35 weeks...cursing the scale!

As someone who has worked so hard for so many years to lose the weight, keep it off, and get toned, the hardest thing to do is to see the scale go up every week. 

Yes... I realize it's for a good reason... 

yes, I realize I'm being silly. 

Yes, I realize it's not as bad as it could be. 

Yes, I realize I'm still under my weight at the point I was the highest I've weighed NOT pregnant. 

You heard that right. At one point, I was heavier than I am at 9 months pregnant, but it was just extra weight. Weight that I had to work HARD at getting off...and keeping off.

I don't have the body that bounces back...like how some people walk out of the hospital in their PRE-maternity clothes???  I curse at you under my breath!

I realize that it's silly to feel this way. BUT, sometimes, it's still hard. 

This was me, a week ago, at 35 weeks. That day, I was feeling pretty good. lol.

Today was another visit to the doctor...and another look at the scale. Seriously? Do we NEED to do this every time?

Pumpkin Patch Pickin'

We may not have the beautiful fall foliage that the north has, but man, do I love fall in Florida. It's cool, sunny and breezy. It's probably one of my favorite seasons here.

Today, we finally went to the pumpkin patch. Of course, we don't have actual pumpkin patches, but I sure do love the sea of pumpkins on "flats." In the morning, we went with our friends that we go with every year. 

The girls always love being with their friends, and today it was a little fall festival.

Our friends (minus Hailey-boo!)

Then, later that afternoon, we went to the pumpkin patch as a family, to actually pick out our pumpkins.

Hahaha! Brooklynn sure does know how to pick 'em. 

I just can't handle her smile sometimes. 

Happy fall, y'all...from my cute little scarecrows!

Life is a Circus

Yesterday marked 6 years that Ron and I have been married. 

Last year, we went to Island of Adventures, which was a great symbol of the rollercoaster we had been on that year.  This year, we went to the "circus." haha. Still... so appropriate for our lives. 

We had been to Cirque Du Soleil before, MANY moons ago, even before we were married.It was nice to see it again, almost 10 years later.

As with any day in our life, the day was chaotic, trying to do too much in one day. Thankfully we had a little help. It really does take a village to raise kids. Yesterday, some of Autumn's favorite friends (Nate and Sloan) were having a birthday party (they're twins), but because we had so much to do before we left for Orlando, they were going to have to miss it. Then, Mimi came to the rescue! Their babysitter (during the day) was going to the party too and told us we could drop off the girls and she would watch them at the party for us. What would we do without Mimi?  So we ran to do a few things we had to do while they were at the party and then came back to get them. 

We were, of course, running late, and didn't get to leave for Orlando by the time we wanted. So we didn't have time to eat dinner before the show. So, we opted for pretzels.

Ha!

Anniversary dinner at it's finest.

Then we got to see the show. It was so great. Even seeing it again. It really does amaze me at the athleticism that some people can have. It really kind of motivates me to get back into shape that much quicker after this baby.

Well, since dinner was a bust, I decided I was going to going to redeem it by getting myself a fun dessert! I have actually never had a caramel apple. 

I know.

But now I can cross that off my list! It wasn't just a caramel apple. It was a Minnie Mouse Halloween Chocolate Caramel covered Apple.

Yes. It happened.

I ate it. It was SO good. Then my body had issues because I'm NOT used to eating like that. But it was worth it. I can say I've had one and they are SO good. But I don't think I need another one. lol

While we were gone, the babysitter (night time) sent us a picture of the girls. They seriously melt my heart sometimes. And other times, they make me question ever having kids - ha!  

Happy anniversary to the man who is my best friend.  

He drives me crazy. I drive him crazy. We don't always agree. He makes me laugh. He keeps me grounded. He helps calm me when I'm high-strung (wait... me? high strung - ha!)  There are many ways we work, and some ways we don't, but find a way.

Life is a circus. Crazy. Fun. Funny. Hectic. A lot of work. But when you work at it, you can see just how totally worth it, it is!  Can't wait to see what the next year of marriage brings!

My Graceful Brooklynn

I normally don't feel the need to share with the world the mishaps of my children. I mean, they're kids. They get scrapes and bruises and cuts. 

Especially my girls. They play so rough and they love the outdoors. So it's just a given that they always have something wrong somewhere. lol

BUT, this week was probably the craziest week for my little Brooklynn. 

In a one week time span, she pulled her arm out of socket (Nurse Maid's Elbow) and not one, but TWO busted lip incidents. 

