August 2008


1. I’m so sorry this blog has seriously lacked posts lately! I wish you could see my desk at work, my monitor faces the hallway so anyone walking around can see exactly what I’m doing. Seriously cramping my internet style!

2. My 401K isn’t coming out of my check yet, you have to be here 3 months to be able to do it, and while I’m enjoying the extra money I’m dreading when I have to say goodbye to it. :( They don’t match here yet since they’re a new company and I’m going to try to make up for it by putting 10% (GASP!) of my check into it. Before I put 5% in, Bentley matched the first 2% by 100% and the next 3% by 50%. So I was getting like 8% or something.

3. John and I started a diet. Together. Has John ever been on a diet? No. He’s doing so well though! He usually has this technique of eating less and exercising more, which is GREAT, but we don’t do it. So we started the South Beach Diet a week ago. It’s very similar to what I was already doing, a little more veggies, a lot less fat, and so far, we’re both holding strong. I’ve lost 6 pounds this week and John’s lost 4. Yay for us!

4. The past week’s weight loss puts me at 40 pounds lost since January. I can’t tell you how much better I feel. A little more like myself.

5. Dash is teething like a maniac. I think they’ve finally all broken through now.

6. Dash has also been sick for the past 10 days. Fussy, clingy, snotty. Just a mess. He’s finally getting back to his normal sweet, independant self. I missed my baby!

7. He’s started stomping his feet when he’s upset. So. Freaking. Cute. Hard not to laugh. I asked him if he was hungry while I was cooking him some dinner and he came over, looked up at me and started crying and started stomping his feet. Ha!

8. We went to Cathedral Caverns this past weekend. Nifty. On the way in, you go like 100 ft, stop, listen to the tour guide, start moving again. On the way OUT, the tour guide says “ok, head out of the cave and I’ll follow you…” We must have been 2 miles in. Dash was in his fussy stage and had cried several times on the way in. What’s worse than a crying baby? A crying baby in an echoing cave. So I was booking it on the way out. I’ve never walked so far up so many hills pushing a 25 pound baby in my life. Holy Moly.

9. College football starts tonight! Hooray!

10. The Tennessee Valley Vipers won the Arena 2 Football championship. They were runners up their first year, fairly successful for a few years but a TON of fun to watch, and then the owner got fed up with the Arena 2 organization and moved them to the Universal Football Association (or something like that) and all but squelched the team. Several good players left, and they had a horrible, horrible season. They rejoined AF2 and were able to turn it around over the past few years. I’m so glad for them, and can’t wait to go to a game next year. It’s always fun when a bunch of people are there and there will be more people with a winning season. If you’re in the Huntsville area, check them out. 12 dollar tickets, kid-oriented promotions and beer. It’s hard to beat that. And they seriously are fun. If the ref makes a bad call the commentator goes “Need your eyes checked?… Check out Sears Optical…” and turns it into a commercial. :)

John was off last weekend so we took a weekend trip to Chattanooga and Gatlinburg. Lots of driving but we had a good time…

First, Chattanooga…

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Dash’s favorite part of the hotel stay

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We went to the Chattanooga Aquarium, I thought Dash would have a good time because he LOVES fish and I was right, he had a blast.

Jellyfish

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Eel…. ewww….

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Butterfly garden…

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The otters. Easily my favorite part

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After we left Chattanooga, we drove to Gatlinburg (during Dash’s naptime and with a little help from the Backyardigans when he woke up. I owe the Backyardigans a LOT.)

We just enjoyed the sights and stayed at a great hotel, I had no idea since I found it online and just went on user reviews but it turned out to be great. Saturday morning we trekked up to see Laural Falls, about a 2.6 mile roundtrip hike for some pretty spectacular falls. John carried Dash in the Beco up and back, no falling babies here….

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And just a random shot. Dash having a fantastic time in a bag. I just looked over and he had put this on his head.

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And me scarring Dash for life.

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Hope you all have a good Monday, we’re doing great except Dash is having a hard time with teething. We went to the doctor for his 15 month checkup and he had 2 molars poking through that we didn’t know about, and a front tooth coming (it’s since broken through). His nose has been running like crazy and he’s been super tired all week, I’m not sure if it’s teething or a little cold. I think his eye teeth might be coming in (canines? I’ve heard them called both) and I’ve heard those are the worst.

John and I started a diet together, we’re doing really well so far, 4 pounds for me since Thursday and 3.5 for John. We both have about 30 to go… I’ll keep you posted! :)





It’s Manny’s crate, actually, but you’d think it was Dash’s. We decided to try and bring Manny in so we’re crate training him, and Dash is nuts about the crate when Manny’s not in it. Still not too nuts about Manny though…