towards the bar which is where I store them when they're not in use! He put all his crayons back in the tin! He was putting his drawing stuff away with out being asked! Of course he got high praise for this, along with some BBQ chips. lol. He wanted some and at that point I wasn't going to say no. I don't believe in rewarding kids with treats, it makes me think "my kid's seems like a dog" but I cheered him on before the chips so I think it's okay.

That's about all for me. I'm goin to try to blog more often again. I miss it!

Tubb of Tuesday

Well I stepped on the scale this morning with high hopes, I was very disappointed. The scale says 189 pounds! Huh? that's up over 2 pounds! Oh well I'll live. I got to much else on my mind.


Yesterday all day I started getting pains in my tummy area. They feel like hunger pains only higher up under my boobs. They aren't all that painful really, there's a constant "I'm kind of okay with this" pain most of the time with a stab of"this really sucks" once in a while. Like I said it feels like hunger pains, my tummy growls, I eat something, but it doesn't go away. It's weird! It's annoying! If it continues after today I'll go see my Doc. I've never felt anything like it.

The other thing I got on my mind is all the work ahead of me at our house. Earl and I have come to the joint conclusion that our current house is a little small for our growing family. Like I've said before we are going to start trying for another baby in the fall. That puts Evan in the larger of 2 rooms upstairs, the new baby in Evan's old room, and Josh where? Not to mention we lose our guest bedroom for Evan, our downstairs room is housing our computers, so if we turn the computer room into our guest room (for Crystal and the kids, my uncle etc.) where do we put our computers? With even one small child we don't want our computers out in the living room, not to mention Earl's lack of organization in this room. So all in all we've decided that a new house is in our future (different not brand new-are you kidding me! $$$$/ no yard! no thanks!). Not now mind you, we will need to do some work to our current house in order to get top $. Our house was just appraised at 405 before xmas. A house in the size and number of bedrooms we want is 400 -500. So I think we are sitting pretty right now with only 210 mortgaged. But we'll see I'm hoping the market doesn't take a nose dive when we're ready to make the big move. I know we will have to update the kitchen, finish the bathroom down stairs, paint the basement, and give the house another dose of curb appeal. This will take money, and time, so our move probably won't be till at the soonest next year.

That's it for me today. Have a good one ladies.

A quick Denise update

Well its now 8am and Evan has been up since 6! WTF! Well at least he slept through the night, so I can't complain to much. So... yup I'm tired. It's not like he goes to bed and I do the same. I get my "me time" for a few hours. I'm hoping he goes down for a nap today. I have to work tonight and I know it will be relatively physical. There's a plant order on the way, time to move a jungle again. Things are getting more exciting around Rona Green house again. Believe it or not we are already getting ready for our busy season. I have product training on March 3rd for things like fertilizer, seeds, grass and such. I'm really looking forward to next month when the block rep will be coming to talk to us. I know, I know, being excited about learning about blocks sounds weird, but I really want to know more. Probably because we are planning on using some this year. I hope, hope, hope we will get a lot accomplished this summer on the yard. A new fence is a definite, but here's hoping flower beds are in my near future. This will be the 3rd year I've wanted to get them in, so here's hopping. I'm sick of the front of our house looking like crap, not to mention that we're planning on trying for another baby in the fall, so next summer would probably be a write off on the $ end of things.

The temporary bump in my weight loss battle is over. Evan is still being a handful, so I don't really know why I feel better. Maybe the level of craziness has come down, or maybe I've just become accustomed to it. lol. I've been doing pretty good most of this week. I feel skinner. So here's hopping there will be a loss on the scale tomorrow.

Have a good one ladies!

Tubb of Tuesday

I just got tsk, tsked for not posting my weigh ins. So heres whats been happening. Evan has started his terrible 2s early. He wount eat very much, I have to try 3 diffrent food items to get him to eat anything, he's having fits at bed time to the point he's throwing up, and he's hiting, kicking and just generaly being a monster!

So I have weighed in but didn't have time to report my findings. His the short of it:

last week-gained 3 onces

this week-stayed the same

I've been finding I'm starting to fall off the weight loss banwagen. I've got my feet on the ground and I'm holding on for dear life! Things seem to be beyond stressful right now. Yes, I know, I know, there will always be stress and it's no excuse. I'm exosted! Drained! I'm unmotivated! I'm craving chocolet oh and sleep too! I'll get back on the banwagen when I feel better. For now, I'm not letting myself go completly, I'm still semi watching what I eat, I'm not gaining back everything I've lost, so I'm okay with that.

I'll let you know when I'm all gun-ho again, have a good one ladies!

