#3 Picture

Here's my ultrasound picture.



Baby #3 is so-far healthy and strong. I've been doing well considering first trimester icky-ness. But still not too bad. You just learn to live with it. Caleb is convinced it's a boy....he wants a brother SO bad. I keep telling him it could be a brother or a sister. He understands, but he's still hoping for a boy. For HIS sake, I think I want it to be a boy too.....but honestly I don't care either way.

My due date is July 31st......which means this little thing could be born on or before Caleb's birthday (July 25th). We're all excited!

back up

Please read the post titled "black friday" first. You'll understand why you'll want to read them in that order, after you do it. :) I'll post pictures hopefully later today.

baby steps....

Last Friday I went in for my first doctor's appointment. Parker took work off so he'd get a chance to see the baby. Only to find out, that I wasn't actually SCHEDULED for an ultrasound. WHAT? With my other 2 kids I always got an ultrasound on the first appointment. Apparently you have to SCHEDULE an ultrasound separately now. GRR! This means Parker took work off to watch me get blood drawn and get a pap smear. WHOOPIE. I felt so bad. Now the ultrasound is scheduled for this coming Friday. And Parker has to work. So I'll get to call him and let him know how it went. Hopefully no big surprises like twins or something. ;) It's also disappointing because.....I just thought I'd know by now if the baby was ok. As soon as I found out I wasn't getting an ultrasound, I said, "Well...how do we know if the baby's ok?" I told them about my sister who had a miscarriage but her body still thought she was pregnant. No bleeding. No cramping. But at HER first ultrasound there was no heartbeat. The nurse looked at me and said, "Yeah....that actually happens quite a bit. I'd say once or twice a week for our practice." I'm thinking...WHAT?!! WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS IF YOU'RE NOT LETTING ME GET AN ULTRASOUND!? Holy cow. So now we have one more week of suspense. I sure hope everything is ok.

I've been feeling pretty icky. I'm so tired after work. It's a wonder ANYONE gets fed. My bathrooms haven't been cleaned in a month. I keep telling myself I need to do it, but I'm JUST SO TIRED all the time. And 2 hours before and after each meal I just feel nauseated. I haven't lost my lunch.....yet. Wouldn't it be nice if I could just SKIP that part. But I seriously doubt it.

Christmas this year is at our house. This is a first for me. Paul and Claudia are coming over Christmas Eve for dinner. I'm excited to be the hostess. But all of the sudden I have SO MUCH more admiration for my mom. How did she do it all these years? I don't know how I'm gonna fix all those caseroles with ONE OVEN! Not to mention the HAM! Pies will have to be made the day before. But seriously, I'm kinda freaking out a little bit.

Then there's Christmas morning. We have church at 9:00. NINE! How inconvenient! It's hard to make it on time to church on any given Sunday.....but throw CHRISTMAS into the mix? I know Caleb will be disappointed, but I think we're gonna hold off on presents till church is over. And there's no skipping church either. First of all it's Christmas. Secondly I'm singing in Sacrament. There's no getting around it.

I hate that I have to work this week. I was asked to feed this missionaries this week, but I had to say no. With work, and Christmas and how EXTRA TIRED I am all the time, I really just can't add that burden right now. I hope they find someone else to do it. I felt bad.

Hopefully after this Friday I'll be able to publish these blog posts and share the news with everyone. For now I just save it in the drafts. :) Merry Christmas!

Black Friday

I am writing this poast today (Dec 10) but I won't be publishing it for a week. On Black Friday we found out I was pregnant. I'd been off birth control for.....like 30 seconds. Ok not really. But I went off the pill, and 2 weeks later got pregnant. I have a doctor's appointment next Friday the 16th. The first doctors appointment is ALWAYS kinda nerve-racking for me. Because it's the appointment where you find out if there's anything wrong. If there's a silent miscarriage. If the baby's gonna be ok. If there's as heartbeat.......of if there's......more than one. There's a lot to worry about. And NOT a lot you can do about it until then. I hope everything is ok. This is why this post won't go up for a week. If there IS anything wrong.....it won't be going up AT ALL I suppose.

For the past 2 days the naseua has started to set in. It's not bad or anything.....It's not like I'm gonna puke every time I brush my teeth (at least not yet.....we ALWAYS get to that eventually). But I just feel icky. If I'm SLIGHTLY hungry, I don't feel well. And if I'm REALLY hungry I wanna curl up and die. I'm EXTRA tired. By 9:30 I'm out of gas. It makes it hard since I REALLY enjoy my evenings after the kids have gone to bed. There's not much time to have any kind of fun when you're dozing off as soon as the kids have gone down. Oh well.

No motivation to cook. No motivation to eat. OH AND LETS not forget that diet I'd been doing. That all came to a CRASHING halt too. I lost 10 pounds in 3 weeks. Not too bad. I would have done SOOO well if I could have kept on going. But that's ALWAYS how it goes. I lose weight- and I get pregnant. Apparently they go hand-in-hand. Oh well. I know how to do it now. And I'll start again after the baby's born. Although I always feel hungry.....sometimes the feeling of being full- is much worse. At the moment- the thought of morning sickness is FAR MORE daunting than the thought of going through labor. I REALLY don't enjoy feeling like this EVERY DAY for weeks and weeks. At least with labor- it only lasts a few hours....it has an end.

Anyway. We're very excited about our Summer surprise. July is going to be an exciting month. Garrett gets home from his mission. Jared comes home form Afganistan. And we will be having a new family member. I don't actually have a due date yet (since I haven't been to the doctor yet). But I'm guessing it'll be the end of July....maybe early August. I'm not so excited about this first trimester. I think I've kinda blocked it out with each kid so far. I definately think it's the WORST part about being pregnant. We'll see how it goes.

Play Time

On Tuesday I didn't have any patients until 1:00. So I got to hang out at home with Angie while Caleb was at school. This.....NEVER happens. I'm off on Fridays, but Angie and I go grocery shopping while Caleb is in school, and we always get back right as he's getting out. So this day was EXTRA special. I sat in her bedroom and just let her play. I can't believe how big she's getting. She's changed so much lately. This video may not seem like anything special to any of you. But it was a moment that I got to share with her....just the two of us. And I'm glad I grabbed the camera so I could remember.

