He Kills Me.

There is not a basket in our house that hasn't had Charlie's butt in it at some point.

What I'm Loving Wednesday.

I'm loving that this is my last week of work and looking forward to my new adventure as a stay at home mom.

I'm loving weight watchers, only because things are going well with the program. I hate the program when I have a bad week. Its a love/hate relationship. I'm down 10 lbs since I started (after Thanksgiving, but I also took a 2-month hiatus). Down 8 lbs since I restarted a couple months ago. I want to lose weight because 1.) I'm vain and I want to look good 2.) When I get pregnant again (not trying yet), I want my weight to be a normal weight since I'll probably gain 40 lbs again (this probably falls into the vain category) and 3.) to be healthy. I never said my priorities are in the best order but thats ok!

Unexpected $$. I was thrilled to find out some of the stock I was granted is actually worth something! I'm going to cash it out (literally) and save the cash for fun stuff like memberships to kid friendly places in our neighborhood. And to keep it real, I'll admit to save a little for myself for the occassional shopping trip, pedicure, etc.

Another Charlie Trick.

Charlie has some foam letters and numbers that he plays with in the bath and he has a new trick with the number "1" foam. He folds it in half, puts it in his mouth and makes noises like mwa mwa mwa mwa over and over again. I remembered to bring the flip with us in the bath but he was being a stinker and had his back to me but I was able to get a good side view of his new trick. Video is better with sound.

I Freaking Love You.

As I mentioned in a prior post, Charlie has been under the weather. I stayed home with him Mon-Wed of this week (technically I have every Wednesday off) because he was just not himself. I noticed when we were out and about, he was happier. I'm thinking it was the distraction that he liked.

On Wednesday I decided to go to the mall because I thought he'd have fun exploring. He forgot he was feeling crummy when there were things to be picked up off random floors and plants to be tugged on. I didn't realize how many big potted plants the mall had until Charlie decided to touch each and every one of them. He'd run to one, hug it, then run to another one. And so on.

I went to Borders while at the mall because Charlie got a gift card for his birthday and the store is closing. There were barely any books and really, not too many deals except for the $1 wall calendars but Charlie doesn't need a calendar. I got him 3 books with his $40 gift card (not a great deal, right?). As I walked away looking at the receipt I noticed a book title that I didn't recognize. It was called "La Arana Muy Ocupada." Clearly there was a mistake.

So maybe Charlie will be speaking Spanish before he speaks English. Since they are closing shop, there were no returns to be had.

After running around the mall for a bit, I saw a photo booth and thought it would be fun to take pictures. The photo booths these days are pretty high tech. I remember when the biggest decision when taking photo booth pictures was if you wanted to have a red curtain in the background or a blue curtain. They now take credit cards (well they have to now that they charge $3!). They also have categories like Love, Friendship, etc. I stuck with Love, naturally. The first love subcategory was called "I Freaking Love You." Ummm, no thanks. I think that subcategory would be perfect for jr. high school sweethearts but not myself and my baby love. Well I couldn't figure out how to switch the subcategory and Charlie was starting to get moody so I Freaking Love You it was.

The second picture is my personal favorite. I looke half stoned and half possessed. I also love how Charlie is curling up his lip like a little mean puppy in the third picture.

I swear Charlie was actually happy and laughing at the mall but I guess he was in no mood to take pictures.

What I'm Loving Wednesday.

Jamie over at This Kind of Love posts what she is loving every Wednesday. I thought it would be a good way to stop and appreciate the big and little things I'm loving.

Today, I'm loving SESAME STREET.

Charlie hasn't been feeling well since Friday and Sesame Street is one of the few things that makes him a little happy, even if for a few minutes. I try not to let him watch too much tv but we're a little desperate.

I'm also loving coffee. Today is a 2-cup kind of day.

If you want to share what you are loving right now, blog and link up at http://littledaisymay.blogspot.com/

That's Random.

A couple nights ago I told Rob I was going to eat dinner alone in the living room. He asked why and I answered "because I want to." I think a fellow mom can appreciate and understand the lovliness that is eating in silence, while the food is warm, and with the capability to eat with two hands if you really want to. Those 7 minutes were awesome.

Organization.

I'm not the most organized person (understatement of the year) but now I have a new problem. Not only do I still have the problem of not being organized, I have a little person moving my stuff. I found my uggs on the kitchen chair yesterday. I KNOW I didn't put them there because thats just unsanitary.

*the chair is in the kitchen next to the counter because I couldn't reach the strainer on the top shelf. I'm unorganized, but not that unorganized.

Oprah.

I really like Oprah's magazine. I don't read all of the articles because sometimes they are too deep for me. I often rip out pages of her magazine because there is something I want to refer back to, buy, cook, etc. I find random rip outs all over the house. I decided to share with you something I ripped out of Oprah's March issue that I thought was useful. The article was called "Who wants my _____?" and shares ways to donate, recycle, sell stuff you don't want or need anymore. My favorites:

1.) Stuffed Animals - Send them to SAFE (stuffedanimalsforemergencies.com). They donate gently used stuffed animals to homeless shelters, hospitals and emergency aid workers like paramedics who give them to kids they meet on their calls.

