.....I'd be dead!

So this little guy to the left now has 2 teeth on the bottom! I can't believe that they finally cut through, but thank you Lord that they did!

So the other night while I was nursing him, he decided to try his new teeth out and bite down on my nipple. Once he did, I unlatched him, and I said  very firmly "No sir! We do NOT bite!"

Once I said this, Robbie looked at me and told me to not get onto him. He said "He doesn't know what he is doing, and that he isn't supposed to be doing that." I said "Well he will learn really fast because everytime that he does it, he is going to be unlatched from me with me telling him no." Then Robbie proceeded to tell me that I was being mean to him.

So fast forward to the end of the night. Clay is in bed. Colt is in bed. And Robbie and I are headed to bed. We get all settled in, and I lean over to give him a kiss. As soon as he leans in, I go lower and bite HIS nipple.

If looks could kill........

Those much needed nights

You know those days where you just don't think you can go much more without running away? Or those days that you wish your kids couldn't talk yet? Or those days where if you have to change one more poopy diaper, you might just go insane? Well that is how I was yesterday. And Robbie has been that way for more than a few days now. It has been insane around this house lately.

Robbie works 12 hour shifts, and when he comes home, he comes home to me trying to cook dinner (almost always it is almost ready though), trying to keep Clay away from the stove/oven (and out of everything else), trying to keep Colt entertained since he is going through a stage where he has to see me or he isn't happy, and me trying to keep from pulling my hair out. And for the next 2 hours after he gets home and before Clay goes to bed, it is us eating dinner, cleaning up from dinner, me bathing Colt, him bathing Clay, and then teeth getting brushed, bedtime stories being read, and then fighting with both kids to go to sleep. By the time that they are both asleep, Robbie and I are ready to fall over dead. And if Robbie is going to work the next day, he is really in for it. Since Colt can sense when Robbie needs a good night of sleep, those are usually the days that he doesn't want to sleep all night. Or he wants to fight until midnight to go to sleep.

On top of the normal routine, Colt has been teething. The first 2 teeth (on bottom) finally cut through 2 nights ago, so he hasn't been as fussy. But we also think that he may have an ear infection, so he is going to the doctor tomorrow. So he has definitely been more fussy than usual. And it can wear anyone down to hear a baby cry and fuss all day long.

So I knew that we needed a break. We have not had more than a 4 hour break since August 5th. Do you realize how long that has been? Now we have had a break from Clay lots of times. Breaks that last overnight. But from Colt, not more than 4 hours. And we definitely appreciate those times for sure. But we can't have an overnighter from both boys yet because Colt is exclusively breastfed. He has had a bottle ONE TIME since he was born August 27th. ONE TIME! Do you hear me? ONE TIME! Anyone who knows how many times a baby eats (from the bottle or breast) knows that that is a lot of time to have a baby attached to your boob. And with him not being on anything but rice cereal once a day yet, he still nurses a lot. I plan on exclusively breastfeeding him until he is 10 1/2 months old. Then I will start weaning him off of me, and hopefully have him on whole milk by 11 months old. Clay was 10 1/2 months old when we started switching him over to whole milk (for tummy issues, and approved by the doctor), so I am going to do the same with Colt. So until then, we won't be getting an overnight break from Colt. And as soon as he is weaned from me, I plan on having a whole weekend overnighter! :-)

Anyway. So yesterday it just so happened to work out for me to plan an in-home date night. The last in-home date night that we had planned, Clay went to my Mom's, and we kept Colt. And Colt cried from about 8:30 pm until 2:30 am. Just cried and cried and cried. And for no apparant reason. It was horrible! So last night I really wasn't looking for it to really work out for us. But it did!!! Clay didn't have a nap yesterday because he absolutely refused to lay down, and so I knew that he would go to bed early. And Colt had been up most of the day, and he was due to eat cereal and nurse around 6:30. I had planned on putting dinner in the oven at 6:30, and that would give me 30 minutes to feed and nurse him. Since I wanted Clay going to bed between 7 and 7:30, I ended up making him a grilled cheese for dinner with chips. I started that at 5:50, and he started eating at 6 pm. Since I had to make pasta, I started the water to boil, and I fed Colt his cereal while I was waiting for that and while Clay ate his dinner. Then once Clay finished dinner, I cleaned him and his dishes up, and then I put him on the couch and turned his Barney movie on.

