Not Waist Watcher Wednesday

So, I know I've been slackin' on my good ol' blog lately. And honestly, I haven't gotten alot of traffic here either, especially on my Waist Watcher posts. And let's be honest, my weight loss journey has pretty much sucked lately anyway. So, I'm officially retiring WWW until next year. I'll probably pick it back up around the first of the year with ideas and tips to get ready for bathing suit season. (which it currently is RIGHT NOW and I am no where near ready) Thank you SO much to all who participated, I appreciate you all SO MUCH, and I hope that you decide to stick around.

Now, a quick update on the pups: They are a week and a half old and we still have all seven! They're doing great =) Here's a quick pic.

I am IN LOVE.

Other than that I don't have much to report. I have a Nail Files post scheduled for Friday, and a Significant Other Saturday post coming up this weekend, so I'll be around a little bit more. I've just been super busy with the baby and the puppies, and getting the house together and cleaned in preparation to rip our carpet up. We're almost there.

Have fun this week!

Oh and if you want to get more updates than on my blog, you can follow me on Twitter @growingtreeblog or on Instagram @thegrowingtree!

An Unexpected, yet Awesome, Surprise

So, I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not, but if I haven't it will be a surprise for you as well.

Back in February, we had an "incident" with our doggies. To recap, here they are:

Our male husky, Marty

And our female beagle, Vala

So anyway, back to the "incident." You know what kind we're talking about, but here's a clue anyway. Neither of them are fixed. So, just imagine the worst and there you have it.

We were suspicious for a while, but last week she started getting REALLY BIG and when we put our hands on her tummy we could feel the little kicks from the puppies. We had NO idea how many were in there or how long they would STAY in there.

Well, we got our answer on Saturday night...actually it was more along the lines of Sunday at 2 am. Hubby is woken up by Vala, who put her paws up on the bed and scratched him until he woke up. Not out of the ordinary, because she normally does this if she has to pee really badly. So, he asked her if she needed to go out, and next thing you know she's plopping a PUPPY down on the bed in front of him!! We immediately start freaking out, because I have never had a preggo doggie before, and had NO clue if I needed to watch her or help her, or just plain leave her alone. So I watched her for about three hours while Hubby went back to bed, and watched puppies #2, 3, and 4 enter the world. After that she seemed to calm down, and I figured the pups were so big that there couldn't POSSIBLY be any more in there. So I went back to bed.

YEAH..... I was SO wrong!

We woke up the next morning and there were TWO MORE puppies!!! Then we checked again about an hour later and figured out we had miscounted and there were actually SEVEN!

Oh. My. GOD! What are we going to do with SEVEN puppies!!!??

So, that's why I haven't had much time to blog. And probably won't be here as much for a while. And, without further ado:

The black ones

The spotted ones

Puppy #1 - the oldest

 Puppy #2

Puppy #3

Pudgy Spots - Puppy #4

Puppy # 5

Puppy #6 or #7 (not sure) - I call him Tubby!

And lastly =)

Oh my god the cuteness!!! I can't take it! Feel free to scroll up and look through again and AWW at them! They're definately AWW-worthy!! =)





The Nail FIles XIII

Here we are! Another nail polish post. I have so many new colors to try, and this one is no exception! I've been wanting to try this color, but I was worried that it would be too dark for spring/summer. But today, I did it anyway! I've never been one to be "trendy"anyway! So anywho - here it is!

And here's how it looks on!

I love it! It's dark, so dark that it looks almost black....only it's NOT! =)

Also linking up here:

Waist Watcher Wednesday: Week 20

This is a weekly link party for everyone wanting to get back in shape, where we can post/comment our stats and offer each other helpful advice, workout ideas, what works for you, what doesn't and just generally support each other so that when we think about giving up we will have bloggy friends to lift us up again!

So, I will post one inspirational thing, a workout that I want to try, or something workout related every week, and I encourage you to do the same! Let's inspire each other into getting healthy this year and making our waists disappear!

So, last week I didn't post. This week, I'm just going to weigh in. If you've read some of my other blog posts you'd know that I had a horrible flu this week. I feel like it's cheating almost to even weigh myself because I probably lost weight, but it wasn't by DOING anything, and I feel a little guilty about that.

