Today was the first day I didn't "shred"! I did Tues, Wed, Thurs... but since I work Fridays I get so tired. I think I'm going to give myself off on Fridays, but I WILL pick it up tomorrow.

Last night we had our OK Nestie GTG. It was so much fun! Here are just a few of the pics I took.


Dani and I were the only drinkers on our end of the table. (Although Cati did have Conner and Jenn is preg.... they had excuses) Hah. I'm glad she ordered one so I didn't feel like a lush! :-P And of course loved chatting it up with her because she's awesome!


I love the candids SO much more than "posed" pictures.

Everyone! I was going to take this pic myself because I'm so picky... but Dani talked me out of it so I could be in it. The waiter took it and you can't see half of my face (or Allison at all!)

I didn't get to chat much with the girls I didn't know at the other end! Oh well, next time. I just hung around with the same ol' girls... as per usual... :-P It was a great time.

I tried to make the meal WW friendly by eating thin crust pizza with veggies. Although I did have a Cosmo and Diet w/ Malibu (Yum!) totally worth it.

I just started the 30 day shred again. This is my 3rd "starting" date. I really really want to stick with it this time! It's such a short time to workout and people see great results! It is, of course, kicking my butt again... but it's a GREAT feeling after working out really hard. I feel like I want to die about halfway through, but it always seems like I get a second wind around circuit 2. It really makes me hate jumping jacks though...

After my -3.6lbs at my last weigh in... I really want to keep my numbers that good!

In Cooper news, he is LOVING his toy at my moms. The one he lays under and it has the mirror on it. I figured out how to tilt the mirror down so he can see himself. I thought he would love staring at himself, but he likes looking at the froggie face on the mirror more than himself. He is just smiling and grinning at that thing right now, haha!

I was trying to think of things Cooper and I can do together to occupy his time right now. It's kind of an awkward age because he is awake a lot... but can't really play yet. So, I googled "things to do with a 3 month old" and I found this website, http://www.letteroftheweek.com/nursery_age_0.html. It has "lesson plans" for all ages, starting at 3 months old. Things like: Literature, Bible, Baby Games, Sign Language, etc. It seems fun. I think it will benefit both of us a lot. Hopefully I can start that with him this week.

Cooper is the best baby ever. He started sleeping through the night consistently when he was just 7 weeks old. He hardly ever cries unless he's hungry.. and I'm getting better at anticipating that need. I always read about these colicky babies and I don't know if I could handle that! We're so blessed with little Cooper. He loves laying there, staring at our faces or swinging in his swing staring at the bright colors on it or laying on his back staring up at his toy with the balls on it. He is so content!

He always spits up on Meme though. It's actually getting to be pretty funny. Meme and Papa went out of town for their anniversary. Cooper didn't spit up on me at all (and he never does). As soon as he saw Meme when she got back... he spit up on her. LOL. He does this all the time, but never on me!

It was so cute the other night.... I had Cooper all swaddled up laying in bed. I went to the bathroom, and when I came back Philip was sitting next to Cooper on the bed. Cooper was shaking his head from side to side... over and over back and forth. Philip just looked at me confused and said "What is he doing?!" Hahaha. I told him, "That's what he does when he wants his pacifier!" It's ridiculously cute when he does that.

Ok, I guess that's all for my gushing about Cooper for now.

I had a dream last night I was in the hospital pregnant again and I didn't even know it. (I think because we just watched a show on Discovery last night about women who were pregnant and didn't know it). They gave me a c-section which I DID NOT WANT and I was protesting the whole time. The baby was born and they took it to the nursery and I didn't even get to see it. Then Annette came in, very somber, and told me she was there not because I had a baby but because she was having eye surgery and she was really scared about it... (????). I tried to act sad for her, but I was also really anxious to meet my new baby! Then, I asked the nurse if it was a boy or girl. She handed the baby to me and I remember looking down and seeing PINK socks on her. I was sooo excited it was a girl. :) :) :)

If I did have a girl next time, I think I'd be torn about if I'd want another baby...... hm... I guess I don't have to decide now.

My parents got a Wii. We've been have so much fun with it! Yesterday Philip and I played all day. It's fun to get off your butt to play video games. At least I feel like I'm being somewhat "productive" if I'm not just sitting here.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Philip and I already celebrated Vday last weekend. Cooper stayed with my parents and he took me to a B&B called "Willow Way." It was great! Sooo much fun to spend some time together and get away. After we checked in, Philip told me he'd planned for us to get pedicures together and then go to Pearl's to sit on the patio and have drinks and dinner. It was SO nice outside that day.

The pedicures were great! Philip couldn't stop talking about how amazing his feet felt. I hadn't gotten one since Cooper was born.. so it was much needed. Pearl's was PACKED. The patio wasn't open so we couldn't sit out there, but it was still a great time. Yummy food and yummy drinks.

I haven't been keeping track with WW like I should. I haven't been going crazy, I still keep track of points in my head.. but I need to start writing things down and looking up the points again. I think I've been going a little off track. I didn't go to my meeting this week because there were tornados that night. I think I've still lost a little weight this week though. I need to pump up my exercise for sure. I know I can sweat a lot of these pounds away.... ugh. I just hate being sweaty. I don't even mind the "work" part of working out... I just HATE feeling sweaty.

Here is a recipe I tried tonight. It was pretty good, but not great. I might make it every once and a while.

