15 for '15: The Annual To Do List

1.  Continue to work on my weight and fitness.  Maintain to the point of still being able to fit into my current wardrobe.  Get a new FitBit watch!

2.  Only shop for quality wardrobe pieces that will hold up over time.  Go one month without shopping for myself.

3.  Host Owen's 2nd Birthday party and see if we can top his 1st!

4. Add at least one new tradition to our Christmas traditions list (currently we're at:  J&A cookie decorating, Highland Park lights and Chuy's night, downtown Neiman's Santa and tree lighting, Christmas Eve family service and tamale party).  I'm thinking I'd like to host or plan an ornament exchange, book exchange or cookie exchange?

5.  Figure out Owen's MDO situation for the fall and adjust my work schedule accordingly.  Stay balanced!

6.  Do at least one yoga workshop.

7.  Attend at least 2 classes that are not my own yoga classes per month.  Preferably with a friend!

8.  Ride in at least one organized bike ride.  (Germanfest?)

9.  Run a half marathon in under 2 hours.

10.  Volunteer for VBS.

11.  Run a 5K in under 26:30.

12.  Continue to write Owen's monthly update letters for 2014.

13.  Travel more! Plan our five year anniversary trip.

14.  Read 20 books.  Turn off my phone at 9:00 every night and read before bed.

15.  Find at least 3 additional target neighborhoods.  Start researching schools for Owen and step out of my comfort zone to look at private schools.

2014 To Do List Revisited

1.  Get back to pre-baby weight and more importantly pre-baby body self-image.  I'd like to be able to wear the things in my closet.  I never did get back to pre-baby weight.  I hovered most of the year at least 3-10 lbs heavier, but I did lose a lot of weight after getting the FitBit and this is the first year that I don't feel utterly disgusting going into January 1st.  I definitely improved my self-image, which is worth way more than any number on the scale or achieving the ridiculous one that I saw the day I found out I was pregnant.  I can wear everything in my closet and not only can I wear each piece, I feel GOOD in each piece.  This was a MAJOR MAJOR HUGE MAJOR win for me this year.  The number on the scale can just suck it. 

2.  Only shop for and buy quality pieces for my wardrobe.  I did this too!  I returned basically every poor choice that I bought from Old Navy online.  My strategy has been either lululemon, Gap, Banana, anthro or Nordstrom (Rack or regular).  It's working out very well for me.  At least, I hope so! I take a lot of things back and I have really no regrets about things I bought this year. 

3.  Throw a super fun first birthday party for Owen.  DID IT!  We had a great party! 

4.  Continue our family Christmas traditions that we started this year.  We had a great holiday and it was perfect for our future as a family of three.  I am owning this to do list so far! We even made some new traditions (downtown Neiman's Santa and the KWP Tree Lighting).  Our tamale party was better than ever.  I can say, hands down, this was my most favorite Christmas.  I had no disappointment and felt only satisfaction when taking all the decorations down.

5.  Get my own cycle class.  Ruh roh.  This never happened but I'm ok with that.  My teaching schedule evolved and I had no idea I'd be rocking a part-time schedule at lulu again when I wrote this list.

6.  Enroll Owen in Mother's Day Out for the fall and along with that, teach at another gym/studio that is out of my comfort zone.  (This might end up being #5 as well!)  This partially happened!  Owen started MDO in September, this has been nothing but awesome.  I did audition for Core Power Yoga, which I think satisfies the "out of my comfort zone" requirement.  I had never auditioned before.  As previously stated, things evolved somewhat and I'm totally happy with where I ended up.

7.  Attend at least 2 classes that are not my own yoga classes per month.  This is, sadly, a big challenge right now.  I am not sure I got there but I did come very close.  Having free yoga from lulu was an amazing help in this department.  I will be keeping this on the 2015 list. 

8. Ride in at least one organized bike ride.  Um... I can't remember if I rode my bike in 2014.  Oops. 

9.  Run a half marathon in under 2 hours.  2:00:23 I will get those 23 seconds off my time in 2015.

10.  Find a place to volunteer and/or get more involved with our church.  I might have overdid this a bit this year.  I ended up taking on the VP Charity role for my moms club and doing quite a bit with church.  I plan to do VBS again this summer, it was a fabulous way to get involved and know the older kids at our church.

11.  Continue to be involved with my mom's group and Owen's playgroup. (This turned out to be one of the best things I put on my list last year!)  See previous item.  CHECK.