Hopefully, I'll be back to working out this week or next, as I'm still not completely over everything yet and don't feel comfortable getting on a treadmill when I know at any moment I could need to make a mad dash to the restroom. We will see.

I hope everyone had a good week! And listen, even if you don't WORK OUT, at least go take a walk or dance around the house for a bit! It will make you feel good and get the good juices in your body flowing! It's not about losing weight ALL THE TIME, it's about FEELING GOOD IN YOUR OWN SKIN.

Remember that friends, and I'll see you next week!

[If you'd like to participate]

Blog about your weight loss goal, frustrations, struggles, accomplisments, weigh-ins, whatever you feel! Then come back here and link up in the collection at the bottom of this post. And while you're here grab the WW Wednesday button to use on YOUR blog!

[If you want to add the blog hop in your post]

If you want to participate in the hop, just click here and copy and paste the link into the HTML of your post! That's it! Simple!

[A litte something extra]

To make things a little more fun, each week I will choose a random linker to put up as a STELLAR WAIST WATCHER OF THE WEEK. You will get a button with the link back to your blog and it will stay up for the whole week! How cool is that?

This week's Stellar Waist Watcher of the week is: Vanessa @ Make Yourself Happy! Congrats girlie for being the only linker two weeks ago! I hope to see you linking up again this week, and enjoy your week of being my Stellar Waist Watcher!

And to the rest of my girls....

I'm still waiting!! Where are you??

[Encourage each other]

Check out the other linkers and leave them a comment with some kind words! We are all going to need a kick in the pants or a hand to help us up throughout this process! It will also keep us all accountable if we know our bloggy friends are watching!

Don't forget to grab the button on my sidebar and show the blogworld that you're a waist watcher!


Linking up here:

Natalie: 9 Months!

DISCLAIMER: Natalie is actually 10 months old, I'm just now posting this because it took me forever to edit these photos now that Picnik is gone. I hope that PicMonkey gets their "collage" option soon, because it was very frustrating. And I have to turn around and do it again next week....JOY.

Dear Natalie,

You are now a BIG nine months old! Lots of exciting things happened this month that I can't wait to tell you about!

We celebrated your very first Easter this month, and you showed off you new skills, which include last months sitting up on your own, which you are now a PRO at! But we'll talk about the rest of those later.

Stats:

Weight -

Birth: 4 lbs 0 oz
1 mo: 5 lbs 13 oz
2 mo: 8 lbs 3.5 oz
3 mo: 10 lbs
4 mo: 13 lbs
5 mo: 12 lbs 13 oz
6 mo: 14 lbs 4 oz
7 mo: 15 lbs 2 oz
8 mo: 15 lbs 3 oz
9 mo: 16 lbs

Length -

Birth: 18 1/4 in
2 mo: 20 1/2 in
3 mo: 21 in
4 mo: 22 1/2 in
5 mo: 24 1/2 in
6 mo: 24 1/2 in
7 mo: 25 in
8 mo: 25 3/4 in
9 mo: 25 3/4 in

You are down to a routine with your eating now. You have fruits and oatmeal mix for breakfast with a 6 oz bottle, one 8 oz bottle around 5 pm and veggies and an 8 oz bottle for dinner/bedtime. You are now using only fast nipples, because the medium ones started to frustrate you and you would suck so hard on them that you actually flattened them!

We added to the list of stage 2 foods:

Chicken Noodle
Chicken and Rice
Turkey and Sweet Potatoes
Turkey and Rice
Vegetable Chicken
Vegetable Beef
Sweet Potatoes and Corn
Garden Veggies
Mixed Veggies

Mixed Berries
Cherries and Apples
Strawberry Banana Apple
Pineapple and Banana and Mango
Blueberry and Apple
Banana Plum Grape
Pear Pineapple


So far no allergies! You really love the macaroni and cheese and of course your favorites are still sweet potatoes and peas. You also really love the mixed berries, and of course still anything with banana! And you really love to try to feed yourself, even though most of the time you grab the spoon, eat the food off of it and then just continue to chew on the spoon!

You are also doing something AMAZING! You are already holding your bottle all on your own! Momma kinda feels sad because she feels like you don't need her for much anymore!

 

You have been more active sleeping at night lately. I'm not sure if it's because you are teething or if it's because you've recently become more mobile and have been sitting (and standing) a whole bunch! You still sleep straight throught the night though, so Momma can't complain!

