The Storch Family: Week 141

Nov 9-15

Fall is officially here! The leaves are changing, the air is crisp and cool, and we are loving every minute of it! We decorated our house a couple of weeks ago and I never got a chance to take a picture. Jack's new art projects are also adorning my kitchen. More to come on that...

Creative handprint turkeys. :)

Awhile back, Ed and I decided that Abel's Baptism weekend would be our last weekend of "fun" eating...and then it would be time to buckle down and get serious. I am the worst pregnant person. I hate getting big and uncomfortable. I hate not having my body to myself. I HATE not being able to workout. I was cleared by my doctor and started the Asylum workout. As most of you know I completed the Insanity workout last year (here is my video transformation) with pretty good results. Asylum is from the same company and is even the same instructor in the video series...but a little bit different. This program is a bit more intense and only 30 days instead of 60 days.

Jack's fingerprint turkey.

Jack's handprint turkey.

I figured what better way to jolt myself back into some kind of shape? So now I have officially completed the first week of Asylum and I feel great. I can already tell the difference in the way my clothes fit. I have lost 4 lbs so far. Yay! I really need to lose about 40 lbs so I figure after Asylum I will keep it going with either Insanity again or maybe P90X. I will keep you posted. One thing at a time. Asylum is plenty enough on my plate right now.

As you all know Ed and I are both currently unemployed. He stopped getting paid from the Navy in the middle of October so we are living off of our savings and hoping to get hired soon. It is not ideal, but we fully predicted how we would work this all out a long time ago and saved up. Things are looking up though, and we both just might end up landing our dream jobs. I guess the only thing left is our dream house. Haha...one day.

He is working hard to join the City of Columbia Fire Department. As you read in my last post he completed the first portion of the hiring process and this week he received a phone call...and he has an interview on Tuesday!!! :) Wahoo! I know he will do great!

This is how he showed me his turkey for the camera.

I just think he is so cute.

So proud of his 'hand' turkey creation!

I have also been applying for nursing jobs. I applied for two jobs and got two interviews last week. Both interviews went very well and I have follow up interviews tomorrow. It is looking like I might have to choose between two jobs. Not a bad place to be in. It is so hard right now because I really prefer day shift (or at least 11a-11p like I had before) since I am still breastfeeding Abel and it will be super hard to work all night and be normal during the day to watch two little kids. It is hard enough already. Don't get me wrong, we have tons of fun and I love my boys but by the end of the day your patience and energy has been exhausted. Stay tuned for the outcome of all the interviews and the final decision.

I love these things!

Our 'Harvest' mantle

Because we are both not working we are definitely taking advantage of both being home. It makes it super easy to work out. Generally Ed works out first thing and as soon as he has finished and I have fed Abel, I will walk upstairs to do my workout. He will already have the DVD queued up on the TV and I am ready to go. I don't know how I will work out when we are both working. At first we thought we could just get up super early and get our workout in before the boys wake up. Well, Jack has started waking up at 5:00 am these days and so it is pretty difficult. I don't know what to do about him getting up so early. He has also dropped his nap completely. I really need to consult my sleep book, but who has time for that?

Jack's pilgrim hat.

This is what they do when I workout.

First time with finger paint.

Since Jack is too young for school and we aren't really in the position to pay for some kind of preschool thing at this time, we figured we should continue to stimulate his mind and teach him a few things at home. He is pretty smart for his age and it's not difficult for him to grasp new things. He knows all of his letters, colors, most shapes, he can count to 12. His speech is impeccable and his vocabulary grows on a daily basis. He has started having appropriate conversations instead of just mimicking things. The other night I asked if he liked his dinner and he replied, "yeah, it's really good!" He cracks me up.

Making turkey pictures!

Jack in the bath playing with his ABC's

Abel and I at the park. Please excuse the no makeup look.

We don't do anything grueling and drill him all the time. I try to be sneaky and interject teaching points within fun activities and games. When we play with Play-Doh and I will ask him what each color is as we are playing. Sometimes when we "play chalk" outside I will draw shapes and letters. I just kind of haphazardly ask him questions and that is how he is learning all of these things. He amazes me. We started doing arts and crafts in the mornings. He was really into Halloween themed activities so I figured I would continue his interest into the Thanksgiving themes. This week we made all kinds of turkeys with our hands including finger paints and construction paper cutouts.

He had a blast playing!

Rosy cheeks.

So cute!

He is also very sweet to his baby brother. The other day I watched him while I was washing dishes and Abel's blanket had fallen to the floor while he was in his swing. Jack was going toward him and at first I was prepared to tell him, "don't touch the baby!" thinking he might do something to him. Instead, I waited to see what he was going to do. He carefully stopped the swing long enough for him to replace the blanket on Abel's lap, and then he gave him a gentle push to get him going again. It was soooo sweet! It completely melted my heart. I am so proud of him sometimes!!!!

Aren't these leaves so pretty!?

Yay for the park!

My little model.

Today we decided to go downtown to Finlay park. Last time we went I was severely pregnant with Abel. This time was much more enjoyable for me. I had Abel tied up in the Moby wrap, but at least I could run around and play with Jack. I am so grateful that Abel his finally here and I don't have to be preggos anymore! Here are some pictures at the park. The leaves were falling, creating a gorgeous scene!!!