Easter

We had a wonderful Easter weekend with lots of candy and food of course! Graham was able to Easter egg twice this year, once at Nanna's (Shannon's) the weekend before with his cousins and then Easter weekend with his cousin Kolton down here at our house. Kolton just observed, but I think he had a good time getting Easter surprises from Grandma and Grandpa.

Blog??? Oh ya, I forgot I had that thing!

To say I've been a bit preoccupied with everything, is an understatement. I debated on getting rid of this blog all together, but then I thought of my sweet Aunt Dwinna out in Vegas that keeps up with all of our madness via blog. At any rate, the last time I blogged was Graham's 1st Birthday....you could say a lot has happened since then. Which now makes me realize why I haven't blogged......I can't have a glass of wine (or two), when I'm blogging because obviously I'm pregnant again. I figure since I won't be pregnant in a month, then the blogging might begin again.....since I can drink that glass of wine that slows me down enough to stop and type. Anywho, back to the past oh, 8 months. I'm pregnant with our second baby boy, Clint has a precious baby boy named Kolton and we live in TEXAS again!!! We even bought a house this time so this must mean were staying for a while. Even though I am SO grateful to be back in this beautiful state, I miss New York daily, like you can't imagine. Did I just type that!?! Yes, I miss that place so much this time of year and the great New Yorker friends I made while spending such a short time there. Thank the GOOD LORD,  Audra, (neighbor turned best friend for life), is coming to visit and meet the new guy in June! Holy french onion dip :), I thought I'd NEVER get her here....especially in the middle of a Texas summer!

So, were back. Normally I post from my phone but tonight I'm on the computer so no pictures. I will try to post some Easter pictures tomorrow Aunt Dwinna!

12 months/Birthday Partay....long overdue!

So, with all the hurricane renovations going on at our house and the big move coming up, I kind of forgot to blog about Graham's Birthday! Oops!
Party Dets:
With Graham's birthday falling on opening day of dove season, we of course had to do a camouflage birthday party. I got pretty obnoxious about this theme because it couldn't be army camo, it had to be realtree hunting camo. So basically everything had to be bought in and shipped from Texas.
We had the party at our house with all of our awesome New York friends we have made and my family came in from Texas for the festivities. We had homemade Texas BBQ and all the fixins! I'm pretty sure it was a crowd pleaser! Thank you Aunt Dwinna for your amazing recipe!
G's Stats:
He's still a big boy weighing in at 24 pounds and 30 inches long. He exclusively started walking right before he turned 13 months old. We were in no rush for this to happen, but now it has and he definitely keeps me running all day! He talks constantly. Graham's favorite things to say are Chili, Dad, Bye, Hi, Mom, cheese and always sings the song, (sort of), at the end of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Itsy Bitsy Spider.
We are truly in love with this little guy and couldn't imagine our life without him. We can't wait to get him to Texas so he can have a backyard, friends so close and warm weather of course!!! College Station here we come!

Hurricane Irene 2011

So here is our version of Hurricane Irene.
First off, we are safe, healthy with a roof over our head so we feel very blessed.
Friday in Long Beach they issued a mandatory evacuation. So we made reservations at the Army Lodge up in West Point. Then, after going back and forth, talking to our neighbors, we decided to stay. We basically live on the top floor of our house, which always seemed weird to me, but now I am so grateful!!
So we rode it out and of course the storm died down tremendously unlike the negative news reports.
We had some friends over Saturday night for a mini hurricane party and stayed up watching the storm roll in. I convinced Mike, (at midnight), to move the king size mattress into the living room because we have a huge tree right beside our bedroom window, that I was concerned could fall...he was pretty thrilled about this. :)
So, I didn't sleep much because I watched the baby monitor/weather channel app all night.
I woke up to Mike coming back in the front door saying "babe, you gotta see this," in a very unfamiliar voice...
That would bring us to the first 3 pictures...unlike anything I've ever seen before. It was like walking outside and the ocean starting at the first step of our stairs..there was nothing separating the water.
Then, he took me downstairs..now I know why the unfamiliar voice.. :)
As I came down the stairs I saw water standing about 2 feet..so we waded through to see the damage, many tears at this point!! :)
We lost lots of things and have lots and lots of things having to be replaced such as hardwood floors, AC units and washer/dryer to name a few!!!
We got everything washed and put up for "show", for my Texas family to arrive 3 days later..it's been a whirlwind, but we are happy, healthy and grateful! We lost AC but thankful we never lost power upstairs..
Mom, Dad, Clint and Ashton were very sweet and understanding about the musty smell, air mattresses and mattress on the floor!! Ha! All we can do is laugh at this point!!!
Anywho, life is good, a little hectic and never a dull moment these days.
Praise the Lord we do NOT own this house, have great renters insurance and will be headed back to Texas in 3 months or so...


