It'll get better...right???

Last night was CoopMan's first night at Central Park Co-Op Preschool. He talked about it all day, had his bucket and his supplies ready and jumped at me when I walked through the door after work, ready to head out. We'd had discussions prior to leaving for school, about who is in charge, who he needed to listen to, what was expected of him. I may have forgotten that he's only 2 1/2 years old. He agreed with me on all counts, he was totally ready. First picture taken (well, like 3 pictures since he's a ham) and out the door we went.

Finishing his dinner while posing =)

Once we were in the car, we had MORE discussions on who was in charge, who do you listen to, etc etc etc. Yes, Right and Ok were all of his answers. We pull up to school and screeches from the backseat erupt. He was SO excited. First thing out of the car, we see cousin Sophie. Of course we had to snap a few more pictures. It was OUR first day of school after all.

Cousins! Sophie & Coop

He looks grown up. Make that stop.

Into the classroom we go. Here.We.Go. This is it, he's going to be good, he isn't going to be that kid that acts up or talks back or doesn't listen. Yeah.Freaking.Right. I can say now, that it's the day after, that I've chalked it up to the following: A. He doesn't go to daycare, so doesn't have a ton of interaction with other kids and B. He doesn't really have a structured schedule at home. We do the same thing pretty much every day, but there isn't any rhyme or reason to it. That is going to change, as of today.

He played well with the other kids, but playing is all he wanted to do. When it was time to clean up toys, he did that too. Oh and PS. now when we clean up at home, I'm required to sing the clean up song. Thanks for that Teacher Tina ;) Anyways, when it was time to get down to business, sit and listen, sit and have snack, stand on the blue line for further instructions, he was like a dog being let loose from the kennel after being stuck in there all day. Running around, yelling, you name it, that was Cooper. Frankly, I was embarrassed. I was pouring sweat from chasing him. (I guess we'll call that my workout for yesterday)

Playing...it's his favorite subject in school.

I'm hoping that next week will be better. It can't get worse? Right? RIGHT??? It's an adjustment, for all of us. But, now, we know that we are going to have a little more structure at home. I may even get some damn blue tape and throw it on the kitchen floor and get a bell and ring it at any given moment, just to practice. He will stand on that blue line with the other kids. I'm telling you, he will.

He stood there long enough for me to snap a picture, then he bolted.

I even went as far as making a fun chart with our new daily routine on it, that I will tape up in the kitchen. I need to figure out a sticker system for it, since that worked amazingly for potty training. Anyways, here's to a great school here and to next week being a million percent better than this week!



Pre-Skoo

Fun times ahead this week for us. I signed Cooper up for the Central Park Co-Op preschool. For those that don't know, a co-op preschool is like a "parent run" kind of thing, one teacher per class and parent volunteers. I'm so excited for this, but I definitely think that Coopman is waaaay more excited. Everyday he asks me if it's time to go to "pre-skoo" This year he'll be in the the toddler class, which is one night a week and the parents stay with the children during the class. I can't wait for him to make some new friends and get socialized.

I'm hoping to get to the gym Monday morning at 5am, since I work all mornings this week. Some days at 6am and some at 7am, so Mon is a 7am day, I'll be hitting the gym (hopefully) at 5am. Oye, we'll see. I need to do it, no more excuses.
Monday is parent orientation day at the school. Wednesday is Meet the Teacher night. Cooper has asked me every 20 minutes today if he can go to pre-skoo, meet his "teatchurr" and meet "fwiends". It's pretty cute how pumped he is about this. So pumped in fact that we have a countdown going. Coloring pages that say "Countdown to Preschool" with the number of days left till school. Everyday he gets to take a page down and color the picture. It's pretty adorable, if I do say so myself.
Also on the to do list Monday night, an old friend, Cinnamon, is also coming into town and I haven't seen her in years. So after orientation, I'll be going out with her and a bunch of others for a few drinks.

Tuesday I work at 6am, so I WILL be going to spin class. No questions asked. I will be there.

Wednesday is Meet the Teacher night at preschool. Coop is more excited about this than a kid on Christmas morning. I tell ya, it's too stinkin' adorable. I really should record his excitement so you get the full affect.

Saturday is the Aberdeen/Hoquiam football game, AND pregame I will be attending the KIX 95.3 tailgate party to hopefully win some Taylor Swift tickets I qualified for last week. Fingers crossed for that. I love me some concerts!

Last but not least, I leave you with my meal plan.

