Driver's License AKA the bane of my existance.

So I made the decision a week or so ago to go and get my learner's permit to drive before my test voucher expired and I passed. I've made the decision that it's not scary anymore. In fact I think I felt more nervous for the written test then the actual driving. Since getting it, Spencer has become the passenger when we drive around town which is nerve wracking but good at the same time. It means I can get in as much practice as possible but at the same time my husband isn't the most patient person at times so I get nervous. I have a hard time changing lanes, there's a lot to remember when doing this maneuver and I'm working on it. My biggest problem is making sure I keep the wheel straight while I shoulder check, then when I see no one is there I try to change lanes too quickly and end up turning the wheel too far and too fast to get into the next lane. Hopefully with a little more practice I will get the hang of it. I'm hoping to have my license sometime before the end of the year so that if we are able to we can make a road trip to see my nephew be baptized in the beginning of January. This entails driving for 10 hours or so to Montana and Spenc is usually the only driver which can get tiring, I want to be able to take a shift if you would and help by driving half of the way. Here's hoping, wish me luck! I will have it this time!

Could you please leave me alone?!

Not you readers but my stinkin crazy hormones. I find myself on a daily basis lately telling my hormones to chill out! I'm up, I'm down, I'm left and Right and can't seem to keep a stable mood lately. It's sad because the person I care about the most, my husband takes the brunt of it and still sticks around and loves me. I guess we've been married for this long that he's used to it but I wish he didn't have to deal with me sometimes. I swear the past week I've been the moodiest craziest person, yet I can't help myself sometimes. I try to stay home away from the world when these moods hit but that just makes things worse. I find myself being irrational, crying over the dumbest things or laughing at stuff that isn't that funny. I feel like I'm going insane. I wish I knew what to do.

I've been looking into herbs to try and help balance things lately but I know I shouldn't take anything unless I consult my doctor first. Only problem with that is I don't have health insurance. So what to do? I try to exercise every day to help my mood but since the weather has changed and gotten colder the motivation to keep it up is waning. I'm tired, and I hate being cold. I think part of the mood swings has been because of the season too. I think I have a touch of that seasonal mood disorder but who knows. All I know is I can't keep this up and feeling this way or I will probably go insane. I hope I can find something to help with this. I know I don't want to subject my husband to my craziness anymore. Sorry this is mostly a vent on how I'm feeling right now. I figured if i write it down maybe I can get a grip and change my mood. Thanks for reading.

Milestone, the Big 50!

Before

After

So I'm layed up in bed on the laptop and have totally slacked off yet again on my blog. The main reason I am layed up is well, how do I say this without getting responses of TMI. I am one who gives too much information, what can I say? Not much embarrasses me in that light. Either way I am in pain and on my monthly cycle. One of the things I wanted to share so please don't TMI because it's actually a HUGE victory for me. Since January of this year I started my weight loss journey in hopes of losing at least 70 lbs mostly to see if I could reverse my infertility issues and feel better, look better, be healthy etc. I started this blog when I was pregnant after going through infertility treatments for the second time and successfully concieving our second son. It's a long hard trip to go through as many women I know go through it. If you are curious what causes my issues just go back to the very first post that I made, it's all explained there. Anway, the whole point of saying this is I have hit a very real, very exciting milestone. I have officially, Drumroll Please! Lost 50 POUNDS! *Angels sing Halleleuah!* I finally did it. I can not believe it! And on top of this, I have had 3 consecutive months of regular periods. I never thought I would ever have a regular cycle ever and yet there it is. It showed up last night and with one fell swoop I am showing progress with possibly reversing some of the effects of my Polycystic ovarian syndrome. What's funny to me is I look back and when I first talked to my infertility specialist, the first thing he said was "The best way to improve and sometimes reverse the problems with infertility in PCOS is to lose weight" Of course at the time I was overweight, infertile as far as I was concerned and who wants to hear, "lose 50 lbs" as their treatment? Give me medication so I can have a baby was all I wanted to hear. Now that I see the proof is in the pudding, WOW is all I can say. So I'm not to my goal weight but close enough that I can see the end at the tunnel of the losing weight journey I've been on. 17 more pounds is all that's left for me to reach my goal, or at least my current goal. I dunno what I'm going to feel like at that point or if it's where I want to be. I may stop sooner, I may go further who knows. I prefer to keep some curves though and be a healthy weight for me so probably not much less if I do. I remember thinking at the beginning of this, I wasn't going to be one of those people that loses the weight and then has to tell every person they see eating something they want to that it's so bad for them and they should eat this way or exercise this way and they'd feel better but I can see why someone would. I feel so amazing that I want everyone I know to feel the way I do. When I do it though I mostly try to be encouraging and give suggestions when asked for them because I know how annoying it is to get comments from former overweight super skinny people without asking and think "That's easy for you to say look at you!" So for now if anyone wants advice I can tell you what worked for me and if not, good luck with what works for you. As long as we're both happy it's all that matters. 17 more pounds to go!