You are babbling alot more lately as well! You also laugh at yourself alot, and it's really cute! You also started making fun of Mama and Mawmaw when we were sick/coughing, and you would cough back at us! So far we think you have said:

HI
HAHA
Maaaaaaaa
Good Girl
Dad

You are still in between sizes, you can wear a wide variety depending on the brand. You can wear anything from 3 month to 6 month. Momma can't wait to dress you in a ton of sundresses this summer! We already bought you a bathing suit as well!

We are thinking about moving you up to size 2 diapers in the next week or so, because it seems like they just don't hold your stuff as well anymore and we think you need more room! (It feels wierd to talk about your poop!)

You LOVE bathtime! You have been very playful with everything lately, but you really love to splash!

Momma and Daddy really think that you are going to be walking any day now! You are starting to learn to walk assisted (on Easter you took your first assisted steps) and you really have no desire to crawl yet, so it will probably happen at the same time! And of course like I mentioned before you are a STELLAR sitter now! You can pretty much sit on your own without ANY help from us at all!

Those pictures above were from Easter! You had a blast with your cousins and going on your very first Easter Egg Hunt!

I can't wait to take pictures of you in the cute little sundresses we bought for you! I have a few more in mind that I haven't told Daddy about yet! hehehe =)

I hope this next month is just as exciting as this past month was! And that it goes by SLOWER!!

Momma and Daddy love you more than yesterday and less than tomorrow!

Man Candy Monday #11: Chris Pine

I'm BACK!!

And I can't wait to share the next three guys with you. They are all from some very big franchises and I know you're going to love 'em. Especially this first one, who comes to us from this very well known re-launch:

Yes, there was more than just one piece of very great eye candy (as well as TONS of talent) in this movie, but for now, we're going to focus on THE MAN. James T. Kirk.


Chris Pine. YUM


The first movie I remember seeing Chris Pine in was The Princess Diaries II: Royal Engagement. And MAN, even back then he was gorgeous!

Enough talk, lets get to the CANDY shall we?

Name

Christopher Whitelaw Pine

Birthday

August 26, 1980

From

Los Angeles, California

Interesting Facts

Has a degree in English from UC Berkeley

He is one of Variety Magazines Top Ten Actors to Watch

Was seriously considered for the lead in TRON: Legacy

Notable Roles

The Princess Diaries II: Royal Engagement

Just My Luck

Star Trek

Smokin Aces

Unstoppable

This Means War

Leeann from Join the Gossip is covering Chris Pine's sexy co-star from This Means War for her Man Candy Monday post this week, so be sure to click the photo below and check him out too!

Another Unexpected Hiatus

This past week was tough. Probably the toughest I have had besides the week before Natalie was born. Our family was struck DOWN by the flu. Not just a cold, I'm talkin about shivering and sweating, achy, can't keep anything in my stomach for the life of me FLU.

It started Tuesday morning, and it took me twice as long to feed Natalie breakfast because I had to keep running (literally - SPRINTING) to the bathroom. It was so bad that I finally plopped her in her crib with some toys and went back to bed and tried to periodically check on her through the baby monitor. I had two layers of clothes and the blankets and was STILL cold, even though I was sweating and had to keep the fan on to blow on my face. And it just kept getting worse. Hubby's mom came and picked Natalie up on Wednesday and she didn't come back until Thursday night, and by then I was feeling a little better, but still nowhere near ready to take care of my baby.

Friday, I still couldn't keep anything in. I had nightmares all day of being at a table taking an order, having an "episode" and either (A) puking on someone or (B) it coming out the other end. (TMI I know - sorry) I tried to call in. I know I was contagious. But they couldn't find anyone to work for me. Saturday and Sunday I worked too, and even though I was feeling better, I still was no where NEAR 100 percent.

Now, it's Monday and I can say I feel better, but I'm at about 90%. I'm still a little stopped up from the Immodium my mom had the genius to bring over, and everything isn't back to normal yet. I did however get to eat REAL FOOD yesterday, and it was SO GOOD.

So I'm sorry for the lack of posting, it's been a HELL of a week.


