End the Word!

Most of you know that I am a big fan and supporter of Special Olympics. I worked for Special Olympics Michigan for a few years and now continue as a volunteer. I have many friends who mean a lot to me that are athletes. Today is the official “End the Word” day. I encourage you to spread the word that it is time to “End the Word”!!

~Today, End the Word~
It's happening now! Join youth across the United States and around the world in a day dedicated to making people think about their casual use of the word "retard."
Click here to sign the pledge!
http://www.r-word.org/?jmid=13855&j=231510593">

He’s such a peanut!

We are just so blessed to have such a healthy happy baby boy. He brings such joy to my heart! He has been sleeping half of the night in his OWN room in his crib. He looks like such a peanut in that BIG crib compared to his little bassinette! He usually only wakes up once throughout the night to eat…sometimes earlier, sometimes later. Ryan and I take turns waking up with him. Two nights ago was my night and he slept all of the way thru until 6 a.m.! Last night he woke up at 4. Ryan fed him and put him back in his big boy bed….he slept there until I went in before work. He was just lying there, not making a peep, smiling up at me. What an angel. I kept listening for him to wake up all morning…when he may have been awake all morning…but just laying there looking around!!

It is probably time to start having him sleep in his own room from the start, but I don’t know….I am sure Blake would be fine….but what about me and Ry?!?! We would miss him :o)

Pics from Wed. night...
Cuddling w/ Aunt Mary...


Watching American Idol


His neck is getting SO strong!!


We have a busy weekend ahead. Tomorrow Danielle (my old college roomie) and her bf Doug are coming to visit for the night. On Sunday we are headed to Detroit for a Red Wings game! TGIF!!

Weekly Weigh-In…

Weighing in for the week….and…..drum roll please…..I am down another 1 lb. Doesn’t sound like much, but it sounds good to me! That brings my total to 15.8 lbs. in 12 weeks. I hope that I can keep that up for another 12 weeks and I will be just where I want to be.

I know that these next 15 won’t be nearly as easy as the first…but I haven’t really been feeling deprived of anything. PLUS with the weather getting nicer, I think that I will have more energy and more motivation to get moving! I worked out Monday and Tuesday this week, and plan on it again tonight IF we don’t have plans. (we may be going to Ry’s cousins talent show…we’ll see) .

I have had subway two times now this week, and don’t know why I dint do it more…I mean it’s so good…and only 6 points!! Yumm-o.

6 MONTHS!

SIX Months from TODAY Ryan and I will be getting married!! OMG....it will be here before we know it. Makes me SO excited..and nervous too, that I need to start getting all of the details in line! Yippee!!

fav. part of the day....

Blake's favorite part of the day is.....BATH TIME. He would just stay in there for hours if we would lt him. If he didnt turn into a litte prunie I just might let him....but he would....so I only give him a little bit of bath time!

All cleaned up!!


Aunt Mary drying the little swimmer off...


Cute little bath bum!

Just Another Manic Monday....

Kind of a dreadful title....but I have that song in my head every Monday....it's not really 'manic'...haha

As usual the weekend flew by....I didnt have much to do, but Ryan was busy with homework the whole time. Only a few more weeks until he is DONE, thank goodness!! I am sure that he just can't wait!

Hard to believe that I am starting my 4th week back at work...it just goes SO fast. Blake was 14 weeks old on Saturday. He will be 4 months any day now....

He is talking like crazy, coo-ing and goo-ing, telling us all sorts of stories. It just melts my heart to hear his tiny little voice.

A little photo shoot from Saturday afternoon. Blake is looking super cute in his tye-dyes shirt from his aunt Mary!!










oops....take one!


and take 2...finally a good one :)

TGIF….again already!!

This week started out so slow, but here we are on FRIDAY again already. YAY. I can’t wait for the weekend. This is the first weekend in forever that we don’t have tons of plans, and it feels GREAT! I don’t even know what we are doing tonight. Maybe just hanging out!

Blake was a GREAT sleeper last night. He started out in our room. He ate at about 9:00 and fell asleep, and then he didn’t wake up until 5:40! Almost 9 hours straight….amazing! I woke up and fed him, and then I moved him into his own room. He slept there until I left for work. Mother told me he was up before I pulled out of the driveway…BUT that was a lot of sleep for the little one! We have moved him into his own room the past two nights and that seems to work good….he sleeps in more that way.

I think that he is going to laugh any day now. You can tell that he wants to. His little eyes light up and he is just giddy, so any day now, something is going to happen and it is going to make him laugh. I can’t wait to hear it. I just hope that I am there to hear him the first time!

chillin with Aunt M on the couch...


more birthday pics...

SUCCESS!!

Ha….I lost 3 pounds this week, bringing my total up to 14.8 pounds all together. In all honestly I don’t know if I actually deserved three pounds…one and a half or so, yes, but THREE?!? I was pretty pumped and surprised!

With my new found motivation I am heading back to the gym tonight! Funny how that happened…when you don’t lose weight, you get super lazy and loose motivation….but then when you lose, you just want to work out more…kinda backward, but oh well!!

We went to dinner last night. Mary, Tony, Ryan, Blake and I. Blake was a good boy, awake the WHOLE time. We are so lucky that we can take him places and he just sits there like a good boy! He has been out to dinner two nights in a row now, and he is just a little gem while we are all eating!

Blake on his three mo. b-day with his card adn baloon from his Daddy :)


Blake on his first walk outside! He slept the whole way...


Family picture from St. patty's day.

