If I had to do it over again

I would wait to get a dog until the kids are older. I love my dog, I really do, but I feel like she makes things a lot harder. Elliott loves to look for her, play with her and go splashing in her bowl, but I'm at my wit's end with her. As mentioned, getting Elliott to sleep has taken a turn for the worse. Add to that a dog barking when my husband comes home or her peeking in on Elliott to see if he's still there and it just makes the issue that much more difficult to handle. Not to mention the big poop that I stepped on with my bare foot as I was trying to get Elliott out the door for music class today....

Sleepy, but awake stopped working

I am not of the Cry It Out school of thought, but don't know what to do right now. I used to nurse Elliott to sleep and he'd go down just fine, then he pretty much started going down drowsy but awake and put himself to sleep. That's gone completely out the window and he's so sensitive to being put down now. I will admit he is crying in his crib right now because I'm really at a loss, but I'll head in there in a minute. Now that he's getting closer to a year I'm worried about creating bad habits about going to bed. He's even gotten to the point that I can't put him down unless he's nursed off of the left breast last! Needless to say, this is my new parenting dilemma and I'm sure I'll have plenty to say about it later, now I must go tend to my no nap boy!

Healthy Halloween Party Food

This week will have plenty of yummy temptations, but I'm determined to make Halloween a little healthier this year. I officially rejoined Weight Watchers meetings almost four weeks ago and have lost 8 1/2 pounds so I don't want to mess it all up now that I have some momentum going. On Tuesday we have a weekly playgroup and it's going to be a Halloween party for the kiddos. I told the mom I would bring something healthy, so now the hunt is on. I also need it to be simple since I'm a novice cook at best!

Last night George made Oven-Baked Cinnamon Pumpkin Dumplings and they were SO good! Definitely on the list of options, but they need to be baked (duh) and I'm not sure if I want to go that route and either bring them cold or use the host's oven.

I did just find the cutest Spooky Black Bean Hummus and I think this might be something I can handle. The blogger also figured out the WW points (only 1, yay!) and besides the artwork involved in making the web, I think I can swing this. I might take the easy way out and just buy pre-made black bean dip. I'll post a picture of my attempt later!

Turning over a new leaf

Here I go again. I am so focused on doing things perfectly that I end up not doing them at all. I realized that this blog is not just about getting the right hook to build traffic, but it should be an outlet for me. Once again it became a chore because I didn't have the right focus and it wasn't really about making me happy, but rather about making my "audience" happy. Well that chapter is done and hopefully I can move on and not make that mistake again (at least for awhile since it is in my nature to do so).

Just like all moms, I have my daily struggles, some big and some small. I know I'm not the only one thinking about where I stand in this crazy world now that I'm a full-time SAHM. I also know that I'm not the only one that can't pick out the perfect winter hat off of Etsy and obsess over it until I just end up with something fugly from Target!

Anyways, this is my first step back into my writing world and I'm really looking forward to seeing where the journey takes me.

21 Day Fitness Challenge: Day 21

Well, this is the last day of my challenge. I started out weighing 183 and this morning I weighed in at 179. I have hit some mental and physical roadblocks in the past three weeks, but this is not the end of my quest to be healthier for myself and my son.

It didn't end with a great workout or super healthy day of eating, but I am much more mindful of my actions and realize that makes a huge difference for me. I want to try to find a widget for tracking my workouts since I think this is key, but I'm not having luck so far since I'm new to this whole blogging world.

21 Day Fitness Challenge: Day 20

Wisconsin State Fair, enough said! Actually because we went to the fair I got my walking in for the day no problem. I also could have eaten a lot worse than I did, this is true. What I did eat at the fair was:

Four bites of beef jerkey, a piece of chocolate covered bacon on a stick and a soft-shelled taco.

We also had a picnic with college friends after the fair and I started out OK, but did have a cupcake and a beer. My mom made bratwurst for my dad's birthday when we got home from that. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with the state of Wisconsin and visiting my parents! This is where I really need to start evaluating my relationship with food because this is where all the trouble began. Is it no wonder that Wisconsin is 25th in the nation for obese adults?

21 Day Fitness Challenge: Day 19

This blogging accountability/guilt seemed to help today. I had just done some catch up posts and realized I was fading fast with my challenge, so I put on my gym clothes and went to the gym right after I put Elliott down for his nap. I did 12 min. straight of running (slowly building up to my 5k again) and 20 min. on the elliptical. I've decided to use the indoor track at the old gym for $2 a pop because running on a treadmill seems to mess with my right knee. Plus I don't like the hamster feeling.


We were eating so well today and planned on buying some sushi from the supermarket when we got up to my parents' place, but my mom had other plans. It's our own fault for not being more proactive, but she ended up ordering Toppers pizza and breadsticks and I happily indulged. :( Nothing like your college pizza shop expanding and opening up shop right by your parents' house to make a girl lose her willpower).