So many good things in my life... but if I'm not happy with ONE thing... CHANGE IT.

I believe most people struggle with... maybe being jealous of parts of other peoples lives. With all of our lives blown up on facebook with pictures and "status updates" and conversations held online for all to see, I think it's almost impossible for people to not see these parts of our lives that we show everyone and not get jealous about something. It's that part of us that always thinks the grass is greener on the other side, I guess. For me, I generally think of facebook as a way to show of my son.. now anyway... and I love to post things so all my family can keep up to date on what is going on and how he is growing up. However, of course I have done a little... "facebook stalking". You know, you start looking at one persons page which leads you to another and another and so on.. the one thing I get jealous of is when I see girls I knew or know pics and they look so skinny, so good in all their cute outfits, I can't help but think... Ugh, that used to be me! I used to look so cute in everything I tried on and now it takes me hours at the mall to find ONE black, plain dress that I simply decide is acceptable to wear out. After I got back to work when Maddox turned 3 months, I began Weight Watchers and I was working out and I started running as well. I was losing weight and feeling good... but then, as a lot of moms might say, I got 15 pounds from my pre prego weight and the weight loss just stopped. Well, as motivated as I WAS... somewhere along the line I began to get unmotivated as the weight loss started to slow down and what seemed like it completley stopped. So now I am completley off of Weight Watchers, which by the way for a nursing mother is an AMAZING weight loss plan, I promise all you nursing mothers out there.. .it DID WORK FOR ME. I lost quite a bit a of weight on it. I gained over 60 pounds when I was pregnant with my son... I've lost almost all of that weight. Before I got pregnant I was working on losing weight... I was not unhealthy by any means and I still looked great it outfits I chose and right now, I'd love to get back to that weight.. but back then, of course I thought I needed to lose more and, knowing how I felt my goal is to get 10 pounds UNDER my pre prego weight. Right now, I feel so ... I'm trying to think of the word.. depressed about my weight comes to mind but I'm not totally depressed... i know I can get it off, but I know it's going to be MUCH harder from here on out. First off because as you get older and after you have a baby it's just more difficult to get the weight off, but also because when you have a husband and a child it just becomes increasingly difficult to "diet"... whether you call it a diet or a lifestyle change it's the same darn thing! The fact is, I told myself while I was pregnant... I'm going to eat whatever I want, whatever I crave because this is the time in my life I can... well, why am I doing it now? I have no excuse... my son is going to be 9 months old in 4 days so I can't say I JUST had a baby anymore. Come on Amanda, let's do this! Let's get this weight off. The fact is I know what it's like to feel good about myself and the fact is, I'm happier with myself and everyone else around me if I feel good in my skin. I know what I need to do to get there... so I NEED TO DO IT!

Now... I'm not setting an unrealistic goal, I don't think. I know I will never be the girl on the left ever again. That was 23 year old crazy party girl when all I had time to do was go to work, go to the gym and party in the evening. Oh how my life has changed now :) And let me tell you, I EXTREMELY happy with my life now, so don't misunderstand me. The only think I'm not happy with, is my body... hey I'm a woman... :)
One thing I remember from my childhood is hearing my mom complain about her weight, expecially when we went shopping... I used to think, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT IF YOU'RE THAT UNHAPPY! And she finally did once we got older and she looks amazing :) I'm telling myself...
If you're not happy with something, CHANGE IT.
So my goal is, I need to lose around 25 more pounds.... I think I could be happy with myself then.

Update on the family:
I'm a stay at home mom which I've wanted since I birthed my beautiful baby boy. Of course I've had thoughts since I have been a mom about going back to work. NOT because I am tired of being a stay at home mom... only because I am so used to having my own money.... I know that is so selfish to say. But I'm so used to be very independent and for the first time in my life I have to rely on someone else.. my husband. He's doing an amazing job taking care of us, but it has been difficult from an independent woman stand point, that's for sure! I have had a couple interviews for jobs.... I mean if I were to get a really good deal, I know that I should work... so we can save more money and set up a better life for Maddox... BUT I dread the day I have to leave my son on the week days again and miss him while I work. Who knows, maybe I can find a happy medium and find a job that allows me to work from home a couple times during the week. SO CONFUSED on that front... On one hand I feel guilty for thinking about going back to work... am I being selfish? Or by NOT going back to work am I being selfish? I don't know...
I was actually sitting out on my deck the other evening just looking at the stars... just getting some air and enjoying one of the ncie evenings we've had.... yea I know, sounds corny, outside looking at the stars ahah. I had just gone outside and Maddox and Justin were snuggling in the bed with each other watching TV. I felt such joy. I felt sooo lucky.. because I rememer the days I thought I would NEVER have this. I remember the nights I cried, praying to god with all the promises of what I'd do if he'd give me what I want.
Now, I have it and I mope about my weight. Seems so small in the whole scheme of things. I know that at least.

