Walking!

     As you can see in the video to the left, Justin is walking!  From Monday to Sunday he is walking around my entire house without holding on to anything.  Really he started linking steps together on Wednesday, when he took fifteen across the kitchen to get to me.  It was so cute!  I realize that this video is facing the wrong direction, but for some reason he really doesn't want to show off for the camera when he knows it is on him...what a doof!
    His current favorite word is "Wow" which I am not sure if he is actually saying wow or if it is just a baby sound that he likes to hear.  He is getting over last weeks cold pretty well, but now he has decided that he has some horrible stranger anxiety...which makes it really hard on Mom when she takes him to the daycare at the gym!  He is also growing so fast that most of his twelve month clothes are quickly getting too small for him.  Yesterday we went to buy a new TV, attempting to grab the sweet pre-super bowl deals, and I also found some really good deals on some clothes for him.  He was great while we were shopping...I am completely sure it was all of those big TVs!  We ended up buying a 50" plasma for our still unfinished basement.  It is almost there though, it just needs paint and carpet.  We plan on going to get carpet this Friday as it is Nathan's first Friday off.  I am so excited that every other weekend I will get him for three days!

    Justin is also working on a few other things; like playing ball.  I have a video, but it is too long to upload (it would simply take to long).  Here is a pic of him kissing his teddy bear.  This is the bear that Grandma and Grandpa Meek sent him from Arizona.  He truly loves it and if I ever try to put it where he cannot get to it, he really lets me know!
     As for me, things are going great!  I have officially lost 8 lbs. now and I can fit into jeans that I haven't worn since before Thanksgiving!  Gosh, I love my ward, but hate the fact that everybody brought over goodies to fatten up the Christmas Piggy! : )  I already feel better and feel like I have more energy than ever.  I think that it is highly interesting that it takes energy to make energy.  It is crazy that I feel like I have twice the energy that I used to have just by spending an hour a day at the gym!  I am so very thankful for my friend Lisa telling me about this health challenge, and for all of my friends and family that support me.  I especially appreciate all of the people who have told me that it is okay to leave Justin with somebody else for an hour a day.  I think that in the long run it will make me the mom that I truly want to be!

Eleven Months Old

 Justin and I had a great week heading to the gym everyday to get in some workout time!  He seems to do just fine for an hour or so in their daycare, which is really affordable at just $1.75 an hour!  At first I didn't think that I could handle letting him stay with strangers, but it turns out that every single one of the ladies in there are Mom's like me!  They work at the gym and earn a gym membership.  Doesn't sound like a deal to me...but if it works for them!?!  I have already lost 6 lbs., the only downfall of the gym seems to be that we both have a cold now and neither one of us feels very good.  It is really all sinus, but that leads to the headache and the sore throat.

     I had to add this first picture.  I just thought the look on his face, with that little tongue that is always out is so precious.  His true colors always shine through for bath time!  He has a cold, as do I, and believe it or not he did not feel good at all this day...but he was and is always so delighted for bath time.  This also gives us a good look at all of the weight he has gained in the past three months or so.  I was so worried about him being uber skinny, but he has filled out.  He has always been an awesome little eater; this week he tried grilled cheese, shepherd's pie, and tonight he fell in love with this pork dish that I made.  It is wonderful that he loves to eat as much as Nathan and I do!  The second picture is one that I know many of you may think is so not for you, but for those of you who love kitties as much as I do I know that you understand!  Justin has been so gentle lately with my cats!  I believe that he is figuring out that if you are gentle and nice with them, they will stay!  He still loves to chase this particular cat, Spaz, as she never gets close enough for him to do anything but look.  Nathan was able to grab her and let Justin touch her and this adorable pic is the result!  Oh and for those of you freaking out about the cat germs, we washed his hands after this endeavor.

     I just cannot believe that he is 11 months old this week!  He has grown amazingly fast and he is so much fun to play with now!  Yesterday for the first time he gave me 5!  It such a neat feeling and then because I clapped and cheered he thought he was really hot stuff too!  He also has taken about 5 steps in a row before he either grabs on to something or falls on his keaster!  It is Sunday night and getting late no more Nate support tomorrow as he is back to his new job, which he really likes!

