tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87440749616569992742024-02-19T08:51:43.851-06:00Chrisanne's CornerThe ins and outs of life with...well...Chrisanne. It may not be an incredibly exciting life, but it's MY life.Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-26462792808343406132018-11-02T14:07:00.002-05:002018-11-02T14:07:47.436-05:00Manners and Being KindI pride myself in being someone with pretty good manners. It may not be the most humble thing to say, but I feel that if you were to ask someone about my character they would say that I am 'nice' and perhaps even 'polite.' I can remember my mom and dad encouraging me to say 'please' and 'thank you' constantly when I was a kid, so much so that it seemed unnatural NOT to be courteous to someone. I'm sure I had my moments, just like anyone else- times when I was grumpy and unappreciative to the lady at the grocery store or was in too much of a hurry to thank a gas station attendant- but, overall, I think I've done a pretty good job. It just seems that being kind and courteous is the right thing to do- which surprises me that so many people have not received this memo. This post is probably going to get super judge-y and will most likely defeat the whole purpose of writing it in the first place but, since it is my post and freedom of speech is a thing, then I guess it's better to do it here than anywhere else.<br />
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I have noticed lately that Tenley is becoming more polite. I, like my mother before me, have the same broken tagline of "What do you say?" when my kids ask for something or after they receive what they have asked for. As small children, they used to look at me blankly or, on some really great instances, yell at me like I was an old person who couldn't hear, a la "I SAID I want a CUP OF MILK!" My favorite times still happen once in awhile where they will ask for something and I will just stand around and wait for them to say 'please.' Many of those times they continue to go about what they are doing and, after they finally realize that their wishes have not been granted, they look at me and put two and two together. A simple 'please' causes me to spring to action, grabbing whatever it is that they need. We are getting to that delicate place in their young lives, though, that they can start doing a lot more for themselves. They are getting very close to learning that a 'please' will not get me to walk across the house to get the water bottle that is sitting JUST out of reach of their little grasps. The 'please' is appreciated, but does not always guarantee success. If someone came up to you and said, "Hey, can I please murder you?" you wouldn't say, "Well, since you asked nicely..." You get what I mean. Getting back to Tenley, I feel that there has been some sort of parenting breakthrough because now, more often than not, she is saying not only 'please' but 'thank you' or 'thanks, Mom!' or on occasion 'thank you very much, mommy!' to which I pat myself on the back and think, "I'm finally doing something right!" And I'm taking full credit for this because there is no way that her teacher is having that much of an effect on her, right? Right? Her teacher is pretty great, but I'm still going to claim this one. Luke, on the other hand, still has a ways to go...<br />
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Most of the time, when people have the sense to have good manners, they are also prone to be kind. In my mind, it is better to be kind than not to be. A lot of times, people tell me that I'm "too nice." What's wrong with that, though? I don't feel that (most of the time) I am getting walked all over. I want people to be nice to me, so why wouldn't I be nice to others? There are times, though, that being kind is a complete freaking chore. I ran across a meme on Facebook today posted by one of my sorority sisters that reads as follows:<br />
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Oh my goodness, is this not the truth? We've all had those days where we are just pushed to our limit and all we want to do is punch someone in the throat and use the fact that they were being a total jack bag to justify it. Like, why do I always have to be the bigger person? 9 times out of 10, when I am attacked for something totally unnecessary or someone is trying to engage me in an argument, I just close my eyes and remain calm because what is arguing going to do? People that enjoy arguing usually do not want to stop to consider anyone else's opinions, so what is the use of arguing with them? I just tell myself that I know that I am right and it doesn't matter if no one else thinks so. But that 1 time out of 10 that I just can't hold it in? Watch out. Because you may find yourself down a testicle or, at the very least, viewing smoke exploding from my ears. Because a person can only take so much before they lose their ever-loving mind. It takes a lot to set me off, and some people can push my buttons MUCH faster than others...I will leave the names of those button pushers up to you to surmise. Some general rules of thumb when dealing with me in the hopes of not pushing the few buttons that make me explode:<br />
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1. Don't ask for my opinion and then argue with me as to why my opinion is wrong or not good enough. If you aren't going to take my advice or even consider it, DON'T ASK ME. For the record, I am a counselor by trade, so a lot of the time my advice is fairly decent. I'm not talking about anything political or religious here. I'm talking about when you ask me about things like whether you should wear a red shirt or a black shirt and, when I give you my opinion, you argue with me about all the reasons you SHOULDN'T wear the one I suggest. Then why did you ask me? And, for the record, I could probably care less what color shirt you wear.<br />
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2. Don't expect me to be your secretary. I would expand on this but it will literally make me cut the next person that comes in here out of pure frustration, so I will spare said next person that horrible fate.<br />
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3. Don't be Tyra Banks. Just don't.<br />
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I don't think the above stipulations are that difficult to avoid. Basically listen when I have something to say (especially if you ask me to say something), keep track of your own stuff, and don't be a crazy amazon woman. Simple enough, right?<br />
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All of this leads me to the point that I am trying to convey. Don't be an asshole. A nicer way to put it is to be kind to others and they will be kind to you. When the Golden Rule was created, I don't think that it took rocket science to realize that it was good stuff. If you want to live your life being a jerk then good luck- there will be a special place in purgatory waiting for you where all you will hear are my kids yelling, "I SAID I wanted a MILK CUP!" That should be enough for you to say 'please,' 'thank you,' and think before you speak. It not, then God help your soul.Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-24497778490959554742018-11-01T10:11:00.001-05:002018-11-01T10:11:47.748-05:00Cheap ThrillsSorry to disappoint- this post will not be about any subject that is racy, tawdry, or even exciting. It is a post about the exact opposite, actually- all of the things that, in my increasingly old age, provide me with more pleasure or satisfaction than they should. Whether it is that first sip of coffee in the morning, free accordion folders at work, or walking into my house after a long day and being thrilled that my dog didn't poop somewhere, I am finding that it doesn't take much to excite me.<br />
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Let's tackle the coffee first. I was never a coffee drinker before I had kids. There's just something about being up 75 times a night with a nursing baby that makes crack in a cup that much more appealing. Now that I am back to working full time, I need two cups of coffee throughout my morning in order to function properly. My morning routine consists of falling out of bed, showering, getting Tenley up and making her waffles, cramming some cereal and the all-important fudgeround down my throat, dressing Luke, and getting out of the house. Did you notice that coffee does not fall anywhere into that routine? This is because coffee is meant to be ENJOYED and scalding my throat trying to gulp it down in the 7 minutes and 45 seconds that I give myself for breakfast does not scream "happy morning" to me. So, I arrive at work in a zombie-like state, turn on my computer, and grab my coffee cup to trudge to the Keurig in our office kitchen. Just hearing the machine start to brew opens my eyeballs a bit wider and, once the percolation starts, it activates whatever part of my brain that allows me to think straight. I think it's Pavlovian. Once the brew is complete, I splash some creamer in it and take it back to my desk so that I can check email and have that first sip. And that first sip is always SO GOOD. And way more exciting than it should be. By the time I'm on my second cup my body is warm, I'm functioning at a high level, and I even feel for brief moments that I could flip cars if I needed to. So thank you, coffee, for being the kick in the rear I need each morning so that I don't sleep at my desk and ultimately get fired.<br />
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The next item on my excitable list: free stuff. Prime example: I was sitting in my office today and Tracie, our Guidance secretary, came by my office and said that the media center specialist had wheeled boxes of accordion file folders down to the office and that they were free for us to pick through before he took them to another office. I ROCKETED out of my chair to get first dibs. I have been meaning to buy accordion folders to sort the kids' various school papers and old bills. Those things are expensive and now I can get them for free? Heck, yes- sign me up! I think everyone else thought I was crazy and I'm pretty sure that I could have had the whole cart if I wanted them, but I didn't want to be greedy. I have some dignity, for crying out loud. It's not often that these opportunities arise but, when they do, they are tops on my list of cheap thrills.<br />
