Worst blogger EVER!!

So I am slowly starting to fall back into the Worst blogger ever category as it has been a month since my last post. I think what I really need to do is re post my 2010 to do list and give it the once over since I really need the motivation.

1. Loose at least 40 pounds.
I have lost 10 which is great but for the last two weeks I have really been slacking. The good news is that I'm down to my pre-Arthur weight, but I have A LOT of work to do if I am going to get down to 175 by July. I have several friends and a sister that are doing such a great job in their weight loss and I'm going to use their success to motivate me!

2. Walk or be active every day.
This one has been hard. I really need to just go out and do stuff. It has been hard to go for walks since it is so rainy most of the time, but I need to do more. I plan to start taking classes at least once a week while Arthur is in Daycare... this should help get me going at least. I also need to start doing some inside activities that get my heart rate up as well.

3. Keep better records.
I have really been sucking this one up. Must get better.

4. Be a better blogger.
See title of this post.

5. Draw more.
I think I am going to revise this one to Be artistic. As much as I love to draw I also love to do so many other artistic/crafty things to from now on I will just do something artistic (and not work related) each week. Draw, sew, paint, print, design, crochet... the possibilities are endless!

6. Make Actual Industries ROCK!
We at Actual are all working very hard on this one. I in particular have been struggling to find my place in the company even though I'm one of the owners. I think that I have a better understanding of what that place is and have been able to lent my skills to make Actual just a bit better. Also we launched our site which looks great!

7. Learn QuickBooks.
I think that by trying to do some of the bookkeeping/accounting we came to the conclusion that I am not a bookkeeper. I don't like numbers or math. We all decided that it would be easier to turn this over to a professional to handle.

8. Drink more water.
some days are good others not so much. I really need to get better at this one.

9. Start using cloth diapers again.
Still ROCKING this one! Arthur is all cloth at home. We have to put him in disposable 2 days a week for daycare, although I hope to start using them on those days as well soon.

10. Be more active with Arthur.
We went to one story time at the library in town, but I still need to do more with this. He is however going to daycare 2 days a week, where he gets to play with Leah who is 2.5. He really loves chasing her around, still on his knees as his is not quite walking walking yet.

Wow I really needed to take an inventory of my goals, some of which I'm rockin' others that I really need to catch up on. Here's to hoping that next month will be better, and that I can get my ass into gear and rock them all!!!

weekly update

This is a snap shot from one of our outings in the sun last week. Arthur loves the swings!

Last week I neither lost or gained any weight so I suppose that is good. I did get out of the house and walked a lot! The weather has been gorgeous for the last week here in Oregon and I took advantage of it with several long walks, which felt so nice! This week I need to keep the walking up, and really keep track of all my food, and next week will be muck better.

For the most part I have been good at keeping my journal, this week my goal is to actually write in it every day. Although I do have an entry for every day, sometimes I have to do a few days catchup.

This last week I also designed new business cards for Actual. Brad and Greg are going to attend a digital signage show in Vegas this week, and they needed to have nice cards with the new logo to bring along. They really turned out nice, and we got them delivered in time to take to the show!

Happy week everyone!

weekly update/I don't diet well.

So the week starting Feb 8th Matt and I were going to do a two week cleanse. The cleanse we chose was pretty easy to follow and actually involved eating food. I discovered however that I am no good at radical diets. They say they are going to give you all this energy and improve this and that, but all it did was make me tired and cranky. Now part of this may be due to the fact that I came down with a stomach bug on Monday, and really did not eat much of anything for two days. But by Thursday I came to the conclusion that if I have any chance loosing weight then silly diet gimmicks like that are not the way to go.

So Thursday I gave in, and gave up. Not completely, just the radical stuff. I started logging all of my food on weightwatchers.com, and committed to exercising, and making healthy food choices. I plan to not eat out, and limit my sugar and carb intake (I eat WAY to much sugar and carbs). I will do this by eating whole grains, lots of veggies, lean meats, and no more candy binges!

