Hi there.

Geez, didn't I say I was going to be more diligent about blogging? I guess I lied. Not on purpose, of course, but life has just been too busy for me to sit still long enough to collect my thoughts.

Since my last post (over a month ago - gasp!) so much has happended. At some point in the near future I will post "official" 6 (& soon 7) month Auria update but for now I'll note that she is now crawling and climbing like a pro! I'm pretty sure she would love to be running too but lucky for me she is still lacking the strength and coordination for that skill... for now. She's just so motivated to move and I'm amazed at everything she is able to do (and get into)! We have yet to baby-proof the house - partially because of being so busy, and if I'm honest it's probably also a little bit because I'm still in denial that my baby is big enough to need the house proofed of her ;) I'm planning on hitting up BRU this weekend to get gates and things so we can get to work though. It's exhausting chasing Auria around, pulling her off of things before she falls and/or brings something crashing down with her.

Last weekend Josh & I had a wedding to go to (which was absolutely beautiful, by the way) so Auria had her first sleep over at Oma's. It was difficult for me to be away from her for so long but all-in-all it was nice to have fun at the wedding with our friends we don't see much of anymore. I almost made it through the night without tears but I just couldn't handle going to sleep without my little cuddle bug curled up next to me. I know Josh thought I was being ridiculous but I think that's the difference between mommy's and daddy's. Anyhoo, we all survived that experience and I'm already preparing myself for July. I'm so excited for G's wedding but I'm really going to have to psych myself up to spend another night away from my sweetness.

Moving along...

You may or may not know that, pre-pregnancy, I was a vegetarian. I was also gluten-free (wheat-free aka G/F) and casein-free (essentially dairy-free aka C/F). Because I had such extreme nausea in my first trimester, I threw my special diet out the door and ate anything that sounded even slightly pleasant and/or would stay down. I've been lacking the motivation to get back to my previous diet but today, for no particular reason, I've decided that it's time to start easing back into it. I'm going to start with the easiest element - no meat. I've never been a big meat eater anyway so the veg thing is pretty simple for me. After a few weeks of that I will begin cutting out gluten, and eventually I'll cut out the casein. I'd love to eat completely organic too but at this point I'm just trying not to overwhelm myself with the thought of everything I'll be cutting out so I'll just leave that be for now.

I'd really love to start a small garden in our backyard but I have not the slightest clue about that stuff. Theoretically I would love to plant some cucumbers, bell peppers, zucchini, maybe lettuce, and some hot peppers. I'm going to have to do a little research to see what my options are and how to go about getting started. This will probably be a project for next year as I'm assuming I've probably missed the planting window so... stay tuned.

Oh yeah, one final note: I'm still waiting for the motivation fairy to wave her magic wand over me to get me to start to C25K program I've been saying I'm going to start. If you see her, tell her I'm looking for her! :p

Winter... yuck!

I'm so ready for winter to be over! Auria had a little belly bug last week and now she's sick again :/ Nothing too servere but she's not quite as happy and bright as usual, poor little girl! Come on warm weather & sunshine, hurry up and get here!

One of the first things I couldn't wait to buy when we found out we were pregnant was a wagon! I love going to the zoo anyway but I'm really looking forward to taking Auria and pulling her around in her little red wagon! I think it will be fun for her to look at all of the animals and it will defiitely be good exercise for momma ;) Plus, we're looking forward to meeting up with friends! We're definitely getting a zoo membership this year so I'm planning on being there at least twice a month when the weather is nice!

Something I'm NOT ready for... swimsuits. Last summer it was okay to be huge because I was in my 3rd trimester but this year, not so much. Besides swimsuits I've got to get my butt in shape for Marta's wedding! I'm the MOH so I'm going to be standing right next to the gorgeous (and very skinny) bride so I can't be all frumpy and flabby! I've got to tighten this bod up! Oye! I signed up for weight watchers a couple of weeks ago but with Auria being sick and fussy, it's been difficult to make myself stick to tracking my "points". I'm determined to be more diligent about it starting tomorrow! I've got to spend more time on the elliptical. I actually enjoy working out, it's just hard making the time but I HAVE to make it a priority! My long term goal is to drop 25lbs but for now I'm focusing on 5lbs at a time. Hopefully I'll drop at least 15 before it's short season :)

This picture is my motivation: This pic is from our honeymoon (just a year and a half ago) & this is where I'd like to be again...preferrably by our anniversary in June but we'll see!

Baby's awake now & I've got to figure out something for lunch so TTFN!