Animal Lover.

Isla is obsessed with animals.  OBSESSED.  If you know me well, you know that I am not an animal lover.  It was a miracle that Andy convinced me to get a dog, and an ever bigger miracle that I have survived this long with an anal leaking creature ruining my house one anal leakage incident at a time.  Anyway, if Isla sees anything with a dog or a cat on it, she needs it.  Like today at Target when I had picked out cute elephant jammies only to see her whining and pointing at DOG jammies.  So we bought the dog jammies instead, even though the elepahnts were a million times cuter.  Dogs I can handle...but cats are another story. 

Anyway, the day before Halloween I was desperate to find a black long sleeved shirt for Isla to wear under her costume.  The only one I could find had a furry kitty weearing a leopard scarf.  I bought it out of pure desperation, figuring we'd get rid of it after Halloween.  When Isla saw the shirt, it was love at first sight.  She kissed the kitty.  Kissed!  Now it's part of her wardrobe, and it literally pains me to look at that damn cat wearing a scarf.

Another favorite is her dog shirt.  She "wooooofs" every time I pull it out of the closet.  And of course she kisses it too.  A lot of times during the day I catch her looking down at her shirt and barking.  This shirt I don't find nearly as offensive, and for $5 at Kohls, you can't go wrong. 

Naturally, my biggest fear is...

I just want Isla to look me in the eye and tell me this is a phase! This too shall pass! Right?!

PS:  I found this awesome website while searching for tacky/offensive sweaters.  Hilarious!! 

Rambling about my child...

I cannot handle how smart and independent my child is becoming. She is only 15 months! I want my snuggly baby for a bit longer.  Isla is all about putting on her own pants and shoes.  She does a pretty good job of putting on her pants...but she can't quite figure out her shoes yet. 

Totally the look of a determined child wanting to dress herself, right?  So cute!  It kills me.  The other day she came out of her room with pajama shorts pulled over her pants.  She was so proud of herself :)

Speaking of clothes...my child is ginormous.  Seriously.  All of her shirts are 24moth or 2T.  Which I realize are pretty much the same size...so why do they make both?!  I don't understand this at all.  Anyway, she's a big kid!  At her 15 month check-up she weighed 26lbs and was in the 91st percentile for weight.  She weighed 26lbs at her 12 month appointment too!  I was a little concerned that she didn't gain any weight, but she's so big that my doctor wasn't worried.  She is 33 inches and in the 98th percentile for height!  She grew 2 inches in the last 3 months.  Beast!  Her legs are short (like her mama's) so she's still in 18 month pants, but we're nearing the end of those.  Thank goodness I bought her 3T summer clothes!  I spent forever debating what size she'd be in the summer when I was digging through Target clearance racks a few months ago. 

Isla is saying a few more words, my favorite by far is, "Grandpa".  She says it so cute..."Gram-paaaaaaa".  It melts my dad's heart.  She also says juice/shoes...it sounds the same for both, sit, go, woof, mama, and dada.  She also knows sign language for milk, help, more, and all done.  Although the sign language really confuses us all.  Isla has started making up her own signs and we have NO CLUE what they mean.  Poor kid.  She gets so frustrated when we don't understand what she wants!

This month Isla has also learned how to clean up her own toys (love it!) and use the potty more.  She squeezes her diaper in the front to tell me she peed, and she pull her butt if she has pooped.  She still has no idea that she is supposed to be going in the potty...but we sit her on there every night before she takes a bath and sometimes she pees.  She has also figured out how to open our front closet door....

 

Such a big girl!  I can't wait to see what the next few months will bring :)

Updates and other stuff...

I just finished my 10th and final personal training session yesterday. 

I have been caffeine free for 3 weeks and 2 days.

I started My Food Diary again to track my calories and exercise.

My hair loss has pretty much subsided.

My hair only takes 20 minutes not to dry and straighten.  This is unheard of!  Seriously.  It used to take me at least 45 minutes.  Clearly, I lost about half of my hair.

I have not lost much weight.  Maybe 1-2 pounds. 

