Beef Stew .... the Blind's recipe!

You know how when you make beef stew you throw a little bit of this and a little bit of that into it ... well that's how this post is going to be!!

Geez Louise my last post was in January so I'll give you the birds eye view of what's been happening around the Blind Household .... The last time I wrote I was complaining about Brody randomly pissing his pants ... well what do you know it's happening again!!  I think he just gets too busy and dribbles then he's like I need to go finish on the potty.  OH .. and another thing that's happening is that he is terrified of the automatic flushing toilets - it's bad and funny and the worst part is they have them at Olive Garden and we eat there alot ... he goes to sit and it flushes and hops off and says "I'll go at home"

February: Disney trip .... it was busy - I should just stop there .... but I'm not going to - here's how it went down ...

Friday - flight out was at 6:20a - we had to be at the airport at 4:30a .... my alarm was set at 3:30a - I woke up at 1:30a and couldn't fall back asleep.  Brody did great on the flight ... slept 1/2 way through and PTL didn't have to go potty.  We land, check into the hotel and head to Magic Kingdom.  We chose not to get Brody a stroller and he did just fine.  We walked up to the castle and they are having a dance party with all the characters ... YAY (right) not for Brody .... I danced my way over to Woody and screaming and tears galore!  fabulous .... he warmed up from a distance and had fun towards the end.  We rode the rides he could and saw some of the characters - of course he was scared of all of them except for the fairies! I just knew that Friday was going to be a long day with the early flight and 7:30p fireworks reservations .... honestly I can't tell you what we did after the fireworks ....

Saturday - we got up and headed to the race Expo & did our thing there and headed to Hollywood Studios.  There was a ton for Brody to do there - more than what I would have thought.  There was a whole Disney Junior section and there was a live show - which was pretty much like a live Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode.  There were a ton of different characters there that we enjoyed from a distance ..... I'm not going to lie him being scared of the characters kind of disappointed me ... I mean here we are at frickin Disney World - happiest place on earth (right) and my kid is scared of everyone ..... I guess this means we don't have to go back again Saturday was an early night - the race was at the butt crack dawn.

Sunday - Princess Half Marathon Time!!!  My alarm was set for 2:30a and we caught the bus at 3:00a .... YAWN is an understatement - I was beat!!  Our start time was 5:50a I think .... there was a dance party there with characters, but honestly I just wanted to go back to bed.  Once the race started it was SO much FUN!!  It was super hot & humid and we made a few stops to get pictures taken with the characters along the way and my body just wasn't' used to stopping and starting again ... so I struggled.  Emma was texting Matt along the way so they knew when we were coming ... around mile 12 Emma gets a text "Brody and I are going back to the hotel"  I could have quit right then and there - I was hot, tired, sore and now my husband and son wasn't going to be at the finish line waiting for me .... once I saw the finish line I ran my ass off ... I felt my heart in my head and I just wanted to be DONE!  *side note* Brody had to poo and refused to use any of the potties ... he was crying and holding his belly and just wanted to back to the room and go.  Matt tried to take him into a porta potty and one look at that he was like "that's not a potty - that's a trash can"
We went to the airport super early because we were ready to get the hell out of dodge .... our flight was delayed a bit - we all slept on the way home (Matt and I slept with our heads in our hands on the tray in front of us) and when we landed in STL .... our luggage wasn't there - icing on the cake!!  We finally got it the next day around noon.

All and all I'm glad we went ..... we have some great memories and photos to keep forever - however my FAVORITE one is this one:

