little leprechaun

 As it turns out, this little leprechaun woke up on the wrong side of the rainbow.

Perhaps if we offered her a pot o' gold?

Not likely.

back to the 'burg

 So we made our way back out to the Great Smokies this weekend (Gatlinburg, TN). 

Again.

Third time in six months.

And it's five (plus) hours to get there. 

When you have a cranky eight month old in the car
(who coincidentally blew out all over the place, but missed her new car seat - cranky, but skilled),
five hours is a commitment.
Like "going out" with a boy in middle school.

That kind of commitment.

Also, I have perpetual car sickness akin to the first trimester ever since that one time I got impregnated.

So five (PLUS) hours of pregnancy is a MAJOR commitment right?

Right.

This time my family (minus a sister and her hubby) met us for a half week of
eating, shopping, dead tree looking (the leaves have long since fallen),
frozen waterfall gazing, aquarium visiting, picture taking,
fudge consuming, belly laughing, no sleep getting good times.

And I just discovered that most of the photos taken are in a fancy format (RAW),
which takes effort on my part to convert.

I may or may not put forth that effort.

Only time will tell.

For the time being, trust me when I say we will be back to the 'Burg. 

It is positively lovely, and I feel as though the town was made just for us. 

Also, is it just me, or does Annabelle look something like a teenager here?

ginormous

Once upon a time this headband looked comically ginormous on Annabelle's head.

How did ginormous turn into completely cute?

Sweet girl, stop growing!

i confess...

...Sometimes I make cake, cookies, brownies, etc., just so I can eat the dough or batter. Sure, I enjoy the finished product as well, but the pre-product is where true joy is really found. Did you know you can just dump a little cake mix in a bowl, add water, and wallah - PRE-PRODUCT. (Some of you are gagging right now, right?)

Jess has been studying all week for the ethics portion of the bar exam (it's taken before the "real" test), and I thought I'd have some of our favorite cupcakes ready for him when he gets home from taking said exam. You know, celebratory cupcakes. (But who really needs a reason for cupcakes? I mean, seriously.)

Pretty sure I consumed a few cupcakes worth of batter.

Although I make truly homemade cupcakes occasionally, our favorite happens to be Pillsbury Moist Supreme Devil's Food Cake, straight from a box. You can add some sour cream for richness, but I customarily make it as instructed. The trick is in the frosting, you see. We use this recipe. Substitute almond extract for the vanilla, and you'll be in heaven. 

NOTE: I did not frost Jess' cupcakes pink. These are actually from Annabelle's baby shower. You know. Back when she was a baby. 

like mini wheats (minus the frosting)

I will be the first to admit that I hoped (if not assumed) the weight I gained during pregnancy would work itself off as easily as it worked itself on. However, it was quickly apparent that this wasn't to be the case. I also didn't realize how difficult it would be to fit a workout into a day full of busy baby duties, often after a night of scattered (or little) sleep. Of course, as of late, I've been spinning, which has changed my life dramatically, but that was only with the encouraging cooperation of a husband (he watches Belle when I go to the gym) who understands that a Shauntel who has worked out (hard) is a happier wife, mother, and just generally less cranky all around. But I have another little workout secret in my arsenal. At the recommendation of my sister-in-law, who also recently had a baby, I decided I'd try Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.

Pros:
*It's a twenty minute workout. Anyone can fit in twenty minutes. Whether the babies are napping or playing on the floor while you jump around, it's something a mom can definitely work with.
*There are three levels. I'm still doing Level One, mostly because I have it memorized and can do it while I watch something (Gilmore Girls) else. But also because Level Two frightens me. Point: It will last you a while as you work through each level, and with the change in levels, you get some variety.
*It is a great upper body workout - I can definitely see a difference in my arms and back.
*You do three circuits of strength, cardio, and abs, which is nice because it covers all areas.
*If you use it even just relatively faithfully, it's definitely cost effective. It's about $10 (I bought it on Amazon for $8.99), depending on where you buy it.

Cons:
*If you're already relatively slim and don't have much to lose, you might be able to get "shredded" by using this DVD alone. However, for someone like me who has tens of pounds to lose, this will definitely not be a miracle workout. (However, it is a great supplemental workout, especially in terms of strength training.)
*Jillian Michaels is kind of comical after about the second time you watch it. During the last circuit of crunches, it really doesn't help when she says: "Feel that knot in your stomach? That is fear leaving your body." Oh, that's what that is.
*You need two hand weights. I bought five pound weights (3-5 pounds is the recommended dosage). However you can also be creative here and use water bottles or other bottles full of liquid that you have on hand. (I'm serious.) Additionally, she tells you you need a mat, but if you're working out on carpet and you're cheap like me, a towel (or nothing) suffices. Especially if you skimp on the push ups. Which I may or may not do.