Finally Finished

The first step to getting the house ready for Christmas was getting a bunk bed. This was necessary because Angie's Christmas present this year (actually it's kinda for both of the kids) is a toy kitchen set. It's rather large- and we needed to make room for it. By putting the kids in bunk-beds we could open up an entire wall in their bedroom. We found this thing on craigslist. They were asking 250 OBO. We got them down to 180. It's used. It has scratches and dents. But it was cheap. We were worried we were going to have to spend around 400 dollars to get bunkbeds in the house. So this was MUCH better. We were worried how Angie would handle the new bed. I was expecting several long nights involving her getting out of bed. The first night she got out of bed twice. Then....nothing. It's been about a week now, and she has only gotten out of bed in the middle of the night one other time. Most of the time going down to bed hasn't been near as bad as we'd worried either. Once in a while (when she's kinda wired) we have to put her back in bed a couple of times. But for the most part.....she just lies there till she falls asleep.

Last night was the first night of her falling off the bed. I heard her crying pretty hard around 1:00. I went in there, and she had climbed up the ladder and was crying in Caleb's face. HOW DID SHE GET UP THERE? Caleb then sat up and informed me she'd fallen out of the bed, and then climbed the ladder. Good thing he's there to explain things....I would have thought she'd been sleep-walking! Overall- the transition has been VERY smooth. I can't complain too much. Caleb LOVES the top bunk. And he's VERY excited to show everyone who comes over to visit or play.

With the bunkbed in place, the crib came OUT and was moved to the other bedroom. To make room for the crib- the piano had to be taken out of the bedroom and put back into the living room. I must confess- I MUCH prefer having the piano in the living room anyway. First of all it gets played more. And lets face it- a living room ALWAYS looks better with a piano. BUT with the piano back in the living room, something ELSE had to go. The cedar chest is back in my room (which is ok) and the bookshelf had to be moved to make room for the tree in the corner. The bookshelf is in the computer room. And it looks nice there. But OOOH I HATE moving the bookshelf! It's such a royal pain!

Somehow through all this, we managed to NOT move the TV. THANK YOU. So here's what the living room looks like with its new decor:I actually REALLY like it. The tree was ALSO an ordeal this year. Over thanksgiving, my mom decided to get herself a new pre-lit tree. Not that I blame her. Her old tree is 30 years old. It's BEAUTIFUL once it's set-up.....but it's a ROYAL pain getting it there. So. Since mom has a NEW tree....I wanted the old one. We've always gone to the mountains and cut one down.....but I grew up with this tree. And it's just so pretty. I've always loved it. So I told mom I wanted it. Things got sticky though. Over Thanksgiving we drove the CAR to Boise. We didn't even have room for the Christmas presents we'd bought on Black Friday....let alone this christmas tree. Well luckily the following Friday- Parker was going back to Boise for work. So he said he'd pick everything up and bring it home. That Friday was kinda rough on me. I just had a long day. And I was looking forward to doing what I WANTED TO DO (which was put up the tree) that evening....instead of feeding and bathing and cooking and hushing the whining. But. Parker took the CAR AGAIN to boise. (His first thought was, it gets better gas mileage...so I'll take that). So with all the christmas presents, there was no room for the tree. He called me when he was half-way home and said he wasn't bringing the tree. For some reason this ruined my day. And I was actually quite emotional for the rest of the evening. It's just when you plan on something all day, and then at the end of the day you find out your plans are no longer possible. It's just frustrating. And I was less than thrilled.

But a few hours later we got lucky. Derek and Amanda were making a trip to Twin Falls the next day (Saturday) to go to the Temple. They said they'd bring the tree. PHEW! This made things better for me. So Saturday I set up the tree. Now let me show you the diagram on the tree box. It's laughable. I've always found it humorous. HA! It shows a girl drag out the box. Pull out the tree and shake it. Then stand it up and look at it- all pretty and finished. YEAH RIGHT! The tree is in 3 pieces. The branches fold up- but after being in a box for a year, the wired "pine needles" are all SMASHED and need a delicate hand to fan them out properly. Since it's mostly wire, you can imagine what's happened after 30 years of bending. Smashing and un-smashing. I'd say we lose about 5 to 8 wire branches every time the tree goes up. But it's not too bad. Once the tree is up, and shaped the way you like it- you have to put on the lights. To run the lights up and down EACH ARM takes over an hour. Then the ribbon takes me probably 15 minutes. The the decorations (the funnest part, but yes also the FASTEST) takes about 5 minutes. From start-to-finish, this tree takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours to put up. But it SURE is lovely!
When the Christmas stuff came out, Angie's first thing to do was put the stockings on her feet. Caleb saw what she was doing and quickly decided he should do the same (funny- usually it's her copying him....but apparently it goes both ways).It was pretty cute. Of course I can NEVER get thses kids to hold still long enough for a legitimate picture. Here's the best I could get. Anyway. It's finally Christmastime at our house. This weekend I'll be making peppermint bark and I've allready done my 2nd pair of pumpkin pies. :) Watch out if you come visit. I listen to Christmas music non-stop. And believe it or not- my collection is quite good. I REALLY like it.

SO MUCH WORK!

Every year it seems like getting the Christmas tree into this house is SO MUCH WORK! Last year in order to bring in the Christmas tree, the piano had to be moved out of the living room and into Angie's room. But there wouldn't be enough room in Angie's room so we put Angie and Caleb together in his room. Well THIS year we want to get the kids on bunk beds. We found the bunk beds on craigslist and got them for 180 dollars (they were asking 250), so we were pretty happy with the deal (even though they're used, and have a few dents and scratches....no biggie). But now this means we need another twin size mattress. So until we get one, Angie is STILL in her crib....which means we can't move it to the other room again, which means we can't move the piano BACK into the living room and the bookshelf will need to go into the other bedroom again. BAH! Parker will be bringing the Christmas tree home tonight.

I really do have a LOT more to blog about. But writing that last paragraph just about took all I've got right now......my house is a DISASTER because we were gone last week for Thanksgiving. I will do more catching up (complete with pictures) once the tree goes up.

This week....

I'm realizing that my blog has been mostly about my diet lately. And although it's kinda a big deal for me right now....since I think about it CONSTANTLY.....I thought you might like to know of some of the OTHER things that have been going on this week: Pictured above is my orchid. It was a gift from my boss for national hygienist's week. It was huge, and beautiful and white. The blossoms lasted about 4 months.....then they fell off and one of the long stems shriveled up. But the other one stayed green. I wondered if it was dead (knowing NOTHING about orchids)....but I kept watering it. Then a few days ago I noticed these green stems coming out of the long tall green stem. YAY! It's growing! I can't tell you how excited I was......it really is a low-maintenance plant. I love it.

