It has been awhile....

And yes I am still here. I contemplated blogging at least 10 times since my last post, but just never got around to it. So I will do an update...

My beautiful baby girl is 11 months old now. It is hard to believe!! She started walking a month ago, she is almost running now. About 2 weeks after she started walking, she started crawling and then last week I saw her roll from her back to tummy for the first time. She is a bit backwards :). She says hi, bye, and ball. She is super fun right now.

We got passes to adventureland this year. Here is Lila and Emma riding the firetruck. Lila wasn't too sure about the whole thing.

And here is Bella and Emma riding one of the roller coasters. They love going here. I could do without it...oh well, I guess that is what mommies do.

I have been wedding planning a bit. We have a date (next year). We have a location (our home). We have a photographer and entertainment. I am lucky to have talented individuals in my family (my SIL is the photographer and my brother is in the band). Now I just need to figure out what we are wearing, the decor and what we will be eating.
I am 6 weeks into my body transformation challenge and so far I am not transformed. The reason would be is that I am having a heck of time eating like a body builder...I eat healthy but not in that manner. Egg whites and chunks of meat, peanut butter, protein shakes...just not my thing. Anyway, the workouts are good, I don't have any issues following them and actually I notice a substantial difference in my upper body strength ( i tend to be a bit puny in the arm/shoulder etc area) so I am pleased. I would also say that my clothes are a touch looser so perhaps I am doing better than I thought. Will have to get my body fat done to confirm. Anyway, that is all for now. Will try to be a better blogger in the future.

R.I.P.

I can't believe it is 11:41 p.m. and I have wasted all of this time. I went looking for a photo of Betty the Crazy Idaho Cat . For some reason I couldn't find one, but I found all sorts of interesting photos from years past and had to look at them. Low and behold a few hours have passed. Anyway, the reason I was looking for pictures of Betty is she disappeared a few weeks ago. I found myself almost sad even though I had tried to give her away about 1000 times. Unfortunately she must have succombed to living out in the middle of nowhere. We had 6+ lovely years together. Anyway...we have new kitties here compliments of my sister and her cat Lucinda.

Here is Daphne....

And Fred.....

Lila seems to like them both....

It has been busy here.  We are down to the last week of soccer.  Which is good, cause I am teetering on the edge of insanity with all of the practices and games. 
I have completed week 2 of my body transformation challenge.  The workouts are fine.  I am struggling with the protein.  I basically suck at getting that much protein.  6 weeks left...need to figure it out.  I ran yesterday when the gym was closed out in the middle of nowhere (which I quite like...one of the things I like about the middle of nowhere).  I saw this pretty little weed flower and came back to take some pictures of it.  Here is one of them.  Ran 3.6 miles, it is getting easier. Still don't want to do a marathon dear sister.

The garden is busy growing.  Here is my first harvest.  A pretty little radish.  I accidently left it out on the counter and he was all shriveled into nothing by morning.  I pulled a buddy of his the next day and he was quite tasty.

And one last photo...some strawberries from my patch.  They are quite tasty as well.  As it is late, I am going to close.  I have more pictures, but I will share those later.  Good night =).

