Vacation, the shortest week of the year

My dad always says vacation is the shortest week of the year and I have to agree 100%! Vacation is so much fun but I am still recovering! The week before vacation I work so much that I am exhausted by the time vacation comes. Our office is down to 3 people (including myself) so there aren't enough people to take over my job when I'm gone. They have their own work to do. SO that being said I had to make sure that everything was in order before I left. STRESS isn't the word for it! Well I got it all done and didn't have to work the entire weekend before leaving (we go Sunday to Sunday).

Garrett and I headed down with my mom and dad on Sunday. It was only a little over 2 hour drive, but I felt like it took FOREVER. I was hoping for a nap from Garrett, but what was I thinking?? No nap! He cried more than 1/2 the way there and I thought I was going to snap. I think at one point I even said "Garrett, mommy is about to have a breakdown!!!" It didn't help. I felt better though :-)

We got to Topsail and unpacked our stuff. Mom and I took Garrett to the beach and let me just tell you that it was pure JOY! It melted my heart as a mom to see him so happy and just running from the water to the sand giggling and just being so so cute.

He had a ball and I could just cry thinking about how much fun he had. I wish Josh could have seen it! We will go later this summer and can't wait for him to see Garrett experience it again.

This was Garrett and my first time sleeping together. We have never slept together except at nap time I will lay down with him, but I'm out of there as soon as he falls asleep! Well it was an experience! He talks in his sleep and flops like a fish on a deck. The first night I did not get much sleep, but the next two nights we worked it out and I slept better. I was worried that he would want me to sleep with him at home too. He did ask me,but I told him I couldn't and he was OK with it.

Monday was our first full day at the beach. We woke up and the first thing Garrett wanted to do was "boo" my parents. It makes me laugh. It's one of his favorite things to do...we will be in the car and he will say "I want to boo daddy" or "I want to boo Sandy". The funny thing is that he will announce it before he does it. He doesn't get that the point of "booing" someone is to scare them. So we went into my parents room and he slammed the door open and yelled "BOO POPS, BOO GRANDMOMMY". It was really cute. He would "boo" them each morning.
They also fixed us breakfast every morning! Three words: Chocolate Chip Pancakes!!!

We went for boat rides and played on the beach the next few days. I was so proud of how good he did. Garrett can be pretty moody sometimes, but he really did so good. He is usually a picky eater too and he ate everything we put in front of him. I didn't have to fix any special meals! Yay!!!

I brought him home Wednesday and stopped and visited with one of my best friends and old college roomie Elizabeth. She has a PRECIOUS daughter Lilly and triplet boys that will be one next month! Crazy how time has flown by! We had a great time.

I went back to the beach on Thursday and had such a wonderful time with my family. My brother and I got to spend some good time together as well as my cousins. My brother also brought his girlfriend and she is so sweet. I got to have some "me" time and sleep in with no responsibilities. It ranks as one of my favorite vacations ever (if Josh was there it would have been the best). I have more to say, but this is long enough and the pictures are hard to upload. I am so thankful for family and good friends.

The Gym...and people watching

Let me start off by saying I LOVE my gym. This is the first gym that I've found that I really love. I think this has a lot to do with the people there. I've only been there 2 months, but I feel like I know a lot of people there...except that they may not know me! ha! One thing I love to do is people watch. When Josh and I went to Vegas we spent one entire afternoon sitting outside consuming too much alcohol while watching people. Let me tell you there are plenty of folks to watch out there. wow!
Well while I'm at the gym there is a lot of time to think while on the equipment or in class. I am typically on the treadmill anywhere between 35-55 minutes currently. I get really bored, so I start to look around and just watch the people around me. Sometimes I make up stories about what their lives are like etc. It's just something to get me through my workout.
I always have things running through my mind too. I wish I could turn it off, but no such luck. I will ask Josh occasionally what are you thinking. His response "nothing". WHAT? NOTHING? If I ever answer that way, it's a lie. I am always thinking of something. There is never a quiet time in my head...ha!
Well I have come up with "names" for these people:


Pajama phone girl: Every morning when I'm getting ready for work this girl strolls in on her phone (the entire time, every morning) wearing her PJ's. It just makes me laugh because she wears her pajama's 100% of the time.


Talkie lady: This lady talks to everyone and is very very sweet. I look forward to seeing her. She makes me laugh. Although she does not wash her hands after using the restroom...yes people are watching you when you are in a public restroom. Besides that, love her.

Pregnant ladies: We have about 2 or 3 and they are about to POP. There are 2 in particular that work out all the time. I overheard one talk about how she still runs 10 miles...REALLY she runs 10 miles and is due in July. The other day when I was in she was finishing up her 5 mile run (must have been a light day...smh), she then did 30 minutes of weight training and THEN when I was leaving she was on the stair climber. WOW. I personally think it's a bit much, but once that baby comes it might be a while before she has that much time to put into the gym daily. Ha! I must admit I'm ready for them to have their babies because they put me to shame in the gym.

