Thursday, June 26, 2008

Cookies and Sprouts

Weird title to this post! But lately I've been in the mood for chocolate cookies and sprouts for my sandwiches! I love eating out-especially for lunch-and I realized to make a "fancy" sandwich like all those sandwich places out there I can just add sprouts and "voila"! I've got a fancy sandwich at home that didn't cost me an arm and leg. And the best part is that it makes me feel like I'm eating healthy-can't beat that! I'm also trying to cut down on my eating portions because I've just got to lose that last 10 pounds of baby weight! I mean, my baby isn't so much a baby anymore but a toddler. And before we try to have another baby, I'd feel really good about myself if I can lose 10 pounds. So, there you have it. I blogged about it and now all of you blog readers out there (which I think might be 5 of you!) can hold me accountable. So, on to the cookie part of this post! I figure if I only eat a 1/2 of a sandwich-which is what I did for lunch today-then I can treat myself to a chocolate cookie right? I don't want to eat along the lines that I can't have sweets because I know I'd just crave it more. This way, if I control my portions then I can eat what I want! (I'm telling myself that this will work =) And the other day I was craving cake mix cookies. My sis-in-law gave me this fantastic cook book "101 ways to use a cake mix" and they have great, easy cookie recipes (and some other stuff too)
So here are my chocolate cake mix cookies! I love them and the bad part is that AJ doesn't love them (he's very picky when it comes to types of cookies) and that means I have a lot of cookies sitting on my counter right now that I'm trying really hard not to consume! I did give a plate away to my friend Anna, but what about the rest?! Just 1 cookie a day? Maybe I'll give some more away! And with that same friend Anna, we've decided to hold each other accountable to running (yikes!) 3 times a week early (7:30am) in the morning before our husbands go to work at the church. That way they can watch the kiddos-or kid-while we run. I'm scared, mainly because I don't want to be a quitter in this area and I know it'll be good if I just do it. And if I have to bring Lily along that's fine too because of our cool jogger stroller. But we figure if we both hold each other to this then we have to do it right? Because AJ can't wear the "trainer" hat with me. I just get annoyed. Which is sad, because I know he'd be good at it. But he's my husband-not trainer. Anyway, that is what I'm writing today. Sadly to all of you out there that read this blog just for those Lily pictures, well, there are none for this post. Sorry. But I've got some cute ones saved up that I'll post next time!! So here's to working out! And chocolate cookies! Oh no, what did I commit to?!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Summer is here!!

Summer to me -since being married to AJ-is family vacation at Eagle Crest for a few days with his family. And that time came and is gone already! What a week! We just got back from staying 5 wonderful days at Eagle Crest again with AJ's parents, sister, and her fiancee' Jeff. I'm actually grateful we were able to go considering Lily had a high fever a couple of days before we were supposed to go. She was doing well by Sunday and back to normal on Monday-the day we left! PHEW! The weather was wonderful every day! We shopped in Sisters, layed by the pool, shopped some more in Bend at the Old Mill shopping center, layed by the pool some more, ate a lot, the boys played golf and tennis, and we relaxed. It was so nice to have them all around to help out with Lily, hang out with her, or even just watch her so I could sun bathe with Andrea by the pool! Plus, I never cooked dinner! We always eat so well there-thanks Barb for your yummy cooking!Here are a few-OK, a LOT, of fun snapshots:Hanging out on the deckDaddy's little girlMommy's girl too! Both our eyes are REALLY wide in this photo! With her Auntie Andrea This girl is full on walking people! YAY!!! I'm thrilled she's finally reached that milestone! And look how well she's doing it-while holding a giant balloon!

