Weekender

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

It’s 9pm on Sunday night as I finally sit down to type this and it is the first time all weekend I’ve actually just sat to rest. Even though I guess I’m not technically resting if I’m typing this..There has just been so much going on with the home renos, some outings, workouts, phew! I’m excited for my mom to get here this week so I can have maybe just a few more extra ‘me’ minutes every day while she chases after the munchkin. Here’s what we were up to this weekend!–>

Friday: Breakfast on the floor! I love mornings where I get a little extra time to myself so I can make pancakes. Maybe this particular morning I should have been on my game a bit better since the second batch in the pan got a little ‘crispy’. STILL GOOD THOUGH.

After a relatively easy morning with Wes- i.e. lots of Reggie pestering and my workout, I headed down to Rose and Crown for lunch. A lunch (beer included) that I won via twitter thankyouverymuch. It was a perfect day to sit on the patio and I enjoyed the conversation with the people there. I got the turkey and brie sandwich and it was DELICIOUS!

I was only gone a couple of hours and was back on Wes duty for the remainder of the afternoon while Tyler worked his hump off with home renos. Friday he did a lot of wiring stuff and prep for the installation of a fan in the ensuite shower. I don’t dare interject because it’s all at a skill set way above my pay grade.

For dinner, we had salsa verde burgers on the BBQ and I’m pretty sure I inhaled mine in less than 4 minutes. During one of Tyler’s routine home improvement store trips, he managed to pick me up a little surprise and I was a VERY happy wife. It makes up for the lack of together time we get with all these home projects!

Now that Wes is crawling around and slowly perfecting his ability to climb the step up from the living space, he likes to hang with the doggies. Even when they’re begging for a bit of burger from daddy. Please note: they only beg from Tyler and not me because they KNOW they won’t get anything. I’m not that nice to share my food!

In care you’re wondering, the green rag is a Layla drool rag. We have them all over the house because she’s a friggin faucet!

After Wes went down, we watched Amazing Race and the first hour of the Revenant before heading to bed. Sunburns make me tired!

Saturday: When Wes only has one nap he tends to go to bed earlier (woohoo!) but it also means he’ll wake up a bit earlier too (BOOOOOOOOOOFACE). I was up before 7am with him and made sure to get both of our bottles ready before getting him from his room.

The rest of the morning/early afternoon was pretty much a wash- I walked the dogs, did some household stuff and hung out with Wes while Tyler was WORK WORK WORKING on the house. By the time 3pm rolled around, I was on the road to check out an Orange Theory Fitness private class with a bunch of my friends. (I refuse to refer to them as blog friends because that category is just so silly!) The workout was great- the first half was done on the treadmill and the remainder was circuits of strength and rowing.

I particularly enjoyed the fact that we were all geared up with heart rate monitors and could see our progress on the big screens. I thought I was pushing myself, but hardly had any ‘splat’ points (when you’re in the orange zone). I can’t get too down on it though- I just have a really low resting heart rate! I was going 9-9.5mph for some of those sprints, dang it!

Can I just add that this location is sandwiched in between a liquor store and a Fatburger?! If I lived in that part of town I would either be in that shopping center all the time OR I’d avoid it all the time! Haha.

Most of us headed out to dinner afterwards. I have to admit, I didn’t order anything because A.) I’m cheap, and B.) I didn’t really want anything from that restaurant. I was happy to come home later that night and snack on some of Tyler’s leftovers and have a beer while we finished watching the Revenant. I think I earned it after burning 517 calories?

Sunday: Another early as heck morning! I need my mom to get here ASAP so I can at least just lay in bed for a few extra minutes. I’m pretty much awake just before 7am every morning anyways, but a lot of times I just don’t want to get out of bed and adult.

I made my standard BAE breakfast and……YOU GUESSED IT…..hung around with Wes while Tyler worked on the house. Is this post redundant or what?!

Just before Wes went down for a nap I was able to do the Resistance 2 workout from 22 Minutes Hard Corps. I couldn’t tell if it was actually more difficult or if my chest was a tad sore from the heavier weights I used for chest flys at OTF the day before. Either way, it felt good.

During Wes’s nap, I did some of my freelance work then we waited around for what seemed like FOREVER for someone to show up and buy the first Bob stroller we got (the orange one! Loved it, but was able to get a much newer used one for a bargain). She was a total low baller and I was *this close* to just telling her she could leave without it. So annoying.