All I know for sure in my life right now is, my husband and my son make me the happiest woman in the world... fat or skinny ;)

UPDATE on my scattered life!

Hey everyone... I know, I know... worst blogger ever alert! I keep promising to get back into this and something just keeps coming up... life.

SO... Since I last wrote you here's what's been going on.

Going to work and missing my son was no fun... I missed Maddox so much. Well, to make matters worse work decided to cut almost everyone's pay. Well, I had to make a decision. At this point, getting a pay cut made it not worth it to work for me and be away from my son. If I have to be away from him... I better be making, number 1, what I deserve and Numer 2, enough to counter balance the time away from my son. SO, I decided it wasn't enough and I decided to leave my job. I gave them my notice and made sure to leave on good terms. Was I nervous? Heck yes! I have NEVER... EVER , not had a job since I was 14 years old. I had never left a job without having another job! I felt I had to go with my gut feeling with this was the right thing to do in my life at this time. JK Pest & Termite, owned by my husband, has been doing so well. The fact is, Justin works 7 days a week, morning to evening and he's doing really well. As long as the finances are done properly, he is making plenty to support us. In a way, with Justin gone so much working, I feel maybe Maddox was being slighted a bit with me being at work during the week all day and Justin being at work... well all the time!

So, I've now been home for a month... I do absolutley love being at home with my baby boy. It's such a joy to know that I can wake up and be with him all day long. I started out helping Justin with the business.. working up new marketing ideas. We'll see how they do!

SO, now after being home, my son is crawling all over the place AND he's pulling himself up on everything reaching distance. Our most recent challenge... sippy cups! OH MAN, he does NOT like sippy cups. I'm told eventually he'll get it, but he just doesn't seem interested... which I'll be honest, makes me not interested in giving it to him! He makes a complete mess, spitting juice and water all over the place on every try. Well... I'll keep trying and keep you updated on that!

You know what else is cool? Seeing that Maddox has learned how to work his toys now! You know, he know's what to do to make this toy make noise... or this toy to lite up! It's so amazing to see this little spongy brain soak everything in! He has also learned to pull all of his toys out of his toy basket... ha... that's fun apparently.

What is a pain? Well.. the crawling behind the couch every minute I don't look at him.. so I have to climb behind the couch... in between that and the railings... oh man.. that's a pain. ha.

Stay at home mom... let's see how I do! :D

Making some changes

I'm trying to make some changes lately. We need to save money and I've also taken over the Accounting part of JK Pest & Termite business for my husband. We need to be VERY aware of what we are spending.

However, I don't feel like my house can't look nice still! So, I've taken up crafting! I have quite a few friends who take old and make them new! One in particular is Shannon Vaughan Danis! She's wonderful at this!
Well, I just want you all to know... if I can do it... believe me, you can! I've been going crazy because I can't go to all the stores and get the expensive decor I really want. Well, if I can't buy it... why not do my best to make it?!

I'll keep you all up to date... currently I'm working on Maddox's bathroom! This is going to be whale themed bathroom!

While I've begun this process... I want you to know I've already gotten TONS of ideas from PINTEREST.COM! WOW... you thought facebook was addicting? NOPE... Pinterest is SO addicting! I have to thank Natalie Brown for sending me the invite to join! I simply can't get enough of this site!

About Food:

Last night I went to Poste in DC, for restaurant week with some of my girl friends. I had a really great time. This was my first time going to resaurant week and I must say... I can't see myself skipping out on it again! Although it's hard to rip myself away from my little guy... I have to admit, it was nice to just hang out with the girls, let loose and have some good food... and a couple glasses of vino! I actually had a couple bites of BASS.... And.... drumroll please***** I liked it! I wouldn't say love and I'm not sure I would order it, but... I did like it. I actually had the vegetarian dish... not because I'm a vegetarian... however I could never see myself eating... BABY GOAT! ;) The desert... AWESOME! And now to the service... NOT so great. We all talked about how there was about 3 people serving us but our drinks took a while to get served and well there wasn't much of the "How are you doing, do you need anything else"... so we were not impressed with the service.
BATHROOMS?.... As long as you don't mind walking out of the restaurant, into the hotel connected, up the two flights of stairs.... past the to wasted girls tumbling all over the place... and down a couple halls... then sure, they aren't too far... ( Can you sense my sarcasm?)
Well, we'll see what the next restaurant week comes up with. :D



