Weekend Round Up

Another weekend has come and gone.

This weekend was a busy but fun one! We kicked off our weekend by heading to the Firemans Carnival!

I was a little worried Madison wouldn't be  able to go on many rides because in May she was only 34in and needed to be 36 for the majority of the rides.

To our surprise she was just over 36inches!!!

Madison's favorite ride was the teacups she loved spinning! Chris even took her down a 3 story tall slide! She loved it and wanted to go again!!!

Saturday we were invited to go to the beach with my friend Chelsea! I was little nervous taking the girls to the beach without a lot of hands to help but Chelsea was great! We took turns sitting with Beth under the umbrella and playing in the waves with Madison! 

We've gone to the beach more in the past month then we have in the past 3 years. Madison loves the beach!

 

Saturday night the girls had a sleepover at Mima and Pop's because Chris and I had a party with the fire dept for the end of carnival! 

Sunday was an easy day.. Chris had to work the food booth at the carnival so they girls and I went for lunch and then headed home for a long nap! After nap we went to Chris parents for a swim and BBQ!

Beth ended up having a 101.7f fever, so we skipping Chris' hockey game BUT no need to worry Chris had Beth at the docs this morning and she is fever free but her teeth are getting close to cutting!!

Today is Madison's first day of camp!!

I can't wait to pick her up at lunch and hear all about it!

Xo's 

A day in our life - part 2

As promised our typical day with Daddy Home.

Our day never goes as planned because Chris volunteers for the local fire dept, so when he's home from work he goes to every call he can make!

4:15am - I still try to get up early to get to the gym, but some mornings like this morning I am just to tired! 

6:00am - Sometimes Beth will wake up earlier for her first feeding other times she sleeps in but her first feeding is always done before 6:30am. We use the time after the feeding to hang out and have mommy and Beth time!

7:00am - Madison's up and ready to go! She will usually go in and lay in our bed and watching cartoons with Chris while I get her breakfast ready.

Then our day starts! The days that Chris is home are usually reserved for all the errands or chores that can't be done while he's at work. Once a week the lawn is mowed, we do our big grocery shop for the next 2 weeks and I try to get as much laundry done as I can while Chris keeps the girls occupied!

12:00pm - lunch time for all followed by nap time! It's during this time I can get things ready for dinner! Also during nap time is when Chris will mow the lawn or do any errands he needs to do!

3:00pm - Play time! 

6:00pm - Dinner time .. Followed by whatever Chris has planned for the night! He plays softball and hockey. We try to make the earlier games so we can avoid the "super tired meltdowns". 

8:00pm - Bed time! 

After that is time for Chris and I to catch up on our shows, talk and I usually fall asleep within 10min of any movie we start. 

Our days are about to change again!! Monday morning 6:50am we will be out the door!

Can't wait to share our busy summer days with you and tell you all about Madison's camp experience!!

Xo's 

A day in our life .. Part 1

You probably noticed the part 1 in the title.. This is a 3 part post as we have 3 different "normal" days for us! Everyday is different for us because Chris' schedule changes all the time and during the school year I substitute teach so I could be called at 8am and that changes our whole day!

So today is about our day when Chris works!

4:15am : I usually try get up and get to the gym for 5 to get my workout in before  everyone is up. Now that Beth is 3 months old I can take her to the babysitting at the gym so I don't need to wake up before the sun if I want to sleep a little more!  Sometimes Beth will wake up around 330 to eat, depends on how much she ate the day before.

6:00am : If I go the gym I am usually getting back at this time and Chris is getting up and ready to head to work.  If I don't go to the gym then I am usually getting up now as well. 

6:30am : Chris is out the door and our day begins! Beth usually wakes up around this time so I make her bottle and head into her room to feed her. Thank goodness for Netflix .. Keeps me from falling back asleep!  After she eats we have a little play time on her play mat! 

7:00am : Madison is up and ready to go! She wants to put a dress on and eat her "wapples" (waffles). 

The rest of our morning is spent playing, painting, coloring and dancing to the songs on Disney Jr in between Beth's feedings which happen every 3hrs!

