The Nature Center

Last week I figured out that there is an entire nature center connected to the Central Park that the boys and I frequently visit. It is gated off and only open part of the day but is free for visitors to check out and walk the trails. Luckily the trails are nice enough that I was able to take our stroller on them. This is lucky because the stroller is crucial in getting to and from the actual park. But I bet if I let him, Ted would walk all the way there and back. He is an intense walker. 

The trail is pretty cute. All along the way there are little items to read about that have to do with the history of the area. Here Ted is standing in from of some animal furs.

Ted came across a row of wild squirrels and proceeded to tell me all about them. He told me they are squirrels that live in the forest and here they are. What a great tour guide.

There are a ton of cottonwood trees. The amount of cotton puffy stuff on the ground made it look like a giant spider could come crawling out at any moment.

Tidus hung out in the stroller but he loved seeing everything. Most of the time his little hand was reaching out to try and touch the trees as we passed.

Ted is holding the trail map. We walked the trail twice because there are number signs all along the way and Ted loved finding each number. At this point in our walk an ambulance was driving with its sirens going off somewhere in the distance. The sound riled up some coyotes because we could hear them all howling! That was a bit unnerving.

Ted is checking out some little animal bones that were set out for people to see.

Ted has been asking to go back to the nature center everyday since our trip. We probably will. On Tuesdays they have a little parent and me class that is open for people to come to and learn more about nature.

Thursday nights

On Thursdays we go to swim classes and apparently we get McDonalds afterward. It started one time when we decided it was late and we were just going to grab something on the way home. This forever stuck in Ted's mind and now every time we go swimming Ted assumes we are getting McDonalds when we are done. As soon as we strap him into his car seat he begins to sing, "McDonalds, McDonalds, McDonalds."

He will  also let us know his order and which way we need to drive in order to get to the drive through.

So here is a video on our typical Thursday night. We are all tired out from swimming and everyone (except mom) is munching on their McDonalds. Tyler and Ted are playing with a collection of the most recent happy meal toys which are angry bird shooters. Everyone is so happy in this video but as I type this everyone is literally screaming... since the move I have to squeeze in time to type up blog posts because the computer is in the bedroom so I can't use it during nap time while Ted sleeps in here.... Enjoy...

Ted found a geode

The title sums it up. While playing at the park Ted found a "sparkly rock" which was pretty cool. He carried it around with him the rest of the park playtime and all the way home. When Tyler got home he helped Ted his the rock with a hammer to see the inside. Ted loves any excuse to use a hammer.

 Today I ended up taking the rock bits away because Ted decided to play with them in his rock quarry play set. Granted this made perfect sense but then he left the rocks on the floor for baby to find. Now the rocks are on display on a shelf.

 I just like this picture of Ruby. She looks like she is smiling. And speaking of Ruby, her paw seems to be doing better. She still does not put weight on it fully but she is getting there. The vet said since she did not see anything on the x-rays then it was probably a soft tissue injury which means it would take a couple weeks to heal.

 And here is Tidus holding a ball. It is a dog toy that we found under the couch during the move.

Getting Knotty at the end of a long tough week

We are in our new apartment! We live in the exact same layout as our old apartment except that now we are on the first floor. It is like living in bizarro world because it is the same but there are all these minor differences. Like light switches are a few inches off from where they were in the old place, the fridge and closet doors open the opposite direction, and there is a sliding glass door in the master bedroom instead of a window. Which is good because you would not want to walk out a door from the second floor... awkward... The big and awesome differences are NO MORE STAIRS! Huzzah! No more trucking large items up and down and up those darn stairs. We can just walk out the door and be on our way. We also have a pretty good size patio too. Our parking spot is right outside our apartment instead of half a block away! And this apartment gets way more light than our old one! It has been so nice so far! We changed up the positioning of some furniture so it does feel like we are in a new place.

Monday we were able to get into the apartment. I spent the entire day (minus nap time) loading up the flat bed cart and walking our possessions to the new location. Tuesday we were supposed to have a moving company come and finish up the rest for us.

Ugh... I have told this story so many times I don't know if I will actually type out all the reasons this company was the biggest waste of money EVER! Basically imagine having sullen, grumpy, weed smoking, lazy teenagers come to your home because their mom made them come help you. That is pretty much who came to move us (they were not teenagers they just acted like it). They also refused to box up any of our stuff. Tyler had to box things up and then when they went to leave they asked for the boxes back. We just wanted them to leave so Tyler had to buy the boxes from them. And they were old, used, and broken boxes! They did not even move all of our stuff! They did move the big items but after they left I then spent the rest of the day moving everything over. They had not even touched the kitchen or the bathroom... Luckily Tyler had taken that day off work to help me out. It was frustrating and exhausting....

