Goals and Anniversaries

Goals... I have finally reached one of my goals. When I was pregnant with Brody I gained about 55 pounds. YIKES. It took me a little over a year but I'm happy to report that not only have I lost my baby weight but I'm lighter then I have been in 5 years. To date I have lost a little over 60 pounds. I lost 2.5 inches off my hips, 2 inches off my waist and 3.5 inches off my butt. I have been doing yoga/pilates 5 times a week and I love it. I enjoy it so much I have toyed with the idea of becoming an instructor. We'll see what happens. For now I'm happy to be back in my skinny jeans and want to continue to work on looking and feeling better. Here are my before and after pictures.

Ahhhh I can't believe I'm putting these picture on my blog.

I was so big!

This was our first wonderful Wednesday. Yikes!

I was looking for current pics and couldn't find very many with me in them. This was at the back yard bash in August.

This isn't the best picture but it was from a few weeks ago at our celebration party.

And this was a couple of weeks ago, Shara and I had a girls night out.

Anniversaries... We have officially lived in Texas for one year. I can't believe how fast time goes by. We just love Austin. It was the best decision we ever made. It's hard to explain but we just fit here. Everyone we have met we feel like we have known for years and years. I can't imagine our lives anywhere but here. Also coming up this month is our 5 year wedding anniversary. We will be back in California were it all started. I can't believe we have been married for 5 years and together for almost 10. I love Mark more now than the day we met and look forward to many more happy years together.

Brody Update

Brody is getting bigger and bigger. He has such the little personality. He is pretty laid back and happy all the time. Except the last few days, he is getting a bunch of his molars and is miserable. I feel so bad for him, I can't wait for the teeth thing to be over. He still only says mommy, daddy and kitty. But he is signing like crazy. We started him on sign language videos when he was around 8 months old. They have worked really well, it's incredible to watch him communicate with us. Here are a list of signs he can do. Cat, dog, duck, hat, book, eat, drink, milk, all done, more, bath, sleep and goodbye. He is so smart. He also knows where things go and a few of our routines. Like if Mark is taking the trash out Brody will run to the back door and point outside because he know that's where Mark is going. Or whenever I change his diaper downstairs he runs over to the trash can and holds up the lid so I can throw it away. It cracks me up. He is still a dancing machine and loves to listen to music. Oh and he is obsessed with shoes and socks. He loves to have stuff on his feet. If he finds a pair of his shoes or socks he will come running over and pick up his foot for you to put it on him. He is too funny. Here are some recent pictures of him.

This picture cracks me us. He looks like he stuck his finger in a light socket and look at that belly.

Here he is rockin his new shoes that grandma Judy gave him.

Watching TV, he totally knows how to work the remote already.

So sleepy but refusing to take off his Chucks.

I love that face!

He is on a total banana kick, he eats at least one every day.

Those teeth crack me up.

He loves playing with grass.

Something sure was funny!

Oh and Suzy took all of the pictures of Brody in his green outfit. She was just messing around with the camera but she got some great shots. Thanks Suzy!

Celebrating

Last weekend we hosted a celebration party. Originally it was for our friend Tim who recently got promoted. Then we found out that Shara passed the first part of her CPA exam. And then Darrin, one of Mark's friends from Wells Fargo, found out that him and his wife were having a little boy. So it just turned into one big "Life is good" parties. We had yummy food and wine and an overall a really great night. Here are some of the highlights.

Mark, Brody and I.

Tim and Shara.

Suzy and Nick, aren't they cute!

Texas had good sunsets too!

Brody playing in the grass.

Look at that tooshie!

Me, Ashley and Lisa.

Mark and I.

I know I know....

I have been a TERRIBLE blogger. I plan to make up for it with several posts this week. We have just been so busy. I don't even know where to begin. At the end of August I got to go to my first college football game. Santa Barbara didn't have a football team so this was my first. We went to opening night. Mark got great seats through Wells Fargo. There were so many people there I couldn't believe it. We only stayed until halftime because that was about as long as Brody could make it. Here are some pics from the big game!

Mark and Brody at the game.

Hookem Horns!

They were retiring Vince Young's number.

Us with Tim and Shara after the game. They are huge Texas fans and go to every game.

Dancing Machine

I know I haven't done a video in a long time. The truth is I've just been lazy. We have actually been able to get some really cute videos I just get lazy about downloading them to the computer. It always takes forever and something always goes wrong. But Mark took this video tonight and it was too cute not to share. Brody loves to dance, if rock music comes on he bobs his head up and down and if it's hip hop he squats up and down and shakes his hands. We just tell him to do his moves and he starts dancing. I love it. He is definitely his mother's son.

Headbands and Wristbands

I'm pretty sure Brody is trying to bring back the 80's. He has been so funny lately. First he found these wristbands that we had from Christa's birthday party. He is obsessed with them. Every time he finds one he comes running over and wants me to put it on him. He looks like he is about to do a Richard Simmons workout video.

He has also been obsessed with my headbands. It's so funny. He finds them lying around and puts them on and gets so proud of himself. Of course Mark is thrilled that our son is running around in his mother's headbands and I'm sure when he is a teenager he will love that I put these pictures on the blog for all the world to see but I can't help myself, it's just too cute!

You can barely see the headband here, but that is his I'm so proud of myself smile.

Baby Kinsey is Finally Here!

My best friend Abbey from high school just had her first baby this weekend. Kinsey Lee Nieman. She was born on August 31 (which is also her dad's birthday) at 4:17p.m. She was 8lbs 3oz and 19.5 inches long. Mark, Brody and I all drove down to San Marcos to meet her yesterday. She is super cute and such a good baby. She hardly even made a peep the entire time we were there. Abbey and Matt looked great. Congratulations to you both, we are so happy she is finally here!

The happy family! Look she winked at me.

Kinsey and her mom.

Look at all that hair, isn't she beautiful.

She is so cute!