Getting Ready for a Busy Weekend

Helen is my odd child. Not odd as in weird (although weirdness does run in the family, and I encourage that!), but she is my only child who does not have her birthday on the 16th. I still consider her the "middle" child, even though technically, there is no longer a middle. She's a Halloween baby, being born on the 29th. That means that not only do I have to buy candy, have enough creativity for four Haloween costumes, and carve at least 3 pumpkins (they each have to have their own), but I have to plan a birthday party as well! Cleaning the house is another necessity, since we will have out-of-town family come to join in the festivities. Whew! I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

My sore muscles don't offer any condolences, either. That's right - I am STILL sore, not from the first workout, but from subsequent ones. In two weeks, I have not missed a single workout, and I have eaten clean. My waist is 1.25 inches smaller because of it! WooHoo! I haven't taken official measurements yet, since it hasn't been quite 2 weeks, but I just had to take a quick peek. It was a very encouraging peek :)

In stitching news, I put The Kiss aside for now, even though I'm about 1/2 way done. I was itching for a new start, but felt guilty about it. In the end, I decided to work on the latest free Mira cherub. It will be a Christmas present for Jessie's kindergarden teacher, who was also Helen's teacher last year. She's been so great, and I want to do something special for her. So hopefully I'll have new WIP pics soon. This is assuming, of course, that Alex will let me get some stitching done before Christmas! He really is such a good baby, though. He's finally smiling on purpose! He doesn't do it often, and he makes me really work for it, but it is so worth the effort! Don't you think?

Diaries of a Haute Mama

Since very few of my entries lately have anything to do with stitching, I am officially changing the name of my blog. Alex has considerably cut down on my stitching time right now, anyway. It just seems unfair to call it a "stitching blog" when the entries are not all about stitching. Besides, this title is much more creative.

I am back on the BFL (Body for Life) wagon! I'm eating healthy, and I had my first post-birth workout yesterday. Alex slept long enough to allow me to hit the weights in our home gym. And I am sore today!!! I forgot how much I missed that. It reminds me that I am doing something healthy for myself. I just hope 12 weeks will be enough to get back into my pre-pregnancy jeans! I want to be a size 6 again, even if my boobs will be bigger than normal for a little while! But I will suffer that for the sake of my baby :) Hopefully posting here will help keep me honest, knowing that you all are reading and waiting for progress reports! (right?)

Reunion News

Surprise of all surprises...I actually had a blast at my reunion! Despite my biggest fear, I remembered everybody! I only had to glance at name tags a couple times. And all those people who ignored me in high school were actually quite nice. Amazing what becoming an adult will do. We had fun catching up with everyone, and I got to dance for the first time in a long time! Now, the old high school me would have just sat on the sidelines, considering that no one was on the floor dancing. But the "now" me jumped at the chance to get out there on an empty dance floor when an old friend whose wife had stayed home asked me to dance. Of course, once we started, the dance floor seemed to fill up. I was never a trend-setter in high school, but I guess it's never too late to start!! We all danced for the rest of the night, and I hope everyone was saying, "Is that AMY out there???" LOL Oh, and btw, I DID have the best-looking husband!

Ack! I'm Old!

For those Back to the Future fans, picture Jennifer in the present coming face to face with the Jennifer of the future. Young Jennifer screeches, "I'm old!" as the old Jennifer simultaneously ejects, "I'm young!" This paradox describes me right now. At this very moment (well, maybe not this EXACT one), I am getting ready to go to my 10-year high school reunion. I get to spend the weekend with people I barely remember, not to mention barely liked (I hope none of them are reading this!). I'm tempted not to go, but it's one of those things I won't be able to do later. If I don't go, I'll never have another chance. So I'm going to go, if for no other reason than just to make sure I don't regret not going later. Besides, I want to see who has gotten fat :)

But the whole idea of a 10-year reunion has made me realize how much time has passed since I was a kid. I guess I will finally have to admit that I'm an adult now. I do have four children, after all. I am the head of a household, after all. I have my own home in a city where my parents don't live, after all. But grown up? Me? I don't FEEL grown up. I don't have a job (a paying one, anyway). I still play with Barbies (with my children, of course!), and I get to watch cartoons on Saturdays. But somehow, it happened without my knowledge or permission. Sigh....maybe one day I'll actually LOOK old enough to buy liquor without a driver's license!

The reunion is two hours away, in my hometown and the town where my and DH's parents still live. Which means that this will be Alex's first real trip. So far, he has been a very good baby. He wakes up 2-3 times at night, but he (almost) always goes right back to sleep. Sleep for me has been interrupted, but not overly lacking. We are excited to show him off, but I'm not so thrilled at the idea of leaving him for a night. He is only three weeks old today.

Well, off to get my hair done so I look as fabulous as possible, which will be really hard, considering I have all this leftover baby weight - not the best time for a reunion, when you're supposed to be a knockout so you can wow all your x-boyfriends. Oh well. I'll have the best-looking husband!