1. 6am comes much earlier when you know there is a treadmill just down the hall from your bedroom that has your name all over it.
2. When starting a work out routine (after having fallen off the wagon) by day 6 you will still feel the need to have an oxygen mask after attempting to run (sprints) for two and half miles even if you have done this before.
3. Gratitude for the home gym is abundant when you realize your whole body is shaking to and fro as you run. I'd like to take a moment here to thank my husband for supplying this home gym. Offending the general public of Everett with my "baby flab" on a daily basis is not a personal workout goal.
4. Who needs chemicals when a little fiber + a good workout = a perfectly suitable colon cleanse.
5. A good sports bra is worth more than it's weight in gold.
6. I'd rather be pregnant and go through the pain of labor and delivery every 9 months than work out.
7. It's really not as easy as it looks I don't care what Jane Fonda or any of her other little workout cronies say!
8. As hard as it is at the moment I always feel so much better after.
9. Good running shoes and breathable socks are essential if you don't want your feet to feel like they are on fire.
10. It doesn't matter what you look like when you start, it's starting and reaching the your goal that counts.



p.s does anybody know someone who does lipo probono? Perhaps whole body transplants from the double chin down? No? Okay just checking!

This is a post I've been wanting to do for a while now. It was inspired by a good friend of mine who was pretty shocked to hear that I had or was trying to go all "Granola" since moving out to Washington. I told her all about our whole food/organic grocery stores and about how I really wanted to go "Natural" when giving birth to Garrett (which I ended up not doing but would still like to try) but more specific having a home birth. I also told her that on my Christmas list was a juicer. She couldn't believe it. I think she thinks I've completely lost my mind. Anyway, the point is, is that I LOVE juicing. I love being in control of what I put in my body. I love knowing that when I give my kids apple juice or pear juice it doesn't have 26+ grams of sugar. I love that it is fresh and that they get all the vitamins and nutrients they need without all the garbage that often times goes into store bought juices. Granted my kids aren't big fans of juiced vegies yet but that's okay they eat them without being juiced just fine so I'm really not worried. It just makes the fruit juice that much more of a treat.

So here is a tribute to all my fellow juicers out in bloggerland and beyond!

(The juicer shown below is a Breville. The same kind I got for Christmas.)



Juicy Poem from February's win a juicer comp

by Eric.



Before I got myself all juicy,

I looked a lot like Gary Busey,

But now I am so very fit,

Got nowt on me, that Bradley Pitt.

oscar

I gave up drinking coffee and tea,

Cos I got hooked on vitamin C,

I dart around like a racing snake,

As my thirst I attempt to slake.

nice pair!

Yet I don't want it already bottled,

I need to see my fruit being throttled,

And I can't do it on my own,

In a dilemma I've been thrown.

juicer

But with my peach I needn't fight,

Cos thank the Lord I've seen the light,

Let me be the first to mention,

The dawn of wondrous new invention.

best

I've travelled the world; I've been about,

If you knew the half, it'd make you shout,

And the greatest thing I've ever seen,

Is the L'equip XL juicer machine.

juicers

In the top go nature's wares,

Luscious apples or maybe some pears,

Then it does its thing with ease,

Mister, can I have one please?

some fruit and vegetables

So today was Garrett's 6 month check up. I had a feeling today was going to be a difficult one simply because Kailey was being such a pill before we even got to the doc office and continued to be one there. Little did I know things were about to get worse. So the nurse calls us back and leads us into the room. I'm holding Garrett in one arm w/my diaper bag over the opposite shoulder and Kailey was holding my hand. I let go of Kailey and instruct her to please sit on the bench. I put the diaper bag down and tell Kailey again to please sit down. I lay Garrett on the table so I could get his cloths off and while still hanging on to him I turn and tell Kailey AGAIN to please sit down. I turn back to Garrett to start taking his cloths off and Kailey bumps into me. Irritated as all get out with her I turn around tell her to get on the bench and try to help her with my one free hand while I was still holding onto Garrett. Then Kailey does her usual freak out and I turn back and glance at Garrett, he seems content so I let my hand off him for a split second and turned to Kailey so I could put her on the bench and Garrett rolls off the table!

Like lightning I whip around and try to catch him as he's falling grabbing only a leg. I don't know if me trying to catch him helped or hurt, but I tell you what he was screaming his ever lovin' head off! I was so freaked out I was shaking for about 10 minutes. That is the first time one of my babies has fallen off something and holy crap did it scare me. Garrett is fine it scared him more than it hurt him. The table was at an angle in the room and he fell to the side where all the tubes and wire for the blood pressure cuffs and stuff were, there was also a little lamp on that side so there was some stuff in the way to help break his fall a bit.