I'm a slacker and IT'S BEEN HOT!

Ok so I've been a bit of a slacker with posting blogs, wish I could stay on the ball with this. Life gets in the way though and I forget. I'm so tired with a baby that's teething but those two front teeth of his finally broke through. I'll try to get a picture when they are more noticeable. It's been so freakin hot here lately! It's crazy! Luckily for us we had our landlord install our Air Conditioner at the beginning of the summer when we got our first hot day and I was not dealing with it without it. We've had our air conditioner for 6 years and never had it properly installed which is really weird I know but it's a unit that sticks out the window and we never knew how to install it properly. So when we used it in the past we'd either stick it part way out the window and rest the inside on the back of the couch or on a makeshift table to keep it from toppling over. What's funny about this is 1. it looked goofy and 2. it's a dehumidifier built in so having it be on the back of the couch it wasn't level and water would spill out of the bottom onto our couch. At the time we didn't care because it kept us cool and the couch was a hand me down crappy couch.

So we survived the last few days holed up in our apartment when the temperature reached a wopping 104 degrees! I called these days underwear days. Rowan was in his diaper all day, Gavin in his undies and me in my underwear too. Even with the air conditioner it was still pretty roasty once the sun hit the main windows in our place. Spencer was working long days at his client's house and was roasting with no air conditioning so they invented a way to stay cool by wetting washclothes and freezing them and then placing them on their heads. He brought me home ingredients for the best low fat/calorie fruit smoothies and that helped too. Now the temperature is gone down again and I'm really happy. I would rather be cold any day then HOT because when you're cold you just put on another layer. When you're hot there's not a whole you can do except maybe jump in a cold shower for a temporary fix. Hope everyone else is dealing with the heat well. Enjoy the sun!

6 months old!

Rowan is 6 months old as of the 4th of June. Man time flies! I finally got my pictures my sister took of him when he was blessed at a month old and I can't believe how tiny he was. He has become such a sweet boy and will continue to bless our family. His list of acheivements so far are rolling over both ways, scooting backwards (he can't really go forwards and has yet to really figure out how to get anywhere going backwards mostly gets frustrated), he has two teeth on the bottom, weighs about 16 lbs, says mama and bwa bwa for da da or that's what we think it is. He continues to grow so fast but as he grows he is getting to be so fun. I love being his mama so much, I always thought being a mom would be amazing and its become more then that to me now. I wish I could slow down time for but a moment to enjoy them more. Keep on growing buddy.

Here's a couple pics to compare how big he's gotten.

And I had to share a picture of Rowan with sweet potatoes for the first time

Auntie Chelsea was feeding him (hence the mess lol)

"Mom Sick" AKA a Mother's Job is Never Done!

Rowan has had a bit of a cough lately but has been getting better and so I didn't think oh maybe I should wash my hands or be warey of germs. Big Mistake! Last night before bed I started to feel ill and my throat got super duper sore and I knew it was coming on.

Now kid sick or Husband/Grown Man sick is totally different then Mom Sick. I was pondering this over and I thought man Mom's just can't be "Just Sick".

Despite waking up and feeling so crummy I still have to get up Gavin and put him on the potty, get him dressed, feed him breakfast, get him entertained by a movie while I get Rowan up and feed him, which of course I can't just give him food . . . I AM his food. That is time consuming and when I'm done manage to get myself something to eat for breakfast (which didn't happen this morning). I try to rest but of course Gavin has discovered he can open the fridge door whenever and goes and brings me the jug of milk which means he wants a drink. Rowan is lieing on the floor doing floor time and precedes to start screaming because he wants up or to be sitting up. I get Gavin a drink and put the milk away and get Rowan his bumbo chair all the while I still haven't eaten. Put on another video and go to lie down on the couch and Gavin being in the throws of potty training still yells for me "Potty Mommy!" Get up, put him on the potty, finish with that, wash our hands. I manage after this to get a bagel with cream cheese all the while Gavin is trying to get my attention again. He wants his mister potato head from the closet. Get potato heads. Rowan starts crying again, he seems to be getting tired and hungry again, it can't be time for that again can it? Look at the clock its already past noon! Feed Rowan and put him down for his nap. Kick the cat out of the bedroom. Get Gavin some lunch which he gobbles up fast. Finally some quiet to rest or so I think . . . Gavin grabs a nasal aspirator and thinks its funny to suction my arms but it actually hurts when he pokes me with it. So I take it away and say don't do that. Melt Down! Gavin gets thrown in his room. Naptime for all. I lay down to get in a quick nap and the phone rings. Toll Free my best buddy. I don't answer . . . They call a second time! I answer and its a collection agency for someone who doesn't live here. Keep calling me I dare you! So I wait on hold to tell the person on the other line who doesn't speak english that Michael C Reckor doesn't live here and hasn't lived here for 3 years. Lay down again but can't sleep so I look around and there's laundry everywhere so I decide to throw in a load. Sit down to blog . . . And the day goes on. It boggles the mind how when everyone else is sick they get babied and coddled until they are feeling better and can get back to their normal responsibilities but the work of a mother is never done and we can't just stop and "Be Sick" or the world would stop turning and the household would go to pot. Today I say thank you to all the moms who keep the world turning despite being knocked over by sickness. Who would take care of everyone else when they were sick if a mom didn't do that job? No one that's who!

