Let's Hear It For The Boy! My husband that is :)

Paul has also been a very fit, active man. All during high school he ran track and played soccer. Before we were married, he joined a local tae kwondo studio where he started at a white belt. He became an employee and also started training with the advanced, extreme level group. Unfortunately, this did not last long for him because life moved on and we were out of town before we knew it.

When he started working at his current job, his workouts were given a back seat. All of his time and energy was going into his new position and that was the way it should have been. We just bought a house and within a month I was pregnant. Nine month later, I had gained 22 lbs - Paul had gained 15 lbs :)

Naturally, this did not sit well with Paul and so after a few failed attempts - Paul started P90X 3 months ago. He completed it and is starting it again. This is an EXTREME workout series. It is a 6 day a week, 90 day program. It is so successful at proven results with any body type. The key is the designed regimen of muscle confusion. In many workout programs, your body will plateau after a few weeks. This is because your workouts are repetitive and only working the same muscle groups. In P90X, every week, every day, every workout is specifically manufactured to keep your muscles confused so that you never plateau. The great thing about this program is that you can do the 90 days over and over again. Each time you do it, you can increase your intensity, increase your weights, do more reps. The program can grow with your athletic ablity.

Paul has shed the 15 lbs and is packing on muscle with each passing day.

(Before P90X)

(3 months later - After P90X)

If you can see the change in his face, imagine what it has done for the rest of his body :)

Of course he worked liked the devil to get me to start the program with him. I was just SO reluctant. Personally, I HATE working out! I have never liked it. Trying to get yourself psyched up for an hour workout - No Thanks! Plus, I satisfied with the weight I had lost because of breastfeeding Jax. The first week post partum I lost 17 lbs. Within the next 3 weeks I lost the other 5 lbs of baby weight. Over the next 3 months, I lost an additional 15 lbs! That's 15 lbs off of my PRE pregnancy weight. So do you think I wanted to work my butt off in an advanced program when all I needed to do was breastfeed by child to keep the weight off? Nope!

Did you know that when breastfeeding your baby, you burn 500 calories a day? My metabolism was acting as though I was running for an hour each day! That's burning 500 calories! OR riding my bike at 15 mph for an hour each day - that's burning 500 calories. But just nursing my child during the day was also burning 500 calories.

Imagine my "shock" when I stopped breastfeeding and in 5 days... I gained 4 fours. Now I know that doesn't seem like a lot - but in 5 days, gaining 4 lbs. IS a lot. I didn't know if that rate of increase was going to continue. Now, my metabolism was reacting as though I suddenly stopped my daily runs or my hour long bike rides.

So at this point, I had lost all my baby weight and more - just for feeding my baby. I was skinnier than I had ever been. You know what I loved the most? My thighs had stopped rubbing together. That has been my basis of comparison all this time. When my thighs stopped touching while I walked - I was smittin! So when this weight started to come back on and I noticed my thighs rubbing again... that was IT for me. I said"FINE, PAUL! YOU GOT ME! I WILL START THAT RETCHED PROGRAM WITH YOU!"

So, Paul has started HIS second time around, and I am now 2 weeks into a 13 week program and am FEELING IT!! OUCH! But the benefits are already undeniable. I am starting to see my clavical more pronounced (haven't noticed much with ol' thighs yet but I have faith!) My arms are getting more toned, I actually found a new muscle! I can flex my shoulder muscle now! My lower back hasn't been giving me issues. I haven't thrown it out recently. Now if only there were a work out that would bring back my pre breastfeeding boobs... I would be pleased :)

My Two Boys

What better way to spend 7am on Saturday morning,

then smelling the lake and watching my husband

be a father.

It just doesn't get much better than that

Which direction to face? UP!

I don't believe I have mentioned before that my husband experienced a salary cut earlier this year. Basically, that cut neurtalized the raise he received last fall. Oshkosh Corperation is a large company that owns several other companies all relating to the same thing - the manufacturing of trucks - all kinds. (Can you tell I am not very savvy in the understandings of the business?) This past year, Oshkosh Corp. lost a bid with the Dept. of Defense which then caused a downward spiral for all the companies that they owned. My husband works for Pierce Manufacturing where they construct fire trucks. In addition to the pay cut earlier this year (or winter of 2008, can't quite remember), Oshkosh Corp was forced to cut some 10% of its employment status - which means several people lost their jobs.

