Happy Halloween!

I dressed Lakelyn up in her outfit this morning to see what she looked like.

And to take a few photos :)

She was not in the best mood this morning so the good pictures were limited.

Isn’t she the cutest little ladybug you have ever seen?!

 

 

 

More pictures tomorrow after tonight’s trick or treating!

 

Happy Halloween!

 

Show and Tell: How I met Luke

Today I am linking up with Becky from From Mrs. to Mama for

 

This week is about how I met Lakelyn’s father.

 

1. Tell us about how and when you met your love and what attracted you most to him.

I met Luke in December 2002.  A friend and I met a friend of hers for dinner at Applebee’s who brought his brother and his friend.  Luke was the brother’s friend.  I was immediately attracted to him.  He was so cute and so “my type”.  After the initial physical attraction we got to talking and drinking….we were both young and had a lot of fun together.

2. Show us the very first {or one of the first} pictures you guys ever took together.

This is literally the very FIRST picture we ever took together.  We look so young!

 

 

3. Tell us some of your favorite memories that you two had together.

We have been together so long and there are so many great memories we have had together over the last 10 years.  Luke and I were so young when we met and truly grew up together.  I am sure I will forget some but here are a few off the top of my head.

Our first vacation-After only dating for 3 months, Luke took me to CO for my first ski trip.  The trip consisted of me, Luke, Luke’s friend Mike and one of Mike’s friends. They all snow boarded before and I had never been on a mountain before.  I thought skiing would be easier and choose that route.  I was horrible and hated every minute on the mountains.  Luke stayed back with me the whole trip trying to help me but it was no help because I sucked at skiing and me and the mountains were never going to get along.  Luke was so patient with me and I will never forget it.

Our Home- Luke and I built and bought our first home in Nov 2007.

Our Daughter- The birth of Lakelyn Olivia on Nov 18^th, 2011

Engagement- Our trip to NYC when Luke proposed

4. Tell us your favorite qualities about this man, what makes him "the one."

Luke is hard working, patient, grounded, driven, goal oriented, funny, the best father, my best friend and love of my life. He is a jack of all trades.  These qualities make him “the one”.  He is everything I could ever ask for.

5. Tell us what your "date nights" typically look like.

We usually go out to eat and have a few drinks.  Most of “our” date nights include friends and that’s the way we like it!  Luke and I do have just “us” nights but also really enjoy hanging out with our friends.  Whether its just us or with friends most of the time it consists of going out to eat and then to a bar for drinks.  Sometimes we will travel to KC and love to go to the piano bar!

Weigh In—Week 2

Its week 2 weigh in day…..

I have been getting up on Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays at 4:45 to be at the gym by 4:50-4:55.

I walk/run on the treadmill for 30-40 min and then do weights until 5:50.

I am not a runner, I hate running!

But I have always wanted to be one of those people who could go out and run a 5K like it was nothing.

Really running any amount of time is great for me.

I don’t enjoy it one bit, I get all tense in my shoulders and start breathing hard and sweating.

I hate sweating!

So this week I have been focusing my effort on running.

I have been doing a 10 min fast paced walk warm up

Then running and walking in 5 min intervals 2-3 times each, then doing a 5 min cool down walk

Yesterday when I started my first 5 min run, I got to 5 min and thought I can do this and pushed myself to 7 min and then when I got to 7 I thought what’s 3 more min and pushed though to run a total of 10 min without stopping.

I should have kept going because then I walked 5 min and the next 5 min run was a little harder and I couldn’t push myself to keep running past the 5 min mark.

I was beyond proud of myself. I wish I would have kept track of my total distance in that 10 min run.  But I wasn’t planning on running that long so I didn’t think about it.  There’s always next time!

I am thinking it had to be close to a mile if not a mile.  The last time I ran 1 straight mile was my sophomore year in high school gym class, which was 12 years ago. Back then I ran it like it was nothing, I was thin and in track and volleyball.  I was in shape and even though I was in shape I still hated running it because I hated running back then too.

The scale this morning read….

 178

Thats +1 pound from last week.

I had a feeling it would do this.  Mother Nature decided to visit me this week, so even though I am working my ass off and eating well, I still feel like a bloated fat cow.

Plus it didn’t help that we had Beerfest on Saturday.  Unlimited amount of beer is never good but I did good about not eating to many snacks!