The Nurse Maid's Elbow happened one morning with Ron. He had dropped Autumn off at school and then B pulled her arm out socket and he had to take her to the doctors. I was at work, and of course I was waiting by the phone patiently awaiting the text of her outcome.  The doctor just popped it back in and 5 minutes later it was like nothing ever happened to her.

Then, the next day, Ron texted me in the morning saying that she had a busted lip. lol.  Geez, really!?She was walking and drinking from her Nalgene cup and ran into the bookshelf and the cup busted her lip.  Oy.

The last one really did her in.  We were on our date night and not 10 minutes after we left, the babysitter texts me and says that she fell and busted her lip. She got it to stop bleeding and she stopped crying, so we figured she was fine. 

But when I woke up the next morning, THIS is what I saw on my poor B's face. lol

Just look at that fat lip on the top. (and never mind about the MASSIVE bed head hair. The girl has the worst hair.. ever.. in the mornings!)

Not that all these injuries and having a fat lip stops her from having the best smile in the world. Even with a fat lip, she's still the cutest girl... ever!

My dearest Brooklynn,

I am so sorry that you got your momma's grace. You will forever be running into things, getting hurt, and going through boxes of bandaids.  That's okay though, you will be a stronger person in the end! Just keep your smile and you'll eventually learn, "That which does not kill you, makes you stronger!"

Mayor's Ball

Oooh... look how fancy we look! My, oh my... don't we clean up well?

I'm going to tell you. The BEST compliment my husband has ever given me was last night. "You don't even look pregnant in that picture... since your belly is 'hidden' in my tux. The rest of you looks the same."  Oh. My.   Thank you, honey, that you!

I can honestly say that I've never seen my husband so dressed up, minus his firefighter dress uniform. He didn't even wear a tux to our wedding - we got married on the beach and had beach wedding attire.

We were invited to the Mayor's Ball, and we've never done anything so fancy, so we figured why not? Something new to try, right!

So he had to rent a tux, and I found my dress at Ross for $17 - woop woop! haha! Although, let's talk about those shoes.

I've had those shoes for a few years. Believe it or not, I used to actually get pretty dressed up for work. I'm a teacher. Heels like that is ridiculous. ha!  I mean, LOOK at these heels. My feet and legs are used to flats... flops are my every day wear.  These darn heels DID. ME. IN. lol

Awww.. look at my 2 girlies.. they were so excited to see us so dressed up. Our dog, Pete, actually  started barking at my husband when he came out of our room all dressed up - haha!

So, we headed off for the Mayor's Ball in style. It was actually pretty fun. And the charity he picked that night was Boy Scouts, a fine charity (since I was a Girl Scout).

AND, I actually took a belly picture the other day.

This is my 30-ish week belly. Still kickin' and growing! Two more months to go!

Autumn Turns 5!

Today, my little girl turned 5.

There's not much I can say about her... except that she's grown into such a fun loving, sweet, super smart, caring, silly beyond belief, creative, and adventurous little girl.

Happy birthday to my first baby!!

P.S. - who said she could keep growing up?!

September Goals

Yes, September has arrived!

I was searching for some good "hello, September" pictures and THIS one popped up. I know, it's not really "fallish" but I mean, I live in Florida. We don't get fall.

That is the one thing that makes me sad.

Fall.  I love Fall. Ironic that my first born's name is Autumn, isn't it?

Anyway, I felt it fitting to use this picture, because, well, I'll still be at the beach A LOT in September.

One of my favorite blogs, Mix & Match, posted her September goals. I didn't realize she did this monthly. I like this idea. So I'm jumping on the boat!

Let me explain. 

1.  I love reading books!  But during the school year, it's really hard to read books. And I'm even in a book club!

This month's book is Tempting Fate.

 
 Have I started it yet?? Ugh.  But after this week, I should be much calmer. Back to school AND my daughter's birthday is really a stressful time! haha!

2.  Have friends over for dinner. I swear, I get so caught up in life!  Don't we all? So, this month, we will have friends over for dinner!

3.  Laundry.  My nemesis. Period. It might be the only thing that I hate loathe about cleaning. And I love to clean. So my goal is to do a few loads throughout the week instead of letting it all pile up through the week.

4.  More date nights!  With the baby coming soon, Ron and I definitely need more date nights! I wish he worked a regular schedule so that we could say that every Tuesday was date night, or every Thursday. This is when a fire fighter's schedule can be hard.

Ok, so there are my goals. We will see how they go. The month's sure do seem to go by fast sometimes! Eek!