SWIM TIME.

This is one thing I love about AZ! We can swim in May and it is great. Here are some pictures of a recent party for our cousin Cicily!!! Love you girl!

Thanks IKEA

So this Memorial day we had planned to paint Weston's room and move the office. However, neither Jake nor I wanted to paint...so we decided to go to Ikea instead. There we found the best shelves for a toy room and the cutest little table for the play area. As I was taking pics of the result I noticed a lot of that room is due to Ikea. Including the 2 easels and side table...and rug. Thanks Ikea!

Spencer Status!

So Spencer is really grown up since he turned 6 months. Here are his stats: He was 20.2 lbs at the first of this month. That put him in the 98th% on weight and 93% in height. (I can't remember how long he was...27 inches I think.) In the last couple weeks he has finally learned to roll over as well as sit. For the last 3 nights he has slept in his crib. He is also sleeping through the night...well I am! My dirty little secret is that I have done this with no monitor. I was just so sick of getting up with him 3 to 4 times still a night. I cannot stand to let my kids cry...I am so weak. So, I lovingly put him to bed and then check on him around 6 in the morning. It was been great. Hopefully, he has learned to sleep through the night by now, and I plan on putting a monitor in there in the next couple of nights or so. He has also started eating solids. He loves apples, pears, squash...everything I have tried. He is still a wreck when we drive places in the car but other than that we love this "little bundle of joy."

Terrific Kid!!!

Aubrey was chosen by "Kiwanis" Club to be the Terrific Kid from her class room. They only chose one! We are so proud of her. She has been the easiest little student. She does her homework without much fuss and is so well behaved at school. We love you Aubrey Jean! Here she is at the pizza party at Peter Piper!

Our Trip to California

These are some of the random pictures from our trip.

Some things I don't want to forget:

Aubrey dancing in front of Disneyland before her dad and Weston came.

My kids playing in the sand at the beach.

Memory taking Spencer while we went to Disney Land...thanks again!

Weston crying on the rides...then later telling people they made him laugh.

Eating cherries at the beach.

Having Aubrey tell me that her secret wish was "that we live in this hotel the rest of our lives."

Aubrey loving the shower cap as much as I did as a kid.

Our view at the Hyatt.

Seeing the kids feed the birds.

Going on rides with Aubrey.

Meeting nice people everywhere we went. This is Jann Morris! Single and Mormon!


The kids dancing while we ate outside.



Kids being good on the rides there and back!

Chucke Cheese was a huge hit!






Watching the kids play miniture golf...Weston getting a hole in one!

Eating great food! Wahoo Fish Taco was my favorite.

Puzzles in the Hotel

Riding on the ferry at Balboa Island.

Now for the things I want to forget:

Spencer crying non-stop on the drive there and back.

Jake's credit card number being stolen.

Not getting enough sleep at night.

Kids wearing out at Disneyland.

Weston not getting picked for Jedi Traning Academy.

Buckling Aubrey's hard to reach seat belt.

Getting lost on the way to Califonia and taking an extra hour and half to get there. (my fault...even worse.)

Achey feet.

Paying for parking.

Gross fish tacos at Balboa Pier.

Jake not letting me order pay per view because it was $13.99.

Fighting/ kids mostly.

Jake telling the kids to "be quiet" all morning in the hotel.

There are 2 more posts about CA below this one!

Our Trip to California

Warning!!! Lots of fun pictures ahead...may make you want to visit California for yourself soon! Really...Lots of Pics!
Newport Beach

Balboa Pier

The Trip to California

Disney Land

"This is all fake isn't it mom?!" Aubrey Jean

"You said Disney was the 'happiest place on earth...' that was bad and not happy!" Weston after riding the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and bursting into tears.

"Let's go home!"

Aubrey and Weston around 1 o' clock.

"My favorite 'bad ride' is the Matterhorn!"

"My favorite good ride is the 'pooh ride."

Weston

How I lost the Weight!