And yesterday I decided to make something from PINTEREST. Mostly I spend my time on pinterest just sitting and staring....and laughing. But I won't lie.....I RARELY do much with all the ideas that I see on there. But yesterday I decided to make a Christmas wreath. Every year I see those BEAUTIFUL ones at Costco and I want one SOOO bad. They're only like 40 bucks or something. Yeah. I could never justify it. Last year I got a FRESH wreath for 15 dollars and decided it was a good buy because I wonldn't have to find a place to store it when the season is over. Well. This year it's a ornament bulb wreath. Ten bucks. Five for the gold bulbs. Five for the red. And a wire hanger....which I allready had. And a glue gun.....which I DIDN'T have, but 3 bucks later and now I have the capability to make MORE things from Pinterest right? Yeah....I'll just keep thinking that.

Today I added a big red bow on top as well. It looks awesome. I can't wait for Thanksgiving to be over so I can hang it on my door.

This week I also carved 2 pumpkins, cooked them, skinned them, mashed them and froze them for future use of pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin bread. I actually DID take a picture of this too. If you look at the orchid picture, and you look BEYOND the plant, onto the kitchen counter behind it.....you'll see a big orange bowl full of orange pumpkin pieces waiting to cool. Then today Parker begged me to make some pies. This.....gets a little tricky for me. I LOVE pumpkin pie (who doesn't?) but I'm on a STRICT diet right now. I told him I'd make the pies. But he had to promise to take one to work on Monday and the other one must be GONE by Monday night. He agreed.....and I started baking. Aren't I nice? Not even a taste from me. But I am happy my family will enjoy them. And I will enjoy a piece or two on Thanksgiving day.
Then also this Thursday our Relief Society had an enrichment project. They had this group called "Poppy Seed Projects" come and help us make these LARGE temple pictures. Pictures JUST LIKE THIS are going for 150-200 bucks at Costco right now. These were 57.50. But yes, we had to assemble them ourselves. No biggie. It was fun. It took about an hour. Basicly glue the picture to the board, paint the frame, screw on the hardware on the back, and paint some canvas-texture onto the front. It turned out SOOOO good. As soon as I got it home, I regretted only buying one. I should have gotten TWO. or even THREE! My parents or my inlaws don't have a temple picture. But.....it's too late. oh well. I LOVE mine!

Come to my house and see it for yourself!! I feel like it TOTALLY changes the way my living room looks!

Eight

I just thought I'd announce for anybody who cares to know......
I've lost 8 pounds and 3 inches.

Back in July before I started exercising, I weighed 167.2 lbs (DANG I can't believe I ever let it get that high!) and when I quit exercising I was at 159.2.

THEN I started this diet almost 3 weeks ago. Weight STILL at 159.2 and this morning the scale was at 151.2.

I'M ALMOST IN THE 140's!!!!!!!!!

So that means I've lost 8 lbs on this diet......and 16 pounds since last summer! YAY!! Feels great!

Family Pictures

I'm sure everybody's seen these on Facebook allready- since they're only about 2 weeks old. But here's our family pictures. Or at least a few of my favorites. Incase you were wondering (as I'm sure none of you care or noticed except me)....these were taken 3 days before I started my diet. :) I was a miserable emotional wreck before these pictures. I was so worried that I was gonna hate them. So worried I was gonna look.....well for lack of a better word: fat. But honestly they didn't turn out too bad. And I have to give props to our photographer: Tasha Thompson. Angie was a royal pain. We're lucky we got ANYTHING good of her.

Well....here they are!

12 days

I really don't know how many people care about this, but it's SURE a huge part of my life right now. I'm 12 days into this diet. I haven't slipped up, and this morning the scale read 154.2 lbs! I can't even express how much I want to rejoice. I've also lost 2 inches on my waist....and maybe more everywhere else. I can tell. There's.......less to look at if you know what I mean. My pants are DEFINATELY loose. That's 5 lbs down. I started at 159.

No bread is hard. No potatoes.....that makes it hard when I'm trying to make soups that are "legal" for me to eat. But it's paying off. I'm not about to quit yet!

Diet through the Holidays?

AM I CRAZY?!! After my failed exercise attempt I was feeling pretty down on myself. And last week we got family pictures done. Every day leading up to that Saturday, I WAS A MESS. I was emotional about EVERYTHING. I think I cried every day. And I was so nervous about those stupid family pictures. I just knew I was gonna hate them. Because as lame as it is, that we're all so vain that we look at ONLY OURSELVES in pictures........it's DEFINATELY the case for me. And I was just worrying myself to death that I was gonna look fat in those pictures. Once again, I want to explain that I know I'm not like super over-weight. But I'm not as skinny as I used to be, AND not the size or shape that I WANT to be. I HATE being the biggest of my sisters. I know I'm the tallest and it'll always be that way. But.....I know there are things I can do to make it not as obvious. So I'm starting a DIET this time.

I DO KNOW that the best way to lose weight is DIET AND EXERCISE. But I am NOT in a place where I can exercise right now. BUT. I CAN practice a little self-control at each meal and we'll see if that doesn't improve my waistline.

Now. My husband thinks this diet is extreme. But....I really don't thinks so. Here's what it is.
*No sugar. Natural sugars from fruit yes. No treats, candies, or FOODS WITH ADDED SUGAR.
*No bread.
*No foods with white flour (which for me, since I currently do not have a wheat grinder, means no flour). It's ok. I can handle it.
*Low-fat or non-fat wherever else you can manage (milk, butter, salad dressings, etc.)
*AND HERE'S THE KICKER: 1200 calories a day.

In all honesty. It's not that hard. 1200 calories keeps me full. The hard part is facing the CRAVINGS. The snacks and halloween candy is ALL AROUND. And it takes so much control to not snatch them and eat them at first sight. And I don't feel near as desparate for those foods after I've eaten.

I've read that abs are 75% diet and 25% exercise. If that is true, then this diet should make a big difference for me. I started on Tuesday. November 1st. So it hasn't even been a week yet. Counting calories gets pretty easy once you get used to it. And telling myself "NO. You don't NEED that".......is definately the hardest part. Why am I doing it through the Holidays? Because it's the most important time. AND.....because it's now. And I'm ready now.