I'm well on my way, and already went from 213 pounds - 209.2 pounds! That is nearly 4 pounds and counting. Which also means that I'm only 9 pounds away from loosing all the "baby weight" I put on both pre and post pregnancy.

It has been a slow start, but I'm SUPER committed this time around and have to get my but in gear if I'm going to get down to 175 before July 12th...

Time sure flies/Happy Birthday Jack!

(the loves his new cousin so much)

I can't believe how fast time seems to fly these days. It seems like just yesterday I was driving up to Salem to meet Jack for the very first time and today he is turning 4! Jack has got be one on the bravest little boys I have even met. He has been through so much in his life already, and he is always in such good spirits no matter how crappy he might be feeling.

He is such a great big brother and cousin. He has been know to just stop and say, "Arthur is the cutest baby ever". I can't wait to see what a great little man he is going to become.

Happy Birthday Jack!

January update

So I figure that the beat way to keep on track for 2010 is to post an update on how my goals have been going and what I need to do to stay on track. I figure it I do this it will a) help me stay on track knowing that I have to let the world know every month how I'm doing, and b) it will raise me to at least "mediocre blogger" status, seeing as I will have at least 12 posts for the year, which is way more then last.

1. Loose at least 40 pounds.
Okay so I'm a bit behind on this one, I have not lost any weight in Jan, but I have not gained any either, so I suppose that is something. Starting next week Matt and I are going to do a cleansing diet, to Jump start our weight loss, then I am going to work my ass off, eat right and exercise. My goal is to be down to 175 before my 30th birthday which is in July. That means I have a little over 5 months to loose 35 pounds.

2. Walk or be active every day.
This has also been tough. I blame it mostly on myself, but I also blame the rain and cold, it is much harder to go out and walk when you have a baby. Babies melt in the rain... I'm thinking of joining west coast fitness with a friend, so I will have a work out buddy which is always great!

3. Keep better records.
I have actually been GREAT at this one. I bought a small pocket sized calender, and every day I just jot down a few thoughts, or things that happened, or whatever. It is only a small paragraph each day, but is makes it a reasonable goal, because if I were trying to do more it would just not get done at all.

4. Be a better blogger.
In the process of this one right now! also for the month of Feb. I think I will try and post once a week. Baby steps...

5. Draw more.
I am about half way with this one. I think I have missed one week. I think I will also start posting my illustrations every week on my crafT blog, this will also help out the previous goal.

6. Make Actual Industries ROCK!
I have finished the preliminary designs for actualindustries.com. Since we need to have a website to get clients this is a pretty important step. Now we just have to put the site into motion, this is my Feb. Actual Goal.

7. Learn QuickBooks.
We decided to turn all our end of the year stuff over to a book keeping firm that is going to get everything in order for us and set up our QuickBooks. Once that is done I will be able to learn how to enter in things, and keep everything straight.

8. Drink more water.
Some days I do really good other days not so much. I need to be better at this one. Also cutting out some of my caffeine will also help, which I will be doing on my cleanse.

9. Start using cloth diapers again.
I am ROCKING this one. Aside for the occasional disposable when we go out, or away we are back to cloth. Have found several options that I'm loving and are working well for Arthur. It is amazing on how much less trash we have each week, makes me feel so much better, about doing my part, you know for the world and stuff.

10. Be more active with Arthur.
This one I still need to work on. I was going to start trying to go to Story time at the library but it is at 10, which is right during Arthur's first nap these days, so I need to look into some other options that we can do. I'm thinking of swimming lessons. I think this will help both of us since I'm not much for the water, so I think if I go do it with him, I won't be as nervous myself. Also we may be putting him into daycare for a couple days a week, so that will help as well, plus it will give me some non-kid time to get other things done.

All in all I have done a good job. I still need a bit of work, but I think I'm on track to making 2010 a pretty damn fine year!!!

A better 2010.

So I have decided to put this list out there for the "world" to see because if I do that it makes it real, and if it is real then I will actually accomplish it, or so the theory goes.