Sunday: Hawaiian BBQ Chicken
Monday: Beef Stroganoff
Tuesday: Homemade Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Wednesday: Corn Chowder
Thursday: Beer Meatball Subs
Friday: Blackened Tilapia
Saturday: Turkey Burgers

Hope everyone has an amazing week! =)

More excuses...

My life is full of excuses.  And I'm sick of it.

I couldn't go to the gym this past week because I had to work the morning shift all week. So I was up at 4:30am and when Colin got off work he went to help some friends remodel their house so I couldn't go to the gym. Cooper hates busy town at the Y after many attempts, so I've given up on taking him while I workout. Which means, if Colin has plans after work, I'm SOL.

So, apparently because I couldn't make it to the gym all week, that also meant that I had to eat like shit. I didn't track my food all week, I didn't stick to my meal planning for dinner, I ate fast food, I bought lattes, my week was shot by Monday afternoon and I was done caring.

My bestie, Erica Rezac, has lost 70+ lbs so far this year and she has been an inspiration to so many. I am so proud of what she has accomplished and the goals that she has made and think to myself "I will never do that" because lets face it, I just don't have the determination. I wish I did. I say all the time I am fed up with the way I look, with the way my clothes fit, with how unhealthy I am. But I don't do a damn thing about it. I will do great for a week then it just falls apart and I don't know why. What is wrong with me? Why can't I do this? I have the focus, while I'm actually doing it, but one little thing disrupts me and shit hits the fan. I lose track.

I've lost the same 5 lbs so many freaking times I can't even count. I posted a while back with my "back on the wagon" speech and since then, I've been up and down 5 lbs over and over and over. I'm sick of it. What do I have to do to stay focused?

I have my online support system and a few friends that go to the gym with me every now and then, but all in all, I should be able to do this on my own. After all, it's not for them, it's for me. So again I ask you, What the hell is my problem???

Don't worry, I'm still alive.

It's been a little while since I've blogged, but don't you fret, I'm back, you can all breathe easy now. I know your life just isn't the same without your Julie dosage.

What's been happening in my life lately? Not a whole hell of a lot. I do have a new obsession with www.pinterest.com It's become a bit of a problem. It's all I want to do all day everyday. If you've never heard of it, it's basically a virtual bulletin board you can categorize and "pin" different interests to. Get it. Pin. Interest. Pinterest. Ha.

This past weekend, some family came up from Vancouver, WA to visit. I don't get to see them often, so it's nice when it happens. I actually hadn't seen one of them for 8 years. Way too long to go without seeing someone who is literally a week younger than I am.

What else? Oh, I'm training for a 5k that I plan on running on Thanksgiving. I'm doing the Couch to 5k program and it's supposed to train you in 9 weeks. So far so good, I even jogged outside last week, which I've never done before. My goal is to run the entire 5k. Go me.

Oh, and I'm starting my own business. Don't want to get too detailed on it now, since it's still a work in progress, but I will be selling baby "stuff" online and participating in another mama's auction at the end of next month, so stay tuned =)

Cooper, oh Cooper...I am about ready to give him away. If anyone wants a 2 year old that defines terrible twos, just let me know, I've got one for the amazing price of FREE. He has his moments where I just can't help but think "ok, you aren't so bad, I like you, you can stay" But lately, those moments are rare.

That's about it, I'll leave you today with my meal plan for the week, (most recipes are from Pinterst, cause I'm that cool) since I don't think I did one last week.

Monday-Buffalo chicken wonton wraps
Tuesday-Sweet & Spicy honey grilled shrimp
Wednesday-Creamy Italian chicken
Thursday-Lasagna Soup
Friday-Sweet jalapeno chicken & rice
Saturday-BBQ & fight night at Virginia's house

Meal Roundup

Mr. Gill is jumping on the healthy eating wagon with me this week! Horray for him! I hope that it makes it easier for the both of us to stay on track! Go us! =)

Sunday: Taco Casserole
Monday: Grilled balsamic chicken, herb couscous
Tuesday: Pulled pork sliders, homemade cole slaw
Wednesday: Grilled pollo sabroso, spanish rice
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/06/broiled-or-grilled-pollo-sabroso.html
Thursday: County fair!!! (I will to my best to be semi-healthy)
Friday: Stuffed shell, garlic bread
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/01/spinach-stuffed-shells-with-meat-sauce.html
Saturday: Turkey chili cheese dogs (with turkey chili and turkey hot dogs)

Happy Eating Everyone! Please feel free to share your meal plan or favorite recipes with me! =)

Houston, we have a big boy.