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This brings me to the dog. When I last wrote about my dogs, Zoey was still a young, spry bulldozer of a terrier. Since the loss of my dear Rudy (RIP), she has developed "the diabetes" and requires two shots of insulin a day. Not just one, but TWO SHOTS A DAY. As you can imagine, giving her these shots is not the highlight of my day. I dread it. I've been doing it now for a year and a half, and there is no end in sight. Without the shots, Zoey shakes and pees all over the place. But, when she has the shots and she is regulated, it is like she has been injected with water from the fountain of youth. I swear that these shots are not only keeping her alive, but magically extending her life and she will outlive me. Maybe I should start injecting myself with it as well. Anyway, even though she is regulated, it does not stop her from having random accidents in the house if I'm gone for too long. And, of course, it's not just accidents of the "number 1" variety, but there's often some "number 2" accidents as well. This presents several issues. First, dog poop closed up in a house with the heat on all day is not a good smell. In fact, it's pretty disgusting. Second, my daughter has a crazy gag reflex when it comes to poop. She is 7 and still has to have me take care of her back end after having a bowel movement because, if she sees the product of said movement, she gags and almost vomits. I'm not kidding. I had to pick her up from school once because she went "number 2," forgot and looked at it, and puked on the restroom floor. I was so concerned when the school nurse called and said that she had been sick until she told me that, when asked, Tenley said that she had "seen something yucky" and my whole attitude changed. I just said, "Oh yeah, she probably saw her poop. She's fine." She was sent home anyway. Because of this extreme aversion to all things poop, Tenley is extremely sensitive to any surprises that we might come home to compliments of the dog. We walked in the house the other day and, as soon as I walked in the door, I could smell the telltale signs of dog doo. I immediately told Tenley to stay in the kitchen until I could get rid of it, and when I came back in the kitchen she was gagging with Luke's stocking hat pulled to her chin trying to walk to her room without seeing the poop. This resulted in her walking into a wall because she couldn't see anything. So, as you can surmise, coming home after a long day and finding no dog poop to take care of gives me more thrills than riding the Tower of Terror. <br />
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Some other items on my cheap thrills list: my head hitting the pillow at night, McDonald's Diet Coke, finding a new show on my DVR that I actually have time to watch, and Edwardo's pizza. Also a clean kitchen. I realize that this post shows my age and that I am probably the least exciting person on the planet. The thing is, I'm OK with that. I love my life and the people that are in it. I may not be a movie star or a high powered CEO, but I am also fortunate enough to not have to worry about a lot of things that others do, that negative excitement that nobody wants. I'm a pretty lucky gal, and if these are the types of thrills that make me happy then I think I'm doing alright.Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-85758549068552587552018-10-31T14:21:00.000-05:002018-10-31T14:21:07.351-05:00Halloween Then and NowA very dear person in my life has encouraged me to start blogging again and, since I have kind of morphed back into a semblance of the life that I had when I started this blog, I thought that maybe it would be a good idea. Many, MANY things have changed since my last blog post. I have not one but TWO children who are now 7 and 5 and I'm down a dog (and, for the record, a husband). I've been a stay-at-home mom, a Shipt shopper, did a brief stint trying to teach Chinese kids English via the internet, and have landed full-circle back in the MHS Guidance Office helping wayward youth one tissue at a time. Life is starting to make sense again and, for the most part, all of these changes have been good. I don't want to lament on the changes in my personal life at this point so, instead, I will lament on the changes of the very holiday on which I am writing this post: Halloween through the years of my life.<br />
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To me, Halloween has been an overall insignificant holiday. Much like Labor Day and Memorial Day, I never put much thought into it as a kid. I don't ever remember getting super excited about picking costumes and it never failed to be cold and rainy on the night of actual trick or treating. Costumes from my youth included recycling whatever ensemble I had worn for recital in order to pose as a "ballerina" or a "dancer." I also had the privilege of experiencing every 80's kid's Halloween right of passage: the costumes containing the plastic mask with nose holes just big enough to keep you from suffocating but just small enough that your breath turned to condensation on the inside of it and, rather than suffocate, you would run the risk of drowning in your own sweaty snot. And don't get me started on how unexcited my mom would be to take us trick-or-treating. I think she would have rather had a root canal but, being the wonderful mom that she is, would suck it up to take us around my grandparents' block shouting things like "Remember to say thank you!" or "Be careful on those steps!" as we darted up to the houses. After we (read: she) had had enough, we would go back to my grandparents' house and help hand out candy. Upon returning home, my brother and I would take all of our candy and line it up on the living room floor across from one another. We would silently check out each other's stashes and begin the long process of haggling over candy to trade. This task took forever, and usually ended in me threatening him bodily harm if he didn't trade me his Reese Cups for my disgusting black or orange wrapped mystery candy. I remember my friend Jeanette telling me that her mom would take their candy, spread it out on the table, and inspect if for signs of tampering. When I asked my dad about that, he just said "Chew carefully in case there's a needle stuck in something" and that was all the advice I needed. Something to note here- I was never impaled or poisoned from eating Halloween candy, so I will consider my trick-or-treating endeavors a 100% success.<br />
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As I grew older, Halloween traditions changed. My parents live on a lake on a road that has no outlet and only old people residing on it. For this reason, we never had trick-or-treaters. Mom and dad would always buy one bag of Fun Size Snickers bars and would throw them in the freezer "just in case" we had any kids come by. That bag of Snickers was never needed and, instead, would dwindle over time whenever someone's sweet tooth started calling. In middle and high school, I would inevitably end up at my grandparents' house in town, helping to hand out candy and watching my younger cousins trick or treat. This was all well and good, but I couldn't help but wonder if Halloween would ever be exciting again or if the pinnacle of my spooky experiences had happened while wearing that sweaty My Little Pony mask all those years ago. And then I went to college.<br />
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Halloween in college and in your single 20s is probably the most fun holiday on the planet. For those of you Mean Girls fans, there is a quote in there that states "In the real world, Halloween is when kids dress up in costumes and beg
for candy. In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl
can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else
about it." These words were never truer than it is during Halloween as a girl from ages 18 to 25-ish. Gone are the days of suffocating masks and present are the days of "Sexy Police Officer" or "Sexy Dorothy" or "Sexy Ghostbuster" or, my personal favorite, a "Garden Ho"...all costumes that I have donned over the years. I can remember going to my first frat Halloween party at ATO during my freshman year at IU. I dressed as Britney Spears from the Baby One More Time music video and had a great time guzzling jungle juice and stumbling around the house. Fast forward to my senior year of college where I had the best roommates on the planet. We were finally old enough to go to the bars and the bars was WHERE IT WAS AT on Halloween. Everyone dressed up and went out- it was pretty much the most fun night of the year. We decided, after a last minute trip to Wal-Mart, to dress as Tom Cruise in Risky Business- White button-down shirts, tighty whities, tube socks, and sunglasses. The four of us went out to Happy Hour for dinner before getting ready, and ended up at Upstairs (before I started working there) to play pool before going home to dress for the night. Upon telling the bartender what we were planning to be, he opened the cabinet that housed the Upstairs Pub swag and pulled out 4 teeny tiny Upstairs Pub thongs. He told us that if we wore the thongs over our tighty whities and stood on the bar for a picture, our drinks were free all night. That was a no brainer! When we returned to Upstairs later that night, we were all wearing tube socks with no shoes, men's shirts, and Upstairs thongs over our men's underwear. At that point we probably would have stood on the roof for a picture, so the four of us clamored up on the bar to take one of the most iconic pictures that the 342 Crew has ever taken: us flashing our Upstairs thongs at the place where we spent more hours than any classroom on campus. I think that picture is still hanging up at the bar, and I could not be more proud.<br />
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Once I left college, Halloween fun still continued through my mid-twenties. This is where the various "sexy" costumes came into play. I challenge you to go to a Spirit Halloween store and find a costume for a woman that doesn't have "Sexy" in the title. Unless it's a couples costume, there are no "normal" costumes to be found. Can you just be Dorothy? Nope. You have to be "Sexy Dorothy" with a a dress cut down to your belly button and a skirt that barely covers your nether region. These are outfits that I never would have dreamed of wearing any other day of the year but, on Halloween, why not? There is something to be said for stepping out of your comfort zone and embracing your more provocative side once in a while. Plus it helps you get drinks at the bar.<br />
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This finally brings me full circle to the Halloweens you have once you produce offspring. The first few Halloweens as a new mom were ok, dressing the babies up for cute pictures and going to family parties. The fun really started, though, once my kids were old enough to trick-or-treat. I learned that it is super fun to trick-or-treat when you can basically walk out the door and go house to house instead of having to drive 10 miles to your grandparents' house in order to find a block of people that might actually have candy. I love seeing my kids' excitement as they approach each new house in anticipation of getting some great candy. I also find myself yelling, "Remember to say thank you!" and "Don't trip on those steps!" just like my mom did all those years ago. I also cringe at the thought of one of my kids exclaiming, "Ew! I don't like this candy" or throwing a fit when that one person gives mini frisbees or toothbrushes instead of candy. In those cases, I plaster a big smile on my face and try to talk over my kids' protests as I drag them to the next house. I kind of don't blame them though- I would rather these people give the kids candy with needles in them so that we could just pick the needles out and not have to worry about finding a place for yet another useless frisbee.<br />
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As I ready myself for a night of chilly trick-or-treating with my kids and our great friends, I can only be thankful for the fun that is had on this day. I will happily walk from house to house, bundled up with spiked cider in hand, and watch my kids gather the sweet treats that will inevitably spark a healthy dentist bill in just a few short months. Whether you are handing out candy, channeling your inner Sexy Dorothy, or dealing with putting sugar high kids to bed after a night of candy consumption, I wish you all a very Happy Halloween!<br />
