Mimi's

I am in that awkward place where, though they are still semi-comfortable, I DO NOT want to be wearing my maternity clothes anymore, but most of my regular clothes are still a bit snug. See... this third pregnancy of mine took me to new heights (or shall I say weights?) in the weight-gaining area. At the end of my pregnancy I weighed more than I've ever weighed in my life. I am currently about 10 pounds heavier than when I got pregnant, but that pre-pregnancy weight is about 10-15 lbs more than I want to weigh... so, I've got some work to do! I have a serious love/hate relationship with food - as in, I love it and it hates me. :) Really though, I am your textbook emotional/stress eater. I always have been, but as a teen I was so active that I was able to stay at a healthy weight. Now that I rarely work out (something I'm about to remedy as I will be joining a gym next week!!!) and have LOTS of stress... well, when I stress eat I gain weight. So... I've been feeling pretty depressed about all of this. When I feel fat (which is such a relative term, so please understand I am just expressing my heart right now) and out of shape, it really effects my mood and emotions, in a very negative way. Then, top that off with no clothes that fit, well... I've been grumpy! Jamie has been urging me to go shopping, but I didn't want to buy bigger clothes. But, this past week I decided it was better to wear clothes with a bigger size that actually fit and look nice, than to wear clothes that are ill-fitting and make me feel horrible.

All that to say, this week I went shopping! Jamie and I decided to take a little overnight trip - with the kiddos - to a nearby city that has a much nicer mall than we have, which also happens to be the same city my sister and BIL just moved to this past Monday! We got to have a hotel overnight (which I find fun!), eat yummy food, Soph got to go swimming with Jamie (wasn't that the best as a kid? Staying in a hotel and getting to go swimming!?!?), watch TV (we don't have cable), see my sister two evenings in a row, and to top it off get some new clothes!!!

You must understand... I hate shopping. But, Jamie made it as easy for me as possible by giving me plenty of money to work with (for us anyways... :) ) and kept all three kids entertained in the play area of the mall while I went about my business. I found some stuff on Day #1, but after re-trying it on that night at the hotel, changed my mind, returned almost all of it on Day #2, and bought different items - of which I am happy with!

Soph and Riley watching cartoons in bed - what a treat!

On Day #2 we got to eat lunch at a new restaurant [for us] - Mimi's Cafe. It was so cute and the food and service were great! I happened to mention to the waiter it was our first time and wondered what he recommended. At the end of our meal he told us they had a gift for us. The manager walks out with this container with four huge muffins (muffins are there thing at Mimi's) to take home as a "first-time customer" gift. The kids also got complimentary dishes of "mud" for dessert (chocolate pudding, crushed Oreos and gummy worms). Outside the restaurant was a pond with ducks and geese and goslings! The kids loved watching them before and after we ate.

Yummy Muffins!

Stabbing his food...

Eating her mud!

Monday I shall tell you my tale of how I became the victim of a mall kiosk... Until then, Happy Mother's Day to all you ladies out there! I believe all women, whether they have biological kiddos or not, are in some way, to some one, a mother figure. So, Happy Mother's Day!