Nine.

Colton's first trip to Hooters ...

He LOVED his grilled cheese... & checking out the ladies!

WHAT A BOY! ha ha :)

Eight.

First of all...Colton is NINE MONTHS OLD today!!!!!! :)

Second... Happiness today is that I remembered hearing about an AWESOME blog on the radio the other day. It was weird to hear... because it's almost a general version of my blog! I LOVE IT.

1000 Awesome Things

Seven.

Forgot to blog yesterday...

But my happiness was being SO busy at work. Funny how some people complain about how busy things are at work and how they just can't stand it. I can honestly say that I welcome it. I consider myself very lucky to have a job in this economy and what is even better is the fact that I have a lot to do!

I helped organize a "Field Day" at work yesterday and it was a GREAT success. More pictures to come!!!

Six.

Oprah's entire show today was about HAPPINESS! I enjoyed every minute of it. Two statistics stood out in my mind and I took a pic of the TV so that I could put them in my blog.

I think I am one of these people... I was born happy!

But just in case I wasn't... I know I've learned!

Five.

Four.

My little Colton has a viral infection of the lungs and requires breathing treatments around the clock so I decided to stay home from work with him today. He was so sweet and such a little trooper all day.

The happiness I experienced today is the realization that I'm "Coltons Mommy"... Im the one he wants when he's sick and my smuggles are what make him feel better. I'm not saying that in a coincided way... I'm saying it like "wow that's me... A mommy... Something I've always dreamt of!"

<3 <3 <3

Three.

Colton's pretty sick lately and it's been so hard on Chris and I to see him like this and having to force breathing treatments on him... But! Happiness is seeing his smiling face through it all! He is such a little trooper!! And today... He said BANANA for the first time!!!!! :)

Two.

Happiness today was celebrating one of my best friends birthdays with her! She is one of those friends where we can go a long time without talking but when we do, were still just as best of friends as the last time we hung out! She's a really genuine person with a big heart! She's an awesome person and one of the most awesome things is her incredible girlfriend! They're a great couple that have a lot of fun and you can really tell that they really, truly enjoy spending time with each other. I'm a lucky girl to have both of them to call friends of mine and Christophers!

Happy Birthday Krystle!

One.

I should have sat down and wrote this yesterday but couldn't find the time. So this entry is actually about the happiness I experienced from yesterday.

Without getting into any details, I was kinda down yesterday and was trying to push it far out of my head but had no luck. But like my post yesterday said, not every day is a good day but there is something good in every day. This held SO very true yesterday.

Because of the situation of living at my moms house for the last few months, my Mom and I have kind of been arguing a little more often and the little things were becoming bigger. I have to say right now that I am almost glad yesterday's events that led to me being in a funk were actually exactly what I needed to help me realize that I need to take a step back once again and look how amazing my Mom is. To also realize how very lucky I am to have her in my life and as my family. Not everyone is blessed with great parents because we aren't able to chose them but I can honestly say that if I were able to chose a Mom, MY mom would be my ONLY pick! She was definitely there for me yesterday to help guide me and offer advice (just like she always has and always will) and after a long day, we had a fun trip to Target with Colton where she helped me get over my being down and actually made me and Colton laugh really harda few times. We dropped Colton back off at home with his Daddy and then she took me out to my favorite dinner, SUSHI! We had a great time!!

This was also a good wake up call for me that I need to show more appreciation to my mom for opening up her home to Chris, Colton an I! She is always there for us, without a doubt!

I love you mom! And my goal is for Colton to grow up to love and respect me as much as I love and respect you!

Purpose



Lately, I have been thinking of where my “blogging” can take me. I’ve wanted to find a REASON to blog every day. I have become bored of the thought that my blog would be some sort of diary. Then I began to think that the things worth blogging about each day are pretty much always going to be centered around Colton & other positive, happy, fun things that happen. Then I got to thinking about how before I left facebook, people would sometimes write on their status “today is going to be a good day.” And I also read a friend of mine’s blog entry a few days back in which she explained that it’s “your choice” as to what your day will be like. So, that led me to realize that I have a whole lot of HAPPINESS in my life. “Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.” –Unknown Author.


