Feeling Special and our Favorite Thing

I love how some days I have absolutely nothing to say and then other days I am full to the brim of experiences to share.  Today is one of those days where I am full to the brim of really random things, but all things that happened since the last time we chatted.

First, let's talk about how I was too tired to do my PiYo workout this morning.  I'm not even sure it was tired, I just felt a bit burnt out.  So I didn't do it.  I kind of knew I wasn't going to do it yesterday night because I just felt to exhausted.  And not physically exhausted, more mentally exhausted.  And that can be just as bad - if not worse.  I figure I can do it tonight if I want to or I can do it tomorrow (since Fridays are rest days).  We'll see.  I don't think I'm giving up by any means, I just wanted a day off from the 4:15am wake-up call and the double days of PiYo and running.  I think I'll still run this afternoon, but we'll see how I feel.  I really wasn't feeling my run yesterday before I left, but then I felt really good on the run and thought about lots of things and worked other things out in my head, so I was really glad I went.

In other news, I had my goodbye party at work and it was AWESOME!!!  They worked so hard on it and it was so fabulous.  They made me this Good Luck bulletin:

Isn't it fabulous!!  The little skeleton is saying "Kattrina calls the shots" and those are all pictures of me with a nursing hat on.  The cake was amazing too - it was lemon cream.  And my co-worker put the prescription meds on the cake (M&Ms).  Those little pieces of paper are for people to write me a "prescriptions" for school and the future.  The notes were so sweet that I actually shed some tears.  I really love my co-workers - they not only do amazing work every day, but they are truly amazing people.  My one co-worker made me a condom necklace (since I work in HIV prevention):

Complete with a female condom that matches my shirt.  Of course, none of these condoms are usable, since they all had holes punched into them!  The room was decorated with nursing stuff (like a kid's medical kit!) and condom streamers.  And there was also a slide show of a bunch of photos of me over the years - 7 years - from numerous events, trainings, and staff fun.  Here's a picture of me from our 2008 Award Ceremony with my good friend from high school (she didn't work with me, she just came to hang out).

And here is our 2008 Wine Tasting, with the same friend from high school and another good friend from Peace Corps. 

I would show you other photos but a lot of the people in the photos are related to work and I don't have photo releases for them.  But here are some of my adorable co-workers from the party!

I'm gonna miss them all so much!!!  In addition to the wonderful party (it was an Italian potluck - think pasta, chicken parm, meatballs, bread, salad, cookies, Bundt cake, and other yumminess), they also gave me a HUGE gift card to Amazon.com so I could buy some nursing supplies and books and other odds and ends.  It was so generous and helped out so much.  Yes, I already spent every last penny.  I bought two pairs of scrubs, two undershirts, a pair of nursing shoes, a stethoscope, three books, and a filing cabinet (not really school related but I really need something to keep my files, loan documents, work documents, etc. organized - right now they are in piles in the kitchen).  It felt so great to buy it though, now I'm almost ready for school.  I ordered this backpack:

I couldn't decide if the pink color made it look childish, but I really like it and didn't want the obligatory black/gray/blue backpack.  So, pink it is!

So, that was my party.  I hope everyone has the chance to work at a place as great as my current job.  Obviously, I did my fair share of complaining, but even when I complained, I knew how lucky I was.  The party really made me feel special and like I had made a real contribution to the organization and the community we serve.  Oh, and I bought my boss/supervisor a gift too:

It's a tie with microscopic images of the HIV virus (gold and silver circles)!  I loved it and was so excited to give it to him!!  I think he was really surprised and said he was planning on wearing it to a wedding he's going to in September.  I told him it is a conversation starter and that he can use it to bring up HIV prevention whenever he's out at events - and he can be reminded of me and the six years we spent working on HIV prevention together.  It was a bit pricey and I was hesitant to buy it at first, but I'm SO glad I got it because it was nice to give something back.