Thanksgiving is in 3 weeks. I will have pie on thanksgiving. But not before, and not after. I'll have sweet potatoes instead of mashed potatoes. I'll make good decisions where I can. But maybe some jell-o salad if I wish. And then it's back to business. Thanksgiving lasts a day. Not a week. :)

You come to the point where you just can't hate yourself. And although I really don't want to say that's how I feel.....there were TIMES.....when I felt disgusted. And when that happens, motivation is just around the corner. And although it's only been 6 days.....do I detect? Are my pants a little loose? ;)

Grown up

I just can't help but notice how much my Angie-Angelina has grown up lately.

I feel like she grows right in my arms. Like every time I pick her up she's taller, heavier, and cuter. Her language has EXPLODED and she's.......not a baby anymore. She's so sweet and cuddly- especially when she's tired. And just when I feel like I've bought enough clothes for a season....she outgrows them and I have to get all new ones. Her hair is FINALLY starting to get a little longer.....although still very much like a baby chick: fuzzy and out of control. But she's at least getting some length in the back near the top of her head. She has a nice "alfalfa" tail at times.

She's obsessed with shoes, her blanket, and her sippie cup. Her favorite game is to put a bag over her shoulder (purse, tote, whatever she can find) and then walk into the closet, and while closing the door she'll say, "Bye bye!" And she'll KEEP saying it until you acknowledge and say, "Bye Angie! See you later." Then she'll shut the door and wait quietly for a minute, before emerging from the closet and yelling, "HI!!!!"

She's a genius climber, which means she's a genius faller. :) She always has bumps on her forehead, and must have a "kiss it better" for every bump, bruise, or scratch. If she finds nail clippers lying around, she'll pick them up and try to clip your toenails while saying, "Feet! Feet!"

She won't say her own name, but she will point to herself. She refuses to say "please" but she will use the sign for it.

She loves to be read to, especially her favorite book, "B is for Bear" touch-and-feel book. She knows it by heart.

She'll eat anything, but if she doesn't like it, she'll just hold it in her cheeks forever and won't swallow.

I just thought I'd post a few things. This all seems like common knowledge to me right now. But I know a few years from now I may not remember. She's adorable. And a pain in the butt. Always climbing and dumping. Today she emptied the utensil drawer so she could SIT in it. She'll refuse to eat her own food....but as soon as I get her out of the high-chair, she'll climb up on a bar stool and finish Caleb's meal. Even if it's the SAME thing.

She's FINALLY letting me brush her teeth by saying, "CHEESE!" and I can usually get a few scrubs on those top front teeth before she decides to bite the toothbrush.

And she LOVES to dance! Any kind of fun music and she'll start to bend her little knees and nod her head. She ALWAYS dances to the credits on "Tangled."

She's my little sweetheart, and she's gonna be TWO in just a few months!

Wash the Washer

Meet my washing machine.....

It's ancient.
When Parker and I got married, we needed laundry machines. My parents found this guy that had repaired these old dinosaurs, and we got the washer and the dryer (A MATCHING SET!) for 300 bucks.

It has NEVER failed me. But it's nothing special. If you've got stains on your clothes, you'd better spray them with shout or spray-n-wash and let it sit for 30 minutes before throwing them in this thing. Even grass stains (which from all of my childhood memories SHOULD come out in the wash with NO special treatment) must be spot-treated first. But....honestly a little spray and even the stains go away. The point is it works, and it always has. I really don't care for it, but it works and if I get a new washing machine- I want a front-loader. And those get expensive.

For a couple months now, my washing machine has been emitting a ...... smell...... when I run it. My clothes smell fine, and don't seem to be any less clean than ever before. But it smelled like.....a dirty pipe. Mildew. Scum. Rank. Anyway. I started thinking to myself, "Maybe it's gonna die!" (wouldn't THAT be awful.....) I told Parker we need to be prepared to be getting a new washing machine within the next few months because I had NO idea how long this old thing was gonna last. We shopped around a little. The ones I wanted are pretty expensive. Ok. Maybe we can hold out a little longer.

Then one day I saw something on Pinterest (another story for another post). "How to clean your washing machine." WHAT? You're supposed to CLEAN your washing machine? (Maybe THAT'S why it stinks....). Simple really. Fill the machine with hot water and then STOP the cycle and add 2 cups of vinegar. Let it sit for 1 hour. Finish the cycle. Then repeat, only this time add 2 cups of bleach. So I did.

While I waswaiting for the 2nd hour (with the bleach) to go by, I decided to scrub some of the grime off the lid. I did NOT take any pictures before I cleaned. It's too emberassing. It's too gross. The AFTER pictures look bad enough because of all the rust. Anyway. I couldn't believe how much grime could reside on a FLAT surface! And in each of those corners!......ick. It was nasty people. I used an old toothbrush and lime-away. I tried to not let the lime-away drip into the actual machine that was full of water and bleach. Although some DID get in.

See all those many tiny "nubs" around the top of that agitator? That was full of grime. And what comes next was BY FAR the worst part of this entire endeavor. Apparently there's a little rubber liner near the opening of the machine. I've never noticed it before and so OF COURSE I've never cleaned it!
The under-side of that rubber liner had a slime-layer SO thinck that the toothbrush came out FULL of grime after a 2-inch pass. Yuck. And then if you look below....
This little hole? It was almost half occluded by grime. I'm confident that THAT'S where the smell was coming from. That hole is where the water comes out for the rinse cycle or something.....I think.
And then there was near the hinges around the lid. I had to spray lime-away and LET IT SIT before the grime would come off.

Then lets not forget the lid itself:
And there was some rust that wouldn't come off no matter how I tried. And lets be honest. I wasn't gonna try TOO hard. This thing's a dinosaur.

And this pictuer below made me laugh. Once I cleaned this spot, I realized that wasn't a blob of rust. That's the BUTTON that stops the washer when you open the lid. Rusted on all sides, but it still works!
And the lint-catcher. I'm SO emberassed to say that it was a completely different color before I cleaned it.
And now the finished product.

It's still old and rusty. But at least it doesn't stink when I run it anymore. In fact. It actually smells good when I run it! And another tip I learned from pinterest: add 1 cup of lemon juice to your whites to brighten them up (and it smells good too).