Birthday Party updates to come!

Goals are obtainable!

So I normally do the blog updates about Graham's progress, but this time I've decided to use it for my own personal sounding board, if you will.
By no means do I want this to be taken out of context and seen as bragging or whatever negative some might think, but seen as hopefully a motivator and encourager.
Since we've been married Mike and I have set goals for ourselves, prayed about them and posted them where we can see them daily. These goals range from lifetime, 5 year, 10 year, annual and weekly goals.
Weight has always shown it's face in my goal list, every time. This is something I have always struggled with. Not necessarily being overweight, (although I've definitely been there), but with maintaining, doing things the healthy way and feeling good about myself and appearance.
I'm not sure where this insecurity came from. Well, I say that, but I definitely can contribute a lot of this to past relationships that never had anything good to say. Shall I name names? Nah, but most of you could! :)
Ok, stay focused Lindsay.
So, I have to say I have reached a goal that has seemed impossible in the past. I finally reached not only a healthy weight but I did it in a healthy manner.
Numbers don't matter, but I will say I am 13 lbs less than when I got pregnant with Graham.
Ya, I know, I stay at home so yes, it is a lot easier to go workout, I get it. I am very thankful for that. However, to my own defense, (and for all you other stay in moms), it is NOT easy to stay away from snacking during the day. In my case, hard not to drown my homesick, NY winters suck sorrows, in pizza and Mexican food...oh wait. We don't have Mex food here! :)
So. To wrap up.
I know it's tough, it wasn't a cake walk for me, but also know it's an obtainable goal. Whether you've had a baby, about to have a baby or just plain struggle with weight, you can do it. It sounds so cliche but you can, it just takes discipline, a little motivation and a conversation with The Big Guy upstairs about your plan of action.
Every person is different with a different body, but for me, it took:
Cardio:
-lots of running (this is huge for me, always hated running)
-kickboxing
-SPIN! My newest addiction other than iced coffee and vino :)
-basically any cardio class I can take

Weights:
-I do lots if upper body to tone arms and abs

Eating:
-We are vegetarians 90% of the time and this was a HUGE factor in losing the baby weight fast I think
-Vegetarian is not scary!
We use soy meat substitute Morning Star, Boca and my favorite Quorn! The chicken patties are to.die.for.
They taste like you just left Wendys drive thru!
-We only eat out once a week if even...wow. Did I just write that?? That's all Wags, he's not a big out to eat guy!

So again. I sure hope this doesn't come off the wrong way. I've had people ask me what I've done and so this is it.
I wish I would've had someone help me when I struggled so much, so maybe I can do the same for someone out there...

Put your goals on your mirror or fridge! You have no idea how much this helps!!



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11 months

So much for getting a nice "posed" picture anymore!!! You get what you get with this guy!!


Eating: anything and everything he can get his hands on. He had steak quesadillas at a restaurant for the first time and loved them. He's not big on eating his veggies whole yet, so were still eating jarred veggies. His favorite fruit is strawberries..he eats at least 4 a meal

Sleeping: 8pm-8am...no more 10am (darn) wakeup, but I'll take 8. He still takes two, 2 hour naps and sometimes 3 naps on a good day!

Talking: DAD, mama and CAAAT when he sees the cat of course!
He sings a lot in a really high pitched voice..pretty darn funny!

Stats: he's taking steps along the couch, from toy to toy holding on and today he let go and walked 3 steps to me!! Graham gives high five, claps constantly, and one of my favorites is after he drinks his milk he says "aaaaaaah", its so refreshing I guess!
Another favorite is when I tell him "No", he shakes his head no at me...cute now, maybe not forever though!

This blog is pretty boring because I am about neck deep in Birthday/Texas visitor prep....amongst our everyday "boring" life....Ha!




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10 months

Eating: Everything from 9 months, plus waffles, pancakes, strawberries, toast, etc, etc. He eats what we eat except with real meat instead of vegetarian meat

Sleeping: like a teenage boy. He goes to bed around 8 and lately has been getting up around 9:45

Talking: mama, DAD referring to us now, and full on conversations now. Right now he is looking at his books, flipping pages and jabbering like he is reading.

Stats: I'd say around 23 pounds and I'm not sure on height. Just my guess since we don't go to doc until his 1st Bday.

Milestones: now pulls up on everything, walks along couch and with me holding his hand, dances constantly. His favorite place to dance is at our new restaurant that we go to by boat. They play lots of reggae and he jams out in his highchair. He also is a HUGE flirt. I catch him checking out chicks on the train, at restaurants, grocery store, you name it! He is all about the ladies! This kid has such a funny disposition. He went through a very clingy phase (Lord help me), but this seems to be fading..
Graham loves to play Patty Cake and chase with Dad, give high fives and lots of kisses.


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