About Maddox:

Maddox now has FOUR teeth total! Three on the top, One on the bottom! Can you believe it? One more day and my son will be 7 MONTHS OLD! Too fast.... too fast, that's all I can say!
So, he is sitting up like a big boy! All by himself! He's grabbing toys, grabbing everything in front of him! He's aware of everything going on around him and is SO inquisitive! He has this sponge soaking look on his face all the time! He's just taking it ALL in. Now... he's working on the crawling... he gets around... somehow scooching or turning, who knows... such small movements we have no idea how he gets from one end of the room to the other.. it's like he only does it when we're not looking! Ha.

Well, he got up on his hands and knees and did the rocking thing one day... and now won't do it again. Justin found the rocking hilarious as he says... Why is he humping the ground??? "Awe, that's my boy!" Justin says... Oh man. Although... I must admit, it does strangely look like he's quickly humping the floor and I can't help but burst out laughing like a child myself. haha.

Maddox... focusing... "How do I do this..."

"Dude... mom! Stop taking pics!"

BLOGGING:

SO... My next stop on the blog is to take pictures! I know, blogs are SO much better with some pictures to go with them! So from now on, i'll add pics to my blogs. :D EXP with my new crafts I'll be working on.

I'm starting this post not sure what it's going to end up as...

Sorry it's been a MONTH since the last post... Being a mommy, a full time working mommy and a wifey is a lot of work and keeps me pretty busy! On top of that work has been getting increasingly more busy every day... ugh. Is this a good thing?... Yes, because when I'm busy it makes my day go by so much faster... is it a bad thing? Yes, because the more busy I am the more stressed I get.. of course. While I do my best to not sweat the small stuff... sometimes the small stuff does make me sweat. I do my best to say... I can only control what I do... not what others do... but sometimes I ignore myself. ha.

Over the past month we've been on a couple vacations, we've figured out that Maddox absolutely loves the beach and the pool... water baby is what we have! I LOVE it! He is such a goooood baby! Justin and I go so lucky with our guy! He naps on the beach in the shade and then plays in the water or even just sits and plays in his pool on the beach! I can't tell you how much I love hearing what a good baby he is from people! It makes me so proud of my little guy! I mean I think he is a GREAT baby, so good... but you never know if you just think that because YOUR the mommy.... so when others confirm it's true... it makes you feel good!

Let's hope that Mister Maddox keeps his calm demeanor throughout his life. I do love his laid back personality but he also knows how to let out chuckles and laughs that just brighten my day!

If I could have any wish at all in the world... it would be to be a stay at home mommy and stay with my love bug.

Well, I also noticed I never shared pictures of Maddox's room! SO, My next blog I'll share the pictures of Maddox's room :D

PS... What do ya know... this one ended up being about Maddox mainly.. ha, so this is my life :D

Till next time, happy blogging!

Teething for my Gerber baby ... Oh Joy!

Maddox cut his first tooth!! It happened June 24th! A couple days prior to that, he randomly started getting very fussy! He was even up off and on all night, crying... and this was not a "whine" cry, this was "Something HURTS mommy!" cry... I felt awful for him! I tried tylenol, that only made it worse cause it made him more tired and cranky... he was literally crying in his sleep. We finally got him to sleep for the night by around 3 AM... then he got back up at 6AM. The following day his gum had a white dot... i thought.. could it be? And I convinced myself... No, it's too early for a tooth!
Next day, I look in Maddox's mouth... there it is! a tooth popped right out!!!!!! I can't believe my baby boy is growing up!!!!!!!!!! I teared and felt like everything is going too fast... everything seems to be happening one right after another!

*** Let me tell you... I'm not real used to Maddox crying a lot.. we got so lucky with such a good baby! With Justin working 7 days a week, sometimes it can be hard, I feel horrible for my baby boy cause there is nothing I can do, besides slapping on tons of Orajel and giving him Tylenol occasionally. WHICH, I'm not a fan of giving him Tylenol... sometimes it makes him pass out so hard, it freaks me out! But while he has a second tooth he's cutting now, he's happier if I give him Tylenol and Orajel right before he goes to bed... still wakes up a little but not as much as off the Tylenol.... I wish I could teeth for my boo boo... I hate hearing his pain cry!!!! But I think he's being a trooper because most of the time, it's only night time he gets upset.***

The next day, he was at his Mimi's house (Justins moms) and she called me... said she walked out of the room, came back in and Maddox was all the way across the room. She thought, "How did you get there?" She moved him back on his mat... then noticed he scoots on his back, pushing with his strong legs!
I couldn't believe it! He's figuring out ways to get around already! Next couple days I put him on his back and he's scooting like crazy!!!!! WOW, How time flies!


