Weekend at the Beach

We headed to the beach on Saturday morning to spend the night at my parents condo for some much needed rest & relaxation. The weather was phenomenal & it was so awesome to hang out with my parents & spend quality time with my boys.



Cam took a nice long nap yesterday so we were able to relax on the balcony & I finally had some time to flip through my stack of magazines. Reading a magazine is my idea of relaxation so it was wonderful to do that as I looked over the Gulf of Mexico.



This morning we hit the beach & Cam had a ball throwing wads of sand toward the water.



Hey, whatever makes him happy!



There wasn't a single cloud in the sky the entire day & it was in the mid 70s; not too hot, not too cold. I was in Heaven! I'm trying to enjoy the beautiful weather before the miserably hot summer rears its ugly head!



The Gulf was shockingly cold though!



Cam didn't seem to mind it, but I was a major wimp & kept my toes on the warm sand & out of the water.



It's so great to get away with the family & I appreciated every second of it!

Valentine's Day & Other Happenings

I've had a rough couple of weeks, feeling kind of low & overwhelmed. It's like I'm running on a treadmill; constantly moving but really getting nowhere. Our weekdays are jam-packed & our weekends are busting at the seams & it's getting to the point that something has to give. I can't keep up with all the obligations I have & my brain is so saturated that I feel like I can't concentrate & give my all to anything or anyone.

The one thing I've been trying to accept over the past week is that it's absolutely impossible to make everyone in my life happy 100% of the time. I get so consumed with worrying about pleasing everyone that I'm making myself miserable. I wish I could be one of those people that just let confrontations roll of my back or didn't worry about what people thought of me, but it just isn't the case. I am working on it though because I need to start putting myself & my family first. When I'm so consumed with who might be upset with me because I can't be in a million places at once, I end up losing my concentration at work & at home & being generally snippy & probably not the most pleasant person to be around.

Luckily we're planning to spend this coming weekend at my parent's condo at the beach so it'll be a nice chance to have some low-key time with my family. The only way I seem to be able to fully relax is when I'm away from home & the thousands of chores & projects that I can't seem to overlook.



On a sunnier note, we enjoyed a delicious Valentine's Day dinner last night after Cam went to bed.



I made a goat cheese salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette by whisking together mustard, balsamic vinegar, grated garlic, honey, salt & pepper with EVOO. I didn't measure anything or use a recipe, I just added things until it tasted right. I decided I wanted to "crust" the goat cheese so I blended pecans, salt & pepper in the food processor until it was a fine, crumbly texture & pressed the goat cheese into the nut mixture. It was tasty as all heck!



The main course was a shrimp linguine that was absolutely divine! I don't often use the word divine, so you know I must be serious about the tastiness of this dish. Click here for the recipe. Not only was it yummy, but very quick & easy & most of the ingredients we had on hand.

In other news, Cam has been doing wonderfully with potty training. We've been sending him to school in his undies & he stays in them all day long & has had zero accidents (at school) since Friday. After school today he peed on the potty twice & pooped once & I was so proud of him that I danced around the living room!

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Beautifully said..

Mike's co-worker, Joanie, is an amazingly thoughtful person who always thinks of others & has a knack for bringing a smile to anyone's face she comes into contact with. I received a sympathy card from her after my Grandma Lewandowski passed away & today a card for my Grandma Schuth arrived. The saying on the front brought tears to my eyes so I wanted to share it here.

Perhaps they are not the stars, but rather openings in Heaven where the love of our lost ones shines down to let us know they are with us.

I know I'll remember this saying every time I look up at the star-filled sky. I'm lucky to have so many thoughtful people in my life, lifting me up when I'm down.

On a side note, I borrowed this picture of both of my grandma's from my sister-in-law, Melanie's blog. Thanks, Mel, I was looking for a picture of both grandmas & was so happy when I saw this on your blog.

A Day in the Life

Just in case I ever wonder what my schedule was like when Cam was a two-year old, I decided to document a day in the life of a typical week day for me so I can look back if the need arises!



6:45am: Alarm clock goes off.
7am: Finally drag myself out of bed & get ready quickly since I shower/straighten my hair the night before. Then I make coffee for both myself & Mike. No breakfast since I eat at work.
7:30am: Cam wakes up.
7:35am: After a whopping 5 minutes of grabbing Cam's sippy cup of milk, turning on his cartoons & making sure his clothes are ready, I fly out the door after smothering him with kisses & love. Mike gives Cam his breakfast & leaves the house for daycare at 8am.
8am: Clock in to work.
8-10:30am: Screen patients to determine who is at nutritional risk or in need of my help & gather pertinent data to complete my assessments, follow-ups or educations.
10:30am-1pm: Make rounds to see my patients & touch base with staff/physicians.



1-1:30pm: Lunch time. This time varies as I may go earlier depending on my patient load.
1:30-4:30pm: Chart all of my notes.
4:30pm: Clock out of work. Some days, like today, I work later depending on how busy I am. Sometimes I stay as late as 5:30.
4:45-5:40ish: Workout. My goal is to get to the gym 3-4 days per week but that doesn't always happen.
6pm: Either myself or Mike pick Cam up.