I made a batch of my favoritest chocolate chip cookies EVER- this time using the mini Hershey kisses and they turned out ridiculously tasty. Do you have any idea how hard it is to not eat them all while they’re still warm?!

While they cooled (and in an attempt to avoid temptation) I walked Wes to the grocery store for some random items we needed. It was a bit cooler out, but felt nice to have some fresh air and to NOT hear the banging of hammers or the whirring of random power tools.

For dinner we had steak. Alberta beef is pretty much the tastiest thing around, and these babies didn’t disappoint. Wes even snagged quite a few bites from my plate even though he already had his dinner!

I would have liked more greens on the plate, but what can ya do. I eat healthy more times throughout the week than not (don’t refer to my chocolate chip cookies, haha).

Wes had a nice long bath then we hung out for a bit before it was his bed time.

I rounded out the evening with a walk with the dogs, a cardio workout (CALL ME CRAZY BUT I JUST HAVE SO MUCH ENERGY) and some more freelance stuff.

Fingers crossed for a good, long sleep tonight!

From the Week

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Hey friends! Happy Friday! It’s gonna be another gorgeous one over here, and I can’t wait to spend as much time as possible outside to soak it all up! Got a few things on the agenda this weekend, so it should go by in a flash. Bummer. Backing it up…

Monday: Right after breakfast, Wes and I walked to Safeway to pick up groceries for the week. I actually made a meal plan and lucked out that all of our dinners only required minimal additional ingredients.

The rest of our day was pretty laid back (from what I remember). I did day two of 22 Minute Hard Corps and we played in the basement for a while before Tyler got home.

Dinner was zucchini ‘meatballs’. They were pretty good taste-wise, but still a bit mushy. I’l have to simmer the heck out of the zucchini next time! Wes played with one for a while, but didn’t manage to get any pieces in his mouth.

Tuesday: Man, I need to up my picture game so I can remember what the heck we did! The usual morning hang outs..oh right! I actually got up early to do my workout while Wes was still sleeping! I even got in a shower too (perks of being able to shower in 60 seconds).

I had an interview that afternoon and ended up landing the position on the spot! Keeping it on the down-low, so don’t ask! I’ll share eventually 🙂

As soon as I got home, it was time to head out again to attend the media launch for the 2016 beer for Alberta Beer Festivals! I was really grateful to be able to attend AND bring Susie along. We chatted at Pig & Duke downtown until I ran out of time on my parking spot then we headed over to Last Best for another beer. If you haven’t been there yet I HIGHLY recommend checking them out!

I was home in time for dinner- which was Pickle Brined Baked Chicken Tenders then put Wes down and walked the doggies. I even squeezed in a second workout that evening since I had some extra energy.

Wednesday: The best part of waking up at butt crack? Being able to make a pancake breakfast. Only thing that would make it better would be if a handful of bacon was on the plate and a splash of Baileys was in my coffee 😉

While Wes was down for his morning nap (I’ve been lucking out all week with him taking 2 naps a day) I had a quick Skype meeting for a freelance job. Timing worked beautifully and Wes woke up just as the call ended so we had lunch and headed out for a walk and to cross a couple of errands off the list.

In case you didn’t see on my Instagram or Facebook pages, there is a limited time sale on a few of the Focus T25 programs and they are REALLY good prices. The sale started on April 5th, but we don’t know how long it will last. SO….if you’ve been thinking about biting the bullet, now’s the time! It’s my favorite program 🙂

For dinner we had BBQ pork tenderloin which was out of this world delicious. I rounded the day out with a long bath and simultaneously completed some online certifications I need for my job.

Thursday: Man oh man was Thursday a beautiful day. It seems that our ‘day’ doesn’t really start until after breakfast/workout/morning hang outs/nap/lunch and I’m pretty a-OK with that. I love my morning routine with Wes. But after all that stuff was done, we hung out on the patio for a good long while. It seems our patio absorbs the sun’s heat so much that the temperature was a bit warm out there, but none of us were complaining.

After sufficient patio time, I put Wes in the Bob and we walked to the liquor store. You know, as you do with an 11 month old while you’re still on mat leave. In the middle of the day. BUT- it was National Beer Day! And I celebrated by wearing my newest favorite shirt.