Wednesday and Thursday we spent finishing the move in and getting things repaired around the apartment. On Thursday when a maintenance worker came to the door I was holding Tidus and I rushed to picked up Ruby. She would not stop scream barking so I then rushed to put here in the bedroom. Some how her crazy wiggling lead to my dropping her and she then was limping the rest of the evening. Friday Tyler took the day off work to help me with all the maintenance workers coming and I had to take Ruby to the vet. They did an x-ray and could see nothing wrong with her so they gave us pain medicine for her. On the upside, while she was sedated for the x-ray the vet trimmed her nails for free :) She still won't put any weight on that paw but she does not whine when you touch it anywhere. She just looks like she is practicing for the day when she only has 3 legs... crazy dog.

Okay so then came Saturday. The week had been so stinking long and so tiring that we thought it might be fun to take the kids to Knotts Berry Farm since they had been so good about the move and endless days of packing and going up and down stairs.

Ted literally helped me move the entire time. Tidus road on my back. On a side note I have now lost a total of 13 pounds with weight watchers! The leader lady was concerned that I was losing weight fast and she wanted to make sure I was eating all my points in a day. I told her I was... she just does not realize how intense this week was.

On another side note, Tyler surprised me for mother's day and joined weight watchers online. He was planning on joining and not telling me until I started noticing results but he is about as good at keeping surprises a secret as I am :) It has been fun having him do it with me. He is great.

 We went into this old school house and an old timey worker was in there to tell us all about school in the olden days. Ted was absolutely terrified and ran out. Hahaha. Good job Ted.

 Pictures of us waiting for the big train that goes around the entire park. I think I confuse Ted when I call it a park. I would not be surprised if he grew up thinking Knott's Berry Farm is a farm.

 We also road on the horse drawn stage coach. I did not realize until now that I did not even take the time to get a picture of it. But we got the coolest seats! We sat on the top right behind the drivers! It was so high up! These pictures do not do it justice how high you sit.

 At this point we were up on a bridge going over the park, double high! It was so much fun!

 We also watched the Lucy show. We saw this the last time we went and that is what is great about kids. You can do things over and over and they still love it.

 We passed a carnival type game with this pug as one of the prizes so of course we stopped. It was a toddler game where everyone who plays is a winner. You just pick up a rubber duck out of the water. Ted loved playing the game and when it came time to pick up a prize he did his mama proud and he picked the pug (all on his own). Later we asked what his dog's name is and he said "Ruby!"

 It was a fun day at the farm but I think it probably just added to how exhausting our week was. A few hours after this we went to the church silent auction dinner where we went way overboard on bidding on things. A few other families told me they did the same thing so I don't feel quite as bad...

Back in the saddle again

Children know how to capture your best angle

I will just come right out and say it. I rejoined Weight Watchers. Six years ago I was a member and did really well. I got down to my goal weight and was able to maintain it for quite a while. Fast forward through marriage, two kids, and getting complacent and I found myself at the same weight I was when I joined WW those many years ago. Through all the weight gain I have attempted to restart WW but for some reason I kept giving up. Literally one day after rejoining I would just go back to my terrible eating habits. Over time I decided that the reason WW worked for me in the past was because I was single, childless and lived at home. There was nothing to worry about or concern me except... me.

After Google-ing meeting locations here in CA for several months and then chickening out I finally mustered up the courage to ask Tyler if I might try it one more time. He was nice enough to head home from work so I could use the car to get to the meeting. When I did WW the first time it was on the "Points" system. After I left they were transitioning to the "PointPlus" system. And now that I am back they are doing "SmartPoints". The points may have changed but the feel of the meetings is still pretty similar.

I have now been successfully tracking my SmartPoints for one week. Last night was my first weigh in and I lost 9 pounds! What!?!? Yes, this was probably a lot of water weight but I had a theory going in to weight loss. I lead a pretty active lifestyle. I am not out running marathons of Crossfit-ing it up but I do walk to about 80% of the places I go. The theory I had was that if I could just get my eating under control I should have no trouble at least starting to ditch the pounds. And it was true. As soon as I stopped eating an entire plate of cookies in one sitting the number on the scale started to go down.

