Pampered Chef

I am not a Pampered Chef sales-person or representative in any way.  But my friend, Sarah, is having a giveaway on her blog for a $30 Pampered Chef gift card and I hope I win it!  I currently only have 1 Pampered Chef item in my kitchen utensils.  It is a whisk and was a wedding gift from a dear friend of mine.  I must say it is the best quality kitchen utensil I own!  Not only that, it even looks sleek and stylish (If you know me, you know I probably wouldn't have picked that out for myself but I love it).  It looks similar to this:

If you know me, you also know that I love cooking.  I like baking as well, though I do less of it and probably am less confident with my baking skills.  If any of you follow my blog and are into cooking or baking like me, you should definitely go to Sarah's blog and enter her contest too (though you don't have to, because then I might have a better chance of winning it myself).   

Weight Loss... argh!

It's been a while since my last blog post.  I've got to get back on top of this!  As a short update to my weight loss goals, I have come to somewhat of a standstill in the progress.  You all may or may not be able to relate,  but it seems so easy to either eat well or work out on a consistent basis, but doing both of those together is where my real struggle lies.  This past month, I've been eating pretty well but haven't been working out consistently.  I really wish I had a workout buddy... someone who could come with me to classes (I think I'd be kept accountable that way).   

That's my goal for this next month.  Eating well AND working out consistently (at least 4-5 times a week).  Once I get back on track, I think the weight will continue to fall off. 

Weight Loss Update: The Progress Continues

It's been 3 months since my original post about my weight loss goals for this year, so I wanted to post another update! As time goes by, my will power has waned some and I have not been quite as strict as I was when I first started this journey. I have, however, still made some progress. This month, I lost another 4.2 lbs., for a total of 18.7 lbs. since the beginning of the year.

I still have 4.8 lbs. to lose until I hit my pre-pregnancy weight and 11.8 lbs. until I hit my ultimate goal. I hope to get to my pre-pregnancy weight by my next post (5/5/12). I need to have more will power to reach this goal (esp. with the yummy Easter treats I'll be surrounded with soon), so wish me luck!

Sleeping Woes

There have been lots of changes in the Weber household as of late. For one, Graham is definitely teething. He's drooling, chomping on everything he can get in his mouth, being more cranky than his normal laidback self, and not wanting to eat at times (especially at night). Plus I can see teeny tiny little white dots poking through his bottom front gums (yay! hope they come out soon!).

I think he's also going through a growth spurt, because he's been waking up earlier than normal hungry. I feed him and he goes back to sleep, so that's why I think it's a growth spurt. I'm sure it doesn't help that the teething makes him not want to eat sometimes.

Also, Graham has started rolling over... a lot. One day, I told Dustin I was a little worried because Graham hadn't been rolling from his back to his stomach much yet; the very next day, the madness began! He loves to roll all over the place. He especially likes rolling off his playmat to watch tv... we think it's because he knows we don't want him watching tv. : ) See what we have to look forward to?


He's eating all different kinds of solids. We've tried rice cereal, green beans, sweet peas, squash, and sweet potatoes. His favorite are the sweet peas and sweet potatoes. I guess he takes after his mom, liking anything with the word "sweet" in it.

We've also decided we need to make sleep changes. I've been hesitant to do that, since he's been sleeping so well! But we felt like we needed to move him from his bassinet up to his crib and start the unswaddling process. We decided to try unswaddling first; if he gets used to that now and sleeps well when not swaddled, maybe he'll keep sleeping well in his crib and I won't have many sleepless nights going up and down the stairs a ton. That's our thought process at least. : )

First, we tried swaddling with his arms out. This is something we need to do now especially since he's rolling over. It's a safety concern if he rolls over and doesn't have his arms out so he can push himself up and not be face-down in the mattress. I didn't know how Graham would do with that because he moves his arms and hands so much and loves grabbing onto EVERYTHING and playing with it, but it went surprisingly well. He's been sleeping about 8-8.5 hours like this so far!


We also tried swaddling loosely with a light, breathable blanket. That did not work so well (thought I'm not sure if it's also due to the teething/growth spurt). He woke up at 2:00 a.m. and was wide awake. Very odd for him.


Last night, we tried a sleep sack (no swaddle) and he slept great. So we're slowly making progress. We'll keep making baby steps and, probably within the next week, move him up to his crib. What a big boy I have!

A pic just for fun:

Feeding Woes

Graham's pediatrician said he's developmentally ready for solids at his most recent appointment. I thought about waiting until he was a little older, but he's so small (in the 3-5th percentile for his age... always has been!) that I thought this might help put a little weight on him and he might like it! We started him on rice cereal and have tried green beans as well. He hasn't seemed to like either much, but especially not green beans. He will just cry until I stop (not very long); it's not a pleasurable experience for either of us.

I'm considering putting off solids for a little longer; they aren't nutritionally necessary at this point. I might do that or I might continue to experiment with the baby food... change up the texture (add in some more water or breastmilk), try different veggies and see if he likes the others any more.

If any of you experienced moms have advice on this issue, it is very much welcome!

Weight Loss Update: The Ups and Downs

It's been 2 months since my original post about my weight loss goals for this year, so I wanted to post another update! If I'm being honest, I wasn't quite as strict this past month on the 3-5 workouts/week and only 1 cheat meal, so I've gotta get back on track this next month! However, I still made some progress. Since my last update, I've lost another 5.5 lbs. for a total of 14.5 lbs. since the beginning of the year.

I still have 8.5 lbs. to lose until I hit my pre-pregnancy weight and 15.5 lbs. until I hit my ultimate goal. I know the more I lose, the harder it will be to continue to lose at a fast rate, so I've got to step it up this month and cut out some of those sweets I've let creep back in my life (though I'll still keep my 1 cheat meal per week). Wish me luck; I need it!

A Letter from the President!

I saw a blog post on this and thought I'd try. I sent a birth announcement and short note to President & Mrs. Obama. Here's the envelope before I sent it off:


Here's what we received:


And the letter:


Pretty neat letter to put in Graham's baby book, eh?