Here is to next week being a better week!

 

 

2nd Annual Beerfest

This past weekend we hosted the 2^nd annual Beerfest at our house.

What’s Beerfest you ask?

Beerfest used to be an event we attended in Kansas City but last year we could not make it and this year they got rid of it.  It was an event used to raise money for AIDS.

Thousands of beer vendors would donate the beer

You would buy a ticket and when you showed up you would get a

small glass (about 3 oz).

You took your glass and walked around to all the vendors and they would fill up your glass with a sample of the beer.  You could visit as many stands as you wanted as many times as you wanted.   I am sure there were over 200 different kinds of beer to try, and if there weren’t that many it sure felt like it.

So we would make it a day of drinking.

 Then when we were done we would walk to a local restaurant, eat some grub, sober up and then drive home.

It was a good time had by all.

BUT….

Since we couldn’t go last year and they got rid of it this year

we made our own Beerfest.

If you like to drink beer (or really alcohol in general) and hang out with friends then this is the best party for you!

Here is how you host this awesome party….

Invite all your friends to come to your house

(we had this party in our garage)

Tell them they must bring a 4-6 pack of unique beer

they have never had before.

We stored all the beer in our daughter’s kiddy pool

that we filled up with ice. 

Kind of like this

 

 

Buy some small cups for everyone to pour there sample into (we used small solo cups) you could write your name on the outside to keep track of your cup.

As people arrived we would take 2 or 3 of their beers and add it to the pool and keep the extra in our garage fridge.

People walk up to the pool, pick a beer they want to try, pour a sample in there cup, leave the half full beer in the pool and try the next one.  Once a beer was empty they grab one out of the fridge to replace it in the kiddy pool.

This way you get to try a lot of different beers and if you don’t like it you aren’t stuck drinking a full nasty beer you don’t like.

We live in a cul-de-sac with people our age so everyone in our cul-de-sac participates.  Each house invites their friends and we hold it in our garage.

We ask each person to bring chairs and a snack to share.

It’s always a great time and I am sure will be an annual event!

The last 2 years we have had Beerfest we wake up with at least

6 to 8 leftover 6 packs!

I like to thank of this as everyone’s thank you gift to us for hosting!

Cheers!
 

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

This last week one of our neighbors had their third child so I decided to make them Chicken Pot Pie for dinner.

I have never made chicken pot pie or any pot pie for that matter.

But since I was going to make one I thought I might as well make an extra for us to eat.

It was so easy and so yummy!

Here is how to make Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

Progresso Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Can of Mixed Vegetables (drained)

2 Tablespoons of Flour

Pie Shells

Directions

Preheat Oven to 425

Put soup, mixed vegetables {drained} and flour in pan

and bring to slow boil.

As soon as it starts to boil remove and pour into premade bottom crust.

Add top crust and pinch off excess

Cut slit in top of pie for steam to get out

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown

Enjoy!

 

Luke and Lakelyn both approved!

 

Sweating for the Wedding

I started my exercising and diet this past Monday on October 15th.

On Monday I weighed 180.2lbs

When I got pregnant with Lakelyn I weighed 185lbs

The day I went into labor I weighed 212lbs

I cannot believe I weighed over 200lbs!

After I had Lakelyn I got down to 174lbs in just 6 weeks
{thank you breast feeding!}

Now almost a year later since having Lakelyn I have gained 6lbs. 
Not too bad for eating junk 24/7 and not exercising

150lbs

That’s my goal weight

I feel like right now I have to shoot for a number
 but as I start losing weight I will stop or keep going when
I feel like my body looks like I want it to.

If there is one thing that weight loss blogs and Pinterest have taught me, it is that numbers can looks so different on each person.  Two different people could each way 150lbs and one look a lot bigger than the other.

I weighed myself on Friday and I weighed 177

3 pounds in 5 days, I'll take it!

Click here to see how I am going to make a healthier and happier me!




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When moms away….

...the grandmas will play!

First of all, don’t forget to go check out the great GIVEAWAY going on until Tuesday!

While Luke and I were in NYC my mom and grandma took lots of pictures of Lakelyn.  My mom’s camera was broke so she borrowed our small camera.  Today I finally got the chance to take the red eye out of them!

