Look at Maddie

Alright, I know I've been posting a lot of Maddie lately, but seriously she's so cute it's hard not too. PLUS, she lets me take pictures of her. Boston runs away from me every time he sees me holding a camera. Check out my little Christmas Angel. :)








I know, You're jealous and you wish she were yours. I am one LUCKY DUCK!

Christmas

I have LOVED this Christmas! My house is a mess, but this is the first year I've been HOME! No working at 5:00 am, no finals to worry about. Just two little handfuls needing love and attention.

The other night Boston and I had some time to just hangout. We spent our time playing around with the Christmas train and marveling at the tree. Ok, not marveling, but enjoying the tree. I love this little boy. He drives me nuts sometimes, but I wouldn't trade him for the world!



He's starting to realize what happens on Christmas, but still is a little fuzzy on the details. He knows Santa will bring toys, and that he lives on the moon. Not sure where that last bit of information came from, but he's convinced.



I know this one is blurry, but this is Boston's new hat. He loves to run around with his laundry basket on his head. I just thought it was cute. :)

If you want to laugh....

You pretty much have to check out this blog. I think it's my new favorite. I spent way too much time reading it when I should've been asleep in bed. : )

Enjoy!

http://itjustgetsstranger.blogspot.com/

Our little Parrot/Dad of the Year

Our little Parrot

So the other day I'm driving with Boston & Maddie and I'm taking to Boston and pointing out all the Christmas lights when suddenly a little voice in the back says "SHUT UP MOMMY!" at first it didn't click, but then I heard again "SHUT UP MOMMY!!!"
I gasped! Almost crashed the car, and while completely stunned explained why we don't say that, ever. At first he was mad that he got in trouble and yelled at me, and then he felt bad and kept saying "I no hit people mommy. I no hit people. I nice people, mommy." It was sweet.
I was literally in shock for two days after that. My baby told me to shut up. And not very nicely. There is no protecting him from the world. All I can do is teach him, and hope my rules stick and not the world's. lol. He's never said it again.
He's becoming a little parrot. We have to be super careful about what we say around him. Tonight as I was putting Maddie to bed, he was playing in her room beside me and he dropped something. Suddenly, he said "Oh Crap." And then he trips and said "What the..." It's amazing. He here's it once, and then picks it up and starts using it.
Kids.


Dad of the Year!

So our dryer has been taking forever to dry. Chris says we need a new one, but before we spend $1000 I wanted to get a repairman to come and check it out. So The repair man says he'll be there at 12:30pm. Well 1pm comes around and he's not here yet. The kids were asleep, so I woke chris up form his nap and told him the the repair guy would be there any minute and to stay awake to let him in. So I go to the dentist (2 cavities, lame) and when I get home, Maddie is upstairs whining in her crib. I notice there's a receipt from the repair man on the dryer and got Maddie and went on with my day. Around 6 pm that night Chris says,
"Did you pay the repairman?"
"No, Didn't you?" I say.
"No, weren't you here when he was here?" he asks me.
"No, Weren't you here?" I say?
"Well, yeah, but you got home before he left and paid him I thought" He said.
"When I got home there was a receipt on the dryer, and you were asleep."
We both just stared at each other for a minute and then we realized that he hadn't got paid.
I called him and apologized for not paying him. He said that Chris let him in, and then laid down on his bed while he cleaned and checked the dryer. He said that Maddie started crying, and Chris wasn't waking up. He was a little worried about the baby, so he went and tried to wake up Chris by shaking his leg and tapping him on the arm. He said "Sir? Your baby's awake." But Chris didn't wake up. So the guy, not knowing what to do, went into Maddie's room, gave her a pacifier to calm her down, left her door open and our bedroom door open, and left the receipt on the dryer.
Luckily, he was a nice guy, and was laughing as he told me. lol. Chris was so embarrassed! In his defense, the night before was the Qualtrics work party and we were up until 11. So Chris had been up since 2am, and then only got 3 hours of sleep on top of it.

My Little Boy

Oh, Boston.

What can I say about my little boy.

Opinionated, stubborn, demanding, and yet so sweet. He wakes up in the morning and calls for me. When I go in and get him, he throws his arms around me and says "I wuv you mommy!" Then when Maddie wakes up, he runs into her room, looks over the side of her crib and says "Hi baby girl!" Then he demands to hold her, and when he's holding her he puts his face right up next to hers and says "I wuv you baby girl Maddie!"

