i'm a maniac, maniac...

jeremy and i couldn't help singing the song when i put cayden's ear warmer on. i'm sure it'll end up being a neck warmer more often than not, but he still looks cute with it on.

clap, clap, clap

cayden's new favorite thing to do:

mcfatty monday: week 4

big. fat. FAIL.

but in good news, i did jillian this morning. before work. at 5:30. that's a good way to start off the week. so it's already better than last week.

(jeremy and i were awful this weekend. we didn't go to the store last week, so the weekend consisted of fast food mania. gah! i didn't even bother stepping on the scale this morning. this is your update. new exercise schedule was discussed yesterday. and it's already a go! hoping to report more next time.)

first knitted project

over new years weekend, my mom taught me and my sister how to knit. i'd wanted to learn forever, and now i can! i only know one stitch so far. (tried to teach myself how to purl last night and it was a disaster; thankfully mom is coming this weekend and she can teach me that.) i had big plans for this great big scarf so i insisted on casting on 40 stitches. that's a lot. as i got further into the project, i realized that a scarf that wide would take forever. quite literally.

the ginormous scarf turned into a cowl scarf. just a cowl? either way, you know what i mean. i'm kind of proud of how it turned out too. there are a couple of mis-knits (?) at the beginning, but because this piece is a circle, they hide perfectly in the back - under my hair...

speaking of, my hair's getting crazy-long. well, for me it is.

i also knit up an ear-warmer last night. stay tuned for that post. and i'm thinking these things might be etsy-worth (as my ear-warmer had no mis-knits in it! yay!).

ok, here's my final product. and me lookin' like the dork that i am...

sigh.

i found this photo while prepping a couple of other things for the blog. for some reason, this one never got posted. but it should have. he'd just finished a bottle and instead of fighting to get up and rolling off the boppy, he chose to just lay there. all cute. i love this one...

this weekend...

... it's a quiet weekend in the allen household. which of course means project-time! i think we're going to re-paint our den this weekend. i love the color in there, but i'll admit, it's a little dark. and well, i've been feeling all light and breezy lately. (and we happen to have an extra gallon of paint laying around too.)

it'll still be in the gray family, just about two shades lighter than what is currently in there. who knows? maybe this will be the key to selling our house. hey, it never hurt to try it out...

(as for our potential buyers about a month ago, they are no more. apparently mr. husband forgot to tell mrs. wife [both of whom are retired] that it was a two-story house. way to get our hopes up for nothing!)

anyway, so painting. and while i'm at it, i'm going to try to paint my nails this weekend too. hopefully with a new color of some sort (trade secret trip anyone? ahem, i'm talking to you, jeremy.). i also think there will be some LOST season 5 on blu-ray watching going on. we'll see.

either way, hoping for a laid-back, yet productive weekend. hope you all have a great one too.

eight months

sharing the love

a blog i follow is offering a great giveaway. i've become enthralled with the rusted chain after the haiti earthquake. she's making these awesome necklaces, and sending a $10 donation to haiti for every one that she sells. and let me tell you, she was able to donate a lot to haiti last week...

and to give thanks to her friends, she's offering a necklace. go here to learn more.

you should also check her etsy shop out, too. it's wonderful. i just can't decide what i want to purchase from it! i do have a birthday coming up though if anyone wants any ideas :)

in the depths of the jungle

we caught this wild animal (and a slightly less wild animal in the background if you look closely). yep, it's come time to have gates installed around our house. so of course he's learned to pull up on it. which makes me a little anxious about it falling over while he's doing this. but hopefully it's sturdy enough. fingers crossed.

mohawk

this is actually his second mohawk; his first one was just days after we brought him home from the hospital... but he didn't have all that much hair then. and well, now he does have some! as you can tell, when his hair is wet, there's no longer any hint of red in it. in fact, it looks pretty dark when it's wet. which is crazy considering it's so white when it's dry!

also, i read today that baby's eye color is probably pretty set by now. his eyes are still blue; guess he's getting those from his grandmothers. jeremy's eyes are pretty dark – almost brown. and mine are green. i've always wanted blue eyes, so i'd be happy to see cayden's stay blue... although i do think there's still a chance that they might go green. (which would be fine too.)

visiting with grana & poppa

this past saturday, cayden's grana and poppa came over to visit. they brought cayden a small gift with them and he couldn't wait for them to open it. of course, all he really wants to do is put it in his mouth, but when we work it for him, he loves it. (it plays music and jungle sounds.) we all had fun hanging out. aunt jenny even came over for a little bit too. we all went to lunch at buffalo wild wings; grana and poppa had never been before. we're pretty sure they liked it!