Ok - enough party talk!

Yesterday I met a friend and her daughter at the nature center and we went and threw rocks into the river again!

This time I put Evan in his bathing suit and shoes that dried easily.  He was really excited to go and hang out and hike again.  It took him a while to warm up because my friend and her daughter were with us and he gets all weird when we hang out with other people that he doesn't know that well (although we hang out with them a LOT).

We spent about an hour and half there - walking in the water, throwing rocks, hiking, picking up sticks, picking up rocks, jumping on stumps, etc.  I'm gonna be really sad once summer and the warm weather is gone.  I'm not quite ready to spend six months inside again.  Plus, Evan is still in 18 month clothes and all his winter clothes are size 2T!

And a fun Throwback Thursday pic from 2002 (I think!):

One year for Christmas my father bought me a week long trip to Costa Rica for a yoga retreat.  The girl with me was the yoga instructor - my Dad and I always went to her studio in DC when I was in college and she ran the retreat in Costa Rica.  It was SO fun!!  We did so much yoga but also got to go zip lining, white water rafting, and a lot of fun other things.  This year she's leading a yoga retreat in Italy!!!  Hint hint Dad....haha!

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Do you like your job?  What is the best thing about it?

Have you ever gone on a yoga retreat?  What's your favorite yoga pose??

  -- My favorite pose is Pigeon Pose!

Rocks in the water

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday because I was at an orientation for school.  It was fun getting to meet some new people and hearing more about what my schedule will be like and stuff.  The schedule does not look fun.  At all. I met and hung out mostly with two girls who happened to be twenty.  That makes me 14 years older than them.  I could practically be there mother.  Nice thought, huh.  It was fine though.  I guess all thrown together we are similar enough since we are all going to nursing school.  I did meet another girl who has three step-kids, but only on the weekends.  

This past weekend the weather was beautiful so I tried to get outside.  Evan and I went for a run and then met a friend from TNT for coffee and a walk to the playground. I hadn't seen her since the winter and then I barely got to catch up with her so it was really great spending the afternoon chatting.  I had to walk to the coffee place because the hubs was golfing and I thought I would have time to get a four mile run in before we were supposed to meet...but I forgot to account for the fact that I run much slower with the BOB so I ended up being 15 minutes late.  Yikes.  I felt badly.  I really need to work on my punctuality.  At one point Evan was playing at the playground and pointed at her and said bye-bye.  I don't think he was thrilled about sharing my attention.  

Saturday was the normal golf and grocery shopping.  Nothing too exciting.  I didn't get a chance to do my PiYo workout because Evan was really clingy and fussy and wouldn't let me leave the bed (I noticed that he has his two canine teeth pushing through so that would explain that).  I surprised myself by coming home from golf, putting Evan down for a nap, and then breaking out the PiYo Sweat DVD.  Usually I am not motivated to do anything in the middle of the day but I actually got it done.  Score!

On Sunday we went to breakfast with the other golf coach I work with. She had watched Evan on Thursday so we wanted to thank her.  Evan was a hoot on breakfast and kept stacking the creamers and then knocking them down.  It was hilarious...until one burst open and drenched the hubs in creamer.  Haha!  After breakfast we ran to the outlet mall to look for scrubs for me.  It turned into a disaster.  I tried some scrubs on and that was fine but then I made the mistake of letting Evan ride one of those little rides that you pay a quarter for (or 3 since this one was $0.75) and he decided he wanted to ride every single one.  Of course he could only ride the one (because there was no way I was going to let him ride all of them) so then he threw a Disney-style fit.  It was huge.  And it reminded me of why we shouldn't go places that are over stimulating and have too many things catered to little guys.  We barey made it out alive.  Evan proceeded to cry the entire way home until about 5 minutes before we got home.  I quickly put him to bed. 

