Blueberry Ever After

Luke has recently been upgraded to a big boy tub and just discovered he can splash his hands and toys in the water, making bathtime his new favorite activity. Check it out in the video below.

Like most everyone in blogland, I have some goals for the new year. Some of them are big goals, including my enormous, priority critical goal to be hot again in 2010. Sure, it is all wintery now and I have been able to camouflage my extra fat layers under big bulky sweaters and hibernate in front of the fireplace so as not to be seen or photographed too much in my current enlarged-version-of-Heather state, but come springtime what will happen to me when it is all tank tops and shorts again? I can't stay hidden under sweaters forever, and especially not in NC. It is time to get down to business. Behold my shiny new half marathon training schedule!

Week of 1/9: 4 miles
Week of 1/16: 5 miles
Week of 1/23: 5 miles
Week of 1/30: 6 miles
Week of 2/6: 7 miles
Week of 2/13: Run for Water in Africa race (5K)
Week of 2/20: 8 miles
Week of 2/27: 9 miles
Week of 3/6: 10 miles
Week of 3/13: 11 miles
Week of 3/20: Race Day!

But wait, there's more! Along with my fabulous new training schedule and countless miles of running comes you guessed it, healthier eating habits. I will be eating a lot more salads and a lot less bread and processed foods. I will use my new camelback water bottle to ensure I am taking in the recommended amount of H2O daily. I am putting it all out here for you to read, so I can keep accountable for these goals. If I am going to complete Bikini Quest 2010, I will need your support! Please help me stay strong...that means no offering of baked goods when you see me in real life. I am on a mission people.

What are your goals this year?

I don't know what is up with me but I am feeling extra-Christmasy this year. Maybe motherhood has truly gotten to me, but I am just filled with holiday spirit and joy and I am doing my best to spread it everywhere. I have bought toys for tots, donated to the food bank, contributed to St. Jude's, pretty much done everything shy of sitting on Santa's lap myself to thank him for such a great year. Not that I don't normally enjoy Christmas, I do, it's just that I typically don't want to hear Christmas music until I go to mass on Christmas Eve, so being exposed to it for hours on end while running errands usually makes me want to poke my eyes out with a stick.

However, yesterday I found myself humming along in the middle of Walgreens and anyone who knows me can tell you how un-Heather-like that type of behavior is. I was shocked myself when I realized what was happening. I suppose I just feel so lucky to have a happy, healthy baby and a husband who puts gas in my car so I don't have to stand out in the cold and do it myself. Really lucky. So if you catch me humming some Bing Crosby in the next couple of weeks, no I haven't lost my mind. I am just so disgustingly happy it slips out before I even realize it. I will try and contain myself but this year I can't make any promises.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

This weekend we are hosting my sister Becky, my brother Matt and his wife Caroline and Caroline's brother Wally for Thanksgiving. We have already told Wally that from now on he'll be referred to as brother-in-law because otherwise it gets too complex to explain and he kind of is one anyway right?

Becky and I started the day out with a 5 mile race that Kathleen and Amy also ran. It was pretty hilly so we definitely earned our dinner! Unfortunately the fried turkey didn't fry all the way through so we had to finish it off in the oven and it wasn't ready to eat until about 5pm. So dinner came later than expected but it was good, which probably has more to do with the beer and sangria we used to entertain ourselves while it was cooking than the actual quality of the food.

Luke is enjoying all of the extra attention he's getting this weekend from our guests and had a great first Thanksgiving Day. We gave him a bite of mashed potatoes that to Jay's great dismay he wholeheartedly rejected. He made the most disgusted of faces, an expression that said: What is this flavorless mush you are trying to force feed me? As if!

Jay, Matt and Luke just went out to brave the Walmart black Friday sales. I am happily resting at home in my warm bed with my coffee, trying to avoid the holiday crazies. Caroline and I may venture out later in the day when those 3amers are safely out of the way though.

Happy Black Friday everyone! :)

Luke modeling his indian headdress project from daycare:

Hanging with Mommy while waiting for the turkey to finish cooking:

Luke finally let Uncle Wally hold him--he was scared of the beard at first but now seems to be enthralled by it:

Uncle Matt didn't even make it as long as Luke did last night. He promptly fell asleep after dinner on the floor around 6pm. Roux took total advantage of having a new cuddle buddy!

• Burnt popcorn smell.
• People that get up to go to the bathroom on the airplane after they just made an announcement that you should stay in your seat. And also people that get up to get in line for the airplane bathroom when there are already like 10 people blocking the aisle. The bathroom isn't going anywhere people, can you wait 5 minutes?
• People who cut in front of you either while walking or driving, only to go slow. If you are not in a hurry, then why did you have to cut in front of me?
• People who don't pick up after their dog in public.
• Waking up like 30 minutes before your alarm. I can never fall back asleep and enjoy those last few minutes.
• Inflatable yard decorations.

I think that's it for today...

My husband requested a holiday wish list from me the other day and it got me to thinking, as I could offer nothing I truly wanted or needed off the top of my head (apart from a shiny new ipod to replace the one that went missing this summer). A few items began to occur to me this week and let's just say I feel super lame about even putting most of them out here:

• New kitchen scissors. Yes, I said it.
• Dish towels for the kitchen that are pretty, neutral and not stained.
• Hand towels for the guest baths that are also pretty, neutral and not stained.
• I still want fluffy gray bath towel sets for the master bath (see birthday wish list).
• A kickass food processor, perhaps one that doesn't make it sound like a 747 is attempting to take flight from inside my kitchen, like my current one does.
• Aforementioned iPod. Preferably the touch, 16 or 32GB.
• A nice reusable water bottle with a spout, bpa free that doesn't drip or leak all over me, something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Camelbak-CamelBak-Better-Bottle-Limited/dp/B002HQTVXW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1257972153&sr=8-4

There are actually a couple of fun items like Wii games on my amazon list which I am too lazy to list here. But as you can see, I have the list of a Mom. Not someone else's Mom either, this is all me...when did I get this old?