We walked back home so I could put the beer in the fridge then headed back out to the park to take advantage the last few weeks we have left with our playground. Apparently the city deems it too dangerous and since our part of the neighborhood doesn’t have enough appropriately aged children to use the area, it’s getting demolished. Wah.

We had Korean Grilled Chicken Breasts for dinner and paired it with a new Wild Rose beer. (Native to Alberta…or should I say, Albeerta?! ha I’m so funny)

Tyler has been full speed ahead on some home improvement projects, so my weeknights usually consist of me managing Wes while he work work work work works. Sorry, that Rihanna song has been stuck in my head all week.

So that’s our week in a nutshell..now on to the weekend!!

Weekender

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Happy Monday! (said no one ever). I’m exhausted from the weekend and I could use an extra ‘day off’ before the week gets started! Dang it. We didn’t do a whole heck of a lot over here, but there was a LOT of outside time because the sun was out 🙂

Friday: Otherwise known as Pancake Day. I was able to make them just as Wes was waking up, so we both enjoyed our food on the floor. And someone finally decided to hold on to his bottle by himself- even if he doesn’t understand he’s got to tip his head back to get the goods 🙂

The rest of our morning consisted of chores, my workout, doing my hair, and a nap. I let Wes crawl around for a bit before he went down for a nap and he ended up bonking his face on the floor and got a bloody nose. The poor kid was scared out of his mind and it took a long time to finally calm him down.

While he napped, I had a Skype interview (which went well!) and then we lunched.

My favorite part of the day was heading outside! We walked around the nearby shopping center and stopped in Safeway for a couple of staples before circling the neighborhood and coming back home. It felt so nice to be able to enjoy the warm sun and not wear a jacket- I’m hoping by typing this I don’t jinx it and we get snow next week.

Tyler brought home burrito bowls for dinner and I quickly had to get out of the house to take the dogs to their annual vet checkup. The good news: they’re both healthy. The not so good news: annual check ups are $$$.

Afterwards, I relaxed in the tub and watched the first five episodes of The Ranch on Netflix.

Saturday: I could relive Saturday morning just about every day. I started the day off with chocolate Shakeology and had a wonderful QUIET morning with Wes. He was so happy to be crawling around the house and exploring that he tired out pretty quickly.

When he went down for a nap, I took the puppies out for a LONG walk. All three of us really needed to take advantage of the warm weather and it was such a pleasant walk around our homey little neighborhood. Nevermind that tons of people were out gardening…in April!

I actually wasn’t craving any sweets but decided to bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies. And since I needed to check if they were good- I enjoyed one on the patio with a cup of coffee. YOLO.

Then it was time for our great big Lowe’s adventure. Tyler had a laundry list of things he needed to pick up, so Wes and I tagged along. He was a happy camper since I kept him filled with snacks!

It seems like we spent eternity there, but we managed to get two carloads of stuff and then it was time to head home for dinner. Wes enjoyed- and I mean REALLY enjoyed- pasta and we had pizza.

Tyler and I watched Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and we went to bed. As soon as I shut my eyes, Wes started crying, so I had to make a quick detour to his room for a little snuggling then it was lights out!

Sunday: If Friday is Pancake day, then Sunday is BAE day.

The morning was filled with typical play time with Wes and chores. But I got to do one extra special task- I got to pick up all the poo in the backyard! I admit, I got a bit lazy about it for a while, yuck. With the extra dry temps lately, I was able to get everything that was back there, which makes for a nice clean slate. Please tell me I’m not the only person who isn’t always on top of dog doody duty?

After that- and a good hands-washing- I did Day 1 of 22 Minute Hard Corps. I was really excited to start this new program and I’m looking forward to progressing through the next 8 weeks.

In the afternoon, we went to Babies R Us to pick up some gates for the stairs then returned to Lowe’s for more home stuff. Wes got a bit antsy this time around and I decided to head back early with him, only to discover a major diaper blowout. Not a fun ride home. That is all.

I felt so bad for the little guy because he had bonked his forehead earlier in the morning and a nice bruise had started to form. Couple that with a diaper blowout and a now-grumpy mom trying to get him to nap…I mean, that’s just not a fun combo! He did eventually go down and it was a nice little reset for both of us.