Thankfully, Paul wasn't one of them. At the end of spring, another company wide salary cut was put into place bringing the cutbacks to 9% for Pierce Mfg., even higher for Oshkosh Corp. itself. A ferlow system was put into place to help make up for losses. This mandate meant that everyone would be taking required time off without pay. We watched as Oshkosh Stock plummeted from $66 down to $3.85 in the matter of a year. In the past eight months, thankfully it has slowly creeped back to $14.50. At least it's the direction we want to see - UP!

Paul came home with a smile yesterday informing me that Oshkosh Corp. WON the new $1.1 Billion contract with the Dept. of Defense for a M-ATV Truck delivery order. While I have absolutely no idea what a M-ATV truck is - I do know what this contract means. It means the direction of the company will continue to go UP! It means that the pending layoffs and salary cuts should not be necessary, it means that there is a high chance that the employee salaries should return to normal and it means that the Stock should also go UP. As of 7pm Tuesday night, it jumped from $14.50 to $18.47. That is a 27% increase in only a matter of hours.

What does this mean for our family? If Paul's salary returns in full, we won't have to put everything on hold anymore. Our spirits about our immediate future will go UP! We have so many plans for our family's future, beginning with expanding it! We were hoping that our finances would allow us to start trying for another baby by this fall. I know many of you out there know how tight living can become when you are supporting a family with only one income. I am sure many out there are have no income at all. There has been quite a bit of pressure of Paul!

We are rejoicing in God's mercy that things didn't get really bad for us. And certainly, they could have gotten alot worse! I am fully aware that we will continue to experience ups and downs in our life and I know that God will be there to guide us along the way. We will find His encouragement and support should our plans for more children be not His plans. We will hold onto his coat tails all the while keeping our faces - UP!

"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." - Matthew 6:31-33

Referrence:

An article stating more on Oshkosh Corperation below


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124641012262877425.html?ru=yahoo

Our Father's Day Weekend

We were going to spend Friday evening at the Twist drive thru in town for some much desired ice cream. But after Jackson had yet again refused most of his dinner (who could refuse pureed greenbean with mixed grain cereal?) and noticeable tugging on his ear along with some good homewhole crabbiness - I decided to call the doctor to ask about an ear infection. He has not had one before and I knew that symptoms of teething and ear infections were quite similar. I just didn't want to wait it out if he did infact have an ear infection. So - we took him in for the last appt. available at the clinic. Thank goodness - his ears are clear of infection! He does have the next bottom tooth surfacing so we chalked up the symptoms to be related to that. But the doctor gave us a perscription for 2.5% hydrocortizone ointment. We have been using the cream, which didn't seem to solve the problem. His eczema just relentless with his skin and this doctor we saw was pretty disturbed by how bad it was. So - hopefully this will shed some light on the issue! She went to a seminar that described severe eczema as being bacteria living on the skin. So - chlorinated pool dips would good because they will help with the bacteria on the skin, on the flip side it can also dry out the skin. What a nasty circle!

Saturday, we spent the whole gorgeous day outside at our neighbors camper at Kastle Kampgrounds. What an exciting place for campers! It is so family oriented! We will be spending a weekend there later this summer, but I don't have any photos of that day because my camera batteries died right before leaving :) But I do have to comment on how absolutely wonderful Jackson was that day for us. He was so flexible with his naps, was happy and content all day long! We were so happy and relaxed because of his good natured behavior!

Sunday was Father's Day! All Paul wanted to do was be at home with his family. We started the morning with a nice walk outside. It was peaceful quiet morning as many families were probably still sleeping... or at least allowing their dads to sleep in :) We made some breakfast for Daddy and then filled up the kiddy pool outside so that the boys could enjoy the warm weather. Jax is just loving the pool lately! He loved the neighbors pool, the campground pool and now our little pool that he can actually sit up and play in.

After the pool - we all took a well deserved nap! Then Jackson and I took Daddy out to dinner. I know Paul enjoyed his day with the family. He has proved time and time again to be such a wonderful father! There are a bunch of photos here from the weekend that I would like to share!

It was wouldn't be right for me not to mention my own father on Father's Day. He spend the weekend with my mother in Door County and I was unable to see him this weekend, though we did speak on the phone.

There isn't enough words, or long enough posts that I could create to describe what an amazing father I have. He's compassionate, understanding, willing and able! He knows how much he means to me :)

Bags of Fury

I have a pretty humorous story of how our weekend began last week. If you have the time, I invite you to sit and have a little laugh at our expense!

We kicked off our weekend by scrambling around the house Friday morning desperately trying to get everything ready for few days away from home. Paul had a laundry list of things to accomplish before leaving town (which we had initially planned to be around 10am). After he did his workout he needed to fertilize the lawn. Well, the sun had already dried the morning dew and Paul proceeded to spray the lawn roughly with the hose to insure that the fertilizer would stick better. Side note: We are new home owners and didn't realize the 1st fertilizing app should have been laid before the middle of May. So - here we are a good month behind sprinkling on the early spring weed killing Scott brand fertilizer.

But we were desperate for the weed killer! So Paul starts to apply the fertilizer with that cheaply manufactured spreader and realizes he hadn't changed out of his new running shoes; so he ran to change into his junky pair of tennis shoes. Upon coming back to the spreader, he discovers that he forgot to close the dispenser and now we have an ant hill of fertilizer piled in one spot. He quickly closes the dispenser and frantically tries to spread the pile with his hands (again - remember this is the weed killer stuff and if it's applied too heavily, it will kill the lawn!). He almost clears the spots and on his last hand swipe - my novice lawnkeeper of a husband manages to get some of the fertilizer in his eye. All the while, I am outside in the driveway racing against the clock constructing a deluxe umbrella stroller for the week endeavors.

My husband is saying "April, go in the garbage and check the fertilizer bag for instruction on what to do if it gets in your eyes."

I am like... oh, you've got to be kidding me! But I figured this wasn't the time to be a smart ass wife, so I scurried over to check out the instructions which ingeniously said to "flush eyes for 15-20 mins."

I asked him if there was anything I could do while he used the garden hose to rinse his eyes (with the hands that he spread the pile fertilizer with). He told me to finish the spreading on the lawn..... so, now it's ME verses Fertilizer Spreader. Mind you, I have never worked this apparatus in my life. It had a lever on the left side, this twirling device in the center of the bucket and a loose handle.

I am shouting to my poor blind husband - "How in the H do I work this thing?" I also asked him what part of the front yard he's already done, what pattern he was doing... all the while he is trying to save his eye from the burning death of poison. So - I finally get rockin with this spreader and the neighbor lady walks across the street to ask me something. She just had an operation, so I stopoed to ask her how it went.

A few minutes later, my husband shouts from his fetal position "April - the fertilizer is piling up again!!" OPPS! It seems I also didn't realize that if you didn't close the dispenser, it would continue to drain out the of the bucket. So this is now 2 piles of collected weed killing fertilizer that has pooled up in our front yard. I quickly leave my neighbor and resume my walking laps around the front yard, trying to avoid my husband who is now hand spreading another ant hill of white granules with one hand, while covering his wounded eyes with the other.

I was making my victorious laps through the back yard when I realized that this mixture of annoying set backs was not going to spread through the whole lawn. Well, why would it when a good portion of the bag has been accidentally dumped in two places? So - I run out of the supply and walk back to the garage to find Paul pacing back and forth in the garage blinking his eyes several times.

"The burning has stopped" he says.

"Good" I answer, "I continued spreading until the whole thing was gone".

He just stares at me, "You mean it didn't cover the whole yard?"

"No, how could it when so much was lost?"

This is the point in my tale when I censor the profanity that spewed from my husband. Frustrated had gotten the best of him. He usually has a pretty clean mouth - but I think the neighbors got a pretty good glimpse of his rare side.

"Everything that could go wrong in the last 15 mins - DID!" He shouted between his swearing. I couldn't help but start laughing. His eye was better (and everything turned out fine with that by the way), we were under a time crunch because by now it already past 10am- the baby should have woken up from his nap about 20 mins AGO (we still can't believe that he didn't and that added time actually allowed us to straighten out the morning mess), I still had to feed the baby, pack the cooler of his frozen food, pack up the car - and Paul still had to take a shower and PACK FOR THE WEEKEND (because my husband is totally incapable of ever packing his clothes any sooner than right before we leave - ugh!)

So, here are both laughing. Realizing that we need to finish the yard because we can not leave half of it fertilized and ignore the other half. But we bought this early spring mixture on clearance, because the rest of the world has already applied this type of fertilizer. So - we had to take a chance that the store will even have another bag left. After we collected ourselves, Paul heads for the store.