Well, The Coopman is no longer a baby. This kid is potty trained. On July 12th, he woke up and decided that today was the day. He wanted to pee on the big potty and be a big boy. His "treat" for doing so, was a cute sticker chart that my girlfriend Erica made for him, and stickers. 1 sticker for #1, 2 for #2. He caught on so quickly that we ran out of stickers, so I finally stopped giving them to him, unless he asked, and most of the time he forgot. He was still wearing a diaper for naps and bedtime, just in case, but when he woke up consistantly for over a week with a dry diaper, I figured, why not give it a shot. Well, 2 weeks (tomorrow) later, and we've had only TWO overnight accidents and NO daytime or nap accidents.

I can't believe what a big boy he is. It's so bittersweet to see, I just want my little baby back. But oh my, the money we will save on diapers. That is, until the next baby Gill is around, which isn't now, so don't get all excited.

Now, what kind of Mom would I be if I didn't document him on the toilet? Not a very good one, I'll tell ya that. So, here are pictures that I plan on haunting him with when he brings his first girlfriend home, or his first date to a dance.

Where's that wagon???

Confession time. I've completely fallen off the weight loss wagon. I hate to admit it, but it's true. I told myself everyday "today is a new day, you can do this" and then by 5pm, shit hit the fan. So, here I am, to tell you, to hold myself accountable and to do it already.

I've been overweight as long as I can remember. Not crazy overweight, (well, at least not in my head, you might think different by looking at me, but I don't give an eff what you think) but overweight none the less. It's time to change things. I'm sick of not looking good in my clothes, I'm sick of being so lazy, I'm sick of wanting to eat the bad things that I do. Maybe someday I will be one of those people that is hungry and can say "just drink a glass of water and let it pass"...That's not me, not at ALL. A glass of water doesn't fill me up, a carrot stick doesn't fill me up. Cookies, chips, pizza, beer. That's what fills me up. I want those days to be over (I'm not giving those things up, but moderation would be a nice word to join in my vocabulary)

When I started this journey in January, I was counting calories on www.myfitnesspal.com , I was able to do that, until all my friends started joining Weight Watchers, and since I'm a follower, I joined as well. I believe now, looking back, that I was doing better on MFP than with WW. I lost weight with both, but I still had cheat days. Those days are over. If I want it, I'll eat it, track it and move on. I will no longer let it ruin my entire day. I will no longer say "Tomorrow is a new day" I am ready, NOW.

Working out. I need to do this more. I was working out at least 4 times a week, including one hour spin classes twice a week. Now, I'm lucky to get to spin twice a month, out of pure laziness. My new plan, is to spin at least once a week, along with working out before Mr. Gill goes to work, at least 3 days a week. That will put me back to my 4 days a week in the gym. I CAN DO THIS. Gone were the days of "I'll start Monday" No lady, you'll start today. Who gives a rat's ass if it's the middle of the week? No me, not anymore. I'm back on the wagon and I will stay there until I hit my goal weight.

As of today I weight 171.8. That's right, I posted it, because I'm sick of hiding it and frankly, I really don't give a shit what anyone else thinks anymore.
My goal weight is 140.
When I graduated high school in 2003, I weighed 155.
When I got pregnant, I was 183.
When I gave birth I was 213.
When I started this journey in January I was 186.4
Today, 171.8
If I wasn't at work right now, I would post my "today" picture, but you'll just have to suffer without it and imagine what my pretty face looks like while you read this. :)

Thanks for reading and following me on my journey to a healthier, skinnier, happier me.

Food for thought

I'm a little late in the game this week with my meal planning, since I'm still trying to recover from the weekends festivities. Oh man, I wish there was a better word for Epic, but there isn't, so Epic weekend is what it shall be known as.

I'm feeling like I need new recipes or new ideas because I feel like we're beginning to fall into a rut of eating the same things over and over. Here is this week's boring meal plan. Enjoy.

Monday: Ground venison & gravy w/mashed potatoes & green beans
Tuesday: Grilled bbq chicken, roasted potatoes, grilled asparagus
Wednesday: Cilantro lime tilapia, white rice, green beans
Thursday: Grilled rosemary garlic chicken, vegetable fried rice
Friday: Homemade lasagna, garlic bread, corn

Happy Eating!

White Class & Trashy

Another epic weekend has come to an end. Oregon Jamboree 2011 is in the books and I can just say, it was amazing and I do believe we've started a tradition. So many memories, so many great performances, so many new friends, so many laughs, so many, so many, so many.

