Please . . .

I'm asking for prayers for some family friends who lost their precious one month old baby boy yesterday. Since finding out yesterday, that's all I can think about. Please pray with me for comfort, strength, and peace for them.

18 months

What started out as just trying on the kids' new Easter outfits to see if they fit, turned into an impromptu photo session yesterday. That's what I love about taking their pictures myself, it saves on time, money, and in my opinion, a whole lot of hassle! :) Our little photo session took no more than 10 minutes.

I know I always say this, but I can't believe he's 18 months already! At his 18 month check up last week he was 23 pounds (15th %) and 32 and 3/4 inches (60%). He just started wearing some 18 month clothes in the last two weeks, but still wears quite a bit of 12 month, too, especially pants - he's got short little legs. He is a very mellow, easygoing little guy who can keep himself entertained (much better than his sister ever could, she always wanted us to play with her). He's very soft hearted, just like his sister, it absolutely breaks his heart if you tell him, "no". He experimented one time with climbing, and decided that was not something he should do again! About 4 months ago he climbed on top of his toy box, fell off, landed on his head, and went to the chiropractor to get his head back in proper alignment. He still loves his sleep, and transitioned from two naps to one nap about 6 weeks ago. I can always count on at least a good 3 hour afternoon nap from him everyday, but we have had to wake him up after 5 hours on occasion! At night, he sleeps from 7-7. He absolutely adores his big sister, and I'm surprised (because of their age difference) how well they play together. The big differences I have noticed between him and his sister are that he throws everything (is that a boy thing??), and he is not talking at all like she did at this age. He says an occasional word here and there, but mostly talks gibberish (which I think is adorable!). He still communicates his wants/needs with baby sign language, other than when he wants to go to sleep, he will tell us "nye nye" over and over again. He is completely attached to me, which is also different from Isabella, she's always been attached to her daddy. He is also a picky eater, which is quite frustrating at times! I didn't realize how nice it was to have such a good eater with Isabella. I'm always trying different ways to sneak vegetables in him, and he really likes my spinach muffins! His favorite things are looking at books, having us read books to him, and playing with tractors and trucks, and everything still goes in the mouth - all. the. time! He's starting to get a mouthful of teeth, and by the way he's been chomping on toys lately, I'm pretty sure he's working on some more. He was on antibiotic for the first time two weeks ago for his first ear infection.

I had to take some pictures of my little lady, too!

Dis.ney Live

Isabella and I were treated to a Disn.ey Princess Live show by my mother-in-law a couple of weekends ago. We were going to make a weekend of it, but due to sickness making its way through our house, our weekend away got postponed. It was still fun to drive down to the "city" for the day, though.

And on another note, does anyone know how to make your blog "unsearchable". I used to have it set so that my blog wouldn't show up in search engines, but I see on my sitemeter that some people are getting here by doing a search on bing.

53

So this is a bit of an embarrassing post, but I really want to hold myself accountable! So for some background info - I never struggled with my weight in my *ahem* younger days. I ran track in high school, and kept active living on a farm. When I got to college I gained the "freshman fifteen" which put me at my ideal weight for how tall I am. I gained a little after we got married, but then I lost 16 pounds when I was pregnant with Isabella, due to all day sickness, making me sickly thin. By the time I finally started gaining, it didn't add up to much once I gained that 16 pounds back, plus I missed a whole 6 weeks of gaining since she was premature. But after I had her, it seemed I gained a pound here, another pound there, etc. and by the time I got pregnant with Jaymes I was 15 pounds over the weight I should be for my height. I didn't lose nearly as much in the beginning with him (which I know is good!) and had a full term pregnancy (also very good!!! :) ), so I was very surprised at how much I gained! I was just as surprised when it didn't come off, I guess I just expected it to by itself, and with nursing, but that didn't happen for me. I finally decided to do something about it, and started working out on a regular basis last winter. I eventually got back to my pre-pregnancy weight, and after 8 months could finally wear my wedding ring again! But I was still 10-15 pounds over where I wanted to be. So once New Year's hit this year, I decided to get serious. I downloaded the My Fit.ness Pal app on my tablet to track what I was eating, and I have been very faithful about working out every evening once the kids go to bed. I've stayed away from almost all sugar, and have been eating just lean protein, fruits, and vegetables, drinking a ton of water, and have taken up drinking green tea. I found willpower I didn't even know I had! And in the last six weeks I have lost 11 pounds, finally putting me back at my college weight! It feels good to be wearing jeans I haven't worn in years, but even more importantly it feels good to be healthy. I have SO much more energy, and working out gives me a sort of high, I guess you would call it. I really wanted to do this for my kids, especially Isabella, I want her to have a healthy self image, and I want her to make healthy choices. Plus, my kids deserve a mom with energy! I saw a quote the other day that said, "Nothing looks as good as healthy feels." and it's so true. She used to try to talk me into giving her sweets, and now after watching my eating habits, she asks for things like fruit or yogurt to snack on. So now that I've reached my goal, I have to work on maintaining it, I'm hoping that by blogging about this, it will hold me more accountable! Instead of just eating lean protein, I've been cooking more regular food, but just trying to keep my portions under control. :)

This was taken Halloween 2010.

And today - 53 pounds later!

Exploring

It's been such an unusual winter with much more mild temperatures than we are used to. This was back in early December, it was nice enough to be outside for an extended amount of time. Jaymes took advantage of exploring outside for the first time since he started walking, and he had a blast!

Christmas 2011

My kids are terrified of Santa! (Yes, even Isabella at 5 years old!) We spent an early Christmas with Monte's parents, where we went to Santa Claus Day. Isabella was worried and nervous about seeing Santa, Jaymes was terrified, and a dog (don't know why there was a dog there in a school gym!) came up to Jaymes and took his beloved blanky away from him, which left Jaymes even more traumatized! But, it ended up not being a total disaster because . . .

Isabella's name was drawn to win these dolls! She loves them, she named the big one, Isabelle. :) Oh, and in the picture above she's demonstrating her nervous habit of twirling her hair, that was the closest she wanted to get to Santa.

We spent Christmas Eve here, just the four of us. I love it when it works out that we can spend Christmas Eve alone, just our little family!

Jaymes got a Little Tykes car and wagon for outside play, it should be perfect for this summer. He's not too in to opening presents yet. He enjoyed playing with all of the wrapping paper, though.

Isabella received the much longed for Strawberry Shortcake Market, among other things, including a kids digital camera. Monte says now he knows what it's like to be followed by papparazzi all the time! :)

We met up with my family at my sister's for Christmas day. Jaymes and his cousin both came wearing the same outfit! This was the best picture I could get, neither of them wanted to sit still, imagine that!

Pictures

I just finished making this gift for one set of the grandparents last night, it was certainly a lesson in patience at times, but I like how it turned out. Have I mentioned I love pinterest . . . such great ideas!

We were busy all of last week hosting visitors. My sister and her three kiddos stayed with us for a couple of days, followed by a visit from my mom. When my sister was here, we had 5 kids 5 and under, and three in diapers. It was certainly busy, but SO fun, and the cousins had so much fun playing together.

Jaymes is checking out his newest cousin . . . makes my baby seem not so much like a baby! *tear*

Jaymes has recently found out just how much fun it is to push the shopping cart all over the house, and he's quite good at running in to things!




Excuse the hair, this was right before his last hair cut. Thing #1 I've found I don't love about having a boy - the endless need for hair cuts. He was doing fine at his last hair cut, until the lady turned a hair dryer on high, and pointed it right at his face, she thought it would help him keep his head still, he thought it was quite scary!

Awww . . .