I took this pic when I found his tooth.. it was too hard to get a pic of the actual tooth.. but i will, eventually!

NOW, On to GERBER BABY! My lil chunky monkey has been entered into the Gerber Baby generation contest. He could win a $50,000.00 Scholorship!!!!! I'm so hoping... there is 129,000 babies entered so far... today is the last day for entries... We'll see if he has a chance :D
Considering, to me, he's the cutest baby on this PLANET!!!!!!!

I love my baby boo!


Below is a copy of the entry!

AND, The pic I used:

Working out.. feeling good... let's try running!

I've been working out every day at lunch time... I'm feeling good! I've been doing weight watchers for a while now and it's been working great as well. I just felt like my weight was stuck and I stopped losing it so quickly so I needed to add working out.
Of course I'm losing weight again... YAY! BUT... I feel like I'm not losing it fast enough... SO, I had decided I wanted to start running.. on top of working out at the gym 5 days during the week, I will add in running, 3 times a week.

I was actually telling my friend Hila that I was beginning to run... she is a big runner, so I thought I'd ask if she had any tips for me. She has got me thinking about training for a 3K... I'm not sure I can do it yet... we'll see how my foot holds out running 3 times a week.

Last night was my first time running outside... I made it 12 MINUTES... Haha... wow, running is HARD. I used to run with my dad.. in my skinny days and more in shape days... I don't remember it being so... awkward? Guess I need to get used to it and guess as I lose this extra flabby skin still hanging around from Maddox's birth, I'll feel better about running as well.

Of course, i need to work on my self esteem a bit... As I was running, every single person I see all I can think is, they look at me and say, "ha, look at that flab bouncing up and down... she's not going to last long". I know, it's pathetic... why should I care what they think? I'm doing this so I get rid of the flab!!!!! I'm doing this so I feel better, not so other people can feel better! So while working out and working on my figure, I'll be working on my self esteem and worrying about me and not what other people think.
I should be proud of this flab! This is from the miracle baby my husband and I created, I should wear it with pride................ but not for too much longer ;)

Something I've heard... 10 Months to put on the weight, 10 months to take it off... let's see if I can take it off in... 7 months!

Full time working mommy with a part time job to add?

Tired mommy... is an understatement!

This is how my days have gone lately... Wake up, 6:00AM to my wonderful little guy, Maddox. Happy boy, playing, feed him, change his diaper and play some more! Get him ready to go to Mimi's house for the day. Give him lovies, then rush to get myself ready, out the door by 8:15AM to go to work. Lunch time comes, go to the gym... then back to work :/
I get home, to play with my little love bug some more. I cook dinner, feed Maddox dinner, eat dinner (Justin and I take turns with who eats dinner first)... Then, play with Maddox while Justin enters all his work for the day into the computer...
*Side note: My husband owns a pest control business, this is his 4th year and going strong! *
Then, I give Maddox a bath, give him his night time feeding, then off to bed he goes around 8:30 / 9:00PM.
Afterwards, I get onto the computer and continue learning Quickbooks and all about Accounting. Yes, I'm teaching myself right now. Justins business has been getting so busy, it's time to do the accounting correctly.. time to figure out how to budget each month and save so he can hire someone SOON... he works 7 days a week currently and that's NO fun for me and Maddox to go to all the weekend cookouts and parties all by ourselves.
I mean don't get me wrong.... I love having Mr. Maddox all to myself ;) but he loves his daddy too and wants to see him more during the weekend!

So last night I spent a very late night working on JK Pest ... only to wake up EARLY with Maddox, 5AM this morning ... I fed him and prayed he'd go back to sleep... NOPE.. He's wide-eyed and ready to play!!!! Oh how can I be grumpy when such a beautiful angel is looking at me, cooing and smiling, begging me to play!? He instantly puts me in a great mood... although, as soon as I'm out of the door, on my way to my full time job... extremely tired... I'm put into a not so good mood anymore. Until I get home later and see my boo's face once more :)

We've decided to finally hire a financial planner to help us get everything together! I met with one yesterday and he seems sincere. I hope this works out! He's offered to clean the accounting up then show me how to maintain it. So I'm very excited to get started!