While he is gone, I go back to my task at hand - the stroller! Piece of cake! What I didn't expect, was waving to my neighbor's 4 year old daughter across the street, only to watch has her grandmother comes out of the house behind her - and trips on the porch and face plants into the shrubs!! Poor grandma! I hustle and bustle across the street to make sure the woman didn't crack her head on the cement. She got away with a nasty scrape on her elbow and a bruised ego. I found out later that she messed up her ankle a bit too. Ouch!

The rest of the morning ironed itself out well. Menards did have 1 bag of the fiery left that Paul applied before showering and packing to leave. We didn't get on the freeway until after 12pm. We both figured the weekend could only go up from there... or could it?

...Stay tuned

Wednesday's Walk - The Humor of My Dreams

This Wednesday's walk is much much shorter than the previous ones I participated in. I believe I was due for more of a light hearted memory :)

I am remembering back 7 years to 2002, when my husband and I first met. Taking a chance on a "blind date" set up by my aunt and uncle (Thanks guys!) - Paul and I decided to meet one Saturday in September that year. We met at a very public place, Mayfair Mall in Milwaukee. We had spoken a few times first through email and then on the phone. So we were aquainted to some degree. I still hadn't seen what he looked like, so I was a bit leary walking into the mall - not knowing what I would find. HA! I figured since my family was setting me up with him, he couldn't have been all that bad, right? (Love you Babe!) Anyways, he found me and we decided to get something at the food court to drink while we sat to talk a bit. I found myself pretty well relaxed or as much as an 18 year old girl could be upon meeting a 22 year old boy who was "interested" in her. We talked for a while and then he did something that we still comment about to this day. There was an elderly lady sitting at the table next to us and her table was off kilter (you know the table... the one YOU always seem to get, with one leg magically shorter than the others...) Paul folded up a menu and stuck in underneath the lady's table to steady it from wabbling. She was grateful - and I was impressed :) Just for the simple jesture of kindness to a stranger. I wouldn't say that was what "hooked" me to him - but it was the start of it.

We spent about 12 hours that day together. I suppose we just didn't see a reason to leave each other when we were really enjoying ourselves and having fun. For the next two weeks, before I moved to Appleton, we spent every evening together. It was the building blocks for the pending 1 year long distance relationship we could encounter while I completed Cosmetology school. We had so much fun those early years (not that we don't anymore) but it was nice and refreshing to have someone silly to laugh with. I wasn't used to that - having a mature relationship but still having the element of laughter. Looking back, I know that his humor was something I needed and that same ridiculous humor keeps me grounded today. We will be married 2 years in September, been together for 7 years and have a wonderful baby boy to carry on daddy's sense of humor. Oh Boy! I am in for it!

Jam Packed Weekend

Friday evening swept through with a huge sigh from Paul, who has been through the ringer this week at work. Despite the four day week, several situations all blended together to create one frustrating and exhausting few days for Paul. He has also beganrestarted his workout program P90X. After hurting his back after the last attempt (pre-baby), Paul is wanted to get back in shape yet again and being more mindful of possible injuries this time around. He proudly came off the scale this morning and said "170 lbs... haven't been that low since 2007". Didn't take much either - only one week. He is dedicated this time and excited to see results (hopefully beaming with a nice golden tan this year).

Saturday we made a trip to Sams Club to pick up two shelving units for the garage. While we haven't accumulated much "clutter" yet, what we do have is just scattered with no rhyme or reason. When we got home, we Paul proceeded to clear out the garage to power wash the floor. It had 1/2 year of fine dust settling and left over construction mud in the concrete grooves. He did a great job and now our garage is organized, complete with a spare freezer/frig unit (my parent's old one) and Paul's own little self designed workout area. Yes - that is a tv screen/DVD player and clock radio you see there (things we had stored in the basement). He actually mentioned something about bringing our old microwave out there too. Are you kidding me?!? What is he trying to do?

Anyways - Jackson and I enjoyed the day outside while we watched Daddy hard at work!

The neighbors invited us to their daughter's graduation party of Sunday. The weather was great outside and we enjoyed the afternoon visiting and chasing after the children. Jackson went all afternoon without a nap (has a difficult time sleeping outside) and actually did great! He wasn't really fussy at all. Jax finally has a tooth just underneath the surfaces of his gummys. Yesterday, he was a bit ornery and he's been rubbing his tongue along the left side bottom gum area and I realized he had a white speck right there. Today, there's a bit a hole starting and I can imagine in the next few days - it will be cutting through. Big boy!!

