Most Memorable Solomon Family Moments - 2010

Apparently, I took NO pictures in January, so we'll begin in February :)



February

26 weeks pregnant, 14(ish) weeks to go! FYI - my

husband painted the picture behind me :)

 

Our 3D Ultrasound



MARCH

 

After almost a year in the making, we finished
our (only) bathroom remodel

 

March 2009 - THE BEFORE.  I wasn't
messin' around people, we gutted it.



April

Less than a month away :)



Matt and I celebrate our 2 year
wedding anniversary ;)



Dr. Seuss Themed Nursery
"There is no one alive that is youer than you"
One of the perks of being married to a Art Teacher

I love Thing 1 and Thing 2



May

Hours away from meeting Christian :)

There he is :)  My water broke @ 5am and he was
born @ 3:25pm.  8lbs 11oz, 21.5 inches long

June

Really beginning to smile @ this point.



We had endured about 4 weeks of colic by June, but when
he would smile, it made it bearable and it reminded us that is
was just temporary.

July

By July, his personality was really
coming out - less crying, more smiles

I love this photo

August

Connor and Christian meet for the first time.  From this photo,
Connor was enjoying himself a little more than Christian, LOL
Connor's mother is one of my very good friends.

For whatever reason, Christian took a likin' to this frog blankie

Christian's first trip to the zoo

Christian watching TV...Yoko always looks a little crazy



Happy Birthday Mom! The best birthday gift was his colic
was completely gone!  Woohoo!



September

Bush Family Reunion - the beginning
of blowing bubbles and the constant
DROOLING

 

Happy Birthday Daddy! What a trooper,
he just got his 4 month shots and
he can still put on a smile

Christian and Grandpa...even though his onesie says

"I love Grandma" in Korean :)

October

Cousin Rigby is Born!

It's inevitable: Trekkie Dad = Trekkie Son
Halloween

November

Christian begins bathtime without
a baby bath tub! Growing up...
*sniff sniff*

First Thanksgiving! He can eat his weight
 in mash potatoes

December

First Christmas Parade

First Christmas

Before Christian came along, we did what most couples do...we take lots of pictures of our dogs :)  This is December 2009 @ the Solomon's

Costello frolicking in the snow

Yoko acting like she senses something and Costello
ready to back her up.



Last year @ this time, we were buried in snow (for Oklahoma standards).  Today, it's 70 degrees.  That's life in Oklahoma.

I hope everyone has a Happy (and safe) New Year!  I have a feeling 2011 is going to be great year for the Solomon Family.  Hey, it's better than thinking it's going to suck.  Think positive, it helps, trust me! 



Kaleidoscope Heart & Harlem River Blues

So for Christmas, my husband bought me 2 CD's I've been wanting.  I rarely ask for CD's, so when I do, Matt usually jumps at the opportunity.  For those that do not know, my husband is a bit of a music snob.  His love for music runs deep...as deep as his love for Star Wars and Star Trek I would say.  We'll save that for another blog. For Christmas, I bought him a USB adaptable turntable, so he could burn some of these records onto his IPOD. 

I'm going to take this moment to digress for a moment.  Before we had Christian, we went to 7 concerts in 2009 ( I went to 8 - Britney Spears - don't judge), 2 comedians, 1 broadway show, and 1 Star Wars in concert (*sigh* yes you read it right). 

In chronological order:

1.   Elton John / Billy Joel (January)

2.   Jerry Seinfeld (May)

3.   Dane Cook (June)

4.   Eric Clapton / Steve Winwood (June)

5.   Wicked (August)

6.   1964 Tribute Band (The Beatles) (August)

7.   Paul McCartney (August)

8.   John Legend / India Arie (August)

9.   Elvis Costello (September)

10. Britney Spears (September)

11. U2 (November)

12. Star Wars in Concert (November)

What concerts have we been to in 2010?  Well, tickets have been replaced with formula and daycare costs, so...let me think.....add the 1...carry the 2....Zero, Zilch, Nada, None.Christian can play some mad beats on his drum though...


Everytime I see this photo, I think of when Matthew
Mcconaughey got caught playing the drums nude, heehee
"Well Alright, Alright"



Anyways, back to my 2 CD's.  The first one is Sara Bareilles - Kaleidoscope Heart.  I loved her first CD Little Voices, so naturally, I thought I would give her sophomore CD a shot.  So far so good. 

