LIfetime Fitness

On my Mighty Life List was to complete a triathlon.  I made the first step in achieving that goal yesterday when I signed up for Lifetime Fitness.  I have to admit, I am having a little buyer's remorse, because it so expensive.  It is a new club opening in May, and will be sort of like a country club, resort, and gym all combined into one.  I couple of my friends found it first, and I went to the website and fell in love.  The bottom line is that it will cost $220/month for the whole family, which is a heck of a lot of money every month, but it is all about what you spend your money on, right?  We are saving $420/month starting next month because of Mason going to school, so that is how we are affording it.

My intention is that we use it for the summer and then re-evaluate how much we will really use it.  I am not  going to spend that much money to only use it once in a while.

They have a triathlon class that you can take to help you train for all aspects of the sport.  They have hot yoga (which I am a little skeptical about, but they say they will have it).  They have real pilates with the machines (people spend $20+/class for this).  There are three pools.  The outdoor pool will be heated to 80 degrees all year long.   There is a baby area, kid area, and adult area.  There will be swimming lessons for $50/month, which I am finding is pretty cheap.  They gave us $300 of "LT bucks" for signing up, so that will pay for the swimming lessons.  There is even a locker room for kids (so that they don't bother the adults).  There is childcare, a kids gym, a kids indoor soccer field and basketball court, and all sorts of classes for them.  Steve will probably use the weights only, but he goes nearly every day, so this will be a toss-up if he wants to stay a member.

They don't have tennis, so this is my real dilemma.  Am I really ready to stop playing tennis completely?  Tennis costs about $50-80 per month, plus the time - I just can't do both.  They have a squash court, and it might be fun to learn to play squash (at least through the summer when it is almost too hot to play tennis anyway).  I am daydreaming about fun at the pool with Mason, but Alex is still lots of work at the pool.  I am not sure this will really be as fun as I am imagining.

Anyway, as you can probably tell from the way this is written, I haven't convinced myself this was a good purchase, but there is a complete money back guarantee (14 days from when it opens), including the sign-up fee, so really, there is no loss if I don't like it.

Momma, What my baby says?

First, I am blogging again because Mason has my ipad playing Angry Birds.  I am not fighting it tonight because I have a gigantic headache and I just want to go to sleep as soon as possible.  I thought I would sit down and write about a couple Mason stories first.

One that I have been meaning to write about for quite some time now is when he always says, "Momma; What my baby says?" Then I am supposed to answer as if I was Alex.  We have long conversations this way, and we really enjoy it.  I also love that he calls him "my baby."  He does this all the time.  It is precious.

Alex has been getting in trouble (as much as a 9 month old can get in trouble) for rocking in his highchair.  It is really annoying and I always sternly say "No Alex" but usually I get a laugh in response.  When we got in the bath last night, Mason said in a hushed tone, as if he was letting Alex in on a secret, "Baby, you just can't rock anymore.  Just stop rocking.  OK?"  It was so sweet; he just doesn't want his baby to get in trouble.

This morning I was getting ready for work in the bathroom, Mason comes in and says, "Where am I going this morning?" (he always repeats this every morning without fail).  I tell him he is going to daycare this morning.  He replies, "But I don't want to go to daycare." I ask him why, and I figured it was because he had such a fun weekend and just wanted more fun or something along those lines (because he really loves daycare), but the answer was, "I don't want all my friends to look at my crazy hair."  Oh boy.  I am so lucky I don't have girls because I can't even keep a simple boy haircut combed on a daily basis.  I think I am giving him a complex.

One more thing on Angry Birds...Dad had the best idea over the weekend.  He helped Mason set up his blocks like a stage on the Angry Birds game and they put little toys in the blocks and then knocked it down with angry bird tennis balls.  It was simple genius and kept Mason occupied for quite a while this weekend.

