My baby boy is 6 months old!!!

Our sweet baby boy was 6 months old yesterday!!  WOW how time flies!!  He is getting to be such a big boy.  He is trying to move around, not quite a crawl.  The other day I set him down in the crib and look what I turned around and found him doing!!  He is way too young to be standing up.

 I have started him on baby food.  So far, we have tried green beans, peas, squash, and bananas.  I thought the food would help with the hourly nursing, but not so much.  He is now every hour and a half, and sometimes 2 hours.  And last night, he slept for 4 hours!!  I think that is the longest he has ever slept.  Other than not being a sleeper, he is about the most perfect baby ever (and I think I have said that about each of my easy babies).  He is always happy and smiling!!  I am so blessed to have such wonderful kiddos!!!

    

After great suggestions and much research, I found a 5k to sign up for.  It is April 26, which will give me plenty of time, or atleast I hope.  The raise supports drug awareness, which I think is great.  And they even have a fun run for the kids, so they are stoked too!! 

And here is what happens when the natives get restless!!   This rain needs to GO AWAY!!!!

Happy Monday!!

My weight...UGGG!!!

It is no secret that I hate my body.  I can't remember a time I looked in the mirror and thought "WOW"!!  I have always wanted to look like someone else and have huge envy over other women's fit bodies.  Don't get me wrong, I am not a huge person, but still, I don't like my bod!!  But, I am now 30 (gasp!), and am coming to the realization that I need to love (or like) me, because now I have a sweet little girl that overhears me mumbling about this roll or that sagging hiney, and I would not want her to ever struggle with her own self-image as I have.  So, I am really trying to get fit and eat better, so that I can feel comfortable in my own skin, and maybe once in my life look in the mirror and be ok with what I see.  Here is my plan:

1.  Try and make "me" time.  This is definetly hard with 5 kiddos that I am with 24 hours a day.  Since I homeschool, I can't send them off to school and have some quiet time during the day.  And since we are 40 minutes to the closest gym, that is too off the table.  So, I am going to start setting my alarm for 1 hour before the kiddos wake up, which will be 5:30, and do a workout dvd.  I bought the Jillian Micheals "30 Day Shred" and the "Biggest Loser Boot Camp", so I think I will try and do either one or both each morning. 

2.  Eating better.  I am so guilty of snacking off of each of the kids' plates.  When they don't eat all their food, I snatch it up, cause ya know, there are starving kids in this world, and I would not want to see that food go to waste!!  HA!!  Today, I went and bought all kinds of healthy food, so I am going to take some time tomorrow and prepare meals for myself during the week.  I think it will be alot harder to make excuses to not eat healthy when I open the fridge and something good is ready for me.  On a sidenote, tonight, after eating broccoli, roasted chkn breat, low fat string cheese, and yogurt today, I was craving something yummy.  So, Marc's "stash" of goodies is in the cupboard above the fridge, so I decided to jump up and try to grab the box, and as I was getting it, I came down on my ankle and heard a crack.  Although I was fine, I knew that was a sign that I need to NOT be eating that junk!!!

3.  Have a goal.  I would love to find a 5k to sign up for to work towards.  I am not sure of the training for one, so that is something I need to research.  Since I don't have a gym to go to, or a treadmill, running outside is really my only option.  And since we are in Northern CA and being pounded with storms for the next month, I am thinking that maybe finding a race for the beginning of summer is more realistic than something sooner.  Another goal of mine is to comfortably wear a bathing suit next summer when we go to Texas.  We will be spending alot of time at the lake, so I don't want to be wearing a towel or a big t-shirt the whole time.  I want to be able to run on the beach with the kids, and not think that everyone is laughing at the fat chick chasing her kids!!! 
So, here goes nothing...
(please be prepared to read about alot of bad days in my goal of losing 20 lbs.  HA!!!)

Playing Catch-up

So, my hopes of posting each day are out the window!! We have been busy and quite overwhelmed with life lately, so many things have been moved to the back burner. I had been planning Marc's suprise 40th, which was a total hit, last Sunday. We have been together 24/7 lately and I have been busy preparing all the documentation for Marc, so the fact that I was able to pull this off is nothing short of a miracle. We had about 45 people and I got a local Mexican restaurant to prepare all the food. Kasie was such a help and our friends Mike and Rachel were kind enough to let us have the party there. The kids and I put together a scrapbook for Marc and myself and each of the kids wrote letters to him. I think he teared up!! He said it was the best present EVER!!!

