Top Chef Shelby

A few weeks back my cousin Cindy who lives here in town and has 2 boys, texted me and asked if we were interested in a free play kitchen with play food for Shelby.

This was shortly after her birthday AND Christmas and our house seriously looked like a Toys R US store.

 

I immediatley thought, YES, but then thought, oh goodness, Brad is going to blow a gasket if more toys are brought into this house.

 

Well, he didn't react that way at all.

I went and picked up a few days later and spent an entire night washing everything and wiping it down.

Come to find out, we're the 3rd family to enjoy this little kitchen.

Cindy was given it by her friend Tara, who's girls enjoyed it for years, then her boys, and now Shelbs.

 

Well, Shelby couldn't be more obsessed with it.

All day, everyday, she is all about playing and making food in her kitchen.

 When I get her home in the afternoons, I barely put her down, and she is running to the kitchen to start playing.

 It's truly the cutest thing ever.

Not to mention, it keeps her occupied more than 2-minutes unlike the other 5,678 toys we have in our house.

It's an older Step 2 kitchen but the microwave and oven make beeping sounds when she pushes the buttons.

She loves that!

She'll look over at us and smile and make the 'ahhhh' sound.

It's her new thing and I think she's going to be all about it for quite some time.

 

When I picked her up from school the other day I noticed they have half of a play kitchen there and the teacher said that's where she spends most of her day.

Who knows... maybe she'll be a chef one day!

Top Chef Shelby!!!!

Snow Day 2014

You might be living under a rock if you didn't hear about or experience the snow here in the South this week.

The Atlanta situation is just ridiculous and should go to prove that when in doubt cancel..cancel..cancel.

People may laugh because a flake has not even fell, but you just never know, and that is proof.

Charlotte WAS prepared and they had early dismissal at local schools yesterday BEFORE any precipitation fell.

We got about 2-inches at our house and it was BRRRR cold!!

We all stayed home today due to the roads and we did a whole lot of nothing.

This is as close as Shelby came to playing in the snow.

She's had a runny nose and cough and I just don't see the point in taking her out in 19-degree weather when she's like that.

Plus, Brad left her snow boots at school.

So, today has been a lazy day for the most part.

Except lunch out at the diner up the street.

Despite the weather and road conditions our maids still showed up so we got out of the house to allow them to clean.

 Most of it's melting now but whatever is left is expected to freeze overnight because the temps are set to get down to 11-degrees!!!

Shelby's school is already on a 2-hour delay but she will be going and I plan to head back into the office.

Let's pray for safety on the roads for me and everyone else here in the snow/icy South!!!

 Happy Wednesday!

Weight Update

It's been a while since I've done an update on my weight around here.

The last one I did, I got grief over, but this time I really dont' care because I'm private.

Also, giving that I'm private, I'm going to share pictures that I otherwise, would NOT.

 

I'm going to lay it all out there when it comes to my weight and numbers.

Reason #1 is to be honest and give people perspective, #2 for me to remember back when Shelby asks me later in life about how much I gained with her.

I asked my Mom all these sorts of questions and she couldn't remember a lot of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So here we go.

First off, I recently discovered instead of being 5-foot-4, I'm actually 5-foot-3.

Did I shrink after pregnancy? Who knows.

 

After years of fertility drugs, I weighed more going into pregnancy than I probably would have liked.

The day I found out I was pregnant, I probably weighed a solid 128-130.

After a couple of weeks of no wine and cheese I lost 5-pounds and was down to around 123-125.

So, when I went in for my first weigh in at the OB I was 125 and I topped out at 154-pounds, the day I delivered, for a total of 29-pounds gained.

 

I took this first picture when I was 16-weeks pregnant and the 2nd one was at 41-weeks.

Another perspective, probably weighing close to 122(just a few months after our wedding) in the first and 41-weeks on the right..

I worked hard in the months after delivery to get the pounds off.

Some easier, than others.

Exercised, cooked healthy meals, you name it.

You might recall, that my last weight post was right around Shelby's baptism in June and I was so very proud of myself for weighing 120-122.

I worked hard to get into this dress at the time and was excited.

 

I knew I wanted to lose another 5 or 6-pounds though.

Well, I'm happy to say by late Fall I had accomplished it.

I'm now down to 114-115 pounds!!

(This picture is from me last weekend at my parents.

It's a similar picture as the one above which is why I'm posting.)

So, how did I do it?

Honestly, it started with stress brought on by an unfortunate set of circumstances involving family members.

Which is also the reason I went private.

But, now that I prayed through that and moved on in the best way I know how, I found that it was easy to eat only until I am full.

Most of the time, that  is half of everything.

I've also found that not eating after 7pm is key.

 

As much as exercise plays a role in weight loss, I'm here to tell you, it's really about what you put in your mouth.

 

So, now I'm wearing size 2's.

Thank goodness, my Mom had a bunch of smaller clothes she was able to give me, but I'm still needing to freshen the wardrobe up.

For instance, these 'skinny' PAIGE jeans, I ran out and bought after nearly losing all my baby weight.

Well, now, they don't look so skinny.

