Easter 2011

Happy Easter!!



We headed down to St. Pete last week to spend Easter with the family. Plus, Nick and Robyn brought the girls down and we were finally able to meet Caroline! We drove down Wednesday night and Caroline and the adults were still up. She was playing on her play mat, so we put Robbie down next to her. Caroline is very petite and Robbie is not, so it's funny to see the size difference even though they are only 15 days apart (Caroline is older). At this stage babies are all about grabbing, so there was definitely ear, cheek and hair pulling going on. We spent about as much time pulling them apart as we did letting them play together! It was still cute, though.

Mom and Dad had to work Thursday, though Dad didn't go in until 8. We hung out at my parent's house and then headed to see Grandma for lunch. She reserved the private dining room for us. I think Taylor ate most of Grandma's fruit and she also got half of her cake, though she only got cake because she ate her sandwich. The food was really good. Unfortunately Robbie was getting tired and fussy, so we left early. Mom gets off work pretty early, so she got home shortly after we did. Jill and Jason stopped by with Ryan. I can't believe that Ryan is a year old! We have very cute kids in our family!! Mom made orzo chicken for dinner. It's one of the recipes from the meal plan and we really like it.

Friday morning, Jonathan, Chat and the kids came over to visit with Nick and Robyn and the kids before they left. I wasn't sure when we were going to see them, so I'm glad they came over. The big girls had fun playing together and even Nathan got to join in (sometimes). Mom had Robbie asleep in the stroller, so we sat in the garage and watched the kids play. It was really nice outside. Unfortunately Jonathan had to go to work, so they all left a little after 11. We had lunch and then Nick and Robyn got their car packed up for their trip home. It was such a short visit with them, but I'm glad they came down and we were able to see them for a while.

After Nick and Robyn left, Matt and I took Robbie over to Mimi and Gramps' for a visit. Barbara headed over when she got off work. I left to go take a spin class at Jill's studio and we hung out for a while after class, so I don't feel like I was at Mimi and Gramps' for very long. I did go back and have dinner at their house. I was surprised to see Mark and Brigette and Monett and Gary there, but it was nice to see them again. I know Robbie was passed around and played with a lot with all of them there.

Saturday morning we headed over to Tampa to visit with Jim, Jean and Brittany. We got a later start than we wanted, so we didn't visit at the house too long before we headed to Lowery Park Zoo. We were worried that it was going to be too hot, but it wasn't that bad. We got to hear the monkey enrichment talk and see them getting their food in toys. I never see the animals that active and we think Robbie was checking them out as well. Since it was very sunny and we forgot Robbie's hat Jim bought him a cute one at one of the gift shops. It's pretty big for him, so he'll have to grow into it, but at least we'll have it for a while. Robbie got to feed the giraffe. (Matt held the lettuce in his hand.) I'm not quite sure what Robbie thought about it, but he was a good sport. I also think he liked seeing the manatee when we went to the underwater viewing area. After the zoo we headed back to the house. We thought we'd give Robbie a quick bath to cool him down. I think he liked the sink being his size...until he pooped! That's the first time he pooped while getting a bath. We cleaned Robbie and the sink and then he got his Easter basket. Robbie got a couple of toys, some new clothes and baby food. We took the baby food to dinner with us to let Robbie try it. I'm not sure how much he actually at v. how much he got all over his face, hands, clothes and me! The food is pretty neat. It's in a pouch and we got spoons that screw on, so it's all in one feeding.

We were up early Sunday morning for church. Robbie stayed in the nursery. It was funny to me to hand him over to the nursery workers because I used to be the one watching the babies, not dropping them off! I saw several familiar faces. After church we took some Easter photos and had lunch with Jonathan, Chat and the kids. Nathan was so excited about his Lightning McQueen picture that he had and kept showing it off to everyone. Mia showed us some of her dances from class and gymnastics moves she's learned. Mia also said that she wanted to be Robbie's baby sitter, but she wouldn't change his diaper. I don't blame her! :) After lunch Jonathan, Dad, Mia and Nathan took a nap. Mom did fall asleep while holding Robbie, though I woke her up taking their picture. I felt bad leaving while Jonathan and the kids were still sleeping, but we had Easter dinner ready for us at Mimi and Gramps'.

Matt and I were pretty full from lunch, so neither of us had a big dinner, but we were happy to visit with everyone that was over. Barbara made and decorated cute individual egg cakes with Publix icing. Too bad I couldn't have one, they looked delicious! Robbie was getting tired around 7, so we knew that was a good time to get him in the car and head home. He slept the whole way home, which is nice for us, but he wasn't quite ready to hit the crib when we got here. Matt was nice enough to stay up with Robbie (and catch the end of a basketball game) so I could go to bed. We did "sleep training" with Robbie while we were at my parent's house which just means we let him cry himself to sleep. I never thought I'd be a "cry it out" mom, but the longest he went was maybe 10 minutes. It's still working now that we are home, though I admit Robbie slept with me for a couple of hours in the recliner last night, but that's only because I was so tired I fell asleep!

We had a really nice visit. It's going to be hard tonight now that I have to cook again! :)

Robbie is 6 months old!!!!!!

