Birthdays and Growing and All That Denial

July is the month that two of my three kids have birthdays. M is exactly 2 years and 7 days older than K Man. This year was different in several ways. We'd decided that we'd stop having family birthday parties at age 10 so this was the first year we had a family party for just K Man even though M's birthday was just a few days before the party. It was okay though. She's kind of over the whole family party thing anyway and is looking forward to her friend "party" this weekend. She's invited two friends to go swimming with us. Low-key and just enough.

We surprised her the day before her birthday by getting her a cell phone. Didn't think I'd be doing that, but there I was...doing that. I think she will be responsible with it. She's a smart kid and I told her that her dad and I can check out anything on her phone at any time sooooo....

We measured both July birthday babies on their growth charts. Miss M grew 3.5 inches in 6 months. Considering she is already tall for her age I was astounded at the growth. K Man grew about one inch in the same time. He is still one of the shorter kids in his class which totally blows my mind that I have one super tall kid and one not-so-tall kid. Ms. D seems somewhere in between at this point.

K Man received a BB gun for his birthday, courtesy of his father. All I thought was "you'll shoot your eye out!" but then told my husband that he needed to be the supervisor. How old was Ralphie when he got the Red Rider? (AND SHOT HIS EYE OUT! Sort of.)

Akela the puppy has grown so much we had to remove the divider from her kennel and buy bigger food and water bowls. Makes me wonder how big she will grow. She's about 20 lbs. now at 4 months old. Though we saw a chocolate lab that was the same age and she was much bigger than our pup.

Ms. D pretty much loves Kindergarten. She's had time outs because she can't keep her hands to herself. The love of her life so far, Gabe, is in her class. Their lockers are next to one another. It's bliss! They've known one another since birth, but recently D decided Gabe was her man. He IS pretty cute, but 5 might be a little young to arrange marriage.

With regard to me, I am hoping I am NOT growing. I am 12 weeks into personal training and have lost about 14 pounds. I will be measured again in a couple weeks to see if I have lost more inches off my body. I signed up for another 12 weeks, but instead of one time per week I'll be getting my butt kicked twice per week by my trainer. It's both exciting and terrifying. I know I have a ton of weight to lose to be healthy again so it is worth it.

We also joined the fancy schmancy athletic club in town. I still have to explore the options there, but I hope to use the membership a bunch, especially as I learn what I need to do to be healthy again.