Day 1:
Loaded up the car, and I mean loaded. Poor Ashley had to take Cari's direction, because she couldn't see out of the back window, due to all of our stuff piled to the top of the car. Outrageous. 3 girls + 3 days camping = waaaaay too much stuff!
We left town early afternoon on Friday, for a long drive. 4 1/2 hours to Sweet Home, Oregon! The drive didn't feel like it took that long, that's for sure. We listened to some great music and had some great conversation on the way. I just love my girls!

Once we arrived in Sweet Home, we found our way to our campsite, where Ashley and Cari put up our tent. I supervised because I don't know how to do anything like that, because generally, Mr. Gill is with me and I'm told not to touch anything, so I let them do all the work. ;)

We headed to the concert site, on a school bus (shuttle) where they let you drink beer on the way. Amazing! The first night of shows that we saw, was JoDee Messina and Ronnie Dunn, both spectacular performers! I was too drunk to get any pictures of Ronnie Dunn, sorry.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Packing the car
JoDee Messina
Stranger Danger
New friends

 Pitched a tent

JoDee Messina

Day 2:

Ashley was supposed to interview and introduce Troy Olsen that morning. Apparently his bus broke down in Reno and wasn't able to make it, so she was told, very last minute, that she would be announcing Margaret Durante instead. If you're wondering who that is, don't worry, we didn't know either. We googled her and found out as much info as we could about her in less than an hour. Ashley did a great job announcing her and it was pretty amazing watching her up on that big stage!

That afternoon we watched Sawyer Brown, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and LADY ANTEBELLUM! And, why wouldn't my camera batteries go dead RIGHT before Lady A performed?! Their show was even better than I thought it would be, and to top it off, the ended with an Aerosmith song. Classic!

HIGHLIGHTS:
Watching Ashley on stage.
Passing out in the beer garden, people thinking I was dead
Lady Antebellum
Not getting back in the beer garden because it was at max capacity.

 Ashley, introducing Margaret Durante

 Our new friends from the Harbor, Annmarie & Heather!

The only pic I got of Lady A, their interview before the show.

Day 3:

Last day of the festival, no showers, hair a mess, lookin' like we rolled in dirt, lets go meet a celebrity! Ashley interviewed and announced Laura Bell Bundy on Sunday. LBB was probably my favorite performance of the weekend! She's got so much energy, I just wanna put her in my pocket and take her home!
We headed back to the campsite to have a little lunch before our meet and greet with the gorgeous Clay Walker. (I don't have pictures from that either, since they only took professional ones, I'll post one as soon as they post in on his website) And then for his show and finally, Darius Rucker! HOOTIE!!!
Clay Walker in a nutshell. Cute butt, adorable walk, amazing smile, drinks hot starbucks in 80+ degree weather, super friendly, great performer. After his show was Hootie, I mean, Darius Rucker. All I wanted was for him to sing some old Hootie and the Blowfish songs, and he did. Yay him! I like his country music, but I LOVE Hootie!!! Great end to a great weekend of shows!
Packing up after that show, was interesting to say the least. Trying to get all that stuff, back in the car, yeah, next year, we'll hire someone to do that for us, or rent a truck and throw it all in the back.

 Ashley, introducing Laura Bell Bundy

 The adorable LBB

 Awesomeentity

 Clay Walker

Hootie, I mean, Darius Rucker!

 

Epic weekend finally came to a close around 2am when we rolled into town. I want to thank the fabulous Ashley Greninger for inviting me along and for being so freaking awesome. Another thanks to Cari Jewell, just for being her. I love her. And to all our new friends too! Can't wait to see ya'll next year for the 20th anniversary for the Oregon Jamboree!!!

Food, it's what we do.

Short meal planning week this week, since I will be leaving Friday to the Oregon Jamboree!!!! Eeeeep, I'm pretty excited, not gonna lie! It's going to be an epic weekend and you should probably all be jealous that you aren't cool enough to go with us, just sayin'...Ok, here we go kidlets, this is what we'll be stuffing our faces with this week. Again, you should be jealous of my family and the amazingness that I cook for them. I'm pretty gourmet.

Monday: Chili cheese dogs, french fries
Tuesday: Taco salads
Wednesday: Tuna steaks, white rice
Thursday: Chicken potato mushroom casserole

Happy Eating!

Fun in the Sun

This past weekend, was probably one of the best that I've had in a long time. Friday I went to my first Kenny Chesney concert with my amazing girlfriends! Saturday was the Bill Cosby show at the D&R with another fabulous girlfriend and Sunday was family day! What could be better?