When he woke up, in a better mood, we decided to go throw rocks in the river.  His favorite thing!  Although I didn't feel badly about not letting him ride the rides, I did want to take him somewhere where he could do whatever he wanted and fully enjoy himself.  Even the hubs decided to come and we had SO much fun.

Ivan was less into the hiking and kept asking where the river was, but Evan and I forced him to be patient so Evan could pick up every rock he found and jump on the tree stumps.

 His hand is blurry because he was waving it so ferociously telling me which stump I should stand on.

We finally made it to the water and the hubs gave Evan a lesson on how to throw rocks into the river.

Then the hubs got really into it and took his shoes off so they could walk across the river together to the "beach" on the other side.

They were really cute together walking through the water and throwing rocks.  Evan eventually decided to sit down in the river so he got all wet, but oh well.  Then it was my turn.

I forced Ivan to take pictures of me so that I had some memory of Evan and me throwing rocks.  Usually it is me taking all the pictures and there are only selfies of me.

Evan wanted to walk down the river, which was a bit painful barefoot because it was all rocks and no sand.  I survived though.  Then we started on our way back and "raced" back to the car.  Evan ran the entire way again, with Ivan chasing behind him yelling to be careful and not fall.  The hubs hates seeing Evan in pain and is always telling him to be careful.  It's funny actually...I just figure Evan will fall every once in a while and survive.

Then Evan found a big stick and took it back to the car, but we made him leave it there.

Overall, it was super fun!  I am really hoping that Evan develops a love of the outdoors...especially a love that is bigger than his love of iPad games and indoor mall rides.  :-)

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Other moms out there - how do you deal with temptations like rides and food when you are out and about?

Favorite time to exercise?  Morning, mid-day, night?
     - I prefer to run in the evening, but I tend to get it done more often if I schedule it in the morning.

1996

Wednesdays I feel extra productive because I wake up, get a run in, and the do my PiYo workout, then shower all before 8am.  Of course I don't feel like doing any of it and would just like to stay in bed, but after I finish I feel pretty hard core.  I don't find the PiYo workouts to be exceptionally difficult, but I am feeling stronger on my runs so it make me wonder if it is secretly doing something.  Yesterday I did PiYo Core, which was a new workout.  Today I did Define: Upper Body, one I have done a few times.  It was still hard waking up at 4:20am...especially since I had stayed up late reading my book.  Yeah, what is wrong with me??  I had the chance to crawl into bed before 11pm and instead I sat on the couch and read my book until 11:45pm.  I am a glutton for punishment.

So, this past weekend while we were cleaning out closets I came across this lovely photo that I decided to post for Throwback Thursday on Facebook.  Since most of you reading this are either family or friends, you have probably already seen it, but for the tiny fraction that aren't friends with me on Facebook, here it is.

That's me, right there in the center.  For my birthday, when I was in high school, some friends of mine paid for a giant gorilla in a tu-tu to come to the restaurant I work at and sing Happy Birthday to me.  Umm, yeah.  Humiliating.  And I remember that the owners of the restaurant were none too thrilled because it made it difficult for people to get seated and get their food - obviously their first priority.  The gorilla was probably there for 15 minutes or so.  I think there may have been a video too.

Yesterday I also got my TB test.  My third.  It appears to be negative again.  Afterwards Evan and I headed to the nature preserve to do a little hiking.  It was so cute because Evan ran around like a crazy person.  

Look at him go - he was a blur.  Just running, running, running.  I remember when we first started gong here he could barely walk.   And now he's running.  He ran almost the full trail.  I just know he's gonna be a runner when he gets older! 

And he looks like such a little boy.  What happened to my baby?

He still loves playing on the tree stumps.  I think I've posted millions of versions of this same photo.  Evan on a tree stump.

 

And then it was back to exploring.  He found two pieces of wood that he thought were the best things ever.  And he carried them around for a long time.  I was a bit nervous that he'd trip and the wood would somehow poke his eye out - but luckily that didn't happen.