Tubb of Tuesday

Well I steped on the scale after a week or rather weekend of indulgence. I was expecting the worse! But I got an "okay" instead I'm up .3 for a total weight of 187.7 after the weekend of pizza one night, A & W with a milk shack, popcorn (more then I should have) and just general lazyness, I'll take a .3 gain, it's not that bad and I deserve it.

I have a few new Evan developments to report. He's still not talking much but his word used most often is UP. He uses it at the top of the stairs when I leave him down there to run up and get something, he uses it when he's in his crib and I'm still in bed, on the moniter I hear up, up, up over and over, louder and louder. It makes me giggle and I get up. He's sooo bossy!

His other new skill is pointing to his nose, eyes, mouth and ears. Guess all that reading and pointing game is paying off. If you say "Evan show me where your nose is." he points to the end of his nose, then moves his finger to his nostril and inserts and laughs! What a goober!

For some reason my spell check isn't working, so sorry about all the mistakes.

Well have a good one ladies!

Evan the Eat...er

Well I just finished giving Evan his lunch. I'm shocked at how much he's been eating latly. For b-fast he had, a whole package of instant oatmeal and a cup and a half of milk. For luch he ate about 3/4th cup of mac and cheese, half a small can of mandern orange peices and two raw baby carrots. To you that may not seem like much but for a little tummy that was a lot!!!!! I'm not looking forward to the mess it might make in his diaper, but I'm sooooo glad he eats.

I had talked to my sister not even 15 min before lunch time and she's having a hell of a time with Mannix. He'll only eat pancakes and yogart. He's smaller then Evan but you would think he should be eating more.

I'm so happy Evan is a good eater. He's a little picky at times but he at least trys everything I put in front of him. Thank goodness!

On another note I've been starting time outs. He actully throws things at me, hits me, and just all around pushes my buttons. Yesterday he walked up to me and slapped my clear across the face. There was a bit of a brack down on my part, I was shocked! Time out it was, he was crying I was shacking, he hasn't done it again since thank God. He's starting to figure out that time out isn't a game, it's no longer funny, so it's starting to work. Disiplining him is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Wish me luck!

That's it for me today ladies, have a good one!

Tubb of Tuesday

Well I"m now down to 187.4! Yahoo that's a 3.2 pound loss that also puts me back under my smallest weight of 189.6! Yahoo!!!!!!

This also puts me under my mini challenge weight target. Now I'll have to come up with another one. I'm thinking doing an exercise one this time. I find it's my biggest down fall, exercise and ice cream. lol.

I have to make it do-able, like I'm going to try to exercise 3 times a week for a month. Starting Feb 1st. At least its a small month. lol.

I just have one other thing to say. BRRRRRRRR! Its super cold out there!!!! -30 to 40! what the hell this is Edmonton not the north pole!

Tubb of Tuesday

Well I'm at 190.6 that's pretty good, it means I lost under a pound but I'll take it!

The only other exciting thing I got going on is a forced bathroom reno. Before we left to Cal we noticed a small drip in our downstairs bathroom. When we got home it was no longer a drip. It wasn't a stream but it was a faster drip that filled up the yogurt container we where using to catch the water. We also noticed we didn't have a lot of hot water or water pressure in the rest of the house. Earl did some research and we learned we had to replace the dip stick on our hot water tank. So Sunday was spent doing that and taring out the walls in the bathroom. We where shocked to find black mold! We have most of it cleaned out now. We will have to replace the leaking pluming for the shower, the shower itself, and revamp the entire bathroom because of the ceder! This sucks! We where going to start our reno's upstairs and work our way down. Now we have to start in the bathroom down here instead. This is going to take a bite out of the money we where going to use outside this year, which sucks. I really want to get my flower beds in this year, but getting the hazard of black mold out of our house is of course more important.

Well that's it for me today. Have a good Tues ladies!

Tubb of Tuesday

We'll I'm back down to 191.4! That's at least where I was before X Mas. So I'll take it.

This morning I was so sick of sitting around watching Evan play so I decided to go out. I drove around for a couple of minutes then saw a sign for Servus Place here in St Albert. I remembered that they had an indoor play park so off we went. I was expecting to have to pay at least a couple of bucks to go in but it was free! We ran and played for about an hour, it was fun, but next time I'll have to bring provisions. An extra sippy cup, some snacks and a drink for me. He was so tired from all the running and playing he went down for his nap at 12:30! His choice! We had lunch when we got home and went down stairs. He had some milk grabbed his blanket and started up the stairs. I followed him of course, he went strait to his room, pulled his susie from the crib and popped it in. He pointed to the crib and said "uh". lol. Nap or sleep isn't part of his vocab yet. I'll definitely be going back to the indoor park on a regular bases. I'm super glade I went.

That's it for me today. Have a good one ladies!

A little better today

Things went a little better today. He didn't fight for hours, only half an hour. He ended up taking a nap around 1:30pm. So I figure I'll just start laying him down another 30 min later then usual. I sware he holds on to his poop till nap time. So I put him down, he fusses 10 min later so I go in and he's poopie! Silly child.

One of the "joys" of parenting is learning to adapt to your child's changing schedule. Every time you think you got it all figured out, they up and change it! They certainly keep you on your toes.

I did really well on my diet today. I've stuck to it except for one timmies. I'm going to be saving one fruit serving for the party tomorrow. I am of course going to partake in the goodies so I'm going minimise the impact by including it as my snack serving too. I hope it helps.

That's it for me this evening. Have a good TGIF!

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am beyond frustrated at this point. Evan is refusing to take his nap. This means he's dead tired by 5pm when its time to eat. Not only is he tired he's a tired asshole!!! I don't know what to do!!!!! If I keep him up he's out of control grumpy, he wants to go to bed at 6 at the latest, which means he'll be up at 4am! Do I have to put up with that? But he refuses to sleep! I'm in tears! I'm tired, I'm frustrated with him, what do I do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tubb of Tuesday

Well today is of course Tubb of Tues so I stepped on the scale. I was flabbergasted and a little disgusted. I noticed my jeans where feeling a little tighter so I knew something was up. I was right my weight was up 4 whole pounds! I now weigh in at 194.8....again. It took me forever to get over this hump before, now I have to get under it all over again. (I hope that made sense) I'm really trying not to be to hard on myself, I had a great holiday, full of yummy stuff and good times. But I can't help but feel a little disappointed. Starting today I'm back on track. I got Earl to pull out my treadmill again (it was put away to make room for guests during X Mas) I've also been sticking to my diet plan for the last few days. I'm looking forward to my first night back at work on Wed. I only have 2 days a week to work but hopefully they will be full of stuff to do. I know there is a lot of organizing and cleaning to be done. The organizing part sounds good to me, I like organizing things, the cleaning doesn't sound so good. Things usually pick up again in March, when all the Summer stuff starts flying through the door, along with all the customers. I can't wait till Spring, but I know we have 2 or 3 more months to go. I shredded pounds like crazy last year. Work is so much more "work" in the summer.

Earl and I have been talking more and more about having another baby. Well at least I've been thinking of it more and more for obvious reasons. I know I'm not emotionally ready yet for another one, I just feel like I want to get some control and communication started with Evan before I introduce a baby into the mix. My IUD is up in June this year. It's hard to believe 2.5 years can fly by that fast. I think we may try for another baby in the fall, that way I can get some great hours in at work and get closer to my goal weight.

I'm headed over to Jordanna's for a much needed visit tonight. You ladies always seem to lift my spirts. It's not just the weight, I'm having trouble getting back into a schedule I wasn't really happy with to begin with. Alone all day, Evan and me. Don't get me wrong I love my son with all my heart, but there is only so much you can do with a toddler, he still wants his own free play time, playing with him only lasted about 10 mins then he's off again doing his own thing. Some times just watching him is enough he does some of the funniest things now! Grown up kid things, my cheeks hurt from smiling, and I'm surprised by him every day.

Jordanna and I are going over our final plans for our show this Fri. I can't wait!!! I'm so looking forward to having a hobby again! Something to vent my creative juices. I find I get grumpy if I don't. I'm hoping it will help me with my battle of the bulge too. Hey, I can make cards and scrape book instead of eating snack after snack right? I'm also looking forward to seeing everyone. Steph is coming, she is such a good friend, but I don't get to see her very often anymore. Deb is coming as well, and I haven't had a chance to catch up with her since before Cal. Of course I'm also looking forward to getting together with you ladies, Jordanna and Leanne, it seems the three of us laugh so hard we cry every time we get together. I can't wait!!!!!!!!! So much to look forward too!!!!!!

Have a good Tues!

American Gladiators

Okay call me weird but I remember watching the original American Gladiators as a child. So I was rather looking forward to the new show which aired for the 1st time yesterday. We recorded the 2 hour premiere and just finished watching it. I was impressed with the set which replaced all the old mats with water and in some cases fire! My only beef with the show is...where is my eye candy!!! The boys get the pics above- the girls are HOT! But us ladies get an 80's looking Arnold Shwartineger with a bad toupee, a hairy, dirty Neanderthal and a Mohawk wearing freak! That's only three of them! Non of them are even remotely attractive to me. Its a good thing the show is still as entertaining as ever. Good for you NBC you may have another winner here. I know I'll continue to tune in, mostly for the nostalgic memories, oh and at least you got the Huckster, but you may want him to cut out using his signature "brother" thing to often. Honestly it's getting a little annoying. Sorry Hulk but I still luv ya!