Fat

After about 3 weeks with no updates in the "90 day challenge" department, I decided to let everybody assume whatever they wanted to assume. Either I was still at it and quit blogging about it (I WISH that were the case) or I'd quit all together, and just never said anything. Well, it's true I quit. It all happened about the same time that school started for Caleb. And with Fall creeping in, I was no longer running in the morning sun. Around the time I quit, it was dark when I started and dark when I finished. I can't believe how much harder it got!! During this time, we also had some things going on with our back yard.....and honestly though it's nothing more than a garb of "EXCUSES"......they began to pile up. It's just too hard I would tell myself everytime I thought about it. And I LIKE to run outside. I DO NOT enjoy working out inside the house. And I don't exactly feel very safe running in the dark. Morning or night. I'm busy! I work! My kids are little! My son just started school. I'm lucky if I can make a meal at the end of the day, let alone fit in a 30 minute workout. It's something I SHOULD do, but at this point in my life it's just not possible.

But here's something that HAS happened in the last 3 weeks. All those inches that I've lost...... well they're back. No I haven't measured. I'm too ashamed. But I can feel it. And I hate it. All those size 8 jeans sitting in my drawer that I was SO CLOSE to fitting into. Now I'm back where I started. Everything is tight. And for lack of a better word, I just feel FAT. I'm sorry to be graphic, but the roll on my waist that presents itself every time I sit just makes me feel...... so awful. I know my size and the challenge it presents IS NOTHING compared to what so many others have to deal with. But it's an honest dilema for me, and it weighs on my mind heavily.

THE ABSALUTE WORST part about all of this, is that when I decide to get back with the program.....I will be back at square one. That alone was a HUGE reason to keep going. But I didn't. Now when I run, I'll be out of breath. My lungs will burn. And I will feel like I have to slow down and walk.....either that or die. And for the first week I will be sore. The first week is painful. And SO un-fun.

But I see other women, thin and toned. Most have had at least 2 children as well (the onces I compare myself to). If they can do it why can't I? LOOK AT HER! Does she have to try as hard as I do? Most likely not. But forget about comparing myself to others. Everybody knows you're not supposed to do that. If there's anything that will get me back into this, it's the way I feel about myself. And there are times, when the way I feel is nothing short of disgusted. I have the makings of a double-chin (shut up. It's MY blog.) I notice in some pictures of myself, and every time I look in the mirror. And my waist. The constant reminder that I am NOT where I want to be. 2 kids is NO excuse.

So now, I have to turn this.....blah feeling.....into motivation. Again. Parker keeps telling me he'll get up with me at 6:00 (seriously....it's really NOT that early. But when you're a night-owl it truly feels like it) and he'll either work-out with me or do homework. Maybe if I can get him to commit......I can get myself back to where I was. But even without him.....I've gotta do this. Because hating myself for quitting- is no way to live.

Angie Language

Angie has NO volume control. She is always yelling at me. And it's always the same thing, "Mom!"

"Moooom!"
"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM!" Each yell is louder and louder, and does NOT stop until I respond. But....she doesn't ever give me TIME to respond either. She just yells my name over and over again. Riding in the car is a nightmare, because she's CONSTANTLY yelling my name and most of the time she doesn't have anything to say. And since she can't carry a conversation. Sometimes the response, "What Angie?" is not enough. She wants me to interpret what she's trying to say. So when I hear, "Mom! Mom! Maaaaa! MAAAAA!"
"What Angie?"

"Dah guh bee!" (or WHATEVER she jabbers at the time) if she's pointing out the window at something, I have to try to interpret:

"Do you see some cows?" (or whatever may be interesting at the time). Usually that satisfies her. For about 30 seconds. Then she's at it again.

Also she is the queen of "No." It's her first response to EVERY question. She'll point at her sippy cup and yell "A Guhink!" so I'll ask, "Do you want your drink?"

"No."

Since I KNOW that's what she DOES want I'll tell her, "Say YES Angie." Then she'll say it in her own adorable way, "Yyyyyyyeah!" (usually included with a little jump or clap.) Here's a video of her doing JUST that.


I don't really recall Caleb being as busy or difficult as her. It may be because she hit the terrible two's so early, or that Caleb's terrible twos were so long ago I've just forgotten. Either way, she's a HANDFUL. Very sweet and much more cuddly than Caleb ever was.....but BUSY. Very busy. She'll be two in 4 months. I just can't believe she's been with us that long. She is JUST ABOUT the age that Caleb was when I graduated Dental Hygiene School. I just can't even fathom that. She's saying so many things:

"Uh cowwer" (I want to color)

"Day doo" (Thank you)

"Bee bee" (Baby)

her FAVORITE: "Naaaaakk!" (Snack) This one can be heard at FULL VOLUME every sunday in church when the sacrament trays are being passed around.

"Kayb" (Caleb)

"Pa pa" (Grandpa)

"Uhh yuuu" (love you)

"Mom"
"Daddy"

"Uh Shoe" (I want my shoes)

"Pree" (pretty)

"Owwww-shy!" (outside)

"Uh haow" (my hair)

"Feet"

"eyes" (always included with a poke in the eye)

"Go go!"

"Bum bum" ANY mention of her bum and she patts her fanny with her hand. Then she has to go around and find YOUR bum bum and pat it too.

"Guhink" (drink)

"Kiyyyeee" (kitty)

I'm sure as soon as I think of all the words she can say, it'll be time to make a new list because she says about a new word a day. "Cowwr" (color) was yesterday's word.

I love my girl. She really is a sweetheart.

Caleb Language

Caleb is constantly growing and learning "phrases of the world" special thanks to school, and daycare with older kids. Now don't get me wrong. The daycare my kids go to is a member of our ward. The primary president actually. They are very good people and I trust them completely. But her kids are much older and I find Caleb learning words or phrases that aren't necessarily "bad words" but not exactly things I want my 5-year-old saying either. For example (and Caleb ALWAYS asks before he says it, which is good. But he asks me SEVERAL times a day about different things which we can or cannot say) he'll say,
"Mom- can we say stupid?"
"Well CAleb, we don't call people stupid."

or

"Mom I HATE Angie's shoes. Can I say I hate her shoes?"
Puzzled, at why he even cared, I asked, "WHY do you hate her shoes? You don't wear them?"
"Mom, I just hate them."
I decided to take a different approach (since he CHERISHES his own shoes).
"Well would you like it if I said I hate YOUR shoes?"
"No! MOM! These are my NEW shoes!"
I then went on to explain to him the golden rule, how we don't say things to other people if we wouldn't want them to say it to us. I think he understood, but it still hasn't stopped the questions. He's also asked if we can call people "fat." This is a hard one, because of course the people/person he wants to call "fat" usually is. Once again, I tried to explain to him that we can't say things to people that would hurt their feelings. I'm glad he's asking first, but my first instinct is always, "Where did you hear that?" I suppose I should quit asking since he's in school, and there are things entering his brain other than what I CHOOSE to teach him. I just have to make sure I teach him right when he DOES ask.

