Lose 10 Pounds in 2 Days!!

Wow! It has been a while since the last post, our apologies. Dave was out of town last week, and I didn't have the opportunity to sit down at the computer for any length of time.

Back to the post's title... as anyone who visits us knows, our yard is a disaster. It's basically dirt with a few shreds of grass and weeds. Fall is the best season to plant grass, so Dave worked in the yard last weekend. First, 15 cubic yards of topsoil was dumped in our driveway on Friday afternoon. Then, on Saturday morning Dave rented an aerator with a neighborhood friend (Dave borrowed the guy's truck to pick up the machine, but when he got in the truck he realized it was a stick, which neither of us can drive, the guy was running a race in uptown-- so that was a crimp in the plans, but we got it straightened out). He aerated the lawn, then seeded and fertilized-- which took about 3 hours. Then the worse step in the process began: shoveling the topsoil in a wheelbarrow, wheeling it to the back yard, dumping the dirt, raking the dirt evenly along the ground, and then back to the driveway for more dirt. This continued for 5 consecutive hours in 95 degree heat until he finished the back yard at 7:30 p.m. Sunday morning he put the topsoil in the front and side yards, which was "easier" since he was closer to the dirt pile. He finally finished at 5 p.m. Sunday was just as hot at 92 degrees, but there was a breeze to help keep him semi-cool. Needless to say, Dave sweated out about 10 pounds of water weight. He also had a very sore back and sunburn. I'm totally impressed with his persistence. After 10 minutes I would have decided that the task was too big for one person and one weekend and called it quits. Thank God I had a baby to take care of, because I didn't have to assist, except when he needed a watergirl.

Besides the exciting dirt story, I've been trying to get Sam on a nap and bedtime schedule for the past week. I bought a book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," for guidance. It offered some good advice. If anything, I realized Sam's bedtime was too late for him. He was falling asleep at 9:30 p.m., now he is asleep by 7:30! Basically, he "cries it out" so he learns to fall asleep on his own. It's not easy. Some nights he falls asleep within 15 minutes, but others it takes much longer. We figure it'll pay off later in his life, and ours, when he can fall asleep without our help. In other Sam news he had his first cold, and he can roll over both ways. It doesn't seem like he's gaining weight as quickly, but he is getting longer.