Pepperoni Pizza Pouches POINTS: 6 10 oz frozen pizza crust dough, at room temperature 4 tbsp canned tomato sauce 1/4 cup(s) part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded 1 oz pepperoni, in 8 slices Preheat the oven to 425°F; spray a nonstick baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. On a lightly floured work surface, unroll the dough. With your hands, press it into a square; cut into 4 squares. Place dough on the baking sheet. Spread dough with the tomato sauce and sprinkle with the cheese. With the dough on the diagonal, fold in the corners as bi-fold rolls, pressing the corners gently to seal; leave some of the pasta sauce exposed. Place a pepperoni slice on the exposed pasta sauce. Bake until the cheese melts and the crust is golden brown, 10-15 minutes.

I have been on such VBAC kick today. It's a common misconception that VBACs are more dangerous than a repeat c-section... but I'm finding out that it is the opposite! I'm liking the idea of a VBAC the more and more I read about it. I joined a support group on cafemom.com:

http://www.cafemom.com/group/1540/

I'm learning a lot there! I also found out the only hospitals who do VBACs in OKC are OU Medical and St. Anthony's. I guess I won't be going back to Mercy. :( Which sucks because I did really like it there.

I don't know why I feel like I need to plan all of this because I'm not pregnant and won't be for a while. But, it feels nice to be prepared and begin educating myself for when the time comes.

I took these videos of Cooper today. And, of course, as his mother I think they're the cutest thing EVER!

We visited grandma-great today. She was so happy to see Cooper! She hasn't seen him since the beginning of January. He's changed so much since then! On a grandparents note: Papa is not doing so well. He is starting to forget more and more. Grandma was telling me today that the other night he thought she was the "maid." (Which is weird because they've never had a maid...) He asked her if she was staying the night, she said yes.
He said, "Ok, well there are several spare bedrooms back there you can sleep in."
She said, "I think I'm going to sleep in that room back there" (pointing to their bedroom)
He said, "Well, that's where I sleep."
She said, "I know. I've slept back there too for 34 years."
He said, "Ok... you can sleep back there... but there isn't going to be any 'hanky panky' going on."

LOL.

It was funny when grandma told me that. She laughed and I laughed. But I know she's really hurting. He doesn't remember any of his grandkids and he's starting to forget who his own kids are. He, obviously, forgets who grandma is. It just sucks.

On a more positive note, I've also noticed Cooper is less "grunty" these days and we've stopped giving him gripe water. Which is good news. Anywho...

I am so excited. I decided I really need (okay, not "need" but really want/need) and new digital camera. It will be a good investment now that we're having kids. I did a TON of research this week and decided this is the one I want:








The Canon Rebel XS. They have nicer "Rebel" models out right now, but I don't think I need super fancy features. But, this is an SLP which is a nicer camera than the "Point and Shoot" I have now. I cannot WAIT to get it and learn all about it and start taking pictures! I think I finally convinced Philip it will be a good investment.

I went to WW yesterday for the first time in 2 weeks. (Last week was the ice storm and they were closed) I lost 3 pounds! For a grand total of 7.4 lost. I'm getting there... slooooowly but surely. We're going to the store tomorrow to stock up for the week. I think I'm doing to try some new recipes. My #1 favorite from last week was Mexican Meatloaf. Yuuuuuumy.

Cooper is 2 months old now! The other day I looked at a picture of him when he was a week old, and I could (for the first time) see how much he's grown! I know he's grown a ton, but it was crazy to look at the older picture of him and immediately notice how little he looked in it.




He had his 2 month check up last week and he weighed 15 pounds 12 ounces! Dr. Key didn't freak out and say he was a giant baby... but that's what I was thinking. lol. She also told me I could start him on rice cereal if he wasn't getting full enough by my breast milk. Crazy. I'm not ready for that yet.

He is starting to smile a LOT, which is really fun. I'll just look and him and smile... and he smiles right back. He laughs all the time too. He's just a happy, easy baby. The only time he really cries is when he's getting hungry. It's really pathetic because he pouts out his bottom lip. SO sad (and cute). I think he's going to have a chill personality like his daddy.

He is also sleeping through the night! This started about 2-3 weeks ago. We usually go to bed around 10p or 11p and he sleeps until 6a or 7a. (This morning he slept until 8a) Perfect! It's sooo nice to be able to sleep again.

I started WW about 1 month ago. I lost 4.4 pounds in the first two weeks. I haven't weighed in since then because of the snow storm... but I think I've lost more. I really like WW. Of course, I wish the weight would come off FASTER (especially since my body is not used to carrying this extra 20+lbs around) but it is coming off so I can't complain. Yesterday, Philip told me he'd buy me some True Religion jeans once I hit my goal weight.... so I'm am even MORE motivated now :)

Here is my favorite WW recipe right now:

MEXICAN MEATLOAF!

1 spray(s) cooking spray
1/2 pound(s) raw extra lean ground beef
1/2 pound(s) lean ground turkey, breast
2 large egg white(s)
2 oz cornbread stuffing dry mix, (about 1 cup)
1 medium onion(s), chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
4 oz canned green chili peppers, diced
8 oz canned enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a broiler pan with cooking spray.


In a large bowl, mix beef, turkey, egg whites, stuffing mix, onion, chili powder, cumin, chilies and half of enchilada sauce together. Shape into an oval with your hands and place on prepared broiler pan.


Cook for 1 hour, top with remaining enchilada sauce and bake for 5 minutes more. Slice into 6 pieces and serve.

God,

Thank you for the blessing that is my child. I know he is from You, God. I pray you will use me in His life to teach him about You. Help my actions to reflect you at all times. Show me how to raise him to glorify You.

Amen.