Of course there are differences this time around with WW for me. There seems to be quite a bit more stress in my life (I wonder why...) so I have to learn to find a new coping mechanism for stress and burnout instead of plopping on the couch and munching. Luckily that is WW whole new approach. They really want people to find something that they like to do that is just for them. It can be as simple as adult coloring books, but the coach said it should be something you enjoy that you take mental care to actually make time for everyday. At first the only thing I could come up with was this blog. The problem with that is it is not very realistic to write a blog post everyday... for me at least.

It took a few days but I finally came up with an idea. I made an Instagram account for Ruby the Pug. Creating an Instagram for your animal is probably the social media equivalent of being a crazy cat lady. It is fun. I myself love looking at other people's pug Instagram accounts and I like taking pictures and it is simple and easy to find time for.

Here is her link

And here is my before picture

I had my personal photographer capture this gem. It is technically not the true before picture because it was taken a week after I started. 

In other news, Tidus had his 9 month check up. 

He is 27 1/2 inches long (25%)

21 lbs 1.6 oz (75%)

Head circumference 48 cm (98%)

The weight and head size did not surprise me one bit, but I was shocked at how short he apparently is. You would never know it looking at him. We think he is going to be a sturdy muscle man like Grandpa Opfar. 

And Ted is almost 3! It is coming up quick! We may have some fun plans for his birthday... or we may not. Tyler and I are terrible about procrastination... but we are awesome at spur of the moment fun! 

The End of My Love Affair with Pug Meet ups... temporarily

Tyler is taking economics right now which means I too am taking econ. As a sort of weekly date night we sit down and watch the instructor's webcast. I take notes and he takes his quiz. Anyway, the reason I bring this up (yes I have a point) is because we learned the way the consumer figures out the worth of something is not only by how much it costs, whether it be in money, time, or resources, but also in the loss of what you could have used those things for. 

Last weekend was a major pug meet up in LA that we did not end up going to. I was super bummed and vowed that I would go to the pug meet up that would be held the following weekend by another smaller and more local pug group. 

As it turned out there was also a butterfly festival happening at the same time. It was being put on by the library and would have educational booths, kid games, and a monarch butterfly release. Throughout the week I asked Ted if he would prefer a pug party or a butterfly party and he consistently voted for pugs (that's ma boy). 

When Saturday came we still had Ted's rollerskating class. This would mean that by the time his class ended and we picked up Ruby, we would not get to the pug party until it was almost over. Would it be worth it? I debated between just heading to the butterfly festival or making the trek to the meet up. In the end, pugs won. We ran home, loaded up Ruby and drove the 25 min to the dog park. 

As we predicted, by the time we got there a lot of the people were saying their goodbyes. A few pugs remained so we hung out for a bit. Ted enjoyed kicking up dirt and running with the dogs. Ruby stayed within arm's reach at all times because she is terrified of everything new and different. Tyler sat outside the fence eating nachos from the snack shack of a nearby little league game. 

It seemed like most of the other pug parents were mingling... I am terrible at small talk and mingling... ugh... so I just roamed around and looked at the pugs. We saw a pug I follow on Instagram which was pretty fun. His name is Simon and he is blind and just a sweet little guy. Here is his Instagram.  

When Tyler finished eating he came in the park. After a few minutes he suggested we go home. The group was ending and oh yeah I looked down and someone had peed on me! *shudder* Unfortunately anyone who knows me can understand that this just tipped me over the edge. I was through with pug meet ups! I announced to Tyler that I did not want to go to them anymore. I did not want to waste anymore time. We could have gone to the butterfly festival which was closer and more educational for Ted and a dog peed on me! I have to drag Tyler to these events so I also feel bad that I made him drive out with me for the last few minutes of the meet up.

We drove by the apartment and dropped off Ruby. I snagged a pair of clean pants and we headed to the last hour of the butterfly festival. Without griping too much and without going into too much detail lets just say it too was a big meh. Even the butterfly release was a let down. Kids got to put their name into a bowl for a drawing of who would get to release the butterflies. We entered Ted but he did not stand a chance when other parents were putting their kid's names in multiple times! The lady literally was drawing repeat names over and over. 

After all this I was feeling low and defeated. There is only a short time each week that we as a family can get out and do activities during the day so I try to make sure the activities are worthwhile. We pulled up to our apartment and began to unbuckle the kids. Tyler was releasing Ted from his carseat when Ted said, "Dada I had fun at the pug party." Aww... so with those words we will probably attempt another pug meet up trip. Tyler suggested I go with a purpose, like bring my camera and make a movie. We will see. 