12.  Continue to write Owen's monthly update letters for 2014.  Haaa. Nope. Sorry I'm not sorry. 

13.  Travel more.  Make Vegas happen.  Take Owen to Boston.  Go on a trip that is just me (maybe DC or San Diego?).  Better plan for our 4th anniversary weekend.  Partially completed!  I went to San Francisco, Florida, New Orleans and YES! VEGAS HAPPENED.  We did a repeat of our first anniversary in Houston/Galveston this year and it was delightful.  Travel is never not going to be on a to do list for me. 

14. Read 10 books.  Turn off my phone at 9:00 every night and read before bed.  I probably did the book thing? I'm planning to actually keep track of what I'm reading in 2015.  I probably already have 10 books on my library request list that are coming soon so this should be easy to repeat.  I do need to revisit the 9:00 phone thing although deleting the twitter and facebook apps from my phone made a big difference in my phone usage.  Having a declining iPhone 5 with terrible battery life and no storage for yoga music might have been a factor here. Heh.

First Day of "School"

Dear Owen,

After 16 months spent together almost 100% of the time, you started Mother's Day Out today.  You've been watched by other people since you were 10 weeks old and I went back to teaching but I felt like a routine would be better for you as you are getting older.  I've been having mixed feelings about the whole thing.  I know it will be awesome for you (and me! I get to go back to work part-time!), but I'm used to being in the same building as you and at an arm's reach if you need me.  I know you'll be fine but it's always bittersweet watching you grow up and become your own person.  Good luck buddy and have fun!

Christmas 2014

Dear Owen,

Spending the Christmas season with a 1.5 year old has far exceeded my expectations.  It's been mostly delightful, you are very excited by lights and trees.  We decorated ours while you were sleeping and when you woke up, all you could say was "WOW. WOW."  We have a very strictly enforced rule in the Bernardi house where no one touches the tree, including Mommy and Daddy.  You've done really well with it and we've only caught you trying to touch it or the ornaments a couple of times.

You have an Advent calendar that you love to do each night.  It has velcro ornaments that go on a tree and you help to place them, which is why most of the ornaments are on the bottom half of the tree.  We have been reading Christmas stories and THE Christmas story before bed.  We also lit the Advent candle at church together as a family with Mimzy.

We went to the tree lighting downtown at Klyde Warren Park.  They had a fabulous big band and you loved running around and playing on the lawn while they played music.  I think you might have been too little to really understand the tree lighting so we'll try again next year.  You also will probably get more out of the drive through the lights of Highland Park next year when you aren't rear facing in your car seat.

We missed Daddy's company Christmas party this year, which is where we normally take you to see Santa Claus so we made the big visit at the Neiman Marcus downtown.  This might have to become a new tradition before the Klyde Warren tree lighting because we had a great time.  Well, Dad and I had a great time.  You did not enjoy Santa.  You call him "Dee-ta" and as soon as you saw him and I started to get you out of your stroller, you started growling.  The photographer warned me to just put you down and walk away quickly and he'd try to snap some pictures quickly.  This is what we ended up with:

As you can see, you were not happy about the situation.  We put the picture up on our fridge at home and we had been looking at it almost daily and talking about Santa (Dee-ta).  I thought you might be getting over your issue with the man in red until we went to dinner at Chuy's after HP lights.  They had a big inflatable Santa in the lobby and you and I were looking at him while Daddy was getting the car from the valet.  I told you that you could hug him, to which you replied with a curt, NO. Then I said, "It's ok, you can just touch him if you want to." and again I got a big fat NO.  You were facing Santa with your back toward me and I said to turn around and I'd pick you up and that was when you melted down.  It was basically the same as the Neiman's Santa experience so I grabbed you and we made a quick exit to find Dad.

The next day we were at home and you got a choo-choo train cookie to eat after dinner.  I started telling you that we'd be leaving out cookies for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve and that you have a special placemat for him.  It was then that I started to fully grasp that you understand a lot of what we are saying these days, even if you can't articulate it.  Our conversation went like this:

Me: We'll be leaving out cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve! You even have a special placemat for them.
You: Dan-ta?
Me: Yes! He comes to our house.
You (looks at front door, starts to almost cry): Dan-ta?
Me: It's ok! He comes while you sleep and leaves presents! Presents in boxes! (You are in to boxes these days.)
You (tries not to cry)

So, you understand me! This is both exciting and scary! But Bud, Santa is your friend! It's gonna be ok! I'm assuming we'll try again next year.

