So long, farewell...

auf Wiedersehen, goodbye... to my faithful companion for the last eleven months...





I think it's *almost* safe to say that I am officially done with my pump and that I can retire it from its spot on our end table (its home for the last 11 months...)!!! Hallelujah!! It's almost been 5 days since I last used it, and while I've felt full, it hasn't been enough for me to justify pumping. Can I just say how excited I am to no longer have to tote this thing with me whenever I'm gone from the house for longer than half a day!?

And because no post is complete without a picture of Little Miss...




What can I say? The little one has great taste! ;)



What is this I've found?


Do you think Mommy will let me wear some of this stuff?



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New Car...

No, Alan and I didn't get a new car... But I know one little cutie who got one from Santa Claus this year, and we're just getting around to playing in it. Elizabeth LOVES the car! She loves to ride in it, as well as stand behind it and push it (You heard that right... Miss E walks with the car!).

Honking the horn

This is what her hair looked like when she woke up...
It was too cute to tame!

11 Months Old!

Dear Elizabeth,

In one short month you will be a one year old! Where has the past year gone!? It seems like yesterday I was still huge and pregnant wondering when you'd make your debut. You're growing up before our eyes and just when we think we can't love you any more, you do something and our hearts just explode! You continue to amaze us every day with your ability to explore and move about the house. We can't wait to celebrate you being here with us for a year!

We love you so much!

Mommy and Daddy

Weight: No idea!

Length: Getting longer... I'm about to have to move the jumper up again

Diaper size: Size 3

Teeth: We have two teeth - the bottom two

Clothes size: You're wearing 6-12 months, 9 months, and 12 months clothes!

Sleep: You go to sleep pretty much right at 7 (after your last bottle of the evening). Most of the time you'll sleep until 6:30-7, but there are times you wake up earlier. We try to let you play in your crib until close to seven, which works most days!

Favorite activities/things: Sitting up, crawling, pulling up, trying to stand without help, cruising around furniture, watching GiggleBellies, trying to pull on the blinds, playing peek-a-boo, and perhaps your most favorite activity... trying to play with Mommy and Daddy's iPhones or the TV remote!

Eating: You're pretty much down to 1 bottle a day, and you drink the rest of your milk in your sippy cup! We're even starting to decrease the amount of milk in your bottle before bed. You typically drink about 18-21 ounces of milk a day. You've also found the joys of Chick-fil-a lemonade and Apple and Eve fruitables juice (You've had a cold the past few days, so Mommy has been pushing any and every kind of liquid) still eating 3 meals a day, and most of them time you eat a snack after your afternoon nap. You eat whatever we eat (within reason), and have become an excellent eater!

Nicknames: Sweet Pea, Miss E, Lizzie, Little Bit

Talking: You're still very talkative. You love to talk to yourself, and it just makes me and Daddy grin! I'm pretty sure that you know that "dada" is Alan, but I'm not quite sure you know that I'm "mama." We just love to hear your voice~

New adventures: You finally got moved to your "big girl" carseat! And you love it! I am finally beginning to be able to sit up front again (and part of this might be due to the fact that you don't drink bottles during the day anymore).

New Skills: You've started to push up to a standing position (instead of pulling yourself up) and stand without holding on to things. You also learned how to give Mommy a high five - for some reason you don't do it with Daddy yet... You also start clapping when I say "Yay!" However, the big thing is that you've kind of taken a couple steps this month (Feb 17). I don't really count it as walking, because it was more of a fall into Mommy than a walk to Mommy, but you're definitely getting closer!

The lighting is a little off on the outside pictures... I'm planning on retaking most of them as soon as she wakes up (plus I never got a good one for her birthday invites!)

So sweet!

What, I'm not supposed to
climb on this?

(not so wordless) Wordless Wednesday

I've been having a little bit of a difficult time getting Elizabeth's shoes on lately. She still seemed to have some growing room in them, but all of a sudden, her toes were touching this weekend!! So I ordered some new black and brown shoes in a size 3 for the remainder of our "winter" and then closer to Easter I'll get her some spring shoes. Alan and I also went to the outlet last night to pick our her first tennis shoes - and of course they look absolutely adorable on her!