I finished this post and not 10 mins later Gavin comes up to me with blood dripping down his forehead. He had gotten in a scrap with the cat and guess who won? Scared me half to death! It was only a small scratch but it was bleeding enough to drip down his head. Add to the list *clean up blood off carpet and myself and bandage wounds from fight with cat* UGH!

Husband of Mine! Don't Scare Me Like That!

Yesterday morning I got a phone call from Spencer at work. He said he was leaving there shortly and my heart flipped. Last time I got a phone call like that he had been put on suspension and eventually fired. I just about freaked! We just moved and he was doing great at his new job. I said what happened? Its not about work phew so what is wrong? "Well my heart started to beat a little faster then its supposed to and then the adrenaline kicked in and after the EMT came and checked me out, my heart rate was up to 130 BPM so I am going to go get checked out"

Of course my mind starts racing, what does this mean? Is the muscular dystrophy doing something to your heart? My mind is very much on panic mode at this point. He went to a clinic and they told him to go to the hospital to get checked out. By this point I'm in full blown "Oh crap am I gonna lose my husband mode" Scared out of my mind he calls me before being brought back to the room to be examined and that was the last I heard from him for 3 HOURS! Can you imagine the thoughts I was having at this point? I sat and prayed and called a couple friends and they distracted me and reassured me everything was going to be ok all the while I was freaking out. Spencer finally called me and said "I'm fine" What a sigh of relief phew! Nothing like a scare like that to make you realize how long its been since he's seen a doctor. Its time to go see the MD specialist and get checked out. Why does it always seem to be that when you have medical insurance you never use it but when you don't . . . . you need it. Murphy I hate your stinking law! Luckily for us there is a charity that will cover 1 hundred percent of the bills for yesterday and Spencer got the rest of the day off to relax and recover. Don't you ever scare me like that again!

Welcome to the Beard House

So I know I already blogged about moving but I figured now that I'm pretty close to being done unpacking I'd post some pics of our new place and give everyone Le Grande Tour! We love our new place, because it has a garage and its smaller but set up more nicely I think. Perfect for our family. My favorite part about our new place is we are saving a good amount of money on rent so we could afford a nice used washer and dryer so I can do laundry at home! I've been without a washer and dryer for the majority of the time we've been married (almost 7 years) and let me tell ya, I am so happy to have one now. With kids they make excuses to get stuff on their clothes so this makes my life so much easier.

Here's the tour in pictures for you. Enjoy!

Enter into the front Entryway

To your right is the Kitchen

Straight is the living room (a lot bigger then it looks)

Dining room

Bathroom
Master Bedroom

The Kid's Room

And my favorite part Our Washer and Dryer!!

Jonny Jump up you are now my new best friend!

We decided it was time to buy a Jolly Jumper or as this one is so nicely named Jonny Jump Up. Rowan has started to want to stand and bounce but my arms and anyone else's can only hold up 15 lbs for so long before they need a break, in which he gets mad and starts crying. My sister said he'd probably love one so I went and bought one because I figured its cheaper then buying an exersaucer and it takes up less room in our apartment, always a bonus. He ended up loving it and its my new way of getting some time to do housework and wear him out for naps at the same time, two purposes in one!

When we were moving, our single bachelor friend Kelsey made the comment, "Do you guys think you have enough contraptions to cage a baby?" ha ha. We have a jonny jump up, baby pea pod, carseat, high chair, bumbo, crib. It made me laugh because I said to him well, not really my sister has what her kids affectionately call "The Baby Cage" which is this contraption . . . .The Super Yard XT!

Which not only keeps baby out of everything else but also protects her one year old daughter from her siblings. Although I've seen on many occasions when all three of her kids are in the baby cage playing with baby toys lol. Kelsey replied that's all you need then get rid of the rest and get the baby cage and have baby POW's forever more ha ha. I don't think there would be enough room in my living room for that thing though so we probably won't end up with anything like that any time soon.

