I love Sundays

I am still in love with our 8:30-11:30 time block for church. It makes Sundays so enjoyable. I really enjoy church, it's the one thing I know I have each week & I have a real reason to get dressed up & put on make-up. (I usually always do this, but it is so nice to have a reason to do so.)

Despite the fact that now a good portion of my day is spent in the mother's lounge with Milo I still look forward to Sunday. I enjoy the adult interaction & feeling like I am learning something. Sacrament is nice, even though I don't always get much out of it. I do enjoy what I get out of it, & I love singing, it really gets me where I need to be spiritually for the rest of the time block. Sunday School is not always my favorite, but I am excited about studying the Book of Mormon this year. Relief Society is what I look forward to the most, the ladies that give the lessons are wonderful & they do a beautiful job with the lesson. (I am also very excited about the lessons from Joseph Smith this year.) I usually leave church feeling recharged, & rejuvenated, usually feeling like I can take on the world.. or at least the upcoming week. I always have high hopes of doing better & being better that week & usually by the time the weekend rolls around again I have had a long exhausting week & feeling a little frazzled. Luckily Sunday is right around corner.

I also enjoy the break from Hannah, even though I love her to pieces we get enough of each other each & every day. I think she enjoys the time away from me to play with her friends. She is in the Senior nursery now... poor girl missed the the chance to move up to the Sunbeams by 4 days! But I think the older nursery is a little more structured since all the kids are older. It's so fun now that we can ask her what she learned & she can tell us what the lesson was on.

Perhaps things will change as my little man gets older & more busy, but I think as long as I am in need of what is being taught I will continue to enjoy each & every Sunday.

Bubbles Bubbles & More Bubbles

Hannah loves some bubbles with her bath.

Or perhaps some bath with her bubbles!!

Thanks to Daddy both she & Milo get lots of bubbles to enjoy!

I personally am a fan of the end of bathtime,

when I have 2 babes laying on my bed waiting for pajamas

& counting down until bedtime!

Attention Please

I would like to introduce you to someone...

This is Milo, he is one happy boy & seems to have a lot to say...

but sadly it just sounds like squeaks & squeals, so it will be a number of months before we know what it is he is trying to say. We can assume it has something to do with how much he loves his mama, but until then, we will just have to enjoy his chubby cheeks & darling squeaks!

BL3 - Week 1

Today was weigh-in day for week 1. I had a great week, I got in lots of running & it was just waht I needed. I was down 2 lbs, & I was thrilled...

Up until the results were posted & my 2 lbs put me in 23rd place (of 26 people!) I guess I gotta kick it up a notch!

Welcome Welcome

I want to welcome some FABULOUS people to the blogger world....

My sister-in-law, Mandi
My sister, Harmony
(she has technically had this awhile, but I just found out!)
My childhood friend, Alisa

I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have, & be careful, it's easy to get addicted to stalking people's blogs!

We have a problem...

Don't let that cute face fool you...

We seem to be going in the wrong direction. Having a 3 month old shouldn't I feel that we are making progress with sleep? Well I feel like we are going backwards! When we were away Milo was sleeping really pretty good. For the most part he wast down no later than 9:00 & most of the time he would sleep until 4:30 or 5:00. There were a few exceptions, but VERY FEW. Since our arrival back home he has yet to follow that same pattern, he is however going to be a little earlier (so I guess that may be a step in the right direction.) but he is waking up at least 2 times a night. I know that isn't all that bad, but it's more than he previously was waking.