March: *my birthday month*st. patty's day 5 mi/parade*blogger birthday bunco* parTAY - right?  Well, somethings don't always happen the way they are planned.  Come March 1st when I didn't receive my monthly visitor I just thought well I might be off a few days *note* despite my "plan" I decided to get off the pill when the clock struck 2013 .... *March 2nd - nothing *March 3rd - nothing *March 4th (laying in bed) I tell Matt - um, I haven't started yet "you think your knocked up" JERK *March 5th - I got to Target and get some pregnancy tests (teared up because it may be better BE the last time for me to buy them) that night when I got home I couldn't get into the bathroom fast enough ... and what do I see - a pink cross - then I see the digital words "pregnant" (I brought 2 brands to be sure ... yea know in case I got the 1 in a trillion test that was defected) A million things are running through my head .... How could this REALLY be happening?  I thought for sure it would take as long (if not longer) than it did with Brody?  Did we even have sex in February?  Was I pregnant when I ran that half?  Matt wasn't home that night and Brody kept asking me if I was sick because he thought the tests were thermometers. *March 6th - I wake Matt and up and say (something along the words of) "we're having a BABY"

My due date is November 8th .... only 3 days before the P!NK concert!  Thank god my doctor is a saint and won't even think about letting me go to my due date - I've already told her about my prior obligations and she's cool with it.  I just don't want to be laying in a hospital bed on Oct. 31 when Brody is trick or treating ...

April: welp this month didn't start off on much of a happy foot .... we lost this great guy April 7th .....

..... and I can't stop thanking God that we had those pictures taken in November and that Brody has memories of him - we have SO many pictures of the 2 of them together.  Grandpa lived a good long life (88yrs) and was ready to go .... it's hard to swallow, but he's happy and health in Heaven now.

I Pee'd ....

.... about 6 months ago those words were music to my ears - now ... not so much!!  Brody's been having accidents on purpose (I think) and it's driving me crazy!!  Matt's been out of a job since early November and has been home with him, but he still goes to school like 3-4 times a week but only for like 3 hours - just enough to get the pre-school stuff still.  At first I thought the accidents were because of all the new Christmas toys - too busy palying, but now he does it when he just sitting there - "I pee'd"  WTF kid .... I've read or heard or just think we shouldn't be punishing him for this, but I don't know. Should we take him to the Doctor?  Do we start the whole potty bribing reward system again?  Is he doing it because his schedule's been off?  Do we punish him?  We've been making him change himself, but that doesn't faze him ....

UGH .... help!! 

Me A-Z

I never do these type of things .... but this one seems easy!!

A. Age: 31
 

B. Bed size: Queen - shared with a hubby & 2 dogs
 

C. Chore you hate: folding & putting away laundry

 

D. Dogs: 2 - Zoe (rescue - nuf said) Reese (lab)  

E. Essential start to your day: checking all public social apps I have (on the toilet) TMI-?  sorry  

F. Favorite color: Pink 

G. Gold or Silver: Silver

H. Height: 5'7"

 

I. Instruments you play: I don't ....

 

J. Job Title: Admin Assistant. Wife. Mom. Sister.

K. Kids: Brody - 3 yrs old
 

L. Live: IL

M. Married: 2006

N. Nicknames: ummmm ..... IDK

O. Overnight hospital stays: just when I had Brody 
 

P. Pet peeve:  not putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher .... the dishwasher is a perfect place to hide the grossness of dirty dishes! 

Q. Quote:   "Someday I won't be able to, but today is not that day" I need to tell myself that every time I don't want to run!

R. Righty or Lefty: Righty.

S. Siblings: 1 sister
 

T. Time you wake up:  my goal is 4:45a, but sometimes most times its 5:45a 
 

U. University attended: Community College .... pretty sure is isn't an University

 

V. Vegetables you dislike: peas, green beans

 

W. What makes you run late: ADD and OCD .... I always think I have time to do just one more thing .....

X. X-rays you've had: teeth
 

Y. Yummy food: Olive Garden Salad and Bread Sticks

 

Z. Zoo animal favorite: The Lions & Monkey's

 

2012 Resolutions _ Recap

Whelp ... it's that time again - resolutions .... (enter haunting music) Let's see how I did on my 2012 Resolutions ....

Resolution: Run the whole thing:  I sign up and participate in about 5 races every year and besides the Santa Hustle a few weeks back, I haven't ran the whole race since the Halloween 10k in October 2010!!  This year....I'm going to run the whole race - every race!