It's super frustrating considering I rarely drink pop....maybe 2-3 of the small sprites per week...if that.  I usually drink a G2 Gatorade after a workout, but that's nothing compared to the  3-4 Dews a day.  You would think between the working out and the lack of calories/sugar I'd be losing weight. 

I haven't measured myself in 2 weeks...maybe I'll do that tomorrow.  I just don't see much of a difference anywhere and I'm working out 4-5 times a week...35-45 mins of cardio plus 2 days with 45 minutes of weight training on top of the cardio. 

Seriously...what the heck man?!

I am starting to wonder if I have an alien creature living in my flesh fanny pack.

I have to go out downtown tomorrow night for Abb's birthday and I have nothing to wear.  Can't wait to go jean shopping with Isla tomorrow morning!  Wooo! 

I just started shaving my legs with hair conditioner rather than bodywash or shaving gel.  Totes love it. 

We are gearing up for another Minnesota road trip.  It's hard to get too excited when I know I'll be stopping every few hours, singing along to Barney and Yo Gabba Gabba dvds instead of my usual "road trip mixes", and putting up with the world's worst traveler, aka, Isla.  Oh, did I mention my child SCREAMS and kicks in her carseat?  Yep...it's fun. 

We will be moving soon.  Again.  Either January 1st (ish) or February 1st (ish).  I'm can't wait to get into a house, but the thought of moving AGAIN makes me want to fall to the fetal position and weep for hours.  Since 2004 Andy and I have lived in 4, soon to be 5 places.  I'm tired of moving!

This turned out to be a total Debbie Downer post!  Hmmm...a good update....Oh!  Andy made is first sale!!  Yay Andy!!!  He'll be getting some awesome commission which he totally deserves.

Name Change

Ughhh.  The hyphenated name.  It really sucks.  I know wrote about all of the problems I've been having with my name a few months ago...but nothing beats my experience at the DMV.  The DMV has caused me to have a name snap.  And I guess Andy should send them a thank you card since my last name will now match his. 

First of all, let me start by saying that my drivers licence was 3 MONTHS EXPIRED and I had no clue.  Good God.  And yes, I moved to IL in February, so I should have gotten this taken care of a long time ago.  Obviously I dread the DMV. 

Last Wednesday I made Andy work from home during Isla's nap so I could go without her. I quickly dug up all of the appropriate paperwork I needed to bring with me.  Most of it is pretty accurate, aside from my social security card which still has my maiden name because I obviously couldn't be bothered to change it in the 2 years I've been married.  Anyway, right when I arrived I found myself in a huge line. Thankfully I only ended up waiting 30 minutes before I got called up to the counter.  Things seemed fine, the lady was busy entering my info in the computer and didin't ask about the name discrepancy.  I paid me fee and then took my test...which was just the most ridiculous test I've ever taken. 

When you approach a stop sign, where should you stop?
A.  Wherever you feel is safest.
B.  Before the crosswalk or at the clearly marked line.
C.  The middle of the intersection.

I am not even kidding.  I swear the Minnesota written test is 100 times more legit. 

I finally headed over to the picture waiting area, pumped that it had been less than an hour and I was to get my picture taken.  When my name was called I gott up to the desk and discovered my name had been entered in the computer as Elizabeth W***.  My maiden name.  WTF?!  So I'm instructed to go get in line for a name change.  Grrr.  Since the lady who originally entered my info had gone to lunch, I can't be sure if she used my social security card when entering my name, or if she used my license and didn't even bother to copy down my whole last name.  I don't like to judge anyone by their fingernails, but they appeared to be bright purple talons...thus leading me to believe that she had no idea what she was doing.  So I'm blaming this all on her. 

Anyway, after another 15 minutes of waiting, I was directed to a very nice man who jokingly gave me a hard time about my hyphenated name.  I was telling him how much of a hassle it's been and he asked me what name I'd like on my license.  I finally gave in and asked for it just to say S****n. 

Now, I am in the process of changing my credit cards and filing legal papers to change my name.  Such. A. Hassle.  And it's expensive.  My name change will cost roughly $300!  (Not including the legal fees.)