The last couple of nights have been really hard, because he hasn't been going his long stretch which was anywhere between 5 & 8 hours. Nope, he was going 3 hours. Well last night Milo's night feeding started at 7:15 & he was in bed asleep by about 7:45. He woke up at 9:00, not sure why, but I held him & topped off his tank at 9:15. He then proceeded to wake up to eat every 2 hours. At 11:15 I forced myself to NOT run to him, so I let him fuss a little to see if he would go back to sleep. Nope! So then I just rocked him & gave him his binky, trying to get him back to sleep or at least closer to the 3 hour mark. Finally at 12:00 I fed him & we were back in bed by 12:30. I was hoping to get to 5:00.... Oh was that wishful thinking! At 2 AM he was back up fussing. I tried to ignore him until it was serious & he would stop for a few seconds, so I tried to give him the chance to settle himself back down. At 2:30 he got really serious, so I went over & tried to comfort him with a tummy rub & his binky. He just wasn't giving in, so I held him & rocked until 3:00 when I fed him, & we were back in bed by 3:15. And can you believe the little stinker was up by 4:10!! At this point I was to tired to fight this fight.... so he came to bed with me & I tried to get some of that really pathetic sleep that I get when I am holding a baby on my arm hoping that neither of us roll over on him or Jeff doesn't elbow him.

I'm not sure what his deal was, but I hope it was an isolated incident. I'm wondering if he is going through a growth spurt, or my other thought was that the house was too warm. It was 75 degrees here yesterday & the house never cooled down below 70 last night (which is way warm for our family.) So tonight I'll make sure the room is cooler & hope that we can start progressing towards sleeping through the night... or at least 1/2 of it.

The Biggest Loser 3

I am participating in a weight loss competition. Today is day 1 & we weigh in every Friday for 12 weeks. Unlike the show, we don't have a personal trainer (unless we choose to pay for one.) But we can use whatever method of weight loss, other than anything surgical.

My friend, Tib, started the first Biggest Loser almost a year ago & I was pregnant so I couldn't participate. And then she did another one that started in the summer... still couldn't participate. She had said she was considering doing one at the first of the year (which in my mind, meant for sure.) So I have been planning for months & anxiously awaiting the first of the year. In the past 2 competitions each contestant put in $20 & the winner took the pot.

As 2007 was ending I emailed Tib to see if there was going to be a Biggest Loser 3 & sure enough there was enough interest. This time we put in $25, & with 26 people competing, that puts the pot at $650!! I could really get myself started on a new wardrobe with that money!! So wish me luck!!

As a side note... you will only hear about this on Fridays, because that is weigh-in day & I want to keep track of my progress. I try to avoid talking about weight in front of Hannah, so you won't find me talking about it much on here either. I am doing this competition to get into better habits. My goal is to be the best example to my kids of exercise & healthy eating! So as much as I want the money, I just want to be happy & healthy!

What a day!

Today was the first Sunday of the year, so we switched to the new time block... we were previously on 1:30-4:30 church... it was terrible! I had been counting down the weeks since the first week of 2007. This year we are on 8:30-11:30 & I couldn't be happier!


It was so great to get out of church & still have all afternoon. Jeff made Hannah a sandwich to eat on the way home, so she was fed & could go right down for a nap. We were able to really enjoy our Sunday for once. Between the new time & the beautiful 70 degree weather it made for a fabulous day! After dinner we went & sat on the porch so Hannah could play outside for a little bit.

Happy Birthday Bug!

Today is Hannah's Birthday, I can't believe that she is 3 years old! Where has the time gone? This was a great birthday, because she knew it was coming & was so excited about the idea of a day just for her & was even more excited about her birthday party!

Last night I baked, assembled & frosted her cake. The hard thing will assembed cakes it they can either look good or taste good. I opted for taste, so I went with a Chocolate Sour Cream Cake & then made cream cheese frosting. Both of which are very soft & moist, so the poor thing slowly started sinking & the transport nearly killed it. But it did taste GREAT! We spent the morning doing the final decorations on her cake & just hanging out around the house. Then while the kids napped I wrapped her presents & got everything ready for her birthday party.