mcfatty monday: week 3

goals achieved:
• did jillian more than once. i did it twice.
• and that's it.

seriously. i drank soda during the week and i didn't get out for one. single. run. i also didn't lose any weight this week. i didn't gain any either, so that's at least good.

i'm having problems with my schedule. sure, i have the alarm set for 5:20 every morning. it goes off. i get out of bed and reset it. i'm good at that. but when i get home in the afternoons, there's so little time with cayden before he goes to bed (now around 7:30ish), that i don't exercise then either. and then after he goes to bed, i just want to sit still and watch tv. or knit. (yep, learned how to do that the last couple of weeks!) something has to give here... just not entirely sure what it is yet.

ok, goals for this next week:
• jillian more than twice. preferably more than three times.
• only water during the work week (so far, so good on that one).
• get out at least once for a run (same as last week!). it is warmer, but it's also supposed to be wetter this week. we'll see how it pans out.
• drop 0.5-1.0 pounds.
• finish knitting project and start etsy projects.

and on a non-mcfatty monday note: i'm thinking of combining this blog with my etsy blog. think that would hurt/help? it'd be easier on me to just update this one blog... but on the other hand, all of my business cards have the other blog site listed on them. can't you do something that redirects to the new site? gah, of course i can't make up my mind

i think he figured out the sippy cup

seriously. it looks like he's trying to take shots of something. cracks. me. up. he makes a huge mess with it; formula pouring down his chin... but he "gets it" and for that, we are very grateful.

he's just so smart. and we're just so proud.

mcfatty monday

yeah, it's that time of the week again. and i'm a little ashamed to admit that even after blogging about it last week, i didn't do much to change myself this week. but here is what i did do:

• did jillian's 30 day shred. once. (i'm working on getting better.)
• drink water during the week. (except for that one diet dr. pepper that showed up on my desk.)
• ate at home more. (and that's huge. really.)

jeremy and i have decided to take a week at a time and cook. last week was his week. he planned the menu and the grocery list. this week is mine. last night we had black bean burritos. (had them at lunch too.) we plan to cook every night this week. taco pie, shrimp pasta, cheese lasagna and black bean soup are all on the list for the week. oh, and can i just say that we saved money buying stuff to make food rather than buying it pre-packaged? seriously... we got all our food for the week for $50! yay us!

but i digress. goals for this week:
• do jillian more than once this week
• continue to drink tons of water
• get out for a least one run this week (the weather's turning warmer!)

all in all, it wasn't an awful week. the scale did say that i was down a pound this morning... and fine, i'm putting it all out there. it read 152.5. ugh. and while i'm at it, i'll just put it all out there... while pregnant, i gained a total of 31 pounds (geez!)... i topped out at 186. and that was terrifying for me. so yes, back down below pre-pregnancy weight... but as i've said before, it isn't pretty.

so i'll add on one more goal:
• try to drop 0.5-1.0 pound this week

whew. i did it. you all know the deepest, darkest secret a girl can keep. now, to prove to myself that i can see those 130s again... one day, right?

oh, and another inspiring thing? biggest loser started up again last week. love. that. show.

we're in trouble

he's mobile now. uh oh.

a new life

kristie and jason welcomed their sweet baby boy into this world yesterday morning. please help us welcome tighe matthew (it's pronounced "ty"). he's a lovely little guy; i could've just eaten him up!

monkey balls

i came across this recipe one day on twitter. the pioneer woman tweeted about it, and the moment i saw the recipe, i knew i had to try it. one word of warning: if one of your new years resolutions was to eat healthier, then stop reading. this is awful for you... but oh. so. good. check the link for the recipe, but enjoy the photos below.

(as a side note, i use biscuit dough. small biscuits. ten to a pack. then cut the biscuits into quarters and roll them into balls. i used five balls in each muffin cup rather than three because they are much smaller.)




the pioneer woman's photos are MUCH better. so be sure to check the link out just to see her lovely photography...

introducing fred & george

pretty little guys, no? and i have to say, i've heard a lot of horror stories about these teefs... but cayden was awesome. he may have been a little more fussy than normal. but that would usually last the night before and these little beauties would break through the next day.

fred (to the left) came in first. george (to the right), came in about two weeks later. here's hoping that they all go this well.

can i get a roll tide?

photo courtesy of sports illustrated

we've got hives

what? yeah, i know. hives. and he's not allergic to anything yet either. apparently hives can be idiopathic. so, cayden's not contagious, he just has huge red whelps all over his body. and his ears! his poor little ears. i'm just relieved to know that all is well and that this can just happen sometimes.

i'm currently trying to get him to take a nap. you know, to rest. it's not going so well. here's a few photos of him in the bath this morning. whelps and all.

my new cap

daddy bought me a new cap over the weekend at this cool store called janie and jack. it was on super sale; momma and daddy don't make it a habit of shopping there. anyway, since momma's at home with me today (i have a doctor's appointment at 11:15), she thought she'd post this cute photo of me. well, i think it's cute, and other people have told me that i look cute with my cap on...

anyway, i need to nap now... i'll get momma to update later after the doctor's appointment...

just one more trip...