Lily hasn't been in a pool-well, a BIG pool, since last summer so we were very eager to take her to one this week. There's like 5 pools at Eagle Crest and the one we went too is a bit newer and has this fun fountain/water play center thingy (can you tell I don't know what to call it!) The water pressure was too hard for Lily to go through it by herself, but her daddy went through it a bit. Lily loved the pool and had so much fun floating in her blow-up car. She could touch the bottom of the pool so she would be walking around in her floating toy! She was loving every minute of it-as I was too!
I love her belly in a bathing suit! It sticks out and is so cute
Look how happy she is!
I especially love that AJ is smiling along with Lily Family photoPlaying in the water fountain thingy :)She loved playing in this little fountainLooking a bit concerned! But she was having fun, I promise!Running through some fountains! Andrea and I doing some self portraits on a different day when just us 2 went to the poolAnd another one! I'm sporting' my new Modbe swimsuit and I LOVE IT! (Please stop staring at my pasty thighs! I tried cutting it out, but it only made the picture smaller-oh well!)Lily loves her Grandpa and loves playing with him! Especially when there are balloons around (They are her favorite thing right now)And here Lily is in mid-step! She got a second wind one night and woke up after being asleep for only 45 minutes. She came out ready to play! She got tired out pretty quickly and to bed she went again.Her daddy is making her giggle! Eating at a fun restaurant in Tumalo-I think it's called Feed Store or something like thatAren't they cute?! They celebrated their 41st anniversary while we were there! That's why you see balloons in some of the pictures. Andrea had the great idea of getting some balloons and some sparkling cider and celebrating them on their actual anniversary since they were stuck with us :)
We were all taking pictures as couples/families, and poor Andrea was alone because Jeff had to leave early to get back to work! So, the next best thing is me! Just kidding =)Ranch lips! This girl LOVES ranchMmmm....ribs. I set this plate in front of her, totally forgetting that she'd grab at it and I look down and she's humming like she always does when she eats and she's got BBQ sauce on her face! It was quite funny! Posing with some decor in the restaurant. Lily was fascinated with this man and kept wanting to touch it!They had this nasty bear rug on top of a piano-it was scary looking!Finally, the last photo for this post! We stopped at a rest area on the way home so we could feed Lily lunch. AJ was trying to be "artsy" and do a weird angle. I kinda like it! I'm glad to be home to sleep in my own bed, but I wish I was back at Eagle Crest already! Can't wait to go again in August!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Daddy, Daddy, Daddy

First of all:

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND!


He is such a fantastic daddy to Lily and I love watching him with her. He loves playing with her, helping feed her dinner, giving her baths, and whatever else I need help with! He's the best!


And it just goes with this post that Lily loves her daddy. So much so that all she says throughout the day is "daddy". It's cute at first, but then I get annoyed because I want her to say "mommy"! Really, at least she's saying one of our names :) The other day AJ was working outside spreading some new bark dust we got and Lily could hear him. So she walked (yes walked!!) over to the door, sat down, and was banging on it saying "daddy". It was cute! Then as I'm trying to take a picture of her doing this she gets mad because I'm not taking her outside to AJ-which is why she's crying in this picture :) And after that, AJ is mowing our backyard and Lily walks over to that door and stands there the entire time watching him saying "daddy"! Here she is pleading with me to take her outside!


Then Friday night, I was at my sister-in-law's shower (it went fantastic! I forgot my camera of course, so as soon as I get some copies I'll scan them in and share them!) and I get home and AJ proceeds to tell me Lily got a high fever of 103 degrees! This is her first high one-we've been lucky. Anyway, she must have gotten some sort of flu bug because this fever lasted 2 days! It went down slowly each day, and today finally, she's pretty much back to normal. But I felt horrible that AJ had to deal with her sickness when I wasn't here! He did such a great job though and did everything wonderfully-putting a wet wash cloth on her head to cool her off, giving medicine, pushing liquids down her throat! It's been a long weekend because of her-but we've made it. So today for Father's Day we're laying low-which is what AJ wanted. But mostly because we're exhausted from her lack of sleeping last night! She was up 4 times-each within 2 hours. She was crying at 1:45 and her fever broke then, and then she woke up again at 3:15 am. OUCH! I stayed home with her today from church so she can rest. And AJ is loving laying on the couch watching golf-his kind of afternoon. And we're supposed to leave for Eagle Crest tomorrow with AJ's family, but we might postpone it a day to make sure she's feeling back to normal. So far so good! I just hope she keeps getting better and not worse because I'd love to get away for a bit!