Through out the day we have our little meltdowns, and battles, but over all I just love this little guy guy of mine! His new way to be funny is to say say "Hey Wachel, guess what?" Then I say, "I'm MOMMY" and he says, "No, Wachel" and laughs and laughs. He loves to make people laugh.

One of my favorite times of the day is bedtime. Usually, the two of us go into his room, and he picks a book for us to read. Then we finish, and he asks for another book. I tell him it's going to be the last one, but usually we end up reading 5 or 6. I love just having time with just him! The he gives me a hug, a kiss, double checks his lightening McQueen cars, and says " I wuv you mommy."

He also loves to be the bad guy. He puts his head down, and runs, while looking at the floor, scowling/snarling. Not sure where it came from, but it's hilarious.

His overall demeanor is so different from our little Miss Maddie, but he adds so much to our family!

He does not like having his pictures taken. Something about holding still and smiling is, in his mind, the worst possible thing we could ever ask him to do!

We tried to take big family pictures with Chris's side of the family over Thanksgiving and this gives you an idea of what we got out of him.

This is him telling me to stop taking his picture...




This is him running while we tried to get him to come sit down and join the family pictures.





Half of the time you just see his arm or leg in the picture as he's running out the frame. Maybe one day....

My Baby Girl

This post is all about Maddie.

She is coming up on 5 months, and it's amazing watching her change. Yesterday, I sat her down and she just kind of stayed there! I can't leave her, but she'll stay up on her own for about 1 minute or so. I already have the next pictures I'm going to take of her planned out in my head, but I have to wait until she's a little more stable.

She is finally on a schedule! Two naps and asleep from about 7:30pm to 8am! Granted, she'll wake up usually 3 times in there somewhere, but sleep is sleep!

She is honestly the happiest, sweetest baby in the world! I'm so glad she's my baby! She has such a calming influence on our home it's amazing! I seriously LOVE her SO MUCH!!

I know I've said it before but I feel so lucky I get to be her mom!

Here are some cute pictures of my cute baby girl!

My Sweet Sister

My sister has lived with me for a little over a year and a half. She recently moved out and boy do we miss her! But I guess since she's leaving for Peru in a couple weeks, so she wanted to spend some time with my parents. Heaven knows I tried multiple times to keep her home, by setting her up, but to no avail. We did some pictures for her missionary plaque, and here are a couple of my favorites.

What boys do

What's more fun than taking family pictures? (Notice the toddler hand in the bottom right of the picture?)




Throwing rocks into the water of course!

October

It's 12:42 am and I should be sleeping. Instead I'm blogging...there's something wrong with me. Really.

The thing is, October has been such a FUN month! I had to post some of the things we've been up to, as well as a few MOVIES I've taken with my new iphone (LOVE).

When ever we go anywhere with these two, people think they are twins.


Boston figured since nobody else was really watching he would get upclose and personal with the chickens. He was shocked when the fox popped up, it scared him pretty good.


He loved the wheels in the maze! He kept cutting through the corn so he could get to the wheels faster.

I wish I had a video of this, but I missed it. I tried to put Boston in the little cow tractor pull, and once he realized I wasn't riding with him, it was GAME OVER! He had a look of panic on his face as the tractor pulled around the corner and was calling "MOMMY!!" Every adult was dying laughing. Then he disappeared around the corner and I thought "I've traumatized him for life." Just then the tractor driver runs around the corner carrying a screaming Boston. I guess he's not ready for independence yet.





His favorite part of the whole night was this Hay jumping thing. He and Ethan had a blast. What you don't see is them throwing the hay all over me. They thought it was hilarious.


Next up is the family Halloween Party.


This year we were a few family member short, but everybody had a blast.


We decided to see what Maddie would look like as a Canadian...She wasn't a fan.


My mom is always so creative. She's a black widow.

David is also creative. He's Canadian. Big stretch right?


Boston's first time with a Pinata. He wasn't too sure about it at first, but once he realized he was ALLOWED to hit something with a stick, he was all for it.


My brother David ALWAYS wins this...he has since he was two. Watch the video and you'll see why.

NEXT is Halloween:


I got so many compliments on our pumpkins! I was pretty proud of them. I'm a firm believer that you should have a pumpkin for each member of the family. I thought I'd carve mine and Maddie's, Chris would carve his and Boston's, and Mary would carve her own...but I ended up carving mine, Boston's, and Maddie's. Oh well. I can be super proud of myself.