Once Colt was done with his cereal, I prepared the rest of dinner and put it in the oven at 6:30. Then I nursed Colt. Then Robbie got home and took a shower. After I finished nursing Colt, I changed his diaper, put his pjs on, and then I put him in bed. After Robbie got out of the shower, I asked him to brush Clay's teeth while I finished getting dinner ready. Robbie didn't know that I was doing this, so he was a bit surprised to hear me asking him to brush Clay's teeth BEFORE dinner. I told him that Clay had already eaten, and he was going to bed once Barney was over. When Barney was over, I popped the bread in the oven, and we went to his room, changed his diaper and put his pjs on. Then off to bed he went. And then all was quiet in the Girman house!

Robbie and I have become huge fans of The Office. We had never watched it when it came on during the week, but we had caught a few of the late night episodes on TV and fell in love with it. So I bought Robbie the first 3 seasons on DVD for Christmas, and we just recently bought Season 4 and 5. So after putting the kids to bed, we happily filled our plates, popped the first DVD of Season 4 in the DVD player, and sat on the couch together. Other than the few times that I had to get up and tell Clay to go to bed with the last time threatening his life to take his toys away the next day if he didn't hush and go to bed, it was a pretty quiet night. And just what we needed to re-energize. We would have been in bed at 10 pm, but as soon as we laid down, Colt got up to eat again. So we went back in the living room and talked while I nursed Colt, and then we were in bed by 11:30. It was SOO nice! Colt did wake up again at 2:15, but it was because he was uncovered and couldn't find his paci. So I popped that sucker back in his mouth, pulled the blanket up, and turned back over and went to sleep.

Clay is again refusing to take a nap, and I am completely fine with that! Another early night for the boys, and a nice quiet night for the parents! Works for me! Robbie is off tomorrow anyway, so he can spend much needed time with them then!

I made Destiny's Baked Ziti last night, and it was amazing! Robbie said that he would prefer it over regular spaghetti! There was 1 change that I made, and there is another change that I will make the next time that I make it.

It doesn't have ground beef in the recipe. Robbie is a huge fan of having meat in spaghetti (as long as it isn't meatballs), so I mixed ground beef in with the sauce before mixing it in with the cheeses. That was the 1 change that I made this time.

Next time...I did NOT like the way that the parm cheese "melted" on top. It is like it doesn't melt. It gets hard and forms a shell on top of the dish. I am also not a huge fan of bagged cheeses. I prefer grating the cheese myself. So next time I will buy a block of mozzarella cheese, grate the whole thing, put 3/4 of it in the mix with the ricotta cheese, and then put the other 1/4 on the top and bake it. I also grated fresh parm cheese last night to put on top of individual portions. Sometimes Robbie does, sometimes he won't. I love fresh parm cheese though. So next time I will just do fresh parm cheese on the side and do the fresh mozzarella on top to bake with. But other than that, a simple, easy, and delicious dish!

Here it is fresh out of the oven!

I was planning on putting a salad on the side with it, but I decided to do something different instead. I had 2 kaiser rolls leftover from the hamburgers the night before, so I cut them in 1/2. Then I buttered each 1/2. Then I put garlic powder on them, freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese, and then Italian seasoning. And Robbie and I both loved it! Something that I would definitely do again! Next time since I will be using mozzarella cheese, I will grate a little for the bread too and mix the cheeses. So good.

Robbie's plate

This dish made so much that we have over 3/4 of the pan left. Therefore, we will be having this again tonight. Tonight Clay will be eating it with us, and I will be doing salad on the side instead of the garlic cheese bread.

Tomorrow I plan on doing PW's (courtesy of Pastor Ryan) Cajun Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and some sort of veggie or salad. The meatloaf serves 8 people (with 3 lbs of meat), so I am going to cut that down to 1 lb of beef and cut the ingredients to match that. Should be good! I love meatloaf with onions and bell peppers, but Robbie can't even stand the sight of meatloaf. I am hoping to change his mind with this one.

Getting through the next few days.