For Christmas, you got a bunch of great stuff from everyone!  You got a bounce house for outside and a great play kitchen for your playroom.  You love playing with everything and we had huge bags of toys to go to charity after we organized your playroom.  Our house was full of people.  Papa was here for a week, Uncle Preston for five days, Gram for two days and Grandpa River (Bop-A-Boo) and Grandma Bean brought your great-grandfather with them when they flew up.  We had a great tamale party at the house on Christmas Eve and you and your buddy Lilah broke in the bounce house an had a grand ole time.  On Christmas Day, you ate your fill of Daddy's BBQ brisket and my mac-n-cheese for your Christmas dinner.  We saw the Nativity pageant at church and I'm thinking you might be old enough to participate next year!

Hopefully next year will be as good as this year, we were very lucky to have such a great Christmas 2014.

Love,
Mommy

15 months

Dear Owen,

You turned 15 months old last week.  I can't believe how quickly the time is flying.  You started walking in earnest right around your birthday.  We took you for your one year well check the next day and you started taking big steps all over the exam room, walking from chairs to your dad and I and back again.  You never looked back after that, and now at 15 months, you are running all over the place.  We moved last month and now you have a dedicated playroom area in our living room and you love to run from one end of the house to the other (approximately a thousand times a day).  You are, as always, full of energy and life.

You are really good at smiling and waving and you make friends just about everywhere you go.  Your face is always animated and you will always tell people "bye-bye" when we're leaving.  Sometimes we prompt you, but more often than not lately you will just say goodbye without us telling you to.

You love the dogs and it's no surprise that you are trying to learn their names.  You call Milo "Mimo", which is probably my most favorite of all of your words.  I think you mostly say "ba-daw" for Higgins, which I think is because I usually call him the big doggie.  At least I hope it is you imitating me saying big doggie instead of bad dog.

You say "mama" and "dada" all of the time and you've even said a clear "Daddy" a couple of times.  You call your Mimzy "NahNah", which I think is hilarious.  You are starting to ask for your "muh" which is for milk.  You are generally a kid that calls things by two syllable names, like a ball is a "bah-bah" and the dogs are "daw-daws".  You also use the same "bah-bah" for bath.  It's fun to watch you learn the English language and try to communicate with us.  When I sit you on your changing table, you love to point at the map above you and say "mah".

Speaking of pointing, your newest hobby is to point at everything above you.  Mostly in the house, you point at ceiling fans and lights.  Outside, you hear every single airplane and helicopter that flies above us.  It's crazy what you hear and notice.

You love to be in the water, whether that means the splash park, the pool or the bathtub.  You are happiest when we are going somewhere and doing something.  On the playground, you are very obsessed with the swings but you have no fear of climbing up the playscapes and going down the big slides.  We have spent a big portion of this relatively mild summer outside and you have a tiny little farmer's tan to show for it.

You've recently taken a big interest in kids older than you.  When you've had the chance, you've loved playing with 5 year old boys.  It makes me laugh because it's almost like you should have been someone's little brother.  You have also recently taken a shine to all of your books.  You especially love anything by Sandra Boynton and you will sit and "read" her books for awhile every day.

You still eat like a champ, recently deciding that you need your own daily green smoothie just like your dad and me.  Sometimes you go through phases where you don't want to eat vegetables or another time it might be meat that you throw off of your tray, but overall, you haven't displayed any picky habits (yet).

You're still a monster in the growth department.  You had a weird wheezing episode around July 4th and you were down 7 oz from your 12 month check up then.  Less than one month later, you were up two pounds- so much for my hopes that maybe your growth had tapered off!  You seem to be destined to be a big boy.

We love you so incredibly much and every milestone you hit just makes you even more fun for us!

Love,
Mommy


15 mo Well Check stats

height:  34 3/4 inches (greater than 97 percentile)
weight:  30 lbs 5 oz (97%)
head:  greater than 97%, big all across the board!

12 Months

Dear Owen,

Twelve months!  One year!  It's amazing to think that one year ago we met you.  On the one hand, it seems like you've been here forever but on the other, it seems impossible that we've hit this year milestone.  More so than any other time, this is the place where I think I'd like to freeze time for a little while if I could.  While last month was so challenging in different ways, it is almost as though you were able to grasp all the things that frustrated you before.  You started to wave hello and good-bye to people when we are out and about.  You will hold your hands high when we ask "How big are you, Owen?" and we'll laugh and say "SOOOO BIG!".

We are considering "buh-buh" (bye-bye) to be your first word for all intents and purposes.  At the end of the month, you will occasionally say it when we get ready to leave and are saying our good-byes.  You still say lots of "ma-ma"s and "da-da"s but never really to us.  You will occasionally say "dau-dau" so maybe you are trying to say "doggie"?  Your ever expanding little vocabulary is very amusing.

