Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

Man, it’s been busy around here this week! I’ve been prepping clothes for consignment, our washer had to be repaired (yay for handy Matt!), we’ve had three playdates, and I had a BSF leaders workshop from 9 to 1 today.

So, there are the excuses for posting this on Wednesday. Lol

Anyway, there isn’t really much to report, unfortunately. I had zero loss (but also zero gain) in both pounds and inches. I did okay with exercise, but I kind of sabotaged myself with my eating on Thursday and Friday. Oh well, there is always this week!

But, on the exciting front, I’m posting this from my new toy…my iPad!

Let’s visit Little’s fourth birthday one last time…

Since Boo’s birthday in April, Little had told me that she wanted a rainbow cake for her birthday. I had it all planned out in my mind – ways to ensure all the layers of the cake turned out (unlike Boo’s), what icing to make, how to decorate it, what to serve it on. Then, the Saturday morning prior to her birthday she and I were out running an errand and on the way home she told me that she changed her mind, she wanted cupcakes instead.

I kicked back into idea mode and began figuring out what kind of cupcakes we might make. I considered borrowing the Wilton Big Cupcake cake pan, but Little really wanted individual cupcakes. Next, I thought of those pull-apart cakes where you use a shaped pan to make a variety of different cupcakes that make one “cake” (yeah, that description isn’t great, this is what I’m talking about). Finally I settled on just plain ol’ cupcakes.

The next challenge was finding a strawberry cake recipe. I have a recipe from my grandmother that I really like, but it uses gelatin and boxed cake mix. Since we are trying to limit our processed food consumption I was trying to find a recipe that was truly a from-scratch recipe. Thanks to dear ole Google, I stumbled upon a recipe at A Dash of Sass and it was wonderful.

Since we weren’t doing a rainbow cake I decided to do several colors of icing so the cupcakes would look pretty in the cupcake stand. I settled on vibrant blue, pink, purple, and green. I was very pleased with the colors. (the icing is a double batch of Wilton’s buttercream icing made fairly stiff and divided into fourths for tinting)

I used a large tip to pipe the icing on in swirls. (Funny story – the couplers I had were too small for my decorating tip. I had to forcefully hold the tip on the bag with one hand while piping the swirls. As long as I held it in place tight enough everything was fine, but if the tip slipped icing went everywhere) Then I placed the cupcakes on the stand. Matt added some sprinkles to the blue iced cupcake on top – per the birthday girl’s request. The candles were put in place and lit.

All that remained was the blowing out of the candles and the eating of the cupcakes.

Based on the icing on faces and the rapid rate of cupcake depletion, I’m pretty sure they were a hit.

Several months ago I set out to lose the rest of the weight I gained while pregnant with Baby Girl. Well, I did really well for the first ten pounds. Then I was able to fit into my jeans again and lost all motivation.

So, here I am again, challenging myself to get fit and lose some weight one more time. Only this time there is a little twist…Lindsey, Stacey, and I will be doing this together and blogging about our results every Monday (well, except Stacey since she doesn’t blog). The “official” challenge begins today and goes through October 18. I’m hoping that the additional accountability and encouragement will help keep me from losing momentum as I go.

I have about 30 pounds that I would like to lose, but that is a totally unreasonable goal for me for the next 10 or so weeks; so my challenge goal is to lose 15 pounds (and then hopefully retain momentum to lose the other 15). Each Monday I will record my weight loss/gain for the week, my inches lost/gained in several areas (waist, hips, thighs, arms, chest, etc), and a little about the exercise I’ve done and anything else (stress, holidays, etc) that might have effected my loss.

I plan to use some combination of T-Tapp, jumping rope, walking/running, and some other workout videos as my exercise each day. I will also be following the “No S” diet (no sweets, no seconds, no snacks except on days that start with “s”) to help control my caloric intake.

If you’d like to join us, we’d love to have some company. Here’s to a good 10 weeks!

Now I am seven months old and…

…I do the inchworm scoot to get around.
…I love to get into my siblings toys.
…I like to eat any scrap of paper I get my hands on.
…I have a tooth!
…I eat a few solid foods now.
…I love sweet potatoes and avocados!
…I’m still nursing like a champ.
…I weigh 14 lbs 14 oz and am 25 inches long.
…that makes me 10th percentile for weight and height.
…I really am a tiny little peanut.

…once again my Mommy is way behind on posting this update.

(but in my defense, I was trying to get a good picture to post with it…which I still don’t have)

Last weekend we celebrated Little’s fourth birthday. I can’t believe my first baby is four years old already!

All she has talked about for months is being able to wear a seat-belt instead of the 5-point harness on her carseat. She’s excitedly proclaimed about a million several times that, “When I’m four I’ll get to wear a seat-belt!”

Matt’s parents came into town for the weekend, and the kids had lots of fun playing with Nonnie and Pops. It is always nice to visit with them since we don’t get to see each other nearly as often as we would like! On Saturday, Matt’s grandparents (Grandma and Papa John) came for a visit. Little was very excited that everyone came for her birthday (which she shares with Pops).

Her only birthday requests have been a horn, a drum, and a guitar. Any time anyone has asked what she wants for her birthday, her reply has been a horn, a drum, and a guitar. [editor's note: Mommy & Daddy were not thrilled by the prospect of instruments but knew that one set of grandparents or the other was sure to buy them]

So, of course, her Nonnie and Pops found a music set that included a horn, a drum, maracas, a tambourine, and a pair of cymbals. [editor’s note: Mommy & Daddy were really not thrilled about the cymbals] And, she got a new carseat that doesn’t have a 5-point harness. She was very excited!

She also got a bunch of art supplies (thanks Aunt Lu and Sarah!), several games, the adorable fishy outfit that she’s wearing in the first picture (thanks Grandma and Papa John!), and a variety of books and other gifts. And she gets to celebrate again this weekend with Bebe and Grandad.

I think she had is having a great birthday!