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Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-49268145355885598932013-04-09T19:34:00.000-05:002013-04-09T19:34:17.809-05:00Baby Bean in 3-D!Dear Baby Bean-<br />
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What a great day we had! I have been so excited for this day to come because we got to see you in 3-D and you are, of course, perfect :) I'm getting ahead of myself...let me tell you about our day.<br />
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Tenley and I were excited for today because Finn came over to play for a few hours while Becky had to get things done. We had such fun with him playing and eating lunch. He was here from about 9:30-12:45 and the time went so fast. We played the elephant/butterfly catching game, tossed around some balloons, and ate chicken nuggets for lunch. Your sister had a lot of fun with him and I was sure she would pass out for her nap as soon as she left but she refused and decided not to nap today. It's too bad because the rest of the day was super exciting and she was not very well rested. She didn't do too bad, though.<br />
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Grandma Carol and Grandpa Jeff came to pick us up at 3:30 to go meet Daddy at The Belly Factory for your 3-D ultrasound. The ultrasound technician was so nice and she says you have long eyelashes, very little hair, and weigh around 3 pounds right now. This means that you have gained about 8 ounces in the past two weeks (if all these estimations are correct) which makes Mommy feel good. 3 pounds is pretty solid if you should decide to come early (but you better not!). After the ultrasound, Daddy left to go to the Cubs game so Tenley and I rode home again with Grandma and Grandpa. As we were driving home, Grandma spied a Creamery and we decided to stop for some dinner. We ate hot dogs and ice cream and it was AWESOME. :) Your sister fell asleep on the way home which means she is VERY grumpy right now, so we are just trying to make it through until it's time to go to bed. Overall, it was a great day and I was so happy to see your little face! Here are some pictures from your big photo shoot:<br />
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And, of course, we couldn't go without posting pictures of our first ice cream of the season!<br />
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<br />Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-37368591193940951812012-11-08T10:57:00.002-06:002012-11-08T10:57:22.123-06:00The End of Our JourneySo it's been a million years since I last posted and I'm not going to lie- it will probably be a million years before I post again. If you're wondering how I'm doing with my P90X journey, I'll let you know- I'm not. I did it religiously up until my brother's wedding in South Carolina (which was AWESOME) and then the summer was so busy and full of travel that I just couldn't keep up with it. I will say that it 100% worked for me the way I needed it to and I fully intend to use it again in the future. When I feel like it.<br />
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I felt like I needed to write this post to document a milestone in my life as a mother to Tenley. This past weekend was the end of our nursing journey together. I have been nursing Tenley since the day she was born. Although it was a bit difficult at first, I didn't have near the trouble that I had feared and it became a pretty easy relationship between her and I. Aside from the fact that she ate every two hours for the first 3 months and took 40 minutes to do so, the rest of the time has been pretty effortless. I can only hope that future children (God willing) take to it as easily as Tenley did and, in turn, my body takes to it as easily as it did this time around.<br />
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I had been thinking for a few months (at least 4) that I should start to try and wean Tenley. No part of me really wanted to stop nursing- it wasn't inconvenient in any way, I wasn't having to do it anywhere away from home or any time except for when she first woke up and before bed, and it was such a special time to spend with her when she is at her cuddliest. On the other hand, I didn't feel like she was getting a whole lot when she was nursing and worried about the amount of milk she was actually drinking. She wasn't taking to whole milk (or any milk) very well, so in my mind it meant that she wasn't really getting much milk overall. When we went to her 15 month appointment, the doctor told me that if I am still nursing twice a day then I shouldn't be giving her any other milk because it will use up her calories and she won't be hungry to eat meals. We went with that for awhile, but in the beginning of October things changed a bit.<br />
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During late September we were in the kitchen and I opened the fridge to get some water. Tenley came over and kept frantically reaching for the middle shelf. I asked her what she wanted and after going through several items, I deduced that she was reaching for the milk. We weren't even keeping whole milk in the house because she wasn't drinking it fast enough (or at all) to warrant the purchase, so I gave her a bit of our skim milk and she sucked it right down. For the next few days, she did the same thing. What I did notice, though, is that her appetite was suppressed because she was drinking the milk (score one for Dr. Stroman!), so on a weekend trip to my mom's, I just decided to cut out the morning feeding. She didn't protest at all. It's like that feeding never existed and she drank her milk out of a sippy and has done so in the mornings ever since.<br />
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The before bed feeding was one that I wasn't willing to give up so easily. She still readily took it and would even pop her pacifier out of her mouth when she saw me reaching for her Boppy. At least, up until last week. I noticed that when I went to get her into position to nurse before bed, she didn't take her pacifier out. I wondered if this was a sign that she was ready to be done but didn't really want to believe it. Then, on Friday night, John and I decided to go to a movie and John's mom watched Tenley. She gave her a sippy of milk before bed and she went right down. I decided to do the same the next night and she took it without any protest, hence (a bit) abruptly ending our nursing-before-bed tradition.
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I know it's all a part of her growing up, but it made me a bit sad. I even teared up a little as she was drinking that milk the first night, but had to tell myself that it was a GOOD thing because she is growing and knows what she needs. Now, we are getting into a nice morning and evening routine which still includes snuggle time, just not any boob action. I don't let her watch TV during the day (not because I have any problem with it, more because we try to play and get work done) but I have started settling down with her before bed, giving her a sippy of milk, and watching one episode of Little Einsteins. She loves this and, when I tell her it's time to do this, she takes my hand and leads me to the bedroom. She knows that this means it's time to get cozy for bed. In the mornings, we snuggle, drink milk, and watch a bit of Sesame Street or Doc McStuffins. This again is a time for us to snuggle, wake up, and get some milk. I am coming to love these times just as much as our old routine and, a week out, am actually kind of happy to have my body totally to myself again for a bit.<br />
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So that's my story. My baby girl is growing up in so many ways and this is just one of them. She talks more every day, even calling Rudy "Ru Ru" which is pretty much the cutest thing ever. I look forward to more milestones that we will go through together, even if they make me a little sad at first. I am proud of myself for nursing her for 18 months and realize it is only because my body and my baby cooperated with me and that I'm lucky that it happened that way. If it doesn't work for future children I may be disappointed at first, but know that formula feeding can be just as special as long as we make it that way. I'm just thankful that I had this time and experience with Tenley and will look back on this time of my life fondly forever.Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-22511365846060373592012-05-19T10:31:00.000-05:002012-05-19T10:31:51.543-05:00Lean Days 12 and 13: It's the Weekend!Here's all I have to say about working out on Day 12: It didn't happen. I kind of have a feeling that Fridays and Sundays are going to be rest days instead of just Sundays. Whatever- I'm ok with it. Yesterday was a great day- we got to spend a big chunk of it with Betty and baby Clark and then we went to Jeff and Julie's to celebrate Laney and Carol's birthdays. We didn't get home until almost 10:00, so Tenley went to sleep fairly quickly. All in all, a good day.
Today is Day 13 and my workout is done. I did Kenpo X and, I'm not gonna lie- I only did 30 of the 45 minutes of actual working out. Once I got to the block sequence I had had enough. Plus John took Tenley to the mall to find a new shirt (for him, not her) which means that I have time in the house to myself. That doesn't happen often. So I decided to cut my workout short and I am in the midst of doing Tenley's laundry and packing for a quick overnight trip. We get to go spend the night with Carrie and her nephew Charlie while John hits up a bachelor party downtown. It should be another great day and I just need to find the motivation to get my stuff done so we can hit the road!
77 days to goChrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-68667519212776540922012-05-17T22:21:00.001-05:002012-05-17T22:21:15.396-05:00Lean Day 11: Quick CardioToday was a pretty good, extremely low-key day. Tenley woke up around 7 and miraculously went back to sleep after she nursed so we got to sleep in a bit today. Once she got up we ate breakfast and I managed to get the rest of the silverware rolled for my sister-in-law's bridal shower which is happening next Saturday. After that and some play time it was time for Tenley's nap and lunch. This is kind of how every day goes and I feel like we really don't "start" our day until lunch is over around 1 or 1:30. Today we chose to be outside ALL afternoon. We played in the sandbox and with toys on a blanket. It was great. Once John came home, he took Tenley so I could work out quick and then get ready to go to my nephew's baseball game.
Today's workout was Yoga which meant that I did Cardio. It was fine- nothing to comment about. I think at this point I am just trying really hard to do something every day or as close to 5/6 days a week that I can. I am still hovering right around the weight I was at on Day 90 which is fine with me. I wouldn't mind losing just a couple of more pounds before the summer, but overall I am OK with where I am at as long as I can just stay there. I have noticed that I am kind of sore this week, so I'm not sure what that is all about. The soreness in my legs is from running last night and it will take a while to go away- working out or not.