Let me just tell you, Kenny Chesney puts on an AHHH-MA-ZING show! One of the best concerts I have ever been to! Our girls day was amazing and that was just the cherry on top! Ashley, Heidi, Cari and myself, headed to Tacoma on Friday afternoon, did a little shopping, did a little drinking, did a little concerting. (yes, that's my new word, please don't use it without my permission) I'm not sure that I could have had a better time with any other girls, because lets face it, the four of us know how to have a great time!

Saturday afternoon, while Colin was at work, Cooper and I had a play date with Sheena & Kolton Brown, and Sheena's cousins. The kids played in Kolton's new bouncy house and ran threw the sprinkler! The kids had a blast, I love that my friends have kids around the same age as Cooper, I just wish we had more time to get together with everyone.

Saturday night was the Bill Cosby comedy show at the D&R. I hadn't planned on going to this, but I got a text, literally 50 minutes before the show started, from Nikki, and asked if I wanted to go. I quickly found a sitter, and met her there. Here's a tip, when it's hot outside, and you're in the balcony of the D&R, bring a hand fan. We were MELTING up there. So, we did what any normal person would do, and snuck downstairs and stood against the wall for the rest of the show.

Bill Cosby. Whoa. I grew up watching that show. I love it, and was pretty obsessed with it, I have no idea why I had no intentions on going, but I'm glad that Nikki asked me to go with her, because he was hilarious and well worth it! After the show, we had a late dinner at Casa Mia *eye roll* I can't help but love that stupid place, even though they are run by a bunch of crazy people. But, they have delicious food that is like a drug to me.

Sunday was family day. We woke up and Cooper requested big pancakes, as per usual. So I made him big cinnamon pancakes. Then he got into swim trunks and went outside in the heat (yes, we had one hot day this weekend, it is summer after all, maybe hitting 75+ degrees more than 2 days per summer is normal where you live, but not in good old Grays Harbor)....outside we go, Coopman and Mr. Gill played some baseball and then soaked in Coop's new whale pool I bought him the day before. He picked it out, it has a spot that makes a sprinkler out the blow hole of the whale's head. BUT, he wants nothing to do with that part, just the pool. Um hello kid, I could have saved money and just bought a pool!!! Whatever, he'll learn to love it. But until then, I sent Mr. Gill to Home Depot to buy a cheap $6 sprinkler that you'd just use to water the yard. He hates that too. So no more money will be spent on things to entertain a kid who was playing with the fish net in his pool.

 

I wish every weekend could be like this one. Great friends, super fun activities and my always amazing family!!!



It's what's for dinner

Fellow meal planners. How do you come up with your plans for the week? I always want to do something "different" so that we're not stuck eating the same 5 things over and over. I try and balance out our proteins with what we have in the freezer, but we're running low, since it's between paydays. So lots of chicken and ground beef this week, since that's what we have the most of in the chest freezer. Ready, set, here we gooooo.

Saturday (our "fakiversary")-Crab Rangoon, Lemon Linguini, Roasted Asparagus
Sunday-Mexican turkey casserole
Monday-Egg rolls, white rice
Tuesday (spin class)-Spaghetti, garlic bread
Wednesday (Ashley's b-day party)-Chicken in gravy, mashed potatoes
Thursday (spin class)-Tacos, green salads
Friday-Sweet & Sour pineapple chicken, white rice

Please share your ideas and recipes with me!
Happy Eating!

Things we aren't ready for.

Last night we took Cooper to his first movie, Cars 2, at the Ocean Shores Cinemas. I figured, at 2 1/2 years old, he would be able to sit through a movie, given enough popcorn and lemonade to keep him distracted. I also figured that since he will sit through an entire movie at home, he could do so with a giant screen in front of him, maybe hypnotize him a little....Oh boy was I wrong.

We get seated and he is fine for the first 10 seconds. The lights dim and the movie starts. "It's dark in heya" At the top of his lungs. Awesome, I've got THAT kid. Instead of previews, they had a mini movie, Toy Story. Perfect. He loves that damn movie, so much that he and I can recite the words to you without it playing. Nope, he screams "Buzzzzz, Woodyyyyy" Quiet kid, eat your popcorn. The actual movie starts "Caaaaas, mama, Caaaas" Yes, Cooper, Cars, be quiet and eat your popcorn. 25ish minutes into the movie "Mama, I go potty" Fabulous. I picked the perfect day to start potty training. Granted, he had a diaper during the movie and could have just went, but no, that would be too easy. So, off to the bathroom we go. Pants off, potty protector down, ready GO. Um, nope. "Mama, I silly, I done" Wow, you little liar, what was the point of that. Back to the theater, I try and hold his hand to walk in and he shouts "I do it selffff" and jerks away from me. Who is this kid's mother?? I sure as hell didn't teach him that.