6-month check up: So far so good....I ran the whole 5 mile St Patty's Day run 2 min faster than my goal....next up Susan G Koman (haven't ran that whole course since....um....2008), then the Color Run in August, then the Halloween 10k, THEN.....the HALF in October

Conclusion:  I ran the whole SGK and the Color Run.  I didn't register for the Halloween 10k .... but I ran the whole 13.1 in October right at my goal of 2h 30m!

Resolution: Pre Brody Weight: I'm a big slacker....I'm the first to admit it-I really don't like to exercise and still like to snack and eat shitty like I did when I was 17!!! But, this year I'm going to get down or below the weight I was when I got pregnant with Brody.  Just for the record....that's 10 + or - pounds.

6-month check up: Work in progress....Matt and I joined Weight Watchers online on May 8th (um almost a month) and I've only lost 4 lbs...NOT because WW doesn't work, because I cheat ALL.THE.TIME. Still working on it....I have another 6 months!  =)
Conclusion: Hellz Bellz ... this is a fail!  I'm a WW drop out .... I manged to keep those 4 lbs off (BFD) BUT .... January 2nd 2013 I'm going to do the Advocare 24-Challeage - the shit is already ordered!!  It's a mini investment and I'll be doing it with a great group of girls!!

Resolution: Better Mother and Wife: I really hate to confess this (its not even Friday) but sometimes I act like Kate Gosslin.  I freak out over messes and when things don't go as planned, so this year I'm really REALLY going to try to be a little calmer.  This by far is going to be the hardest one for me!

6-month check up: Still Kate Gosslin....sorry people in my life! 

Conclusion: UGH .... I think I'm getting better, but still have my moments ... and my moments can last for hours - DAYS - a while!  LOL

Resolution: Baby #2: I'm going to THINK about getting off the pill (FYI: it'll probably be way later in 2012...like probably November-ish).

6-month check up: The way Mr Broster has been acting lately this will happen closer to December 31st at 11:59p until I THINK about it. I can roll over resolutions, right!?!?

Conclusion: I'm still on the pill .... here's my issue - I would get off the pill when the clock strikes midnight on the 31st, but it won't go with my plan .... my plan is to get pregnant in July so I'll have the baby in March/April - that way ..... I'll have a springtime baby and 6-7 months in between to plan birthday parties AND might be able to plan it just right to reveal the sex at Christmas next year ..... 

Resolution: Potty Training: well, duh.....yes I'm already this, but Mr. Brody isn't!  He will be in 2012 though!

6-month check up: We have the peeing down pretty good....but the poops - ugh, I'm running out of underwears blc I throw them away instead of washing them.  It's easier to just cut the underwear off then pull them down then wash their leg - OK I'll stop there, I'm grossing myself out.

Conclusion: 100% potty training (bring on the balloons and streamers!!!) everyone told me it would just "click" with them and by god it did!!  He went once at school and it's been smooth sailing ever since!! We still wear pull ups for naps and nighttime, but the Dr. said over night potty training could take 7 years to conquer - and I'm A-Ok with that!!

Resolution: J.O.B.: My goal is to find another job that I absolutely love - like when I was at WCG (if that is possible)

6-month check up: SUCCESS: Oh the relieve of having a job I love again.  I'm working at World Wide Technology in Westport and couldn't be happier.  It wasn't an easy road...I interviewed 4 times with 6 different people all while still working for the Prada's. I sit in the lovely 270 traffic for about 45-60 mins everyday, but it's totally worth being in a healthy work environment again. 
Conclusion: I'm still over the moon happy at my job .... I LOVE everything about it - the people I work with, the guys I support, the culture of the company - it's all so great!!!

Stay tuned for 2013 resolutions ....

Santa Pictures_2012

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we went to Trish Catio's house for Santa Pictures (becuase she knows him .... ) We left there and I told Matt we are so lucky to have 2 local Santa's that do such an amazing job!!! 

You can tell Brody was a little nervous ... playing with his sleeve

 

"I want Avengers and a bow and arrow"

Apparently Santa NEVER shares his hat