Once my workout was done I packed a dinner for Tenley and we set off for Community Park. It was a beautiful night for a walk (and a baseball game) and we arrived at the park right around 6. I fed Tenley dinner (a really random dinner that included a peanut butter/jelly sandwich, peas that I had warmed up from the freezer, lil' crunchies, a cereal bar, and a mango packet of baby food) and we played with Clara while Casey played baseball. It was really nice and Tenley had a blast. On the way home, I stopped in to Subway to pick up some dinner and we arrived home around 7:30 or so. John was nice enough to watch Tenley so I could eat in peace and then we watched Grey's Anatomy together which I can't even get in to because it was one of the most disappointing yet kind of gripping season finales yet. I guess I am used to finales leaving you hanging, just not this much. And that is all I have to say about that.
Tomorrow we are hoping to go see Betty and Clark and then we will go to Julie's house to have cake for Laney and Carol's birthdays. We are really looking forward to a fun (but busy) day and also hope to get a little sun/water table time in during the afternoon.
79 days to go...Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-24381941426809418402012-05-16T21:30:00.000-05:002012-05-16T21:30:46.340-05:00Lean Day 10: Slight Change of PlansToday has been another pretty excellent day. It has also seemed like a long day for some reason, but not in a bad way. Since it was going to be a little cooler today, I decided that it would be a good day to go to the mall and get some birthday gifts that are needed for later in the week. I usually try to run these errands in the morning, but since Tenley has been napping more often than not before lunch, I decided to just take things as they came. It seemed to be a wise decision because things went pretty well. Tenley woke up about an hour earlier than usual today so she was a bit crabby all morning. She went down for a nap at around 10:30, but slept until after 12:30 which is rare. We at lunch and headed out the door to Orland Park.
When we got to Orland, I tried to do the things that really needed to be done right off the bat. Usually when I go to the mall, I tear around like a mad woman because I want to get everything done before Tenley decides that she has had enough. Today we took our time and, instead of getting flustered when she started getting antsy, I just changed things up. The first time we changed her diaper. The next time we spent time in the play area. The last time we got frozen yogurt and watched the carousel. Overall, we were able to be there for a couple of hours and I got everything done without any tantrums...an accomplishment. I still would not try to take her shopping with me when I really need to get things done for me (i.e.- try on clothes) but that is just for now. :)
When we got home, John had decided to run to the grocery store and brought home Jimmy Johns. I was supposed to do the Shoulders and Arms workout today but it is 59 minutes long and it was already 6:00. I fed Tenley dinner and decided to go on John's run. It was such a perfect night for a run even though we had to bundle Tenley up a little. It was nice to run again- I haven't done it in so long but I found that it came pretty easy which means that the P90X must have done a little in the stamina department as well. We went for about 3 miles but did it in a run/walk by streets. Who knows how much of a workout it really was but I know it got my heart rate up more than the Shoulders and Arms workout would have.
We have no plans for tomorrow but I have a feeling most of the afternoon will be spent outside with the water toys since it is supposed to be hot. My nephew has a baseball game at 5:30, so we may walk down to watch that for a bit. Otherwise, tomorrow is Yoga which means tomorrow is really Cardio. :)
80 days and counting...Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-31859807186035741162012-05-15T20:21:00.001-05:002012-05-15T20:21:14.974-05:00Lean Days 7, 8, and 9: Good at Working Out, Bad at PostingI can't believe I have forgotten to post for the past few days. They have been kind of busy, at least during the times I usually try and post.
Day 7 was Sunday and it was a rest day which was good because it was Mother's Day. We had a nice day that included brunch with the Terry family, a nice day at home, and Coldstone Creamery in the evening. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if I could have seen my mom and grandma but we are trying to alternate holidays and I was at home for Mother's Day last year.
Day 8 was spent cleaning our filthy house and then we had a great visit with Finn and Becky. Finn and Tenley were able to play out in our backyard with the water table and sandbox which was awesome. It was such a beautiful day and I was happy that we were able to spend part of it with two of our favorite people. John came home shortly after they left and he eventually took Tenley on a run with him so that I could work out. Yesterday's workout was Core Synergistics and I did everything but the "bonus round" because I wanted to be able to shower and eat before John came back with Tenley. Overall I consider it a success.
Day 9 (today) has been wonderful. Tenley and I got up and did our usual morning routine before getting ready and having lunch at WWMS with Kathy, Julie, and Barb. It was great to catch up with them and I wanted to see Kathy at school one more time before she retires. While I was there I learned that my resignation was accepted by the school board last night, so I am officially a stay at home mom and couldn't be happier! Once we were done with lunch, Ten and I headed over to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pick up a gift for my future sister-in-law's shower and then came home to spend around 3 hours in the back yard. I LOVE it back there. We kept on hanging out after John came home and he again (eventually) took Tenley on a run so that I could do the Cardio X workout. I did it in its entirety and managed to shower before they came home. I then fed Tenley a hodgepodge of a dinner (because she is kind of refusing to eat a lot of any one thing at the moment), gave her a bath to get the sunscreen and watermelon juice off of her (she is finally swallowing the watermelon!), and now we are ready for bed.
Hopefully tomorrow will produce another good workout. It is the Shoulders and Arms workout that I enjoy but it is SO LONG. So we will see what happens. Tenley and I will be heading to the mall tomorrow afternoon to get some birthday gifts, so everything will have to center around that little outing.
81 days to go...Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-31545630533767963582012-05-12T17:24:00.001-05:002012-05-12T17:24:19.319-05:00Lean Days 5 and 6: Some Good, Some BadSince I am writing this post on Saturday and neglected to post yesterday, I am sure you have assumed that I did not work out yesterday. You assumed right. Yesterday was such a beautiful, fantastic day and working out just didn't fit into that picture for me. But let me back up and let you know a little bit about Thursday night.
So as stated in my last post, John and I were gearing up to go to The Cubby Bear and see George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic. We left home around 8:00 and made it inside The Cubby Bear by 9 or so. It was a pretty thin crowd at first and I wasn't sure what to expect. Initially, there was a little bit of this and a little bit of that- lots of flannel, some tie-dye, a few hipsters, and some kind of weird-ish old people. As the night went on, I decided that I was a little out of place in my cute sequined shorts, salmon top, and heels. But that was OK- mama doesn't get to dress up very much. John kept trying to prepare me for what I would see as we waited (another hour!) for the band to come on. I couldn't figure out what the big deal was- they were only a band, right? It turns out that nothing in the world could prepare me for the strangeness that I would witness in the next 2 hours. Holy. Cow.
First of all, when the whole band is on the stage there are about 25 people up there. NOT exaggerating. The fist layer of people (at the back of the stage) included a bass player, a (white) keyboard player with a shirt that read "I Love Mary Jane" (which at first I thought was in homage to his girlfriend but later figured out it had another meaning, another keyboard player whom I realized later had a lit joint hanging out of his mouth the ENTIRE show, and a guy who had a double guitar and a stocking hat with a spelunking light around his head. The next layer of people included a guitar player that looked like Lil' Wayne, a saxophone player that looked like he just rolled out of bed, a trumpet player with a camouflage shirt, a backup singing guy in a suit from the 70s, another backup singer in a really smooth looking modern suit, a girl backup singer in a psychedelic striped dress with her bra hanging out and a huge afro. Then, to top it off, there was George Clinton's son in a denim tuxedo whose shirt kept coming more and more unbuttoned as the night went on, a girl who appeared to be on crack in a "sexy" nurse's uniform and wore roller skates part of the time, a ripped guy in fuzzy white pants and no shirt with a fake nose and a cheesy fake gun, and at one point a guy in white face paint and Mickey Mouse gloves. And then there was George himself in a suit that was too small, a tie that was too short, and suspenders. At one point, the guy who was keeping the band supplied with water came out and rapped and George's granddaughter came out and rapped a NASTY song about weed and female private parts. And those are only the people I can remember. I think I could have gone up there and no one would have even noticed!
It was quite a night. The music is DEFINITELY not my thing but John was in 7th heaven and thought it was the greatest show on the planet. It could have something to do with the contact high I'm sure we contracted from the white 20-somethings to our right who came to the show in a limo (??), but then again John is a true fan. He told me last night that they were going to be in Traverse City and the first thing I thought was "Dear Lord not when we are going to be there. Please. Because this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me." Thankfully he's going to be in TC in mid-May, NOT late July.
