Adventures with Jude: June 2017

We had the joy and privilege to keep our sweet 2 year old nephew last week. We did this 2 years ago when he was about 4 months old, so this time was a very different experience. We were able to do so much with him while he was here. He is also talking a lot now, so he's very funny and sweet. We also learned that he ADORES his Uncle Cooper. Every morning when he woke up I would go in and tell him good morning. His first response: "Where's Cooper?" I'm so glad that he loves his uncle so much. It was very evident throughout the week how much he adored him. Poor Cooper couldn't get any peace. He had a constant toddler shadow. Here are some of our adventures throughout the week:

Monday: This was our first day together. Cooper had to work, so Jude and I were alone during the morning and early afternoon. I needed to go grocery shopping, so I decided to experience what that was like with a toddler. It actually wasn't that bad. He behaved himself very well as we ran errands all day. I was planning on taking him into Grapevine to the mall and to lunch, but we were tired after our errands. We waited until Cooper got home to go to the mall. We took him to Build a Bear Workshop where he could make a dinosaur. Then we took him to the Rain Forest Cafe to look around. We stopped and got pretzels and chocolate before heading home.

Cruising the mall with Uncle C

Not his best photo....

He was not interested in helping stuff the dinosaur....Uncle C, save me!

He was, however, interested in the final product which he named....Dinosaur

He loved checking out the fish at the Rain Forest Cafe. 

Tuesday: We had great plans for today, but our morning started off with some very unfortunate and sad events that took up most of our morning. Around 12:30 we went to grab some lunch at Chick-Fil-A before going to the train station to take Jude on his promised train ride. Every time we would Face Time him, all he talked about was riding the "choo choo." This was that day! We boarded the train and headed to Dallas to let him play at Klyde Warren Park. We had plans to visit the Perot Museum, but I thought I forgot my teacher's badge that got me in free (I later found out that it was in my purse the whole time.....#facepalm). He had plenty of fun splashing around at the splash pad at the park with the other kids. We didn't plan on there being a splash pad, but it was a pleasant surprise. At first, he wasn't interested at all. When he did finally come around, it was very difficult to get him out of it.

Waiting on the train to arrive in style. He loved the train ride so much! He was constantly talking and talking to everyone who boarded the train.

Climbing the tower with Uncle C!

Wore out from all the splash pad fun!

Wednesday: Uncle Cooper had to work, so Jude and I went to the park by the library and played for about 30 minutes. The weather was really perfect for playing at the park. It was cloudy with a breeze. He loves the swings! When the library opened, we went in and read some books and got some to take home before story time started at 10:30. We listened to some stories, sang some songs, and made a craft. After the library, we headed to the trampoline park to jump and play. He was very into this adventure. He was jumping all over the place and playing in the foam block pit and building towers with other children. 

Jude is being kind and getting along with others #winning

The real reason I took him to the trampoline park.....

Hanging out with Uncle Cooper and watching some TV, and maybe sharing some of his strawberry shortcake

Thursday: We kept it pretty low key today. We hung out at home for the morning. When Uncle Cooper got home, we went to his parents' house to go swimming. Jude has been asking to go to the pool all week, so we went. He loved it and didn't want to leave. He also enjoyed playing with Nana and Grandaddy's toys at their house.

Let's switch hats....

Reading and cuddling with Aunt Lee Lee

This time I'll look at the camera

Friday: We had another low key day today. Jude and I went to run some more errands and then we just hung out with Uncle Cooper when he came home. He finally got his chocolate treat from Monday.

I think he loved his chocolate teddy bear lollipop

Aunt Lee Lee had to get in some snuggles

Dixie was feeling brave...I don't think it lasted long

Saturday: This is the day that the rest of my family came back from vacation. We woke up early to go to my Weight Watcher meeting. He got to play with Cooper's dad while I was in my meeting. Then we went to breakfast where I let him have a giant chocolate chip pancake. He was also super attached to Cooper's dad. 

So big, and so good!

Jude made a new friend!

Our last night together

Kisses for Jude 

Sunday, Cooper had to work. The rest of us went to church and then took my dad out to lunch at Uncle Julio's for his Father's Day lunch. We sat outside in the scorching heat to avoid the super long wait. Then I cried as I watched them leave. We just loved having Jude for the week. We can't wait until he can come back and spend time with us. 

*I took way more videos of him than I did pictures. Videos are so much more fun!!!

Confessions of an Imperfect Perfectionist #3

Self-compassion: also known as giving myself some grace when I fail.

I was experiencing a high when I first joined Weight Watchers. I was losing every week....until I wasn't. In fact, the past 2 weeks I've gained! The first time it was 1/2 a pound (no big deal). But this last Saturday it was over 2 pounds. Say what!? I tried to look on the positive side of things: My eating was better this past week AND I had worked out every day that week. That's more activity than I have done in a long time.

Well, we were having and kick-off to Summer party with friends on Saturday. And the food situation got UGLY! It started when we went to breakfast with Mr. B's parents at a new place we wanted to try. We wanted to try all the things. I had a fancy coffee....Nutella Mocha. Probably loaded with empty calories. Liquid calories are the worst because they in now way satisfy hunger. Then I get a scramble with eggs, cheese, bacon, tomatoes, and avocado. Well it came with a side of hash browns (that happened to be so delicious) and a bread ( I chose the cinnamon roll). I ate everything, minus the cinnamon roll. It wasn't that great, so I only ate a few bites and gave the rest to Mr. B. However, I did eat a few bites of his chicken and waffles. I was feeling good about not attacking my cinnamon roll and giving it away. That is, until I got to my friend's house where her fiance bought Mr. B a cinnamon roll from this great donut place. I did like the taste of that cinnamon roll. I attacked about half of it. #notproud

Then came the afternoon. We were walking around Legacy West (a new shopping center that opened up) and they had free food and drinks all up and down the street. We ate at a place called "Shake Shack" where I had a cheeseburger and cheese fries! I ate it all! At least it kept me from wanting all the free samples. #smallgraces
That afternoon I snacked on veggies and pita chips with hummus and spinach artichoke dip. Doesn't sound too bad, except for the fact that I ate large quantities of the dips. Then to close out the evening, I ate one slice of thin crust pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut.

I was not proud of my choices that day. I tried to find bright spots: Like the fact that I got my steps in that day. We did a lot of walking. I also made sure to get my squats in for my squat challenge I'm doing. #silverlinings

I told myself that I was going to stay focused this next week. So I had a bad food day! It happens. Tomorrow is a new day. I could've just said "Forget it!" and chuck the whole week. I'm choosing to give myself grace for that day of debauchery. I was super on point for Sunday. Choosing to snack on watermelon rather than "health" bars and other items. I stuck to my Shakeology for dinner. Now here it is Monday afternoon. I've already got one workout in with another planned for this evening. I already have my Shakeology in for today. I've planned out what I'm going to eat today so I know what my day is going to be like. I don't even have to think about what I'm going to eat today because it's already tracked in my app. I've checked into my challenge group today. I'm really going to make it a point to be consistent in my challenge group and stay accountable. I've got plans to take measurements and do before photos this week. It's game time. I'm sure I will mess up more on this journey. But I must give myself grace for those mistakes and realize that I can dust myself back off and start over the next day. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I will encounter bumps along the way, but I will get back on course. Because I'm worth it!

Confessions of an Imperfect Perfectionist #2

People pleasing: how many of us are guilty of this? If I could insert an emoji here, I would insert the blonde girl raising her hand. I am extremely guilty of this. I like to be liked. If I feel someone is upset with me, I just can't handle it. I will obsess over it and see what I can do to fix it and make things right again. I don't like when I offend someone either. Sometimes words come out of my mouth and I think, "Was that offensive?" Which then leads me to quietly stalking that person to gauge their attitude toward me and my words. Sometimes that results in me being overly friendly.

Today's reading was about authenticity. Letting go of who you think you should be to embrace who you really are. That is hard for most people. I think I should be liked by everyone. When in reality, there are some people that I'm just not going to be their cup of tea. Boy! That sure is hard for  me to accept. I'm a goofy, fun-loving girl. Everyone should like me, right? Well, maybe not. The question is: how to I become OK with that? That is my problem. If someone doesn't like me, I somehow feel that I did something wrong. I know deep down that isn't really the case, but I can't help but think that way. I'm always looking for the solution to the problem. What can I do to win them over? What is is about me they don't like? I'm looking to change to meet their expectations. That causes me to not be authentic. Why should I need to change to make this one (or few) people like me? I'm not being true to myself if I'm trying to please everyone in all things. I can only be just me. I guess I shall have to work on that.

This also makes me think of when I'm in large group settings. Most people think that I am not shy at all. That actually couldn't be further from the truth. I will almost never make the first move when talking or meeting someone for the first time. I know this stems from my younger years when I definitely felt inadequate. I was made fun of constantly as a child. Boys didn't like me. The "cool kids" didn't like me. I had my very small circle of friends. I grew up thinking I wasn't good enough because maybe I wasn't pretty enough. I didn't wear the right kinds of clothes. I wasn't skinny enough. The list could go on and on. As an adult, I feel that same little girl inside of me saying, "Don't go over there. They don't want to talk to you." I'm 31 years old and still can't shake that feeling. Even though I know that simply isn't true. Now, as soon as someone breaks the ice with me first, then I'm all good. They've done the hard part. They've let me know I'm worthy of their time. I'm depending on others to let me know when I'm worthy and when I'm not. That is something that I struggle with still. It also manifests itself in classroom or meeting situations with other adults. I very rarely speak out during class discussions or meetings. I have that fear of being perceived as ignorant. If I am very confident in what I have to say, then I will generally speak out. However, if I am even the slightest unsure of myself I won't say a thing. That is a shame since it may very well benefit someone listening.

All this was to say that I am still a work in progress. I'm still trying to figure myself out and work on what keeps me from feeling that I am worthy all the time and my worthiness is not dependent on others.