I was thrilled that Boston still fit into his Dragon costume this year! Especially since Monsters and dragons are the coolest for him right now. He loves his costume and for the last couple days wants to wear it all day, even during naps.


We decided it would be more fun to go with our neighbors, who Boston LOVES! I was thrilled that the boys held still long enough to get anything decent.


We stayed out for almost 2 hours! We were so glad the weather was nice! I was even working up a sweat towards the end which is bound to happen when your toddler demands to be carried from house to house.
Can you see how much Loot he came home with? I mean seriously! And it was all good stuff too! Lucky kid.
We didn't have nearly as many Trick or Treaters this year. Usually we're lucky to have enough candy with two Costco bags, but this year, we barely made it through one. No clue what happened.

Boston's figured out that he loves suckers. Go figure.



I think this video speaks for itself.



I'm so glad that I get to be a stay at home mom so that I can catch moments like this!

He had no idea the marshmellow was on his head. He had picked all the other marshmellows out of the cereal, and left the rest. We're working on eating non-sugary things. Halloween doesn't help much.



And Last of all Maddie has started laughing. Here is a little taste of her cute laugh. She's doing it more and more often, but only for Chris.

Friends

These are our friends. We LOVE them! We have been so lucky to have these kids as neighbors and friends for Boston! The two little boys on the left moved, and we're all bummed out over that. They were awesome little play mates! (I couldn't get Boston to get in the picture for anything. Oh well.)

Baby V

Wow, I feel like I've come a LONG way since I started doing pictures a year and a half ago! I still have a lot to learn but I'm pretty proud of how far I've come. Meet Baby V. He is probably one of the most cooperative babies I've ever taken pictures of! He slept when we wanted him to sleep and was awake when we wanted him awake. Look at those eyes. Look at that face! He's going to be a heart breaker for sure! More pics of this little darling boy to come!

Maddie's Blessing

Maddie's blessing was wonderful. I wasn't thinking too clearly when I bought her blessing dress. I bought a beautiful silky dress, but it made Maddie very slippery to hold while she was squirming up there. I'm glad Chris was able to hold on to her.

Little Miss Maddie is my little angel. She is so patient, and just has a calm about her. Her favorite thing in the world is to smile and try to talk to you as you smile and talk to her. She is a daddy's girl already. She LOVES to hear Chris's voice and just hangout with him. She brings a wonderful spirit into our home and we are SO LUCKY to have her in our family!

Witches night out!

Finally, a night where I can be myself!

My friend Camie told me about this last year and it sounded like so much fun I wanted to bring the witches in my family. So we got what we thought was "decked out" and went to Gardner's Village for Witches night out. Turns out we were underdressed. Now that we know what to expect, next year we are going to be the talk of all the witches!







The thing we noticed was the higher the hat the cooler the costume was. Next year we're going for height!
Can't wait until next year!

Numbers....

My evening weight is 204.4

My morning weight is 200.2

So close to breaking that barrier.

I've had a few people tell me I'm brave for putting my weight on my blog and being so open about it.

Those numbers don't define me.

I'm SO MUCH MORE!

Those numbers mean that I love food. :) That I'm curvy. But what those numbers don't tell you is that I'm a happy person. I have interests and hobbies. I'm a good mom, a good friend, and I'll work really hard to bring happiness to those around me. Those numbers don't tell you about the service I give to others or the wife I am to my husband. By looking at those numbers you won't know that I love to sing and dance, run and do yoga.

You ever notice that when we fear something we don't like to talk about it? Like in Harry Potter and "He who must not be named". Harry was one of the very few people who used his name. And it gave him a sort of confidence and strength. It gave him courage and took away some of his fear. When he used the name of Voldemort, it took away a little of the power that Voldemort had over Harry.

Maybe it's the same thing with our weight. When we keep our weight a secret, it's giving power to those numbers. When we put them out there, they become just numbers. That's it. They're not scary or something to be ashamed of. Just numbers. And numbers that you can change or be proud of.

Maybe the reason there are so many body issues in the first place is because so many women give power to those numbers they see on the scale. They LET those NUMBERS define them. They look at those numbers and see just bad things. They don't dare to breath those numbers to another living soul because of the shame and embarrassment they bring. In turn, they connect those numbers with their view of their body. They're shamed and embarrassed by what they see on the scale and therefore, shamed and embarrassed by what they see in the mirror.