To say that I have a headache would be a huge understatement. It feels like my head is going to explode. Yesterday I did really well with no sodas. Diet or regular. I stuck with water, and I felt great about it. But today has been different. I stuck with my water, and I probably drank a little over 100 oz of water today. And with sticking with just water, I have had a huge headache. I have been taking tylenol trying to get it to go away. I was even able to take a 1 1/2 hour nap today when the boys were down. And NOTHING is helping. I know that if I drank some caffiene it would help, but I just don't want to. Back in 2004 or 2005, my cousin, LeaAnn, and I decided to give up caffiene. And we lasted for 84 days. And I felt great! I had so much more energy, and not the fake energy that caffiene gives you. So I know that I can do this. I just have to get past these next few days. When I told Robbie that I had a huge headache, he said that I could do this, and that it is best for me to give it up since I am still nursing Colt. After he said that, I thought to myself how much I would like to jump over the table and strangle him. But I didn't.

Not only do I have a headache from no caffiene, but I have a headache from no sleep. Colt is still trying to cut these first 2 teeth, and I am trying to keep from hanging myself   pulling my hair out. He went to bed last night at about 9:30, and I expected him to get up to eat, and he did. So he eats at 10:30, and then he won't go back to sleep until almost 12:30. Then he got back up to eat again at 3:45 am. Then back to sleep about 4:15, and then Clay got me up at 8:30 am. Now I guess that actually does sound like some decent sleep, but when I haven't been getting decent sleep in the past few weeks, it just adds up. And it seems like I can't catch up. Even with my 1 1/2 hour nap today.

Since being pretty tired today, I was really not looking forward to doing my workout. Also my Grandma came over yesterday and stayed last night and is staying tonight. I love having her here, but I am the type that does NOT like to workout in front of people. Even Robbie. I can't concentrate fully when I know that someone is watching me. The only time that I will workout with someone is if they are doing it with me. So gyms and gym classes don't bother me. Going to the track doesn't bother me. But working out in front of my husband bothers me :-) I love working out with Robbie though. In 2004 when I lost all my weight, we were going to the track every morning at 3 am to run (after he got off and before I went to work), and I loved it. He pushes me like no other person will. Anyway. Back on track....I ended up getting up and working out. I popped the DVD into my computer and worked out in our bedroom. So it worked out well. I didn't want to do it, but because I knew that I had to post about it, it got me up. So posting about my challenge IS helping!

Okay, on to what we had for dinner last night!

Beef Enchiladas! It is a recipe that my mother in law gave me (she got it from someone at work), and it is excellent! Robbie says that mine are WAY better than when his Mom makes them though. And it is because she goes way overboard with the chili powder. I put exactly what the recipe calls for, and that is it. But I'm glad to know that mine are better :-)

Here is the enchilada filling cooking.

I had cheddar cheese grated, and I put it on top (the right side). And I ran out, so I was going to grate some more. And I was out. Luckily I had some four-cheese mexican cheese in the fridge. That is what is on the left.

Now tonight I made PW's Pinto Beans and Jiffy Cornbread. I have to apologize ahead of time that I didn't get any pictures of before. After we finished eating, I told Robbie "Oh crap, I forgot to take pictures for my blog." And he said "Well I guess you will just have to say you didn't cook." I said "Oh heck no!" So these are the pictures that you get tonight....

The empty pan of cornbread. All of us like to put cornbread crushed up in our beans as well as on the side, so to have an empty pan is not a surprise. Thank God the beans are VERY low in calories. Like 40 calories for 1 cup. Not bad at all.

We did have a lot of beans leftover, so I just took some out of the crockpot to get a picture of them.

I am not sure what I am going to cook tomorrow night. We are going grocery shopping tomorrow, so maybe I will cook something that I pick up at the store tomorrow.

And with that, I am headed to bed. I think that Colt is finally asleep!!!! Until at least 2:00 am........

New Challenge!

With my cooking challenge being such a great success, I have decided to expand my challenges. Part of my New Year's Resolutions was to start cooking. And with the cooking challenge, I have done that. And I have started enjoying cooking again. I have started finding myself in the kitchen. I have started trying things that I would have never tried before. Maybe not a new food (even though I have tried new foods), but just trying different cooking techniques. And that inspires me to keep going everyday with cooking. I am in the middle of making my menu/grocery list for the next few weeks, and I am finding new recipes and trying out new things. So because I love the feeling of accomplishment, I have decided to implement a new challenge. The cooking challenge will definitely help me out in this challenge as well.

Another part of my New Year's Resolutions was to lose weight. While I have been doing so, it has been an on/off thing. I will do good here and there, and then I will have a lot of bad days. Then do good, and then a lot of bad days. So now, the bad days far outweigh the good days. And if I am going to change my lifestyle and lose weight for good, I can't do that. Because I no longer want to go back and forth with my weight, I have decided how I am going to keep from doing so.