So, in attempt to start a meaningful journey through my “facebook rehab” blog… I’ve decided that since Colton (the happiest person in my life) was born on 4.28, I will blog 428 days in which every day will be a quick description of the happiness that I experienced that day.

Whether it be Colton taking his first steps, or a promotion at work, or even a quick “I love you” text from Christopher… whatever it is, I have something to count as a blessing each and every day!  

Our Trip to NorCal through iPhone pictures...

(Started out the trip right- slept all the way there! :)

(Made it to Esteeb's house in time for a little snooze and then a nice warm bath!)

(Back to sleep again, on our way to Old Sac)

(Mommy and Daddy got out to take a pic, but Colton kept sleeping away)

(State Capitol)

(Made it to GG's house to visit with all the family. And by 8oclock, he was OUT! Daddy too! ;)

(Got to meet Kaitlin, Auntie Jackie and...

(cousin Nina for the first time!!)

(Ended our trip with a fun adventure to Pier 39 in San Fran!!!)

(Daddy's shoulders is the best way to see the city)

(Got a quick bite to eat before heading back home to SD!)

Coloring Outside the Lines

Today, I wrote to Juneberry photo to set up a photo session for Colton for Valentine's Day. (Sidenotes- my new mission is to think of a really cute outfit/ costume for him to wear!! Any help/ideas are welcome!) After writing to Juneberry, I received an auto response that included this quote:

"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you." -Dr. Seuss

This made me smile as I thought about how perfect my little Colton is. I'm his Momma, so I'm allowed to use the word perfect. But in all seriousness-- The quote, combined with Colton's tshirt yesterday, I really started thinking about my future "talks" with Colton. I'm really thinking about how I'm going to encourage him to be the best him there is... At this point in my parenting (so fresh and still new), I'm thinking that the goal of teaching my child to be happy, secure and proud of himself as a person, no matter what others think will be a great challenge and if I succeed, will be the BEST accomplishment! I can't wait to see him grow up and turn into a really awesome person!

Crawling Coltie...

Giggles for days...

RAWR means I love you... In Colton's Language! :)

It's not morning sickness...

I ended up catching some sort of flu bug last night and it lasted into today. Yuck. Woke up a few times in the middle of the night and then ended up staying home from work. I brought Colton to Jenny's for the day so that I could hopefully sleep off whatever it was that I had caught. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep very well. I'm feeling a lot better tonight though so I'm hoping my sweet, sweet Colton will sleep well tonight so that I will be fully rested for work tomorrow.

I was all excited to share last night about my chicken & vegetable stir-fry that I cooked, but now that dish has become the LAST thing I want to think about. It tasted delicious and Chris even brought it for lunch today... buuuut... That's all I had in my stomach during this whole flu bug, so it's not looking too yummy anymore. But here's the pic I took of it last night before things took a turn.

Lucky for me, I have a bunch of awesome people to help with Colton when I'm sick. This is really the first time I've been sick since I had him... so it's REALLY hard to stay away from him. But it would be even worse to see my little bubba throwing up! :( Anyway... Jenny is and has always been so awesome. I'm so happy that Colton can go to her house during the day and have so much fun with his buddies, Gavin  & Kaylah!

Chris helped out a bunch tonight by playing with Colton, feeding him, bathing him and now he's in the playroom with him playing again a little more before bedtime. It's pretty hard for me that I can't do all of these things that I normally do, but it's also a really touching experience to see my guys together. Colton loves his Daddy so very much!

I'm lucky, each and everyday... even the sickest of days. I got a text from my Dad early today asking if I was sure it wasn't morning sickness... I wrote back "positive." I guess I should expect questions like that after our awesome surprise when we found out Colton was on his way! :) My dad's next text was pretty funny.. "ha ha, Chelsea is the one that put that idea in my head... We were just emailing and she just said how awesome it would be 2 have 2 lil Coltons running around..lol!"  The funniest part about this text is that my sister, who isn't sure that she wants kids is almost wishing Chris and I have more. ha ha. Well... maybe in a year or two after marriage! ;)

On the go...

