1460 days.....ok 4 years

Brian and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary last month. It's funny how most people say, "I can't believe it's been that long, time has just flown by," and instead I think "4 years, it's only been that long?" Probably because we were married on our 5 1/2 dating anniversary. It's been a great 4 years of marriage though. I'm so thankful. Technically we've been together for 9 1/2 years now. I'll never forget our first date back when I was 15 to a Christmas dance. Check out these dorks:


On our actual anniversary I had to go take 2 exams. Boy, that was so romantic. But when we got home from the tests, Brian had gone to the store and bought me a dozen white roses. I was so impressed by his sweet gift, since we're not really the gift giving types. He loves me!
About a week later we were able to actually celebrate our anniversary. We got all dressed up, dropped the kids off at my good friend, Kasie's house, and went out to Rodizio's Grill a really nice Brazilian steakhouse. It was lovely to be away from the kids for an evening. Ever since my family moved, I haven't had a night away. So it had been 18 months of kids every night and no date away. It was SO yummy! We stuffed ourselves on so much food and had a really nice evening to ourselves.

Oh how I've missed you, my blog

Life has been a whirlwind lately. We've been so busy that I have neglected writing down our everyday adventures. So, in the past 2 months, this is what we've been up to.

We've gone to the zoo many times. We've also gone to the park a lot! It's been SO nice to enjoy the few beautiful spring days outside in the fresh air.


We finally got a new couch! This was a pretty big deal to me since I was pretty sick of the tiny loveseat that we have had for the past 4 years or so.

I ran my first 5k! I ran it in 29:07!! It was such a terrific experience! I loved being a part of it.

We had a lovely Easter. I made a fabulous turkey dinner and we enjoyed hunting for Easter eggs and getting dressed up and going to church.


Lily got her very first bike! She was so excited about it!


Benny has started walking really well! He wants to be outside 24/7. His new favorite word is "Dat." He's also finally started sleeping through the night. I can finally put him in the crib at night (sharing a room with Lily)!



I finished the spring semester with excellent grades. I started summer semester the beginning of May and it is killing me! I have two very fast-paced classes. I am so worn out! Then I start another one when these are finished.

Lily graduated from preschool! I really loved the Royal Tots preschool and I'm so happy she had the chance to go there. She's also registered for kindergarten now!
Brian's been able to enjoy a few long weekends with us! It's SO nice for him to finally have a job that he gets to have paid time off! I feel like we see him so much more often. Plus, he's also gotten some new train cars and track! He's been very excited about that!


I've lost 21 pounds since October now! That's about 45 pounds in the past year! I am less than 5 pounds away from a healthy BMI finally! I have also lost about 13 inches in the past year and I can't believe that I may finally get to my goal! My final goal will be about 10 more pounds!

Getting Healthy

So for the past few months I've been trying to get healthy. I got involved in this great website called My Fitness Pal. I completely recommend it to anyone. I think it's a phenomenal website for helping in the weight loss process. It is a calorie counter but even more than that, you have a plethora of people who are just like you, trying to get on the right track to a healthy lifestyle and I've met some of the most supportive and genuinely nice people on this website.

I've been running a lot! And I mean a lot. I can barely go a day without going out for my afternoon run, ipod attached to my ears, jamming Aerosmith. I am surprised that I finally love running. I used to dream about running, hoping that I would someday love it. Now I can finally say I do. I run about 2-3 miles, depending on the day. I run in the rain and the snow. I'm a little crazy to say the least. I know for a fact it has boosted my self-esteem and has made me so much stronger. I am signing up for a 5k in April, and it's a weird feeling to know I'll be able to actually run the whole thing.



Besides the exercise part, I've also been eating well. I finally have weaned myself off this sugar addiction and have replaced my empty calories with some good old fashioned fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats. I feel like I'm doing my body a good favor and making some long-term lifestyle changes.



So since October, I've lost 14 pounds. And since about a year ago, right after having Benjamin, I've lost almost 40 pounds. I only have about 11-12 more pounds before I'm at my goal. This is the smallest I've been weight-wise since I was 15 years old. I feel like maybe I'll actually get to my goal finally instead of dreaming of it in the future. I know I owe this to myself, to my kids, and I love that I can see my hard work finally paying off.

MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Happy Birthday Benny

Benny had his 1st birthday and it was a super fun day! I can't believe he is 1 already! I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. I am so happy to have my little boy. I'll never forget the stark difference in my labor with Benjamin as compared to Lily. I swear that his labor experience of having a VBAC healed me emotionally a little. I can't wait to see Benny grow up and change everyday.
His accomplishments as a new 1 year old:
- He can now say All Done! It's so cute, he says it for everything, All done eating, all done sleeping, all done playing.
-He also says "Uh Oh!" every time he drops something. It's adorable.
-He is still cruising on everything possible - not quite walking yet. I try to let go of him while he's "finger-walking" but he just gets scared and sits down. He'll get there soon enough!
-He is completely weaned and drinks real cow's milk from his sippy.
- He has started climbing on everything. I've found him standing on chairs, step stools, boxes. I'm sure someday I'll find him on the counter or something.
- He is still not a good sleeper, but I think we're slowly making progress. At least that's me being optimistic. I hope he'll be a good sleeper soon!
-He kinda tapered down on his growth spurt. He was 19 pounds in December, and he's now just over 19 pounds. I think all these sicknesses are hurting his eating habits. He's well right now! I hope he's done being sick for a while!