Tracks I instantly loved:

Track 3: Gonna Get Over You

Track 5: King of Anything

Track 9: Let the Rain

Tracks growing on me:

Track 2: Uncharted

Track 6: Say You're Sorry




The other CD is by Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues.  When I was shopping on Amazon for this Elvis Costello CD Matt wanted, it was one of the "if you like Elvis Costello, you might like...."  so I listened to the musical clippings.  Its more bluegrass, but to my surprise I took a likin' to it. 

I'm still getting a feel for it, so I don't have any favorite tracks, but so far...

Track 1: Harlem River Blues
Track 2: One More Night in Brooklyn

I like. 

Another CD I would like to get is The Secret Sisters.  Also, a recommended pick when I was on Amazon.  They have an old 40's sound too...I took a likin' to them as well.  Who knew I would be into the sound of bluegrass?  Elvis Costello could never steer me wrong anyways.  If it wasn't for him, Matt and I might have never went on our first date. Look @ me now, I'm in marital bliss!  Well, maybe its not always bliss...but if it was, it would take away from the moments when it is super blissful...you know? Most of the time, its like a nice buzz, Ha!. 

Christmas 2010 Recap

Christmas went rather well, but left me feeling beat up behind some dark cold alley.  I made the bad decision to cook Christmas dinner.  Did you know it is almost impossible to cook a meal of this magnitude with a 7 month old?  Definately something I forgot to take into consideration.  Also, who was I cooking for?  My husbands dad and sister (and her 3 boys) had already had Christmas dinner earlier that day @ G-ma's house (including us I might add), so was all that cooking for my mom and dad??? 

Wait, not even my mom because she just nibbles here and there.  Too much American food makes her sick...maybe it sends her body into shock or something?  If she doesn't get her rice intake for the day, she just might faint.  It's true you know, RICE makes the world a better place :). 

So, was the 18 hour brined turkey, spiral cut ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, whiskey glazed carrots, green bean casserole, baked macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, rolls, AND apple crisp for my DAD~!?! Don't get me wrong, I love my dad, but he ain't no King ah' England!  Matt and I decided next year we're doing pizza.  I was so mad at all the food I cooked, I didn't even photograph any of it, but since I can't do a blog without a visual, I found a generic picture of "christmas dinner" on google. Nice huh?

Christian's first Christmas went great. Don't think we're bad parents, but we technically did not buy him anything.....did I just hear you gasp in disapproval?  Don't judge me!  I know some of you might be thinking, "Oh she's still mad about the 3 months of unrelenting screaming due to colic.  That's why she didn't buy that poor child anything," but you couldn't be more wrong lady.  I assume lady because the only man reading this blog is my husband...at least he tells me he reads it....Matt?!

He's 7 months old, I just felt it would be such a waste of money to buy him tons of presents he will not remember or care about,  BUT we did wrap something and let him open it for Christmas. 

Seriously, the tongue thing is out of control! Someone even
referred to him as the next Gene Simmons!  I didn't mind
it so much because I love that show "Gene Simmons Family Jewels"
But this mommy does NOT want her son to be known for
"courting" thousands of women.

 My boss never even took this out of the box and by the time she remembered she had it, her son was too big for it.  I really did not know he would like it SO much.  Then again, it gives him a sense of mobility...with our assistance of course - hee hee.  The first few times he wouldn't sit down, he rode it like it was a segway!  Finally, he sat down.  Then, he started riding around in it like he was too cool for school - slouched in the seat with one hand on the steering wheel, one foot hanging outside the car.  Love that son of mine ;)

Weight Loss Journey to 30 Update: not going so well.  Believe me, the last thing I want to put is that I struggled this week...and I could put a whole list of distractions to justify my lack of exercise and increase in food intake, but I won't.  Every day is a new day and I'm just going to keep trying :)  Christmas week was just harder than I thought, but nothing that's going to keep me down! Yeah!  Is that a song or a lyric to a song?

I just think this is super funny, so I'm posting it.  "Hello Ladies"
Oh my goodness, what if he is the next Gene Simmons? LOL

Christmas = Eggroll goodness

My mom only makes eggrolls @ Christmas time and every year she threatens that year will be the last year she makes them.  I think that's her way of getting that reaction she loves oh so much from everyone, "Nooooo!! You can't stop making them, they are Soooooo goooood!"  This year when she played that annual holiday card, I said, "Well, what if Christian wants to try them next year?" She then went silent and I knew I got her good (insert evil daughter laugh here). 