A little bit of Everything

Hello from the great state of Iowa. Unlike most days, I have lots to say. First of all, thank you to my new readers who complimented my blog. It is nice to know that other people besides my mother appreciate my efforts.
As of this evening, I have my ring on my finger and I am enjoying it. Who would have known it would take a week to size it? It was so large that I couldn't even put it on my thumb, now it fits perfectly. I keep looking at it and thinking Holy crap, it wasn't a dream. This will also give me something more interesting to blog about....wedding plans =).
Anyway, before I show you some pictures of my baby (I am feeling a bit guilty that I haven't been taking very many pictures of my big girls...perhaps I should try better) I was going give a quick update on my fitness adventures. So I am proud to say that I have pretty much lost all 50+ lbs (i stopped counting after it got too depressing) of the baby chub that I so adeptly put on (minus the 7 lbs or so of lean body mass I gained during the pregnancy). So I have been thinking about what I wanted to accomplish next. A few weeks ago, my lovely sister so kindly asked me to participate in the Des Moines marathon with her in Oct...as much as I really really wanted to do that (ha!) I politely declined as I had already made other plans. For the next 8 weeks I am doing a body transformation challenge. I figured I could be pretty disciplined for the next 8 weeks as it is only 8 weeks out of my life and see what I could accomplish. The workouts are a bit more disciplined than I am currently doing, but not that different so that won't be a problem. The food thing is of course going to be the issue. I actually eat quite healthy, so much so that I get made fun of at work for it. That being said, I am not rigid about it, if I feel like having a treat, I will, etc. So eating "clean" for 8 weeks and getting the right proportion of nutrients is going to be my challenge. Getting protein is a bit of a chore for me and as of day 1 I have already fallen short of the recommended amount of protein...131 g today. But I will try again tomorrow. Need a better plan...or perhaps any plan (unlike today). It will be interesting to see if following this diet will burn some fat while adding muscle...have never been overly successful at doing that all at the same time. Anyway, I will shut up and move onto more interesting things...but will keep you updated.

So yes, some pictures of my baby. We were outside the other night and she was picking through the grass again.

I think she was a bit disappointed with the taste of the dandelion seeds...do you think?

Sitting on my new rocking chairs on the front porch (part of my revamping of the outside porches).

And that is all for now. Have a lovely evening.

Yahoo!

It was 3 years ago that we had that first awkward meeting at the gym, I told several people I didn't think anything would come of it, but I would just go for the dinner...I was very wrong....now I have one of these and I couldn't be happier.  That is all for now.  Have a lovely evening. 

Happy Happy May

Hello all....
Happy May to you.
It is a good day here. I am happy....which is lovely. The weather sucks today, nasty cold. Have been working outside a lot before it got cold. Gardening. Shoveling Rock. Planting. Staining. I like outdoor stuff. Here are my planters that were custom made by mr. handy. Pretty aren't they?

The girls semi cooperating....about as good as it gets

Lila lookimg all proud of herself....why you might ask?

She has figured out how to empty things and it makes her happy.  freshly folded clothes out!

I have also been taking pictures. Here are some lovely irises in my yard.  Working on taking pics in full fledged manual mode which I usually don't.  Also trying out a few new Lightroom presets....think I am liking them.

     Lila looking at her daddy's new deer target....

And finally my back porch.  I stained the old wood furniture, bought an outdoor rug, some plants and bought that cute little outdoor light (with candles) that I had been eyeballing at Lowe's for the last month or so.  I like it =).  The whole setup makes me happy.  Well that is all for now.  Have a lovely day.

More of my baby...

I wanted to post these pics of my baby. They were taken about 2 months ago. Danielle Fox took them. She was the one who took those cute ones of Lila as a newborn.

All pooped out after a long shoot.

That is about all for now. I am making a list of about 5000 things I need to accomplish on my half "day off" tomorrow. Later.

Thank you spammers

I would like to take the time to thank all the spammers that have left comments on my blog...very informative and it really makes me want to buy your products. Thanks again.
Alrighty then. Since I have been neglecting the older two a few pictures of them to start things off. We are fully into the soccer season now. 5/7 days we are doing soccer. I haven't liked it in the past and I don't like it now. Soccer mom, I am not. I am sort of a home body and to have activities that many nights per week is bothersome to me. Oh well, such is life. Here is Emma in her first game of the season. She did awesome. Scored at least 4 goals (had to step away for a moment to feed Lila and she thinks I missed one or so) and was quite aggressive and super fast. Someone made them tuck their shirts into their shorts and Emma had hers pulled up to her neck. I wanted to stop the game to relieve her neck from the shorts...but they don't allow that sort of thing =).