After that eventful night, we slept in a little on Friday and then I spent all day with Tenley. John had the day off so he did lots of work in the yard and Tenley and I went to the park, played with her water table, and napped. By the time the evening rolled around, we decided to have a fire pit and make S'mores and I decided that workout was NOT in the cards. What a great day :)
Today was a little bit better on the working out front. We got up, had breakfast, and then John took Ten and I did Kenpo. After that we got ready and took Tenley to see Sesame Street Live which was incredibly cute and she sat through the whole thing pretty riveted. It was a success :) I see a lot of Sesame Street in our future, more because John seems to be becoming obsessed with it. Once we left the show, we went to Babies R Us to get Tenley some new shoes and then came home. John just took off to go to a Sox game and Ten and I are here for the evening. I am ready to go to bed and it's only 5:30. Instead, we are going to run to Target to get some last minute Mother's Day cards and then take it easy together. :)
84 days to go...Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-58392426951635717332012-05-10T18:37:00.000-05:002012-05-10T18:37:35.765-05:00Lean Day 4: Gearing Up for a Good NightToday has been a really good day. Still no poop in sight for my child, but she slept a bit better last night and was in a great mood all day. I called the doctor about her bowel issues and they told me to increase her medication and to call them in a few days. It is beyond me why these people aren't more concerned- I feel like I need to take her to their office as she is going so that they can hear the gut wrenching cries that come out of her. It is so sad. It is even more worrisome that she hasn't gone in going on three days, especially now that I have doubled her medication. Yikes. I just hope she feels OK.
John and I are getting ready to go downtown for the Parliament Funkadelic show at Cubby Bear and, as I write this, I am realizing that I should be in the shower. Instead, I am blogging while pumping. I DESPISE pumping and know that I am lucky that I don't have to do it very often. That still doesn't make the times I do have to pump any better. I really don't get a lot anymore when I pump which makes me wonder how much Tenley actually drinks when she nurses. She only nurses at morning, before her nap, and at night and I really don't thing she gets much. I've tried whole milk with her a couple of times and she just wrinkles her nose at it so I think it might be time to get a little more aggressive. What she eats and drinks is slowly becoming my new obsession. Along with her poop. Sigh.
Although we are having kind of a random night, I was able to work out once John came home from work. I substituted Cardio for Yoga tonight and am glad I did. Then I blew it because we ordered a quick pizza for dinner. Oh well- at least I worked out.
Sorry for the randomness of this post but I am not fully concentrating and I HAVE to get in the shower now!
86 days to go...Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-6928048585851190892012-05-09T20:05:00.002-05:002012-05-09T20:05:53.530-05:00Lean Day 3: Shoulders, Bi, Tri...Shoulders, Bi, TriToday has been a very typical, normal day in the lives of Tenley and me. Besides the fact that she didn't sleep AGAIN last night, our day today went pretty much as it usually does. Breakfast followed by playtime/chores followed by a little time outside followed by lunch then a nap, then more playing/laundry until John gets home. John agreed to take Tenley this evening so that I could work out, so I fed her dinner around 6 and they have been gone shopping for Mother's Day (isn't that cute?) ever since.
After calling my grandparents, I dove into Day 3 of P90X Lean. I already love this (as much as one can love working out with Tony) program more than the P90X "Classic" because the first three weeks are all of my favorite workouts. Today was my favorite Wednesday lifting workout which incorporates Shoulders, Biceps, and Triceps. The only bad thing about this workout is that it clocks in at 59 minutes and 40 seconds or something like that, so I did everything but the "bonus round" tonight since I thought I would be cutting it close on time to work out, shower, and eat. It was a good workout and my arms should feel it tomorrow.
Tomorrow is supposed to be Yoga which means that it will more than likely be Cardio instead. That is if I get a chance to work out. John is a huge fan of George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic and they are playing at the Cubby Bear tomorrow night. He has talked about seeing them since we met (6 years!) and we have never made it to a show together. Now, this is not my first choice of bands to see. Let's face it- the best concert I've been to besides DMB was N'Sync where I screamed like a 9 year old girl- so Parliament Funkadelic is not really my bag. But, John is so beyond excited to see them that I couldn't say no. We will see how tomorrow night goes. :) It will be a late night but John is taking the day off on Friday so at least I won't be caring for Tenley alone...in theory...
Speaking of Tenley, I have discovered two funny things about her. First, She loves to fake laugh and it is pretty much the funniest/cutest thing on the planet. It's somewhere between a laugh and a cough but she makes no facial expression while doing it. Second, she does a funny thing when eating watermelon. At first I thought she didn't like it, because she was spitting it out. But, in actuality, she takes a piece, puts it in her mouth, chews it up and sucks all the juice out of it, and then sticks her tongue in and out of her mouth until the piece falls back out. It totally reminds me of the Sex and the City episode where they go to LA and Miranda goes out to eat steak with her friend who used to live in New York. He's lost all of this weight to try and fit in with the LA scene and Miranda finds out that he does so because he doesn't actually eat his food- he chews it up to get the taste and then spits it in the napkin so he doesn't have to digest it. Totally gross, but totally Tenley. What a nut!
87 days to go...Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-87482037524339905742012-05-08T19:38:00.001-05:002012-05-08T19:38:47.567-05:00P90X Lean Days 1 and 2- Here We Go AgainFor anyone who reads this blog and hopes to find something new and exciting, I am here to apologize to you. I don't feel like I have any time to write anything fun like I used to and the few minutes I do have that I have devoted to this blog is the only way to keep myself accountable for working out. Like writing it down every day is a small victory. So, as the title of this post reads, here we go again.
I decided to take about 2 1/2 weeks off from working out, more so because of life circumstances than anything else. You see, I have always been someone to start something new (or again) on a Monday because if I start at any other point in the week I don't have the motivation. So last Monday when I was determined to jump back in, John would not watch Tenley and that was the end of my workout reboot. Thankfully she cooperated yesterday and took a late afternoon nap allowing me to get Day 1 in and tonight John took her to our nephew's baseball game (which I really, really wanted to go to but passed on for THIS) so I could get Day 2 in.
I have opted to go with the P90X Lean program because it incorporates all of the more cardio-esque workouts that I enjoy so much. My main goal is just to stay toned until at least our vacation (June 9th!) and then beyond if I can. Summer always presents difficulties for me in the workout arena because I am always traveling to my mom and dad's and we all know how well I stick to a workout regimen there. :) SO, yesterday Tony's Lean program called for Core Synergistics which I did (even the 'bonus round') and today I had Cardio X which I did even though I had a massive headache. Either the workout or the Motrin that I took before the workout must have worked because my head feels much better. Now I have to jump in the shower before John and Ten come home because I think we are going to have S'mores around the fire pit. So much for that workout. lol
As a side note, I have to put in a few words about my child. In the past couple of days, someone has stolen my sweet little girl and replaced her with a screaming whiny monster. She is not sick (aside from her pooping issues which we have medicine for) and she is also not sleeping well. Whomever this is, I wish that they would give me Tenley back. My head can't take any more of the piercing screams when I tell her no or don't feed her fast enough.