Mommy Wow! I'm a Big Kid Now!

I know goofy title but I couldn't resist. Gavin has made the all too important step of using the POTTY! Woo hoo *Angels sing a chorus of Halleluah!* Oh wait that's only in my head. I am so happy and proud of my little man. We always call him Baby or Honey but he's no longer my little baby anymore, he's getting to be such a big boy. Along with this milestone his speech is picking up and he is getting to the age where things are "Mine, not yours" and "Hey gimme that" Boy is he gonna have a rude awakening in the next couple months when Rowan starts to sit up and be able to take away his toys. Sharing so far has been ok but when it hits that point oh I have a feeling the battle is on. We'll see. We're still working on the whole telling Mommy and Daddy when you have to go but so far if I take him every couple hours he doesn't have accidents anymore but still has yet to go dry for long periods at night. We'll get there. Yay Gavin! Going potty makes Mommy so happy, it means only one set of diapers to change now! Woo hoo!

Let Sleeping Babe's Lie

With the big move we've had a lot of trouble with sleeping schedule for Gavin. He's up a couple times a night I think a little disoriented as to where he is. As the days have gone though he's getting better, he was up once early this morning at around 6am probably because we have neighbors who's garage is under our bedrooms and leave at the wee hours of the morning in turn waking us up by opening their garage door (one of the down sides of this place). Yesterday in turn Gavin was pretty zonked, he was winy and tired and just about drove me nuts when it came to meal time because every bite was a battle. I made him some lunch of what he wanted and he wouldn't eat it without me helping him. Finally I left him to eat it on his own and was unpacking a box by the computer when I looked over and there on the dining room chair was Gavin curled up like babies sleep with their bum up in the air and their feet tucked under them. I thought for a second he was just playing around and I called out his name but no reaction. Is he asleep? I wondered. Sure enough he had curled up on the dining room chair and passed out like a kitten. I couldn't resist snapping a couple pics because it looked so hilarious. Poor guy had been up all night and was exhausted by 1:30pm. Here's the pictures.

The Big Move

This past Saturday we finished packing up our stuff and made the big move from our current townhome to a little bit smaller 4plex about a mile and a half down the road because our lease was up. As you saw in past posts I've been stressing the move for a while but surprisingly the move went really smoothly and we had a lot of help. The morning of the move I was up at 7am and finished doing the odds and ends packing really fast while Spencer called friends and family to make sure we'd have help. Spencer's good friend Kelsey, who he's known since middle school was the main hauler in the move. He always agrees to help and has amazing strength for looking at him he's really tall and slender. The one stipulation to him helping us is that we do it all in one day none of this two day crap, it's all or nothing is how he put it. He was there at 9:30 and Spencer and Kelsey hauled over the majority of the boxes in their cars while I finished packing up the little bits and peices. At around noon we went and got the truck and my mom and dad came and took the boys so that they'd be out of the way. My dad stayed and helped and our friend Brad Bates showed up to help also. Like I said the main hauler was Kelsey, he was really good at packing everything in the truck. My favorite was I asked him how he could get all of it into the truck so well and he said "Hmmm I just think Tetris, find a slot and put the peices in" ahhh the mind of a geek works so different then the rest of ours lol. My mother in law came to help with her van earlier too I forgot to mention that and she bought a few foot long subs for us to eat before we started packing the truck, she was also a big help but couldn't lift some of the heavy stuff and I couldn't either so we both decided to be wusses and leave the real lifting to the men. By about 1:30 to 2:00 our friend's Jay and AC met us over at the place for the last big haul of stuff from the truck to the apartment up the stairs and filling the garage which was a big help another set of hands goes a long way. I stood back and directed traffic and showed the "men folk" where to put the boxes.

On monday we went over to the old place and cleaned til we almost passed out and then cleaned some more. We finished that by about 3:30. I hate moving, like so much! But in the long run I believe we will be able to live in the new place a lot longer then the previous because our landlord isn't going to be jacking the price up by 150 bucks like our old place was. On Tuesday I was looking through unpacking boxes and wanted to make some hard boiled eggs (one of Gavin's favorites) and couldnt' find my pots anywhere it was driving me nuts. I finally thought "oh no, did we check the dishwasher?" I called up Spencer and told him what had happened and luckily we hadn't turned in the keys to the landlord yet. On his way home from work he checked and sure enough the dishwasher was FULL of dishes, ALL of my pots, my pampered chef jug, plates, cups and utensils. I am so glad we caught this before the keys got turned in or I would be looking for a whole new set of pots. We are so greatful for everyone who helped! Now to finish unpacking, the easy part in my opinion!