In other news, I'm sure you've noticed my new name and design by now! I'm hoping that you like it, because I think it fits me and my family a bit more than the old name, as much as I loved You Me and Natalie, I just couldn't get away from feeling like my next child would feel "left out" because I fully plan on still blogging by then, and it still being a big part of my life. So, I went with something that I felt drawn to. The tree logo was an image that I used in my wedding planning and decorations, and the colors were the colors in my wedding as well. The Growing Tree was the name of the preschool I went to growing up, and I have alot of fond memories about the place. It also symbolizes that my family tree is still "growing" and I have images ready with 4 little red hearts instead of three, etc. etc. just in case. In fact we MIGHT have to be adding a blue heart here soon because a certain little BEAGLE is expecting PUPPIES.

ACK.

Oh, and I just have to share one.more.thing.

Look at what Hubby and Natalie got me for Mother's Day!! It's a snowglobe that plays music and spins, and he had it engraved "Happy First Mothers Day Love Mike and Natalie"

I LOVE IT!


So, that's the news. I need to get caught up on my schoolwork so I'm jumping off of here. Expect a few more TINY changes on my blog in the next few days, and for my posting to get back to normal!(I HOPE)

Sponsors for May!

Here I am again! I wanted to tell you about all the lovely ladies who help keep my blog going, and ladies who I love to read about and write about!

This month I asked the ladies a VERY serious question. You see, Natalie's birthday is coming up (in TWO MONTHS! EEK!) and I have NO idea what kind of party I want to throw for her! This one is going to be more for us than for her, but I still want her to have a fun themed party, because it's her FIRST ONE and that's a big thing!!

So, first up - Lacey from Little Miss Nerd Girl!

[Blog] [Facebook] [Twitter]

Hello friends of You, Me and Natalie! My name is Lacey and I am the blogger behind Little Miss Nerd Girl. I blog about the everday adventures of being a stay-at-home mom to my three kids: Irelyn (5), Chloe (3½), and Grayson (2½). I also blog about my husband David (we celebrate out ten year anniversary in April!), being a full-time student, things I cook, things I bake, and things I create. I hope you'll hop on over to my blog and share some of my adventures with me!

Lacey? What theme would you pick?

Aaack...that is so hard to answer. If I had thrown parties for my girls I would have done a fairy theme for Irelyn and I would have done a cute bird theme for Chloe. I collect fairies and gave some of that collection to Irelyn when she was born. Chloe reminds me of a little owl with her big eyes, so birds and owls always make me think of her. Not very exciting, I know. We don't have friends or much family out here so we don't throw big parties for our kids. We just decorate the house a little and get together with the one relative we have in the same state, my sister.

I saw a mermaid party somewhere that was pretty cute. I think it was at a blog called Kara's Party Ideas. It might have been more geared towards older kids though, I can't remember.

I love it! I'm going to have a hard time choosing!

Next, Lena from Mom2MemphisandRuby!

[Blog] [Facebook] [Twitter]

Lena is a fashion-loving, photo-taking, thrifty & tattooed mom of 2 who is blogging her way through the ups & downs, adventures & misadventures of life & mommyhood! Please stop by and tell her I said hello!

Lena what is your opinion?

"Little girls turning one are soooooo adorable! When my Ruby turned one, we had a princess themed birthday, but if I had to do it all over again, I might go with "Pink" as in everything pink & frilly or... a mermaid theme!!"

Excellent ideas! And another vote for mermaids!

Next, Miss Tricia from Mama Marchand's Nest, a fellow aqua and red lover!

[Blog] [Shop] [Facebook] [Twitter]

Hi, I'm Tricia and I blog at Mama Marchand’s Nest I love Jesus, the hubs, my sweet little girl, designing jewelry, tweeting, reading, traveling, yoga, chai, and cupcakes. My bloggy nest is a collection of thoughts about the challenges and blessings of mamahood, marriage, faith, friendship, health, fashion, and everything in between. My Etsy shop, Mama’s Nest Designs features eclectic handcrafted new and upcycled jewelry.

What do you think Tricia?

"For our daughter's first birthday, we made it a dessert themed party and used really bright colors! It was a blast. If I could plan another first birthday party, I'd go with a vintage/shabby chic theme. I think it'd be fun to use mason jars, vintage Pyrex, and lots of other fun vintage elements to make a girly party!"

MMM. Dessert. That's always a good theme for a party!

Next, cutie-patootie newcomer, Sarah @ All Things Blogs!