I'm really, really sad about having to change my name.  It's just been more hassle than it's really worth.  Betsy S****n.  Ugh. Gross.  It doesn't even sound good. 

Morals of the story:  Don't hyphenate your name, always check your license to see when it expires, and don't wait 2 years after marriage to get a new SS card. 

The end.

Aldi!

Can I talk again about how much I love Aldi?!  I mean...seriously.  I hardly have the words.  Let me tell you what I bought for $24!

3 Gallons of milk
1 bottle of apple juice
2 boxes of crunchy granola/raisin cereal
1 bag of string cheese
1 container of grapes
Bananas
A box of crackers
A box of granola bars
2 boxes of pasta (similar to Pastaroni stuff)

I don't even know how much I would have spent at Jewel or Dominicks.  I'm guessing at least $50! 

I finally got to use my awesome reusable bags today too!  I have 1 large bag and 1 regular sized bag.  I used my regular bag at Target (and saved 5 cents...I didn't know they took 5 cents off your total for each reusable bag you use!  I'll have these bags paid off in no time ;) and I used my big bag at Aldi.  Everything fit perfectly (aside from the milk).  Plus, Aldi is so small that you can get your shopping done in less than 15 minutes!  And both times I've been there...it's virtually empty. 

I still need to buy turkey, cheese, goldfish crackers, bread, and household supplies at my regular grocery store or Target.  Aldi does have meat and cheese, but I prefer the deli stuff.  I used to spend probably $350-$400 per month on groceries and cleaning supplies.  I'm hoping with Aldi I can cut that in half.  I'm fine doing my shopping at 2 stores if I know I'm saving a good amount of money! 

If you decide to check out Aldi, you should know 3 things. 

1.  They don't take credit cards...but you can use a debit card.
2.  You need to bring your own bags, or you can buy paper/plastic ones there.
3.  You need a quarter if you want to use a cart.  You get your quarter back when you return the cart.

Thank God I saved money on groceries today...because I spent way too much money at the mall.

Isla

Since Isla has officially become an afternoon napper, I decided to make an effort to get out of the house in the MORNING.  Shocking.  I'm so not a morning person.  Anyway, I decided to take Isla back to the little daycare at the gym so I could workout in the mornings.  The last time Isla went to "school" was when she was 10 months old.  She pretty much hated it (and I was paged to come get her 20 minutes later).  I had my fingers crossed this time when I dropped her off.  I stayed with her for a few minutes, walked her over to a group of kids sitting at a table and when she was distracted I gave her a kiss and ran out.  I watched her from the little window to see what she would do, and seriously, I almost cried.  When she realized I wasn't there, she started walking around in a circle, looking for me.  She did 2 full spins and then she saw a baby doll stroller, forgot about me, and ran over to play with it.  Phew.  I HATED seeing Isla search for me...just the thought of Isla thinking I abandoned her broke my heart. 

It felt great getting in a morning work out...although I was totally rushing through everything because I thought forsure I'd be paged any minute!  But surprisingly Isla didn't need her mama at all.  When I came to pick her up, the teacher said she didn't cry once and that she had played with the doll and stroller the entire time. 

We went back today and Isla got excited when we walked into the classroom.  She immediately ran over to her doll stroller again.  When I returned and hour and 15 minutes later, she still had the stroller and she had found a Brobee stuffed animal (from Yo Gabba Gabba) that she was carrying around.  The teacher said she hadn't put Brobee down, and that she had played with him most of her time there yesterday too! 

I'm starting to notice Isla's personality becoming very similar to mine.  She is very particular about things, which she most definitely gets from me.  When she finds something she likes, she won't let it go...and she seems to play with things much longer than kids her age have the attention span for.  At her Tuesday toddler class, Isla plays with the same thing every time  The minute we get there Isla  finds a push toy and brings it into the big play house.  She goes in and out of the house with the push toy for an hour.  She very rarely plays with other toys, and if she does, it's on her way back to the play house.  The other kids run all around, exploring and playing with new things...Isla sticks to what she likes. 