I have had so many people ask why I decided to get off of facebook. There isn't really one huge reason, nothing happened- no drama... But I guess I just figured that with the other changes I was making, being of facebook would be another good one to add to the list. I spent so much time on there. As Colton was playing with his toys, I had my left had supporting him in case he fell back and then I had my right hand being occupied by my phone that I was busy scrolling down the newsfeed on facebook with. When Colton was napping, I was perusing facebook instead of tidying up the house, or getting some much needed exercise in. The decision to leave facebook for a few months has really turned out to be a good decision. To tell you the truth, some of the things that I had been reading on there from time to time became a real negative mood changer. I asked myself every now and then why it was that I was letting things that I read on facebook get to me so much? I have the solution- it was because facebook had become a real big part of my life. Wow-- typing that out, hearing it in my head and then reading over it again really made me realize how pathetic that really sounds. I don't mean to put down anyone else who feels as though facebook has become a large part of their lives, but for me, that's not okay.

Once I decided to start this blog and sent some text messages out to friends in hopes that they would check it out, I received a lot of responses like "ha ha, you're trading one addiction for another??" And you know what? That is exactly what I would think if I were on the other side of the text. But in all honesty, this blog will not, I repeat WILL NOT become an addiction. A perfect example is the fact that I planned on doing this blog each and everyday, but yesterday, I was just too busy that I couldn't manage to get on and write a post. And really, that's a great thing, I would say.

So, "notes from facebook rehab" in summary are that things aren't as bad as I would have thought. The withdrawals lasted only about 2 days, I wasn't in any pain and surprisingly, I'm still keeping in touch with a lot of friends. :) ha ha!

(I've helped myself! :))



Yesterday was a really good day for me because... I finally ate some food!!! Ha ha! I decided to stop the master cleanse early, like I said in the last post. I'm eating healthy and exercising. Colton and I met up with Kelly and Rachel at Daily Ranch at 8am for a pretty dang good workout!!! It was the first time that I had done that walk, and the first hill was a true wake up!! I need to get my butt back into gear!! I could barely talk while I pushed my 19lb Colton up that hill. It felt great, but then again, it really made me realize how very out of shape I am. Colton had a good time and was all bundled up. Once we got to the end of trail, before we decided to head back, I took a picture of him in the stroller-- he doesn't look as happy as he was! ;)

After our walk, we came home to get ready again to meet Pappy (my Dad), and BFF (Chelsea) for breakfast at Denny's in Mira Mesa. This was the first time that I ate in 6 days!!! I had to be pretty careful about the first thing that I tried to digest... So Chris helped me decide on a egg white, veggie omelet with no cheese. At Denny's, I decided to also add some turkey bacon for some protein! It was absolutely phenomenal! DELICIOUS!! It had me wondering why I hadn't always chosen something healthy like this in the past?!

Colton took a little nap on the ride home from Mira Mesa and got charged up again for a couple errands that we ran with Chris. We went and visited Uncle Jason and saw Annie and Lucas while we picked up Chris' paycheck. Then we dropped Chris off at Escondido high school so that he could suck it up at hitting in the cages with Mike. ha ha Just kidding! He just said he was a little "rusty"... I'm thinking about asking him to go another time this week so that I can get a few swings in and try and show him up! ha ha. (kidding again!) After dropping him off, we met Chelsea at the mall! We had so much fun seeing the puppies in the windows, and then riding in a toy car! He actually had so much fun in that car which kinda makes me nervous-- I don't want a little NASCAR driver son to worry about in the future! (as much as Chris' family would just love that!) :P

After the mall, we stopped by target to get Taryn a graduation gift and card. Then we quickly came home and got ready to head over to their house for the party! Chris had a lot of fun smoking everybody in beer pong. I have to admit, it was hard on me to see everyone playing and drinking. I wanted to participate, but then again-- beer=fat! So, Colton and I got to socialize with everyone instead! :) Colton ended up passing out at the party and then I nagged Chris for an hour to go home. He reluctantly said his goodbyes around 10 and we headed out. Congrats again TARYN!!! I loved your alma mater! :)


Sunday (today) was just as fun filled! Woke up and decided to create my own egg white omelet! It turned out great once again! Unfortunately for Chris, he got all yolks and the cheese and extras that I would have added to my omelet in the past! :) But hey- with his hard work that he puts in everyday at work, he can stand to put a little fat in his stomach on the weekends! BUT! He has decided to start eating healthier along with me during the weekdays!

