Since DH takes off on Friday afternoons, we took Turtle to the pool for a little bit. He loves the water and will be starting swimming lessons in two weeks. So much fun.
He did a great job walking around by himself and holding our hands.
Out in the deep end with Mommy. So fun!
What we call the "imperial point." He's hilarious with it.
The Announcement is simply this: Turtle is walking. All by himself. For pretty decent distances. Ack.
And on to the cuteness.
Turtle & B just splashing around.
Oscar wants in on the action. B isn't too sure about a pug coming in the pool.
Today, we did something crazy and spontaneous. Auntie L and Uncle Sammich are visiting the state and decided to spend the day at Universal. Seeing as how it's not unbearably far away, they invited us to join them for lunch. I had to check my schedule of course, and what do you know? I was free.
DH joined us, too!
Adorable Auntie L and Uncle S. Don't let their cuteness fool you. They were blatantly plotting to run off with Turtle.
The girls.
Me and DH with Turtle on his first trip to Universal Studios. He loved it.
Honestly, we had a great time - he did so well in the car, was an angel in the restaurant, and did pretty well going home. There was a fatal accident on the way in, so we had to take some ass-backwards way, which ended up being an hour longer in drive time. Boo for us, and I can't blame him for getting cranky.
Thanks for a wonderful lunch, guys! We loved seeing you and hoped Uncle Sammich had a great birthday!
I guess the reason I haven't posted too many photos is that we haven't done all that much.
And also, because Turtle has decided it is really, really fun to come crawling in the direction of my camera at breakneck speeds if I try to capture some of his cuteness on digital memory card. He's a tricky little bugger.
I know this one is slightly blurry, but too bad. Look at that face.
I have often blogged about Turtle's love of his booka-bookas. Seriously. It goes too far. While DH was out of town, I had to stall for time while I was getting breakfast ready, and I found that handing over Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? was the perfect solution. He loved it so much, in fact, that he insisted on "reading" while he was eating his morning oatmeal. Whatever works, right?
Today, we finally had some dry, sunny weather, after an entire. week. of torrential rain (gag). I had picked up some sidewalk chalk and thought maybe we could give it a whirl on the driveway while DH was mowing the jungle that had grown out of our lawn.
Turtle liked the actual pieces of chalk.
But he also liked holding it in the grass, watching Daddy weed-whack.
I just thought this was a cool photo.
Crawling for his piece of his chalk.
Just looking cute.
Later, while I was making dinner, I caught him looking out for Da-da. Oscar was helping him, of course. You can never have too many eyes out on the backyard.
Hiyeee!
Yesterday, I took a "recovery day" (gigglesnort) by doing Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred. With 5lb weights.
Today, back to CardioMax. Whee and such. Every fiber of my body is in protest, and the disgusting, dreary gray weather is not helping. However, it must be done.
I customized for the Warm Up (5 minutes), Jillian's Level 2 (10 minutes), Kim's Level 3 (10 minutes) and the Cool Down (5 minutes). My secret plan is to knock off after 10 minutes and plead "But, I can't do it!"
WARM UP
I was sort of hoping that there would be different warm ups, but no, I get Bob again. I think Bob and I would be friends, if he wasn't trying to instruct me in exercise. A different time, a different place, Bob. I think what bugs me is that this routine is old school: lunge to the side, turn, stretch the hammy all the way, lean on the back leg and point the toes upwards kind of thing. I didn't like when Denise Austen did it and I don't like it now. I really prefer Jillian's 30DS warmup/cool down.
I also don't love the jaunty way Bob jabs his index finger at the screen in extreme close up to tell us it's time to get started. Really? I couldn't tell that by the digital 5:00:00 on my DVD player. ANd you know what? That jab puts you at 5:03:0something. Let's stay on track, Bob.
LEVEL 2: JILLIAN
The cool thing about this level is that, unlike Bob in Level 1, Jillian does almost everything. This helps keep me on track and in sync. They have also reduced the "scenery" to four people, as opposed to the 8-10 folks all clumping up and trying to get to the back. Yes, that's what they're doing. Don't think you can fool me, you people. I pulled the same stunt myself, countless times. I'm on to you.