... to the doctor this time. we woke up to find cayden with a rash on his face and chest. great. hoping it's an allergic reaction to something and not something else. ugh. people weren't kidding when they said kids cost a lot. in doctor co-pays. geez. this is what?, our fifth trip to the doctor in a month? $25 x 5... well, you can do the math.

poor kiddo. get better soon.

i've got issues...

... it's true. and one of them is indecision. and my inability to stick with some things for any period of time. ugh.

but i promise i'll quit messing with the blog for now. i'm just in a light, breezy kind of mood these days. i think i'm over the dark phase (both in design & in our home). here's hoping that this feeling stays around for a while cause i've got tons of ideas for decorating once (and if!) we move.

but i need it!

we got the new west elm catalog in the mail yesterday. i perused it yesterday afternoon and ran across many things that i need. ok, i don't really need them, but i would love to have them in my home at some point...

speaking of homes, ours is still for sale. we have one potential as of today. keeping our fingers crossed that his financing pulls through and that he loves the house just as much now as he did the first time he saw it, and we might have a deal. (everyone, say your prayers and keep your fingers crossed, too!)

if we get a new home, these are just a few things i'd like to see in it.



1. baxter sectional: loving that gray color
2. upholstered slipper chair: that pop of yellow!
3. storage bed frame: there are drawers in it!
4. andalusia rug: it would look so good with the couch & chair

a new beginning

a blog that i love to read has issued a challenge: McFatty Mondays

yep, that's right. take a moment to visit blair's blog and read a few entries. bet you'll be hooked. (well, if you're a momma to a fairly new kid, you'll most likely be hooked. if you have no interest whatsoever in that subject, then you'll probably just think we're all weird.)

anyway, back to the point. am i overweight? maybe by a few pounds for my height. am i out of shape? completely. was it all worth it to get our beautiful son? absolutely. no doubt in my mind.

but i am tired of being a bit uncomfortable in my own skin. with that thought in mind, i'm joining the mcfatty mondays crowd and am going to do my best to get back in shape and report my gains and struggles here on mondays.

i've vowed no sodas during the week at all. one coffee a day and water for the rest of the day. (sodas are ok for the weekend, but going to do my best to keep even that to one a day.)

i've vowed to wake up every morning and let jillian michaels kick my ass for 30 mins.

and i've vowed to try to love running and do my best to commit to it.

so, if you want to know what's going on with me health-wise, come back every monday and i'll give a follow-up of how i've done the previous week. i wish i was brave enough to post some stats for you guys... but i'm just not there yet. perhaps i'll take a before photo, and then sometime in the future, if i feel that i've made enough progress, i'll share my before/after with you then.

red nose run

so jeremy and i are supposed to run a 5k this weekend in birmingham. on saturday morning, we tried to run at my parents house in tennessee. with a wind chill of five degrees. instant pain. and chapped/wind burned cheeks.

looking ahead to saturday, it's only supposed to be a high in the thirties. the run is at 8:30 in the morning. who wants to take bets that it's still in the teens with wind chills even lower? i'm cold just thinking about it.

we're starting to think we might just donate our entry funds to this race and stay in bed. or at least inside.

new highchair

remember this post? well, the highchair came in and we all love it. plus, it looks absolutely gorgeous sitting at our table with the rest of our chairs. swoon.

christmas breakfast

growing up, we always went to my granddaddy's house for breakfast on christmas morning. the smell of all the yummy food (including burnt ham) was always something we looked forward to; especially the older we got.

when my granddaddy passed away, that tradition kind of fell by the wayside. but this year, since we were all going to be at home on christmas morning (first time in 15 years, mind you!), rachel and i decided that we needed to re-start the christmas breakfast tradition.

it was wonderful, but we had entirely too much food for just the eight of us. and again, cayden received way too many gifts... but we all appreciate it just the same.

santa!

christmas eve

we spent christmas eve with grana, poppa and aunt jenny. they showered cayden with more gifts than was necessary, but he loved them all. pictures show it best, so here they are!

seven months

just a couple weeks late