After our breakfast, I ran a few errands while Colton took a short nap. Then Chris got him ready while I got ready in my best 80's attire. I had borrowed some from Suzie but didn't end up using any of it because her stuff was like 80's party style. I needed 80's workout! Jane Fonda- ya know?! :) Then Colton and I headed to Miramar Lake to meet up with my fellow Healthy Hot Mamas to get our walk on! Turned out great and we got a great workout!! Thanks again girls-- especially to Priscilla who came through a looked like just as big of an 80's idiot as I did through the whole 5.5 mile walk around Miramar Lake!! Colton was soooo tired and fell fast asleep on the way home. Now it is time to wind down the night with this blog re-cap and then a nice warm bath for Coltie!!

Former Facebook Friend

Although I never thought the day would come where I decided to get off of facebook, January 3rd happened. As a result of a 3 month weight loss challenge that I recently joined, I also decided to make many more changes in my life as the new year begins. One of those being a break from facebook (hence the blog title.)  This blog will (hopefully) be a daily account in which I will be able to share pictures, stories and laughs that I experience along my journey as a new healthy Mommy. Instead of checking the facebook newsfeed every hour or updating my status each day or "checking in" to wherever I go, I will take a short amount of time, each day to write a little post. With all of the many goals or should I say resolutions that I have decided to make for 2011, I am almost happy to say goodbye (for now) to facebook. As my friend, Heather, has put it- facebook is a "time waster." There are many things that I can be using my free time for instead of "creeping" on facebook. :)

So, to kick things off...
I'm excited to share that Colton is 8 months and 10 days old today. He's in the 49th percentile in weight, 76th percentile in height and a whopping 98 in head circumference. Yes, I have a kid with a HUGE brain! This stage that he is at right now is one of the most fun so far! He is so active, always smiling, trying to talk and communicate with us and he is SO ready to walk. He's mastered the crawling, and has moved on to the attempt at walking. We have a Winny the Pooh train walker that he can push and walk behind and if I could share the face he gets when he's all proud, I would. He's growing so fast and it's literally the best thing in the world to experience.

As for Coltons Mom... (mE!) I've joined the Healthy Hot Mama Weight Loss Challenge! http://healthyhotmama.blogspot.com/ My goal is to lose 40lbs! ...and to win the challenge! So far, I have decided to kick off the weight loss with immediate results by doing the Master Cleanse. This is my fifth day and I've lost a total of 10lbs. My goal was to do this for the whole 14 days, but after speaking with my Grandma on the phone last night, I've decided to cut it in half and only do 7 days. She explained to me that Dr. Oz had a whole show dedicated to this and how very unhealthy it is. My Grandma made me promise that I would not continue with this or else she would worry. Any of you that know me know that I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make my Grandma happy! :) So, I'm reaching the end of my "fast" and will be moving on to more healthier options. I'm actually very happy to be able to stop because then I can finally start to work out again!

Chris (Colton's Dad), Colton & I are currently living with my mom and on a "get well plan" with our finances. The goal is to be out by the end of April. My weight loss challenge will end at the beginning and so I'm planning on being a healthy, determined Mama once moving day finally comes around.

There are a lot of goals within these larger goals, like not drinking and eating fatty foods... also spending more time with people that I love, planning one of my best friends weddings, becoming a better girlfriend (and hopeful soon to be wife), as well as continuing my search for a job or career that I really love. All of this has become my new journey as a healthy, new Mom!