We have goals... we just need a PATH to get to the goals we've set. So the financial planner will hopefully be the guide for this!

Wish us luck and... if you or anyone you know needs pest control... Give us a call!

JK PEST & TERMITE
www.Jkpest.com
703-622-2450
jkpest@live.com

CONGRATS NATALIE BROWN.... SOON TO BE GOODMAN!

First off, shout out to NATALIE BROWN and CHRIS GOODMAN, on their engagement! CONGRATS!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited for Miss Natalie :D

What an AMAZING proposal story :D Good Job Chris!



He even thought of having photographers there to catch the whole wonderful moment!




BEAUTIFUL ring!!!!!!!!!!!!





Now... I miss my wedding! Ha.. why does your friends weddings do this to you? I wish I could plan another wedding for myself! I mean... don't get me wrong... I LOVED my wedding but why can't I have another? I keep saying to Justin... we need to have a 5 Yr, renewal of vows... like every 5 years... then we can have a party. Ha... as long as there is open bar.. I'm sure no one will mind!

Do you ever wonder... how many times the guest list will change every 5 years? Let me ask you... would you have all the same people at your wedding now... that you did back when you got married? Our lives change SO often... it's hard to keep all the same people in your life! I think I've done a pretty good job with keeping most people in my life... but there is a few people I would probably not invite now... and a few that I didn't invite that I would now! Our lives are ever changing.

Natalie, if I give you any advice at all... without your request, it's this... Don't put too much thought in your guest list... you never know who will be there in the future... stick to family and friends who have always been there for you. And, if anyone gets upset for not being invited OR if they get upset they can't bring a date... screw them! They aren't a real friend then. Have FUN planning this wonderful day and take the stressful moments with a grain of salt. You only get this day once, so enjoy everything running up to... don't close your eyes for this fast ride... keep them wide open! Take breaths and look around... it's just one more moment in your life and cherish it while you have it!

KING BED!

We got a new bed!... A KING BED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!
We just got the mattress and matress pad today :) We'll get the bed frame (below) in about a week and a half.. which I can't WAIT for because I HATE mattresses being on the floor... SO TACKY!




Well, there's my tid-bit for the day... I'll have more next week... until then, have a GREAT weekend everyone!

Being a mommy ALWAYS comes first!

I love my baby... I'm pretty much obsessed with him... I can't get enough of his sweet smiles, joyful giggles and even his sour face pouts! He's the light in my life! As I always sing to him... he's my sunshine. I'm pretty sure I'm good at putting Maddox first... the problem is, I'm having trouble putting myself anywhere!
As soon as I get home, all I want to do is play with him, love him, hold him! On the weekends, I spend as much time as I can just playing with him and making him smile or laugh... I find I don't eat as healthy as I should and it's been SO difficult to get to the gym ... the main thing on my mind is being a mommy!
HOWEVER... I do look in the mirror often and say... ew... look away! I can't stand that skin dangling from my belly where it was stretched to the max and ruined my beautiful flat tummy... Then I tell myself... DUH, it was totally worth it! And I go back to my baby.... the problem is.. what am I going to do to get my body back?
I'm tired of people telling me.. "You'll never get your previous body back", well I want to prove them wrong! PLENTY of women get there body back.. it just takes hard work... BUT how do you put in that hard work when in your free time you just want to be with your baby boy?

So I'm currently doing weight watchers diet... which I am loving. I feel fulfilled AND they have a "Nursing Mothers Diet", so I still produce plenty of milk for my guy. Now ... the tricky part, gym... finding the time! Well, I already know, the ONLY time I will go to the gym is when I dont have Maddox, which is during my lunch time during the week. Well, I planned on starting as soon as I got back to work.... that was... a month and a half ago ... oops :)
I just got so used to running errands at lunch time, because that's the only time I don't have Maddox, so it's easier to get things done!

The procrastination is done with... TODAY, I went to the gym at lunch and worked out for an hour... I feel rejuvenated! You know that feeling, like you HAD to have lost some weight cause you feel so good! Really??? You worked out ONCE... so I look in the mirror... sure enough.. still, EW.
Yes, I knew that I wasn't going to be happy with myself right away, but don't you just wish you could, PROMISE to continue to work out and the weight would come off as soon as you decided to do this? Then, if after a week, you didn't work out, you would gain the weight back.

Yea... I know, isn't going to happen!

So until miracles can happen... or we become rich and I can get lipo... I guess I'll stick with weight watchers and the gym.... I need to look decent in at least a one piece by July.. and I need to look damn hott by the end of August! I have tons of weddings to go to after August!