Cleaning Spree

Hello all!!  I have been working my tooshie off spring cleaning my house.  I have literally scrubbed it from top to bottom.  I have managed to get all of our closets cleaned and organized, put away all of mine and Carter's winter clothes in space bags and put into our storage building, dust every piece of furniture that we own, scrubbed our wooden cabinets in the kitchen that was really filthy, and I even managed to clean some baseboards.  I used to be one of those that didn't really think that needed to be done, but considering how much dust I got off of them, I will now clean them at least once every two months or so.  Gross.  I also zapped the bathrooms pretty clean and I don't have even one piece of clothing that needs to be washed and they are all put away, except for the HUGE basket of socks that needs to be matched.  Ugh.  I am just tempted to throw them away and get us all new socks.  I literally hate matching socks with a passion.  Don't know why.  Anyways, to avoid having to work days on end after work to get my house back into order, I am going to attempt this little list.  I like it and it seems very reasonable.  I assume it's easier to clean for about 20 minutes a day than for days at a time.

WHO'S WITH ME????

 

Since I am on the whole "clean living" kick, I am also a fitness junkie at the moment.  I have done really good at eating better and exercising.  I have more energy and I have lost a few inches just in a few short weeks.  As of right now I am into smoothies in the morning and they actually hold me over until lunch when I get my salad.  Dinner time I chow down on whatever, but I at least make two of my meals good for me.  I do snack lightly some during the day and drink lots of water. 

 

Here is one of my smoothies that I drink in the mornings

 

Now, before you get all dramatic on me and start gagging and what not, it's really good!!  It's one apple, banana, 1/2 an orange, 1 cup of yogurt, 5 strawberries, a handful of blueberries, and two handful of baby spinach leaves.  Blend it all up and enjoy!  You can't even taste spinach--only fruit!  So before you judge, you should try it!

 

Also, I found these on Pinterest and I love them!

Salad in a jar!!

 

They're amazing.  I mean, it don't make salads taste better or anything, but for me, one that's usually on the go, it's just convenient to have these already made in the fridge and just grab them and go.  The key is to not let the lettuce and spinach part touch the dressing at the bottom or it will get soggy.  But they stay good for up to a week.  When you are ready for it, you just pour it in a plate and it's ready to enjoy!

 

 

We attended Ava's 2nd birthday a week ago and it was such a cute party!!  Callie and her mom really did an awesome job! 

 

 Obviously, Carter don't care what color toys are as long as they have wheels!  He threw out Barbie every time Ava put her in the little car, so Nick would be proud.

 

 

 

Speaking of 2nd birthdays, I am having to plan Carter's and I'm having a blast.  It's gonna be cute!

 

Carter is still a big ol' pig.  He is finally liking stuff that has the potential of getting messy.  He loves spaghetti, but oddly does pretty good about keeping the mess to a minimum.

 

The little stinker will NOT eat anything out of a can.  So when I have my lazy days that I don't feel like cooking...too bad, because it's either me make a homemade meal for him or he don't eat.  He just knows.  I can set down a bowl of carrots from a can in front of him and he will push it away.  Then I can turn right around and set some down that I had to steam fresh and he he will chow down.  Fruit from a can...you can forget it.  Has to be fresh and peeled.  He also won't eat hot dogs or Vienna sausage..not that I would want him to much anyways..but he hates them.  Gags actually.  And he still will not eat anything sweet unless it's angel food cake and sometimes blueberry muffins.  I don't know if I have brainwashed him or what!!

 

My smart boy knows just about every letter in the alphabet.  He gets "G" and "Q" mixed up sometimes but he is doing really good with them and loves them!!  We will be moving on to numbers and colors next.

 

Alright, that's it.  I won't keep rambling anymore.  I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

 



 

  







Outside

First, I want to apologize.  I know all of you are probably thinking that I am way too obsessed with my son and that I post way too many pictures of him and write every time he blinks.  So...sorry, but that's all I got.  I know you don't want to hear about all my work problems/solutions from day to day so, Carter's what you get.

Anyway.

Since you know as well as I do, its been beautiful outside.  So, that's where we have been the majority of our free time.  Carter is in his idea of Heaven and when we have to come inside it's such a dramatic scene for a good 15 minutes.  Mickey Mouse can't even fix that problem.  We are literally outside until the sun don't shine.

So this blog is going to be mostly pictures of what we do with our days after I am off work.  The biggest "wow" is that Carter is out of the phase where he hates getting dirty.  That's growth people!  He still don't get too dirty but he does not mind it if he does (like he used to).  It's fun being Carter's mom!!

 

 

 

 

He LOVES my mom's convertible.  He can see everything.  But, it's not easy explaining to a one year old why the top to my tahoe won't go back.  My sunroof is all of a sudden boring to him.  Now, we can't pass by a stop sign without staying each letter then yelling GO!!  We also can't pass by an American Flag without saluting it.  Mia taught them that!

 



Boring

It's been several days since I have posted and I really don't have a lot that's been going on.  Just been working, working out, and playing with the coolest 1 year old on the planet.  I have signed up for a relay and my leg is 5.5 miles long.  That may not sound very hard to some of you but, for me, that's a big deal.  I am having to really train hard in a short time because the race is next month.  But, together, AD and I will be ready for it!  AD and I were up to running about 6 miles a while back, then after we ran our 5K race, we decided to take a week off to rest.  Which, of course, turned into a month long rest.  I hate us so hard for doing that!!  All that hard work and now we are having to start all over again.  We won't make that mistake again.

How's Carter been?  He been very good, but he is nothing shy of a mess!  And here is the evidence.

 

Here he is in our bed.  He is a terrible bed partner.  "Don't put him in your bed, then,"  you say?  Well, COME ON!  After the 5th time in one night that he comes in our room after taking him back to his bed every time before, then that's when we give up.  Sleep is very precious in our house and when we are sleep deprived, then the battle is lost.

 

And that's exactly how he sleeps all night.....on Nick.  His face literally has to be touching Nick's head or he is not happy.  Poor Nick.

 

Then here he is in the floor at a store because I didn't let him pull shirts off the hangers.  How dare I???

 

But then there are times like these where he is the sweetest little soul on the Earth.....that needs a haircut.

 

He is still a fan of the outdoors.  So when it's nice, we walk about 2 miles with him while he pushes his wagon.  If he's not a track star when he gets older, then I will be shocked.  He sure does have stamina.

 

But more than anything right now (even trucks) he is really loving letters and numbers.  Everywhere we go he points out letters and numbers on signs, in books, on menus, ect.  He knows about 5 or 6 letters by heart. 

 

 

He is still not talking much.  But every now and then he will pull out words that I had no idea that he knew and say them like he talks all the time.  The other day we were playing with Carter and my Papa said "Where's Carter???"  And Carter ran in the room he was in and said "I'm here!"  Plain as day.  He sure has gotten into a good habit of pointing and grunting for what he wants.  So I am just going to have to be patient.....which is not my strongest attribute.