Anyway the nurse heard the commotion and came running back in and asked me what had happened and of course she's shaking her head at me and telling me I know better than to leave him, which I do, but still I was pretty shaken up as it was. Then she went and got an ice pack and put it on Garrett's head which of course just made him scream even more. Then the nurse was telling me I needed to make sure to tell the doctor, duh, but she told me like five times. Normally I love this nurse but today she got on my all ready very delicate and shaken nerves.

So the doctor came in and got talking to me about Garrett and started to check him over and told her what happened and she was really nice and was just like "Oh well, it probably just scared him". He is doing really well he's 27" long now and his head and weight haven't changed. 17 lbs 14oz which I think put him in like the 75%.

Kailey of course continued to be a pill all the while Garrett was getting his shots. The poor little guy! I felt so bad for him today. First a fall and bonk on the head, then the ice pack, then the shots! I didn't know it was possible for him to cry that long! He was completely zonked out in his car seat by the time we got home and barely flinched when I took him out to put him in his crib. Needless to say it's been quite the day for us!

The Norlie's have officially reached max closet, laundry room, kitchen, toy room and most importantly garage capacity. Which means it's time to spring clean. Something I dread and look forward too. Mostly because I have reached my max limit of patience for the lack of space we once enjoyed last spring. I think there are really only two things I truly dread about spring cleaning. First how long it takes. To do this the "right way" as my mother always taught me, it takes quite a while because "let no dust bunny be left behind"! The second thing is having to do such an undertaking with a three year old under foot. Kailey destroys WAY faster than I can clean. I'm pretty sure she thinks she's helping, as I'm sure most three year old's do. Other than those two things I really don't mind spring cleaning. And once it's done I feel like I can breath again. Perhaps it's because all those dust bunnies I've been cleaning AROUND are gone.

Well you know what they say, "cleanliness is next to Godliness" so I best get to it!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I want you to know how very blessed I feel to have you as my Mom. You are the most incredible women I know. You have a strength inside you that I wish I only had an inkling of. You have been such a great support to me over the last few years I don't think I know how to begin to thank you. I know it hasn't been easy having me and your gran babies so far away so thank you for being so supportive of us anyway.

Thank you for being the grandma that you are. Kailey loves you so much and I know Garrett will too. I'm so grateful for all that you have done to help Clint and I with kids. You truly are an amazing grandma!

I wish so much I could be there to give you a big hug! I hope you've had a great birthday! We love you and miss you, and can't wait to see you in three weeks!

Love,
Michelle

It's hard to imagine that five years has all ready gone by. So much has happened and so much has changed. You are so beautiful! You are growing up so fast! You are so smart and talking so well. I'm so very, very proud of you!

I love you and I hope that you had a really great birthday and a happy St.Patricks Day!



Love,
your Birth Mom

sometimes, and by sometimes I mean once in a blue we have a Monday that really isn't so bad. I think today might be a decent one in the making.

This week I have my younger sister here visiting. Today we have things to accomplish and I look forward to it. Yes I have to take my kids along but when you have that extra pair of hands it makes everything SO much easier!

So far we have had a lot of fun together. Giggling in inappropriate settings is always good fun when you're with a sister! I can't wait to see how the rest of week unfolds!

I'm still fighting a cold and Kailey is getting a bit of cabin fever. My house needs cleaning as my little sister will be here in two days to visit me. Thing aren't looking to good thus far.

I haven't done a favorite things Friday yet so here we go.

I love lilies!


They are my favorite flower. They just look so graceful and they remind of beautiful ballerinas. Which is something I always wanted to be (a ballerina not a lily).

They are also one of the flowers in my wedding bouquet.

Just yesterday, as I was bringing groceries into the house, Kailey ran to the corner of our garden and grabbed a dandelion that had sprouted. It still had the little fluff ball on the top and she came running into the garage yelling, "Mommy! Wait! I have to make a wish!" It couldn't have been a more inopportune time as my arms were full of groceries and I was trying to hold the door open so she would stay with me, but the feeling that came over me when she did that is all most indescribable. Looking back I think that was Gods way of tell me to slow down, stop and smell the roses, enjoy these babies, after all they are only this little once.

When I think about my life I can't help but wonder when it was exactly I lost that beautiful innocence that all children posses. Was it when I first found out, what my older sister said was the "truth about Santa"? Was it that moment when I tried to steal that pack of gum from the drug store as a little kid (which of course my mom made me return)? Was it when I first gave into peer pressure as a teenager? I have spent numberless hours trying to figure this one out. I think in the end it's a combination of a lot of things. But oh how I miss it. I truly revel in the bright innocent eyes of my children! And how I dread the day when I wont see that anymore. Because it eventually happens to us all doesn't it? Or am I just jaded because of all the things I've experienced in life? What ever it is I think I learned a pretty powerful lesson from my 3 year old yesterday!