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6 weeks in...

I normally don't post about myself, but I want to remember this time in my life, so here goes...

January 11, 2012 I began a journey to lose the weight that I have been wanting to lose for a long time. I was initially using Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I was actually beginning to enjoy the video when my knees began to hurt around the clock. So, about 2 weeks in, I started back to my old faithful - Leslie Sansone. I used her Five Mile Walk before I got married, and then again the summer I got pregnant with Miss E. That summer, I was able to lose 20 pounds!

I was doing great working out... until I decided to up my workout time. Let me tell you, at least for me, doubling my workout time made me put on weight. I gained 2 pounds the week and a half I was doing ten miles. As much as I love the Five Mile Walk, I was wanting something to vary my workouts up some. So I purchased Leslie's Five Really Big Miles. Let me tell you, I LOVE this video! I actually look forward to Elizabeth going down for naps so that I can plug it in and get working!

This week, I'm starting to incorporate Pilates back in with walking. I used to love doing them, so I figured MWF I'll do an accelerated version (and shorten my walk time), and TWSaS I'll do a basic version plus my 5 mile walk on TWSa. Hopefully this will help me tone up my midsection so that I am bathing suit ready come May.

So... on to the stats...

I started out this journey at 150 pounds (I lost all my baby weight pretty quick, but without regular exercise, I put it all back on... I actually got up to 155, but somehow managed to lose 5 pounds before I started exercising regularly).

Today, I am 136.5 pounds! My initial goal was to be down to 135 by Elizabeth's first birthday and then between 120-125 by my birthday. I still have 4 1/2 weeks until Miss E turns one... Looks like I'm going to blow past that first goal!

I really don't know how much of a difference one can tell when I'm dressed "normally", but I can feel a difference! I can fit into several pants that I haven't worn in 3 years, and my pants that I have been wearing, well, I can now take them off without unbuttoning them! So cheers for losing weight, keeping it off, and eating healthy!

*This post was not endorsed by Jillian Michaels or Leslie Sansone. They are just two trainers that I've come to love! If I didn't seem to have bad knees, I'd definitely incorporate Jillian into my workout rotation more...

New Ride!

We have been meaning to get Elizabeth's new car seat since Christmas, but just now got it. You see, we normally get a promotion catalog with discounted gift cards around Christmas (through our credit cards), so I just kept waiting around on it. We never got it... :( So I finally just ordered the car seat (and saved close to $100 buying through amazon). Alan got it installed over the weekend, and Miss E loves it! I'm having a hard time remembering to tighten the tether, but hopefully it'll become second nature!

(almost) last time in infant carseat!

My new ride!!

Looking out the window...

Our playroom has 3 windows, all f which are easily accessible to Miss E. This means I have to open the blinds if I don't want them to be forever messed up (someone I know LOVES to mess with them!). Elizabeth loves to look out the window and check out the outside world!










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Wordless Wednesday - concentration

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Elizabeth had a fun first Valentine's Day! She got cards from her grandparents and great-grandparents, and some fun stuff, too!

First VeggieTales movie!

First booboo...

Always got that tongue
sticking out!

Looking at the dogs

Opening my present from Gammie and Pops

It's a cute Beanie Baby!

Weekend in review

Is it really Monday already!? I feel like our weekends go by soooo fast! We've had a little hiccup in Miss E's sleep towards the end of the week/weekend. I don't know if she had a cold or what, but it was so strange. She was super happy during the day, but would wake up multiple times over the course of several hours. On Thursday, we were pretty much awake from 8-12:30, Friday it was 8-10, Saturday from 8-9, and then back to normal last night. We also had to go back to 3-4 bottles. Even though she'd eat, she wasn't drinking as much as normal, so I wanted to make sure she didn't get dehydrated. And, today she's completely back to normal drinking!

We were still able to have some fun over the weekend!

Saturday while Daddy was at the church with guys from our Sunday School class, Elizabeth and I went to lunch with one of my friends. And I have to admit, I am now a huge fan of Carraba's!









Sunday, E got to enjoy her first Cheetos. She wasn't too much of a fan... She would lick her hands, but when I tried to get her to actually eat it, she made the funniest face and refused.













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