Oh, and one more thing.  My sweet husband brought me a surprise gift tonight.  He goes, "I was shopping and I picked this up for you." I was feeding Alex so I wasn't looking at him, I got all excited hoping for some sweet treat for dessert or something.  I turn and he was holding out a pamphlet like you would get at the Dr's office on fiber.  Nothing says I love you more than a fiber pamphlet, right?  Sigh.

Another fun weekend

We had a great President's Day weekend.  That means a 4 day weekend for me, followed by a 3 day week!  Sweet!

Friday was my normal free day with no work and no kids.  Only a couple more of these left until Mason starts school.  There is no school on Fridays when we are all off work, so I will have to drag him around with me to do errands.  He is getting so much better at errands though as he gets older, so it might work out fine.  Also, I can still drop him off on Friday mornings at Laurence's while I go to Yoga, so that is awesome.  I will probably try to find some activity at the library or a sport or something to have some consistency on Fridays.

Saturday I had lunch with Suzy and Michelle because it was Michelle's birthday.  I can't believe that she is 27 years old!  I think she will always be 16 in my mind.  Then I went to a Mom's Night Out to Roller Derby.  It was a lot of fun and totally different.

I rarely go out, so this was a nice night, complete with beer and hot dogs!

On Sunday we went to Run Plus Fun which is an indoor play place for kids.  It was so great!  Mason had a blast; even Dad went with us, which was an extra special treat for us; Alex was great as always; and I got to play in the ball pit!!!  So fun!  Here are some pictures:

The only downside to this place is that it is all the way on the other side of town.  Still, I think we will be back often!

We had two tired kids afterward:

But we woke them up to go to this yummy pizza place that Steve had heard good things about:

Grimaldi's

The best thing about the place is they give the kids dough to play with while you are waiting for the pizza to cook.  Isn't that genius?!?

Playing with dough

Didn't trust Alex to the dough yet

Ok, maybe the BEST thing was the pizza!  It was so good and clean tasting.  I know that is a weird word to describe food, but both of us used that word to describe it.  It must be the simple ingredients or the pizza oven or something, but it was YUMMY!  We got a large thinking we would have left-overs, but we ate every last crumb off the table. We rarely go out to eat, so this was an extra special treat for us.

After naps, I took Mason to an art class.  It was just a casual "open art" class, and it turned out Mason was the only one there.  Mason has really taken to painting, so I want to nurture this passion while it is around.  I have heard such good things about teaching kids through their art and honing the creative spirit.  I am going to research this a little more and see if Mason takes to anything specific.  Dad is super creative, so I am wondering if the boys will be too.

He always mixes all the paint up, and that really annoys me.  I am certain that it is ok for a kids his age, but it drives me nuts!  That is why I am loving that I found an art class for him, so that I don't negatively influence his natural tendencies.

After art, I got to sneak away and do yoga.  I am really loving it.  I am already seeing benefits and it has only been about 6 weeks.  I bet 6 months or so of this is going to really transform my body.

Sunday was capped off with the season premiere of The Amazing Race - my favorite show!  So I would have to say that was a pretty nice day for me.

Today is a holiday and I haven't even gotten out of my pajama's yet.  I would call that a nice holiday weekend!  I am still working on my crazy hard Jackson Pollock puzzle:

This has been on the table since January, and now I have to finish it up because Alex is pulling up on the furniture.  I am already pushing my luck leaving it out and 4 pieces in the corner have disappeared.  I bet within a week I have to pack it up or else Alex will eat all the pieces.  I play a little game with myself and after every piece I get connected I have to get up and do something around the house.  It makes housework so much more fun, and since it is a really hard puzzle, I don't have to get up that much!  Anybody else play weird games like that with themselves?

Why I am blogging tonight

Normally right about now, I am laying in bed with my ipad cruising the internet or playing scrabble.  I had just read Mason some books, most likely "Ain't Gonna Paint No More," "No, David," "It's Christmas, David," and some combination of Dr. Seuss books, followed by tucking him into bed.  But not tonight...Why?  Because someone introduced Mason to Angry Birds on the ipad.  Thanks a lot!