Primping girls: bless these girls. They want to make sure they look SOOO good before they head out to get their workout on. While l am blow drying my hair and they will seriously stand in the mirror fixing their hair just right and pulling their clothes so it lays just the right way. It makes me laugh because I look like a drowned rat and no amount of "primping" before hand will prevent that from happening. I swear their hair doesn't move the entire time they are in there.

My workout "buddies": I actually don't work out with these people, but they are in the gym every morning (I go on Tues/Thur mornings to workout with my trainer). I know one of the guys from church, but the others I don't know. That's right, they are my "buddies" and I don't know their names. They are really funny and I look forward to seeing them in the mornings. Maybe one day I will get their names.

Dance guy: In my Zumba class their is a guy in there that can GET DOWN! I look forward to taking the class all because of him, he can shake it for sure! He is amazing and could teach a class with his eyes closed. I would love to see him in the club. We occasionally have guys in the class, but he is the only one that can do it. His friends used to make fun of him until they saw how all the ladies respond to him in there. Now we have more men trickling in. They stay to the back for now.

These are the people I've made up titles for. It's funny after 2 months the observations you make. It does make me wonder what they call me? ha!
This is stuff I have observed in the gym since being in there. First off I must admit that I am a germaphobic...not sure if that is the right word, but I wash my hands ALL THE TIME and just try to protect myself whenever possible. Well I am shocked by the number of people in the gym that go to the bathroom and do not wash their hands. I'm standing there and see them go in and come out and they still don't wash their hands...gross! I've also purchased shower shoes. I can not imagine stepping into those showers with bare feet...ewwww. Well there are plenty of people that do, it just makes me get the ickies just thinking about it.
I'm also amazed by the people that can talk while exercising (on the phone or to each other). I tried once and got a cramp in my side. I'm a music junkie and enjoy the tunes while working out.

Anyways those have been my thoughts so far on the gym and there are many others there that I have "titles" for. I'm getting ready to head to Zumba now and hope the dancing guy is in there!!!! He makes me giggle.

The Power of the Popsicle

Let me start off by saying that Garrett is PICKY! When we first started baby foods he LOVED it all! I think he was just so excited to have "real" food...no more liquid diet! Ha!
Well around a year we could not get him to eat fruit, but he would eat any bean you put in front of him. He just loved vegetables. Well I don't know when it stopped, but for the last 6 months they only thing we could get him to eat was banana or apples. Thankfully he would eat those, but obviously he needs to eat more. Well since he was at daycare we haven't worried too much because he will eat there. Yes, he has us wrapped. Lets just say we pick our battles. Getting him to eat a full meal with us was an accomplishment!
Well I've had enough of bananas and apples. So I started thinking...what will get him to eat vegetables? Well I've found it! We are on day 3 of our new plan. We put a new vegetable of some sort on his plate every night and if he eats it ALL, then he can have a Popsicle :-) Now the Popsicles that we are allowing him to have are "mini". It is the size of my thumb and has 2g of sugar. They are made with fruit juice. I am SO EXCITED this is working and hopefully we will be able to get him to just start eating without the promise of the Popsicle, but we will take what we can get at this point!
Every time he finishes his plate he yells "I have a happy plate mommy". He knows I am so excited for him. When he finishes his Popsicle he then yells "I have a happy Popsicle Mommy"! It makes me laugh! Such a sweet boy!

Me...Love to workout? Who would have known?

Growing up I was never a "small" child. I was always fluffy (this is the word I like to use). When I was in Elementary school I will never forget when I was riding the bus home and a wide load truck was passing by. Well all of a sudden one of the other kids on the bus yelled out "Hey Kim, here you come". YIKES! Kids are so mean! I now can look back and laugh at this. I mean who says something like that? It's amazing that happened over 20 years ago, but I can remember it like it was yesterday.
While in college my weight got pretty high. I lost it before I got married by going to Weight Watchers. I love Weight Watchers and continue to this day to practice it. Once I got married, I gained 30 lbs the first year. Talk about being happy. We ate out all the time and I don't think I ever exercised. I never enjoyed exercising.
I joined Weight Watchers one last time and have kept the weight off (except about 10lbs I gained, but am now almost done working off). I also got a trainer, Anthony. I mentioned him before. He has been a HUGE help. I've also started trying new things.
I started spin class about 4 months ago and really enjoyed it. Man it is hard, but fun! I also started Zumba. This is my new favorite thing to do. I have never smiled so much doing a class. I feel so SILLY in there, but get such an awesome workout! Wow!
I have also been running on and off for about 2-3 years now. The most I would do would be running 3.1 miles (doing 5K's). I honestly never thought that I would enjoy running or would pay anyone to let me run. I would think that you would have to pay me to run! This year I am planning on running a 1/2 marathon. I am so scared/excited about this. This has been on my "bucket list" but I never wanted to say it out loud because that would mean I would have to follow through. Secretly I would love to do a full one, but one step at a time! I've started practicing these past few weeks and am up to 5 miles. I'm averaging 10 minute miles on the treadmill. I really enjoy it.
I never thought that I would enjoy working out but can honestly say that I love it!