I can't believe that Robbie is 6 months old already. Where has the time gone? We've definitely noticed changes in him. He has started rolling over like a champ! Often when I lay him in his crib on his back he'll roll over to sleep on his stomach. He is really reaching for objects and playing with his toys. He also likes to play with napkins and magazines. Luckily he isn't putting them in his mouth, so I don't have to worry about him eating them. He has started chewing on one of his teething toys, he's still drooling but no signs of teeth yet. He loves to grab things: hair, cheeks, noses, Simba's fur. We stopped using the car seat in the stroller and putting him in it by himself. He's really getting the hang of sitting up by himself, though we're not too far away because he tips over easily. My favorite thing that he does is hold up his hands when he wants picked up. It just shows how grown up he's becoming.

We can't wait to see family this weekend. We are especially excited about meeting baby Caroline!

6 month check up and sweet potatoes

Yesterday was Robbie's 6 month check up. He isn't officially 6 months until Tuesday, but we take appointments as we get them. We saw a different pediatrician (same practice, just a different doctor) and we both liked him. One of the families in our Sunday School class sees him and likes him, and I think when Robbie gets older he might like having a male doctor rather than the female we had seen before. Robbie is 19 pounds 4 oz, just under the 90th percentile, and 26 1/2 inches tall (between 50-75th percentile). Robbie had to get 2 shots and an oral vaccine and did great. I brought Tylenol along and gave it to him before the shots which helps a lot!

Matt and I had talked about giving Robbie more solid foods. We already planned to have sweet potatoes with dinner last night, so when I saw that Nick and Robyn gave Caroline sweet potatoes, I thought we could try it with Robbie. It's hard to tell if Robbie liked them or not because he would make a face as he was eating but he sucked them down! He made some really funny faces and we tried to catch them on camera. (I know Robbie isn't wearing a bib this time, but we'll make sure he wears them in the future!)

You can see Robbie making a face, but then he's also eating the sweet potato.



We have a mirror in the car so we can see Robbie. It plays music and when we put Robbie in the car and turn on the music he starts smiling! He usually gets more excited, but he won't show off for the camera.



Back in January one of our neighbors houses caught fire. It was pretty much destroyed. Yesterday they came and started knocking the house down. I took some pictures on our way to Robbie's appointment.

Applebee's

Matt had jury duty Monday but got dismissed around 11. We decided to go to lunch before going shopping. We had Applebee's gift cards, so we went there. We thought we'd see how Robbie did in the high chair rather than bring in his car seat. Robbie did great, though he did get tired after a while, so Matt held him until our food came. I think we'll put him in high chairs when we go out from now on!





If you did hear, Matt was signing the check when he realized we paid with a credit card rather than use the gift cards. Ugh!!

Today's Episode

They posted today's episode, so here are my 2 segments.

Fast-forward to 3 minutes 25 seconds and they'll announce me:



My interview segment:



Don't forget to read my blog below.

Kick It Up

I think everyone knows by now that I entered a local weight loss competition. It's 13 weeks long and today starts week 4. I can't believe we have been doing it for almost a month! The only requirement to enter is that you have to be a mom. I applied and didn't think too much about it after that, but then I got a call that I was one of 30 semi-finalists. I thought I bombed the interview (apparently most of the moms felt that way after their interview), so I was surprised when I got the call the next day saying that I was a finalist.

We had orientation 4 weeks ago and then we jumped right into the workouts. Two weeks ago was our first time in the studio. They introduced all of the moms and let us know that no one was being eliminated that week. We didn't even weigh in that week. Last week was the first weigh in. I said at the beginning that I want to lose 4 ponds a week. I know that will be easy at the beginning and get harder as the weeks go on. After 2 weeks I lost 5.14%, making me the biggest loser of the week. I was shocked because I heard that other moms had lost a lot of weight. I got interviewed on the show and just tried not to sound too dorky.

They opened the envelope on air and announced me as the biggest loser:



I kept saying all week that I don't want to be the biggest loser again until the finals. It was a lot of pressure. My trainer said that other moms were asking what I was doing. It's easy: watch what you eat and exercise. I also didn't want to go home this week, either! I was shocked last week when they announced me as the biggest loser and even more shocked that I did it again this week! I know this might sound bad, but I was kind of disappointed that it was me again this week. I'm going to feel even more pressure. Plus, I thought this would be a friendly competition, but I think some of the moms are taking it more seriously that I am (at least the competition part, maybe not the weight loss).

Second envelope:



I finally remembered to take my camera to the studio this week, so I took a bunch of pictures before we started taping.

Here is last week's episode (I just added the first segment). They announce me around the 3 minute mark.



It takes a day for them to put the video online, so I'll add today's show tomorrow.

Ready for a Big Boy Cup!

Robbie likes to sit with us when we are eating and watches everything we do. I've let him play with a spoon and he will grab at your cup. I let him hold it to see what he would do and he put it up to his mouth like he knew what he was doing! It will be a while before he really uses a big boy cup, though. This evening I gave him an empty cup to play with, but, of course, he wanted mine!