He is obsessed.  It is sad.  I guess I should go in there and take it away from him, but he loves it so much...The look on his face when he gets a pig is priceless.  That, and I got to take a bath for 45 minutes without interruption.

Now Dad has gotten into the action.  He can't pass up anything with trajectory.

A few funny/sad lines from Mason and his Angry Birds:

• First, I wouldn't let him have it because it cost money.  His response, "But, I will buy it Mom."  Oh really, I need some money then, He hands me his open palm "here" (as if it is 5 - dollars).
• I told Mason that I was tired with Angry Birds.  His reply, "But Grandpa doesn't get tired of Angry Birds."
• He was stuck on a stage and couldn't get past it.  "I have to keep practicing this one. It is bery bery hard.  Only Grandpa can pass it."

Ok, no joke.  He JUST brought the pad to me and the sound isn't working for some reason.  He told me, "I screwed it up because I played too long.  Can you fix it?  Can you plug it in?"
First of all, "screwed it up"?  Second, I have no idea why the sound stopped working, but Grandpa had the same problem this past weekend and he ended up paying for the real app (we have been using the free one).  I wonder if it is designed to mess up after so long so that you buy the real one. Hmmm.  And third, he thinks plugging it in will fix anything.  That or changing the batteries.

I REALLY think it is time to unplug for this boy.  I am not very proud of this post at all.  I was the annoying mom that said, I will never let my kids play video games.  Uh.  I am so eating my words.  They don't taste very good.

Fun Weekend

We had a great weekend with Grandma and Grandpa in town.  I am not sure why, but I never take pictures when they are here.  I have to get better.  I have a couple from breakfast this morning, right before they left, but I have a feeling Grandma doesn't want them on the internet anyway, so I will just give you one of Mr. Blue Eyes.

Grandma got to pick Mason up from daycare on Friday and that was the highlight of his week.  I think he gets a little jealous of Addison getting picked up from her grandma or aunt every once in awhile, so now it was his turn.

Alex had his 9 month check up and he is 20 pounds and 30 inches.  Immediately I thought of the height to weight ratio, because appartantly that is how my mind works, and was baffled that 1 inch of his body doesn't even weigh 1 pound.  Does anyone else think that is weird?  He was healthy, and right on schedule with everything, but the Dr. said he should be babbling more.  Ok, maybe I asked the Dr. if he should be babbling by now, and the answer was most babies are saying at least dadadadada by now.  In 6 weeks, if I don't notice any improvement then we can go to a specialist.  But really, I know I am over-reacting.  He is doing just fine.

Back to the weekend...On Saturday we went to the library for a storytime and craft.  We really need to do more of those because Mason LOVED it.  He does not have a shy bone in his body and was front and center through the whole thing.  My dang battery on my camera was dead so I didn't get any photos, but I got a movie of him singing a song and it was cute!  I am going to try to convince Steve to letting me put Mason in some acting program.  I think he belongs on stage.  We've talked about this before, and the answer was a big eye roll, so I will try again.

He still has no interest in crafts.  The craft was to make a card for Valentine's day, but he just doesn't care.  He doesn't get the concept of giving Mom a card or that hearts mean love or anything quite yet.  I keep waiting...maybe, just maybe for Mother's Day???  Since he will be in school, and all the kids will be doing it, he might begin to understand.

The following day, I had a Valentine's exchange with a mom's group, and Mason had a good time, but still he just doesn't understand the whole Valentine's thing.  He didn't care about helping with the cards, distributing the cards, or even getting the cards.  He still hasn't even opened the bag that has them all in.  He saw the sucker sticking out of one of them, grabbed that, and dropped the bag with everything else in it.  I did look through them all, and at least I am thankful for all the little goodies and cards.  Tomorrow we made cookies for everyone at daycare and maybe he will care about those Valentines, because he knows them all better.