10 things I wish to accomplish in '10:

1. Loose at least 40 pounds. (20 or so of these are the pounds that I gained with Arthur, and the other 20 are are the pounds I should have lost before I had him)

2. Walk or be active every day. This will help with the previous goal, plus I just fell better when I am more active.

3. Keep better records. I have always been a horrible "journalist" if you will, and this year I want to be better. I bought a small purse calender and my plan is to jot down at least one thing that I did/thought/felt that day, and or one thing that Arthur did/thought/felt that day. This way I will be sure to remember when he took his first step, or said his first word.

4. Raise from my "worst blogger ever" status to at least "mediocre blogger".

5. Draw more. Right now the goal is to finish one small illustration every week. That is 52 illustrations in '10!

6. Work as hard as I can to make Actual Industries as awesome and profitable as I can.

7. Learn QuickBooks. This will also help with the previous goal.

8. Drink more water. I feel better when I do this. I get less headaches, my skin is clearer, and it just makes sense.

9. Start using cloth diapers again.

10. Be more active with Arthur. I tent to be a bit of a home body, so I want to get out into the world with him more, go places, do things, see people.

So there it is. Feel free to check up on me to make sure I'm working things out, and please tell me to get over myself when you find out they are not. Also be sure to tell me I rock when I actually accomplish something on the list!

Reflections on 2009

Happy New Year to all my reader! It has been quite a life changing year here at the Davies'. Having Arthur has been one of the most wonderful, albeit stressful things I have even done in my life. I cannot complain much though. For those of you that have met Arthur you understand what I'm talking about. He is quite possibly the easiest baby on the planet :).

Here is a rundown of how 2009 shaped up for us:

January: I was about 28 weeks pregnant and counting. Although the first part of my pregnancy was pretty rough with awful all day (not just morning) sickness, bu the first of the year I was feeling fine and everything was a GO! Jan. 31 Matt's sister Cathy gives birth to Wyatt Richard Davies-Kang. We are so Happy ice-ice is going to have a cousin so close to him in age!

February: 32 weeks pregnant. Work for me at Hanlon Brown is starting to slow down quite a bit and I switch to hourly, which gives me some free time to get things ready for little Ice-Ice (at this point we were calling Arthur that, and did not reveal his name till his birthday). I'm pretty sure the nursery was still not set up or anything.


March: 36 weeks pregnant. My coworkers at HB threw me a nice little shower, where they all pitched in and bought Matt and I Arthur's car seat, among other little gifts! Matt and I went to the lovely Eric Cable (who also photographed our wedding) and had our photograph taken. This was so much fun, I'm so glad we did it. My wonderful sisters threw me a beautiful baby shower. I received so may great gifts, and was now more then ready to get the nursery all put together. The one good thing about waiting till you are 37 weeks pregnant to set the nursery up is, that you husband gets to do all of the putting together, and all you have to do id decorate! We also bought a new fridge which is so awesome, and arrives just a couple weeks before Arthur.

April: 40 weeks pregnant (and counting): April 2nd (ice-ice's due date) came and went. On April 7th we went to what should have been my first doctors appt. after giving birth, and chose the date of April 10th to induce labor. My doctor also wanted me to go in for fetal monitoring either that day or the next, just to make sure that everything was going smoothly inside... The next day at 9am Matt and I went up to OHSU expecting to just listen to and see the baby, and go home, and instead I was wheeled over to labor and delivery and a pitocin was started. After a very short 3 hour labor, and thanks to some proactive doctors, and a quick c-section, at 4:12pm on April 8th Arthur Harrison Davies made his debut into this world, weighing 8 pound 7 ounces, 22 inches long.

April was quite possibly one of the most stressful and rewarding months of my life thus far. I had pulled my share of all-nighters in college but was always able to re coop afterwards. As much as I cannot function on no sleep, we soon came up with a system and were on our way to becoming a happy functional family. Matt took the rest of the month off, and with help from my family and Matt's we made it through that first hectic month!