He was not a happy baby after not napping all day!!

Marc and the "Big Kids"

Someone got hold of my baby, and my camera!!!

One of the cakes we had made of Marc as a teenager!!

On another note, my grandpa is very sick right now. Mom has been spending a lot of time in Georgia to help him and her mom. We have been praying ever night for him, but he seems to be going down hill, so we are praying like crazy!!!

On a happier note, my BEAUTIFUL sis gave birth to her baby boy Landon Micheal!! She had a super short labor and only one push and her beautiful baby was born. We are so excited to meethim, even though it will be 5 months till we see them!! :( We are counting down the days until the family reunion next June!!!

Resolutions.

So, I am an avid blog reader. It is like an addiction. I can look at people's lives and they never know I am there. But today, I am going to do something CRAZY!! I am going to try to link this to a blog party at kellyskornerblog!!
She is having people showcase their new years resolutions. And since I have a whole laundry list, and if maybe I document them, then I will have someone hold me accountable for following through???
1. Of course, lose weight and be more healthy. After having 5 kids, my body is quite different. So I know if will never be the same, or even remotely close, but I just want to feel comfortable in my own skin. And that may never happen either, but I want to give it a try.
2. Blog more. I love having this "online scrapbook" for my family. It is fun to look back at posts and reflect on what I wrote about.
3. Be more organized. I have definetly already been struggling with this one, but I really hope I can get better. We are still partially living out of boxes, so it is really hard, but I will try my best.!
4. To attend church more often. I love going to mass. It really makes me feel good. But, it is just so hard to get 5 kids ready at 7 in the morning and driving 40 minutes to the closest church. I need to stop making excuses and just do it!!
5. Find activities for the kids. The boys get angry with me when we have to leave the ranch, so this will be hard for them. But even if I just start with putting Maddy in gymnastics, it will be one step into getting our kids "socialized"!! HA!!

OK, hopefully I can do this. Not too hard, right???!!!

Haircut Night!!

Last night was haircut night!! Since I am a penny pincher, I decided years ago to cut all the boys' hair myself. I figured it out, and the 3 boys and Marc need their hair cut once a month, and a hair cut is $12, so I am saving about $575/year!! I am not good, but they are little, so they can't get mad at me for my mess-ups! And Marc's is so short, that there is really no screwing up!!

I'd say they are pretty darn cute!!!

GO TEAM GO!!!

I really wanted to start this new year out being a "better blogger", but I am not doing too well!! We have had a loooonnngg past few days, and spewing out any intelligent thoughts has seemed impossible. Hopefully, things slow down a little and we can get back on a schedule with school starting back up tomorrow.

We wrapped up our Christmas vacation with a visit from Marc's family. The kids had a ball, as usual. They love their cousins!!! Katy spent alot of time with the boys helping them build their new lego sets, and Carrissa spent time playing with the little ones. It is always fun to have family here!!! So, since it is 10:30 at night and my brain is about mush, I am sharing a pic of today. Carrissa brought Maddy her old cheerleading uniform, and I have a feeling that she is going to wear it everyday now. She wants to be like her cousin sooo badly!! Carrissa is such a good role model for Mad!

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Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Today was an all time low for my adventures of mommyhood. I had been trying to help Marc all day with different business stuff, when I heard the last "MOMMMMYYYYYY!!!". I lost my mind and banished my children outside. Now, it was not raining when I sent them out there, but with in a few minutes, they were at the door begging to come back in cause they were cold and wet. I felt like the worst mommy EVER!!! I stripped them down and brought them in and let them head to my room to watch a movie.

Later in the day, as I was doing laundry, I set the baby down in his room, and heard a big crash, went running, and found this. Cole and Aiden having a tea party with Maddy's glass tea set.

Madeline immediatly packed it up and put it all back in her room before the two monsters destroyed everything. And for the 4,239 time this day, I heard someone screaming "MOMMMYYY!!", but this time, instead of locking them out of the house, I poured a glass of wine and gently placed a pillow over my ears!!