The exercise efforts are still going nicely. I’ve been getting in cardio at least 5 times a week with 3 days of weights. My boys are so happy at the gym child care that they now lament and complain that I came back too soon even after a 1.5 hour workout session. This of course is a wonderful thing coming from my EBoy who would scream bloody murder anytime I was more than 3 feet away from him for ohhh say the first 48 months of his life or so.

I have encountered a new issue of course as I am prone to do. I’ve developed a new fear- scale phobia. I know my clothes are beginning to fit more loosely and I am definitely toning up but I haven’t set foot on a scale in months now. I’m so scared that if that little (or big) number doesn’t match what I feel it should I’ll spiral out of control and lose all motivation to keep going. I have been using a tape measure to track progress and I’m down over 10 inches from what I was when I began my commitment to exercise. But I wonder if focusing on the scale might encourage me to do more on the calorie tracking side of things to make more progress?

I’m still just not ready to face the scale so I’ll continue putting it off for a while longer. Maybe I’ll weigh myself again when my clothing size drops enough to at least get back into the clothes I was in this time last year. Is anyone else out there afraid of the scale? Although I don’t want to have this phobia I figure being scared of the scale is still better than being a slave to it.

Lately I feel like I’ve been usurped from my throne by my very own bossy little celebrity- known more commonly by the name ETot. He ran stumbling into my living room with the above outfit on, demanding “Mommy, I TAKE picture!” Until I agreed to take his picture. He then proceeded to pose and cheese like he’d just taken some time off from walking the red carpet.

His demands have gotten increasingly more stringent. Upon waking up in the morning the first words out of his mouth are Cook! Cook waffle! And we immediately must proceed to the freezer so that he can pick his favorite waffle, take it to the toaster and then enjoy his breakfast.

Music is something our family loves and is always an integral part of our day. On my ipod I keep a playlist just for the boys liking so that we can listen to music in the car. It primarily consists of EBoy’s favorites which are currently Veggie Tales songs and several smooth jazz hits. He did make one request for this song after he heard it randomly on a radio station: Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani

Not a problem, I’ve been a No Doubt fan since the beginning and as long as its the clean version we’ve listened to a few of her songs before. ETot has decided not only is Sweet Escape his favorite song- but that all other songs are like red hot firey coals piercing the very essence of his being. He screams like his ear drums are on fire any time we try to listen to anything but that one song. He starts his yelling the moment that the song volume starts going down, knowing that its about to end. WooHOO WeeeHooo! He’ll just yell it until I finally concede to get a moment of peace while driving.

I really could use a sweet escape from my demanding little luminary. His demands aren’t always bad he just wrapped his arms around me, kissed me on the cheek and said “Mommy I like you! Give kiss!” I like you too super star ETot. I just wish your list of demands could be as short as your favorite playlist.

If you can’t tell from my absence from blogging and commenting lately- my pursuits in photography have been going exceedingly well. I’m ever so thankful that EDad gave me a little push towards going to school for courses because I’ve finally developed a grasp of the technical aspects of photography as well as a foundation in figuring out what on earth I want to be when I grow up.

Reaching a point of feeling some level of confidence is a major achievement which I can’t say I ever reached in my previous career fields. I’ve been scheduling clients lately and am looking forward to completely two (and a third possible) maternity sessions hopefully with follow up newborns to take pictures of. I’m a researcher at heart so most of my online time which used to be spent enjoying bloglines while connecting with the wonderful bloggers who I’ve been blessed to encounter is now spent searching photography forums, coming up with ideas for poses, and crafting a business plan which will be beyond what I expect that I can do (you should always try for better than you think you can accomplish is my photography teacher’s motto).

The above image is from my first engagement shoot. I took pictures of some dear friends and had such a wonderful time that I know without a doubt this is what I’m meant to do. I think my skill level is finally increasing - not only has my photography teacher requested to display some of my work at the college but I also got stopped in the process of picking up prints from two different places and told “Sorry ma’am but we’ll have to receive a copyright release for these pictures because they are professionally taken.”

I can finally say I am a photographer.

The following is a Parent Blogger Network Review:

Animals are always a source of amusement and interest when you are the mother of boys. EBoy can spend hours reading books and looking at websites to learn about animals all over the world. Noah’s Pals has created detailed scale sized toy animals for kids to learn about animals while collecting their own full ark menagerie.

The animals are hand painted with exact detail but made of plastic so they are very durable and easy to carry in small hands. A few of the pieces were a bit small for really little ones (the doves and Noah’s staff) but the larger animals were large enough to not only use for fun but educate about the animals. Viewing the collection page shows detailed descriptions of each toy including their size in case you need to order online.

Each animal comes with a card with details of its habitat, country of origin, and interesting facts. While ETot was happily lining up the animals creating fun scenes and battles, EBoy was enamored with having me read each and every card so he could absorb information about the animals.

My only real disappointment was in the names of the animals. With all of the detail placed in the information cards and the actual design of the animals I was really hoping to have more of a world culture lesson within the presentation. However they chose to name the animals based on the most popular names in the Social Security Popular Baby Names listing. I would have loved to have seen the snow leopards with names representative of Asia or the Holstein Cattle with traditional names from the Netherlands. Although the founders of Noah’s Pals are focused on providing reasonably priced durable toys, as a self admitted book addict I would also enjoy having the opportunity to collect the animals along with books of each pair’s story.

These were definitely fun to play with and learn from. Collecting the pals is also a reward because you can track your collection online and receive free prizes as you obtain milestone numbers. You can check out the collection on the Noah’s Pals website and they are also available on amazon.

I would also like to announce my very first EbonyMommy giveaway. If you would like to have a chance to win a pair of Noah’s Pals of your very own just leave a comment and I’ll be doing a drawing for a winner this weekend.

This post far longer than I expected to get done. Between EBoy’s birthday party, hanging out with great grandma, having a bbq, fish fry with the family and in the meantime putting together every transformer known to man life has been a bit busy.

EBoy selected the Little Gym as the location for his party. I tried to convince him of a few other options but Chuckie Cheese was immediately tossed out thanks to his phobia of anything wearing a head/mask, and he while he liked the jump house sort of places they don’t have all the cool swinging bars to climb on. We had an overwhelming attendance and truly enjoyed being able to spend his birthday with so many friends and family. Yet again the move to Texas has shown to definitely be the right thing to do.

EBoy told us that he had the very best day ever and is already asking me when it will be his birthday again

Here are a few more pics of the party festivities:

ETot hanging out with a friend:

Run run as fast as you can:

Upside down boy: