Arrowhead and Ryles 2nd Birthday

We had a SUPER busy weekend with lots of friends and family, a little cleaning and some unpacking snuck their way in there too, and a whole lot of laughs!

Sunday we got up early and headed to Mike and Aprils for a snow day with Van and Brody in Arrowhead.  We piled in the car and head up the mountain for lunch and shopping.  We got to the Lake Arrowhead turnoff and there was a mass of cars and a huge sign that said “chains required no exceptions” so we had to turn around and go buy some chains, that snow wasn’t gonna stop us!  After an hour in the car waiting for chains to arrive we finally made it to the lake and had lunch and walked around.  The boys were so cute in the snow, and Van was very excited to see the mini snowman Mike made for him.  April was kicking snow into the lake and Brody was giggling SO hard that we drew a little crowd of people listening to his belly laughs. As we left we had to head out of town a different way because there were so many cars that were trying to leave without chains that they were causing a major traffic jam and sliding all over the place.  Read the warnings people, they are there for a reason!

 ~and yes that bottle is empty~

After our trip down the hill we celebrated Ryle’s 2^nd birthday with dinner at Ray and Christi’s with the family.  He was so excited to open presents and see all the “Cars” books, clothes, and toys he got.  Christi made a really cute cake (which Ray stood in front of right as I was taking a pic) and Ryle was making his “on stage” face as we were singing to him.  I can’t believe 2 years have passed since that little man arrived, we love him so much!

Meeting Ryle David 1/25/2008

Happy 2nd Birthday!

I keep trying to lose weight... but it keeps finding me!

I know my baby loves me the way that I am, it’s just time for me to start doing that too.  In August 2008 I started with Weight Watchers to lose 30 lbs before my 30^th birthday and before we started our family.  I wanted to look great at my birthday and have that weight off so I had some room for pregnancy weight.  Well by December 19, 2008 I was down 32 lbs, I was so happy and had a wonderful birthday!  Enter in 2009: aka a crappy year.  I wanted to lose another 20 lbs but Gus’ employers started playing games with finances and ethical business practices and WW went out the window.  I knew I needed to save that $40 a month and I thought I can do the rest on my own. 

February- husband’s job taking a tank: stress weight starts to pile on 5 lbs

March- a good friends divorce: Holly gains 5 lbs in support with many evenings of wine and food to get her thru the nights she didn’t have her kids.

July- a pregnancy: Holly gains 5 lbs with excitement and joy for the time to come. 

September- the miscarriage depression: 10 lbs with excuse after excuse, well I can’t diet if I get pregnant this month, o not pregnant, let’s go out, now I can’t diet this month…not pregnant, let’s go out and so on and so on for the last 5 months.

25 lbs-OUCH 

I cannot believe 2009 flew by as fast as it did and I let that 25 lbs get away from me.  And it was going to continue until last week when I headed back to WW.  No more excuses, no more next week, no more I’m tired, no more.  I am done with this yo-yo; I am putting it out there now: the only reason for me to gain ANY weight is for a baby and that’s it.  I know I need to be healthy, I know I need to get this unnecessary weight off, and I know I can do it!  I am excited to start again and feel like I have control over something in my body these days.  One of the ways to make our goal permanent is to vocalize it and since this is my private place to randomly spout what I want I needed to put it out there.  I have to make my goal obtainable otherwise I will fail but my goal also needs to be realistic to my life.  I would like to say I am going to lose 40 lbs by June which is entirely possible but I need to be more specific to my needs too.  I am hoping one day soon I can stop dieting because I need that extra 100- 300 calories a day for 9 months, and I don’t know when that is going to happen.

So my goals are small:

1.  I am going to lose 10 lbs by Valentine’s day (well the 17^th)

2.  I am going to work out at least 4 days a week

3.  I am going to all my Wednesday meetings to weigh in, I need the accountability.

After the morning run!

To quote a great movie line :   

I’m gonna do it.

No Pain, No Gain

Michaela decided she wanted to know what the treadmill was all about,

But decided it was a better place to nap instead

Silly Chaela Marie!

Project Day!

