Redheads Have More Fun

CL requested a picture of my red hair. It's pretty subtle, actually. And I'm due a haircut this week. I tried to get a good head shot with Photo Booth, but the lighting in my office here at the church is horrible. It makes my face look blue! Or that could just be the bags under my eyes from a busy weekend of scrapbooking! (Who knew hobbies could be so much work?) So, anyway, here is a hair shot which I think looks pretty true to color... er, maybe with a hint of blue. :-)

The home hair kit that I did is actually temporary and washes out in 28 shampoos. I had a coupon for it, but didn't realize it wasn't permanent until I got home. But, hey, that means I can try it out for a little while with no commitment and decide later if I want to keep it. I'll need to do something for gray coverage, though. Apparently, turning a year older has upped my gray count. (Or does having a baby/living with a toddler do that to you?)

Sayonara

The verdict from the last post is that we did in fact join the Y. In order to get the childcare, we had to do a family membership which means John can go, too. And Ian and I already have our picture IDs! And if you are one who commented and said let's be workout buddies, I'm totally diggin' that. Will I see you at kickboxing on Monday? (I have always been intrigued by kickboxing for some reason.)

I feel somewhat inspired because this week I lost two pounds! Hooray!

And I feel ready to roll... because in a few hours I'll be off to another scrapbooking retreat! Gosh, it seems like the rainy weather, a teething toddler, and adjusting to a new medicine had me down for the past couple of weeks, but things are looking up today! Now, if only the sun would come out...

As I was getting my scrapbooking stuff together which involved a little closet rearranging, I noticed that, well, I have a LOT of purses. No more purse purchasing for me for a while, I think. I didn't realize how many I had accumulated. It's kinda like shoes. Just one of those things women have to buy for themselves every once in a while.

And speaking of things women like to do, on a whim, the other night I dyed my hair red. Not drastically different or radiant red or anything. Just reddish, I guess. So, there you have it... new hair, new exercise plan, and a chance to get away from it all this weekend. And so I say, sayonara!

Yet Again

I know I blog about this sort of thing all the time. I went back and checked. Here it is from June 2006 and January 2007 and September 2008. Pathetic really. It seems I can only stick with an exercise regime for about six months. And it seems that I keep entertaining the same ideas, too. So, here we go again. And as always, your opinion is welcome.

The ever-pressing question: exercise. What, where, how much, will it work, will I do it? And this time around, yes, having a toddler complicates things. I did rejoin Curves in the Fall, but I have only gone a handful of times. Why? I just can't get back into it. No motivation or excitement there. And schedule-wise, it was a challenge. Because the best time for me to go is when they are closed! This morning, on a whim, I stopped by there and canceled my membership.

I have a jogging stroller, but typically only walk with it. Ian loves getting out and going to the park, so we do this often BUT with the rainy weather, this type of exercising isn't consistent. And with the hot summer coming up... UGH. Need an indoor option. Two ideas came to mind:

Join the Y. I keep coming back to this one, so maybe I should just do it. Pros: CHILDCARE! Need I say more? Well, the classes they offer intrigue me. And they have a swimming pool which I think would be fun for Ian and me this summer. (The upcoming swimsuit shopping trip has become my new motivation for getting into shape.) Cons: It's not close to home, and if I couldn't work Curves into my schedule, will I make time for the Y? We only have one car which also complicates things.

Buy an elliptical on Craigslist. I can guarantee you that if I go work out at the Y, I'm going to be on the elliptical. If I can get a good price on CG (I've already inquired about a few listings), it'll even out eventually with the cost of the Y membership. Pros: It's at home, I can watch TV while I do it, and I can exercise when Ian's napping or has gone to bed. I've already figured out where to put it and all, so space is not necessarily an issue. Cons: I'm worried that I won't use it very long, and then it becomes a glorified coat rack. Also, we could possibly be moving overseas within a year, and I don't imagine the elliptical would go with me. So, I'm stuck having to get rid of it.

Depending on what hour of the day you ask me, I am leaning one way or the other. Decision making is not really my forte.

