Weather woes

Oh, I just don't think I can handle anymore winter! It puts me in a funk. All I want to do is sleep. I am having the hardest time getting motivated to clean. i want a day of warm breezes and open windows. Oliver hasn't even gotten to see what it is like to run outside. He had just started walking when the weather started getting cold. My little buddy and I are going to have the best days ahead of us exploring the park. He is now able to point to various parts of his body when asked. If you ask him where his nose is he shoves his fingers in his nose. And sometimes he just points to his teeth and says "Tee." And is ya ask him where his ears are, be prepared to applaud when he is done showing you because he is gonna clap for himself anyway.
I am going to try to get some energy at the gym tonight. I am meeting my workout buddy, Heather and we are going to do the weights followed by Zumba. I am hoping to get some kick ass arms for the summer! Now if I could just stop eating all the Girl Scout cookies! I have a box of Do-si-dos and a box of Thin mints if anyone wants to buy them and save me from myself!

Isn't she lovely?

My Aunt Jo sent me this picture. It was from Carson's birthday party. I wanted to share b/c I think she is so beautiful.

The road to recovery!

The sickness is easing up in the Sterling household. Michael returned to work and Brady seems well enough to return to school. Of course, they had a snow day so she is home anyway!I haven't left the house since Monday when I took Oliver to the doctor! I am restless and in need of adult communication even if it is the checkout girl at Target. So far I have not gotten the flu that has plagued my entire family. I have had a minor sore throat and felt a little rundown (that may just be from taking care of everyone!)So, I am hoping that I am in the clear. Not sure how long these things need to incubate, but I will get some Zicam anyway!
Oliver is such a busy guy. He runs, climbs and destroys. Here is a recent video of one of his favorite climbing spots. I know what you are going to say, "Why don't you just move it so he doesn't climb on it?" Because that is what keeps him from climbing into the fireplace! Anyway, he is proud of himself and clearly likes to laugh at mommy when she says "Get down." oh yeah, I hate the sound of my voice so try to bear with me!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The house of sick..

The flu has hit Springdale Ave. I usually never see the flu but Oliver started being clingy last night and then woke up this morning completely miserable. All he wanted to do was be held by mommy. His fever got up to 103.7 and all he was doing was laying on me and moaning and whining. So we went to see Dr. Wang. He swabbed his nose and said he would be back in 20 mintues. He was back in two. That's how fast the flu virus presented itself on the nasal swab from Oliver. Michael has a nasty cough and Brady has a cough and a stuffy nose. I am sure they will be hit with the rest of the misery in a few days. In the meantime we are running the vaporizer and the sudacare. Ahhhhhhh, I can't wait for spring!
You may not want to darken our door if you want to stay healthy!

Family Fun

Michael took the day off from work on Friday so that we could take Brady to Oglebay to teach her to ski. When we woke up, we had a change of heart. That and the fact that it wold cost us over $100 to take her for the day to Oglebay and their ONE run. So we decided to surprise Brady. We just told her to get her shoes on and we didn't tell her where we were going. I think she asked about 50 questions on the way. And when we got off the exit we told her to shut her eyes. When she opened them we were at: Chuck E Cheese! And she said, "I knew it." So much for building the excitment! The little stinker! We had a great time playing all the games. It was very crowded and I do get nervous if she is out of my sight for too long. Anyone could come in there and have access to your child. I don't tell her all of that because I don't want to raise a fearful child. I just tell her the stranger, danger rule. We all had fun and I made it back in time to go to the gym. Although I don't know why I am bothering it hasn't made a difference at ALL. I will give it more time, but I am a little discouraged.

Happy Valentine's Day!

First to my husband, Michael. Happy Valentine's Day! And to my beautiful children. I love you more than anything in the world. I just got back from Brady's school where we served sundaes to the kids as a treat. Oliver terrorized the lunchroom! Most of the kids laughed and thought it was funny. I ended up chasing him more than I did helping the other moms.
Oliver is really into the Wiggles. He even tries to do the dances to the songs. I will try to get a video of it soon. I do have video of him trying to do the soulja boy dance. He watched Brady and Dylan do it so many times that now he starts picking his leg up whenever he hears the song start. It is so cute I had to share:

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Brady is going skiing this weekend with her dad and his family. It kinda makes me nervous to have her go and me not be in control.I will worry that she will get hurt and I won't be there to comfort her. I think she is going to have such a great time! I can't wait to hear all about it and am scrambling to make sure she has all the right gear. I am going to miss my baby girl. But it is going to give Michael and I a chance to attack the back room of death and I may be hitting the DSO show on Sunday. (I would like for Michael to go too, so babysitters if you are reading this please call!)
I am still hitting my Zumba classes. Heather and I tried out a new one last night at a location other than the Wellness Center. The instructors are all Zumba certfied. They move a lot faster than what I am used to! Holy embarassing! I believe they just returned from Florida where they got additional certification from the founder of Zumba. Oh well, I am going back to the wellness center tonight until I get better! I am even going to embarass myself in the pilates class.

This is funny!

I had to take a quick moment to post a link about this, well, I guess it is a web show. There are webisodes based on reader's true stories about embarassing mommy moments. It made me laugh out loud and that is good enough for me to share!
Enjoy: In the motherhood.

Zumba

I took my first Zumba class last night with Heather. She has been trying to get me to go for about a month now and she finally succeeded. In case you don't know, Zumba is an aerobic work out set to very loud latin music. I loved the fact that the instructer said, "That's not loud enough, turn it up more." So it was basically a dance party of about 30 people. Men, women, old and young. I wasn't too crazy about having the mirrors because I was forced to look at the reason I was there in the first place. I am the biggest I have ever been in my life and I am desperate to lose some pounds. I am really down about my weight so I have decided to do something about it. I heard someone on TV say the other day, "Don't compare yourself to the person you were before you had children because you aren't that person anymore." So very, very true. Not just physically, but mentally as well. I used to say, "I'll sleep when I'm dead." Now if I don't get at least 7 hours of sleep I am a cranky bear. I used to have a "no fear" way of life. Now I freak out about going out with Michael for the night because I am afraid we will get hit by a drunk driver and leave these beautiful children without parents. Anyway, I am moving on with the person that I am NOW. Not when I was younger and care free. I just hope everyone in my life gets that concept.
In case you want a little taste of Zumba:

One year ago today....

we had a pipe burst inside the wall between the first bedroom and the living room. It flooded the carpet all the way to the end of the hall, just missing the two front bedrooms. Fortunately, I was home at the time. If I had gone about my morning as previously planned, I would have come home to a huge mess. We had to live with my mother for over a month and had to have the carpet pulled out and replaced. What a mess! On to brighter thoughts: This past weekend we attended Penelope's 2cnd birthday party. Lots of people were there. It is mindblowing to see the people that you used to hang out with at the bar, now with families! I mean really! Ten years ago, the people at this party certainly wouldn't have been cheering for Dora and eating cupcakes. We have really come a long way. I love it though. Just to watch lives progress and people grow. What a great time, thanks for having us Penelope! Saturday night we traveled to Morgantown to see the Hackensaw Boys. I looove these guys. They make me free again even if it is only for a few hours. If you get a chance to see them, jump on it. They never dissaoint. Oliver and I started our Baby and Me classes again. It is a really good excuse to have a play group on Monday mornings. We sing, clap and play with various intruments. Brady has been manning the camera lately. Here is one of my favorite videos she has taken:

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And here is what happens when you let your 6 yr old style the baby's hair!: