I want the baby weight to just fall off

Let's compare pictures...
The first picture was taken on September 5th of '09. DH and I took the boys on a hike (I know I'm a prejudice mom, but aren't they handsome?). I was about a month pregnant here. Didn't know yet. Was carrying L in the backpack carrier.

Skip ahead many months to the next picture of me. *sigh* This was taken on May 16th of '10, three days before E was born.

I have lost some of my pregnancy weight, but I still have a little more to go, and more time needed to get in shape again. I have to realize I gave birth just 7 weeks ago, but still I want to look like that first picture again - RIGHT NOW. If nothing else, I want to fit in my old clothes. I don't really fit into anything right now. My maternity clothes are too big, but I'm still wearing some of the tanks and T's and some of the low cut belly band shorts. On a positive note, I walked 4 miles again tonight. But to show you how I wasn't thinking, I ran out the door to library storytime with E and L in the Chariot trailer/stroller and J on his bike, and me in my flippers! I had blisters by the time we got back after that 4 mile walk. As we left, I didn't have time to unlock the house and go back in for my hiking or walking shoes. But really, just stubborn is the reason.

Some of my family wanted to see what I looked like pregnant, well, there I am! Just after a bath too, so my hair was a little scarier than usual - haha!

Had a Babies "R" Us coupon for 20% off. DH went to office to work for a few hours. Day after a holiday so he didn't have to go in, but he was able to do some catch up work. I took boys to Grocery Outlet (had another good coupon!) and Babies "R" Us to get a few necessities. I picked up more compostable diaper inserts for E's gdiapers. I love these cloth diapers! Check them out. My link is to Amazon.com. They fit great and have only leaked once, and it was a doozie that no diaper could've held in! Anyway, love that we can compost the inserts, and I can save up and get the washable inserts too one of these days. Maybe even make some. We've not had the best of luck with cloth diapers in the past when the boys were babies. Skinny legs ALWAYS made them leak, and I seem to produce skinny-legged babies (but cute babies!). E is not a fat baby, and the diapers still fit her wonderfully. I did learn that I was putting them on backwards. Hmmm... maybe that's the secret to preventing leaks. They are also super-cute in all sorts of colors.

Came home and watched a Redbox movie with the boys: "Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs". Was really a cute animated movie. J still loves dinos. L likes them too, but mostly because his big brother does. It's not a passion like it is for J. And today was a day for coupons. Had a free movie coupon. Comes out once a month for free when you sign up for texts on your cell phone from their website. Have used their coupons for nearly a year and haven't had any phony calls or anything.

Need to get some sleep. Getting late. House is quiet with everyone sleeping.

Today, July 5th would've been his 36th birthday. Happy Birthday, Jim.

A great 4th of July

We had a great 4th of July. We went to the lake and visited with DH's parents. J learned to drive F-in-L's small tractor and he looked so grown up sitting on it and concentrating on doing a good job driving around the driveway. L wasn't so keen on driving it with Gramps' help, he didn't want to steer it. I remember sitting with my Grandpa Garman and begging to steer his riding lawn mower around the pasture and backyard in Kansas. It was so much fun.

We went to the lake and the little guys played in the sand and water. J loves to be in the water no matter how cold the water is. L would rather play in the sand and float toys at the edge. A bit more cautious than his big brother. E stayed in the shade with me. I had an allergic reaction to the sunblock I used on Wednesday and I'm trying to stay out of the sun. Everywhere I put the sunblock (upper back, neck, shoulders, throat) is itchy with tiny little bumps. I feel like a crocodile and try to keep it covered. Ugh. Thank goodness I used a moisturizer with SPF already in it and didn't put it on my face. I have this allergic reaction to some moisturizers and chapsticks. Have to be careful about some of the chemicals. I thought this one was safe, it was for kids and and said hypoallergenic. I didn't buy the natural petroleum free though like I usually do, it's so expensive. Won't skimp next time. Glad boys didn't have a reaction to it. I slathered them with it last Wednesday.

Watched fireworks with the family and the boys LOVED it. E slept through it. I'm terrible with directions, so can't say just where we were. I'll edit again once I ask DH, but poor guy fell asleep. It's nearly midnight here. boys sat on a rooftop with Grammy and Gramps and DH, E, and I sat just behind. A beautiful fireworks show.

Chuck E. Cheese

We went to the birthday party of a new friend today. His name is Jaxon and he and his two brothers and his little sister are great kids. J and L love them all and we've had fun meeting them at the park, lunch at Wendy's, and at a local nature trail. Their Mom is a great lady too, and we will miss them as they are moving soon. Hope to keep in touch with them via their Mom's blog. And guess what? I actually got started on this blog at this site because of her suggestion. Thanks, Alicia!

I haven't been to Chuck E. Cheese's (sp?) in a long time. It was fun! The boys had a blast playing with the kids and the games, and Little Sister E slept the time away in her car seat/stroller. She was such a good girl sleeping through all that noise!

In other family news...

We have two chicken that have taken to sitting on eggs. They have more than a dozen under them between the two of them. Not sure that all the eggs are fertile, but DH has "candled" the eggs with a flashlight and has seen evidence of growing chicks. The boys are so excited that they could burst! I hope some of the chicks make it. Would be so much fun to hatch our own chicks. One hen is an Auricana (or Easter-Egger) and the other is a Buff Orpington. Our rooster is also an Auricana. Very cool. Maybe all the chicks will be hens and lay colored eggs (insert wishful thinking here...). We get eggs in varying shades of green (mint to dark olive,) , light blue-green, browns, pinks and peaches. Haven't received many peach or pinkish eggs lately. I'm thinking they may be the hens we lost to stray (or unleashed) dogs and another to being egg-bound.