We hung around the rest of the afternoon and Wes was able to more freely explore after Tyler put the gate up. Happy baby! I took the doggies for their walk and came home to maybe squeeze in another workout. I think my body needed the extra burn from all the pizza. Seriously, pizza makes me bloat like you have no idea.

We watched the finale of Walking Dead then headed to bed.

Here’s to a great week ahead!

From the Week

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Hey friends! Happy Friday 🙂 I am SO glad the week is over and we now have a couple of days to spend with Tyler home…makes it so much more enjoyable. Not that hanging out with Wes during the week isn’t a buttload of fun, but you know what I mean. Nothing super exciting happened for us this week and I am totally ok with that! We were able to get outside a lot before of the warmer temps, and that’s really all that matters. Backing it up…

Monday: My little crawler was up to no good and trying to go up the step into the rest of the house (our living room is lowered). We still need to buy a baby gate this weekend for the top of the stairs, so I have been on high alert baby-movement duty.

All of his antics have really been wiping him out, and most of his naps this week have been prompted by his exhaustion. AKA: This mama didn’t have to calm a baby down to sleep AT ALL this whole week. That’s like….a miracle.

Before Wes was born, Tyler’s mom had sent us some clothes that his Grandmother had knit. They were all much larger than newborn size, so I tucked them away in the closet. And then in true mom fashion, I forgot about them. I tried to pull out a couple more pieces (he wore the bloomers here in some Easter pics) and this was the best I got. (After chasing around a naked crawler for a while).

Tuesday: Every morning after breakfast, Wes rides around the house in his car. Normally, I’d take him out for a walk but the early spring mornings are still too cool for my liking so I usually wait until later in the day.

After lunch, we did head out and walked to the post office so I could mail my US taxes (I’m so cool I get to do taxes TWICE!). Rather than heading straight home, we walked up to the library where I found a couple of books to read next. We stopped by on Monday to return some of Wes’s books, but I didn’t find anything I wanted in my quick lap around the shelves.

It was so sunny out that we continued on a walk around the neighborhood and stopped to check out the swings before heading back to the house.

Tyler made burgers for dinner and we paired it with some leftover potato salad I made on Easter. YUM

And then an evening car ride.

Wednesday: It’s a good day when I can do a few loads of laundry, make myself coffee and breakfast and then EAT said breakfast before Wes wakes up. I was even tempted to try to head downstairs and do my workout before he got up, but that was pushing it.

We had our usual FaceTime with my mom and dad before I headed downstairs (with Wes in tow) to workout. Now I know why I wait until he naps to fit in my workout- it’s no fun trying to plank with a baby crawling on you. Or always trying to untie your shoes! He was pretty good and was mostly distracted by some snacks and the dogs, though.

(PS: I am generally left staring at the ceiling of various rooms in my parents house when we FaceTime with them..)

I swear I change my kid’s clothes. We just so happened to get a lot of pictures with this particular set of jammies on!

We had a quick chicken dinner.

Thursday: I was actually able to complete my workout for the day before Wes got up, so that immediately put me in a good mood. Especially since I was a bit grumpy from having such a terrible sleep. I hate nights that I just lay in bed with my eyes closed….and nothing happens. The worst! Once Wes got up, we watched his favorite show (Jimmy Fallon. With Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy being a close second and third) and he is completely in a trance when watching the monologue.

Wes took a long midday nap and we headed off to the mall afterwards to basically just get out of the house and pick up some stuff for dinner. And of course, Wes came out winning since I managed to buy him a couple of Old Navy shirts as well. That kid, I tell ya. Gets all of my money.

Dinner was a favorite hodge podge bowl of gnocchi + broccoli + mushrooms + chicken sausage + marinara. Hits the spot every time. And Wes has some pasta with marinara which he loved…and made him very dirty. Bath time for that boy!

Ugh, and the kiddo started pulling himself up to his feet! I was able to catch a few videos of it and it totally looks like he’s twerking. If he ever reads this 20 years from now, it’ll be like “um, mom…..what is ‘twerking’?’ haha, oof.

And that brings us to Friday. YAY!

I’m so glad to be finishing up my last week of Beta T25 because that means next week I start the brand new 22 Minute Hard Corps program! It’s done by Tony Horton, the same guy who does all the P90X videos. I am super excited about it and hope the results are just as great as the programs I’ve completed in the past (I totally know they will be).