Meanwhile, he has also been testing his "respectful" boundries. He knows that we are supposed to be respectful to people that are older than us. But sometimes he'll say things with an attitude and it completely shocks me. He really is such a sweetheart, and very tenderhearted. But sometimes I get a glimpse of the attitude. It seems we get more outbursts in the evening, when he's tired, hungry or both. The other evening I had put Angie to bed a little early, and he was still up. He was whining about something (probably having a snack before bed, which is usually out of the question) and I said to him, "Caleb be quiet, you're gonna wake up Angie." and he looked at me and said,
"No YOU be quiet."

Whoo. I had to surpress my first instinct to walk over there and slap his mouth. Instead I got a very stern look on my face and said, "You do NOT talk to me like that Caleb." I gave him his hundredth lecture on respect, which was quickly followed by an even LOUDER tear-filled sob, "I'M SORRY!!!!" He does NOT like to get into trouble. Once this happens, explaining ANYTHING is almost pointless because he just won't stop crying. At this point he usually starts rattling off made-up excuses between the tears,
"Mom, I wasn't talking to YOU! I was talking to a DIFFERENT mom!"

Ok. Now the LYING lecture. This is a new one. He's said things like this a few times to get out of trouble. I've had to explain to him that it's more important to tell the truth than to try to keep out of trouble. I think he's understanding this pretty well. He still does it once in a while, but now when I ask him why he did or said that, it's followed by a tear-filled
" MOM, I just wasn't THINKING!"

Ok. Some honesty. I can handle that. No you WEREN'T thinking.

I want my readers to know, I've just made a list of about all the bad things Caleb says, it probably sounds pretty bad. But he's not like that all the time, or even most of the time. He is an awesome kid, and most of the time very nice, and respectful. He's just learning I guess.
On a lighter note, as a 5-year-old he still mis-pronounces several words and it makes me laugh. I have chosen to NOT correct him on these ones, because it's just so cute. And I know it will correct itself with time. Especially now that he's in school. One I hear the most,
"Mumber." This is how he says "Number." I hear this one several times a day, and he's been learning his numbers in Kindergarten. So cute.
Another one, (my personal favorite) "Wuffabout?" This is how he says, "What about?" Example:
"Mom, wuffabout Dad? Is he coming too?"
Then there's "Not opposed" which is how he says "not supposed." I hear this one all the time too as he's correcting his sister.
"Angie! You're not opposed to throw food on the floor!"
Then there's "That whys." instead of "That's why." That one makes me smile every time too.

Then finally I just had to share this. On Thursday morning, Parker gave Caleb a father's blessing before his first day of school. After Parker left, Caleb asked me, "Mom do we get magic when daddy gives us a blessing?"
I wanted to laugh, I explained to him that a blessing is when daddy uses the Priesthood, the power of God, to help you to choose the right and be happy. He then asked, "Is DADDY magic?" Smiling again, I told him the difference between magic and the power of God. Mostly that the power of God is real, and that magic is not. I told him that with the power of the priesthood, you could heal the sick, or do miracles like Jesus did. Then he asked my favorite question.
"Do I have the priesthood like daddy?"
Then I got to tell him that if he could choose the right, and be good he would get the priesthood when he turned twelve. Satisfied with that answer, we went on with our day. Caleb is such an awesome kid. He is so full of faith, and very sweet. I have loved watching him grow and I am so excited to see what an awesome young man he will turn out to be.

Kindergarten Orientation

This morning we took Caleb to Kindergarten orientation. They're doing it kinda weird I think. They've split his class in half for orientation, and the first half goes Tuesday (today) and the second half goes Wednesday (tomorrow). As a result his first REAL day of school isn't until Thursday. So today we got to meet his techer, and he got to see his classroom and put all his stuff in a cubby.
I must say, I think I held it together pretty well. His teacher, Mrs. Snow, had the kids color a picture and try writing their name while she talked to us about schedules, pick-up and drop-off times and so on. Then she had some papers for us to fill out while she read a story to the kids. Not a bad idea. Parker went into work late so we could both meet his teacher and see his classroom. I was glad he was there. But, THEN I started listening to the story she was reading to those kids. It's called "The Kissing Hand." Have you ever heard of this book?!!
It's a New York Times best-seller, and HOLY COW! I really thought I had it together until I started listening to this book. I turned into a blubbering basket-case, and could hardly read the writing on the papers I was supposed to be filling out. Luckily I wasn't the only mom in there that was wiping her face. But I have no doubt I was the worst.

He made me so proud. He would raise his hand for every question she asked, even if he didn't know the answer, because he was so excited to participate. I could hardly even look at him without my eyes welling up. When did he grow up? Life is forever changed from this point on. He will be a student for the next thirteen years AT LEAST. He's not a baby anymore. He's not a toddler anymore. He's not even LITTLE anymore!! I couldn't let myself think about it in there. I was pathetic. And yes I took my camera to the school. I WAS that parent shooting pictures of my kid standing in front of the door. Because he IS my first kid. And as much as he grows, he is still MY baby. And I REFUSE to let myself forget what this boy was like when he was little.

He was excited to see all of the things there were to play with in his classroom. And then disappointed when he found out he was going to have to wait another 2 days before he could play with them. ANOTHER thing I was surprised about......they have KINDERGARTEN kids doing PE, and music, AND computer lab! I don't remember doing those activities in kindergarten. Oh he's gonna love it!
I am so excited to watch my boy learn from school. I think primary at church has helped him a lot to know how he's supposed to behave in a classroom. He's not too chatty, and he listens well and raises his hand.

Don't mind me, if this Thursday, I'm out there with my camera again, drying my tears as he walks into his classroom. I am hardly even working this week. Monday was a holiday. I took Today off so I could go to his orientation. And tomorrow will be the only day I work. Because since Thursday is his first REAL day of school, I took off work then as well. He will only have his "first-day-of school-EVER" once. So I will use my vacation to make sure I'm there for it.