2.) Children's DVDs - If your kids are "over" a certain DVD, you can donate them to Kids Flicks (kidflicks.org) and they donate them to pediatric departments at children's hospitals.

3.) Freecycle (I use this a lot) - Go to freecycle.org and sign up for your community's freecycle group (its a yahoo group). You post to it stuff you don't need anymore and people respond and let you know they would like it. I just leave stuff outside my doorstep and they pick it up, you don't really have to coordinate a time or anything and don't have to interact with the people picking them up. I once picked up a bunch of mason jars and used them for a shower I was co-hosting. The guy DID want to chat and insisted to tell me about his divorce that he is in the middle of and about the floorplan of his new apartment. So...yeah..moving on...

4.) Musical Instruments - Donate your instruments to mustcreate.org (a SF Bay Area based program) and they will donate the instruments to needy schools.

Sick Charlie.

This is our happy, normal Charlie.

And this is our 102 degree temperature Charlie.

Unfortunately, we have the latter Charlie today. :(

Yes, those are Christmas jammies. They still fit, so he still wears them. Deal with it. :)

Workout Tip.

I'm back on weight watchers and its going pretty well (until I had two scoops of Baskin Robbins on Friday night - 17 points. Yeah.).

I was on their website to look for workout tips and found this gem:

Brush and squeeze



Use the time that you're brushing your teeth to squeeze your butt muscles. Hold for one count and repeat. Do this trick in the morning and at night.

I Win Stuff.

Ever enter one of those online blog giveaways? I do, and I've been pretty lucky a it! I don't enter them all the time but I follow a few blogs that have giveaways regularly. Here is what I've won, in order:

1.) Baby Beanie - I wasn't even pregnant at the time so I didn't know if I should get a girl beanie or boy beanie. Of course the girl ones were cuter so I got a girl one. Its chocolate brown with a pink flower on it, its very cute. Charlie's younger sister is going to love it.

2.) Earrings

3.) Shirt

4.) Ring with matching bracelet

and a few days ago..

5.) a bowtie for my little man

Because I am "putting it out there" I'll probably never win another blog giveaway.

What I'm Loving Right Now.

Moroccan Oil. {bows down}

I've heard of this but didn't really jump on it because I'm not big on hair stuff because I feel like whatever product I put in my hair, it looks the same. I got my hair cut and highlighted a couple weeks ago and asked my stylist if I only put 1 thing in my hair, what should it be? And she told me moroccan oil. So I purchased a bottle and I am in love. Its a bit spendy ($40) but it lasts a long time (according to the stylist). It really leaves my hair feeling silky like when you leave the salon but your hair doesn't feel oily or heavy. I use an amount equal to the size of a nickel and work it through my unbrushed hair from the middle of my hair down to the ends. Then I work the remainder from the top of my head and down. Then I brush my hair. This was her suggestion and it seems to be working. I have never recommended a hair product before so that should say how much I'm lovin' this stuff! You can get it online and in some salons.

Big Grown Up Stuff Going On.

There has been a lot of "stuff" going on the past few months. Rob created a LinkedIn profile (with my suggestion) and recruiters kept contacting him. He scored some interviews and received two offers and accepted the one that he thought was best for his career and our family. This has been going on since the beginning of December. He literally interviewed at two differnet companies for a good 2 months. It was a loooong process and there many hoops to jump through, its been exhausting.

Since about the time this all started, December, I really thought about putting a halt to the career I have and stay home to be with Charlie. When I was little, I thought "I would never want to be a stay at home mom, I want to get my degree, get a good job, work in a fancy office building and be successful!" Working in a fancy building at a young age was a pretty big priority. I literally remember driving in our family van on vacations and seeing big beautiful office buildings off the freeway that seemed to have mirrors all around them. They were so beautiful and so blinding when the sun shot onto them. I thought "how glamorous it would be to work there!" Years down the road, I went to college, graduated and started my career. About 3 years into I thought "I would LOVE to be a stay home mom, what the life! I'd go shopping, have lunch with girlfriends, watch Oprah and live the dream." Sound familiar? Well, I became a mom and towards the end of my 6 month maternity leave I thought "Crap, this mom stuff is HARD! I want to go back to work!" So I guess you can say when things get hard, I look for what I think is the easier option. Months went by at work and leaving Charlie every morning got harder and harder. Rob and I started having more discussions about the feasibility of me not working and both finally agreed we wanted me to be home with Charlie if we could afford it. I always told myself if we could do it (financially) I would try staying at home with Charlie.

Rob fortunately received a job offer that would allow me to stay home with Charlie and I gave notice last Friday. My last day at work will be April 1st (not an April's Fools Joke!). I realized the stay at home moms weren't the lucky ones and the working moms weren't the lucky moms. The lucky ones are the ones who have the choice. I feel very lucky to have had that choice.

For all I know, staying at home may not be for me but I'm happy to know I have the option of going back to work (somewhere) if thats what I decide is best for us.

This is the fancy "mirrored" building that I've been calling my home away from home for the past 7 years:

An Enlightening Discussion.

Rob: Charlie's hair grows out to the side in the back.
Alyssa: I think the person who cut his hair missed that spot.
Rob: No, thats how my hair grew when I was little so unfortunately he got that gene from me.
Alyssa: What does that me?
Rob: He can never grow a mullet.