88 more days to go...Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-75018416215744921892012-04-13T12:32:00.001-05:002012-04-13T12:34:37.660-05:00Day 90: Dear Tony HortonDear Tony Horton:<br /><br />My name is Chrisanne Terry and I am, as of today, a "P90X Graduate." Going into this program, I'm not sure what I expected. First, I was very unsure as to whether or not I could stick with it for 90 days. Second, I was hoping that if I DID stick with it, I would see my body in a condition that I had never seen it before. I'm here to tell you that I survived the 90 days (with a few missed workouts here and there) and I am feeling pretty good.<br /><br />When I started this program, I had not worked out in months if not over a year. I was very hesitant that I didn't even know if I was in good enough pre-shape to actually start the program. So hesitant, in fact, that I did not even do the fit test and just dove in to Day 1. I have to tell you, Tony, you were not my favorite person at first. I found your jokes to be annoying and wanted to throw things at the TV during 90 percent of the workouts. Gradually, my way of thinking shifted though. I started to look forward to seeing you every day with your perfect smile and rippling muscles. I grew very fond of knowing that your dad once threw a no-hitter, your friend from Chicago gave you your Navy Pier muscle top, and that you like to wear "What's loose, what's comfortable" during Kenpo X. Every time you said the phrase "This is a horse stance. THIS isn't. This is just standing up" I giggled a little. You have turned out to be a wonderful motivator and almost a friend over the past three months. Thanks for pushing me without even knowing me.<br /><br />To Dreya Webber, Joe, Eric, Scott, Pam the Blam, Vanessa, Jason, Jackie, Aaron, Tim the Marine, Tony the Former Marine, Laura, Katie, Lorraine, David, and all you other P90X demonstrators that I have worked out with over the past 90 days, I am OBSESSED with knowing what happened to you. Did Jason and Vanessa get married? Did Dreya ever date Tony? Did David ever find a teaching job? It almost kills me not knowing more about these people, so much so that I tried to look several of them up and found a fellow P90X grad who put a little more into his research here:<br /><br />http://www.fitbomb.com/p/p90x.html<br /><br />Now for my results. I want to show you, Tony, because my body is actually not what I expected it to be. I expected more muscle tone, more "ripped-ness" but I realized around Day 30 that this was probably a little unrealistic. You see, although I followed your workout plan pretty closely, I DID NOT follow your meal plan at all. Like, I finally found the nutrition guide when I was cleaning yesterday...on Day 89. But I am happy with my results. I am going to try to post some pictures and forgive the bra and underwear shots- it didn't occur to me to put a swimsuit on until Day 30. Since it is too hard to figure out how to post them all in the correct order, here is a link to the album I kept them in. I have no plans to print these off or do anything with them, it was just the easiest way I could figure out how to do it.<br /><br />http://photo2.walgreens.com/walgreens/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=14094553002/a=7393609_7393609/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=walgreens/<br /><br />So, Tony, my journey with you is now over for the time being. I am planning to take a week or so off and then meet you back fro the P90X lean program. Until then, I will miss your wisecracks and testosterone-driven rants but my body will enjoy a little time off.<br /><br />Love, <br /><br />Chrisanne Terry<br /><br />PS- I'm sorry about the inconsistency with the pictures. The mirror that I was using in our bedroom took an unfortunate turn for the worst between Days 60 and 90. :(Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-70398719173253884572012-04-12T16:55:00.003-05:002012-04-12T17:09:53.672-05:00Day 89: A Great DaySo today has been really good. Like, incredibly good. I have been looking forward to today for the past couple of weeks and it did not disappoint. <br /><br />Tenley woke up around 7 and she was fed and out of bed by 7:30. I ate my breakfast and then cleaned our bedroom and the bathroom. All that is left to do before Carrie comes tomorrow is sweep the remaining floors and clean the kitchen. Oh, and to figure out where I am going to put all of Tenley's party stuff since it is piled a mile high on the guest room bed. Either Carrie will have to sleep on the floor or I need to get crackin' on a new home for that stuff for a week. It would have had to be moved anyways because I will have my mom and brother here next week. Hopefully I can work on that tonight.<br /><br />Once Tenley had eaten breakfast, had a bath, and I had showered, I nursed her one more time and then I was off on my own to shop! I started off at Walgreens where I picked up some new pictures for the party, then swung by Cakes by Karen to order Tenley's smash cake. I had intended to make the cake myself and even practiced it once, but my mom convinced me that I was going to have enough to prepare next week without stressing out over that cake. I am happy to hand the reins over on this one; they always do great work. Once that was taken care of, I hit the road for Orland Park. As I was approaching the Target plaza, I spied a Party City out of the corner of my left eye, so I turned in and managed to get all of the party supplies for next weekend. This was a huge relief because I was planning on having to go to Highland for that and knocked it out today instead. My last (and longest) stop was to the mall to find some new clothes suitable for a night on the town, new jeans, and a couple of shirts so that I don't have to keep wearing the same 6 things over and over. It was a successful trip.<br /><br />I was a bit bent out of shape when I left the house at 10:30 because John was supposed to get someone to watch Tenley when he had to leave for class at 3:30. Of course, he waited until the last minute (ie, 10:00 this morning) to check with anyone and, shocker, no one was free. Which is fine, I just wish he would have checked with someone BEFORE today. So that meant that I had a deadline and I DID NOT want to have to be home at a certain time. I was envisioning this shopping trip to be awful because things wouldn't fit right/I wouldn't be able to find what I wanted/I would get discouraged. Exactly the opposite happened. I found a BUNCH of cute things at Express including the perfect wash of jeans and ended up getting an outfit for Saturday night as well as some interchangeable pieces while I was there. The best thing was that I had a $75 off coupon AND a $50 gift card from my brother for Christmas so it all ended up being waaaaaay cheaper than it could have been. I swung through Forever 21 but didn't find anything I loved, then picked up a couple of shirts at H&M. I stopped in a couple other stores and decided to go look at swimsuits at Victoria's Secret. I thought I might be pushing my luck with this since the trip had been pretty fulfilling thus far, but John had given me a gift card to VS and I had told myself that I was going to look for a good quality swimsuit with it. I picked up a few that I liked and then also grabbed an emerald green one on a whim. It was a type of top I had never worn before and I wasn't sure about it but LOVED it when I tried it on. Well, I loved it as much as anyone can love being in a swimsuit a year after having a baby and still lactating. The bonus was that the sales attendant took my measurement and I have apparently lost 2 inches around my ribs (or whatever that measurement is). I still ended up in the same size top as I've usually worn but have the option to hook the swimsuit top further if it seems big.<br /><br />This whole trip left me feeling pretty good and wishing that I could hug Tony Horton. For now, I will just enjoy my purchases and look forward to tomorrow- DAY 90!<br /><br />1 DAY TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-83802413607783117972012-04-11T16:30:00.002-05:002012-04-11T16:39:28.707-05:00Day 88: Crabby PantsYou would think that the name of this post would refer to my almost-1-year-old but sadly, no, it refers to me. I have been in the WORST mood all day and I don't know why. I think part of it has to do with the funky schedule (or total lack thereof) we've been keeping for the past three weeks. I am ready to go back to the normal do nothing for awhile schedule. The thing is, everything we have been doing has been lots of fun but there has been a bit of a lack of normal sleep which could throw a wrench in anything. All of this to say, I'm grumpy. :(<br /><br />Last night was pretty fun. We did end up hitting Goose Island for dinner and they had Cubby Blue which I have been waiting to have for two summers now. The summer before I got pregnant, we literally went there ten times and they were out of it EVERY SINGLE TIME. Then, last year I only went to one game when we took Tenley over Labor Day and we didn't chance going to lunch AND the game for fear of her mood and nursing needs. Needless to say, I was super excited when I saw it on the board and on the menu AND that it was in stock. I also had the salad that I love, so food-wise I did great. I didn't even have any junk food at the game. Hooray!<br /><br />Today we woke up and had to go out to our Mortgage company to sign some papers for our refinance. Then we swung by the church where we are going to have the birthday party to pay for the room. I can't believe how expensive a child's birthday is. Holy cow. Our RSVPs were due today, and over half of the people we invited haven't RSVPd which is extremely annoying because we had to pay based on the number of people. So we could end up owing more if we go over the initial limit which would be good to know upfront. Oh, and we have to make food for the people coming and I would like to know how much to make. Sorry. Just a little side rant. I told you I was grumpy, right?<br /><br />Once we got home, I laid down with Tenley for a nap hoping that this would help. It did a little bit. Then John took Tenley so I could Kenpo it up. That helped my mood a lot. Now that I'm done, we are going to get John's car (yes, it's broken AGAIN after he told me that it was good-as-new after the last repair) and then we should be in for the evening. I don't know what we are going to do for dinner since this is the only day this week that we are going to be home all together. I need to do some laundry and get some motivation to clean a little. <br /><br />Tomorrow should be a fun day for me. I am going shopping sans baby for some new clothes and a shower gift for my brother and Sarah. John starts a class tomorrow night from 5-9, so I am hoping that I can get back in time to work out before he has to leave. We'll see.<br /><br />2 MORE DAYS!!Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-67744904397146754872012-04-10T14:08:00.003-05:002012-04-10T14:16:29.060-05:00Day 87: First Core Workout in a LOOOONG TimeToday has been a pretty typical day. Although John is home for Spring Break, he has been laying around all day watching movies and apparently recovering from his night last night. So Tenley and I have conducted business as usual. We got up, ate breakfast, and cleaned a little bit of the house. I was able to dip all of the chocolate covered ladybug cookies for her party, so that was a major accomplishment. Having those and the pretzels out of the way makes me a little bit less anxiety-stricken for all the baking to come next week. :) After we ate lunch, Tenley fell asleep and I was able to put her in her crib where I am assuming she is still sleeping. I put the monitor next to John's unmoving zombie head and headed down to the basement to work out.<br /><br />Today's workout was Core Synergistics and I have not done this one in probably four weeks. I really liked it the first times I did it but today I did not. I'm not sure why because it is an excellent workout but I was hating it today. I did the whole thing in it's entirety, but it was not fun. At least it's done for the day and I don't have to feel so bad about whatever I consume at the game tonight. I am really hoping we will go to Goose Island before the game (our little tradition which I LOVE) so that I can get a salad and then not have to worry about eating at the game. The total opposite end of that spectrum would be to go to El Burrito before the game (which I DO NOT love) or to just eat at the game (which I am not amped about). We are meeting friends down there at 5, so if it is a 7:05 start then we should have time for Goose Island. We shall see.<br /><br />In the next two hours I need to shower, bathe Tenley, feed her, and get everything around to be gone for the evening. Carrie is coming over to watch her tonight (I have THE ABSOLUTE BEST FAMILY) and I hope Tenley is OK. She always does well for both Carrie and Julie, but this will be a bedtime babysitting gig and I am hoping it goes smoothly. I can't say that I won't get her up to nurse and cuddle her when I get home, but it just depends on how well she is sleeping.<br /><br />I bit the bullet today and weighed myself and was grateful to see that I was up less than a pound from when I went to my Mom's which made me extremely happy. I am hoping that by Friday I will be back down and then some, making my total loss right around 10 pounds.<br /><br />3 more days! Eek!Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-89227392782373352412012-04-09T20:49:00.002-05:002012-04-09T20:57:45.210-05:00Day 86: A Very Busy DaySo I am picking up where I left off by trying to pretend last week didn't happen in the land of P90X. We hiked as a family again for over an hour on Saturday and our Easter was absolutely wonderful. It was a day spent with family and the only way it could have been better is if the Terrys could have been there too. I HATE having to split holidays. :( Overall, it was a wonderful trip home and I had mixed feelings about coming back.<br /><br />This morning we got up, packed the car, and headed for Munster. We arrived around 11 and the next few hours were spent unpacking all the junk we had to bring back with us. I had purchased a bunch of stuff for Tenley's party from Sam's Club and it all had to be hauled back and given a temporary home in our basement. Once that was done, John took Tenley so I could work out. I chose to do Cardio X today to get back in the swing of things and will do Core tomorrow, Kenpo on Wednesday, Cardio on Thursday, and Core on Friday. Then I will be done...for the time being. After a hiatus for Tenley's party preparations, I will hopefully start in to the P90X Lean program until after the wedding.<br /><br />Once my workout was done, John got ready and left for the Cubs game. Tenley and I played for awhile, then I dipped some pretzels for her party. About halfway through that process, Julie and Laney stopped by which was a great surprise. They stayed for over an hour and played with Tenley while I kept working on the pretzels. Julie made the comment that she thought I am thinner now than I was before my wedding (which I'm not, but it was really nice to hear!) and that made me feel good. Especially after eating everything in sight and not working out for a week. I am dreading stepping on the scale and I am tempted to put it off until Friday. We'll see.<br /><br />OK- Tenley is asleep and I have a DVR full of shows to catch up on. Hopefully I will have time to write tomorrow- John and I are going to the Cubs game (hooray!) and won't be home until late. I'm determined to get my workout in, so if I can't post tomorrow it will be a double-post day on Wednesday.<br /><br />4 days and counting...Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-55579995460883647972012-04-06T21:44:00.003-05:002012-04-06T21:56:27.048-05:00Day...-Day...: Pretend Like These Never Happened...So, as you can tell by the title of this post, the days at my parents' house have been an epic fail. I am kind of disappointed in myself because I am so on the home stretch, but this week has been so stinkin' busy that there has been no time for working out until today (and it wasn't even P90X which I will explain later). Just to give you a recap of my week, I will list my activities by day below:<br /><br />Monday: Woke up at 5:00 to get myself and Tenley ready to leave the house for Mom's dr appointment in Indy. We arrived in Indy at 9:30 and kept ourselves entertained while Mom had her PET scan. Katherine met us for lunch and then we hit the road for Ohio. We arrived at my aunt's at around 5:00, ate dinner with them at 6:30, then headed to my cousin Sarah's beautiful new house for the rest of the night. Needless to say, we were exhausted.<br /><br />Tuesday: Woke up in time to eat breakfast before Sarah went to work then proceeded to get ready and run errands with Mom and Aunt Sharon. Once we finished all of that, it was around 4 and we went back to Sarah's to wait for her to get home (a 1/2 hour later) and then we made the hour trip to Findlay to eat at the Hibachi grill with our other cousins and then headed to their house for a bit to let the kids play. We left their house at 11:30 (yes, PM) and didn't go to bed until 12:30 AM after Tenley was fed and changed. And, yes, my child was up that whole time. Poor baby. :(<br /><br />Wednesday: We got up, got ready, ran more errands, ate lunch, then headed back to Mom and Dad's. We were going to be home in time to walk the nature trail with my Dad, but my grandparents called and wanted us to stop by. By the time we got back home, it was 6:30 and time to eat dinner and get Tenley ready for bed. Another day with no workout.<br /><br />Thursday: We spent the whole day at my Aunt Irma's and didn't get home until after 6.<br /><br />Todday: We got up and readied ourselves to leave the house by 8:30 to head into Michigan to look for my Mom a dress for Brandon's wedding. The good news is that we found a dress. The bad news is that we didn't get home until after 1:30. Then my cousins came to see us and by 4 I was headed up for a haircut with my other cousin Staci. Once that was done, I headed home where my grandparents had stopped by for a visit. Once they left, my Mom, Dad, and I headed to the Pine Knob nature trail where we walked (more like hiked) for over an hour and fifteen minutes. That has to count for something, right?<br /><br />All of this to say, I am extending my P90X by a week. I am hoping to be able to workout Monday-Friday next week and make "Day 90" Friday. This will butt up perfectly for my trip to Indy on Saturday, so that is my plan. I hope to post my "after' pictures at that point if I do not chicken out. So, until I start back up on Monday (fingers crossed), this is it.<br /><br />5 days to go...I guess :)Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-51406998097617217632012-03-31T22:11:00.003-05:002012-03-31T22:23:35.530-05:00Day 83: Whew! I'm Exhausted!Today has been quite a day. Looking back at it, I am wondering if it even happened. I woke up early this morning to get my workout in (cardio, like I'd planned) and was back upstairs and ready to start the day before 8:00. I hate, hate, HATE working out in the morning, but I am so glad I did seeing as how there would have been zero time anywhere else in the day to do it. After I worked out, I nursed Tenley and then got the two of us ready to leave the house by 9:30. We were pulling out of the driveway at 9:28 to head to La Porte to meet my mom to look for her dress for Brandon's wedding. It was a pretty successful trip and although she doesn't have a dress in her possession, she has her eye on one that can be ordered with just a simple phone call. We may look for other options while I'm home with her this week, but the one that she found in La Porte was really pretty. After we shopped, we went to BW3's to have lunch. Tenley was so incredibly good through this whole experience and had fun eating and reading with her Grandma during lunch. <br /><br />After we ate lunch, we made the 45 minute drive home and went straight to Jeff and Julie's house for a visit and to see Katie and Stella. Stella is just so beautiful and Katie is such a loving and good mom. It was great to see both of them and great (as always!) to see Jeff, Julie, and the kids. We were there for quite awhile while I exchanged text messages with John about our evening plans. My plans were to go home, do laundry, and pack for the week but things didn't quite turn out that way. A bunch of John's basketball friends (for lack of a better way to describe them) were going out to dinner in Frankfort/Mokena and wanted us to come. I told him I would be happy to go as long as we could take Tenley so I headed home from Jeff and Julie's, fed and changed Tenley, and then we were back on the road once again. Dinner was really nice and we were able to catch up with these friends that I don't get to see very often. They all have great wives and I really wish we lived closer so I could get together with them more. They are just a really good group of people to be around. Words cannot describe how good Tenley was through all of the running we did today. She only fussed a few times at dinner and almost fell asleep in my lap before it was time to go home. Once we headed home, we stopped by The Creamery for a Rainbow Cone (yum!) and then finally hit the road. Now that I am back, I have done two loads of laundry (waiting on a third to be done), packed Tenley's food for the week, managed to pack some of her clothes that aren't being washed, and resigning myself to the fact that the rest will have to be done tomorrow. I really wanted to go to church in the morning but am afraid that I won't have time to get everything done that needs to be done before Ten and I leave around 2. <br /><br />Now back to the workout. The Cardio was just fine this morning- I bit harder than usual since I did it right when I got up. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, but I am going to try to get a workout in because I know I won't be able to do anything on Monday. Tenley and I will be traveling with my mom to Indy at 6:30 am for her annual doctor appointments and PET scan and then we will head straight to my aunt's in Ohio after that. I feel like if I take Monday as my rest day, maybe I can try to be conscious of my workouts from Tuesday-Saturday. Because Saturday is DAY 90. Can you believe it? Something tells me that this next week isn't going to go well with the traveling and Easter, so I may tack on a "bonus" week and really "end" on the 13th. I guess I will see how it goes. Until then,<br /><br />7 days to go!!!Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-39199738520491371952012-03-30T21:10:00.002-05:002012-03-30T21:23:35.156-05:00Day 82: A Wonderfully Fantastical DayToday was seriously such a great day. I wish Spring Break lasted all year round because it has been so much fun hanging out with my friends and their kiddos this week. Becky and I had been talking about taking Ten and Finn to the zoo today for the past week but when we woke up the weather indicated that this would be a VERY bad idea. Becky text messaged me at around 7:15 to ask if we wanted to take the kids to see the Easter Bunny and then try out Bellaboo's in Lake Station instead. I was of course onboard and it turned out to be an awesome day. <br /><br />First the Easter Bunny. We got to the mall around 10:15 or so and were the only people within miles of the Easter Bunny's lair. Or whatever. Becky said that it might be a good idea to stand outside the ropes and let the kids see the Easter Bunny first, so that's what we did. Tenley was so funny- she saw the bunny waving at her right away and was smiling and waving back which was seriously so cute. Finn was a little more tentative, so Becky told us to go ahead. I took Tenley right up to the bunny and she was smiling, laughing, and waving at him...until I tried to hand her over. Then she kind of freaked out and cried but settled down long enough to get some pictures of her with an extremely skeptical face. It was the next best thing to a smile and we will definitely remember this experience for years. :) Finn did a great job and he, Santa, and The Easter Bunny are all BFFs forever. After The Easter Bunny experience, we took the kids to Carson's to change their clothes and then it was off to Bellaboo's.<br /><br />For those of you who don't know what Bellaboo's is (I didn't until last night), it is wonderful place to take your kids full of fun activities. They have little rooms that each have a different theme with different activities. We dropped by each room but spent a lot of time in the baby room which was fully padded and had a miniature ball pit, a little ballet barre in front of a mirror that Tenley spent a whole lot of time pulling herself up on, and a kind of padded house that had toys inside. We also liked the pretend area that had a grocery store, kitchen area, and dress-up clothes. The kids really liked the Reading Room, but mostly because it had a step that they liked to climb up and (almost) fall down. We ended the day in the Water Room which is hard to explain but a lot of fun. Someone left that area looking like she had peed her pants and it wasn't Becky, Finn (obviously) or Tenley. The only negative part of the experience was lunch because they were SO SLOW in taking orders and getting the food out. I didn't realize how hungry Tenley must have been because as soon as I put her in that highchair she wanted food RIGHT NOW. When the food finally came it was awesome, and Tenley and Finn very sweetly shared a grilled cheese sandwich. We left around 2:30 and had two very tired babies. Tenley ended up napping all the way home and for a bit once we got home. When she woke up, I nursed her and she fell asleep again until John got home. What a day!<br /><br />Since we had a big day, we decided to take it easy tonight. John watched Tenley for an hour while I did my workout which I greatly appreciated. I decided to do Kenpo tonight for two reasons. One, because it was either that or Cardio and I didn't want to do Cardio two days in a row and two, I want to try to workout first thing tomorrow morning and Cardio is the shortest workout I can do. It felt pretty good and, as always, I'm just glad that it's done. We are meeting my mom in La Porte tomorrow morning at 10:30 to help her find a dress for my brother's wedding (hooray!) so I really hope to get my workout in early and not have to do it when I get home. We'll see how that goes tomorrow. <br /><br />8 days and counting...Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-89773998218995972742012-03-29T17:25:00.003-05:002012-03-29T17:31:26.707-05:00Day 81: At Least I Worked Out..After the last few fun-filled days, I knew that I was in for an annoying one. And that annoying one just happened to be today. I knew that I had to run a bunch of errands before going to my mom and dad's this week and when I woke up this morning I thought I better suck it up and make it be today. Things got off to a rough start because Tenley woke up about an hour earlier than usual and didn't want to go back to sleep, so I should have known that it was going to be one of those days. Nevertheless, we got up, got showered, and headed over to Highland for a Kohl's and Target trip. Tenley was really crabby throughout the morning but thankfully slept in her stroller through most of Kohl's which was a blessing. After Target, we headed out to Crown Point to Tiny Toes Ribbons and Bows to pick up Tenley's birthday outfit. Which is RIDICULOUSLY, RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME. The biggest bright spot (besides Tenley) to my day. Once we returned home, we ate lunch and played until John came home. He then needed us to take him to pick up his car and Tenley thankfully fell asleep on the way home (she needed a nap in the WORST way) and slept until after my workout was done. The rest of the night should be uneventful (I hope).<br /><br />Today's workout ended up being Cardio because I was afraid Tenley would wake up and I wanted to get something in. The workout was just fine and I'm happy it's done. I think I will try for Plyo tomorrow and Kenpo on Saturday. That's all I have for now- the baby's awake!<br /><br />9 days to go!Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-39277282264472711312012-03-28T20:08:00.002-05:002012-03-28T20:12:11.428-05:00Day 80: Another Fun (Fast) DayToday was another beautiful, fun day. Becky and Finn picked us up around 11 and picked up lunch to take to Betty's house. We spent the afternoon eating and talking about Clark's upcoming entrance into the world and It was a great time. If only Beth had Spring Break and Rachel could have been there...but it's just not a perfect world. :( After we left Betty's, Ten and I played outside until John came home and then ate dinner. Once dinner was over, I was finally able to work out.<br /><br />Today's workout was the last time for Biceps and Back. I tried to do as heavy of weights as possible and I am going to be feeling it tomorrow. I feel like it was a good workout and I am feeling very jelly-like. Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day for either Plyo or Cardio. This has be be a short post because it's time for Tenley to go to bed, so until tomorrow...<br /><br />10 days to go!Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-55698179032752638292012-03-28T11:02:00.001-05:002012-03-28T11:06:29.594-05:00Day 79: An Unexpected Missed WorkoutYesterday was a fantastic day in so many ways, but unfortunately not on the workout front. Becky, Finn, Tenley, and I headed out to Orland Park around 9:00 for a little Easter dress shopping (for Tenley) which was a big success. We picked up Potbelly's for lunch (YUM) and ate it back at our house. John had called me during the morning to see if Tenley and I would accompany him to the Math Honor Society induction ceremony and then to dinner and at first I thought I would just send Tenley so I could work out, but later changed my mind and decided to go. I am so glad I did because we had a great time together as a family. The ceremony was nice and short and then we headed to Champps for dinner which was delicious. By the time we got home, it was almost 9 and I had a pounding headache (the only bad part of the day). <br /><br />Today I am going with Becky and Finn over to Betty's to help organize the goods from Clark's shower. I am hoping that I will get a workout in later today or this evening. Yesterday was supposed to be Plyo and I hate missing that one, but I think I am going to stick to the schedule and do Biceps and Back today and then substitute either Cardio or Plyo for Yoga tomorrow. That is the plan. We will see how it goes. :)<br /><br />Hopefully there will be a successful workout post later today.<br /><br />11 days to go!Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8744074961656999274.post-16900320556962719242012-03-26T18:36:00.003-05:002012-03-26T18:46:46.272-05:00Day 78: Last Time for Chest, Shoulders, and BackI can't believe I am in the last week of muscle work for this program. When I think about it, 90 days have gone by pretty fast! Today was a day full of less than no motivation, so I am happy I got a workout in at all! Tenley woke up around 7:30, nursed, and then conked back out until 8:30. That was just fine by me except for the fact that as soon as I poured myself a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat it, she popped up with a great big smile like, "Hello, world! I'm ready for action!" She was in a great mood all day and even allowed me to get some more stuff for her party accomplished. I think that we are pretty much all set to go for that party aside from the food which obviously can't be done until closer to time. The invites are all addressed and ready to go out as soon as I slap stamps on them, so hopefully they will be in the mail tomorrow. Once some party planning and playing was accomplished, we ate lunch and then I actually laid down with her for her nap. She slept from about 1-3 which was great. I knew John would be home after school and after him being gone all weekend, I had no qualms about asking him to watch her for an hour while I worked out. Once the workout was in, we had a nice dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and corn and now the night lays before us. It will include a bath for Ten, a shower for me, a call to my mom, and bed.<br /><br />Today's workout is one of my least favorite because it's tons of pushups and I'm happy to be done with that one until I start the program again. My arms are sore, but I can do all of the moves (except for the one arm pushups- WTF? I think I would have to be a freak of nature to get those right) and I am proud of how my arm and chest strength has improved over the past few months. I won't be winning any pushup contests any time soon, but at least I don't laugh at Tony every time he demonstrates a move. That is an improvement.<br /><br />Tomorrow I am planning on heading out to the mall to find Tenley an Easter dress. I am going to try to go in the morning (maybe with Becky and Finn- hooray!) so that we are home in the afternoon to nap and get dinner. We will see how it goes. Becky is going to take Tenley's one year pictures at some point in the next month so it will be fun having her along to pick out a dress so we can use it in those pictures. Hopefully I can get my Plyo workout in tomorrow afternoon while Tenley naps, otherwise it will be another Daddy/Daughter bonding session while Mommy gets her butt kicked.<br /><br />12 days and counting...Chrisannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15955854073545593792noreply@blogger.com0