So in light of all this, I'd like to say Happy Father's Day to my dad and also AJ's dad! ( I don't have a picture of him with Lily on my camera-I need to get one! Sorry!!)

Thursday, June 12, 2008

I've Been Tagged!

Rules for this tag: 10 pictures, take them right away-NO cleaning up first, and tag 3 friends!


#1 Favorite destination:
I'd have to say any sunny, beachy, warm water place!I'd really like to be there now!


#2 Self Portrait:
I HATE getting ready in the morning-it takes so much time. So today I opted for the "natural" look with curly hair-it's easy peasy for me to do!


#3 What are your kids doing right now?Sleeping!! I LOVE nap time! I usually get about 2 hours of quiet time for ME!


#4 My Closet
I think I need some help in organizing this! I'm a bit embarrassed in how it looks! Oh well...no cleaning up first right?!


#5 My Laundry Room
It seems I've ALWAYS got laundry to do!

#6 The FridgeLots of sippy cups in there!


#7 My Favorite Room in the HouseThe Family Room-we always hang out here and I especially love it now with our new couch! (And new pillows-thanks mom!)


#8 The 2nd Bathroom
Small but useful!


#9 Kitchen sink
Usually how it looks-minus the dishes. I'm a bit obsessed with having a clean sink-I got caught red-handed!
#10 My Favorite ShoesI love these! My sister gave them to me for my birthday and they are super duper comfy-and a great sandal for the summer!
That's all! And I tag Jamie, Anna, and Amber and anyone else who wants to do this fun game :)

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Andrea's Bachelorette Weekend!

What a fantastic weekend we had at the beach!! It rained on our way there, but as we woke up to sunshine Saturday morning it just got better from there! We ate out, had lots of fun just talking and laughing, and shopping! I didn't take that many pictures....

Andrea and Elizabeth eating amazing dessert from Kyllos (we had dinner there Friday night)Wearing their new flip-flops from my sister and I. Our idea was to give the guests (it worked out that there were only 2 of them!) little presents at each meal throughout the weekend. At dinner, they received flip-flops and nail files. Of course I forgot to get pictures of the other gifts, but they got money at breakfast the next morning for shopping, and dinner that night was a cute note pad with pens, and breakfast on the last day was some beachy looking coasters and some cute cups. Just little gifts, but they were fun to buy-and give!The view from the deck of our beach house! The glare isn't so great, but it was soo pretty outside! We also went in the hot tub-no pics. of that either! Oh well :)Then, Sat. late morning we headed on over to the outlets-and we were there for 7 1/2 hours!!! Seriously! I couldn't believe it. We were there from 11-6:30. That's the loot from all of us put together. I have never shopped that long! And it was nice to not have Lily with me either so I could shop till I dropped! We were sure pooped! After regrouping from our long day we went and had dinner at McMenamins. They have the best burgers there! My sister and I-I've never thought we looked alike, but I can kinda see it here!

Elizabeth and Andrea-she's wearing a sash I made that says "Bride To Be" in rhinestone iron on letters. It was fun to make and fun to see her wearing it!

The Group (not many pictures of all of us together! It's hard to do!)

I do love hanging out with these girls because they love to watch the show "Friends" as much as I do! I brought along one of the seasons and we watched a few episodes at night. So nice to relax and be able to look out at the ocean! Then as if our shopping trip on Saturday wasn't long enough, we decided to hit the outlet malls AGAIN on our way home! We were only there for an hour that time though! I had such a fun weekend with these girls and am kinda sad it's over. It's exciting to know that Andrea's just getting closer and closer to her big day!