Rowan speaks! News Reports This as a Record in the Beard House. . .

I've been trying to capture this on video for a while but as soon as Rowan sees me he stops and knows he's going to get fed so I grabbed the camera this morning and just stuck it in the bassinet and so that's why his face is half cut off and it's really dark because I couldn't see the view finder and if I tried he'd stop because he saw me. Rowan has been doing this every time he's hungry since he was about 3 months old, he instantly took to saying Mama over and over until he gets fed. We think we're going to have an early talker on our hands which is kind of foreign seeing as Gavin didn't really speak english until well 3 months ago or so. We'll see though, they say the second takes to things faster then the first because they watch their older sibling/siblings and copy so here's hoping. I could use an early talker after the frustration of trying to figure out what Gavin was saying in "Gavinese" lol.

All Aboard the Complain Train!

Ok so my older sister who's in a similar situation as I had a pity party the other day and today is turning out to be my turn. I am starting to pack for the big move in about 11 days and have yet to get to a box in my home. Seems like as soon as I start something the baby starts crying (he's teething really badly), Gavin needs to go potty every 5 mins and my brain and heart just isn't in it plus with no help from my husband it just seems so insurmountable by myself. I know I need to! This is the way my moves go every time, I leave it to last minute and when everyone comes to help us move, I'm scrambling to pack small things into boxes and it ends up taking all day long the day of the move to get everything over to the new place. We determined this time that we are going to rent a Uhaul which will help time wise with the move, now to just get the motivation. I slept like crap last night, I have been stressing which doesn't help with that. Did I mention my 4 month old is teething really bad and doesn't want me to put him down? Sometimes you just gotta let him cry is the comments I am going to get I know but when you're trying to think and concentrate on the task at hand the background music of a screaming baby gets my nerves and hackles up. It makes it hard to keep your cool.

I had my good cry and boarded the complain train now I feel better, time to take a breath and plunge in, wish me luck! I hope to come out victorious and with packed boxes.

Gettin' Domestic on ya

I am not a cook by any stretch of the imagination but I've learned since changing my diet that cooking from scratch is A LOT healthier and better for you. I decided yesterday I was going to take on the task of making my own perogies. For those of you who have never had a perogie, oh man you have to try one at least once in your life. I have a very picky 3 year old who does not like vegetables and I can sneak veggies into these bad boys and he'll gobble them up with a bit of ketchup. Definately one of his favorite foods and mine too yum! What I didn't realize though when I took on the task was that it takes a long time to make when you haven't prepared the filling and everything beforehand. Yesterday it just didn't happen because I didn't have any sour cream for the dough. So tonight I started making them but waited til 6:30pm and it took forever! We had a very late dinner but I was so proud of my perogies I had to share. They had potato, cheese and onion filling and were ever so tasty. I will have to make them for friends or family next time I am over for dinner.

Gavin enjoying the meal, one of his favorites

The Perogies de la Stephanie, Voila!

Seal for Time and All Eternity

Saturday I had the unique opportunity to drive the two hours to the Portland Temple and see my good friend Jenny and her husband Evan sealed to their beautiful little boy Daniel whom they just finalized adoption to him. I have been to a few sealings of parents to their babies who weren't born under the covenant but this was the first experience of an adopted child to their parents. It always amazes me that when babies enter the temple its like a calmness comes over them and they are so quiet and well behaved like they know that this is the house of the Lord. I barely made it on time to the sealing I literally walked into the chapel and they were about to lead the guests into the sealing room. We had gotten stuck in traffic and then took the wrong exit on the way to the temple because we had only been there maybe twice ever. But I made it! Minutes later Jenny and Evan Bowles came in and then their beautiful boy Daniel came in and his escort, the temple worker was so cute. A little old man who gave him his nametag to keep him happy.

The funniest thing about Jenny and Evan's little boy Daniel (and we heard this all day yesterday, and I'm sure Jenny and Evan hear this ALL the time) is that he looks so much like them! It amazes me, to look at that little boy you'd swear he was biological. He was definately meant to come to their family and they are truly blessed. After all was said and done we went to a small family potluck at a friend's house and then drove the long drive home making it home by 9:30pm. I haven't been to the temple as much as I should, but having the opportunity in occasions like this made me feel good to go to the house of the Lord. Spencer and I are planning to return without kids sometime in the near future so both of us can take in a session and take time for ourselves. Here's a couple of pictures of their family in the atrium afterward.

Mana from Heaven

This is what my best friend calls the breast milk that I've been giving her for her little girl Iyla. Poor thing was having such a hard time with gaining weight, reflux and not sleeping well through the night that my heart ached. Her mom couldn't make enough milk and continued to pump for her getting barely a half ounce sometimes after hours of trying to no avail. I would've given up a long time before that but she tried so hard to give her daughter what was best for her. And no matter what the Formula companies say, its not the same or even close to the same as breast milk.