A little bit of my journey

Robbie and I started dating in June 2002. We have known each other since June 1998, and we were best friends for 2 years before we ever started dating. But in June 2002, I started trying to lose weight. I never would get completely serious with it though. I tried every diet known to mankind, and I tried losing weight with my mother in law by doing the Atkins diet. I lasted on the Atkins diet for about 1 day. I had about 50 lbs to lose. I ended up giving up, and then in May 2004, I tried again. This time I counted calories. I stuck at 1200 calories, and I exercised. I started dropping weight so fast that I didn't want to give up. Between May 2004 and December 2004, I ended up losing 75 lbs! 25 more than I really intended on losing. I was working out 1 hour everyday 6 days a week. Then in January 2005, I started easing up a little bit. And in March 2005, Robbie and I moved in together. Between March 2005 and August 2006 (when we got married), I gained back 34 lbs. I was still working out here and there, but nothing like I was in 2004. I still wasn't where I started at even with the 34 lbs back on, but I knew that I didn't want to be back to where I started either. And I knew how easily I could slip back into it.

We were origionally supposed to get married in October 2006. We were the ones paying for our wedding, and the wedding costs were spirialing out of control. We knew that we wanted to start a family immediately, but if we had to pay for the wedding for a year after the wedding, we wouldn't be able to start a family that soon. So we cancelled the big wedding, had a small wedding in August 2006, and started trying September 1, 2006 for Clay. We got a positive test on October 2, 2006. With my pregnancy with Clay, I gained a LOT of weight. After having Clay, I lost 35 lbs of what I had put on, leaving me where I started in 2004 when I first started counting calories. Once I decided to get back in gear to lose the weight for a 2nd time, we decided to start trying for Colt. That was in December 2008. We got a positive test with Colt on the 2nd of January 2009. So not only do I still have these last 24 lbs on me that I can't shake from having Colt, I still have 40 lbs on me that I didn't lose after having Clay. So I have gotten 1/2 of what I gained with them both off of me, but the other 1/2 is still sitting on my ass.

I have tried counting calories again. I have tried Weight Watchers (counting points) again, and with both of them, I just can't seem to get back into gear with it. I HATE counting. I hate having to think about how many calories/points I can have at each meal. Anyone who has done Weight Watchers or counted calories knows that it can become an obsession. And not in a good way. You get so obsessed with it that you just can't seem to think about anything else. And then when you start stressing, your body reacts, and either you don't lose weight or you gain weight. So it is not something that I want to do. With me cooking now, and us not eating out as often, that will help a lot too. But because I am cooking more complex meals, I don't want to have to sit there and figure up the calories for each meal.

So here is my plan of action:

-THIS IS MY CHALLENGE: I want to work out at least 5 days a week.
-I want to keep my breakfasts and lunches between 800-1000 calories.
-With keeping my breakfasts and lunches at that, I should be able to cut my dinners in 1/2 of what I would normally eat, and still lose weight.
-I want to cut out all sodas. I may have the occasional (diet) soda if we go out to eat, but none at home. With me working out, I need to stick strictly with the water.

My main challenge is working out at least 5 days a week. The other stuff will come naturally as I am working out. I have a tendency to not want to overeat or do bad after working out.

Another thing is that I have taken my measurements and weight. And I have them written down in only a place for me to see. And Robbie if he sees them. I don't care if he knows my weight or measurements because let's face it folks, he has seen my crotch give birth to a baby the size of a watermelon. There is not much that I feel I need to hide from him after that.

And I am not one of those that has to post my weight and measurements for all to see so I can step back and look at the reality that is my fat ass. So although I won't be posting that, I will be posting what I have lost and the inches that I have lost every other month. So the next time that I post about my weight or measurements, it will be April 15th. I already have the date marked on my calender so that I remember to update my blog with it. Just like the cooking challenge, I will be posting about this challenge in my cooking posts. Just about how I am doing with working out, no sodas, and my eating. Now somedays I might post what I have eaten for the day, others I won't. But as long as I am working out at least 5 days a week, I am meeting the requirements of my new challenge!

