Plus One

Well after much anticipation, we are announcing to the world the impending arrival of Baby Number Two (currently known as Punkin' Seed). Details are very few and far between, but the seed is expected to detach from the vine in late May. We are excited to enter yet another chapter of parenting!

Labor Day, a little late

by Holly

So I've heard from some of our non-commenting readers that we should continue posting despite the lack of comments. Yes, this is for you Erin R. :)

Here are some pictures from Labor Day weekend. Justin's parents were in town for a visit and watched Eli so we could have some Justin and Holly time which was fabulous. We were able to go to a Tech football game and also to a Sunday School party without worrying about a babysitter. Thanks Pops and Grandma! And the visit was nice too!

Pops and Eli making play guns out of blocks.

Eli is fearless on the slide now and scooted right off the end of it this time!

Grandma and Eli swinging

Mama and Eli playing with Play-Doh. Eli's first time. He was more interested in throwing the little pieces than making anything fun, but I enjoyed it!

Habits

By Justin

I was thinking yesterday, I do that a lot while mowing the yard, why is it so hard to break habits? Seriously, everyone has a tip or trick to help you break your addictions or behaviors. Some are twelve steps. Some are 21 days. Some are cold turkey. The common key is they all are merely one step away from backsliding.

Then I had a revelation. Creating the bad habit was a long slow process. I didn’t wake up ten years ago and say “I think I will start the following self destructive behavior”. No, rather it was small baby steps towards stupidity or small decisions that were every so slight movements in the wrong direction. Sometimes I could tell the decisions were bad, but in the moment the good far outweighed the bad. I only later to learned of unforeseen or unforgiving consequences.

Now I am not talking about huge issues in life. Rather the many small ones that have compounded. For instance, I am addicted to french fries. And it is no small addiction. I would rather eat good french fries than my meal. I systematically rank places on their fries. If I need ketchup, you know there is a problem. My french fry addiction must be a contributing factor in my “slightly larger than healthy” weight.

I also cannot stand water. On a hot summer day, after sweating it out mowing the yard, I want a coke. Water makes my stomach hurt. I can feel the indigestion start from the first swallow. Somewhere along the way in my life, water was much more palatable with sugar, food coloring and corn syrup. I take this as another baby step (maybe literally taken as a baby) towards long term weight gain.

So I have decided to take a new approach, for me, on reversing some bad habits. Instead of tackling all of my vices at once, I am going to try to take small baby steps backwards. No cold turkey stops on Coke. No forgoing of McDonalds french fries. Rather, I plan to start with the other side of the equation. Just like balancing a budget two things have an effect, inputs and outputs. To lose weight one must manage the inputs and exert some outputs. For me, I am going to start with outputs.

I made myself some very achievable short term goals. For example, this week they had absolutely nothing to do with losing weight. I told myself I would get up early in the morning twice this week and do at least 15 minutes of exercise. I was very excited to achieve my goal. Was it a stretch goal, absolutely not. It was a baby step goal. One to prove to myself it is worth it. That the gains made in those days were wiped out today with lunch, was not the concern.

It was the small baby step towards new habits that was important. I am testing a new theory. One that says years of bad habits were made one small step at a time and years of new habits can start the same way. You know the old saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

Texas Tech Football!

by Holly

Thanks to my brother's kind friend, we were able to go to the Tech season opener tonight using his season tickets and watch them win over North Dakota State. The Fighting Sioux. Since Justin would probably give you a very guy-like rundown of the game, I think I'll instead give you a top ten list of my evening's enjoyment.

1. Cagle's Steakhouse was at Raider Alley and I had a cardboard boat of steak and sausage with toothpicks. Now that is GameDay food!

2. There is now Kettlecorn at the games! (do you see a theme?)

3. Just in front of myself and Justin was a family with an adorable baby girl that couldn't have been over 6 weeks old. Darling.

4. I got teary during the school song and it totally caught me off guard.

5. I remembered every word to the school song and that was even more of a surprise.

6. Thoroughly enjoyed the cool Lubbock evening, once the sun went down.

7. Nice to be out for the afternoon and evening without having to cater to the demands of a toddler. (thanks Pops and Grandma for babysitting!)

8. Thought of said toddler many, many times during the game.

9. Besides my family, I saw 5 people I know.

10. Although I may not be a hardcore sports fan, I do bleed red and black.