For as long as I can remember my grandma Sue (Lakelyn’s great grandma) has dressed up as a clown.  There are several of them her age that dress up and go to nursing homes, Veteran’s homes and hospitals to perform for the sick or elderly.  I remember as a kid dressing up with her and walking in parades.

While Luke and I were in NYC my grandma was performing at the Veterans home and dressed up Lakelyn.  My grandmas clown name is Sweetie, we need to come up with one for Lakelyn, because I am sure this won’t be the last time she is a clown!

My grandma Sue made these Halloween bloomers and my mom got the shirts and leg warmers.  I am being biased but cutest Halloween outfit EVER!

Just this past Monday (10/8, Columbus Day) my mom, stepdad and grandparents came up to spend the day with Lakelyn.  My mom and step dad had the day off due to the holiday.  The boys went golfing while the girls hung out at our house with Lakelyn.  Anytime the grandmas are around its dress up/photo shoot time!

And to end the day, a little tent play under the kitchen table!

When moms away the grandma’s will play!

Wednesday Randomness- Giveaway Announcement

A lot has been going on lately and I feel like time is just flying by!

I really want a blog face lift but don’t really want to spend a lot of money doing it.  Anyone know someone who will do it for a reasonable price or for FREE?!

We have set a wedding date....

May 18^th, 2013!!

That’s 221 days away!

We have our reception hall booked and might possibly have our wedding ceremony here also.

We have our photographer for the wedding booked.

We get our engagement pictures done on Nov 11th.

I now have 33 days to lose 10 lbs!

That’s my goal, to lose 10lbs before Nov 11th 
and then 20 lbs more before May.

Luke has been out of town this week but starting on Monday my plan is to get up and workout before work, that means waking up at 4:45am to be at the gym by 5am to workout for an hour.

We are having Lakelyn’s birthday party on Saturday Nov 17th, one day before her actual birthday.  I can’t believe it’s almost already been a year since that little girl made her arrival into this world!

Since Luke is out of town I have been sending him morning and evening pictures of Lakelyn, we miss him so much!

This was last night, she laid like this for at least 5-10 minutes.

Lakelyn loved looking at herself in the phone

This was yesterday morning—love this outfit!

This was this morning, love them leggings!

Come back tomorrow for my first

GIVEAWAY!!

9 Months Old!

I know I have said it before and will probably say it a hundred times more.  I really wish I could stop time and make Lakelyn quit growing!  Each month that goes by she is getting away from being my “baby” and becoming a little toddler.  She is developing such a cute little personality!

 

Sleeping: I am so blessed that you sleep through the night.  You still go to bed between 7-8pm and sleep until 6:30-7am. A few times you have slept in until 7:30 and it’s amazing what 30 extra minutes of sleep feel like!

You take 2 naps at daycare and on the weekend with us.

Eating: You still have a 6oz bottle in the morning and before bed and then 2-3 4-6oz bottles during the day. You are also still eating 4oz of fruit in the morning and 4oz of vegetable for lunch. You also still have your daily snacks in the afternoon. We have also started giving you more big people food.  We let you try anything we are eating.  You haven’t really turned anything away yet.

 

Clothes: You are wearing 9 month clothes.

Diaper: You are still in a size 3 pampers cruiser.  You sometimes wear a size 4 at daycare during nap time because some how you pee through them there.

Not only are you crawling everywhere but you pull up on everything. 

You still love to dance when you hear music and crawl all over anyone who sits on the floor with you. 

We painted your toe nails this month, barley anything to paint!

 

 

You now have 4 teeth, 2 on top and 2 on bottom!

 

Love you sweet girl!

 

 

 

NYC- Part 3

If you haven’t already, read Part 1 and Part 2 of our NYC trip, check them out!

The third day we were in NYC was on Monday.  When we first arrived in NYC we bought a City Pass.  This got us into 6 different attractions:

Empire State Building

(We did this on our second day in NYC- read part 2)

American Museum of Natural History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

MoMA- The Museum of Modern Art

Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center) OR Guggenheim Museum

Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island OR Circle Line Cruises

(We didn’t do either of these due to time it took to do the tour- read part 2)

 What the people failed to tell us was that most Museums were closed on Monday and of course this was the day we planned on doing them.

So Monday morning we hopped on the bus and our first stop was the American Museum of Natural History.