 

 

We had so much fun walking around.  We went down by the river and he threw a bunch of rocks into the water.  He thought this was the best activity ever.

 And he was totally into posing on tree stumps.

He'd jump up there and say "picture" and then strike a pose.  So darn cute.  Especially since normally it's impossible to get him to look at the camera.

We only had an hour there before it closed so it was a quick trip, but at least he didn't pitch a fit when we left.

Then it was home to make some Mexican Pizzas (corn tortillas topped with refried beans, cheese, tomatoes, ground turkey, and sour cream) and off to bed.

The days go by way too fast these days!

Splashing in the Stream

This is going to be a long week.  On Wednesday, rather than working from home, I have some kind of Summer Success Immersion program for school.  What does that mean?  Not exactly sure except that we are going to be reviewing Anatomy & Physiology stuff and learning drug calculations.  Something about how these things will help us be successful during the first semester and beyond.  That means that I won't get my extra hour of sleep though.  Or a relaxing evening after work where I don't have to stress about a commute and arrive home at 7pm.  Of course, there was a time when I went to the office five days a week, so I shouldn't be such a baby about it.

This weekend was like all the others: it went too fast but it was filled with fun times. On Friday Evan and I made it back to the Nature Center.  It wasn't too hot out and I felt like a mini hike was in order.

We didn't get too far because he found this little stream and wanted to play in it the entire time.

I ignored all rational thought and let him get his pants and tennis shoes soaked.  I had made him wear pants to try and avoid ticks.  And Lyme disease, a huge fear of mine.  He really had a fun time and was throwing rocks in the water, digging in the dirt, etc.

He also enjoyed playing on the stumps.  

And, best of all?  He didn't pitch a fit when we had to leave.  

After a fun time in nature we then headed out for a run.  The stroller is really starting to weigh a lot.  Or I am really weak.  I felt like it was so heavy and that I was really shuffling along.  Especially on the up-hills.  We stopped at mile 3 to play at the playground for an hour and then headed back home.  

Evan was pretty good sitting in the stroller but did start saying "All done" on the way back home...like he was all done in the stroller and please remove him.  It was cute but he was stuck in there until we got home.

Sunday was a busy, busy day.  We got up and went for another run.  This time we took a shorter route because we had made pancakes first and were on the late side.  Of course our run took us to a playground and we played for about 40 minutes before heading back home.  Again, super heavy stroller!  We survived though.  Then we showered and headed to Costco.  I have decided that Costco is really like Target.  Your go for one thing and come out $100 poorer. I love Costco though and they are a really great company (unlike Target), so at least that part makes me feel better.  There were a ton of samples and Evan and I enjoyed sampling sausage, salmon cakes, wantons, perogies, quesadillas, coffee (I sampled this alone), and Belvita cookies.  Evan really liked the salmon burgers so we bought those (he will probably change his mind and I'll have 20 salmon burgers to eat alone).  Along with a million other things even though we just wnet for coke, eggs, and chips.  Oh well, at least our fridge is stocked now.

There is no room for anything else!  Ivan keeps saying that we better enjoy it now because pretty soon we'll only be able to eat eggs, beans, and tortillas.  We had some cubed steak this weekend and Ivan was like...pretty soon we won't be able to afford meat so we better enjoy every last taste.  I said we could probably buy cubed steak every once in a while since it is only $2.55 a package.

Evan and I also made sure to put on our USA jerseys for the game on Sunday.

We were very excited.  Ivan invited our golf friend over to watch the game too so I made 7-layer dip (of course because Ivan LOVES this and asks for it as often as possible) and tacos.  Everything turned out and I even managed to do the laundry, fold the clothes, and clean the bathrooms.  Nothing short of a miracle.

Now it's back to work and off to sleep for a bit.  Hope you had a fabulous weekend too and didn't look this pathetically tired when you work up this morning (we are both looking pretty rough)!