It goes fast. There is lots of bouncing, shadow boxing, upright mountain climbing, and some football traning camp maneuvers. Some of the moves were a little hard on the knees, but I kept with it. I also tried to use my 2lb weights for some of the shadow boxing, but you have to be quick. They move from exercise to exercise really fast with no transition.
The last 30 seconds involved "shaking it out" (thank you, Jillian, for taking mercy. I won't forget this), so I decide, in my oxygen-deprived state, to go to Level 3.
LEVEL 3: KIM
This is cardio kickboxing.
I like this.
Kim is a little odd. She's got this adorably pert, pixie-like face that looks like it's photoshopped on a bodybuilder's body. It doesn't fit. But whatever. She has amazing legs.
This is bouncy and fun. Lots of kicking and punching. She also keeps a lot of count and does well keeping people on track.
I am finding that some of the background people are just rushing through to get done, so I count the time off in my head to keep the beat. Annoying, yes, but it keeps me on track, too, so I'll suffer.
It was actually a really great 10 minutes. I felt like I was doing something good, not just rushing through a whole bunch of crazy movements. There was a lot more "intention" to these moves, if that makes sense.
OBLIGATORY YOGA (I mean COOL DOWN)
Blah.
I'm being a good sport about it, though. And I imagine that it's helping my overall flexibility, which can't be bad.
Tomorrow, another day of shredding.
After about 40 days, I finished the 30 Day Shred (end date was about two weeks ago).
Results? I lost about 5lbs, developed some great arm and leg muscles, got what may be a two-pack, and enjoyed feeling better about myself and feeling better. Yay.
I continued doing the workout five days a week. Last week, I even upgraded to 5lb weights (from 2lbs) to give myself a better challenge. In the meantime, I decided to order this DVD from Amazon to intersperse with my shredding.
I give you The Biggest Loser Cardio Max.
The premise? The three trainers from The Biggest Loser join forces to give you the workout of your life (or reduce you to a blubbering puddle of weepiness, depending on your perspective).
There is a 5 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down. Then, you can choose a the Level 1 20 minute Boot Camp Workout with Bob, the Level 2 10 minute Super Cardio Drills with Jillian, and/or the Level 3 Cardio Kickbox with Kim.
The cool thing is that you can customize the workout. A screen comes up and you can select which portions you want. For example, since it's my first day, I selected the Warm Up, the Level 1 Cardio and the Cool Down. The DVD then automatically plays these segments for you, one right after the other. Technology at its finest, people.
The big difference between this DVD and the Shred is that instead of beautifully toned and exquisitely cut "professionals" in the background, they use actual cast members from The Biggest Loser. On the plus side, it's nice to see "real people" with "real sweat" and "real coordination" issues, unlike Jillian's Glamazons. On the downside, there's really not a whole lot of attention paid to form and a lot of times, the people are bumping into each other. You really have to pay attention to the quickie demonstration to make sure you have it down.
WARM UP:
It's hard core. Bob wastes no time. The mantra is get that heart rate up and keep it there. Fair enough, Bob. Fair enough. He seems sweet enough. All encouraging and whatnot. I wonder if I cry, he'll show mercy. Jillian would scoff because apparently Bob allows something called a low-impact jumping jack. I chose to ignore that. There was rope jumping, lots of lunges (he's totally lunge happy), some light shadow boxing, etc.
LEVEL 1 CARDIO:
The fact that I am typing this all out of breath should be a clue. This is not easy. The moves themselves are not difficult exactly, but they are fast-paced and continuous. I got a little mucked up because Bob doesn't really seem to care if anyone is doing them right or wrong. He just wants you moving. Everyone's timing is really off, and since Bob kind of flits around from person to person to give them proverbial pats on the ass, it's a little more challenging to keep on track.
He's also really forgiving. You can use the weights. Or not. You can add an extra jump. Or not. Heck, you can run around in circles if that's all you feel like doing today. Or you can follow along. I don't like that. I want "Ok, people, we are going to do 2o pushups, now 40 lunges, now eleventy billion of these things that make your knees want to separate and your lungs explode. And go!"
