Ready for the Holidays...

Here is Quinn playing with her friends Kate and Charlie:

So so so ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm still pondering where we should take our annual Christmas photo. Ahhhh, the things I ponder these days. Weight Watchers is going really well - I'm down 15 and I on track for my 1/2 way goal by Christmas. Woo-hoo! I can't wait for stuffing and candied sweet potatoes!

Again, so thankful for my moms group. Love the playdates! More so, I love the ability to stay home with my little girl.

Halloween and the like:

Whelan Family - Yabba Dabba Do!



Little Pebbles:

Halloween was awesome. We had a party at my parent's house and per usual, Quinn was quite the little social butterfly. I am very proud to report that I actually MADE her costume. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but I can always say that I made my little girl's first Halloween costume.

I am really looking forward to the holidays this year - I really think I have Quinn to thank for that.

Job hunting is still on hold until after the New Year - I check the job sites daily just to see what I am missing and to see what the market is like. I miss work, but I think at this point I would miss my little girl more if I were to return back to work.

My days now are spent thinking of new ways to entertain my 5-month old. Like I said, we go on a lot of walks, shopping, music classes - I am debating whether or not to enroll her in swim classes - we'll see. She's been teething lately, so it's been interesting see her go from happy-bo-bappy to hating the world. She just has such a GREAT personality.

What I am most thankful for right now (besides my family/friends) is the El Segundo MOM Club. It's a great organization run by local moms. There is pretty much something to do everyday and I have made some great friends. I just love having something to look forward to - sometimes the days run together, but at least I know every Thurs. we have a coffee playdate.

Tim and I have decided to move. We hate our apt/condo. It's just way too noisey. Our lease is up in Feb - so we are going to start looking for a new place in ES in December. I'm hoping that we can rent a house with a backyard, so both Quinn and the pups will have some room to roam around.

Weight Watchers is also going well. Month 2 is beginning. I'm hoping to make it to my 1/2 way goal before Christmas. This week I feel was kind of a bust - but I weigh in tomorrow and the scales never lie.

Kings Home Opener

Back to the Blog

I miss blogging. I'm good at it. I lead a pretty interesting life and I believe that I have a funny way of telling people about it.

I was reading my past blog posts and I had to laugh. My oh my how life has changed in a year.

We now have our Quinny - the 4 month old light of our lives. I was laid off when I was 5 months pregnant and have been a stay at home mommy since January of this year. I bombed the bar again and for some reason plan on taking it yet AGAIN in Feb '11. Damn those pesky dreams of greatness.

Tim is good. The family is good. The dogs are good. I am good. Really good actually. But lately I feel a bit restless. I tried the stay at home mommy thing. I love being here for Quinn, but I don't buy the whole "she needs be every second of the day" argument. Being around her 24/7 does not make me a good mom. It makes me a mom who sits and wonders if I am making a mistake by being around 24/7. I worked my ass off to get where I am in the world. 19 years of school is a VERY long time. I enjoy using my brian, adult conversations and using my education to better the lives of the people in my family. I don't think that makes me a bad mom. Plus, I think nowadays the SAHM title is abused. Living off your husband's money, sitting around all day on facebook, not working on educating your children, not cleaning or doing anything productive that betters your family does not a SAHM make. I have spent the last months doing everything I said that I wanted to do while I did work. Quinn and I go to the park, read books, go to the beach, museums, travel, shop and nap.

But, back to the restless part of me...
Quinn sleeps from midnight to 9:30am. Yes, we are blessed. She's up for an hour and then she goes down for a 3-hour nap. That's just the way that she is. She doesn't get up and rolling until at least 1pm. If I get a job where I am working from 8am-3pm that technically means that I am only missing 2 hours a day of her life. I can live with that. Plus, the student loans can only be deferred for so long - those damn people want their money and I need to give it to them - pretty soon. So, I have to go back to work. Tim is trying everything in his power to come up with $, so we'll see. I'm going to the Price is Right on 10/25 so maybe I'll get lucky, get on the show and win $25k in Plinko....it could happen.

101 Thing to do in 1001 Days

(the first 35)

My list:

Purchase a new car so I can get rid of my astronomical car payment.
Move into a new place/purchase a home.
Start adding more money to my savings acct.
Look into the idea of expanding our family.
Being nicer to the ferrets.
Taking the dogs on more walks.
Attend the gym at least 3x’s a week.
Read 25 books, first up: The Lovely Bones.
Get on an airplane.
Go to Canada to see the Winter Olympics.
Get to San Diego.
Grow my hair, then cut it and donate it.
Get back into painting – I’m really good at it.
Pass the bar.
Start eating at a new restaurant at least 3x’s a month.
Take a legit 2-week vacation with Tim. No more of this one week or 2 day bullshit.
Make a new good friend who lives close.
Learn Spanish, well more fluently anyway.
Complete a half-marathon.
Not step foot into a Cold Stones.
Walk out of Target without spending over $50.
Learn Microsoft Excel.
Take a Pilates class.
Take a yoga class without bursting into laughter.
Starting learning more about wine, so I can be an official wino.
Go on a boat.
Go on a cruise.
Drink more water.
Learn to make a new dish.
Stop eating so much bread and cheese.
Go to Palm Springs.
Take a road trip across the U.S.
Take a dance class with Tim.
Go to the beach more.
Wear daily sun block/moisturizer on my face.

Goals

I have come to a point in life where I have begun to ask myself, "What's next?"

Tim and I have been married for over 2 years, he's an atty and I am the closest you can come to becoming an atty without actually being one. We both make good money, drive nice cars, live by the beach, travel, drink wine and eat at nice restaurants and we treat our families to the finer things in life. But are we willing to sacrifice the above all in the name of having some $ in savings in order to purchase a home?

So here are some of our goals for the next 6 months:

• Purchase a new car so I can cut down on my astronomical car payment.
• Move into a new place: Not purchase a house, but a bigger apartment/house/townhome that the doggies won't ruin and where Tim and I won't bump into each other every 5 seconds.
• Start depositing money into a savings acct: We both have one, but we need to start putting money into it. (I am proud of myself for starting a 401k at work though).
• Possibly explore the possibility of expanding our family. Possibly: Before I was dead set on the idea of not bringing a child into the world where he/she's parents don't own a home. But, the fact that Tim and I are both financially stable is starting to weigh on my mind.
• Get more active - both physically and through volunteering: Now that I'm not going to law school in the evenings, I have a lot of extra free time and instead of doing good I am going out drinking with friends or laying on the couch with Tim. I have emailed all the L.A. Law Clinics and they are full - maybe I'll look into feeding the homeless.
• Start reading more: I have already finished Time Traveler's Wife and just started The Lovely Bones. I really like reading, not law school reading, but reading reading :)

That's all for now :)

Sometimes I want to squeeze them like Lenny from Mice and Men