Saturday Six: Since I Last Wrote

So, my last entry was on June 24th. It's July 23rd. Oops. I plan to come back and fill in the last week of AJ Every Day once I get my life under control. But for now, six things that may or may not have contributed to my absence in the last month.

1. Enter the Big Boy Bed: Two weeks to the day after his second birthday, a certain little dude discovered he could climb INTO his crib. Not surprisingly, it didn't take him long to figure out how to do the climbing in reverse and all of the sudden two parents and a Nana were saying, "Oh Crap! Time to buy the bed rail and convert the crib." Two trips to Babies R Us later (bought the wrong rail the first time), we were tucking the little dude into his big boy bed. June 25th. I almost feel like my life changed as much that day as the day he was born. There is no longer a "safe place" to put him. I can no longer guarantee he'll be where I left him. Naps are no longer as long as they once were (if they happen at all) and I miss the security of hopping in the shower, running to the mail box, or sitting downstairs on the computer without worrying about him.
   
2. Wanna Buy a House?: We have one to sell. We hit the MLS on July 9th. If it sells by November, we'll be moving to Michigan to be closer to family. If it doesn't sell, we're taking it as a sign from above and we're moving forward with plans to stay here long term. For now my life is in limbo, a limbo that involves trying to keep this house ready to show at a moment's notice with a 2 year old. Why are you laughing? I'm serious. Okay, I'm laughing too.
   
3. Tales from the Scale: I'll be honest, I'm frustrated. Since my birthday I have lost and gained the same 3lbs. I know why. It's stress eating, and summer, and poor planning, and did I mention stress eating? But still, it's maddening to play this back and forth game with the scale week after week. Which brings me to..
4. Enter ZUMBA!: A couple of weeks ago, I finally caved in and agreed to join a few of my Weight Watchers friends at a Zumba class they all go to near where our meetings are held. I fully expected to hate it, being that I'm just barely coordinated to do the electric slide as long as I count the steps in my head over and over. Seriously, though? I love it. I love it in the most ridiculous kind of way. I laugh through the entire hour and probably only get the moves right 30% of the time. I mean really, how can you take yourself seriously when you're attempting to follow the instructor and you hear the words, "The club can't even handle me right now." Truer words were never spoken. There is NO club that can handle my poor attempt at dancing. But when the hour is up, I am drenched in sweat, redder than any tee shirt I own, and ready to do it again the next day. It's a good thing.
5. Speech Coaching: The little dude still refuses to grace us with words, but he has mastered the MORE sign. After doing it ONCE a few weeks ago, he suddenly decided this week that it would be useful. There was great rejoicing around here when that switch went off let me tell you. The only problem we have right now is that he seems to think MORE also means YES. (It's an easy mistake to mean because he most often uses the more sign to indicate he wants more to eat. IE: Yes, woman, please refill my snack bowl.) So we're getting MORE sometimes when what he really means is yes. So, it's not fool proof, but he's so stinking proud of himself when he signs. Love it.
   
6. Wedding Season: I won't lie, this season feels weird since we're barely shooting. Between two spring/summer due dates we didn't book much this year planning to be on maternity leave. Well, we all know how that ended. It's for the best though since now we've had time to focus on getting the house listed, etc. After a couple of months off (our last wedding was in April), we're back in the swing of things having shot an engagement session last week and a wedding on the calendar for next weekend. Lugging camera gear in hot as heck July...how many calories does one burn doing that??
   

And so, now you're caught up. Sort of. I'll be back. Promise!