Sleeping, Pools, and Eggs

On Tuesday night Evan fell asleep at 5:30pm and didn't wake up until 6am...and only because I woke him up.  Sounds amazing, right?  Well, not particularly because for some reason he didn't want to sleep alone.  So, I had to hold him from the second I got home.  This made it difficult to do much...like change out of my work clothes, eat dinner, get lunches ready for the next day.  I kept trying to wake him up thinking he'd eventually wake up and then never go back to sleep.  Nope, he would flutter his eyes open and then they would slowly close back up.  There was no waking him.  He has been sleeping horribly the last week or so - not napping, going to bed at 10pm, etc. - so maybe his body needed to catch up on some sleep.  I didn't successfully put him in the bed until 9:30pm.  I watched a lot of 19 Kids and Counting on the iPad on the sofa with little kiddie in my arms!

Yesterday I did something I haven't done in weeks.  I went for a run!!!  I was supposed to do a track workout with my friend but she texted me in the morning saying she wasn't feeling well.  Normally I would have just been lazy and hopped in the shower and started working but since I already had all my running clothes on I decided to just go.  Plus it was supposed to be over 90 degrees out so I figured a morning run was a good idea.  And it was.  It felt really awesome getting out there again.  My favorite thing about running in the heat and humidity is the scent of honeysuckle.  It seems even more potent than usual when it's extra hot and humid.  It reminds me of the summer I trained for the Marine Corps Marathon in memory of my Uncle - there was a lot of honeysuckle on my route and I loved breathing the scent in.

I did about four miles and when I got back I could feel my hamstring pain again.  You would think that after three weeks of no running my hamstring would get back in order.  Nope.  So I did some glute-strengthening exercises (I read that weak gluteus can lead to hamstring problems) that I saw on Runner's World and then I did half-pigeon pose to stretch out my glutes, hips, and hamstrings.  They were still sore all day but feel better this morning.  I also sat on a nice pack.  I hope all this helps.  I brought my running stuff with me today but I am uncertain whether I will venture out at lunch since it's supposed to be 97 degrees today.  I will be a ball of sweat and then will have to change into my work clothes again.  Not sure if I'm that brave.

After work  I picked Evan up and my sister mentioned that they were going to head to the pool...so we decided to join them.

My mom and Evan had a blast in the pool in Atlanta so I figured he would love it.  The minute he saw the pool he kept saying "Mimi agua" which I interpreted to mean that since he saw a pool he thought Mimi would be there, since Mimi was at the last pool.  Nope, no Mimi.  He had a blast walking around, playing with toys, and being swung around by Daddy.  I actually ended up playing with my nieces the entire time - throwing fish in the water and then making them find them.  They loved it, but sometimes other kids found them and picked them up which made it a bit challenging.

After the pool Evan took a bath and then headed straight to bed.  He hadn't napped all day and was exhausted.  Ivan went to bed too, so it was just me awake for the rest of the night.  I made eggs with cabbage for dinner the second night in a row. No wonder we go through 24 eggs in a week - that's all we eat.

And now it's another day!

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Have you made it to the pool yet?

Eggs -yes or no?

What was your workout for the day?

Hiking, golfing, and eating

I love three day weekends.  I really love Memorial Day weekend the best I think.  The weather is amazing, summer and hot weather is on everyone's mind, the smell of BBQ is in the air, and we honor all the fallen soldiers who have given their lives to this country.  I remember one year we made the trip downtown to Arlington Cemetary on Memorial Day and it was definitely an experience to remember.  It's a bit far and crowded to go every year but maybe when Evan is older we'll make the trip again.

This weekend was all about the outdoors.  I am still feeling really sick and I was feeling pretty sick and miserable all weekend, but I refused to let that keep me inside.

On Saturday Evan and I went on our first real hike.