You also walk when you want to.  And by walk, I really mean hurl your self from object to object (or person) taking a few independent steps.  You get especially motivated to do this when you're mad.  We're still waiting for you to figure it out and really take off.

Your birthday party was so fantastic that it deserves it's own separate post.  We had people in town all weekend and after they left, we got a last minute wild hair and decided to take you to Babe's Chicken House for a little family dinner.  Your dad and I had been earlier in the week and he happened to see a birthday celebration and thought we should do that with you.  You loved the food, especially the biscuits, and loved watching our young waitress.  She was happy to oblige us and they brought over the Babe's Chicken hat and sang to you over a biscuit with a candle.  When they first came over, you had a little shudder and your eyes got SUPER wide and for a fleeting moment we thought that you were going to scream and be miserable!  The worry was for nothing because you just sat there with your sippy cup and watched all the waitresses until they were done singing to you.  After the song was over, you promptly removed the chicken hat and threw it on the lit candle.  Luckily, Daddy moved fast and saved the hat from catching fire.

My favorite new thing has been your new obsession with your doggie brothers.  When you wake from a nap, I'll look at Higgins and ask him if he wants to go get the baby.  He immediately sprints toward your door and waits for me to open it so he can come in and find you in your crib.  When you wake up and see the dogs for the first time, you laugh and try to get their attention.  You are learning to play with them by giving them their toys for a little game of fetch.  You are still a little too rough at times (especially with poor Milo) but you are starting to learn that they aren't toys and we have to use gentle hands when playing with the dogs.

For your birthday, Gram and Papa gifted us a membership to the Arboretum.  Since the weather is getting warmer, I have a feeling we'll be spending lots of time there in the water.  We went once this month with Natalie and Jack.  You two boys had a great time splashing!

You got to go to your first Rangers game, which was also your very first sporting event ever!  Due to some snafus with the tickets, we ended up sitting in the seats instead of a suite but you had a great time and were on your best behavior.  Some teenage boys sitting next to us gave you a figurine of the Ballpark that they were handing out for the 20th anniversary.  You played with your buddies, Derrick and Nolan, and the three of you entertained all the people around us in our section.

We celebrated Easter and you got to participate in three Easter Egg Hunts.  I'm looking forward to next year because I think you'll understand how to do it a little bit better.  We celebrated two other first birthdays!  Your best friend, Neil, and your sort-of-cousin, Martina, both had awesome parties.  We played with all our playgroup pals at the Mom's Club Easter Party and Daddy got to come to that one too.  They had a little kiddos bounce house and a petting zoo.  You thoroughly enjoyed both.

Beyond just the dogs, there are so many things that you are just "getting" now!  While I sometimes feel small pangs of sadness that you are growing up so fast, each stage in your development has been better than the last and I am looking forward to you telling us what is on your mind.  This transition from baby to toddler is very cool from our perspective.  We had a VERY BIG and EXCITING April.  I think I feel this way after each of your monthly recaps, but this was definitely our best month ever.  You are such a special guy and we're so thankful to share our days with you.

Love,
Mommy


12 month well check stats

height: 32 inches (90th percentile)
weight:  28 lbs 11 oz (90th)
head: over 90th percentile 

Bits of Owen at 13 mo

• You say a few words here and there but my absolute favorite is when you say bye-bye because it comes out VERY Southern (more like buh-baaaah).  It's the best ever and I hope you never figure out how to say it right. 
• You are a walking fool!  You started to get the hang of it right around your first birthday and you are moving and shaking.  
• We spend almost every day outside.  You love going to splash parks.  I used to think those were terrible in comparison to pools but now I realize that they are 100% perfect for the toddler set.  You spend a lot of time with your buddy Neil and you two adore getting in the water.  You, in particular, like the frogs at the Arboretum because you get under the water almost like it's a shower. 
• We are just about finished with swim lessons.  You have done so well! I'm really proud of my big boy who can use his arms and legs to swim to me for 10 seconds underwater.  We're going to take a break for the summer so you can really focus on splash park fun :) 
• You don't drink as much milk as you used to because we fully switched from bottles to sippies.  You are eating like a champ, as always.  
• We are moving to a new house this month and you'll have your own dedicated playspace off of our living room.  It's going to be awesome.  I did a lighter shade of blue in your new room, which I guess isn't really a nursery!  Crazy, you little toddler.  
• You love your backyard swimming pool and water table.  I love the water too and usually don't mind to be splashed a bit so we're having a great time.