Over It!

I can't wait for winter to be over. I say it every single winter, but this one is like living in Iowa again. The snow is pretty, but I need green grass! I despise the cold. I'm sick of coats, and hats. I'm just over it. I can't wait until the day when I can slide my bare feet into flip flops and walk out the door without having to bundle up the kiddo!

Daniel and I have had fun playing out in the snow together a few times, so I guess I'm not a complete Scrooge!





We had a fun Valentine's Day!



I bought some treats to take to the Y for the kiddos from Daniel. He helped pass them out as the kids came in. I also made sugar cookies for all of the main staff who spoil Daniel rotten every single day. Then I printed some Valentine's to attach to the front of the bag, and let him pass them out!



After nap he got to open his mail. He had cards from both sets of grandparent's and a card from his Great Grandma T. He got a dollar in that card and exclaimed, "Money!" then pulled out his cash register to put it in! He also got a couple of books and some treats as well.

After he went to bed, Jacob and I watched a movie. We don't really exchange gifts or anything, but it was fun watching a movie together!

Yesterday Mimi and Pa came over and played. Daniel had a blast, as always.





Then he got to stay home with Daddy today, because I didn't want to take him out in this icy mess!

I finally made myself exercise today. I've been slacking and hadn't worked out since last Thursday. I'm pretty proud of myself though. I've lost about 9 pounds since the first week of January and ridden about 230 miles on my recumbent bike! I knew when my jeans didn't fit it was time to cut back again. Being tall has an advantage, because it makes me look thinner, but I know when I'm weighing too much. I had gained almost 15 pounds in the last year. My goal is to lose that 15. I've done a lot of cheating...especially this last week. Mostly eating out and not making good choices. I let myself eat McDonalds on Friday...first time since the end of December. Big. Fat. Mistake. I didn't get fries. I got a snack wrap and a caramel frappe. The snack wrap was yummy. The first few sips of the frappe were heavenly, but that's all I really needed, and I drank almost all of it. I felt sick all night and was sick all morning on Saturday. Lesson learned. Gotta get back on track. I'm letting myself eat a little more junk, but I have to be careful not to get out of control. It's WAY too easy for me! Maybe by the beginning of April I'll shed the other 6 pounds. That's the goal!

It's Been A Few Weeks

I haven't blogged much lately. I haven't really known what to say. A lot of people know there's something going on with my sister (Erica) and Jim, but many do not know the circumstances, nor is it my place to share them here. They just need a lot of prayers. It's only been 10 days since we found out what was happening, and it feels like months. I've been through an array of emotions. Confused. Shocked. Angry. Sad.
When you intermix that with the emotions of motherhood and daily life it's hard to feel a sense of balance. I'd be laughing at something Daniel did, while trying to sort through my emotions of everything happening with my sister. With the help of my anxiety medicine, I've only had one meltdown though. Phew.
I know. This is all so mysterious, but really there's no good way to share what's happening, so just pray.

Daniel keeps up on our toes constantly. He's talking in full sentences! For the past 2 days he's been talking nonstop. He's quite the little chatter box and his little mind absorbs everything. I am insanely jealous of his memory. He remembers things that happened months ago and tells me about them like it's fresh in his mind.

He can finally says the names of every letter of the alphabet! He's struggled with "W" for a long time and wouldn't even try to say it. Usually he'd just flip whatever we were looking at upside down and say, "M!" Then the other night we were playing with his foam letters and he said it! He can also count to 12 now. After that everything is either "teen" or "15".

My absolute favorite time of the day is bedtime. Not because he's going to bed and we finally get a couple hours of quiet (although I LOVE that too!), but because of our long talks. They're getting so much fun. Once we finally get teeth brushed and everything ready, we read books and then turn out the light. Even before he could talk much, I've always talked about what we did that day. Now he snuggles up and says, "Mommy, Daniel...talk about day!" So we review...and then he usually backs up and we talk about other things too. He's still talking about our trip to Iowa! Then we say our prayers and I always have him thank Jesus for something too. For awhile he was thankful for "HoHo" every night. Lately he's thankful for Mommy and Daddy! Usually we sing some Bible songs, but lately he's wanting to talk more and not sing...until I say it's time for bed! He's quite the negotiator too. He'll say things like, "Rock, a couple more minutes?" And really, how can I resist that? It's the one time of day he stays on my lap for more than 30 seconds. Well besides going down for nap.

All of a sudden he can say people's names too! He names all of his friends at the Y now. He can now name all of his aunts and uncles too! Still working on his cousin Logan's name, but he said Erica today!

We've had some major cabin fever this winter. I literally feel like I'm living in Iowa again. It's been bitterly cold (or as I call it, "snot freezing cold") Not to mention, we've had a ton of snow. It was finally gone and then we got another 8 inches dumped on us on Tuesday. Lucky Jacob! He got out of school early on his birthday (Tuesday) and didn't have school until today. They've had 9 snows days this year. I lucked out and got a snow day on Wednesday too, so Daniel and I had some fun with PlayDoh and color pegs.







He stayed at home with Jacob yesterday and was rather ornery. I decided to let him help me bake cookies for our friends at the Y last night. He first baking experience. He had fun in the kitchen, but I don't know that he really enjoyed the cookie making. He had more fun playing in the sink!





He had fun at the Y today, and was very nice to his friends! Yay! (It's a work in progress) Then we got his hair cut.

Tomorrow we're going to Springfield to go out for Jacob's birthday dinner. Hopefully we can get rid some more cabin fever!