We had been practicing at the local Nature Center but this time we headed to a State Park and actually walked on a trail.  It was really fun and I am so excited about more fun hikes like that.  Evan was pretty well-behaved and didn't put up too many fights.  He stayed in the Mai Tai for about half of the hike, then walked about a fourth of it, and then I carried him for the other fourth.

Part of the trail was paved and then we took an unpaved trail for a few miles.  My friend was supposed to come with us but she didn't want to catch our sickness (her mom is undergoing cancer treatment and can't have sick visitors), so we went alone.  At first I was hesitant and was going to just forget about the entire thing, but then I put on my big girl pants and decided to just go it alone.

I am glad I did because we had so much fun.  I made Evan wear long pants and long sleeves because I was afraid we'd get ticks.  So far we are tick free.

On Sunday we had our first visitors.  Well, actually, I guess they were our second because my friend Sarah stopped by on Wednesday and stayed for dinner.  However, we had lots of house-cleaning to do and all pitched in to get it done.  I straightened so much stuff, did a ton of laundry, finally put away the ten loads of wash I had sitting in my room (I have a tendency to do the laundry and then never get around to putting it away).  I also made black bean hummus, 7-layer Dip, and cut up cantaloupe and watermelon for appetizers (actually Ivan cut the fruit up), and made Honduran Enchiladas for dinner.  Ivan even made fresh-squeezed lemonade for us to drink.  It was quite the feast.  We had so much fun hanging out and catching up.  Our apartment is super tiny but it all worked out and it didn't feel too squishy.

Yesterday the hubs and I finally went golfing!!  Amazing!!  The same couple that came over for dinner offered to watch Evan the next day while we golfed.  It was great.  I hadn't golfed in over a year and didn't do too badly.  It was just great being outside and spending time with the hubs.  Since it was Memorial Day and the golf course was extra crowded, we ended up playing with two other guys we didn't know and that wasn't too bad.  I hate playing with other people because it makes me self-conscious, but it wasn't too embarrassing.  I had some good shots.  That night we headed to my bus friend's house for dinner.  She wanted the hubs to come look at her yard and see if he could do some yard work for her.  We got dinner in exchange - good deal!  Especially for me because I don't have to do anything.

So, that was our weekend, how was yours? 

Track workouts and new beds

Good morning to you all!  It's Thursday, which means it's almost Friday, which means it's close to the weekend.  I always love a good weekend.  I don't have much planned except the usual golf, grocery shopping, and cooking, but even that makes it infinitely more fun than a work day.  And I am babysitting my nieces this weekend too.  That is always lively, if not entertaining.  I am planning on reading Little House on the Prairie to the older girls.  We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday I met my friend for a track workout again.  Our plan was to do 5x400s (once around the track is 400).  However, some sketchy guy showed up on the track as we were finishing our third lap so we ended up banana splitting.  We did one more sprint on the sidewalk and then called it a day.  I was a little slower this time and did my first three in 1:34, 1:32, and 1:32.  The last one we sprinted for two minutes on the sidewalk (after we left the track).  So, I didn't get my five in but oh well.  It is better than nothing.  And my tush is sore today so at least I know I pushed myself.  We might try and do 6 miles on Sunday morning, but I'm not sure.  Now I just need to get some core work in!

Yesterday Evan's new bed came.

It's like a camping bed.  I thought it might be good for when we transition him from our bed.  He could sleep on this right next to us.  Or we could bring it to Vermont or camping or what not.  It folds up really small so is easy to transport,  he just likes playing on it, not the least bit interested in sleeping on it.  Actually, we didn't try sleeping on it yet, and probably won't until I stop nursing.

His new favorite thing is the water table at my sister's.

That's him and his cousin , who is three months younger.  They played out there for hours.  He may even like it better than the slide!  He likes to play on our balcony too but since we are on the third floor the water falls onto the balcony of the guy below and I'm sure he doesn't want his furniture wet all the time!

