3.

Happy 3 year anniversary to us! 

loved that special day. loved celebrating yesterday. loved every day in between. 

love love love our newest addition to the clan.

6.27.09

a day late.

Yesterday was Phil's first fathers day. Hoorah!

Thank you Phil for being a

loving

kind
steady
true
humble
loving
determined

patient
good

fun
peaceful
consistent
hilarious

gentle

enthusiastic

caring

playful

dedicated

constant

adoring
unselfish
hard working

and cuddly

Dad to our Theodore.

You are loved by all children. You are especially loved by our little one. Thank you thank you thank you for all that you do and all that you are!


And to all the men in my life: thanks for being so manly and great! Thanks for being Dads and grandpas and uncles and brothers and cousins and so forth. 

becoming a loser.

Via gabrielutasi.com

Remember how I mentioned my Phamily (that mean's Phil's side) is doing a Biggest Loser competition? Well I thought I'd tell you all a little more about it because: 1. The public loves weight loss. It's a multi-billion dollar industry. 2. It'll help me stay motivated if I'm accountable to the blogosphere in addition to my competitors and the merciless scale. Help me win! Cheer me on! 3. I'm trying to lose my baby weight in a healthy way. I believe my body is a temple and I believe you should listen to and respect your body. I wanted to share that sentiment too.

Just a friendly greeting.

The backstory or why I'm competing or skip this if you're bored:


Let me preface this by saying there are many different sized bodies that are beautiful. I have always had a petite frame and an active lifestyle. When I became pregnant with little Teddy (he was just a lower case t then) I was performing in a dance heavy production of Hairspray. I was at my fighting weight. I ate whatever I wanted and danced for 4 hours every night after work. Once the show closed I became a bit lazy. I still ate whatever I wanted and then some but I quickly gave up on exercise (something that was a normal part of my pre-pregnant life). Maybe it was fatigue, maybe it was a result of my thyroid problems (I actually don't have a thyroid any more and my metabolism is in many ways regulated by medicine), maybe I just never learned food-discipline. Whatever the reason I gained between 50 and 60 pounds during my pregnancy. (next time I'll know better...oops!) I know! WHAT?!!! you say. Yes it's true. Pick yourself up off the floor and continue to read. Still as the scale slid farther and farther I wasn't worried. I was going to breast feed and watch the pounds fall away. Teddy had a lot of problems with breast feeding though (he was a poor sucker) and after two months of lactation consulting, reading, trying, and two more months of just pumping away Teddy and I decided to go all-formula. That was a hard decision (tears and stress) but Teddy cuddled me and told me it was ok :) He's such a sensitive guy. Without the incredible help breast feeding can give you in weight loss I decided to take the bull by the horns and get back in shape the old fashioned way. I've been dancing, running, circuit training, and limiting my desserts and late night eating. I have lost about 40 pounds! Ta-da! I've learned so much about my own strength and how I should treat my bod. In many ways I feel stronger than I was to begin with, but of course some of that has to do with carrying around your 20 pound son! I fit in my clothes and finally my leotards but I have more to lose and I thought joining my SILs biggest loser 5 week challenge would be just the motivation I need.

Don't mind if I do.

The competition:


For five weeks myself, five of my SILs, and some of their friends will be competing to see who can lose the greatest percentage of their initial body weight. (If Jane ways 500 lbs and loses 50 lbs then Jane has lost 10% of her body weight).


First and Second place win a cash prize!


The game gets dirty:


Playing games with my Phamily is extra fun because people get mischievous. Phil and I have already started dropping off tempting baked goodies at my competitors homes. Text fly around with pictures of yummy food in hopes of making someone crack. Even the first weigh in was a riot. All of us were desperately eating and filling our bellies to the brim with water before we hit the scale.


My blog friends:


I hope you will cheer me on in this journey. I hope if you have any tips and advice you will share it with me (email me!). During the competition I will need to keep my strategies secret but after my 5 weeks are up I would love to share with you what worked and what didn't. Week 1's final weigh in is Saturday. Let the games begin!

oh hey blog.

As I write this Theo the Great is sleeping soundly in his crib. I can watch his slumbers from our video monitor which is the most wonderful experience.  He sleeps like a boy. I don't know exactly what that means but I'm calling it like I see it. 


Our tiny babe is now 6 months old. He rolls over with reckless abandon and he scoots like a champ. He loves his exersaucer. We call it his "office." He is always very busy when he is in his office. He must have an important job because he has such a fancy circular desk. You may call him Theodore, Teddy, Theo, chunk, mr. sir, the prince, munchkie, little cheeky, or you can skip introductions and just marvel at his delicious rolls. He loves "the itsy bitsy spider" above all other songs. It is an obvious favorite.


One day I was singing opera to him and he smiled and stayed very still. When I finished the song I smiled back. He looked at me and barfed. Sometimes he spits up when he gets nervous. Perhaps he's just my harshest critic.


We've had lots of happenings around these parts but I don't want to get all wordy about them or you will be bored and scroll to the pictures. Below is a condensed list of our current events. None of them are complete sentences  and. the. punctuation,,, is... quite.*(horrible). Please don't be offended.


*Phil got an internship at a great mid-sized firm here in Walnut Creek for the summer! It was an answer to prayer. I am so proud of Phil and the work he is doing. He walks to work and sometimes walks home for lunch = awesome.
*On the SAME day that my sister Court got a job teaching 3rd grade (!!) my SIL Camille got engaged to wonderful Alex (!!) and my SIL Ellie moved into her new house (!!). It was a day to end all days. So happy for all three!
*Teddy is getting his very first tooth. Bottom right. A very handsome tooth.
*bff Randi came to visit for Scottie B's wedding (yay Scott!) Teddy met Auntie Randi!
*We picked cherries. We ate cherries. We love cherries.
*We went to pescadero on an eating/hiking/ocean viewing adventure. Sourdough stuffed with artichoke hearts, fresh berry pie, elephant seals... Northern California I love you.
*I have been sucked into the vortex that is INSTAGRAM. follow me @missaubreyg
*I've been running, pilate-ing, and dancing this baby weight off. Mucho progress with more to go. I am about to start a Biggest Loser competition with my SILs to hopefully get those last few lbs. off.  I will blog about it in more detail later. There has been some fantastic trash talkery going on by the way...
*We are excited to go to Sandy-eggo (Sandiego) in a few weeks for our dear friend Stephen's wedding. He is marrying a lovely girl. I love weddings and romance. 
*My baby sis Tara comes home for the summer from college Today. Hooray Hooray!


That is all for now. Stay fresh and have a great Thursday.
Below are some pictures of life as of late. They are from my phone. Enjoy their grainy goodness.