So I am going to admit this...before I began; this is a strange/narcissistic type blog entry. Oh well... that is your warning. (I think I know what narcissism is???...I don't know for sure though.) Ok, now to begin! Here is a picture of me after I lost all my weight after having Weston. Mind you...Weston was 3 years old at this time. So Aubrey had taken this picture of me, because I was so happy to be in my skinny pants. ( The funny thing here is I bought these 2 months after Samantha was born...not fair, it totally gets harder with each kid.) So back to the story. Aubrey took this picture and I was so proud I was going to do a blog entry on it. I had lost 25lbs and done it through the holidays. I had been doing a challenge with my sisters and mainly just ate right and exercised and the weight came off. Well, so then I decided to get pregnant again with Spencer and this happened about 5 days after taking this picture. Needless to say, I soon lost the body I had worked so hard to achieve...and was left with a beautiful baby boy and...

This body!

Me at 8 weeks after Spencer was born.

This is the worst picture in the world by the way. Aubrey took this of me and I was going to quickly delete it from my camera, when I thought..."ooooh, this would make a great 'before' shot." So I kept it as motivation. Actually I never looked at it again, but I made the first picture (my skinny one) my screen saver to motivate me to work out/ eat right and lose the baby weight! So, I set a goal to lose 20lbs before my baby was 6 months old. I am proud to report that I am very close to this goal. My weight fluctuates, but I am just 2 lbs shy of that goal. Baby Spencer is 6 months in 5 days. So the other day I was longingly looking at my first picture and wishing I was that thin again, and suddenly I realized, I am. Here is my new picture, taken about a week ago (by dear Aubrey.)

Me Today!

Now I am not just posting this because I think I look totally awesome or even swimsuit ready. I even understand why people get tummy tucks...but that is a whole different blog. I am just journaling the fact that I did it! I set a goal and lost the weight. Here is what I did.

*I have worked out about 5 days a week for the last 4 months. (this means walking, jogging or doing exercises taped off of the tv.) I usually do about 1/2 hour or 45 minutes. Some days I did 15 minutes. What ever I could do with 3 kids. (I had no excuses for this. My secret was to never get ready. Seriously. I used to get ready in the morning, then I wouldn't want to get all sweaty. So now, I look horrible until I exercise. This has helped me a lot. Although, I am sure anyone who sees me before 3 pm thinks I am a total slob.)

*I don't eat after 7:30pm or after my kids go to bed. That's my rule...no exceptions.

* No soda

*Always eat breakfast. I eat a lot of fiber in the morning.

*Other than that...I have pretty much stayed the same. I don't really snack, unless it is healthy...like veggie/fruit or yogurt.

*I have always drank a lot of water, but of course you have to do that.

* I also weighed myself every day and wrote down my weight every Sunday. This showed me when I was at a plateau and also what was working. I also got to know my body better by doing this. Now I am addicted.

So if anyone needs motivation...just know that it can be done. Set a realistic goal (my first goal was to lose the weight in 6 weeks....didn't happen.) Then stick with it!

Also, I would still like to lose 5 to 10lbs and I am not opposed to hearing more advice on how to do it! I have a lot of great friends who have really been a good example to me on being healthy...so thanks all you ladies! I also thought I should add this has been great for my kids. Yes, sometimes they complain when they are drug around in the stroller or have to turn off cartoons to watch me exercise. But usually they love the trips to the park. Weston loves me running around with him and they even exercise with me quite a bit of the time. I have a gift of making things fun...so I finally just made this a priority and it has worked for us.

If anyone read this whole thing...thanks for being my friend. :)

Welcome Max

and here is picture of our newest cousin/nephew...Max A. Isn't he adorable? Congrats to Mike and Mari!

So here it is...

The new hair cut. It turned out a lot like my previous (skunk) photo one. I do have bangs this time, but other than that it is quite similar. I love it already. It is just so much cooler and lighter...better for AZ. Plus it always grows so fast, so for those of you who didn't want it short...don't worry, it never lasts. These aren't the best pics by the way, but at least you can see it. Plus I added cute Spence!