Yesterday in the afternoon I met my friend for coffee.  I've known her since high school.  She was actually the very first person I met when I moved to Maryland.  We got a coffee, walked to a playground, and chatted while Evan played.  I'm sure that wasn't her idea of a great time, but it was a good opportunity to talk.  We went to a little tot-lot where Evan could do most of the things by himself so he didn't need me to follow him around and make sure he didn't fall off everything.  It was fun catching up, getting a walk in, and enjoying the outside.

Today should be a good day.  I am taking my co-worker out for her bday lunch (thank goodness it is payday!!) and then this evening we are heading to my sister's because her husband turns the big 4-0!!  Or, if you are him, he is turning 29 for the 12th time.  :-)

Hope you are having a great day!!!

Slides and Tears

I am working from home all week so it's been difficult to find time to blog.  I don't have a 1.5 hour bus ride in the morning, so my routine has been thrown off schedule.  For two weeks in April every year Evan's daycare is closed and I have to find someone else to watch Evan or take vacation.  Last year it worked out well because I had a work trip to Birmingham and my aunt meet me there and watched Evan for a week and I was able to shuffle him around between friends for the other days.  This year, not so much.  I've taken a lot more work trips and both my aunt and my sister have already done (or are signed up for) two trips, so I didn't want them to ask for another favor.  So, I found another daycare to bring him to for a week and then I'm taking a week of vacation.

The daycare was recommended by a friend of mine and we went over to visit and the woman seemed nice.  Evan has other thoughts though.  The first day he was ok and I snuck off when he was outside playing.  Yesterday he was a bit more clingy but I snuck off while he was chasing after a ball.  Today?  He refused to be fooled and grabbed a hold of my hair and hung on for dear life.  The woman took him so I could leave and Evan screamed bloody murder.  It was very painful.  I thought that each day would get better but it seems that each day is worse.  Now that he knows I'm going to drop him off and leave he gets all panicky when we get there.  I really hate it.  It took all my self control to not burst into tears and drag my little baby toddler back home with me.  I think we avoid this situation normally because my husband usually drops him off and he tends to be less clingy with his dad.  Plus, I think he was familiar with my sister when we started dropping him off there so he's never cried at all (and maybe she smells like me or something so it's not quite as scary).  Boo.  It makes me sad.  And I miss him 10x more when he's at this new place than when he's at my sister's.  Just one more day and then our vacation starts and I can make it up to him by spending every second with him for the next week.

We did have a good weekend though.  It was SO beautiful out that I wanted to spend every second outside.  And so did Evan.  He has even learned a new word: slide.  That is a clear indication of how much time we spent at the park.

He had a new love of slides and can go down all by himself (if it's not too steep).  Sometimes he'll just perch on the top and enjoy the view though!

This was the perfect slide for him because he could get to the top and slide down all by himself.  Then he found the other park for the older kids and decided he liked the steep slide too.

This slide was much steeper and he had problems getting on it.  I usually caught him half way down and would have to reposition him - he would be head first, on his back, on his belly, etc.  Luckily the park wasn't really crowded so he had time to explore without fear of being knocked over.

He has also now developed a "smile" face, which is weird because I don't usually make him smile when I take photos and I don't feel like I take a TON of photos of him.  But somehow he learned and now sticks his head out and makes a goofy face.  Here are some others.

He likes to get as close to the camera as possible (and yes, I realize he needs a haircut).

Here he was eating his Sunday breakfast of pancakes dipped in maple syrup (although he didn't eat the pancakes, just sucked the syrup off of them), eggs, and sausage.  He is a sausage fiend and gobbles it up first.

Alright, I have to banana split and get this posted so I can get some work done.  I am a bit exhausted because I was up until after midnight getting work done and then had to get up early this morning to get Evan to daycare.  Since we only have one car I've been running (literally) Evan to daycare in the morning.   It's a nice and easy way to get a 4 mile run in, but today it was only 31 degrees out!  I had to dig my winter running clothes out again.