Well after 2 weeks I think today I am finally feeling like we are settled in.  Getting used to the house wasn’t bad it was easy actually.  The drive only added 10 minutes to my commute and took 20 off Gus’ so he is very happy.  But we have had a LONG 2 weeks with no dryer, ugly knob pulls, cardboard window coverings, and broken doors etc.  So rightfully so today was DIY day!  We started the morning off with a walk to Starbucks then got busy fixing up the house!

We have a electric dryer and a gas hookup so we had our friend Mario drop in a line for us to be able to use our dryer, and after 2 weeks and the move we piled up about 17 loads of laundry but I have to say I have never been SOOO thankful to be able to do laundry!  And look the dryer is right next to the washer…that’s a first in 7 years, woo-hoo!!

The den didn’t have blinds (the people before us used sheets, classy huh?) so we went to the Depot and got 2 new blinds and Gus put them up today.

 

The kitchen has the UGLIEST handles I have ever seen and I hated every time I have to even touch them so new ones went in!  That was my project today, and I have to say I learned a few things: 1.  I HATE flat head screws, I mean really, is there any point to them, just use a Phillips! 2.  pay attention to which side the handle goes on…yes I did that 3 times. And 3. I love my power drill, I wish I could use it every day!

 

 

I am really enjoying a kitchen window

We don't have a dishwasher so I am becoming a clean freak since this is my counter 90% of the time

Gus found some free firewood and every night after dinner we cuddle up on the couch in front of a cozy fire with the Twins.  I think we will be having fires for sometime with this pile!

And 1 last shot of the pool since I forgot it last time, can't wait for summer!

Ringing in 2010

We had a great night welcoming in 2010 with the Fausts and friends!!!  We played lots of Rock Band, Mario Cart and all those other addicting Wii games, ate TONS of great food and laughed till I almost cried!  We used our *new* champagne flutes and toasted the new year.....*new meaning they were a present for our wedding and we've never had anywhere to store them so they stayed in the same box they arrived in until the new house where they have a lovely shelf all to themselves :)*

2009 was a trying year for me and I am soooooo glad it's over.  Out with the old and in with the new!  Gus and I are praying for many new things in 2010, mainly we hope this is the year we can start our family and be celebrating next new years eve in bed because we are so exhausted from a little Lombardo Baby!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful 2010 and may God bless you and keep you in all you do, Love G&H.

Christmas

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas!

Christmas Eve we went to the Lawrence's for dinner. We played a little Apples to Apples one of our favorite games and lots of laughs were had by all. Drake made a super yummy dinner (she is turning into Betty Crocker for sure) and we had Chocolate Peppermint Martini's for dessert. Thnks for the great evening!

We had a different sort of Christmas this year because of the Twins and the move, but I was so glad to sneak a lot of tradition in there!! We didn't have a tree so I decorated garland with some of our favorite ornaments and our angel so we could at least have a little Christmas spirit amongst the boxes for the move. Christmas Eve Mom and Dad spent the night and Christmas morning we got to have a very special celebration with them. It reminded me of when I was little and all 4 of us would bum rush the stairs to see what Santa brought us. We got to enjoy our traditional breakfast, apple cider, open stockings and presents with lots of family around us. Gus and I started a new tradition this year that I hope to carry on with our kiddos; I bought us matching PJ's to open Christmas Eve and wear the next morning. He LOVED them and still wears them around the house and says "look how cute we are in our matching PJ's." He got me a pair of hand weights (that were wrapped like hand weights LOL) and some more equipment to stock my "gym." My mom got a Snuggie and is modeling it for you below, she was so excited, hahahaha. The twins got lots of treats, toys, a new laser pointer and they are in heaven.

After that we got busy for 2 days straight packing boxes, and more boxes and more....and more....we almost forgot that it was a holiday and sent Gus to costco to get more packing tape! We found a CVS that was open and restocked our supply. We got the whole house boxed up and MOVED!!! More on that later. My Mom and Dad were the true heroes of the weekend and kicked a$$ packing and organizing this crazy move.

 Thank you Mom and Dad for a wonderful Christmas and easy move, we love you so much!