Sometimes we will head to the park for a walk or we will run out and get a few errands done! I also might try to sneak in a photoshoot ;)

12:00pm : Lunch time! Madison has become a little picky! Our go to lunch is grilled cheese, yogurt and a fruit or veggie (broccoli is her favorite). 

1:00pm : Nap time!!! Madison still takes a good 1 1/2 - 2 hour nap which makes me so happy!! The problem now is getting both girls to nap at the same time!! Yesterday was tough Beth decided the minute Madison went to her room that it was time to play! Almost like she knew she would have me all to herself!  

During nap time I try to get as much done around the house as I can.. Laundry, wash floors, tidy up etc.

3:00pm : Nap time over! The rest of our hectic day is about to start! Usually we try to get outside at this point the sun is in the front of our house so the back yard and patio is a little shaded so it makes it a little cooler! We color with chalk, play with the water table, run around ... All that fun stuff!!

6:00pm : Dinner time! Madison has dinner at 6.. Depending on how the day went or if Chris is coming home I will eat with her or I wait until Chris gets home. Each night is different some nights he works overnight, other nights he has drill with the volunteer dept, softball or hockey! 

7:30pm : Bath time, Madison loves her bath, if I let her she would spend hours splashing around! 

8:00pm : Time for bed, Beth will hang out in her seat while I read a few books with Madison, sing a few songs and tuck her in for the night.  She is very into reading her Children's Bible Series Books.. I will read one and then she will "read" it back to me.

8:30pm : Madison is usually asleep at this point so I try to get some more things done around the house and prep for the next day before Beth has to eat again.

9:00pm : Beth's final feed and bed time!! I try to do Beth's bath right after Madison's so she has time to relax afterwards before bed. After her feeding it's bed time!! 

After everyone is tucked in I get some time to myself which is usually spent cleaning up from our day and doing prep for the next day! I also try to catch up on my shows. 

Two kids is tough. Both girls are fairly easy going and I can pretty much take them anywhere and so anything with them, but there are some days I don't get my shower until 10pm! It sucks but that's just how our life is!   

Before kids I was a super organized OCD person and now I am all over the place and it annoys me! I am working on becoming more organized and making things more efficient so at night I don't need to spend an hour getting this done I can still and relax!

Luckily today is a "Daddy at home day!"

Check back tomorrow for Part 2 - Daddy at home. Next week I will have Part 3 - Summer days.

Our summer days are going to be a totally new thing for us as Madison starts camp on Monday!!! Time to get her stuff all ready and make it so at night anyone can grab her things and get her bag ready for the next day!

Anyone in the westchester area come to Yorktown this weekend .. It's the Firemans Carnival! Come and show your support! Last night was the parade and the girls loved it!

Sunday Chris will be cooking and serving food at the carnival so come on out!

xo's

The full weekend round up

Happy Tuesday, 

Sorry folks, I know I said I would have this post ready for yesterday but life got the in the way so here we go!

Our original plan was to leave between 7 and 8 on Thursday morning so we could stop and spend some time at the Mystic Seaport BUT after thinking about it Chris and I both thought it would be better to just get to Gloucester and get to the beach!

I think Madison was happy with our decision.

 Pj and the Elmwood camp girls got an earlier start on the day and had about an hour of beach time before we got there, Madison was very excited to see uncle Pj, but she was more excited when Pop got there about 30min after us! 

My little fish.

Here are a few photos from our first beach day before we headed to the rehearsal dinner. 

 The rehearsal dinner was held in the Harbor at Pier 7, to say it was delicious is an understatement!

I for the first time in probably 20 years, ate a lobster.. and I am now begging Chris to cook one! They had some yummy corn on the cob, which seemed to be Madison's favorite thing aside from the cupcakes!

Madison and Ryan

Madison and Colleen - Kate's sister/ Maid of honor

Madison and her beautiful Godmother & Bride to be.

It was tough to get pics at the dinner as we were very busy enjoying the sunset and meeting Nate's family and hearing all the interesting stuff about Gloucester.
If you recognize the name Gloucester, it may be from the TV show Wicked Tuna or the movie/book "The Perfect Storm".