I sure love my boy. He makes me so proud. I thought he'd be scared or nervous about today, but he wasn't. He's just so grown-up. I seriously don't know when it happened.

Back yar......back dirt. :)

Last Spring we had a ward auction. It lasted well into the evening, and although we attended as a family, after about 9:00 I decided I'd take the kids home and put them to bed while Parker stayed at the church to bid on the itmes we still wanted.

About 11:00 PM he comes home and I asked him how much he spent. He hesitated. He then informed me of a service package that had been donated. "8 hours of labor from Clark Construction". He tells me that the bids got REALLY high, and that such a service would be what it takes to get our yard ready to plant. Excited that he'd seen an opportunity to get our back yard done, I didn't complain about the extra cost I hadn't anticipated. I'm sure if we'd hired a professional it would have costed MUCH MUCH more.

Months went by. And I was so hoping that THIS summer I would get to send my children outside to play. Our back yard is FENCED! But it's been nothing but weeds for 2 summers now. Coordinating our schedules was.....difficult. Parker decided to take This Friday (yesterday) off work so we could spend some quality time on the back yard before it gets cold. We'd called Bro. C. several times and left messages that we'd like him to work Friday if he was available.

Yesterday morning came, and we were lazing around the house. Still in our jammies. Then the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, I saw Brother C. standing there. His truck was pulling his bobcat tractor which was parked on the street in front of our house. "Do you guys want me to work today?"
"Really?!! I thought you guys were out of town! Yes we'd LOVE to work on the yard today!"
So I went and told Parker (who was in the shower). He quickly jumped out, dried off, and threw on his work clothes to go help. I was so surprised at how well that Bobcat removed the weeds, and then the dirt!

The problem with our back yard is that since our house was the very FIRST to be built in the neighborhood, the entire yard is sloped and un-even. Honestly I think that the builders were kinda lazy with....MORE than a few things.


Brother C. and his bobcat removed 15 cubic yards of dirt from our back yard. That was 3 dump-trucks FULL! I couldn't believe it! And mostly because looking back there now.....it doesn't look like ther could have been an extra 15 yards of dirt on all that. But now the ground is even. There are only a coupld steps left before we can plant grass. We have to dig around the fence-line since the bobcat can't go RIGHT up next to the fence, we will have to do that by hand. But Parker did a little section while Brother C. went to dump his truck. It won't take long. Then we'll have to borrow Parker's dad's rota-tiller and soften up the ground. Then we'll lay grass seed. We broke some sprinkler lines in the process. Parker will have to fix those as well. But the hard part is done. And I'm so excited.

So now our back yard is no longer weeds. Not quite able to call it a yard yet. It's just all dirt now. But one more step in the direction of having a yard. I'm completely THRILLED!

Lagoon

Last week we went to Lagoon with our family and Parker's parents. The pictures are on Parker's iphone so I'm making this post to hold a place in the time-line of the blog. I'll finish this post later today. We had lots of fun. The kids did great.! We were thinking they'd only last 5 hours tops. We were there from 12:00 to 7:00! Angie had had enough. Caleb wanted to keep going. At 42" tall, he was able to ride a majority of the rides this year. His favorite: the Bat! It's a suspended roller-coaster. (The track is over your head instead of under your feet). His OTHER favorite was the BRAND-NEW ride this year: Bambora. He called it "the blue roller-coaster." Very fast. Very smooth. Very short. He loved it! The line moves really fast as well. So he got to go on this one 3 times.

We spent the majority of the time taking the kids on Kiddie rides. Angie was even able to go on a few. Which she loved, and then SCREAMED when we had to pull her off. But she was mostly happy for the entire trip. Parker and I were able to break away from the kids to hit our favorite ride, "Wicked" which starts off going 0 to 55 mph in like 4 seconds. During that massive acceleration is a vertical climb, and then a vertical drop. Nice. One of my favorites by far. Rivaling only a few others I've been on. "Screamin" at California Adventure, and "Powder Keg" at Silver Dollar City in Branson. Here take a look. Here's the full ride on video:


When we left, I was sure both of the kids would crash within the first 10 minutes of the drive home. Caleb yes. He was pooped. And he has always been a good "car-sleeper." Angie continues to surprise me. Just when I think I've got her figured out, she does something I don't expect. She did NOT fall asleep in the first 10 minutes. Or 20. Or the first hour. After that I turned on our DVD player and put on her favorite movie "Tangled." She watched for another hour. And fel asleep 15 minutes before we arrived in Burley. Seriously? She's SOOOO strong-willed! Sooooo stubborn! I KNOW she was tired. She was EXTREMELY cranky by the time we left the park. No sir. Not gonna sleep in the car. I suppose I should ALWAYS count on that. She hardly EVER sleeps in the car. Anyway. We had such a blast.

Week 6- A total FLOP

Week 6 included a trip to Lagoon, the TWIN FALLS county fair, and now it's completely DARK at 6:00 AM. Results. Terrible eating and an extreme loss of motivation to exercise. I ran at 6:00 on Monday. Then I didn't go again till Yesterday (Friday). I was gonna run today, but the kids were being so cute this morning and Parker was gonna mow the lawn this morning, so I didn't want to leave them in his care while he was trying to do that. As it turned out, the lawn DIDN'T get mowed, and I didn't run. A double negative. That's a positive isn't it? I could still go tonight and make-up for it. Of course. Tonight's the BSU game vs. Georgia, so......that's not gonna happen.

In all honesty when I weighed myself yesterday, I was SURE that I would have gained everything back. I've been eating TERRIBLE. That day we went to Lagoon was ALL fast-food. And there have been other days that haven't been much better. Thank goodness I didn't gain anything. But I didn't lose anything either.

This marks the half-way point of my 90 day challenge. I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be. I haven't even lost 10 lbs. In all honesty I'm not trying very hard anymore either. I'm not doing any muscle-building, and I only run for 30 minutes (when I actually DO go). I'm eating better....but not great. Oh well. At least I'm maintaining a somewhat-healthy lifestyle. I guess that's most important. Here's the stats:

Starting weight: 167.2
Week 1: 163.4
Week 2: 161.2
Week 3: 161.2
Week 4: 161.2
Week 5: 159.2
Week 6: 159.2

Week 2 Waist: 35 1/2
Week 3 Waist: 34
Week 4 Waist: 33
Week 5 Waist 32 1/2
Week 6 Waist: 32 1/2

I really need to get it in gear. It's extra hard to get up early when Angie doesn't sleep through the night. As lame as that sounds......this week she hasn't slept through the night once. Oh no I lied. Monday she did. And wouldn't you know? Monday is the one day this week when I went running before work.