DAY 1: Today I did my Turbo Jam workout. It was a 20 minute workout. 20 minutes doesn't sound like much, but I will eventually get back up to my 1 hour a day. Turbo Jam has 2 20 minute workouts. 1 of them is a beginner workout. The other 20 minute video is a high intensity "when you don't have much time" video. I did the beginner video. I have eaten healthy, and I am making homemade beef enchiladas for dinner. I plan on not overdoing it with dinner, and drinking plenty of water.

So here is to not looking like a walrus anymore!

Cooking Catch-Up

Even with all of this snow, I have still been cooking. I have made cooking a top priority in my daily activities. I usually have planned what I am cooking the next day the night before. This week has been a little bit harder doing that considering the weather.

Wednesday night, I had planned chili cheese dogs. And they turned out great! Robbie and I have eaten so many chili cheese dogs in the last month or so that this won't be coming back on the menu for a while though.

Robbie's plate

Thursday we woke up to about 2" of snow already on the ground. It was so pretty! Unfortunately we had to drive to Cedar Hill in it, but it ended up being fine. We only had 1 scare of being stuck. We had to stay at my Grandma's house that night because of the weather, and we ended up having nachos.

This is before we put them in the oven. Not sure why I took a before picture instead of an after.

Then Friday night was a little bit off. Clay stayed with my Mom and Grandma at my Grandma's house (Mom's electricty was off, so she was over there Thursday night with us too). Robbie and I needed to get home regardless of the weather so we could get some stuff taken care of. Clay didn't want to leave, so he stayed with Granny and Grandma. So we only had Colt. When we got home, we cleaned, paid bills, did some laundry, etc. In the midst of everything, I didn't get anything out for dinner. So Friday night was a "fend for yourself" night. Robbie had a ham sandwich and chips, and I had one of those Steamers bag of steamed rice and veggies.

Saturday night was another no cooking night for me. Robbie and I went out to Campuzanos in Midlothian to have lunch. It was just Colt, Robbie, and me. It was really nice getting to have some adult time with Robbie. Although we had Colt there, he wasn't saying much :-) Then that night, my Aunt and Uncle's grandkids wanted to have a Valentine's Day party. So we went over there for their party. My Aunt and Uncle made spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread. A great meal!

Sunday night. Valentine's Day! Valentine's Day has never been a big holiday for Robbie and me. We have celebrated it in the past, and we have done the whole present thing, but once we got married, for some reason, it stopped. Neither of us really care about it, so we didn't see it necessary to go out and spend money on the holiday. We had our lunch together the day before, and that was all that we cared about. I was planning on doing pasta for Valentine's Day, but since we had it the night before, I didn't. So I made fried rice instead. Since Chinese food is one of Robbie's favorite foods, it worked out perfectly!

This is the carrots and onions for the fried rice. I put bell peppers in it the first time that I made it, and Robbie didn't care for them. I had peas to put in it, but I forgot to add them.

And the finished product. This is only the 2nd time that I am making this, but I still have improvements to make. The person who gave me the recipe cooks it with the soy sauce in it, but since soy sauce is just too much for me to handle (aka. gross!) I let Robbie add it after the fact.

Tonight is homemade beef enchiladas. I am looking forward to this meal because Mexican food is MY favorite! :-)

Chicken Parmigiana

Well last night ended up being a bad night for Colt again. Luckily it wasn't as bad as most of the nights have been. At 11:00 pm I checked on Clay one last time, checked on Colt one last time, and I told Robbie "Both boys are asleep. Let's go to bed." So we did. We turned out lights, checked the doors, set alarms (Robbie had to be at work this morning), and then we came into our room. And I climb in bed, look at Colt, and guess what? He is looking back at me! What the hell? He was just sound asleep. I couldn't believe it. Right then I just wanted to cry. I told Robbie that I just wanted one good night of sleep. Just one. I wouldn't even be greedy and ask for 1 more after that, but I needed just 1. So at 11:15 Colt is turning over in bed, screeching like an eagle, and then all gets quiet. And I think that maybe, just maybe he will be going back to sleep. Then he starts crying. And it was the hunger cry. So I reluctantly get myself out of bed, and I head to the living room. I nurse him, and then I put him back in his bed. About 5 minutes later, he is out. And I actually thought that he would sleep through the night. Um, I was wrong. At 4:05 am, he starts crying because it is time for him to nurse. So again, I reluctanlty get out of bed, and I head to the living room. Now it wasn't as bad this morning having to nurse him that early because Robbie had to get up not too long after that and get ready for work. So I would have been getting up with Robbie anyway. But just the fact that he isn't sleeping through the night just wears me out.