Baby Elephant Walk

Basically, I am just playing around with iLife 09 here. Oh, and I wanted an excuse to use that fun song, Baby Elephant Walk. Otherwise, this is a somewhat uneventful video of Ian playing in his room. We got the elephant as a gift from his great Uncle George and Aunt Mary for Christmas. Just recently he has taken to riding it all by himself. Our boy is growing fast and changing daily!

Learning Moments

Um, the spoon goes the other way, sweetheart.


Um, the food goes in your mouth, not your other hand.


Whoa... isn't it weird how different the pictures look—one with the flash and one without? Ian is doing better with his eating, though. We're learning about his finickiness with textures. Just in the past few days he's eaten a tomato, turkey bacon, fresh pear slices, sweet potato pancakes, strawberries, chicken nuggets, and vegetable chips (that are actual dried vegetables since he won't eat the cooked ones and can't eat the raw ones). He also handled and munched on a whole apple and drank from a straw for the first time.

Impromptu Zoo

So, why did we go to the zoo when it's cold and wet outside? Well, a friend called yesterday and invited us. (Thanks, Rachel, we had fun!) And we had been cooped up in the house since Wednesday, so we needed a little outing. And Ian kept singing "Da da" this morning, looking around every corner for him. So... we went to the zoo! Pictures are below, but first, check out this video of Ian and the lions. Ian loved them, and well, they seemed pretty interested in him, too!



So, it seems we had the right stroller for the occasion.


















All bundled up and ready to go! (See the crowds?)























Ian spent most of his zoo trip afoot, though.


















My big boy went down the otter slide by himself!


















Time for a little snack. Here's our friend, Rachel.























Peek-a-boo, I see you! (See the lion's ears?)


















And because the lion thing was so crazy, here's the other video I took.

Flying Solo

Well, John leaves tomorrow for six days for a ski trip. He's going as a sponsor for a friend's youth group. So, Ian and I will be daddy-and-hubby-less for several days! I know Ian will miss his daddy. He already looks at the door around the time we expect John home from work, points, and says, "Da-da!" (He knows it's time because John comes home shortly after his second nap.)

And I sure hope the weather clears up because my little outdoorsy kid was NOT happy when I wouldn't let him out in the cold and rain yesterday and today. He did play outside a little this evening, and it was fun to watch our breaths in the cold air. Ian seemed pretty fascinated at it, at least. We did the "it's cold" dance together where we stand around and bounce to keep warm. But otherwise, here is what Ian thinks about the weather.


So, we have to consult some fun indoor activities... like reading! Ian has a renewed interest in books now (the whole crawling and walking thing threw him off there for a while). It's pretty fun when he brings you the books and crawls in your lap. He also got some daddy time tonight... which was good! We will miss you, John. But we hope you have fun on the slopes!

Like Christmas

My husband brought home a box of cat 5 cable tonight to work on our file server. You would've thought it was Christmas around here... the way John's eyes lit up as he unraveled cable, got out his tools, and went to work. Ian, who slept from 2:30-5 p.m. and hadn't had a bottle since noon could not focus long enough to even drink an ounce of milk. He so desperately wanted to jump out of my lap and go see what this new stuff was all about. Needless to say, he enjoyed pulling around and toddling through the cord. Don't worry... he was supervised. But he's a boy after his dad's own heart, I must say.

Really?

Today my son showed me that he can climb up on the couch, almost get down on his own, dribble a ball with his hands AND feet, rotate his bottle for optimal flow, (he also prefers milk in a bottle, juice in a sippy) interact with certain toys appropriately by pressing the right buttons, inserting the right shapes, etc., blow a little wooden train whistle, almost break out into a run when only a month ago he was barely walking.

Just as I am amazed at how much has changed in the past year, I am seeing daily dramatic changes in Ian's development. Wow... what will the next year hold?

Watch out, Caleb!

Today Ian climbed up on the couch. He can't quite do it all by himself... but he is resourceful in using nearby "props." Caleb, the couch may longer be a safe place for you to sit!

Another day, another year

So, I turn 28 today. How did I spend my birthday? Well, after a crazy day of running around the metroplex yesterday, I felt like I got to sleep in a little this morning. Ian didn't wake us up until 8:00, but it was really 7:00 on his clock, before the time change. But when I looked at the clock (which had already been changed the night before), and it said 8, I thought, hooray, we got to sleep in! This is how the time change plays mind games with you. And this is how it feels to be a parent... 8:00 is "sleeping in." My... am I getting old?

