Photo Story

I've been quiet. Too quiet. So quiet that I feel guilty. Guilty that I have not been sharing our adventures with friends and family. But even more guilty that I have not been keeping a family record to look back on 10-15-20 years from now. There are excuses (of course there are!!). For one, finding the time has proven to be difficult. But more importantly, finding the energy to put the words together is even harder. Being the mom of two very active little boys is absolutely amazing and absolutely exhausting. And because our almost 8 month old has decided to enter the world of sleep regression, the words are still not here.

So I'm going to let the photos tell the story.

I last left off with Andrew's first meal back in August.  Since then, there have been many more messy moments as he worked through the fruits and vegetable list.  There has also been baseball and clapping and weddings and sitting and pumpkins and crawling and trick or treating and teeth! It certainly has been an exciting Fall and we are looking forward to a fun and busy holiday season.

Family Fun at Burke Lake Park

Frying Pan Park Play Date

Nats Game with Grandpa

Pool Days with Friends

Birthday Party Fun

Happy Birthday, Grandma M.

Port Discovery in Baltimore, MD

Uncle Joe & Aunt LeeAnn Get Hitched!

Cox Farms Play Date

Fairfax Fall Festival with Grandma and Grandpa Q.

Pumpkin Picking at Ticonderoga Farm

Andrew's First Haircut

Lazy Saturday Photo Shoot

Andrew Milestones: Sitting, Jumping, Crawling, Teeth!

Brotherly Love

I'm going to try really, really hard to keep up with things from now on. And Andrew is going to try really, really hard to go to sleep and stay asleep so that my Mommy brain can put the words together to be able to keep up with things. Happy Tuesday! 

Andrew's Monthly Photo Project: Seven Months Old

Seven months.

The kid is seven months old.

How is that even possible?

Look at this big boy!!!!

Milestones:

We have an army-crawler!  He isn't quite on his knees crawling yet, but when on the floor he scoots around on his belly like a pro. We recently put out the Skip Hop Zoospot Playmat and he just loves to belly-crawl to all his toys.

Andrew had his first haircut this month.  Like his brother, he was born with lots and lots of hair that just grew and grew.  It was time to clean him up so we brought him to Cartoon Cuts and now he is even more handsome than ever.  As you can see, he was not a fan of the haircut.  Fingers crossed that it's all up from here!

There are still no sign of teeth, but they are certainly brewing.  The kid always has his fingers in his mouth and is a lot grumpier when they are bothering him.  C'mon teeth. Show yourself!!

Happy 7 Month Birthday Andrew!!

Andrew's Monthly Photo Project: Six Months Old

Can you say 6 months??  That's right!  Our little guy is half way through his first year of life and he is KILLING it. :)

Milestone Update:

• We have a roley-poley on our hands.  If you put this kid on the floor in location A, he will be in location P within 5 seconds.    

• No teeth yet but that doesn't mean he can't EAT!  He has been taking down solids like a champ for a few weeks now.  Favorites include sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas and mangos.  Not so favorites: peas and pears.  The faces he makes when given these foods are PRICELESS!

• Mr. Chatty Cathy has a TON to say these days.  It's ooohhh this and ahhhh that and la la la la la!  He is also a big fan of the raspberry.  If you are close by WATCH OUT.  The raspberry spit is flyin'.

Happy 6 Month Birthday Andrew!!!

Mangia Mangia!

It is dinner time in the Mangiaracina house and someone is HUNGRY!

The menu has changed for our Andrew and he seems to be somewhat pleased with the new selection ~ although the first bite was a bit of a doosie. I love when babies try "solid" food for the first time. The face they make is priceless because they don't quite know what to do with it.

Andrew was true to form with lots of silly faces and spitting.  In the end, I think he swallowed a few bites and actually enjoyed it. He definitely loves sitting in his high chair and being a part of the family dinner table.

And with Andrew's upgrade, James is now in a new position at the dinner table - the bench! He is truly a big boy and is at the table sans a booster seat.

It's happy days here at the Mangiaracina house.  Bon appétit!

Andrew's Monthly Photo Project: Five Months Old

Here we are again. Another month under our belt and a bigger kid to prove it!

Andrew continues to melt our hearts and has been very busy learning all sorts of new and exciting things.  Just yesterday, he experienced his first "solid" food - hello rice cereal!!!  He seemed to enjoy it but I think he is looking forward to something with a little more flavor.  Looks like some sweet peas may be in the near future.

In recent days, Andrew seems to LOVE to hear his own little voice.  If he is awake, then he is squealing his little heart out. The sound is hysterical and CONSTANT! Between James' continual chatter and Andrew's squeaks and squeals, it's pretty loud in casa de Mangiaracina.

And speaking of James, Andrew continues to be enamored with his big brother.  If he is sad or fussy, all we have to do is tell James to make Andrew smile and BOOM - the kid is glowing.  Pure joy for this Mama!

Playtime is a lot more fun lately now that Andrew can sit and hold his head up and grab onto things.  He is still not a fan of tummy time and is not really doing any kind of crawl yet, but when he is sitting in his Bumbo or in his bouncy chair, he is a happy guy. Most toys go straight into the mouth since it looks like he will be cutting some bottom teeth pretty soon.

All in all, Andrew continues to be a happy, chill, fun-loving little guy and we can't wait to see what this next month brings.

HAPPY 5 MONTH BIRTHDAY BUDDY!!