We are going to be grocery shopping sometime this weekend, and I am going to get Colt some baby food and get him started on it. Most people don't recommend starting babies on baby food until they are at least 6 months of age. And I didn't start Clay on baby food until he was 6 months old. But I think that Colt is ready to eat baby food. He does so well with his cereal, and I think that he just needs that extra little nutrition to get him sleeping through the night again. So when we go grocery shopping this weekend, I will be getting stuff to get him started.

Last night I made an excellent meal! It was an easy meal to make, but it definitely took time. And that was okay with me because it turned out so well! This is definitely on Robbie's favorite list now. I made PW's Chicken Parmigiana.

This is after I fried the chicken breasts (with butter and olive oil with a little bit of flour). You don't clean the pan in between doing the chicken and the sauce. This is the onions and garlic. I was just about to pour the red wine in.

Robbie pounded the chicken flat, but just not as flat as it should have been. It looked pretty flat after he pounded it, but once I started cooking it, I realized it wasn't flat enough. I also forgot that I was supposed to trim it. But either way it turned out delish!

Once the sauce is done, you put the chicken back in the pan with the sauce and cover with parmesan cheese. Then you put a lid on the skillet and allow it to heat the chicken back up and melt the parm cheese. YUMMY!

When the sauce was almost done, I got the linguine noodles cooked. And here is the finished  product!

Robbie's plate

So delicious and very easy! I will be making this sauce more often just to use on other pasta dishes. It was that good. And my friend Destiny made it not too long ago, and she said that the sauce was kind of bland. So I added A LOT of italian seasoning and it turned out excellent!

Tonight is going to be a really simple meal. Chili and cheese dogs! I figure that I deserve a quick and easy meal :-)

Tomorrow when I post my chili dog pictures, I will also be posting about a new challenge!

Comfort Food

There are not many things better than being with your family on a cold night and eating a good, comforting meal. Last night was one of those nights. Robbie had a hard day at work, and I was exhausted! Colt is still having trouble sleeping through the night on some nights, and lately, it has been wearing me down. I think that he is about to start cutting teeth or something though. So that could definitely be the cause. Since Clay was such an easy baby, good sleeper, and not a fussy teether, I knew that we were bound to have a baby that wasn't easy like Clay. And Colt is definitely proving that to be right. Don't get me wrong....he is definitely a good baby most of the time. And he is ADORABLE! And he is so sweet. But he is just fussier than Clay was. More demanding than Clay was. And not as good of a sleeper. Luckily I stay at home now and have the option of taking a nap when the boys go down for their nap.

So anyway. Last night was one of those "comfort food" nights. And it was great! I made the fried chicken tenders, and they turned out excellent! They were the best that I have made since learning how to fry chicken. Not only that, but I upped the cayenne pepper spice which made it that much better. And the spice didn't even phase Clay, so that was great too!

Here is my chicken batter before mixing it all in. You can see how much cayenne pepper I used. This dish looks huge, but it really was a small dish. I just zoomed in.

I also made the onion strings. For some reason, they didn't turn out as good as they normally do. I have made them before, and Robbie gave me a great review on those. But last night just wasn't my night for them, I guess. The only thing that I can think of was that I didn't have the oil hot enough. I don't have an oil/candy thermometer, so I test the oil by throwing a little flour in there. And I am guessing it just wasn't hot enough. I only used 1 whole onion (which still was a lot of strings), and only about 1/4 of them came out coated with the batter. The rest of the batter was just floating around in the pan instead of on the onions. I made a seperate flour batter to coat my onion strings with (I am weird when it comes to messing with raw chicken, so I wasn't going to use the same batter), and I used even more cayenne pepper. Robbie and I are all about the spice, and since I knew Clay wouldn't eat them, I spiced it up! And the batter turned out well on the ones that actually kept it on while frying.

This was my chicken frying up. The package made about 12 strips. So I was able to cook them 6 at a time which made it go by really fast.

Now I also said that I was going to pair this meal with a veggie for Clay. So I made one of those steamer veggie bags of broccoli with cheese. And the broccoli came out really mushy. So Clay wouldn't eat it. And I wasn't impressed either. So Clay got chicken tenders and cheetos, and I ended up making Robbie and me a box of Velveeta shells and cheese. Now Clay won't eat mac and cheese either. He is weird. I know. So while this definitely wasn't a healthy meal at all, it turned out really well. But like I said yesterday, I usually don't do 2 fried foods in 1 meal either.