Her party was this afternoon at Fun Stop, which is an indoor play place. I knew it would be fun, but had still been wondering if it was going to be worth it! In the end, IT WAS! It was so nice to be able to show up, have the party & leave! No cleaning of the house before & after. No worrying about who to invite to keep the number of kids to a minimum in the house. The kids had a great time & Hannah was spoiled by all of her friends that were very generous & gave her some fabulous gifts! I was trying to get some pictures uploaded to add, but we are experiencing technical difficulties, so ya'll all have to check back later.

(Her Friend Cooper)

(Cooper & Nolen)

(Alli helping her open gifts)

(Sadie)

(Brans)

We grabbed dinner on the way home & Hannah opened the gifts from us. Jeff set up her tent & she enjoyed playing in that until bedtime.

Now I need to clean out the play room & box some things up & rotate the toys out. I'm even tempted to take some of the gifts & put them in a closet for now & pull them out one at a time at a later date. The sad thing with her birthday in early January is that the novelty of her Christmas gifts hadn't wore off yet & now she has even more new toys... but she has to go a year before getting anything else! We'll have to find a way to make that better in years to come when she realizes that sad reality. All in all it was a wonderful day & even though she doesn't recognize that she could try to drag it out into a birthday weekend, I think I just may! I mean, we didn't do anything fun & exciting this morning.... so we should attempt to do something fun for her tomorrow, right?

New Year

Well we made it home after a much needed break... I know, a break from what? The every day! It was more of a mental vacation. It was nice to not have to be in charge of cooking dinner, the every day cleaning & household responsibilities. Sure I'm not capable of just sitting, so I did do some cleaning & organizing of my mom's house... but that is fun for me! (No, I'm not being sarcastic! I enjoy cleaning other people's homes & find nothing more exciting that a good organization project!! It was great to go to Utah the last month of 2007 & to return home in 2008, a New Year!

There are some years where the New Year doesn't mean much to me. Sure there are resolutions I COULD make or perhaps SHOULD make, but those are the years I just don't care. Perhaps I don't want to bother making some goal that will barely be remembered by Valentine's Day. Then there are other years where I am excited to make some personal goals & to start clean & fresh. This year is one of those... after a few of the blah new year's I had assumed I was over the whole New Year's thing... I hadn't been excited about plans for NYE or really looking forward to a new year, to me it was just another day. But this time around was so different. I was looking forward to the new year, the fresh start, clean slate, the personal goals. It was refreshing to feel this way, I'm not really sure what caused the change of attitude... Oh wait, perhaps it was the fact that I spent 2007 pregnant or in the post-partum 4th trimester. I think I would be giving myself a lot of credit if I said I cooked dinner a dozen times this year, (I'm not kidding, you can ask Jeff!)

Now I don't want you to get the idea that 2007 was a bad year, but the only saving grace of the year was my sweet little Milo. I know that because of him & the effects of my pregnancy were the real cause of such a non-descript year. Granted, I think the real reason I was so anxiously awaiting the close of the year was due to August & Hannah's mysterious illness. (I am still trying to come up with nickname for that life event....) I have Black September, which was September of 2001 ( I will have to save the reason & its contents for another post, but my family all remembers & refers to it as Black September.) So any suggestions on August of 2007 would be appreciated. Anyway, I digress... so for whatever reason Hannah's illness sort of put me in survival mode & then I was just in this strange funk. The only thing that finally got me out of it was knowing that a new year was around the corner & it was an even year at that! (I have issues with odd numbers... something else I will have to save for another post. It's rather strange that I can still have odd numbers when both of my children, my husband & I were all born in odd years! I guess that's my saving grace, otherwise I would hate them to begin with!!)
Okay, I'm losing focus here... hehe. It was also very nice to be away for a month. A month of taking it easy, and reflecting on the last year & preparing for a fresh start. By the time I was packing up to leave I found myself excited to get back home & get back in control of my life, my house, & my family.

So with a new year, comes new hope, new excitement, and new adventures. I am looking forward to what the year will bring to me & I wish you all a Happy New Year!