So I went through it all. It's pretty intense. Which is good. My legs are a little shaky, too. My big complaint about the Shred is that there was not enough attention paid to thighs and upper legs. I have really, really powerful legs, so I need something really crazy to get through to them. This might be it.
At one point, Season 3 cast member Pam says she wants to kill him. Bob laughs at her. Then he gets real close to the screen and says that we should really love him. I'm kind of siding with Pam on this one.
I admit, I was counting the seconds until the circuit ended.
COOL DOWN:
Yeah, let's just go ahead and call this what it is. Yoga.
If you know me, you know I hate yoga with the fire of a thousand suns. And Bob uses the dreaded "it's not the destination but the journey." No, Bob. It's the destination. And if you tell me that I need to balance on one toe with my leg over my head, then damn it, that's what I need to do. And there IS shame in holding the wall.
But, I will grudgingly admit that there is some excellent focus on breathing, even if I did have to do it on one foot.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Bathtime is Turtle's favorite time of the day. He loves the water, and he loves the plastic "booka booka" that he can read while we bathe him. It's quite the life. He peruses the eternally fascinating pages of Pooh and his pals while he gets clean for bed. He doesn't have to lift a finger.
Lately, he's been playing with his bubbles. Sometimes he likes to try to eat them. Sometimes, he likes them on his face. 
Saturday, after Turtle had gone to bed, DH and I went to our dear friend K's birthday party. It's was a fantastic night! Happy birthday, K!
Turtle shows off his shopping cart skills. He loves to wheel his toys around the house. He also loves to be chased. You will be seeing lots of rump shots, because he prefers for me to be scampering after him, rather than waiting for him.
And I finally broke in my ice cream machine.
To start, I selected Ben & Jerry's Sweet Cream recipe. Sweet cream is my absolute favorite flavor and it looked pretty easy.
Here's the machine, all set up and ready to go.
Can't make ice cream without a measuring cup full of fattening stuff :)
Everything is whisked and in the freezer bowl. It took about 25 minutes.
It was still a little soft, but flavor wise, it was divine. Once we were done sampling (and yes, we used bowls, not the technique of laying directly under the dispenser nozzle), I scraped the leftovers into an air-tight bowl and refroze. I bet that will be awesome. I may never buy ice cream again.
As my friends know, I love nature. Really. I think it's great. Outside. Where it belongs.
However, in the spirit of domestic goddessness, I have made it my goal to create beautiful gardens and landscapes around our home, and I really think I have been achieving what I set out to.
Some photos of my work.
My pretty bougainvillea in its coconut basket.
My herb garden. I'm growing mint, rosemary, basil and greek oregano.
The new hibiscus tree I planted out front.
Purple petunias and dusty miller in a wine barrel.
And finally, the reason I hate nature. This is the view from my backyard. Do you see that yellow thing in the grass, to the upper left of the man? The thing that vaguely resembles a garden hose?
Yeah. That's a snake. A big, fat, yellow, slithery, 8 foot snake. I know this because that man picked it up as it tried to make a dash for it up the side of the house. He had to hold it over his head and it still draped down and dragged on the ground.
My official stance: ew, ew, ew and ew. Like Indiana Jones, I hate snakes. I hate the fact that one lives across the canal from me. All I can say is that he better stay over there. The last snake that wandered on to my property met with an unfortunate end. That's all I'm saying. :)
At this point, I think it's time to say a kind word for DH. Poor guy. He gets nailed with Turtle's birthday, my birthday and Mother's Day, all within ten days.
Most men would crumble under the strain and pressure. Not DH, though. He takes a deep breath and plows on through. As Ramona, of the Real Housewives of NYC would say "Kadoos" to him!
This morning, I got to sleep in. Apparently, while I was doing that, Oscar had a mega accident in the house, which led to a kind of sketchy time for poor DH. However, he didn't come running to me for help and I had no idea til I got downstairs. On the other hand, Turtle was up, fed, dressed and playing happily when I came down.