PS: If you’re interested in trying out any of the programs, shoot me an email and I’d love to help you out 😉 jennifer(dot)L(dot)Linton(at)gmail(dot)com.

From the Weekend

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Hi friends! I hope you all had a great Easter weekend! Ours was filled with lots of sunshine and smiles, so I’m sad to see it come to an end. Stupid weekends and going by so fast! No fair 😉

Friday: Pancakes to start the day. I threw Wes in the forward facing carrier while I whipped these up so that he wouldn’t start the day on a grumpy note. PS: It worked!

Once breakfast was digested, we headed downstairs so i could squeeze in my workout while Wes jumped in the jumperoo. He ended up falling asleep in it when I only had my cool down left, so I was able to easily transfer him to his crib then hop in the shower and get ready for the day.

I headed over to the store really quick since I had some clothes on hold for Wes from when we went there the day before and their registers weren’t working. After Wes woke up and had lunch, we all got dressed and headed out to run a few errands.

Then it was time to see the Easter bunny! I was shocked that no malls in the area do the Easter bunny like they do Santa, but Alison texted me a few days before saying he was going to be at Bass Pro (of all places!). The photo was free and all we had to do was wait in a line for about 30 minutes. Not too shabby.

No smiles, but no tears either. I call it a win. We lucked out and caught a couple of snaps with Wes once we got home. I didn’t want to take him out of his cute Easter outfit!

We had a FILLING lasagna dinner then watched some TV downstairs before calling it a night.

Woof, I’m full just looking at that photo!

Saturday: I opted to start of the holiday weekend with a yummy and healthy breakfast- Shakeology! I just mixed this one with almond milk and it hit the spot. Not to mention, it kept me satisfied for hours. (Food RARELY does that for me!)

We had a great, lazy morning before we hit the road! The Canmore dream home opened and we wanted to take a sneak peak. We stopped for a little fuel- gas for the car and coffee for the mom 😉

On the way up, Wes got a bit antsy for some snacks then promptly fell asleep mid-nosh.

Our intentions were to just go to Canmore and have lunch there, but since Wes was sleeping we decided to go further on to Banff for a lunch at Park Distillery. The menu looked great and we thought we picked winners, but unfortunately Tyler’s fish was not cooked at all. Even worse, the waitress wasn’t even that great about it. She didn’t charge us, but she also didn’t seem very sympathetic at all. Just….nothing. It bothered both of us that she just couldn’t seem to be bothered by the situation.

At least it didn’t phase Wes! He was happily munching on all the food I brought him, plus some grapes from my salad.

We walked around for a bit before heading back to Canmore to check out the house then back home!

Once we were home, I stayed in with Wes while Tyler went out to run some pre-Easter errands. The little crawling machine was having so much fun with a sleepy Layla. Then even more fun when he got naked and played peekaboo with one of his favorite blankies.

Wes went down really easy..mostly because he had a eventful day out of the house + he was expending so much energy all afternoon! Phew.

We had turkey meatballs for dinner then watched the first Star Wars movie. I fell asleep before it was over and ended up having one of the best sleeps in a while! Love when that happens.

Sunday: Yay for Easter! I was a klutz and left Wes’s basket in his closet before he went down, so I wasn’t able to put it all together until he woke up! Not that an 11 month old is going to know, but I still felt bad! haha.

Tyler even picked up some flowers, chocolate and PROSECCO for me. YASSS

He had also picked up cinnamon buns the day before (is it snooty for me to say I only really prefer the homemade ones? Doesn’t mean I didn’t eat one!) and I bought him some Easter egg fudge while we were up in Banff. Ummmmm delicious.

We enjoyed eggs benedicts for breakfast. I could eat it every darn day.

I wanted to take some Easter photos of Wes, but the little bugger is too quick for my camera! He finally (sorta) fits into a pair of knit shorties that Tyler’s grandmother made.

Tyler spent a good portion of the day tending to a smoked chicken which turned out FANTASTIC. The flavor was just so so so good. I contributed our favorite potato salad and then we cooked some veggies.

The rest of the day was pretty laid back- I walked the dogs to the library to return a book, then finished off with a big loop around the neighborhood. We tackled some house stuff. And of course, we played with this sweet little guy- who was more interested in the dogs than us.