Walked 3.4 miles with the family tonight. E and L in the Chariot trailer/stroller and J on his bike. DH and I walked. Strolled the neighborhood hills. Nice evening to be out walking. Trying to do it more often to get back in shape after Little Sister's arrival, and DH wants to get back in shape after his "pregnancy" gain too .

Oh and I learned how to add pictures today. However, I'm not on the computer that has my pictures. Eventually I'll get it all together and get pictures posted here regularly of the kids' activities and such.

That's about it for now. Getting tired and need to finish the laundry before bed. Tomorrow is the 4th of July. Wishing you all the best for a good day.

Who and what is an Arinka?

Just a quick note again today. Arinka is my name (minus the extra "n") in Pig Latin. I've used it off and on as a user name on various sites. Like an alias more than a nickname. I liked the way it sounded in the title. Why tinkerings? Dictionary.com describes tinkering as a verb and the following: "to busy oneself with a thing without useful results." Ha! Ever have days like that? Me too. So it made sense to add it, and yep, it rhymed. o busy oneself with a thing without useful results." Ha! Ever have days like that? Me too. So it made since to add it, and yep, it rhymed. o usy oneself with a thing without useful results." Ha! Ever have days like that? Me too. So it made since to add it, and yep, it rhymed. o busy oneself with a thing without useful results." Ha! Every have days like that? Me too. So it made since to add it, and yep, it rhymed. sy oneself with a thing without useful results." Ha! Every have days like that? Me too. So it made since to add it, and yep, it rhymed.

A hike, a picnic, and a lizard too

Hi!

Yesterday was July 1st. Wow, already. How can time fly by so quickly? We need to decide what we want to do for the 4th. There are several fireworks shows in our area. We've talked about going to the lake with the kayak and playing at the beach. Have to decide pretty quick.

The boys and I trimmed bushes around our walkway while E slept. Well, I trimmed the bushes while the boys played with the garden hose. They watered literally everything except for my herb spiral that I asked them to water, and most of their watering was each other.

At 6pm last evening we met a couple other hikers and our whole family went for a short easy hike. E was in the front pack carrier (Baby Bjorn), and it was her first official hike. She's been on a few walks in the carrier, but this was our longest, almost 2 miles along the nature trail at the Basque Monument. We had a great time. DH took pictures and our two new friends from our meetup hiking group taught us about ballroom dancing and geocaching. They helped the little guys find 3 hidden treasures. How fun! We have a GPS and I'll have to register at geocaching.com so that we can do this too. It was so cool! The boys felt like secret treasure hunters and some of the caches were harder to find. I've looked into geocaching from time to time, but the boys are definitely old enough to try it out now.

Today the boys are having picnic in the front yard. I'm sitting here with Sister, helping her to fall asleep. I'll then join the boys for watermelon. Oh, they caught a huge skink (lizard) a few days ago. He's enjoying the picnic too. The boys say they are using their bananas to lure flies to catch for the lizard. What a yummy idea... not. LOL! But boy, you should see that lizrd dive after the moths they catch in the evenings.

Busy day yesterday

Happy Birthday to my niece! My brother and his wife had a cutie baby girl one year ago today. Happy Birthday to you!!

Today is also E's 6th week birthday. *sigh* My maternity leave is now half over. I have 6 weeks left. I better cherish all the time I have left with my kiddos. I love my job and we really need it for the great insurance, but I sure love my time with my kids.

Wednesdays are usually our library days and research days for learning. It's summertime and we took the day off. We joined several friends and went to the pool at the GSR. I've never been there in all the years that I've lived here. The kids had a wonderful time and J did not want to leave after 4 and a half hours. L had a good time too, but he preferred plating in the sand around the pool instead of the water. He's a bit shy and there were a lot of kids there. I stayed in the shade with E and watched the smaller kiddos of our friends while they swam. It was a good day, and J is getting better at swimming all the time.

After the water play, we came home and rested for a little while. That evening was to be my first hike with my hiking group after my pregnancy and birth of E. It was a 6 mile hike and it was great. We hiked Thomas Creek to Dry Pond to White's Creek Loop. The hike starts off moderate heading up the creek, then gets a little harder as it climbs to a clearing. Trail then descends into the Whites Creek canyon where we followed the Whites Creek Trail back to Timberline. Mileage is about 6+ miles and took about 3 hours hike time. We also took in an extra peak that added another 30 minutes to the hike, but we were marching ahead of our expected time and had the extra time to to do it. I had so much fun. There were 9 of us, and two were my former hiking buddies and I was so excited to see them. This has been the best group of people to get to know. If you haven't tried meetup.com, you should, lots of great people and all kinds of activities and clubs/groups to join.

I was lucky that this was my mom's night out. My DH (darling husband) stayed with our 3 kiddos. His first time all by himself with all 3. He did great. I have been pumping extra milk for E, so he didn't have to panic when she was hungry.

Oh yeah, back to Tuesday... the book club was so fun! J had a great time discussing the first 4 books of the series they are reading. He was so nervous about going, but he really enjoyed it. At 7, he's definitely the youngest reader attending with the average being 12 years old, but I think it'll be good for him. It's being held in a small church and one of the classrooms had toys, so L played with legos and ate snacks with the bigger kids. He asked if we could go back again "tomorrow." L asks that when he has a really good time.