Robbie's plate

So tonight is our 2nd Annual Girman Superbowl Party!!! I am very excited about it! It is Superbowl 44 Colts vs Saints. I think that everyone that is coming is going for the Saints. And while I like the Saints, I prefer for the Colts to win. So I am going for the Colts! I am the ONLY one going for the Colts. Last year, Robbie and I were the only 2 that went for the Steelers (and they WON!!!), and it was so much fun having a rivalry between everyone. It just makes football that much more fun. I think there are going to be 7 adults and 5 kids. So that should be fun! I have made Superbowl signs to put up, and I requested that everyone wear the colors of the team they are rooting for. So I am excited! And I will still be cooking! I am making tacos!!!

New Year's Resolutions

So many of our New Year's resolutions come and go. We make a resolution on New Year's Eve, and then by the time that February 1st hits, it is gone. And some people don't even make it past NYE with their resolution.

That is me almost every year albeit I actually get to at least the 8th or 9th of January before giving up on them. I am bad about making a resolution and not sticking with it. So this year, I have vowed to make a change. Crazy that my first NY's resolution is to stick with my NY resolutions. Right? I usually have 2 or 3 major things that I want to make happen, and then I make little ones.

2009 was such a hectic year with Robbie's layoff, the birth of our 2nd son Colt Emerson, and much much more. There are still many things that are hectic in our lives right now, but for the most part, it has calmed down. For now. After the layoff, Robbie started a new job at Target DC. But in November, he quit there and started another new job. Ever since we have lived together (since 2005), we have always had good jobs, good insurance, and a pretty steady life. 2009 was all over the place. When Robbie got laid off in April, he lost his insurance. We had to be put on Cobra which was $265.00 a month. The good thing was that Robbie got the job with Target within a week of being laid off, and so we only had to pay that for a few months. Then he got new insurance THREE days before I gave birth to Colt. Luckily pregnancy is NOT considered a pre-existing condition, or we would be out thousands of dollars for the hospital. Then in November when Robbie took this new job, we lost our insurance again. So we have had a roller coaster of a year. We are still without insurance, but only til March 1st. Thank goodness. So yeah...2009. Not our best year. Actually, other than Colt being born, it sucked!

So I definitely want 2010 to be a much better year!

So I have made several NY resolutions, and I think that they will be easy to achieve if I set my mind to it.

Okay, so my 2 big things are:

1.) Last year when everything seemed to be falling apart, and when I was pregnant and couldn't do everything I was doing, my housework seemed to start falling apart. I got out of the habit of cooking dinner. I got out of the habit of keeping the laundry caught up. And so on and so forth. So I would like to change that this year. I would like to start getting back in the groove of things and have it like it was when I first started staying home in May 2008. So far so good. Now my laundry did get backed up this past week a little, and I had 8 loads of laundry yesterday. But in my defense, I did wash sheets and stuff too. Not just clothes.

2.) I think there has only been like 2 years that this hasn't been on my list, but this year, it has to be. Losing weight. I want to get these pregnancy pounds off of me once and for all. I still have weight on me from my pregnancy with Clay, and that has to go. I haven't really started too much yet because I keep going back and forth with what plan I want to use. In 2004 I lost a bunch of weight with counting calories. I have also lost weight with Weight Watchers. But my big dilemma is that I know I won't count for the rest of my life. So I have to find something that works for me. And also get back into my exercise routine that I used to do in 2004 when I lost that weight.

And now my little resolutions:

1.) With Robbie's new job, he is back to working both days and nights. And when he was on nights, I got into a bad routine with Clay. I would get bored at night, so I would keep him up later than usual. He would fight me for so long with taking a nap, that come 9 pm for bedtime, he wasn't tired anyway. So now we put him to bed at 9pm, and he fights us until 11 pm. Used to he would be asleep by 9:30. And so this is just not going to fly anymore. I can't stand fighting with him to stay in bed every night. Colt is pretty much on a schedule now. He goes down about 8:30 every night, and then he is back up at 11:30 to eat. After he eats, he sits up for about an hour, and then he is back in bed. But even that, I would like to get it changed to 1 hour difference. So I want him eating around 10 or 10:30, and then back asleep by 11 or 11:30. Then I can be in bed before midnight. So I am working on getting us into a good, set routine.