Our big plans involved going to 95 Cordova for brunch with some friends. Oh. My. God. Ohmigod. Did I say oh my God? On a regular day, this place is phenomenal. I'm not really a brunch buffet person, but I am prepared to make an exception: omelettes to order, mini belgian waffles, creme brulee french toast, carving stations, cheese stations, salads and antipas galore. And as if that wasn't enough? Pastas, crab cakes cooked at the station, shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon and stone crab legs! And then, dessert. Pies, pudding, creme brulees, a chocolate dipping station with homemade truffles, chocolate cake, carrot cake, cheesecakes. And finally, unlimited champagne and mimosas.
Of course, ambiance and service were two big thumbs up as usual.
After that, it was naptime. For everyone.
When we woke up? Turtle treated us to some more unassisted steps. He can do 5-8 at a time now, and he's starting to figure out what he's doing. He giggles so much though, he can barely keep himself upright. It's so much fun to watch.
Once we got him in bed, DH went out and planted some azaleas for me. It was boiling hot and there were tons of gnats (which he despises) but he did it anyway.
He and Turtle also gave me a MyAgenda.
I've wanted one for a very long time, and now that business is starting to take off for me, it seemed a great time to start. I need something where I can keep track of everything all at once, and this is perfect. It doesn't start til August of this year, so I have plenty of time to set it up and get it ready. I just need some August events to plan!
Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! Hope it was fantastic.
On Saturday, I turned 29. Again. Ha!
First up? Presents! Yay.
DH totally hit it out of the park with this one. On the plus side, ice cream is my most favorite thing in the world. On the bad side, I've worked very hard, shredding with Jillian and this may just do me in. Boo. However, I'm a tough girl and I will overcome. Really.
Then off we went for a trip to the pool in our neighborhood. Turtle got all suited up and enjoyed the water. Unfortunately, I am losing my mind at the young age of 29, and I left my CF card at the house. Duh. I had to scamper home, get it and come back, so some of my super cute pictures did not come out. Boo.
Turtle LOVED the pool. He also loved drinking the water. He understood how to lean forward and kick his feet, too, which was so cute. I am going to love swimming lessons with this little fishy.
Of course, he was pooped, so he took a nice long nap and then we went to Cap's for lunch. It's really one of my favorite places. It's so beautiful and peaceful. It doesn't hurt that the food is great and the drinks are yummy. We had the perfect table with a view of the Intercoastal, and we just got to kick back and enjoy, while Turtle tried to make friends with people at other tables. Silly child.
He totally approved of lunch, though.
Then it was naps for everyone, because we had a big night! DH got me a little Carvel cake with those oh-so-hilarious(not) relighting candles to start us off. I couldn't bear the thought of baking again, espcially when it was just for me, so I asked for ice cream cake. Yum.
We left Turtle with his sitters and headed downtown to BB's for dinner. Actually, we weren't starving so we enjoyed appetizers (bruschetta and crab cakes) with some pinot for me and dirty martinis for DH. We also had some dessert. You really can't go to BB's without dessert. My apple crumb pie and vanilla ice cream was perfect.
Finally, it was off to the theater for...
GAHHHHH!!!!! I have been dying to see this show since it opened in NY. OMG, it was so amazing. We had third row orchestra seats, just right of center and OMG. That's really all I can say. I loved every second of it. DH even loved it.
(Little side note to the gentleman sitting two seats down: I think it's swell that you won the Wicked Lottery, as your awesome green button declared, but it's pretty darn rude and thoughtless to come to a crowded theater, chain-sucking on Halls and hacking into your Playbill. Maybe you were sick, maybe you had allergies, maybe you have some kind of coughing thing, whatever. Keep it home. Kthxbai.)
A fabulous birthday, courtesy of DH, Turtle, the pugs and our sitters. Thanks to all!
On Friday, we set up our little water baby in the new water play yard from his little friend B (and K & A, too).
Turtle LOVED it. He had so much fun trying to catch the water spouts.
Even Oscar got in on the fun!
Later, Turtle showed his buddy J how to ride the pony. And also, they were wearing the exact same outfit. Too cute.
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