I thought this Museum was the most interesting.

First we saw elephants

For some reason Luke thought these animals were neat and made me stand by them.

We saw a really old tree trunk

Then the Dinosaurs, this was Luke’s favorite part.

T-Rex

Turtle

After we left there we stopped at an ice cream sandwich cart.  You made your own sandwich by picking out you type of cookie and ice cream.  There were probably 8 different types of cookie and ice cream flavors to pick from.  We picked a red velvet cookie with Whiskey and Lucky Charms ice-cream.  It was to say the least AMAZING!  If anyone knows how to get this ice cream to me I would be forever  grateful!

After ice cream we rode the bus to the The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was closed because it was Monday.

So we walked over to the Guggenheim Museum but only part of it was open due to renovations.  So we left and decided to use that part of our ticket to go to the Top of the Rock instead.

We hopped off the bus and walked a little bit through Central Park.

We then went FAO Schwartz and saw the Piano from the movie Big with Tom Hanks.

The Apple Store

After the apple store we went back to our hotel and changed into warmer clothes.  We then walked to a bar and had a few drinks and then headed to Spiderman on Broadway.  It was really good and both Luke and I really enjoyed it. 

Afterward we stopped at a food cart for the 100^th time so Luke could try something

different and this time choose a NY hotdog. 

Right before this picture was taken a crowd was gathering behind us.  I walked over and saw that it was Snoop Dog, or is it Snoop Lion, anyways I didn’t take a picture because there were way to many other people who cared about seeing him.

Here is a picture of our hotel at night- The Warwick.  We would highly recommend and really enjoyed our stay. 

Plus, we didn’t come home with bed bugs!

On our final day in NYC before we flew home we visited the MoMA and the Top of the Rock.

First we went to the Top of the Rock.  Every day we were in NYC it was nice and in the 70’s, perfect weather.  However on the day we flew home it was cloudy and raining.  When we showed up Rockefeller center they told us we wouldn’t be able to go all the way up due to the weather.  Since we didn’t have any other option we said that was fine and still wanted to use our ticket.  We were the ONLY ones there.  So needless to say there was no line and we went straight up!  We stopped at the first stop and it was so cold and windy up there. 

I had to take my sandals off because I was slipping everywhere.  The elevator was open so we got in and went all the way to the top.  Which we were told we would be able to do.  When the elevator opened it was directly to the outside there wasn’t a door you had to walk out of.  So when I step out of the elevator the wind immediately took hold of my umbrella and about flew out of my hands, it turned inside out.

There was a matrix looking man at the end of the building waving for us to come out.  Once I got my umbrella under control we stepped out.

Here is the Empire State building

After we left the Top of the Rock we then went to the MoMA- The Museum of Modern Art.

I didn’t take any pictures in the MoMA because I didn’t find it interesting at all.  I am not an arts kind of person so I really did not enjoy this museum and Luke was taking such a long time to go through it.  It only had 6 floors!!

At noon we got in our cab and headed to the airport.  Once we got to the airport our flight was suppose to leave at 3:30.  After waiting 20 min after we were supposes to be on the plane we were allowed to board. We were told they were waiting on a crew member. Then when our airplane got on the run way they said due to the weather only 1 landing strip was open and we were number 14 in line to take off.  We were supposed to have an hour and half layover in Philadelphia.  I had a bad feeling we weren’t going to make it.  When we landed I checked on my phone and our plane was delayed but was delayed to when we landed.  Luke and I ran as fast as we could to a shuttle bus that had to shuttle us to the other side of the airport.

When we arrived at the other side of the airport it was too late, we had missed it.  I then began bawling.  I was really looking forward to getting home and seeing Lakelyn, I missed her so much more than I thought I would.  I mean I knew I would miss her but my heart hurt when I knew I wouldn’t get to see her another night.

Our airline put us up in a hotel close to the hotel.  Our hotel had a free shuttle to the Casino nearby so that’s where we headed for the night.  Luke and I don’t ever gamble so when we got its more for fun.  Luke learned how to play craps a few months back when he went to Vegas on a work trip so he decided to teach me how.  I still don’t understand all the rules but we walked out of the casino a few hours later 700 dollars richer.  I would of rather been home to see Lakleyn but the win made the sting a little less.

Luke and I both had an amazing trip and it was definitely memorable!