Favorite pastime…

No joke…Blake loves to watch TV. I am sure that it is NOT normal for a 3 month old to seriously watch TV…but he does. He loves to watch TV with his dad….baseball, fishing, outdoor stuff, history stuff, etc. etc…..all the boy stuff. I really need to invest in some of those Baby Einstein DVD’s, then maybe he will actually learn something while partaking in his bad habits.

I sit in front of him on the floor, and he literally strains his neck to look around me to watch TV….such a MAN! Can take his eyes off the TV to have a nice convo with his mother :o)

sitting on the couch...


watching baseball with his daddy...


I have another weigh in tonight! Crazy how fast these Wednesday night meetings sneak up on me…just when I start to get serious about eating right (after the weekend)…its mid-week and time to weigh in again. I am crossing my fingers for a loss tonight!

We have had Blake out for a walk the past two nights in his stroller…he loves it…wel at least we think he does. He pretty much just sleeps the whole time….but he isn’t crying, so I am assuming that he is loving it!

It’s our Anniversary!!!

Today is me and Ry’s 2 year anniversary. We met on the 17th 2 years ago. He asked me out the very next day…and as they say, ‘the rest is history’…..we actually had met once before, but had never really talked or hung out before 3.17.07.

The past two years have flown by…but at the same time, I feel like we have been together forever. Ry is the best bf and dad….I am so lucky to have him. I just can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with HIM!!

At a Tigers game in May 2007


Celebrating my birthday in August of 2007



Out and about...


On the boat...

Back to the grind…

Why is it that the weekends go SO fast and the weeks go so slow?! I feel like Saturday and Sunday just fly by and we never have time to relax!

This Saturday we spent the day in Clare celebrating St. Patty’s day. Ryan and I met there two years ago…so it is a tradition for us to go there and celebrate! There were about 20+ of our friends that went, so it was a good time, but a long day. Blake spent a few house at Ryan’s parents and then the rest of the time with my parents.

On Sunday Blake and I went to Arlee’s baby shower. Only about 6 more weeks until Josh and Arlee’s baby girl is born. She got lots of cute pink presents. Blake was a big hit and the only boy there, with about 20 ladies!

I did take some pictures on Saturday, but I haven’t loaded them yet. I will do that and post some later.

Here are a couple more of Blake's 3 month pictures:




and here is one that Melissa took on Satruday and posted on-line already:


Sure is beautiful out today! Just makes me want to be outside. BUT, it looks a little nicer than it actually is. The sun is bright, but it is chilly. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little warmer (highs near 60?!?), but then cooler again by the end of the week. Hard to believe that Friday is the first day of Spring!

Happy 3 Month B-day!

Hard to believe that the little one if three months old today. It has all went so fast. It seems like just yesterday we were finding out that we were having a baby…and that was almost a YEAR ago! Wow.

Blake weighs about 13 pounds now. He is eating about 6 oz. of formula every 4-6 hours during the day! He will sleep for about eight hours a night. He wakes at about 4:30 to eat, and the goes right back to bed until about 7:30. We are so lucky to have such a healthy happy baby boy!

My mom and Mary took him over to Midland today to get his picture taken. Here are a few of the proofs. What a smiley little guy….

Workin for the weekend…..

This week has seemed long in comparison to last week. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. Maybe I am just excited about the weekend. A whole bunch of us are celebrating St. Patty’s Day in Clare on Saturday! SO, just one more day of work to get through before we can celebrate!

The weigh in went well last night. I lost 2.2 pounds, which would be really good for one week, BUT I did gain that two pounds a week ago, SO in all actuality I am only down .2 pounds in two weeks…I just have to think ‘at least I am down, and not up’….hears to next week :o)

Ryan is teaching Blake new tricks. Last night he had him standing on the couch…..yes STANDING….with a little back support of course. The he had in slanging in the recliner. At first I was like…oh NO….but after watching for a bit, I realized that Blake was actually enjoying it. He would just stand there looking around…wanting everyone to notice him! Every day it’s something else….

standing on the couch....



now standing on the chair.....




as you can tell...he was pretty proud of himself!

Tomorrow is his 3 month birthday. Hard to believe that it has been three months already. At the same time…I can’t remember our lives without him! We are just so lucky to have such a great baby!

Big strong boy!

Every night when I come home from work I am amazed by how much Blake is changing. His neck is starting to get so strong and he can really hold his head up for so much longer now. It is just so cute. He is also sitting up on the couch and watching TV live a big boy…..I guess it is pretty sad to admit, and maybe I shouldn’t….but he seriously actually watches TV. Maybe we should break that habit before he even realizes what is happening!




He used to HATE to lie on his tummy, but he is starting to like it more and more every day. His favorite place to be is on the arm of the couch. He can look all around then!




I have my weigh in tonight…I really hope that some of the weight that I gained from last week is off this week. Why is it that it comes on so quick, but then takes forever to come off? Not fair! I did the Basic Step class last night and the Butt and Gut class the night before along with a couple of miles on the treadmill. I could feel it in my legs! Hopefully the workouts start paying off a bit. I can tell that I am getting in a little better shape, because the classes are as hard and the hour doesn’t drag on as much as it used to 

Recent Pics…

Here are a few pictures that I have taken over the past few days….


Ryan on his birthday...he didnt really appreciate me taking this pic...maybe someday he will apppreciate the memories :)...ha


Blake with mama...12 weeks old!




mother puh-lease....getting sick of my kisses already :)


with daddy in Traverse City


chunk cheeks!!! our little one isnt so little anymore!