[Blog]

My name is Sarah, I am 11 years old, I love that I am able to share my crafts and my life!

I have a great life, I love it very much! I am slowly learning to trust and love God.

My room is coming together, I am trying to be creative.

I have a dog named Pepper, a brother, a mom and a dad!

I love being creative, eating chocolate, and especially writing on my blog!

I love my family, they have helped me very much and have encouraged me to keep blogging.

Kate @ A Creative Cookie has helped me VERY much, my blog would still have only one follower and my blog has grown SO much, I love to redo my blog, and to watch it grow, currently I have about 119 followers total, I am getting new followers every week!

So, Sarah what do you think?

"I would choose baby animals!"

Next, I have a sponsor spot winner from a few months ago. Her blog is amazing and you need to check her out!

[Blog][Facebook]

Hey Y'all. My name is Hope Angeline and I blog over at Hope Angeline Designs. I am a mama to 3 superhero boys and 3 precious Angels, wife to my best friend and lobster, friend, crafter and thrifter. I recently went back to work full time after being a stay at home mom for a year with my kids. It has been a huge adjustment but it is getting easier { I think. I hope }. Hope Angeline Designs is about my life as a mama, crafter and lover of thrift stores. I have 3 Angels in heaven. My daughter Jaslynn who passed away in January 2005 to cancer, and my twins who I lost when I was 14 weeks pregnant. I want for all moms out there that are going through chemo treatments, radiation treatments, or any sort of medical treatments with there children, or mothers who have lost a child for any reason that things will get better and you will smile again. I know that it may be hard, but after the loss of my daughter I thought that I would never smile, laugh, or craft again. But time does heal. I promise. 

Hope, what kind of party would you throw?

If I was going to plan a party for a little girls 1st birthday I would have to do a Hello Kitty birthday party. I would make everything for the party myself expect for the cake. The invitations would have a pink background and have 2 of her pictures on it, one of the day when she was born, the second picture would be of her in a Hello Kitty t-shirt and a pink and white tutu with a headband with a red bow. The envelopes would be lined with a pink sparkle paper. I would have a table set up when you walk in, that would have photos of her through out the year. You know like 1 month, 2 month and so on. On the table would also be a guest book for everyone to give her well wishes or just a bit of advice for when she is older. All the tables would have either a pink or white table linens a flower arrangement of pink carnations and in the middle a small arrangement of white carnations but it would make up Hello Kitty's face. For the food, it would be simple, finger foods, like a fruit tray, sandwich tray, cheese tray, chips and dips. For drinks we would have sparkling pink lemonade, sweet tea and juice boxes for the kids. The drinks would be served in mason jars, that would have a ribbon around them and Hello Kitty's face with my daughters name and the number 1. The cake would be a 3D Hello Kitty. I would have a separate small cake for my daughter to get messy with. The piñata would match the Hello Kitty 3D cake. I would also have Hello Kitty herself make a appearance at the party so all the kids can take a picture with her.

SO ADORABLE!

And last but certainly not least, I have a new swapper joining me, and honestly I don't know why it has taken so long for us to do this! Meet Whitney from Everything Happens For a Reason!

[Blog][Twitter][Pinterest]

Or follow her on Instagram: whitneyehfar

My name is Whitney, and I am: 26 years old. I blog at "Everything Happens For a Reason," which is my life motto. My blog is basically a virtual journal of my life. I am a southern girl married to a California boy. We are newlyweds, who got married this past June 11, 2011. We also have two dogs; Bentley and Royce. Something that you can always find on my blog: pictures. I'm obsessed. It's the photographer in me. I'm also in the midst of starting up a photography business, which I have kept sort of secret for the past five months. I am obsessed with the color pink. I believe cheese fries (bacon and cheese) can make anything better. I love fashion, and even time-to-time post an outfit on here. I'm obsessed with cardigans and boots, and have them about in every color. I'm a lover of Sephora, makeup, nail polish, hair accessories, and the list goes on and on.

So, Whitney - Natalie's birthday: What should I do?

I would make it a princess themed party!

Well, that's a good idea too!

Of course I also need to mention the wonderful and oh-so-droolworthy Shabby Apple! They have a little bit of everything, and I seriously love and would wear just about EVERYTHING! Click below to shop around!

Now it's your turn! Weigh in:

What theme should I choose for Natalie's first birthday party??