Those numbers define them.

So I ask you. Are you defined by numbers? Or do you really TRULY see yourself as SO MUCH MORE?

Call Me The BLACK HOLE

You know what I forgot while I was pregnant? I forgot how big my stomach is. I'm not talking about the look of it (that's an entirely different post), I'm talking about what I can cram inside.

Seriously I could out eat any of you PLUS your husbands, brothers, dads, neighbors, etc. I'm pretty sure of it.

Now that I'm trying to loose weight and watching portions very carefully, It's hitting me like a ton of bricks the recollection that I am a bottomless pit. Have you ever gone to lunch with friends, or family and the women order a sandwich and eat almost half and a couple fries, then leaning back in their seats declare themselves full? I know you know what I'm talking about. In fact, I bet you are one of those women.

What I can't decide is are you really as full as you so delicately declare or do you simply push aside half your food because you know you shouldn't eat the entire thing?

You know what I'm thinking as I watch you push your half finished plate away? I'm thinking:

"Oh man, I should probably do the same thing.

I'm going to put down my fork and be done...

(one minute later)

Well maybe one more bite...

(ten bites later)

Well there's only a little bit left. I should probably leave it on my plate...Or I'll just finish it up...

(after another minute)

Man, their food is still sitting there. I could eat that too. I'm still hungry. How do they do it? They probably are thinking about the amount I ate. Ugghhhh."

I'm sure you're sitting reading this thinking you know men who could put away more food than me. Honestly, There may be a few out there, but I easily find myself eating more than full grown men all the time.

Sometimes I find myself at dinner with my husband and his friends, and while they're all full with food still left on their plates, mine is licked clean and I'm snacking on what's left behind on theirs.

Let me tell you what I mean. I eat a Cafe Rio Salad, and I'm still hungry and could easily eat a second. I could down a whole pizza in probably ten minutes and still have room for more. Burger and fries? Try three burgers and everybody's fries, plus a shake and it doesn't even phase me. I'm not making this up.

I watch other people become full after only a few bites, and I'm amazed. I often find myself having to tell myself that I've had enough and I shouldn't eat any more...and then I do.

So let me ask you, do you honestly get full after a few bites or do you push the food aside pretending to be full because that's what girls are supposed to do? And if you're a guy, what do you think of a girl who finishes her plate, while you leave food on yours?

Again, maybe I just feel this way because I'm trying to lose weight, but seriously. Even at my skinniest I could out eat any girl without blinking an eye. Will I ever be a girl who can push away half of a burger claiming to be full and actually mean it?

I doubt it.

Cookies, Chocolates, and Miss Maddie

This week seems to have flown by! I began the week by making Chocolate Chip cookies. That was probably my mistake of the week, because with in 24 hours all of the cookies were gone and when the final tally was taken Boston had 1 cookie, Mary had 1 cookie, Chris had five, and I had...well...the rest. Do we really need to put a number on it?

Those sweet little cookies were begging me to eat them, and I figured if out of sight out of mind right?...

I was justifying. I know.

Did you know that if you start the day off with 5 cookies you will be craving sugar like a crazy person the rest of the day?

Yeah, so did I.

Well, it's in the past now, and since I finished the last cookie I haven't had any more cookies. :) Let's not even mention all the Chocolates I ate that Chris brought home from his latest trip to Europe...

I was super careful the rest of the week and wound up losing 4.4 pounds this week, weighting in at 204.6.

On a even better note, my sweet Maddie has begun to sleep. I mean, really sleep. In turn, I've begun to sleep, and as long as I don't fall asleep in the rocking chair I wake up in the morning feeling pretty well rested.
It blows my mind how fast she's growing. She's such a happy baby! She loves to smile and just take in everything that is going on around her. I wouldn't trade her for the world. I don't know that I would have said that even a month ago. :) Here are some pictures of my sweet baby girl.

Look at that face!!!


She loves her brother, most of the time. You can't see it, but he's driving his Lightening McQueen car on her tummy.


Seriously, have you seen a cuter baby? (not counting your own)

I also went to a workshop this weekend and learned some ways to improve my pictures. I'll post some of those soon. I also have done some newborn sessions and have a family session this week. So far I've loved some of the pictures we've gotten out of them. Here are a couple of cute baby Austin.