6:15-7pm: Make/eat dinner & play with Cam. We make pretty quick meals during the week & Cam usually just eats whatever it is we make since we don't want to get into the habit of making him a special meal. Tonight I made couscous with dried cranberries, toasted pecans, fresh spinach with lemon juice & sauteed turkey sausage. Whoever isn't starting bath time with Cam cleans up the kitchen/loads the dishwasher.



7-7:15pm: Bath time! The pictures in this post happened to be from tubby time tonight. I tend to get Cam's bath started & Mike finishes it off so I can hop in the shower.
7:15-7:30ish: PJ time! As we get Cam in his pjs, he usually ends the night watching Dora.
7:30-8pm: Bed time! We both take Cam into his room to kiss him good night & tell him how much we love him. Mike leaves & I have my one-on-one time singing songs & cuddling.
8:15-11ish: This varies from day-to-day depending on my motivation level & whether or not I'm up for any cleaning. I do laundry a couple of nights a week as I blog, watch TV & browse around online. I usually end the night by reading my Kindle since it's guaranteed to help me wind down & quickly fall asleep.

So if you've ever wondered what my day looks like, and I'm sure you have, your wish has been granted! It can be a major bummer when I focus on the fact that we really only get a max of two hours with Cam each night, but I have to say that I absolutely try to make the most of every second I have with him. I am LOVING this age right now & wanting to savor every single moment since I know he won't always want to be so close & cuddly. And the fact that he's so stinking cute & says the most precious things makes me want to just take it all in & give him 100% of my attention. My favorite time of each day is 6-8pm since we're together as a family & able to enjoy each other!

Too much to do with too little time

2011 has proven to be an extremely busy, stressful & emotional year thus far. We've dealt with the loss of both of my grandmas & it seems that every weekend passes us by in a blur. As much as I love watching football on Sundays & catching up with our friends, I'm absolutely relieved that's it's over since it's taken up 50% of our weekend for about 17 weeks.

Since we both work full-time, the weekend is really the only chance to get things done around the house. I try my hardest to do chores throughout the week in order to free up our weekends, but it doesn't often work out. It's so hard for me to relax on Saturdays when I look around & see the million things that need to get done. I tell myself, Just relax & drink your coffee for a half hour & then you can get started, but the OCD nutcase in me won't let that happen! Hey, at least I recognize that I'm certifiably insane!!



I always told Mike that when we get a flat screen TV I want to paint the wall behind it an accent color. So that's just what we did the Saturday before we headed to Chicago for my grandma's funeral.



Initially I thought we'd choose more of a pumpkin type color, but after looking at a bunch of paint samples, we decided on green.



We chose a Behr color called Martini Olive; I love the color itself as well as the name!





Luckily Cam (the little stinker who has been skipping 99% of his naps) took a nice, long nap that day so we were able to finish the entire project as he slept.



And viola! Here's our Martini Olive wall!



I'm happy with the way it turned out & relived that it's one more project that can be checked off my never ending to-do list!

If I was rich, I would absolutely, positively hire someone to clean our house, do our laundry & take care of the yard. I love changing things up & decorating our house to suit our needs & making it a warm & cozy sanctuary we can come to at the end of the day, but it's not always easy when we already seem to have so much on our plates. Some days I seem to handle it all in stride, but other times I'm absolutely overwhelmed with the constant cleaning, laundry, etc that consumes most of our downtime. A magic wand would be a handy tool so if any of you find one, I'd love it for my birthday. Or even Valentine's Day since that's coming up sooner. Then I'd wave it & all would be done so I could relax & fully enjoy time with my family & friends!

Weee!

Unexpected Chicago Trip

We headed up to Chicago last week for an unexpected visit for my grandma's funeral. Although the circumstances were terrible, it was nice to catch up with family & friends, play in the snow & make the most of our time there.



The weather was actually really nice which is rather different than this week after they've gotten over 20 inches of snow!



Cam had an absolute blast when we took him to play in the snow on Friday.



We were even able to walk on water since Grammy & Papa's pond was frozen solid!





And I took a moment to snow bathe which was a tad more nippy than sun bathing.



Mike was even able to eat a burrito that was nearly the size of his own head! The dietitian in me hung my head in shame as he said he wouldn't mind a second burrito after just finishing his first!



We were also able to finally meet little Ben, Mike & Jaysa's son who will be one in the next few days. Mike has known Mike since they were kids & we all met Jaysa in college.



It was great to see the peanut Adelaide again. She's such a little doll & was like a little mommy with Ben which is a good sign since she'll be a big sister this summer!



Here's Adelaide's mommy, my awesome friend Lesli who I was lucky enough to meet in college.



This sweet lil Jaysa-Bear who is the best hostess & had such a nice breakfast spread for us to munch on & catch up over. Lesli also made a yummy breakfast casserole which was so sweet. I'm so lucky to still keep in close touch with my wonderful friends from Illinois! We got together with a few other couples later that same evening & had such a great time catching up.





I re-visited the house I was born in & lived in until just before I started Kindergarten.



And this is the house I grew up in, the house that holds a million & one memories for me. I lived here from Kindergarten until I graduated high school & my parents moved to Florida.



Although it was a sad trip, we were able to celebrate my Grandma Schuth's life on Thursday & Friday. I'll miss her always, but she'll be in my heart forever.