Next, the almost woman-child, Isabella. She also did awesome. Scored 3 out of her teams 4 goals and assisted the other. Was a good soccer weekend for my girlies.

And of course, I couldn't post with a pic of my baby. This first one cracks me up.  She was watching the dog who was about to pounce on my back as I was lying on the ground.  She was almost shaking with worry.

This last one was cute too, just being joyful.

I have been super busy organizing things in my house. I don't know why I feel the great urge to do such things. Outside I am staining the planters Jeremy made me. Instead of the giant garden that went a bit out of control last year (was very pregnant I do have somewhat of an excuse) going to take it down a notch and control it within the confines of these beauties. Will take a pic soon. That is all for now. Have a lovely evening.

testing 1,2,3....

Post #2 for the evening. Here is an 8 second experiment....Sorry about the very poor quality. Was shot in the dark. Just wanted to test this out to see if it works or not. Lila dancing at one of her sister's school concerts....

Untitled from Stacey George on Vimeo.

Took me awhile....

But I am finally posting again. Also made a quick new banner. I suppose it looks okay. I realized that on my computer at work(which has the smallest screen ever made in the whole entire world) that it looks like I made my blog gray and that is it. So if you have a small screen at home and are wondering why I did that...I didn't. There is actually contrast between the posts and the semi transparent gray background that is covering a graphic gray print.
So what have I been up to? Work (shocking), my 9 weeks of soccer hell have started (5 out of 7 days we have soccer)...first games this weekend, have been trying to REALLY learn my camera and some technical aspects of photography. Right now it is screwing all my pictures up...but I suppose you have to do that to learn, huh? I have been organizing my paper mess. I actually do not have a stack of 6 inches of paper on my desk. Next project is my junk in the basement. Workout wise I have hit a bad streak. I am going to the gym, but struggling a lot. I need to organize myself there too and make a plan. My post baby chub removal has stalled and I want to get rid of a bit more. Speaking of baby chub, I will leave you with a few pictures I took on Easter of my cute little one. Enjoy and have a lovely day.

You might notice the large bonk on her head (I photoshopped it out on 2 of them, forgot to do this one). She and Bella had a little accident. All is well except Jeremy took to calling her Mikhail Gorbachev this week. Such a funny man.

What do you think?

So....I became aware of some fancy new blogger templates this evening. Decided to update. Like it? I like the color gray for some reason...so I went with that, Need to update my header/title/pictures. Just realized that it is over 2 years old. Maybe I shall do that tomorrow. Probably should rename the blog as I no longer sit in my green room to write it. Maybe sitting in my "dusty trail" colored loft? Doesn't sound as catchy does it?
Sitting here holding my unhappy baby. She is an excellent sleeper usually...unless she is sick. i have a suspicion that her first ear infection has not cleared. Guess i will have to go look tomorrow. hopefully the night will improve when the ibuprofen kicks in.
Anyway, i love amazon . com and i also found this handy little link tool tonight that i thought i would try out to see how it works. i recently finished reading (on my sony reader that i got for my birthday) this book:

One of the best books i have read in quite some time. Anyway, typing with one hand is too hard so i will end (why i have chosen to ignore the shift key). night.

long time no blog...

I of course have been meaning to blog, but life has just gotten in the way. Have been busy, but what is new? I can't forsee a time in the next 18 years when I will not be busy.
My baby is 8 months old today.

(Here she is enjoying the grass for the first time ever. I couldn't get her too look up, she was very enthralled).
Time flies. I have just been realizing that over the past few weeks I am slowly starting to feel like myself again. Being pregnant, working, giving birth, having a newborn, working, being a mommy to the older ones, working... takes it out of you for a bit. maybe a bit longer than I anticipated? Perhaps it is just being older? who knows. Anyway, I am trying to take advantage of my newfound energy. I am working on getting the house more organized (we moved here in June, lila was born in July...need I say anymore?). Trying to take my workouts to a higher level. Etc. Etc. Making good progress on all of it. Perhaps I will update on those accomplishments later. I will leave you with another picture of the day. We went to a water park this past weekend for the end of spring break and the girls really had fun. Lila LOVED the water. That is all for now. Adios.