We sit back down to watch the movie "Caaaas fasssst mama" Yes Cooper, they're fast, sssshh. Then he just wants to run up and down our row, because he can't decide which seat is the most fun. I go buy him candy, because sugar calms every kid down, right? He wants to sit on the floor and eat it. The floor of a movie theater, obviously the cleanest choice. Ugh. So after about an hour and a half of this, and my constant apologies to the family in front of us, we decide, enough is enough and we're done. Time to go home.

There was a GIANT display for the Smurf's movie in the lobby. This kid loves The Smurfs. He is MY child after all. So I try and get a picture with the over sized cardboard poster, and he almost knocks it over, trying to lean up against it like a wall. Ok, picture time over. Lets.Go.Home. Needless to say, we won't be attempting another movie for a while.

So, if you were the family or group of teens (yes, group of teens at the Cars 2 movie) sitting in front or behind us, I'm sorry you had to endure Cooper's first movie experience. But, that's what you get for going to see a kiddie movie.  :)

notice Mr. Gill trying to stop the poster from falling over.



Ready. Set. Obsess.

We all have our quirks, mine is my obsessive need to plan everything. When I got pregnant with Cooper, it came with a side dose of OCD. I started meal planning because I was sick of coming home from work and not having something decided or planned out. I am definitely not a person that can just wing it, when it comes to anything. Everything needs to be planned out, I need details, or I will spontaneously combust, or possibly burst into flames. No one wants that, so I plan. 

It's something I never stopped, even after having Cooper, and it's been a huge help in my dieting. I fell off the meal planners wagon (along with the diet wagon, the exercise wagon and any other wagon I was a part of) when I hurt my foot and then went on vacation.

So, I'm challenging myself to jump back on the wagon, since I've jumped back on the diet/exercise wagons, why not this one as well? My new goal is to meal plan every Saturday or Sunday, and post it on my blog, to hold myself accountable. I know most of our plans for the week, by the beginning of the week, and like to plan accordingly. For example, this week, we'll be going to a movie on Tuesday, (Cars 2, Coop's 1st movie, yay!) so I need something fast, so my plan is to throw something in the crockpot before work, so it's ready when we get home.  So, here is our meal plan for the week:

Sunday: Fish tacos, cole slaw & roasted asparagus
Monday: Sloppy joes, sweet potato fries, green beans
Tuesday: (movie night) slow cooker meatball stroganoff, cauliflower & garlic bread
Wednesday: Thai curry chicken, white rice, stirfry veggies
Thursday: (spin class) Homemade spicy mac & cheese, broccoli
Friday: Marinated chicken thighs, mashed potatoes, corn.

Happy Eating.

Fiyawooks.

Wrapping up our 4th of July weekend, The Gill family is sunburned, damn that SPF 50 baby sunscreen.  I'm so happy that summer decided to join us for the holiday weekend. It's about freaking time, yes? YES!

I was worried about how Coopman would do with the fireworks, but when I asked him if he wanted to go buy them, he screamed and wouldn't shut up about it until we got there! I was surprised at how well he did around the loud noises. He covered his ears a few times in the early afternoon on Monday, while Colin and his friends were lighting a few off, and ran into the house to hide, but then after the "bang", would run outside and yell "Yay Daddy, try again!" As in, "do it again" He had a blast watching them as daylight went away and all the "pweetty" ones started. He was requesting specific colors of which "fiyawooks" Colin should do next. It was pretty adorable, if I do say so myself.


 I took an extra day off of work, since Colin's 3 day weekend was Sunday, Monday & Tuesday. We went to Lake Aberdeen today for Coopman's first lake experience. I didn't think he would actually get in the water, but he did, and he loved it. He walked all the way around the area that's zoned off for the kids. I was pretty shocked! Oh and by the way, if you haven't been to Lake Aberdeen in a while (it's probably been 15+ years for me), you should definitely go, it's gorgeous there now with all the remodeling they've done.

When we got home from the Lake, we prepped dinner for the grill, for the 3rd night in a row and filled up Coopman's water table, that he eventually converted into a swimming table. He's so awesome.

I hope everyone had an amazing Independence Day. We sure did. And I'm sad that we can't do these things every day. Damn adulthood, having jobs and being responsible.