New Year, New Job, New Choices

 My darling husband, Nathan, had a great new day at work.  He returned home rather tired and ready for some diner, but other than that he seems to be really content with his new position.
     Justin and I also had a new experience today; we went to the gym (I am a member at Apple) and he went to the day care while I went upstairs and worked out.  Half-way through my workout my friend Lisa, who had the day off due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, showed up and we were able to do some weight lifting together.  It was wonderful to get to see her and spend some time with her.  Lisa discussed with me last week about the health plan that she and a few friends are doing.  It is an eight week challenge that requires you to eat 5 fruits and veggies, drink 64 oz of water, work out 5 days a week, eat no sweets, talk to a team-mate, and don't eat past 9:00 pm.  There are other things that go with it, but if you would like to check it out and perhaps participate, it is on the right hand side of my blog listed as building good habits.  I am going to try it for a couple of weeks prior to joining for sure to make sure that I can handle leaving Justin for an hour everyday.  That is a tough thing for me!  In fact today as I dropped him off to the in house day care at Apple, I had to quickly turn away and head up stairs so that he didn't see me cry and become upset by it!  I want him to have awesome experiences and grow up with a Mom that can do everything with him.  I want to ride bikes, run, play soccer, go swimming, and anything else that he wants me to participate in with him.  I know that by doing an hour a day at the gym it is going to help me get into shape and be more healthy so that in the long run I will spend more quality time with him.  Yep, as you can tell I am still doing my very best to talk myself into this one.  Like I said before, it is really hard for me to leave him at all.
     Tonight as he was having his bath we discovered that he now has two more teeth!  That makes 7.  I am so glad that Nate likes his new job, and that I am also on a new journey for health.  January is sweet when it comes to making changes.

How Teeth Fly...

Okay so I know that teeth don't actually fly, but time sure seems to around here!  Justin is working on his sixth tooth that really cannot decide if it should come in or not.  It just keeps thinking that it would be better staying inside the gums rather than coming out to chomp some food.  Because of this Justin has had a slight diaper rash, some fevers, and sleeping a lot!  It seems like every time I get him up he is ready for a nap again in like 15 minutes.  And let me tell ya, this makes it really hard to get anything accomplished when you have a tired grumpy child.

     Today he somehow cut the inside of his little ear.  I am thinking that he did it with his finger nail.  Then when Nate bathed him tonight it started bleeding again.  Poor little fella is a bleeder like his Mommy!  As for his Mommy, I have been working on a quilt for our new king sized bed.  It is a log cabin quilt as you can see in the picture.  This just looks like it is close to done, but it really isn't.  I still need to add another row to the side and bottom, and the blocks need to all be put together.  Now I cannot decide if I want to tie it or have it quilted.  It certainly would be cheaper if I just tie it, but it will last longer if I have it quilted.  Ugh!  I hate making choices.

     It has been way too cold around here to venture out into the world for shopping or anything else.  It was in the negative teens this morning and it was only about twenty the rest of the day.  I figure it is better to keep my baby in out of that nasty cold.  I hope it starts to warm up soon.  I am getting cabin fever!

January 2011!

Wow!  I cannot believe that this last year is over.  It was one of the most wonderful, yet hardest years of my life.  I am so in love with my family and my life.  So here is a little bit about the last week:  the beginning of the week went by in a flash and then on Thursday I went to lunch with my friend Laura.  Her husband is very sick and doctors cannot figure out what is wrong with him so she needed some time away.  We had lunch at Sol Rio, where Justin was so good while we gabbed for almost two hours!  Then on New Years at our house was like a regular Friday night.  We ordered a pizza and rented a movie from the Red Box.  (Love that thing!).  We put Justin to bed and enjoyed the movie.

Greedy Game Gifts!

      The next morning we got up and went to Nathan's Thomas family party with wonderful food and the greedy game.  It was great and nobody could believe that Justin has grown as much as he has.  He wanted to 'walk' around everywhere (this means that he would hold on to my hands and we would walk around like a badly connected bug).  After the party we went to Nana Meek's house where my family had met for the new year.  It was great fun to get to talk to my dear niece Abi and having the opportunity to meet Eric's friend, Lisa.  Then we had a regular night of coming home, making diner, and playing with Justin.  We had fun with that beautiful little boy who we love so very much!  (I will add pictures to this, but Justin is taking a nap and the camera is in his room).