Leahona and I had joked about giving her daughter some of my extras a few times but in my head I was thinking "why not give her the milk that I pump every morning?" I am what you call the over producer in this area. Example: Rowan sleeps through the night for about 8 hours so by the time I wake up, feed him and then pump I can still get about 5 ounces and I freeze it and that is what I give to Leahona. Enough to give her a couple bottles a day or at least one at night time to keep her full and sleep better. I never realized what a blessing it is to be able to give my own kids a full year of breastfeeding until I saw someone who couldn't do it and my heart went out to her. She just happened to be my best friend and oh so convenient that I have plenty to spare for supplementing. Little Iyla has been recovering and getting over the reflux and sleeping so much better, I think it even helped her chunk up a little.

I get so many thanks for this small gesture that doesn't seem like much to me but I know it means a lot to my friend and her little girl.

Happy Birthday Leahona (Pinch, Pinch)

My best friend in the whole wide world Leahona Gifford (who will eternally be older then me by a whole 7 months HA HA) just had her 27th birthday on St. Patty's Day, which is how I always remember it because who forgets to wear green? Not me! I don't want some pinches thank you.

Every year when that happy day comes around I call up my friend and ask her what she wants or better yet what she NEEDS for her birthday. I say this because last year it was a pair of shoes which to some people is small but to her she was really hurting and it was simple so I got her some with pink laces and voila happy Leahona! Anywho this year we both have 2 kids and are crazy busy moms who never see each other ever except for short conversations at church exchanging milk and feeding babies (see next posting). This year she thought for oh, lets say, two seconds and then said "I want to go out with you to see a movie." I said "hmmm I think I can arrange for that" and we preceded to make a date to go see a movie on Saturday morning.

As luck should have it we both recieved the same phone call from our friend Jenny Bowles announcing she was in town with her family and they were to be sealed to their son Daniel whom they just finished finalizing his adoption on Saturday! (also see another post about that). Saturday was out, plus the movie we wanted to see was not playing anymore. We decided instead that we'd go see a late night showing of "He's just not that into you" which I must say is a cute and funny movie. What made me laugh the most though was we went to the 10:20 showing and in the middle of the movie we both started to nod off! I only dozed for a second but I looked over and she was out too lol. I poked her and was like dang it I paid 20 bucks to see this movie we're both going to watch it. The joys of babies and not being as young and spry as we used to be. Not to say we're old foagies or anything but children and husbands really do change the amount of energy you have to spare. I enjoyed the time out we took for ourselves even if that one little part in the movie was blacked out for a minute oh well obviously it wasn't that important.

Happy Birthday Leahona! (A Pinch to grow an inch, and a sock to grow a block as my mother in law says! Love Ya!)

Diet / Me Update

Hello my lovely fellow bloggers. Sorry I've been MIA for so long, I swear this whole two kid thing is way more complicated than I thought I am finally starting to get into the swing of things with these guys. Gavin is talking more and getting more and more defiant (did I really want him to talk?) He is sweet as ever though and loves his brother for now until he can move around and starts taking Gavin's toys, Rowan is still a good little brother and baby in Gavin's eyes. Diet Update: I've gotten used to the whole diet change and enjoy how I feel now that I'm eating healthier. I've lost about 34 lbs since I had Rowan which is nice, I feel I've hit a plateau though with diet change being the only thing I've done, I need to start exercising which isn't so much fun. With the weather being the way it has been (ie. Snow, Sun, Rain, Hail and Wind all in one day last week) I don't think its gonna happen very much but I will TRY to get some walking in.

Rowan had his 2 month appointment last week and is 14.5 lbs and 95 percentile for his head size (that's a big noggin) but he's doing well and survived his first attack of the needles. I am not a fan of the needles thing and we usually switch off when we do immunizations who gets to hold him during the deed but Daddy had to work that day so I was stuck with the chore of comforting the poor guy when it was all over. Since that day he has found his voice and cries a lot louder, coos a lot louder and can be heard a lot better then before. Nothing like a stick in the leg to make you scream bloody murder (which my sister said wasn't even that loud and to count my blessings he's a quiet baby).

Before and After the Shots : Sleep = Baby Defense Mechanism

I took on the task of making some doll clothes for my neice Ariel's 9th birthday. Ariel has an American Girl Doll that she got for christmas, for those of you who don't know what that is its a very expensive beautiful type of doll that reminds me of a porcelain doll that isn't breakable but the clothes for them is quite expensive so I bought a couple patterns and took on the challenge. I was really pleased with the result and Miss Ariel was super excited so it made it all the better. She only has the outfit that she came with and a few "no sew" ones she made herself for Samantha. Here's what a few of the peices looked like when they were finished.