Emerging from the crud

Happy March to all! It is finally warming up around here and there is hope that spring may come. It is supposed to rain quite a bit this week which should make the gravel or more accurately mud road that I live on quite fun. Living out in the middle of no where can certainly be fun (luckily civilization and paved roads are only a quick drive). Have also been sick the past 4+ days. My normally robust immune system (quite strong from being spewed on by sicko kids on a 5 day per week basis) caved and I got the crud. I hate being sick. Don't have time to be sick...but as of right this moment I am finally feeling better....just in time to go to work tomorrow. Anyway, a photo from today. Miss Lila enjoying her daddy.

Doing pretty well on the picture a day. I normally take about 5 pictures during the months of January-March (the bulk of my several thousand pics each year are taken outside) so this year is quite different. Well that is all for now....must get to bed.

Winter Bites

Dear 4 wheel drive---
I so missed you these past 3 days of not using you. I am so glad the roads are covered in snow again and we can blissfully travel down the road at slow speeds....yahoo!

I hate winter. By morning we should be up to the number 3 crappiest snowiest winter ever.

That's all.

Hello from the frozen tundra of Iowa. Can I just say how tired I am of winter. The cold...the dreary...the deep piles of snow...the drifted snow and ice covered roads...I could really just do without it. I don't know that I have ever been so thankful to have a 4WD as I am this year. Other than the terrible weather, life is going well. Work is busy. Girls are well. Picture a day is progressing just fine. As always, a picture of my baby. I sure do like her. She is great fun (the majority of the time). And secondly a picture of me and J taken the other night. That is all for now. Have a lovely day.

my baby....

Isn't she cute?

The last few weeks in photos

So, believe it or not I am still going strong with my daily photo. Think I have only missed one picture so far...so instead will be using another trinket from the day. Feeling good about how I have been doing. So anyway...here goes....
Oh wait...before I start. I happened to turn on the T.V. tonight to dateline and there was a story about the Heroes of children's hospitals. www.dateline.msnbc.com (said the video would be up later this week there) Usually when there is a story about doctors on t.v. it is about surgeons or "important" doctors, not the lowly pediatrician. Anyway, it was pretty cool to see a story about pediatricians in training. Brought back some good memories, some sad memories...made me proud to be one of them. Hopefully made people realize that pediatricians are not just the stereotypical jolly dr. that treats ear infections and gives shots...we have a lot of specialized training and are super super cool =). Anyway, back to the pictures.

Jan 17th It is still snowy, cloudy, and cold here. Will summer ever come?


Jan 18th Day one of vacation in Jamaica


Jan 19 Me and my guy. I like him.


Jan 20 Our little villa we stayed in while in Jamaica


Jan 21 The water was absolutely gorgeous here. Was almost fake looking.


Jan 22 Shopping for stuff for the girls.


Jan 23 Vacation is over already! Good-bye Jamaica


Jan 24 Having a dinner with my parents, grandparents, aunt and my girlies. Photo is courtesy of my high quality phone camera.


Jan 25 Back to work...the chart pile up is acutally much less than I expected after being gone a week.


Jan 26 Bella and Lila. Lila loves actual food.


Jan 27 Goofing off. The girls took pictures of us running slow motion into each others arms with the end result being this.


Jan 28 Late night. Forgot to take a picture. So the computer it is. I love my giant screen.


Jan 29 Danielle Fox took this picture of Lila when she was 1 week old. She finally brought this canvas by today (along with 6 others). Going to hang them at my office instead of the cheesy "art" we have hanging up now.


Jan 30 Yes, it is true. I am apparently 37 years old. Wow..................


Jan 31 Did I mention that this child loves to eat and drink out of a cup? She reminds me of a little bird. She is so super cute.
Well that is all for now. Have a lovely day. Later.