Heavy Lids

So I have been a fairly crabby mood for the last few years days and I think I might have figured out what the specific problem is this time.  Although I have been sleeping fairly well, my eye lids have been killing me.  Like no sleep for days/sleeping in contacts, kind of killing me.  This has made me feel tired even though I am not really tired.  I suspect that the change in the weather is to blame and it might actually be allergy related.  Do any of you suffer from this?  Then of course the question is what to do about it.  Don't really have the money to go to the doctor, so just deal with it I guess.  It is nice to know what is wrong though.  I have been so grumpy that I have been hesitant to post on the blog.  I have saved a very long list of things that must go, but it is getting so long and it just makes me surly to specifically type out my gripes.  Hopefully this explains my lack of non child posts.  So for happy thoughts....I bought a new table runner on clearance at Target this week for a few bucks.  It has birds on it and I am a sucker for birds.  Today I found Mae coloring on it.

 I just want to publicly thank my mom for setting such a good example for her daughter.  No matter what I broke/lost/damaged my mom never lost it with me or made me feel bad.  She loves stuff but at the same time doesn't care about stuff at all.  I can hear her voice in my head, "Well you can't take it with you."  This powerfully loving example has helped me to calm down today and hug Mae a little more.  Thanks again mom.

Twelve

Oh snap I have made it to size 12.  I have lost another three inches off my waist and have dropped another 5 pounds for a grand total of 30 since January.  I can't believe how good I look.  Slipping into some old jeans a few weeks ago I found a 20$ in the pocket and felt doubly rewarded.  I didn't feel any guilt the next day as I went to Target and got some 25 pound weights.  I love my arms, but there is still some fat on them.  In a way I find it more motivating to lose the fat off my arms so that I can better see all the rockin muscle.  My abs are still a problem.  I dislike crunches and honestly find any excuse to not do them.  I also never realized how addicted to Diet Coke I am.  Every weight loss article on the planet says stop drinking soda if you want to lose the belly.  Grrr....  I feel good about going into the holiday baking season ahead of the game.  Now the one flip side about all this weight loss is that if I drop below a size twelve I will have no clothes, now everyone says reward yourself with new clothes.  Well first off all I like my size 12 dresses, and second, I have no money.  So that does sit in the back of my mind as a dilemma. 

Bubbles

Rainy days for Mae means hats, sunglasses and (non seen here,) sandals with socks. 

My cutie pie bubbles is three today.  What a doll.  If I didn't have a testimony of the divinity of gender before I had Mae; I do now.  That girl is a girl!  She loves dresses, make-up, dolls, and Minnie Mouse.  She can spot Hello Kitty merchandise from 20 feet away and will accost strangers wearing it.  Mae loves to color and will drift in and out of the dining room, where I have set up her coloring stuff, throughout the day.  Her speech has progressed thanks to her dedicated speech therapist whom she saw twice a week for an hour a visit.  She is now just barely below age level.  Now that she is 3 she will get therapy through the district for an hour a week to work on articulation.  She will also get a half hour of physical therapy and a half hour of developmental therapy.

Thanks Grandma for the outfit!  As you can see it is already a favorite.

 Mae has started really playing with friends who come over and she adores playing with Max.  While she is a bit rough with Spike she does like him.  Last week Jeff had taken the day off of work so I left Spike with him while I went to the gym.  Picking Mae up from the daycare there, she started screaming thinking that I had forgotten to get Spikey also.  She has some bad habits; besides sitting in the "W" position, (which has made her pigeon toed, and needing physical therapy,) she also calls Jeff Jeff instead of dad.  She hadn't napped in months, but she really needs it, and she still won't say "I LOVE YOU," she only says, "Too!"  Miss Mae takes a purse with her everywhere now.  It usually contains her toy cell phone, some hair accessories, and a toy or two.   She took two purses with her to Walmart last week.  We all adore Miss Mae and look forward to watching and helping her this next year.

Party Time

This is her with her hair done.

I have found that the key to kiddie decorating is balloons.

Every girl should get a birthday sash.  Not sure we will get that off of her.



The play castle has been downstairs for awhile so everyone was happy to see it again.

Kitty stuff from grandma

Mae and friend with the dream castle.



I like how this shot caught her friend in the castle.

I decided last min that Mae should have a party.  By the time Max was three he had already had two parties so it was time for our little girl to celebrate.  We invited three of her friends and grabbed a bunch of favors and decorations from Walmart.  I learned a thing or two from Max's early parties and kept the who thing simple.  No activities other then presents and cake.  We brought up the Barbie Dream Castle and a play castle and just let the girls have fun.  It was only an hour and everyone enjoyed themselves.  Mae got a great haul from both grandmas and from her friends. 

Brothers and Sisters

Siblings are great aren't they?  The good, the bad, and the ugly all come from siblings and I suppose it is better to have them then not in the end.  Poor Spikey, I came across Mae and Spike playing a two man version of Duck, Duck, Goose this morning.  It consisted of her hitting him over and over again on the head while yelling Duck, Duck, Duck!  My own siblings never cease to surprise me.  I assumed that by this point in our adult lives we would all know what we were doing and nothing new would come up.  I just about dropped my phone when I heard my older sister Suzanne was headed out to "The Compound" for awhile.  I am a smidge jealous since I miss my parents, but to be honest I admit I would prefer to be visiting my parents some place new.  I love family, but I want to go somewhere new.  Living in Arkansas for so long has made me miss seeing new things.  It also doesn't help that my parents were super awesome about taking us on family vacations.  I remember we would just drop everything and go to Chicago, Minnesota, or St. George for a long weekend.  On a long trip home from Utah to Omaha my mom turned left all of the sudden and took us to L.A. and San Fransisco.   How cool is she?  So I want to go somewhere new.  I honest to goodness could go the rest of my life without going to Utah ever again.  Love the people just done with the state.  It made me a bit sad the other day thinking about how my kids have never been to a beach.  I think a trip to the gulf is in order in the next few years.  Anyone want to go to the Gulf?

Part of the Pack

Mae had a tea party this afternoon

I ran my first 5k this morning.  Last night I got a message from my running friend Kasey and I asked if she wanted to go for a run in the morning.  She happened to have some free passes to run a local 5k/10k from her work and suggested we do that.  I am glad she did it was a nice change of pace.  I woke up this morning at six and shockingly my children were still asleep!  That never ever happens.  What are the odds?  So Kasey and I went a ran the 5k and it was kinda fun.  I enjoy running with her, and because she hadn't run in awhile, I was able to keep up.  It was a bit weird running in a pack of people.  While at first it was nice and distracting, after awhile it was annoying when people right in front of you would just stop.  Ummm you can't stop when people are running right behind you.  It reminded me of why I hate driving with the cruise control.  Other's changing acceleration bothers me.  Anyway, it was fun.  I didn't have my phone on me which is sad cause I missed Jeff and the kids who came down to cheer me on but couldn't find me.  There was a really nice sense of community and kindness going on at the race.  I have no idea what my time is and I don't care.  I was just happy to know that I ran most of it and I feel like I could have pushed myself a bit harder, but it was also nice to not be exhausted for the rest of the day.  I have no idea if I will run another, maybe.  My friend Meg wants to do a half marathon next spring and I like the idea of training for something so I'll shoot for that.  For me running is still all about weight loss and exercise with a nice little social component.