I have decided to make Jackson a new baby blanket. This little boy (like many others) loves to suck/chew on the tags of his soft toys. So - I decided to make a blanket for him and make tags all along the border for him to chew on. This isn't my brilliant idea - there is a company called Taggies that makes them, but I thought I could take on the task myself. I picked out fabric from JoAnn fabrics (spent more than I admitted to Paul). I couldn't resist - the fabric is so adorable! I am going to use three different ribbons to fold over and sew all the perimeter as the tags. I think *hope* it will turn out nicely. The snag... is that I don't own (or know how to use) a sewing machine, so this little huge task will be done by hand! Hopefully I will have it done before my son turns 1! Wish me luck!!

Thankful Thursday - From April to Paul

As following along with Adam Freeman's request for Thankful Thursday this week, I have decided to participate for the first time. I know this will lead me to also take part in Thoughtful Thursdays. Praying for Kayleigh and her medical team during her surgeries today. May her recovery be quick and have her back smiling soon! Keep fighting sweetheart!!

I would, without a doubt have to raise my husband up for this post. I met Paul through family about 7 years ago. He took quite a chance on me as I was only 18 and he, nearing 23. Fresh out of highschool and a definite career goal in mind for myself, I felt pretty secure as to where my life would be heading. We spent the first year in long distance and I believe that helped to form our relationship on a foundation of trust and honesty. God must have had big plans for us because as individuals, we were traveling down the same path. It lead us to marriage in 2007 and becoming parents to our sweet little boy in Oct. 08.

Paul is giver. He was raised to always look for the positive in situations and that mentality has pulled me out of some pretty deep ruts! He is so selfless, never putting himself before his family. Paul has many goals for himself that for one reason or another, seem to be pushed to the back burner... he doesn't complain. He trades long frustrating days at work for the chance to hold our son in the evenings. I know how he takes in every smiles from our son. Paul never lets his emotions/stress about work interfere with his home life. If I can see the stress in his eyes, I know it's been real rough for him.

He is compassionate and considerate of my feeling. He knows how to fix my sorrow and make me laugh. He gives a helping hand at home and doesn't complain.

I can see how much he loves our son and in those moments... I know that God made the right decision to unite the two of us together. Paul is an outstanding father, we are both lucky to have him. There are so many amazing qualities I adore in Paul, that I want him to teach our children.

He makes me happy, he is forgiving, he is honest and trustworthy. I am so thankful he chose me. We are just beginning the rest of our lives together and I am blessed to his wife and the mother of his son. I love him more & more everyday.

WATCH THE VIDEOS :)

I seem to be getting the chance to post more videos on my link list (to the lefthand side <---), click on the link name and you'll be directed to a You Tube video. More chances than I have to create a post actually. It's easy and a great way to see Jackson rather than just through photos. So keep checking that!

I have to give thanks for my wonderful husband. He deserves the credit and recognition! I have been so lucky for his willingness to participate in being a great father. He helped me take a bath with Jackson last night... which was better than Paul's experience (floating poo if you get the drift!) Jackson loved the bath! No poo this time (thanks kid!). It's easier to clean him that way than in his little tub.

Also, Paul offered to take both nighttime feedings for me so I could get a full nights rest! I slept from 9pm-6am and I couldn't feel better right now. I got up twice to see if he had a handle on everything and if Jackson was taking the bottles alright. But other than that, I got a wonderful nights sleep and I owe that to him! He fell asleep at some point on the couch, then crawled into bed when I woke to feed the baby at 6am. I don't know when I'll see him again today :) Jackson is sleep again now, so I am going to get a little more sleep yet.

Husbands!! If you're able, give this gift to your wife! You don't truly know how much it will mean to her. No simple "thank you, honey" can even cover it! It's very much needed and very much appreciated!

NOTE: I DO NOT PUT MY KID TO SLEEP WITH HIS HEAD BETWEEN THE SUPPORTS OF THE INCLINE POSITIONER. WHEN HE WIGGLES AT NIGHT, HE SLIDES DOWN AND THAT'S WHAT YOU SEE IN THE PHOTO. :)