Last week we had my older sister Erin come down for a week and we enjoyed visiting with her while she stayed at my parent's house. Gavin and Evan had a blast playing with each other. They are only 4 months apart and don't get to see each other very often but when they get together it is pretty cute especially since they are both talking more now and interacting which is hilarious. One day we went over and Evan greeted Gavin with "Come gimme a HUG!" and they preceded to hug and run off playing.

We ended up one of the days against my better judgement going and eating at Macdonalds. We had lunch and let he kids play which was really quite comical because Evan got stuck at the top of the play place and couldn't get down or at least wouldn't because it was too high. Averie to the rescue! Climbing up and lifting her 3 year old brother down who wasn't much smaller then her and rescueing him from the top not once, but TWICE while her ice cream was melting. She even went to the top and helped a little boy named Isaac who did the same thing and his dad couldn't get him down. Good job Averie!

For those of you who know me I don't eat at Macdonalds! I got sick the last time I did and I really will not eat there again since this incident. We had decided to go there because they have a play place and the weather was sucky lately so we wanted to get the kids playing so we went. It was myself, Gavin, Rowan, Erin, Evan, Averie, Brynlea, Shannon, Tanner and my mom and Every single one of us except Gavin and Tanner got sick in some varying form. I had really bad stomach pains and headache. Others had puking, diareah etc. Needless to say their name is mud and we will never go there again.

We also visited Charlie's Safari while Erin and her kids were visiting for the same reason as above (Washington weather is lousy). I had never been to Charlie's Safari and it is the best place! Adults are free admission because we are supervising our kids and each kid costs aproximately 8 bucks to get in, we had buy one admission get one free so two kids cost 8 bucks to get in, in our case and you have access to 4 or 5 bounce houses, a huge play place with 4 or 5 slides, giant balls, basketball court and a smaller tikes play place for the littler kids. Best of all its big enough so the parents can go inside and play too! We let them go for hours and played too which was so much better then Macdonalds. So much fun.

Wow I've missed out on blogging about a lot of stuff. Hope this wasn't too long winded and the update was thorough enough to let you know we're doing pretty good. Hope all is well with you and I'll blog more when its not so late and I can think better maybe tomorrow. There is so much more to blog about!

That Four Letter Word . . .

I know what you guys are thinking, omg she's gonna swear! Well in my household it is a swear word in fact I have a saying "Diet is one letter off from Die" yes the word is DIET. My sisters and I have decided to go fully into weight loss mode together this year. Made our own Facebook group to cheer each other on and put up our lovely (horrific) "Before Pics" like the infomercials (and no one will ever see them except my sisters because they are terrible). Up until this point I hadn't been able to do anything because I'm breastfeeding and I wasn't 6 weeks post partum yet. I've surpassed the 6 week point and decided there's no time like the present to start. I started my diet or "lifestyle change" as we're calling it, yesterday. Ok so I know the change is supposed to be good for you but midway through the day I hadn't even been eating different for a WHOLE day and the cravings hit! Oh man it was brutal. I am what you call a "bored eater" and I hit the sweets when I am mad or sad or just all around in a mood. I had a situation with our pediatricians office and was so ticked off because we had to push back Gavin's 3 year appointment until February 13th and that's when it hit me.

Seriously I was so mad! I sat at my computer and started to crave chocolate or ice cream and it was so bad! Because I was mad my body was trying to get me to eat something sugary for comfort. It got to the point where I went into the kitchen and got me a healthy snack, Pretzel sticks and a fat free chocolate pudding cup, which didn't really help I mostly got mad at the pretzel sticks like they were hindering my eating something sugary. I tried the pudding cup thinking oh man its chocolate so it's got to help squelch this craving. Nope it wasn't enough apparently to make it go away. Needless to say though I resisted the urge. My mom said it takes a few days until the cravings start going away but somehow I think its going to be more then that. C'est La Vie, I'll just keep on keepin on, wish me luck.

First Smiles . . . So Flippin Cute!

I dunno what I did to make him smile, in Rowan's opinion I'm sure I'm funny looking. I sat down in front of him while he sat in his swing and the smiles came out. I made faces and funny noises and it happened. He's already 6 weeks old, I can't believe how fast he changes from day to day and week to week. He is about 12 pounds and getting super chunky which is so cute. Spencer keeps making the comment that we sure do make cute kids together and I totally agree. I may be a little biased but they sure are something else. Here's the smiles. I fall in love all over again every time I look at these pics. *Note* there's a dimple there I know you see it, I sure hope he ends up with dimples they are so cute.