Here are some pictures of the cookies.  Can you guess who decorated them?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Confession

Last night as I was tucking Mason in bed, I laid with him and lovingly told him how proud I was of him because he was such a good boy today.  Now he hadn't done anything spectacular, but this is my parenting style.  I praise highly when he has done something good (or nothing bad) and ignore him when he is doing something I don't like.  He is such a people pleaser that this method of parenting works perfectly with him. 

Anyway, he kind of withdrew just a little bit, got real quiet, and said, "Addison and me got in trouble at daycare because we were fighting over all the blues."
I said, "Oh really, you weren't sharing?"
Mason, very dissapointed: "No", but then his face got all big and bright, "...but I found one more blue under the couch and I didn't tell Laurence!" 

That little stinker.  I guess I won't have to worry too much about him keeping things from me.  He just rats himself out. 

9 Months

Alex is 9 months today.  I can't believe how fast this past year has flown by.  He is the best baby we could have ever hoped for.  He is sweet and happy and easy going.  He is just now starting to pull up to his knees.  I am so hoping for an early walker!!!  He is moving much earlier than Mason ever did.

I gave him YoBaby yogurt for the first time this morning.  There was not a huge reaction but he certainly didn't turn it down.  Actually, he has never turned down any food at all.  Mason devoured this stuff - actually his first word was "gert" because he loved it so much.  We'll see if Alex is the same.  When Alex is really hungry or he sees his food waiting for him, he lunges back and forth in his high chair so violently that the chair will move inches every time.  Mason finds this hilarious, so I don't think it will stop anytime soon.

He is responding to his name, but still super quiet.  He is not babbling much, so that is kinda concerning me.  I guess I should chill out and stop comparing the kids, but it is hard.  Like I said, Alex is much more mobile, but Mason was already saying baby words by now, like BA for Bottle, DA for Daddy, and MAMAMAMAMA for yours truely.  Oh well, I'll just keep an eye on it.

Here is a sweet sleeping shot.  Have you ever seen such a beautiful baby (not counting your own children of course)?

I have some good videos but they are too big for the blog.  I will put them on the smugmug site soon so everyone can see them.  I guess I should stop being so paranoid about utube, because that would be so much easier...

Teething

No, Alex didn't get any new teeth; I DID!  I was shocked to feel my wisdom tooth popping out of my gum earlier this week.  I thought only kids grew wisdom teeth.  Since I had never had mine out, I just thought I would never get them.  Alex is bugging me again to eat, so I will have to make this short.  There is not much to say anyway, it was so uneventful.  Speaking of Alex, him and his 6 chompers are apparently ready to eat anything.  He is eating away like a champ - blueberries, rice, beans, peas, noodles, crackers.  Really he hasn't rejected anything yet.  And again, speaking of teething, he has to be getting even more coming in because of the drooling, biting, and diaper rash - all clear signs that another tooth is erupting.

Big news on the job front

I am excited to go to work again because I got to change jobs!  I am now a Construction Engineer.  It is a lateral transfer to another department, still within the same division.  I asked if I could do this a couple of months ago when I saw a need in the Construction group.  Design is a little over-staffed and Construction needed help because of some people leaving.  I thought it couldn't hurt to ask, so I did.  Management seemed a little surprised that I wanted to do this, but I was so ready for any new challenge.  I have been a Design Engineer in the exact same capacity for 9 years.  That is just too long for any one job.  I was starting to loose interest, to not want to do the every day tasks, my mind wandered all the time, and so on.

It is no secret that I want to one day move up to the management level, so I know that getting some new experience and becoming more well-rounded is only going to help those chances.  The job will be lots of paperwork, lots of site visits, meetings with contractors, etc.  I already know that it will be a little more tiring.  You just have to be UP more.  Sometimes just talking on the phone can wear me out.  It is part of being introverted I guess.  Steve can talk on the phone for hours and he says it energizes him. Me, on the other hand, gets tired just listening to that much talking.  I am sure I will get used to it though.  It is always a good thing to step a little outside of your comfort zone in order to grow and improve.

I will keep you posted on how things go.