2.) Potty Training. The 2 words that I despise the most. I would like to have Clay out of diapers by May 30th. His 3rd birthday. But I would settle just having him out of diapers by December 31, 2010. That gives him until he is 3 1/2 which according to most, that is good for a boy. Clay has gone potty a few times, but it just hasn't clicked yet. We are still working with him, but that is all I can do. I can't do it for him. And I can't force him. We don't use discipline when it comes to potty training either. We look at it as "he has gone potty in his diaper for 2 1/2 years without getting in trouble. So it isn't right to get onto him for going in his diaper." The only thing that we do is tell him that he is a big boy and he should be going potty in the big boy potty. Not his diaper. But it still hasn't clicked yet.

So there you have it folks. 4 things that I want to get taken care of this year. And I am hoping that with me posting it, I will be able to stick with it.

So here's to a better 2010!!!

Our 3 year anniversary!

On August 5th Robbie and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary! We had a wonderful time! My Grandma kept Clay for us from 2-6:30 and then my Mom kept Clay overnight. We dropped Clay off with my Grandma and then we went to Chipotle to eat. We were staying in the Renaissance Hotel that night. We decided on something easy for lunch, and then we were going to talk about where we wanted to go for dinner. We were thinking about eating in the hotel restaurant which is a nice steakhouse.

So we get to Chipotle around 2:30 and eat. After we leave there, we went to check in at the hotel. We get there, and it is just so pretty inside. We had reserved the King Executive Suite, so that gave us access to what they call the "Club Lounge". It is a lounge that is on our floor that our room key will open. It has a big screen TV, lots of tables and chairs, a computer area, and then it also has a bar/eating area. They serve snacks during certain hours of the day. And then they have breakfast there in the morning. They have sodas and bottles of water that are complimetary, and then they have achohol that you have to pay for. Since I am pregnant, we obviously didn't have any achoholic beverages. But we did take advantage of the sodas and water and grabbed a few of those for our room.

Once we got up to our room, we looked around and rested for a few minutes, and then we went wondering around the hotel. They have a rooftop pool and gym, so we went up there and took pictures. After that, we went into the lounge to see what it was all about. Then after that, we just went back to our room. Since we never stay in fancier hotels, we decided to make that our big thing for the night. When we DO stay in hotels, we sure don't take advantage of the movies or anything like that. But we decided that we would for our anniversary. So we got comfortable and rented the movie "Yes Man" with Jim Carrey in it. It was pretty funny. It was $13.99 for the movie, and once we selected to purchase it, the screen went into a fuzzy (but still watchable) screen. I didn't have a problem with it, but Robbie said that he wasn't paying $14.00 for a movie and it turn out like that. So we called the lobby, and they said that they were having problems with it right now, but that they were working on it and that if we wanted to continue to watch it, that was fine and they would take the charges off of our card. Since it wasn't that bad, we ended up watching it.

Pretty much all day we stayed in the room. But we weren't bored. So that was good. We thought about going to the steakhouse in the lobby, but then we decided against it. We ended up ordering pizza instead. So we ordered Dominos pizza, and they delivered it to the hotel. We went down to the lobby to get it, and then came back up to our room. After dinner and showers, we climbed in bed and ordered the movie "The Soloist" with Jamie Foxx. And if you have never seen it, please don't waste your time. I was bored for 2 hours straight. That was the worst movie that I have seen in a while.

The next day, we checked out an hour early and we went to lunch at Panera Bread. After lunch we went to see Harry Potter 6. I saw it with a friend before that, but Robbie hadn't seen it yet, so we went to go see that. After the movie, we went shoe shopping, and then we went to pick up Clay! We had a wonderful time for our anniversary. I took lots of pictures of the room and stuff, but I just posted a few here since I have so many.

The hotel from the highway

The view from our room on the 27th floor! (this is zoomed in)

Us sitting on the couch in the living room.

The hotel lobby!

I got some pictures at night of Downtown Dallas, but all it is is a bunch of lights. I couldn't get a good picture through the window. And since it started raining that day, they closed the rooftop pool, so I couldn't go up there to take pictures at night. But we have all seen Downtown Dallas at night, so just picture it from the 27th floor!