other happenings

,,A couple of days after Noah started walking, I decided to celebrate. We'd been stuck in the house with colds for awhile, and I was dying to get out. It was so nice out, we headed for the park. He's now able to roam freely without me letting him crawl on the dirty ground lugging him around.
He had so much fun. We both did, really.
He rediscovered the slides and giggled the whole way down and tried to climb back up to go again. He played with the little doo-dads on the gym part of it. But what really fascinated him? Mulch.
Noah tends to have two main faces. There's the happy, giggly face and the "Mom, I'm too busy to look at you. I have to figure this out..." face.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

He also loooooves airplanes. We live pretty close to a major international airport, so planes are constantly flying over our house. Anytime he hears one, he points to the sky and says, "A-Bah!"

***

Yesterday, our tiny town had their annual Christmas parade, full of tacky floats, shriners on go-karts, a bajillion dancing kids, a local news anchor, and even the reigning Miss So-and-So who was featured on Toddlers and Tiaras. But the highlight for me? Ronald McDonald.
Y'all, I'm sorry to inform you that our beloved clown is not aging well. His wig seems to have been stored underneath a house for the last year. And really, the magic of tv is amazing. His skin looks SO smooth on the commercials! All that stress of fame must've really taken its toll.

And oh my gosh, it was fa-REEZING.
What in the world?? I mean, it's been getting chillier (fyi, "chilly" in the South is anything below 60), but holy cow. Poor little Noah's nose was about to fall off. I had him in a jacket and brought a thick blanket, but it wasn't enough. The wind was crazy. It made it feel like -35 (ok, probably not, since I've never actually felt anything below 0... but to me, it was ridiculous). Brad, being the highly trained Eagle Scout that he is, was prepared and improvised.

Wah-lah...

(that poor person that got their rear end in our shot. very unfortunate.)

 

After the parade, our friends Mo, Elba, and their son Fernando came over to hang out. The boys played some dance game for the Wii. It was pretty darn hilarious. Something about watching two grown men dancing (badly) in sync to the Jackson 5 struck me as funny.

Sorry it's blurry, but like I said, they were dancing.

***

Noah picked out his very first item at Target the other day. We were walking around, waiting on his prescription to be filled, and he actually pointed to an ornament. So I moseyed myself on over there. He reached out, picked it up, played with it for a few minutes, then put it in our cart.
I wanted to cry. I've taught my boy how to shop.
We had a moment.
I got it for him. It was only $2... and actually pretty cute. Who doesn't love a ginormous candy cane ornament??

***

Remember that whole mural project I was doing in Noah's room? I bet y'all thought I just gave up, didn't you? Well, I've surprised even myself. It's taking a lot longer than I'd hoped... mainly because I'm just all out bad about finishing projects. I've always been that way. I start a big one like this, get bored, and move on. Eventually, I come back around to it. I think this might be one of my less attractive qualities that drives my husband crazy. He doesn't say it does, but every now and then, when I start telling him about a new craft I'd like to try, he ever-so-sweetly says, "Ok, well how about you finish that painting, and then you can do it." Sigh. It was much easier being single. My scattered projects wouldn't bother anyone but me. And maybe Dodger. But he was nice enough to never bring it up.

Anyways, here's the progress. I still have a ways to go. Shelves need to be made. But I'm getting there. Plus, you have to give me credit for attempting all of this while Noah is awake... because this is one of those things that can't be done while he naps.

***

I've decided I want a treadmill.
My husband has decided he's not buying me another darn workout program until I start using P90x more.

Thing is... I don't want to do P90x. I hate spending my hour and a half break (Noah's nap) listening to Tony Horton and doing an ungodly amount of jumping jacks. I enjoy his workouts. But not everyday. I need variety. It's just too easy to NOT push play on the DVD. To go blog a little, catch up on my favorite show... because his nap is pretty much the only chance I've got to do any of that and not feel guilty about it.
And honestly? I like power walking. I actually like sprinting. But I obviously can't do that with a stroller. And Noah is getting to the point where he's totally bored if I want to go for a 3 mile walk. And it's getting too cold for that. I actually was in the best shape of my life in college. My ideal weight is 110-115lbs. I don't even know how much I weigh right now, because our scale broke (and no, I didn't break it)... but it definitely isn't ideal.
I need to lose it. I want to lose it. I want to feel awesome again. I miss it. I want to watch my Say Yes to the Dress shows that I DVR'd and walk and walk and walk. Because when I was in college? I walked and walked and walked on my mom's treadmill while watching tv. And I looked great. Plus, I'd like to start pushing myself. See if I can't sprint a little longer.
I can't go to the gym. He won't pay for a membership (because I have P90x... I swear, Tony Horton is turning into a pain in my rear).
I even found a bunch of treadmills on craigs list for less than $200, and they're good ones.
Any ideas on how to convince the hubster? Because even though it's "our" money, now that my job doesn't bring in much cash, every penny is talked about (except for when I go to Target on my own and decide that I need some new jeans or something).
Maybe I'll start going through the couch cushions and collect spare change, and then I'll be all like, "Look, honey (except I've never called him "honey" in my life)! I found an extra $200! Now I can get a treadmill!" And then he'll say, "What? A treadmill? What about that P90x I bought you? No, we can use that money to save for Noah's college fund." And because Noah's college is way more important than a treadmill, I'll say ok.

See? I'm stuck.

***

On the positive side, I decided to see the little stretch marks on my side as endearing. Like a big "Noah was here" sign. Yep. Silver lining.

***

Tonight, we went to one of our favorite malls. We haven't had much time together as a family lately. The last couple of weekends that Brad has had off, he's been sick in bed. So we decided to have a family date. We walked around, got Noah some new winter pj's (at 40% off, heck yeah!), and ate at our fav frozen yogurt place. Noah adores this stuff. I get him the peanut butter yogurt with banana slices. He gobbles it up. And then gets a brain freeze.

Apparently, Brad didn't realize what size Noah and I got, and he picked out the huge bowl. But it's ok. He got yogurt with a ton of fruit (kiwi, raspberries, etc), so at least he was being healthy.

Anyways, hope everyone's having a good week!

Tomorrow's Friday!! Woo-hoo!!

(not that it makes much of a difference to me... but woo-hoo with the rest of the working world!)