Nemo & Nemo

We have some friends staying with us for the next 2 weeks and there is someone in the house that couldn't be happier.  Meet Nemo and Nemo and their BFF James.

The level of obsession over the movie Finding Nemo in our household has hit epic proportions. Frozen levels in fact.  It all started one fateful day when I walked into James' classroom and his teacher was reading a Nemo book.  I opened my mouth and said, "You know, there is a Nemo movie we can watch."  And with that, I introduced us to a non-stop Nemo-fest. Whenever James is allowed to watch a video, nine times out of ten, it is Finding Nemo. The kid has seen it so much that he is actually quoting the movie in every day life.  While in the pool at swim class, he is singing "just keep swimming...just keep swimming...just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...what do we do, we swim." The kid is obsessed.

Over the weekend he earned a Nemo doll and was ELATED when we went to pick it up at the store. Even Andrew got in on the Nemo action.

So when our neighbor asked if we can babysit some fish for the next 2 weeks, it was a no brainer. Our new little friends are getting comfortable on the kitchen counter. James is watching their every move. And I am praying that these two little friends survive their time with us.

The Tools

Last week I introduced the world to my insecurities about my current weight (yikes!) and the response was overwhelming. You guys sure do know how to make a girl feel amazing!  Now that I have outed myself, I thought I would share with you the tools I am currently using on my weight loss journey to both provide inspiration AND garner up some advice on other tools and methods that may be working for you.

Meal Planning
One of the most important things I learned is that no matter how much I exercise, if my diet is not on point, then there is no chance that I will lose weight.  In order to stay in check, I have to plan and in order to plan, I use a few tools.  The first is a very simple pad that lives on our refrigerator:

Made by the genius minds over at Knock Knock, this guy helps me plan our dinners for each night of the week. When I have a few free minutes, I look through my recipe clippings from magazines, newspapers, etc. and my many, many cookbooks (I seriously have an addiction) and make a plan for the week.  While I'm doing it, I keep a running grocery list in my notebook or on Peapod (aka lifesaver!) so that I have all the necessary ingredients for each meal. Having a plan takes major stress out of weeknight dinners when evenings are already cramped and rushed.

And speaking of recipes, I was just introduced to a website that has literally rocked my world. Go check out www.plantoeat.com.  

Go ahead...I'll wait.  

It is an AMAZING website that organizes your recipes and helps with menu planning.  It even puts together a shopping list when you tell it what you plan to eat for the week!  It really helped me get more organized with the hundreds of recipes that were piling up on my counter:

They have a little tool that you place on your browser - similar to the "Pin It" button for Pinterest.  When you are on a website and want to add a recipe, you click the "Plan To Eat" button and it is loaded to your site. You can also manually enter or do a bulk import.  World ROCKED!  I do have to admit that I am still a loser and write my grocery list down on paper, but otherwise, I have fully embraced this awesome tool.

Exercise
As I mentioned last week I am all about the 21 Day Fix as a nutrition and exercise regiment. I recently finished my 2nd round and once again found success. I have since been introduced to a new exercise program called CIZE: The End of Exercise. It is a danced based program so if you like Zumba or just dancing in general, you will like this.  I'm 1 week into a 4 week program and I am LOVING it!  It does come with an eating program that essentially mirrors that of the 21 Day Fix, so I'm essentially doing the 21 Day Fix nutrition for 30 days with CIZE fitness. #BeachbodyMashUp. Oh and I found a 21 Day Fix app making it that much easier to track my containers. Score!

Now, there may or may not be video of me doing one or more of these CIZE routines, but the chances of them being posted to the world wide web are slim to NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!!! I thought I had rhythm until I saw myself. Uh - can you say AkWaRd?!! And apparently I didn't get the memo on "facials" when dancing.  I should have paid more attention to my Precisionette friends in high school. At least I get my sweat on and have fun doing it.

Shakeology

I like to eat. I like to eat and chew my food. My problem is that I tend to do it too often which is why I am in this mess in the first place!  I have never really been of fan of the meal replacement shakes or the cleanses, but I decided that if I was going to embrace these new Beachbody programs, I would go all in which means adding Shakeology to my daily meal plan.  Touted as the "healthiest meal of the day", this protein shake is packed with all kinds of superfoods that help curb cravings and make you feel energized. My go to flavor is chocolate to which I add a banana and peanut butter and it is my tasty treat of the day.  It's a bonus that this yummy "milkshake" is also good for me!! It's not cheap by any means and with 2 kids in daycare and a mortgage to pay it may not be a part of my daily diet forever, but for now, I am making it work and enjoying every chew-free sip.

Love & Support

This weight loss journey would not be possible without the love and support of the men in my life.  James and Andrew are completely oblivious - as they should be.  I am their Mommy and they don't care what I look like. As long as I am there to kiss their boo boos, sing them their songs before bed and tickle them until they pee in their pants, they are good. Their love is unconditional no matter what my size. I have to remind myself of this fact whenever I get down in the dumps about my body. Their little faces inspire me to keep at it so that I am healthy and here with them for a long, long time.  And let's not forget my Ed.  This man has always been my rock and encourages me every step of the way. Does it kill me that he can eat an entire pint of ice cream and not gain an ounce?  Of course!  But I love him anyway. :) Without my boys, this journey would be a lot, lot harder.

So tell me - what tools do you use to keep on track? I'm always open to new ideas to keep this journey fresh and successful!!