Even at home she must do things in a very particular way.  She will not fall asleep until she has a blanket on her head.  I will watch her play in her crib for a while, and when she is sleepy she grabs a blanket, pulls it over her head, and she's out a minute later!  She also won't drink milk on my lap until I get a blanket for her to snuggle with.  She does not like the dog and cat magnet to be on the fridge...she pulls them off every single time she sees them, and then she brings them into the living room to be with her other toys. 

I just love what a funny little person Isla is becoming.  Don't even get me started on how independent she has become though...I'll save that for another post :)

Caffeine wathdrawl SUCKS.

Uggggghhh!  I had my last yummy sip of Mountain Dew one week ago.  I've been Dew free and caffeine free since then.  It hasn't been too difficult to rid myself of Mountain Dew; I just don't keep it in the house.  I'm ultimately trying to get away from drinking pop completely, but I've had a little orange pop or 7up to help me during my Dew cravings! 

Last week, I had a major Mountain Dew snap.  I went to buy some at the grocery store, and it was $5.99 for a 12 pack!  RIDICULOUS!  I decided we could save a good amount of money if I just drank water instead of pop.  Plus, I will be cutting out roughly 500 calories per day just be eliminating Mountain Dew from my life.  And since I've been working out with my trainer regularly, I want to lose weight fast.  This should definitely help me jump start my weight loss.

All in all, cutting out Mountain Dew is a great decision.  But the withdrawal totally sucks.  Plus, it's like part of my essence.  Everyone knows I love Mountain Dew.  I used to have Mountain Dew cans hanging from my ceiling freshman year!  It's my road trip buddy, pizza pal, morning pick-me-up, and boredom buster.  Mountain Dew is totally my non living BFF!  So it's been tough.  It's like going through a breakup.  I think about it all the time.  Crave it.  Having pizza without it just felt wrong.  But whatevs.  I haven't caved.  I've been sluggish, crabby, and dealing with some major headaches...but I'm  hoping that will pass soon.  And I'm hoping I'll drop some serious poundage ASAP. 

Keep your fingers crossed that I can kick my nasty habit once and for all!

The Weekend Recap.

I love busy-ish weekends.  Not jam packed weekends...but weekends that are busy enough, with some good down time.  This past weekend was nearly perfect!

Friday evening my friend, Jeannie, and I got lovely pedicures at Mario Tricoci and then met up with some other high school friends for dinner at Houlihans.  Oh my goodness...I haven't belly laughed like that in a while!  We were the people sitting at the table, long after the check was paid, drinking water and talking...not wanting the night to end.  We always get together for play dates with the kiddos...but nights without the kids are soooo fun!  And definitely much needed.

On Saturday Andy let me sleep in until 10 (glorious!).  When I got up we decided to run some errands as a family...something we rarely do!  We went to various stores then picked up Subway and returned home.  Isla went down for an afternoon nap and then my dad called and asked what time he could pick up Isla for a sleepover!  BONUS!  We weren't planning on a sleepover.  So my dad picked up Isla at 4 (right as she woke up from her nap) and then Andy and I had a lovely pizza and movie night. 

Sunday was filled with trick-or-treating, the Vikings game, and a family dinner.  Isla was the most adorable ladybug I've ever seen...and watching her carry her little pumpkin bucket around while trick-or-treating just about killed me.  We only went 1 block, but Isla loved running up and down the sidewalks with her entourage not far behind...me, Andy, my dad, Donna, Abb, Tom, and Angela!  7 adults out with 1 child...slightly ridiculous, but no one wanted to miss Isla's first year of trick-or treating!  And Isla totally loved the attention.  After each door we would cheer and clap for her...then she'd do a funny little dance, clap her hands, and then run to the next house.  Cuteness overload.  My heart almost exploded from pure happiness.  It was definitely a great day, aside from the Vikes loss, but I don't watch football so it had no impact on my happiness (I can't say the same for my Dad though). 

That brings me to today.  Here is what we've been up to...

Torii rarely plays with Isla.  But obviously hanging out in suitcases is too cool to pass up. 

I love her.  Even though she never smiles for the camera.