The day of the wedding we went for what I am willing to call "the best breakfast I have ever had" at Sugar Mags. I ordered an omelet expecting a normal 3 egg omelet with bacon, smoked mozzarella and spinach BOY WAS I WRONG!! I am willing to bet there was 8 eggs in that omelet, it was HUGE!

I ate maybe 1/4 of it and took the rest with me! Madison ate the pancakes and Chris had the "Greasy Pole" which consisted of pancakes, french toast, eggs and every other breakfast item you can think of!

After breakfast we headed back to the hotel and hit the beach! Our goal was to exhaust the kids, mainly Madison, so that come wedding time she was happy and ready to go!

Madison and Ryan

A seagull with a crab.. Madison thought this was hilarious!

Like I said the other day, I don't have any of the professional pics of Madison walking down the aisle or that Many from the reception, we were a little busy dancing! I was able to get this shot of Madison giving Uncle Nate her flowers!

In the middle of the ceremony Madison told me "Aunt Kate's a princess", and looking at the pictures I think you would agree Kate looked like a princess!

The first dance

Madison and Chris dancing.

The next day we were out and at the beach by 830am! 

Chris, Mike, Packy & Matt were out of the hotel at 415 to go Tuna fishing, so I jumped up to snap a picture of the sunrise! 

We spent all day at the beach! We finally headed back up the rooms around 1 before we went into Rockport to see all the shops!

Lindsay was nice and built a "pool" for the kids to play in!

 The beach at our hotel! It was gorgeous!

We woke up Sunday morning and hit the road!

We had a great mini vacation and are already planning to visit Gloucester again!

xo's

Shipping Up to Boston... I mean Gloucester

This past weekend we had a little family vacation, our first as a family of 4. 

We headed up to Gloucester Mass, if you watch Wicked Tuna then you know where this is. Although tuna fishing was attempted this was not the main purpose of the trip, we were there to celebrate 

Kate & Nate's wedding!!

At the moment I have no pictures from the ceremony itself BUT I do have some family photos and a few of Madison in her lovely flower girl dress from the reception! When I get some of the professional photos I will be sure to share them!  But for now, here are a few of my favorite pictures from the weekend!! 

I will be back tomorrow with some more and some details about what we did there!

Checking out the water

Elizabeth hanging out in the shade at the beach!

The Murray Family

Our perfect Family of 4

Best Man, Flower Girl and the Maid of Honor!

The Newlyweds!

Dancing with Daddy

Madison and Bella

Exhausted and Relaxing the morning after the wedding, before the beach day!

Hello from sunny Gloucester

We are taking a break this weekend from blogging and our crazy hectic life!

Check back Monday for details from our weekend getaway!

Weight loss journey

For the past 3 months I have been slowly working at losing the weight I gained from my pregnancy.. Well as of 2 weeks ago I had lost all of my weight from Beth, I am still chipping away at the weight from Madison, but I am super happy with my progress so far!

May 19th I started a 30 day nutritional balancing and cleansing program. I was actually scared to do it! 

I was nervous I wouldn't be able to do, but I was also nervous I would have no results. I am so happy to say I have had amazing results!!

In the past 30 days I lost 10lbs and 29inches!

 

I didn't starve myself, I didn't go to extremes ... I just ate healthy and clean! I replaced 2 meals a day with a shake and then had one 400-600cal meal! Doing just that I also went from being comfortable in size 12 jeans to now comfortably fitting my size 8's!

For those that know me know I LOVE milk and cheese.. So for me the toughest part was cutting out those things!  I also love a good chai latte or a vanilla latte so that was also tough to get used to. Did I veer off the plan .. Of course! I am human! I am not saying I cheated as this is a learning thing .. I am learning to make better choices for myself and my family! 

I love this new lifestyle! I feel better, I have more energy and I am not craving sweets  or diet soda. The one thing I am treating myself to tomorrow is an ice coffee!!

I will be continuing with the program for another 30 days! Along with the program I have increased the amount the miles I am running and I have also re-introduced weight lifting into my workouts!

I have goals and so far I am on track to surpass these goals!! I can't wait to update you all in another 30 days!

Xo's