conversations with Theo: love fest & enough kids

In the car.

Dexter:  Mommy.
Me: What?
Dexter: Mommy.
Me:  What, Dexter?
Dexter: I dunno.
Me: You love me? Oh that’s sweet. I love you too.
Theo: I love you, too!
Me: Awwww…thanks Theo! I love you, too. And do you love brother?
Theo: I love you, too, Dexter.  Do you love me AND Dexter, mommy?
Me:  I love ALLLLLLLLLLLL my babies. Soooo much!
Theo:  You don’t have that many kids, mom.  You just have 2.
Me:  Well, that’s true. But I love both of them a whole bunch.  Do you think I should have a lot of kids?
Theo: No.
Me:  Why not?  Don’t you want another baby brother, or maybe a baby sister?
Theo:  No, mommy.  2 is enough for you.

Well. Hmmph.  What the hell is he really saying here?

xo,
~C~

weigh to go.

I just thought I would provide an occasional update on my efforts to live a little healthier, lose some weight, and gain more energy that I talked about a lot in some previous posts.  I’ve been dieting since Jan 2 and exercising since a couple weeks after that.  My longterm goal is to just be more active, maintain a healthy weight, and engage in lots of physical activities as a family.  To get there, I gave myself a shorter term goal of losing 20-24 pounds (and stay in that range thereafter) and exercising 3-4x per week.

Weight lost:  Two weeks ago I would have been proud to tell you that I had lost 9 pounds, but unfortunately that’s no longer the case.  At my weigh-in two Fridays ago I had gained 1.8 of that back and then last Friday, another 1.6. So for now, my total weight loss is 5.6 lbs until I weigh again this Friday.  The thing is, I didn’t even cheat much.  Not enough to be packing on over 3 lbs in 2 weeks.  I’m not sure what’s going on but I was pretty bummed last Friday when I got on the scale. All I know is I’m not giving up.  I’m trying to increase my water intake since I do tend to eat a lot of pre-packaged (high sodium) foods for breakfast and lunch that may increase my water retention.

I’m having to pep talk the girl in the mirror (but not while looking in the mirror, that would be weird) to remind myself that I’m still exercising more than I have in the past three years.  That I’m not trying to lose 24 lbs in 2 months.  My goal is to lose the weight before we go to Disney in October.  My goal is for this current healthy living, that can be a struggle at times, to turn into a way of life by October.  I want to have energy and make good food decisions 90% of the time.  That there’s more going on here than the numbers on the scale.  That if I keep doing what I have been doing for the past 6+ weeks, there’s no way that I won’t lose the weight eventually. 

How are you doing on your goals for this year?

~C~

our home: the boys’ happy little bathroom

I have been waiting until the last finishing touches were added to the boys’ bathroom before posting before and after pictures. You can see a couple of pictures of their bathroom before we took possession of the home here.

These were taken after a little bit of work had already started:

Gray cabinets and countertop. Blue sink and bathtub.
Detail:  Hardware, cabinet doors, and CARPET!
Extreme close-up of the lovely coordinating towel ring.
And on the mirror/medicine cabinet — remember this for later!
STUNNING blue bathtub + handicap accessible grab bar + track from shower doors.
Track from shower doors is gone.
I’ll spare you the five billion DURING pics.  Ryan’s dad worked tirelessly on this bathroom.  He spent several work weeks in this little room while Ryan and I were at work.  
We saved the original gray tile bathtub surround, the medicine cabinet, and the cabinets.  That’s about it. 
AFTER!!
Looking in from the hallway.  My husband laid the beautiful versailles patterned flamed granite floor from Tile Shop (as well as the laminate in the hallway).  Adorable hot air balloon vinyl decals from The Custom Vinyl Shop were those finishing touches I mentioned before.  I’m obsessed with how cute these turned out and I have been holding onto them for a few weeks, scared that I would mess them up somehow.  So easy!
Overview of vanity.  New and improved!  I stained the cabinets black.  We replaced the gray formica top with white cultured marble.  Ryan’s dad added the tile backsplash surround.
New lighting.  Also, notice the framing around the mirrors on the medicine cabinet.  Ryan’s dad built them.  Threw away the ugly swirly patterned ones above and BUILT these new ones.  That saved us a fortune!
New sink faucet.
Extreme close-up of the tile backsplash surround.
Another overview – notice the new brushed nickel hardware.
More of the decals!  And a new brushed nickel vent cover. Painted all the baseboards white.
Our beautiful shower curtain!  I fell in love with the simplicity of this and had to have it.  Painted the walls a sky blue to add some color to the room.  I purchased the shower curtain on clearance from Urban Outfitters
Original light gray tile with new accent stripe and toiletry shelves/boxes, no grab bar, and new jetted tub! New towel bar.
New tub faucet.
This custom tub apron was the source of a lot of discussion and agony for us.  It held up progress while we were trying to determine how to combine the old gray tiles with the new.  This is the design that Ryan and I finally came up with and Ryan’s dad put it together for us.  I am so proud of this and love that it is totally custom.  Every time I bathe the boys in this bathroom, I’m happy.  One of the smallest rooms in the house, and definitely one of my favorites.
Another angle.
While I felt somewhat compelled to go with bright colors, I like that the room is whimsical and fun without being too childish.  This bathroom also serves as our guest bathroom and I think the colors/design will grow with the boys’ changing interests.  I’m not crazy about the idea of characters but if that’s what they want one day, the tile is neutral enough to look nice with a variety of themes.  I can’t even believe the transformation this little bathroom has gone through.  Now we just need to work on the rest of the house.  
I’m excited to hear your feedback!
xo,
~C~