I had a good day

So today was the 1rst annual Gifford Family Snowman party. My best friend Leahona and her husband Jacob put together this fun open house at their place and I decided to bundle up the kids and walk over to their house because Spencer was working. What a fun get together. We had pin the nose on the snowman, all the food was white and some people brought their favorite white foods. My personal favorite was the "Melted Snowman Soup" which was potato soup with a carrot and two raisins floating in it. Gavin and I had fun being social seeing as lately I've been a home body and I don't have many friends so taking the opportunity to meet and hang out with people from our ward was fun. I was the last to leave of course (I always tell them to kick me out whenever but of course we end up chatting until its really time for me to leave.) I noticed it getting dark and had to head home. Gavin passed out just before we left and woke up when we got home so it made for a nice quiet walk home with both boys sleeping.

For those of you who know me I'm a big dork and play world of warcraft every once in a while and so when I got home we made dinner and I got the opportunity to play a little. Gavin climbed into my lap and was watching Spongebob while I played but snuggled up under a blanket with me. Rowan started to fuss so I grabbed him too and pulled him up under the blanket. The 3 of us snuggled and warmed up while I kind of browsed the internet seeing as my hands were full of kids so I couldn't play anything. Shortly after Gavin had to go to bed but I sat with both my boys in my arms and felt truly blessed for such sweet boys. Gavin can be a handful at times but compareatively he really is a good little boy. Rowan so far is a really really really mellow baby and barely ever gets upset (this could change I know but so far he's 6 weeks and is really a good baby *knock on wood*). I am handling things with two so far ok, just need to get into the swing of things. I am learning to get a shower means getting up early and mastering the 3 minute shower. If not then it just doesn't happen and I end up staying in my pjs all day. I've also learned that having a baby at least in my case, makes your hair curl. Quite foreign concept to me seeing as my hair has been so straight for forever that any curl is like what the? I think back to when I was having the worst of my troubles getting pregnant with Gavin and it seems so long ago. Gavin just turned 3 on the 5th and in my head I kept thinking "you can't be that old already can you?" at the same time I'm sure when Spencer turned 31 on the 11th he was thinking the same thing about himself "you can't be that old already can you?" lol. Time flies when you're having fun I just wish it would slow down sometimes like it did this evening when both my boys still fit in my lap, someday sooner then later they will be too big to hold and I will remember today fondly.

Puddle Jumping Pics

Puddle Jumping

I discovered yesterday the key to entertaining a 3 year old is letting him run. It was cold outside but being in the house all day with nothing to do and nowhere to run around he was driving me bananas! It seemed every time I'd get an opportunity to sit and relax he'd be into something new or poking at the baby or just plain poking at me. I decided enough was enough! We're going outside! Get your boots and bundle up we had the best rain all day yesterday for making awesome puddles its time to go puddle jumping! I put Rowan in the snuggly and bundled him up and we were out there. The wind was so cold and I was freezing but Gavin seems to be cold resistant or at least really good at ignoring it. He found a really good one in the parking lot by a speed bump and preceded to wade ankle deep back and forth til he was absolutely soaked! I finally got cold enough where I said its time to go in and the only way to get him to come was to say "Ok I'm going inside goodbye! Have fun alone!" He slowly followed me in and when I got to the door had to strip him down to is diaper on the doorstep so he wouldn't get anything inside wet. We bundled him up with a big fleece blanket and I made him some hot cocoa. I told a couple friends what we had done and so far the consensus is I'm a fun mom, Yay me! Here's some pictures of the fun while it lasted.

Rowan Pics (also known as Mommy + Camera = Stalkerazzi)

I had the same issue when I had Gavin. We have a digital camera but do we develop any pictures to put in a photo album? Uhhh no...

My sister in law pointed out in her last blog how its interesting how when we were teenagers there was no internet, or personal home computers (I know when dinosaurs romed the earth). I remember when we first got the computer and internet and that it had a timer on it because you paid for time not just the connection. We would get a warning that you have 15 mins before the internet would turn itself off. That has totally changed and pictures are all digital but the biggest problem we have is we don't develop any just keep adding and keeping them on the computer and sending them to people over the internet to keep people updated. I need to join a scrapbooking group that meets from my ward and get that taken care of as a goal we'll see if it happens. I've already started adding so many pics of Rowan and Gavin to our collection.

Rowan is already 10 lbs plus, almost a month old and getting chunky. My family was up in Canada for about a week and when they got back my mom asked to hold him and realized holy cow he's already getting so heavy! Here's some new pics of Rowan to show you his face is getting chubby and rolly even since a couple weeks ago. I guess mommy's milk is nice and fatty and is helping with that. Enjoy our little guy, he's still a really good baby and we're enjoying every moment of him still.

The Last pic was taken today so you can see the how chunky he is now.