Review:
I've done Level One of the 30 Day Shred for over a month. I do it 4-5 times a week, even on the days I spin. I have definitely noticed a difference, and especially in the first few days, I was sore. However, my body craves hard cardio, and I am sure that the spinning is what has really made the difference for me. I couldn't tell you if I've lost any weight (I don't own scales and only step on them when asked to by a nurse, they just cause me to obsess about my weight more than I already do), but I can tell you that I feel better. My clothes fit better, I feel better, and my arms are definitely losing the pregnant appearance. (When I'm pregnant, all parts of me mirror my stomach.)

It's definitely worth the $10 you'll spend, especially if you have kids and want to have a go-to quick and effective work out.

Post Edit: I didn't mention that I've also changed my food intake a bit. Less calories and fewer treats. Nothing too drastic, but a definite change. I have always firmly believed that any successful lifestyle change (diet) involves both exercise and diet changes. And those changes should be relatively long term, not just a quick fix. But that's just me.

eight months

I feel like this last month has been the most quickly passing month of the past eight.

Maybe it's because she seems to be changing so dramatically from day to day.

One day she's stationary, the next we lose her in the laundry room.

She's both my tiny baby and my almost toddler all in one.

Sometimes I look at her, and I'm pretty sure

my heart might

burst.

sneaky, sneaky

independence day

Standing on her own two feet.

While we scramble to keep up.

overrated

Is it just me, or is American Idol a little overrated this year? If you know me, or if you don't and you read this blog and have been doing so for at least a year, you know I'm an American Idol suck-uh. 

You also know I'm obsessed with my Belle, love Diet Dr Pepper, and cannot give up chocolate to save my life. Or my gut.

It's not just the auditions, which are hee-lair-ee-us, it's the whole concept. If you'd of asked me what I want to be when I grow up when I was anywhere from age four to ten, I'd have told you "a singer and a dancer." Not one or the other, both. Never mind my two left feet and my voice that resonates most regularly in the tenor register when I attempt to flex the golden pipes. That was my plan.

Even though I eventually found a different career path, and then this perfect path of motherhood that I wouldn't trade for anything, there's something about American Idol that tells me my dreams could still come true. I laugh at the silly auditions, but I really do have an inner cheerleading squad that wants the ones who can sing to succeed, to hit the high notes, to pick the right song, to avoid Simon's descriptions like "self-indulgent" (what does that mean really?) or "loungey" or "karaoke." 

But this year, I couldn't tell you a single contestant's name. There's that girl who sings with a smile, like non-stop, with a smile. And there's that guy with longer hair who took his shirt off for Kara in auditions. Oh, and the girl with dreadlocks, a guitar, and a harmonica (a "mouth harp," is that what the kids are calling it these days?). But I can't say I'm at all hooked like I usually am.

So, although American Idol is the figurative representation of my childhood dreams, I'm pretty sure I'll be choosing the figurative representation of sleep over Idol this year.

growing up

Last night, Annabelle was in her silly nighttime mood, this fuzzy place where she acts goofy and sleepy but won't shut her eyes, and if we put her in bed, she'll generally just talk and/or whine herself to sleep in a couple minutes. So last night, I put her in her bed, told her I loved her and proceeded about my nighttime rituals. I prepared the parts of her bottle, brushed my teeth, and sat down to read my scriptures. At this point, it sounded like silliness had turned to sadness, and I told Jess I'd go check on her after I read, thinking that she might just settle herself down, as she usually does. A couple minutes later, I finished a chapter and went to check her.

It was super dark, and with her new rolling skills, you never know where you'll find her, so I turned on the nightlight. There she was, sitting, crunched up in a ball in the corner of her Pack N Play, clutching her favorite blanket (the white crocheted one) and crying into it. She looked so alone and forlorn. My heart just broke. It took her a second to realize Mommy was there. When she did, she nuzzled into me, held on to her blanket with one arm, and fell right to sleep. I held her for several minutes while she slept. Without her silly animations, I could see in that sleeping face her tininess, as though the little girl that had bunched herself into a corner to cry couldn't possibly be in there. She's my tiny baby, right?

I can't believe that she's growing up so fast. I miss those tiny baby days, but I am continually amazed every day as I watch her grow and progress. She finally figured out the forward crawl yesterday, she sings (super high falsetto) on cue, she clap-clap-claps, she's learned to feed herself bits of food. It's so amazing that the small, helpless thing that once fit in one arm now requires both arms for rocking, that I can quite literally wrap my arms around her to hug her. But how I love that her arms can now hug back.