30 Day Challenge

So, I got this idea from my friend Claire's blog (Thanks Claire!) and I thought it would be a fun task, especially seeing as how I don't write that often. So, here are the challenges and I think I will start today, yay!

Day 01 — Your favorite song
Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Day 03 — Your favorite television program
Day 04 — Your favorite book
Day 05 — Your favorite quote
Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 — A photo you took
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fictional book
Day 15 — A fanfic
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 — A talent of yours
Day 20 — A hobby of yours
Day 21 — A recipe
Day 22 — A website
Day 23 — A YouTube video
Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail
Day 27 — This month, in great detail
Day 28 — This year, in great detail
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — Whatever tickles your fancy"

Sunshine, Pictures & Crawling

Is spring here? It sure feels like it. We have been trying to enjoy the sunshine and get out and play when we can. I'm getting so excited for the spring and summer and I can't wait to watch the kids play outside together. Lainee is all over the place!! She is really getting good at crawling and she is also crazy good at pulling herself up on almost anything and shes learning how to cruise some, too. Her two bottom teeth are also coming in. KJ likes to tell me when his sis is crawling and he has become quite the conversationalist! Both kiddos are growing so fast, I just don't know where the time is going.

This past Saturday we went and got some pictures taken in Wenatchee. I was fortunate to find a really great photographer that was within our budget. I've already seen two of the pictures she has taken and they are wonderful! I can't wait until I get to see them all. Check out her website:

http://margielou.com/wp

We had fun, the kids were stubborn at times but it was a good time. I can't wait to get the new pictures up on our walls!!! (She has already posted a couple pictures on her site. If you scroll through the pictures at the top of her page, you will find one of KJ and one of Lainee.)

So, we are thinking about painting some walls in our house. We have already bought 4 samples and we are going to get some more-- just trying to find the right colors for the right rooms. Our first project will be the kitchen and dining/family area. I'm excited to get some colors on the wall and I'm really excited to see what the kitchen will look like with the flowery wallpaper gone.

Alright, here are some pictures of the kiddos. They are just so cute! :)

KJ having fun at the park:

The kids all ready for church on Valentine's Day:

Am I cute or what?

Getting In Shape

So, I talked before about how I've started working out and "dieting" so that I can try to get back in shape, preferably the shape I was in when I met Chad! I think I have about 15-20 pounds to go and I do think the working out is paying off. I'm fitting into my smaller clothes and that makes me a happy camper! My struggle is with the dieting part of this journey. I LOVE food and I LOVE to eat whatever I want, whenever I want. I'm doing the WW point system and it's not too bad, there are just some days I wish I was that person who could eat whatever they want and not have to worry about if their pants will fit them the next morning (although, this doesn't really pertain to me seeing as how I'm in sweats whenever I'm home (which is most of the time)). It does feel good when you start seeing results though and that is the motivation I need to keep going...

Anyways, the reason I decided to blog about this is because I was blog browsing last night and found a bunch of great blogs by girls who are also on their own personal weight loss journey. They are great about journaling what they eat/their excercise routines/their attitudes towards weight loss/etc... For a minute, I thought about creating my own weight loss blog and then decided I don't have the time (OK, maybe I have the time), but not really the energy to keep up with a blog about my excercising/eating struggles. I do admire those who are so good about journaling their stories though. I'm also not ballsy enough to post pictures of my tub-a-lub like many of those girls are. Heck, I crop the crap out of pictures if there is anything that is a little unbecoming. Maybe once I'm at the weight I want to be I'll have no problem posting some before and after pictures... but for now, I'm still a little bit self concious.

So, here is Happy Valentine's Day wishes to you all! Be safe & have fun!!

Oh, The Faces You'll Make

Ok, so here it is, the blog I previously mentioned. Funny faces people make when participating in different activities. I already mentioned a couple but I will go ahead and post them again for your reading pleasure.

1) Feeding someone else, especially a baby, with a spoon.
This is one I already talked about, so you can go read my past blog posts if you want to get the funny out of this one. Or, just watch someone spoonfeed someone else.

2) Cutting something with scissors.
I know I make a funny face with this one. The popular face for this activity? Tongue hanging out the side of your mouth as you slide your scissors across that peice of paper. You know you've done it!

3) Dancing.
You know the face I'm talking about. The face where one purses their lips together as they bob their head. KJ is really good at this face; however, it's not so funny as it is really, really adorable!

4) Checking yourself out in the mirror.
A little similar to the dance face, a somewhat cocky look... I suppose it would be cocky if you are really checking yourself out (Yeah, go and brush your shoulder off already). Let's be fair, though. I make funny faces in the mirror too, especially if I'm focusing in on one certain area ie. my hair, face, teeth, etc... I don't think it's cocky look though, it definitely falls under the funny look category. There is a difference!

5) Pooping.
A little personal, a little gross. The reason this face came to mind is because I watch my kids make this face daily. The blank expression which turns their face a slow deep red as they push. Cute, but pretty funny!

6) When you eat something sour.
Duh!

7) When you eat something gross.
Another Duh!


So, those are the faces that come to mind as of now. I will add more if I think of some and if you have any contributions, let me know and I'll add those too!

A Bite for Sis

My little love bugs!