I hope you have a good Wednesday!!

Chocolate cake face

The start of spring really makes me happy.  I like winter and snow, but I LOVE spring/summer/fall - and I really appreciate it after a very cold and long winter.  And I love it even more now that Evan is walking around and we can enjoy it together.  I love being outside and would spend the entire day outside if I didn't have to work and had nothing to do.  I would sit on a deck and read and eat and relax forever.  Ok, I would eventually get tired of that, but it sounds good right now because I have an overabundance of deadlines this month.

Yesterday was a fabulous day.  It made me really, really happy that we are allowed to work from home a couple of days a week.  Usually I walk in the door at 6:45pm when I go to the office.  I quickly get dinner ready (either make something quick or microwave something I prepared on the weekend), give Evan a bath, put him to bed, wash up the dishes, make lunches, and go to bed.  Somehow that takes me until 11pm to complete.  When I work from home it's an entirely different story.  I end the work day at 4pm and I am already home!!  Best feeling in the world!!!

Yesterday I was quite ambitious.  Evan and I went to the Nature Center near our house and walked around on the trails.

We had so much fun.  We took a trail that was 0.17 miles long, so it was perfect distance for Evan's little legs.  We didn't get there until around 4:30 and the place closes at 5pm so we couldn't go too far. 

He loves trees - poking them with his fingers and sitting/standing on the stumps.  He also pointed out every stick we came across, which were millions.  As you can see, he was also eating a banana - a miracle.  He's finally starting to up his food intake!

Evan loves flowers.  The daffodils are finally starting to bloom here so he was really excited to go look at the flowers.  So excited that he wouldn't turn around for the camera.

The trail ended at a stream/river under a road.  It was very noisy and less quaint when you are under a four lane highway, but Evan was thrilled to walk in the sand and would have walked straight into the river if I let him.  I can't wait to take him to the pool this summer - he's definitely a fish!

Since we didn't have much time, we pretty much walked to the river and then headed back to the car.  Evan walked most of the way there but wasn't thrilled about having to walk back, so I ended up carrying him about half of the way.  Not a big deal, since we're only talking about 0.17 miles.

Being outside invigorated me so much that I decided I needed to make chocolate cake.  I don't even remember the last time I made chocolate cake.  Have I ever made chocolate cake???  Chocolate Covered Katie had posted a healthy chocolate cake with a crazy ingredient on her Instagram page and I happened to have every ingredient on the list - so how could I not make it??  So I did.

The plate is dirty because this was like my third piece.  I also made her Reese's Pieces Fudge Frosting to go with it.  Both were very delicious.  The "crazy ingredient" was cauliflower.  In the directions it says to put the cauliflower in the food processor with milk and vanilla and blend until completely smooth - well, I have a crappy food processor so there was no way it was ever going to be smooth.  So, my cake has some cauliflower lumps in it... which gave it a bit of a cauliflower essence.  It sounds gross but it actually is still delicious.  The alternative was to make it with pumpkin, but I feel like I eat a lot of pumpkin and hardly ever eat cauliflower - so I wanted to do the cauliflower instead.

Evan loved it too - cauliflower and all.  He wouldn't stop moving long enough for me to take a clear picture (it can't possibly be because he just ate chocolate cake....) so most of them turned out really blurry.  You can see all the chocolate on his face though - at least he got some veggies in, right?

I ended up staying up until 11:45pm washing up the million dishes (while simultaneously watching Call the Midwife) that it took to make the chocolate cake, but it was worth it.  Nothing beats spontaneous cooking!  And then when I finally crawled into bed my mind was going a mile a minute and I couldn't fall asleep anyway.  Pretty much every night I lie awake thinking about nursing school decisions and it makes it hard to fall asleep.  I can't wait for the decision process to be over.


Would you ever eat chocolate cake with cauliflower???

Your favorite thing to do when the weather gets nice??