Kansas City 2011

Over the weekend, I took a trip to Kansas City. You may ask why? Well, when I was pregnant with Cooper, I joined a message board for other woman that were pregnant and due the same month as I was, to ask as a first time mom, to get support and to answer any question I may have had for others. This magical site was Ivillage.com (don't go there now, it's changed and it totally sucks lol) Since then, we've spawned off into other groups on facebook, not just the December moms, and have became very close and have formed some amazing, life long friendships. People think it's weird. I think it's amazing.

I am now friends with most of these girls on Facebook and have watched their kid grow up, right along side The Coop Man. I feel like they're my own kids. And I love these women like my own family. Anyways, we decided at the end of 2010 that we would have a get together, Kansas City was mid point for us (I totally threw that mid point off living in BFE)...so KC it was, oh and no kids! =)

Now, when people asked me why I was going to KC, I simply said "to see friends" or "for a girls weekend". Yes, that's the short of it, but when I get into the actual reasons why, people look at me like I have 3 heads. I'm going to see these girls that I've never met in my life, and we're going to spend the whole weekend together. Oh and to top it off, I'm going where they have...wait for it...."ALL THOSE TORNADOES???" Yes, that's right, I'm a tornado chaser apparently. Duh.

Back to the trip. I flew into St. Louis on Thursday, because one of the girls (Roxanne) said that if it was cheaper, a few of us could stay at her house, and we would drive the 4 hours to KC together. ROAD TRIP! Well, 3 of us took her up on that offer. Tawnya (from Hotlanta) and Brocha (from Brooklynn) all stayed with Rox. Friday morning, we headed for KC to meet with the others.

8 girls total stayed in 2 suites and a few others that live around the area met up with us. Now, I totally did NOT feel like I was meeting these girls for the first time. I've talked with many of them on the phone, skyped with them, text, you name it. It felt totally normal. But like I said, people looked at me like I was a crazy person for wanting to do this.

I have a life long souvenir now from this trip. Tenley, Tawnya and I got tattoos while we were there. I was so glad to be with them while they got their first (and my 6th)...such a great experience!

We seriously had a blast. I wish I had enough money to meet up with these girls once a month! And, even though I missed my boys terribly, I did not want to leave them!

So, thank you girls for making my trip amazing and for being such spectacular friends. Tawyna, Brocha, Tenley, Tosha, Roxanne, Virginia, Laura, Niomi, Maggie, Shelly and Chelsea. Thank you all for a fabulous weekend and I really look forward to the next meet up!!! <3

My tattoo, perfect for my life AND for the weekend!!!

No Mama, Sank You.

The Coop Man has some manners! I love it! This is how most of our conversations go these days.

Me: Cooper, would you like (X)
C: Yesh
Me: What do you say?
C: Peeeese (with a tilt of the head. Seriously)
Me: Ok, here you go.
C: Sank you
Me: You're welcome
C: No Mama, Sank you
Me: Oh ok, thank you
C: You velcome (yes, with a V)

He is just too much. I love how much he is talking these days and how FUNNY he is. I can never be in a bad mood when I'm around that little boy. He really is amazing. I just love him <3

Are you smarter than a smart phone?

Um that's a big fat negative. BIG FAT ONE.

My mom gave me her HTC Incredible yesterday and I've become obsessed with it. Apps are my drug apparently. So far, my personal favs are Words with Friends (start a game with me, I'm obsessed, julesagill is my screen name), The Jango.com app,  that I'm currently listening to, The Toy Story Coloring app, for Cooper, obviously....lets see, what else. OH!!! The Weight Watchers barcode scanner! Shut up! How have I been without this app for THREE months on weight watchers? It's freaking amazing. Scan your barcode and it will tell you a serving size and points for it. Genius, weight watchers, simply genius!

Anyways, to sum it up, I'm obsessed. I'm not sure what took me so long to get in on this smart phone nonsense (oh wait, yes, I'm poor lol) but I'm a fan, definitely a fan. What are you favorite apps that you dont think I can live without???

Well, hello smaller Julie!

I've been on this "healthier lifestyle" since January 1st of this year. I call it that because I hate the word diet. For the first few months of the year, I counted calories and did well on that. But then a few friends got me to jump on the Weight Watcher ban wagon, and I fell in love with it!

I also started working out a lot, doing such things as zumba and spin circuit classes at the YMCA. Those classes are amazing. Side note: the p90x class at the Y sucks unless you are a freaking body builder, I wont ever do that class again, ever.