So, Lainee is getting to the age where we sometimes give her little bites of "big people" food. She sometimes gets a nibble of bread or some type of cereal or a cracker. Well, KJ is usually around when I break/bite off a tiny peice for Lainee and he wanted to share the other day. KJ was snacking on some dry corn pops out in the living room and I was just holding Lainee on my lap, the next thing I knew, there between two tiny fingers was an itty bitty peice of corn pop that KJ had broken off for his little sister.

"For Lainee?" He asked.

Can he get any cuter (or sweeter?) What a good big brother! I don't think I could have been more proud than I was in that moment and it makes me smile knowing that we are raising a boy (despite his occasional bouts of orneriness) that is so darn thoughtful!

Squash & A Shot to the Mouth

I started Lainee on veggies last week! Her first: squash. The first day she wasn't so sure but the next day she loved it! She has been eyeing our plates for a while at meal times so I was pretty sure she was ready. I also started her back on cereal in the mornings. I had tried cereal and squash before but she was never too interested (or ready) so she's been on predominately breastmilk since she was born. Here are some pictures of her eating her yummy squash! She looks so tiny in her high chair, so adorable!

Since we are on this subject already, can I just add that I love watching people feed babies? Ok well, mostly Chad! He makes the funniest expressions as he spoonfeeds the kids. I remember once when he fed KJ, I was just cracking up at the table and he had no idea why so he continued to feed KJ, continued to make the face and I just kept laughing. I eventually told him, unfortunately I didn't get it on tape. I make a silly face too, I can feel it as I feed Lainee, I try not too... but its hard. It's like when you cut with scissors and your tongue is hanging out or you have some other strange thing happening with your mouth. You know, I may just have to devote a whole blog post to the strange faces people make as they do various activities. I think I will, so for now I'm looking for contributions for my next post. Please let me know if there is anything you can think of that you do with a strange/silly face. Pictures are a bonus!

Speaking of faces, KJ fell on his Saturday. There was some damage done to his teeth, well one tooth and his bottom lip. It seemed like any other fall (falling is a regular, daily occurence with this kid) so I didn't think much of it. I didn't see it because it happened on the other side of the kitchen island but he started crying real tears and when Chad picked him he noticed his mouth was bleeding a little. KJ had his binky in his mouth and when he fell he forgot to put his arms out so fell flat on his face and I think the binky caused the injury. He managed to push one of his top, front teeth back and he either bit or pinched his bottom lip. Poor little guy. I think the tooth is going to be ok and it looks as though it may even be coming back into it's correct place. Luckily, Keesha being a dental assistant, I was able to call her and get some peace of mind. Especially after hearing things like he could have cut a root/get an infection/black tooth/etc... Here is a picture of the little guy the day after his fall. If you really look you can maybe see the injury but it's not so bad and like I said, it seems to be healing nicely!

(No, the fall did not cause the chocolate milk stain around his mouth)

So, I've managed to stick to my New Year's resolution to work out and lose some weight. I'm now working out twice a day. Jillian Michael's Shred video is in the morning and Wii Active 30 Day Challenge is in the afternoon/evening. I don't work out twice EVERY day, the challenge is a 2 day on, 1 day off workout so that gives me a little bit of a break. I'm just happy to be getting back into the routine of working out. I don't have any before pictures, well not any that I will post. I'm using some of the full-length photos from the cabin (which I cropped for your viewing pleasure (if you saw them)). I'm also (or at least trying) to cut back on sweets and trying to incorporate more veggies. As long as I can get the eating better part down I should hopefully be able to lose the 20-30 pounds I want to drop!

Bringing In 2010

Well the end of 2009 was a whirwind of activities and travel! We ended up having 4 Christmases (nothing like the movie, though!) and the kiddos got very spoiled on each one!

Christmas #1: Our house with Nana and Papa
Last year my parents came down and we opened presents, had breakfast and then had prime rib dinner later on in the day, we did the same thing again this year and both times we had a lot of fun and a lot of yummy food. Who knows, maybe it will be a new tradition! KJ & Lainee got loads and loads of gifts and both had their favorites. KJ's: The Buzz Lightyear & Woody Interactive Action Figures and Lainee's: The wrapping paper!

Christmas #2: In Shelton at Chad's Uncle Bob's and Shelly's House

So much fun to spend time with family in Shelton. We don't get to see them very often, so it's really great to get together with everyone we visit! KJ had a lot of fun playing with cousins and again opening gifts. Lainee got lots of loves by relatives who told us how much she has grown in the last few months. We know she is growing fast but don't see the huge difference like those who don't see her everyday!

Christmas #3: In Shelton with Chad's Mom and Grandma

Once again a lot of spoiling and good times! We all got a lot of neat gifts and it's always fun to have those smaller, more intimate times with just immediate family. Chad's mom doesn't get to see the kids very often so it's really great to see and spend time with her when the opportunity arrives!

Christmas #4: In Leavenworth With My Side of the Family

So, back in September, Nicole and I planned a trip to Leavenworth for the whole family and it was SO MUCH fun!! It was so great to spend a few days with everyone in one place. We played lots of games, ate a lot of good food and did some shopping (and falling, on my part) in downtown Leavenworth. We also celebrated Christmas there with everyone. KJ loves seeings his aunts and uncles so he had a lot of fun (when he wasn't having melt-downs).

Here are some more pictures from the cabin:

Happy New Year! Wishing you all a happy, healthy and safe 2010!!