Newest picture

This is the most recent pic of Maddie and Xander. I can't get over how much they look alike!! What a couple of sweetpeas!!

Updates...

We've had a busy couple of weeks! For starters, our oldest neice, Mackenzie, turned 15!! We had a birthday party at Pizza Ranch for her. I just can't get over how fast she's grown up. She is such a great kid: smart, funny, adorable as heck and just an all around good kid!

Maddie had a dance program, for Just for Kicks, a couple of weeks ago. It was so adorable! The first dance she kind of hid behind some of the other girls, but the second dance was to the Lion King and she did FANTASTIC!!!!! I took some pictures, but they turned out really dark. I'm going to try and get some better ones at her next program.

Xander now has his first official tooth! It popped thru last week and we can see the 2nd one trying to push its way out. Uncle Scott and I had him overnight last Saturday. He stayed up until 8:30, which we thought meant he would sleep in later....no such luck. He was up at 4:45!! The good thing is, he woke up smiling, ate his bottle and went back to sleeo until 8 am. What a good boy!!!

A couple weekends ago, I met up with Jen Hahn and we had a huge gabfest...a 3 hour lunch, seriously?!?! hehe I had such a great time chatting with Jen and then we went back to her house to see Kasia and Kevin. I still can't get over how much Kasia is growing!! She is such a doll!!

Scott and I are busy plotting our next "do it yourself" project. I think we may tackle the bathroom, but wait a couple months to do it. We'll see.

Past week...

This past week was my first full week back to work after the holidays. It was soooo long!! I was more than ready for Friday to roll around that's for sure!

Scott had a lead auditor class all this week from 7am-6pm, so we didn't ride together all week. I really missed talking with him on the way to and from work. Also, he didn't have email access...I'm used to getting 2 or 3 emails from him a day. Next week, back to riding together! Woohoo!

Friday night we had my Grandpa Gutzeit's 76th birthday party! Grandpa is still trying to get back to 100%, but was in good spirits anyway. Most of us girls are on diets, so we had soups and veggies for supper. Grandma makes the best homemade chicken noodle soup; she also made a huge pot of chili. Yummy!! The aunts were getting ready to head to Chicago on Saturday for the Barry Manilow concert. I told them not to take any drugs don't get too rowdy. They were so excited about it, I can't wait to hear if any of them threw panties....hehehehehe, just kidding!!

After Grandpa's party on Saturday, I stayed over night w/ Macy and Xander. Macy had to work Sat. morning, and I didn't want to get up at 4:30am to be up there in time. I can't get over how big Xan is getting. I took some pictures of him in his exersaucer...he really digs that thing. He's been reaching to people lately too. Man, if that doesn't melt your heart! Uncle Scott brought us Subway for lunch and hung out for a bit before going to his mom's. Xander just smiles away at Scott. He even reached for him. So cute!

Today, is going to be a workout morning, and then an organizational afternoon. I'm going to go thru my cedar chest, where I have tons of loose pics, and organize them and put them in photo albums. Fun, fun, but it has to be done.

Just a quick update on the weight loss. I have lost 6 pounds to date! Woohoo me! The first week of our "Biggest Loser" competition, we lost over 45 pounds all together!! We rock!!! I think it really helps to have a weekly weigh in, and be doing it with family members. It's just so inspirational!!! I'll keep you posted...

Biggest Loser

Well, the new year brings in a renewed dedication to weight loss. It seems I do really well until the triathlon gets here in July, and then I go back to the same crap I did before and have to start all over in January. I'm having Scott take a picture of my in a sports bra and shorts, like they do on Biggest Loser, so that I have that as a reminder of what I looked like. There are about 10 of us on the Gutzeit family that have put in $10 a piece that goes to the person who loses the biggest percentage. I'm really looking forward to getting into the swing of things again and look to setting new ways to keep my motivation up. I'll keep you all posted.

Kitchen project

Scott and I started on our kitchen this past weekend. It was previously a butter yellow color with a burgandy stripe around it. Scott HATED the color, and let's be honest, what the hell possessed me to paint a stripe of any color around the room?!?! Scott put about 3 coats of primer on the stripe and then put the first coat of pumpkin pie mouse on the walls. My uncle Johnny and Aunt Kathy had just painted their kitchen the same color and I LOVED it, so... We painted the cabinets an almond paste color, replaced all of the hinges and knobs with satin nickel. Yesterday at 8:30 in the morning, I started laying tile in the kitchen. It was going really well, until I got the the edges and had to do cuts. I am damn proud how it turned out! I did the whole floor by myself...now I know that I can do the bathroom also. We are still looking at new countertops, new sink and faucet, so we're hoping to be totally done with the kitchen in the next couple of months. The one pictures shows the old linoleum tile, with the new tile that I layed down on top of it. I absolutely love it!! I woke up this morning and just stood in the kitchen for a few minutes just to soak it in.