My grandmother fixed us blueberry muffins for breakfast, and it turns out that Ian likes them a lot. He also likes the stairs at her house... and the piano. It was a good visit, a fun place for him to explore. Then, we met my parents at their church. This is the church I started attending, well, 20 years ago, in fact. And I made several comments with old family friends about how it's hard to imagine turning 28 and being away from home for ten years. Oh... and the proverbial 10-year high school reunion is coming up. Hmm... should I go?

Then we had Italian food for lunch, my favorite. And then it was time to head home because like I said, yesterday was crazy, and the poor baby only had an hour's worth of a nap in the car that day. When we got home, John took care of Ian while I got to take a nap... one of my favorite pasttimes, so I was glad to partake on my birthday. It is all about me today, isn't it?

When I woke up, I had discovered John had eaten about a half jar of M&Ms and wouldn't be hungry for dinner. I suddenly felt the urge for birthday cake, so I jumped in the car and headed to Coldstone for the Birthday Cake Remix. Since I've been back, I've been hanging out with my wonderful hubby and son. Ian enjoyed watching some intstrumental perfomances on YouTube. He sure does like the drums. He's our little music man, it seems.

John got more iTunes for his birthday (I got my all-time favorite Disney movie, Oliver and Company, hooray!) so we are currently downloading Season 4 of Battlestar. So, that will be our evening plans. All in all, a pretty good day!

Funny Stories of the Evening

I have been very amused this evening by my husband and son. Here are a few reasons why:

Ian is a mess. Toddlers are a mess. Ian successfully spoon fed himself about four bites of peaches before he dumped the rest on the floor. His clothes got pretty messy, too, so he went around in his diaper after dinner before his bathtime. I thought it would be funny to take his diaper off right before his bath and let him streak around the house. John warned I might have a mess to clean up. Well, Ian didn't, uh, go until he was standing at the edge of the tub waiting for the water to fill up. And then he started slipping around in it... it was, um, hilarious!

After all was cleaned up and the baby to bed, I offered John some leftover apple cobbler. About halfway through his bowl, he said, "I have yet to find a blackberry in this!" I guess he thought it was blackberry... but I thought it was funny that it took him half a bowl to figure it out!

Funny, funny boys.

The Magical Fruit

Alright, nobody faint here... but I have eaten beans twice this week... and enjoyed them! (For those who don't know, I typically don't like beans. So, when I pick them out of your homemade chili, don't be offended. I get a lot of flak for this. I don't know why.) Usually, it's the texture of the beans, not the flavor, that gets me. (I have no idea what effect they have on my gastrointestinal system. I haven't eaten them enough to find out.) But anyway, the pastiness of beans grosses me out. They're just a weird texture, alright!?

Earlier this week I had the Southwestern Eggrolls from Chilis. They have black beans in them. I could tell the beans were in there by their signature texture, but even I could admit that beans were required to complete the "southwestern" flavor. Like I think I would miss them if they weren't in the eggroll.

About a month or two ago, a friend of ours simply mixed refried beans with salsa and served it as a dip. I tried it, and to my surprise, I really liked it! The salsa masked the weirdness of the bean texture enough for me to actually enjoy their flavor. Now, I realize the refried variety are not the healthiest of bean choices. (People preach at me all the time about how healthy beans are, the protein, yada, yada.) This week I thought I would try my own bean-salsa mix since I had lots of salsa and chips leftover from Ian's birthday party.

Now, I have never really browsed the bean section of our grocery store except on the rare occasion that I buy beans for the husband. Poor guy. He likes them, but doesn't get to eat them at home much. But man, there are a lot of different types of beans! And refried? Yeah, those are pretty darn fattening. But the dip is in my fridge right now, and well, let's face it, fattening=yummy. So, there you have it, I eat beans now, I guess.

And the grand total is...

$495.12 for Ian's birthday college fund contributions! Wow, that's almost 500 buckaroos to get us started on saving for college! We've deposited the money, and we'll be meeting with our financial adviser soon on the best way to "save" this money. Thanks, everyone!