May: Arthur is 1 month old. Things are moving right along in the Davies household. Arthur starts to smile at us, and has not stopped since! We found out that My sister (Desiree) is pregnant with her second child! She actually found out the day after my baby shower, but waited a while to tell everyone so as not to steel my thunder. Thanks Dez!!! We are so happy again to have yet another cousin so close to Arthur's age!

June: Arthur is 2 months old. 12 pounds and 2 feet long! We our first road trip up to Seattle to see the Davies-Kang clan, so that they could meet Arthur. Matt got to celebrate his first Fathers Day, and Arthur rolled over for the first time, at only 10.5 weeks! Matt was lucky enough to survive the Nike lay-off, but lost over half his team and was moved to a different department. Matt and I celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We find out that Dez and Chris are having a baby girl. Jack was not happy about this, as he wanted a brother, that he wanted to name "the other Jack".

July: Arthur is 3-months old. We took another short road trip up to Seattle this time we were able to see Matt's Aunt Maryanne and Uncle Steve and his cousins, which he had not seen since our wedding. On 7.7.09 our good friends Brad and Annie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl Maggie. Among the cousins that Arthur will have to grow up with, he will have a built in best friend just down the street. I can't wait! We took a just over a week long road trip with Dez, Chris, and Jack to Wyoming to the Bell-Wagner family reunion. I saw A LOT of family that I had not seen in many many years, and Arthur was able to meet his great Grandma and pa Bell. I'm so happy we took this trip and got to see all the family. First giggles! On Vacation I turn 29. Matt and I started a new business venture with Brad and Annie (mentioned above) and Actual Industries LLC was formed. I decide to become a stay at home mom, and not return to HB.

August: Arthur is 4 months old, and is starting to "talk" up a storm, and roll all over the place! Our good friends Jenny and John get hitched, and Arthur is able to meet all of his extended family that came out for the wedding! Matt Arthur and I take our first trip to the coast, and Arthur got to experience his first typical organ coast day, full of rain, wind and gray skys.

September: Arthur is 5 months old. Matt and I celebrate his 31st birthday and our 5th anniversary with a trip to Tacoma to see ACDC. I have to admit I was not sure about this present when I opened it but it turned out to be a pretty awesome concert. They can still rock for a bunch of old men :)! Arthur has his first taste of "real" food. He is not all that thrilled with the rice cereal and is much happier when we introduce peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes into the mix!

October: Arthur is 6 months old. We go back to Eric Cable and have our family portrait taken. Eric is so impressed with the photo's he has us sigh a model release. Arthur sure is one good looking baby! I have decided to make all of his food which is fun, and actually food I would not mind eating myself , if purred food is what I ate. We started getting weekly produce deliveries from organics to you that have provided many great organic meals to Arthur and ourselves! Arthur got his first stomach flu this month, we were all lucky to have it last only a few days. Arthur is the Pope for Halloween. Best costume EVER!!!

November: Arthur is 7 months old. He started to sit up on his own this month. He is still all smiles and talks up a storm. On 11.5.09 Dez and Chris welcome Ella Marlene Kiesel into the world. Jack and Ella are getting along just fine, although if you ask his who is cuter Ella or Arthur, he says Arthur! We celebrate Thanksgiving in Woodburn with my family.

December: Arthur is 8 months old, and has started to crawl and pull himself up to standing. He has the cutest little crawl, where he goes 3 or 4 steps and then tries to get up onto his toes and stand. He has not skipped crawling but I think he is going to move onto walking before he gets the whole crawling thing down. We celebrate Christmas at our place in Portland with Matt's all the family Matt's and mine. It is really fun to see all the cousins play, and have fun. I can't wait till next year when Arthur, Wyatt, and Ella are all old enough to know what is going on. After Christmas, Arthur also learned how to clap, thanks in part to Wyatt.

All in all 2009 has been quite a great year. We had a beautiful baby boy, and I can't wait to see what the next decade brings us...