This year, I actually made it in time to watch her do her eggroll magic.  Usually by the time I make it over, she's already got "innerds" ready to go and I just help roll them. WHICH by the way, I'm the worst at eggroll rolling.  My eggrolls always end up looking flat like a pillow and short like a nub.  EVERY YEAR! My mom is nice about it though.  She tells me every year, "You getting better." Every year though, same nubby pillow.

So A LOT goes into my moms Christmas eggrolls.  She cooks everything seperate, the cabbage (after you cook the cabbage, you have to hand squeeze all the juice from it otherwise it would make the eggrolls soggy), vermicelli noodles, bean sprouts, carrots, beef, pork, onions.  THEN you combine it all, add the "secret" seasoning, and let it all sit over night so all the flavorful deliciousness can combine and become one.  Ha! Do you know I STILL do not know what the secret seasoning is???  My mom will be laying on her death bed and she'll wave me over with her limp hand and whisper it in my ear...and watch it be something like "add salt and pepper." 

Just FYI, the best sauce for eggrolls is honey dijon mustard.  We actually will buy honey mustard and dijon mustard seperately and combine to get it juuuuuust right :) 



On a side note, Christian has discovered his tongue.  This is
what our weekend consisted of.  I'm surprised his tongue
didn't dry out, lol.



My Love/Hate Relationship with Running - 30 lbs for 30 years



Little Cristal -
Love the outfit?
Chubby and a hip dresser
Oh and that's the
beginnings of a curly
mess on top of my head.
AND I rocked a unibrow
until jr. high...
jealous?


As you see in my sidebar, I have a love / hate relationship with running...exercise in general really, but primarily running.  I love how it makes me feel when I'm done, I just have the hardest time getting started. I got the running bug a few years ago...I remember my dad always telling me how much he ran in the military, so one day I thought I would give it a shot.  Keep in mind, growing up, I was not what you would call "physically fit."  To be completely honest with you, I'm pretty sure I avoided almost all physical activity as much as humanly possible. Lets just say I stayed in band until we had to go into MARCHING band.  I was perfectly happy playing my clarinet as long as I could sit on my behind.  Have you seen marching bands practice??? They get up @ the crack of dawn to march in unison while playing an instrument - one time at church I dropped the tray of bread/crackers  during communion when it was being passed to me because I wasn't paying attention.  I'm not someone that should be leading another.

So, its time to stop messin' around and start gettin' in shape!  <----that's me being fired up. 

I know some of you might think I'm a bit delusional to be starting my "Project 30" right before Christmas, but why not?  I say this while staring at a tin full of homemade cookies my dear co-worker Renee made and had waiting for me on my desk this morning.  *sigh* My kryptonite - sweets...delicious, sugary, carb filled goodness.  I will push them to the far left corner of my desk so they can taunt me for the rest of the day.  Renee's a gooood baker - she uses the real stuff - Butter and Lard.  :) Those cookies will literally melt in your mouth...

I digress...those cookies got me all sidetracked.  Last night I tried out my new Zumba workout from Wii.  Thank God no one was there to witness this horrific attempt @ Latin dancing...well Christian was, but he laughed most of the time while jumping in his bouncy...it was like he was working out with me.  I'm pretty sure he thought mommy was being funny.  Then he started crying.  He must have realized my "dancing" was an insult to the Zumba community.  I was sweating, my heart rate was through the roof and that was during the warm up.  Overall, I really enjoyed it.  As far as workouts go, it was actually fun.  There isn't voice queues, so it'll take some practice to learn all the steps. 

Later last night, I jumped on "the beast"and jogged 1.5 miles.   I call it that because it is permanently stuck @ a 1.5 incline. I bought it off a friend of a friend for super cheap, so I can't complain...but I guess that's what I'm doing isn't it? I've been getting on the treadmill off and on for the last few months, but nothing consistent.  As noted in my sidebar, I really would like to run a timed 5K by the time I'm 30.  My husband always says, "the only way I'm running is if someone is chasing me."  I would like to run it in 30 minutes...which will take some practice since I've got stubs for legs (I'm only 5'1). 

So there you go, the main reason for this goal is to finally put "weight loss" as a daily goal of mine to rest.  I've probably had it as a goal for 20 of my almost 30 year life.  It's time to put a kibosh on it people!!  My main motivators: my 30th birthday, Matt's 20 year H.S. reunion, and Christian's 1st birthday (which is when we're scheduling our first family photos).  Don't be mistaken, this goal is all for me...I just have some extra motivation ;) 

        I'm somewhere in the middle right now 

 

My Largest - not so happy
with myself

 

 

My Smallest - happiest
with myself