Also on the agenda this weekend was Tidus's big YouTube filming. Tidus was one of the babies chosen to be featured in a video from What's Up Moms  They are doing a project that focuses on all the different stages of development from birth to 1 year and they asked for videos of people's kids. They also asked if any local people would be willing to let them come film their baby. I sent in a video of Tidus and said we are local. 

A producer from the channel came and spent about an hour filming Tidus in his natural habitat. He played with toys, crawled around, looked at books, ate some snacks and pushed his little walking cart across the floor. He was a fantastic baby actor. I will take some of the credit. I had spent the entire morning ensuring everything would be perfect. Tyler took half a day off work so he could get Ruby and Ted out of the apartment. I also timed Tidus' nap, eating and snuggling so that when the girl arrived he would be in his best mood. Also a little prayer goes a long way :) 

The only bummer is that I completely forgot to snap a picture of the girl while she was filming Tidus. What a cute photo op for his baby book that would have made. I was really wrapped up in the moment which is just fine. Sometimes we just have to enjoy the experience and not worry so much about documenting it... right? 

I love the What's Up Moms channel. I have been watching it for a few years and lots of the projects, recipes, and decorations in my home come from these awesome moms. So it was such a huge honor and fun experience to get to be a part of their channel. I am not sure when the video will air. I am supposed to get a notification... but quite honestly I watch everyone of their videos. I don't think I would miss it. 

And lastly, here is a cute picture of Ted with a dog puppet. This is his first time using a hand puppet and being able to make the mouth move while saying "bark" it was so stinking cute! 

Answers to prayers

Today is Tuesday which means story time. Lately the half hour walk to the library has become a half hour power walk in order to get there on time. When I say "on time" I actually mean early because if you get there on time you are actually late because you will not be able to get a seat... understand? Story time seems to be getting more and more crowded and rambunctious each week. With the coming summer break I wager it will be a mad house.

Last week almost broke me. Parents were letting their children run crazy the entire time. Yes, children need to wiggle and move but come on people, keep your kid within arms reach. One little girl came over and sat by Ted during story time. Her mom was on the complete opposite side of the room (remember the room is packed with people). Ted had brought a hot wheels car with him and when he was not looking she grabbed it. Of course when he realized what had happened he quickly took it back. Then the girl started crying. I took the car and suggested we put it away until after we leave. The little girl ran crying back to her mom. sigh.... It is not the kids that get to me but the parents.... So after all that I was thinking man I do not know if all this effort is worth it. But Ted loves it and he does not notice the other crazy kids. If he has noticed them he has not picked up any of their crazy traits so that is good.

Fast forward to this week's story time. I was half a block away from home booking it to the library. Every 20 feet I would recheck my watch to see how many minutes had passed and how many minutes I had to get there. A thought crept into my mind. Why am I doing this? It is exhausting speed walking 30 minutes and up a giant hill. Feeling the bad attitude begin I decided to say a prayer to myself as we walked. I prayed mostly just for help to have a good attitude and enjoy the simplicity of spending time with my two sons.

And a wonderful thing happened, I did! I know 100% it was an answer to my prayer that Ted, Tidus, and I had a fantastic morning out. Nothing on the outside really changed. The hyper hoppy kiddos were still present, we still waited in a long line to sit in a full theater, and I was still me. But I know it was Heavenly Father helping me to notice all the great things of the day. Ted was the most well behaved I have ever seen him! Or maybe I was just given grace to notice what an amazing couple of kids I have.

Tidus wore shoes for the very first time today! Shout out to Robeez baby shoes. I bought these cute little booties used for Ted and he wore them for a very long time. And now Tidus is wearing them. They are pretty well worn but they are still hanging in there! He was so cute! Ted could not get over the fact that Tidus was wearing shoes. He loved it. 

Central Park has a trail with work out markers all along the way. The path has little green signs with instructions on what exercise to do at each stopping point. Today I thought Ted and I could have some fun trying them out. 

Ted attempting to jump up and touch the bar. You can't tell from this angle but the bar is close to twice his height. 

 Pushups

 Random climbing along the outside of the bridge. Don't worry the bridge does not actually go over anything. It is more just there to keep the path level.

 Jumping over the bar. I love that Ted sticks his tongue out when he is concentrating. He does it when he skates too. This is totally a Tyler trait.

 Poll Squats

 Calf Stretches