Tiger Lillies, Back in Action!

Claire scored a goal in her first game of the new season - she started to get excited, and then turned to Coach/Dad and said, "That was the goal I was supposed to kick it to, right?" Of course I missed the photo because of this munchkin, but got a few other action shots of the game.

It's amazing the difference in skill level in one year - the games are actually pretty fun to watch now, though we still really need to work on not taking the ball away from our own players. they still have that pack of girls following the ball all across the field. But I'm guessing that won't change for a few more years.

Here is Claire at the very last game of her first season, around the end of May 2012. She looks so little!

Penelope - 10 Months

A recent photo shoot of Penelope Jane at 10 months to the day - she is so fun and sassy! I love these photos with girly colors and fabrics and of course, hair accessories. P was such a good sport - these were taken near the end of her "happy time" before an afternoon nap and she was a trooper. You could tell by the end, she was like "Mom, I just can't patty-cake for you one more time."

Month 2 Results and Small Victories

The goal to rediscover my old/better self is still going strong - I have resisted all treats/desserts for another four weeks (that's 56 days total!) despite having to buy desserts for an office lunch, following a pickup truck for miles with its bed packed to the brim with boxes of Girl Scout cookies, and having a well-meaning business contact deliver a St. Patrick's Day cake to me at work, just to name a few of my temptations. I have to say the cravings are just about gone, but when someone puts a treat right in my face that I didn't have to pay for or make myself, it is harder to say no. I just ask myself if the treat will be better than my own amazingly delicious chocolate chip cookies with a tall glass of milk, and the answer so far is always no.  And in the meantime, I crave sugar less and less. Plus I do have sugar free jello from time to time to get me through the tough days.

I have slowed down a bit on the weight loss, but have still seen the scale drop a bit each week. I have also had a few small non-scale victories that have made it a rewarding journey so far. The first one being that I can now wear my wedding ring again. I could always get it on, but it was so tight that I was very aware of it being on my finger - like it was cutting off the blood supply or something. Now I can wear my engagement ring just fine (though the combined thickness with my wedding band is still too tight for me - a goal for next month maybe?). It feels good to wear it again - I really don't like when I am wearing another ring in it's place, like I have had to do for a portion of each pregnancy.

Victory number 2 was when I had a work event coming up where suits were required - I had been mixing dress pants with different jackets to try to find something that fit for previous events, but I could never button up the jacket. So when I had this mixer to attend a week or two ago, I decided to dust off a suit in the closet and try it on. And guess what? The pants fit AND I could button up the jacket. I was so excited! I proudly buttoned my jacket and did a big TA-DA! for Matt. Now the suit is not of course in a size that I am happy with, but to have a suit in my closet that fits is a blessing and a relief. No more scrounging in the closet and feeling less than professional. For someone who is coaching others on networking and making a good first impression, it's important that I can do what I'm asking of others.

So, without further ado, here are my Month 2 results:

Week 5: -3.1
Week 6: -0.9
Week 7: -2.6
Week 8: -2.4

4 week total: -9.0 lbs
Total lost overall (8 weeks): -25.6 lbs

Bonnie Springs Photography

I took Claire and Miles out to Bonnie Springs to practice my photography, under the guise of letting them play in the desert and look for cool rocks. They knew I'd be snapping away and bugging them and they obliged me for most of the hour we were exploring. There are some really cool photo spots out there - if we weren't so chilly, along with a deadline to get back before Penelope's nap was over, we would have stayed longer. But with Matt home studying, I couldn't be gone too long.

Miles Quotes

Miles has been cracking me up lately - he has some go-to phrases that are classic Miles.

When you ask him to find something for you, like say a tube of Butt Paste or a missing shoe, he can almost always find it. Then he says, "I have good lookin' eyes, huh mom?! Goooooood lookin' eyes!" Yes Miles, they are good at looking, and good looking :)

Miles is very free with his compliments - he tells me he likes my outfit, my hair, my earrings and even my lip gloss. He will make a wife very happy someday. A few days ago, Claire and Miles were doing some painting projects and Miles said, "That painting is pretty. It sparkles my eyes!"

We like to play rhyming games in the car - I call Miles the Master Rhymer because he can rhyme almost any word super fast and wants to play all the time. But sometimes we get to play I Spy. The whole family was in the car, and Miles said, "I spy with my little eye, something hairy." So of course I guessed that it was Matt. Miles said no, not Dad (Matt was pleased). Then he said, "It's you mom! Your hair - it's hairy!" Yes, I guess I am pretty hairy then with all these luscious locks.

This morning I asked Miles if he wanted to watch a video (because Saturday morning cartoons without cable are pretty awful). He said, "No, not a video, a movie. A video is a game that you play and a movie is what you watch." I guess he's never heard of a VCR.... no more videos. I'm old school.

Flashback

When I am with Claire, everyone says how much she looks like me. I think it's just our hair and eye color, because when Matt is with Claire, people say they look alike too. I think they look very similar especially in the cheeks, nose and shape of their face. Here are their kindergarden pictures - what do you think?

And while we are doing a flashback, I scanned in some other old photos Betty had out the other day - I would like to get more of our family pictures to add to our gallery of photos but I'm running out of wall space. I might have to start using the stairwell.

Matt Hiller - 4 years old - Adorable

Betty and Phil with Aaron, I believe

Phil Hiller - 1 year. Now you see where my kids get their curly hair. 

Phil Hiller - High School Graduation Photo

No More Snaggle Tooth

Penelope's second middle tooth is growing in finally - they still look a little wonky to me (almost like she has ground down the tips already) so I'm gonna take her to our dentist soon. But I just love this little girl - her smiles are ginormous, she still growls at us but in a cute way, and to me,  her hair looks like a little flapper girl's hair cut in these pictures. She is also slightly possessive of the remote control and our iPhones. She is usually a very chill baby, but she gets mad when we take those toys away.

Time to get some 9 month pics before they turn into her one year photos. The weather is turning beautiful - though still windy - so we need to get outside and take some soon.