They look baggy.

That's okay, though.

All in time.

I'm proud to say, I've gotten rid of most of my bigger 4's and size-6's to keep me motivated to keep the weight off.

I'm finding it's actually a lot easier than I thought to not let food rule my life.

It's about eating to live, not living to eat!!



Party Weekend at My Rents House

Such a fun weekend.

Just Shelby and I went and visited my parents 2 1/2 hours east of Charlotte.

The trip was planned after months of my Mom telling me how she wanted me to meet the other ladies my age in her neighborhood that have children Shelby's age.

So, she organized a get together and we went over.

It was also the birthday party weekend for a family friend's son.

So, it was party.party. PARTY!

Shelby and I arrived Friday evening after work and school.

She is all about our shoes these days and we put my UGG boots on her and just laughed and laughed.

She was actually able to walk in them!

 The next morning we woke up and got ready for Santiago's 4th birthday party!

 A few pictures are always in order.

 Shelby is all about carrying a purse around right now.

She kept going into my Mom's closet and getting purses.

REDIC!

 A few seconds with a bow on her head.

She just won't wear them anymore.

Maybe when her hair grows and I can clip one in.

A girl can hope!!

 Then to the party!

We got to meet 3-month old baby Emma!!

Other family friends of ours.

 Shelby wasn't too interested.

Even when I was holding her.

 The party was great and very kid friendly.

Lots of fun snacks and food, and tons of stuff to play with.

 The highlight of the party was a visit from Spiderman!

The kids went bonkers over him!!

He got down and wrestled with them and they were climbing all over him.

One kid was even spanking him!!

It was awesome!!!

 He's with a local company there in town that make visits to kids birthdays.

They also have other characters.

 He also took pictures with all the kids and printed them out there on site and gave each person a copy.

Shelby wasn't into letting Spidey hold her.

 He was even great during the cake presentation.

The birthday boy could have not been happier!

 Shelby had a big time at the party.

She even went on her own and played trucks with all the boys.

 After the birthday party we went back to my parents house and got ready for our Mommy/Baby social.

Apps and drinks.

My Mom scheduled it for 4pm so all the babies would have a couple of good hours left in them.

 Shelby met 10-month Lilliana for the first time.

Her Mom is from Louisiana too!

 They live 2-doors down from my parents and moved to town a few months ago.

The birthday boy joined in on the fun too.

 And, there were 2 other moms and babies but I didn't get pictures of everyone.

 It was a big, long day for Miss Shelby but she had a blast!! 

 Only to wake up this morning not feeling well at all.

Fever, tons of snot and lots of cries.

I let her take a 3-hour nap, eat lunch then we headed home.

She seems to be feeling a bit better.

Let's hope she stays on the up and up!

Fun weekend, can't wait to go back and visit all the other mommy and babies again!!

Jr. League Wine Tasting Party

This year marks 10-years that I've been a member of the Junior League of Charlotte.

No doubt, joining is one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Yes, it's a time commitment but I'm able to contribute to our community all while making lasting friendships.

 

We have monthly meetings but in the last few years they've converted a few of the meetings to in-home, small group meetings.

These are my favorite!!

 

Last night I attended a small group meeting at a member's home and it's by far the best I've ever been to.

After the business portion of the meeting, Mary Sherrill did a wine tasting that was also a competition!

She asked everyone to bring 2 bottles of wine under $10.

One that you would put in for tasting and to compete with and the other bottle would go into the prize pool.



Of course she had nibbles for all of us ladies.

What would a party be without cupcakes?

Wine tasting means there HAS to be cheese!

Back to the wine tasting.

So, how it works.

Everyone picks which bottle that they brought that they want entered into the competition.

Mary Sherrill kept track of who brought what and put all the wines in paper bags with numbers on them.

She knew that my bottle was, you say, #1.

The paper bag part is brilliant because then people can't be swayed by fancy labels or brands.

Smart.Smart.Smart.

Then we split into two groups.

Depending on what wine you chose to compete with you were either in the red wine room or white wine room.

It seemed most of the ladies brought and chose to taste reds.

Literally,

There were only 3 or 4 people in the white room.

(which also means there wasn't as much competition - sorta wish i would have been in that room)

The red group was so big that we actually split up into 2 groups in there.

Half of us tasted about 8-wines and the other half tasted the other 8-wines.

We had a sheet and rated them 1 to 10.

In the end the person who brought the favorite wines of the 3 groups(2 red groups and 1 white group), got to take home wine in the prize pool!

 

Giving there was 25 people there that means there were 25-bottles of wine split between 3 women to take home!!!

Gosh, I wish I would have won!

Such a fun idea for a party.

She said she has been to several parties like this with friends and that's where she got the idea.

Of course, this was my first rodeo but I am a huge fan and can't wait to get a group of ladies to do this with!





But, of course the highlight of the night was seeing this sign proudly displayed in her home.

Mary Sherril's husband is from the town of Shelby.

BTW - the winning wines were as follow:
White - Vinho Rose
Red - Smoking Loon Pinot Noir
Red - Cantina Del Grifone 1967 Toscana 2009