Here's to another week!

Onion Soup

Last week one of our patient brought a bunch of onions to the office. (It seems when harvest time comes around, everyone's giving away food). I decided to take a couple home. I allready had 2 onions in the fridge and so I decided I'd try to make some onion soup out of them. (I really don't cook with onions very often......like hardly ever.) Anyway. From the second I got home from work I was chopping and cooking. I had Parker pick up some french bread on his way home from work. I'd looked up a couple recipes on the internet, and was kinda making a goo-losch of all of them. They were all pretty much the same. LOTS of chopped onions. Beef broth. Some spices. 2-4 tablespoons of butter. Easy right? Well. As the onions started to soften, I did a taste test. It was pretty good. A little bland though. A little more beef flavor? Plus maybe a little more butter? That should do it. Well. That "a little more butter" ruined it completely. Every bite tasted like a stick of butter. Ick. I tried to dilute it, then add more beef broth. It wasn't working. Ok. I thought maybe I'll chop ANOTHER onion, cook it in a SEPARATE pot, and then pour it all into the soup. That should give it the flavor it needs. Nope. It still tasted like BUTTER. Completely frustrated, and 2 hours later; I dished up 3 bowls with a side of steamed green beans the neighbors had given us, and the bread Parker had brought home. Caleb and Parker sat down. I warned them,
"Guys, it probably doesn't taste that great......you won't hurt my feelings if you don't want to eat it."
Parker took a bite.
"Well?" I asked.
"It's not bad....."
"Really?"
"It's not GOOD...."
.....sigh. I look over to Caleb. "Well, what do YOU think?"
Caleb scoops himself a heaping bite and stuffs it into his mouth.
"I don't like it mommy." As he pushes it away.
Parker looks at me and says, "I'll eat the entire thing if you want me to. You NEVER mess up dinner, and it's not terrible...."
"No. You don't have to eat it."
I took a bite myself and gagged.
We ate beans and bread. Then here's the bad part. We were all still hungry. I started to cry. I hate making dinner on a work day. And I just WASTED two hours on a worthless meal. Caleb saw my tears and said, "Mommy.....thank you for making this beautiful dinner."
Now I'm sobbing.
"I'll take another bite, even though I don't like it mom...." and he heaves another bite of butter soup into his mouth.
Wow. What a sweetheart!
Crying even more, I gave him a hug.
My day was RUINED. I definately wasn't going to spend MORE time in the kitchen making something else......it was 7:30! And the kitchen was ALLREADY a big mess from the butter soup. Parker was right. I never mess up dinner. I mean, I've made things he doesn't care for as much....but I've never completely BOTCHED a meal before. Maybe I don't take enough risks....but do you SEE what happens when you do?

I spent another 5 minutes feeling sorry for myself. Then I looked at my family.
"Who's still hungry?!"
Parker and Caleb looked at eachother....
"Meee!!!" they yell together
"Who wants McDonalds?"
"Meeeeeeee!" they yelled again.

So I loaded the family up and we had fries and burgers for dinner. If only we'd just done that to begin with!! I don't think I'll ever look at onions the same way.....

Week 5 weigh-in

Today's stats are:
159.2 lbs

YAY! I'm hopefully OUT of the 161 slump!

32 1/2 in waist.

Sorry, I can't post the past-stats this time because I'm running out of time! Maybe I'll fix this later! Not as much progress as I'd hoped....but considering last week was fair week.....I'd say ANY loss is one to be appreciated!

Fair Week

Last week was the Cassia County Fair. Such a big deal to all the "Burley-ites." Parker's sisters, Katelyn and Robyn came into town for the occasion. It was so nice for the Lyons cousins to get to play together. We only get to see Robyn and her family a couple times a year. Caleb and Angie even spent 2 nights (Tuesday and Wednesday) at Grandma's house so that they could all spend more time together.

Tuesday was the concert. Darryl Worley. Wow. What a good concert! We loved it! He's quite the patriot. And he has written many songs dedicated to the people who fight for our country. One song in particular "Unsung Heroes" was written for the FAMILIES of those who are in the service of our country. Well I don't know if all of you know, but Katelyn's husband, Jared, is currently in Afganistan. That song was truly touching and we all held eachother and cried with Katelyn. She has an amazing husband. And SHE is stronger than I could ever imagine. SHE is an unsung hero. Please take a minute to listen to the song HERE.

Wednesday night Parker and I enjoyed an evening without the kids. ;) Good idea Grandma.

Thursday after work, I went and got the kids. We went to the fair again and I had a Greek Gyro for dinner. Wow. YUM. Yes I'm trying to lose weight....but I just LOVE fair food. I made just a FEW exceptions this week.



On Friday Robyn brought the kids to our house and we took the kids to the park to play. There was a moment where her son, Lucas, was playing with one of our solar lights from the pathway outside. Caleb told him not to play with it, and Lucas threw it at him. It hit him just outside his left eye.I don't think he understood how much that would hurt, but Caleb came into the house screaming....and Robyn drug Lucas OUT of the house screaming. He really is a sweet kid. And very fun and playful. Just a little over-the-top sometimes. ;) We love him though. I regret to report that the past 3 times Caleb and Lucas have played together, Caleb has been left with a few battle scars. Friday's was definately the worst so far though. Anyway. After the drama was over we rode bikes to the park and had the kids play for a little while.

Then on Saturday we went BACK to Burley so Parker could play his yearly "Birthday Golf" with his dad. And I got to spend a little more time with Robyn. I sure miss her. When we lived in Pocatello, she was my best friend. I was devastated when she moved away.

Anyway. The kids loved playing outside in Grandma's beautiful yard. You don't quite realize how much you appreciate GRASS until you've spent a little time in Vegas. Robyn's kids were in HEAVEN!

Saturday we also had a birthday party for Lucas. He turns four.....today actually. But they decided to throw him a party while he was with his grandparents. I ate pizza for dinner. It was good.....and I've just been hoping and hoping my 4 weeks of weight-loss isn't completely ruined.

Three day-trips to Burley and then on Sunday Parker's other sister, Jayne had her baby. So we're making another trip this evening to see her and baby Saije (pronounced "Sage").

We really enjoyed spending so much time with Parker's sisters last week. The fair is always a good excuse to get everybody together!