Today I hit my 20 lb mark, that I've been creeping around for the last couple weeks and it's been driving me crazy! And today, I finally did it! I couldn't believe it! I still feel like I have a long ways to go, although, others have been arguing with me on that, but clearly, I'm right, because I always am, duh ;)

Since hurting my foot, I haven't been to the gym because I haven't been able to wear any real shoes, just flip flops. So I'm hoping that this week I will be able to get back there and start on some of my classes again, or just hit the gym. Because I miss it. Ha, never in my life did I ever think I would say "I miss the gym, I miss working out" Look at me go! :)

So thanks to Weight Watchers, I'm down 13.6 lbs in 3 months and 20.2 lbs down since the beginning of January. BIG HAPPY FACED GIRL RIGHT HERE!!!!

This is an 11 month side by side, not exactly sure what I weighed in the before picture, but I know it was a lot more than I am now! Thanks for following me on my journey and hopefully I can reach my goal weight soon! 

Walmart hates me.

First off, this isn't going to be a blog about my couponing adventures, I just have a very boring life this past week, with my hurt food and all, so this is probably the highlight of the whole week ;)

I went to good old Walmart tonight with my good friend, Nikki Paling, a stack  of coupons and a very detailed list. Of course, they didn't have everything I needed, this is me we're talking about, and my luck is non existent. At the checkout stand, I hand the cashier my stack of usable coupons and she lets out a big *sigh*. Sorry lady, just tryin' to save some money, sheesh. The lady a couple people behind me in line, says to her friends "Oh my gosh, she has all those (insert bad word here) coupons. Again, sorry lady, just tryin' to save some money. I hear more than a handful of sighs from the cashier and I just have to laugh, it's not THAT big of a deal, just scan the damn things! Anywhoo, here is my haul tonight.

2 bottles Hunt's Ketchup
2 bottles soy sauce
2 bottles sweet & sour sauce
2 bottles Nivea body wash
Finese Shampoo & Conditioner
Finese Moose
Finese Hair spray
John Frieda Shampoo & Conditioner
John Frieda Root lifer spray
3 packs Bic Soliel Razors
4 packs Wilkinson Razors
3 packs Rayovac batteries
2 packs Carefree panty liners

Total out of Pocket: $26.27
Total Savings: $49.29

Savin' those bucks!

I'm new to this couponing craze and I'm obsessed with it! Here is what we got tonight at Rite Aid.

 

4 Boxes Special K Cereal

2 Men's Speed Stick deodorant

2 Woman's Speed Stick deodrant

1 case of water

4 pkgs Carefree panty liners

1 box Tampax Pearl Tampons

1 gallon milk

6 candy bars

2 pkgs Schick Quatro Woman's Razors

4 packs Stride Gum

Total Out of Pocket: $22.36 

Total Savings: $62.04

+Up Rewards for future purchases: $4.50

Mother's Day 2011. Oh the Joy.

Quite an eventful Mother's Day in the Gill house. Before heading out to the beach, to have brunch at QBR with my Colin, Coop, my Mommy & Stepdad, I made a quick trip to Rite Aid to get the Mother's day card I forgot the night before. Walking to the checkout stand, in my cute dress and super cute nude heels, I bit it. Hard. Fell to both knees, twisted my foot and scuffed up my amazingly cute heels. Thankfully no one saw me, but a few heard. A worker comes out of his hole and asks if I'm ok, about 1253 times. I buy my cards, limp out to the car, and see I have instant bruises on both knees and a golf ball size lump on the top of my left foot. Awesome.


We head to QBR and I can barely walk. Bring on the buffet. I looked like a fool. I didn't look like I hurt my foot, I looked like that girl you see walking in tall heels that has never worn heels in her life. Classy. As brunch went on, my foot got bigger and bigger and by the time we got home and I took off my heels, my foot was ginormous. I iced and elevated it on and off throughout the day. By the time Colin's mom got here for dinner, I was over the pain and ready to go to the ER, but being me, of course I needed to eat first. Duh.

Que the ER. We get there, first ones, and of course, all of the Harbor followed. A random guy who thought he was a dr, diagnosed my FOOT injury as a high ankle sprain. Thanks dude, I think I'll wait for the actual Dr to tell me what's up. Another random couple, had their DOG up there, clearly not a service dog, clearly not sanitary. Did I mention how much I love our hospital?

Xrays done. Nothing broken, but a sprain, so I have this GIANT splint up to my brain that I have to wear for 5 days. Fabulous.

That was my glamorous Mother's Day. Hope you all have better stories than that! Here are some pics from my day :D