For Benny's birthday we had such a blast. I was planning on taking him either to the park or the zoo but the weather has been awful so we just spent the day inside playing. We took him out to Warren's for french fries because they are his favorite. We had Grandma and Grandpa B over and did presents and cupcakes. Then that evening, we got on Skype to open Grammy and Papa's presents with them.

Lily sang Happy Birthday to Benny all day
Benny eating his favorite snack
Presents!
Benny's so lovey! He kept kissing his toys!

Sweet little laughs
Cake Time!
He didn't know what to do!
Nom Nom Nom
My kids are such clean freaks. Both Lily and Benny decided to cry when they got all messy with the cake on their first birthday's!

Sweet little prayers

I've been reading the Children's Bible to Lily lately and the sweetest thing happened. After reading her the story of Jesus wanting to see the children, she asks me, "Mama, can Jesus come to Roy, Utah? I want him to hug and hold me like that story." I told her, "Jesus is already in Roy, Utah, Jesus is everywhere, in the trees, the wind and in our hearts." And then I asked her, "Do you want Jesus in your heart, so He can hug you anytime you want?" She tells me she does. So I told her, "Well all you have to do is say, 'Jesus, I want you to come live in my heart.'" She makes this goofy scrunched up nose look and says, "Jesus can't hear me." So I tell her that of course, "Jesus can hear you anywhere you are, because he's everywhere." My sweet little Lily Bug says, "Jesus, I want you to come live in my heart."

So there you have it. It doesn't take fancy words and big church services to know who Jesus is. It really is that simple. I want to have a sweet, child-like spirit like Lily. It's so fresh and full of wonder. I can only pray that I can keep teaching her everything she wants to know about Jesus.

Ever since this night we've been reading all the wonderful Jesus stories and she's been praying every night. She often brings up that she wishes that Jesus would hug her. She said today she wanted to fly like a bird up to Jesus.

I love that Lily knows how special and how amazing Jesus is. God's love is contagious. Like a brushfire, spreading to every willing heart.

"Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”" Matthew 19:13

Sometimes Reality Bites

So, I posted this great big dreams for the new year and then reality starts to sink in. We talked to our realtor and our house is not going to sell for what we want. We'd end up in the owing, and we put so much money into our house already. So it looks like we'll have at least 1 more year here in Utah. Maybe it's where God wants us to be right now. It's not so bad, but sometimes the whole reality thing feels like a smack in the face. We have a good life here in Utah. We'll make the best of it I know.

So here's my revised hopes and dreams for 2011:

1. Keep going to school. I'm hoping to graduate in the spring of 2012, if I work hard enough I think I can do it. Take the GRE so I can go to grad school, at the University of Tennessee. I'm hoping to get into their College Student Personell program along with an assistantship that will give me free tuition plus I'll be paid for working for them. If I get this opportunity, I think it will make moving easier!
2. Keep being healthy! I want to keep running and eating well. I would love to be at my long-term goal weight by the end of the year. Only 17 pounds to go!
3. Pay off some debt. Less debt means moving might be easier
4. I would love to hope and dream for my own car. We've been a 1 car family for 3 years now. It's been affordable but hard on me to be stuck at home while Brian's working. If we're able to do it, I would love it. Plus it will help get me to and from school.
3. Get Benny to sleep through the night. I'm so tired, enough said.
4. Get Lily into kindergarten, see her start to really succeed in school. Hopefully start teaching her how to read!
5. I really want to start painting again. I miss it so bad and I feel this desire in the back of my head, trying to get me to start again.
6. Start singing in church again. I miss being able to serve in this way. Alpine seems like the kind of church to get really involved in and is a good place for people who feel called to serve.


So here's me looking on the bright side. Everything happens for a reason.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

9-10 months old

It's so hard to keep up with my growing boy. He's 11 months today, so I better get caught up on his accomplishments for 9-10 months old.

- He weighs about 20 pounds now
- He has 8 teeth now! He's been the crabbiest baby!
- He now enjoys making a mess, to my dismay
- He dances anytime he hears music, it's the cutest thing you'd ever see
- He claps his hands when he's happy
- He shakes his head no when we tell him no. Sometimes just for fun too.
- He gives big, sloppy, open mouth baby kisses. And he gives hugs too
- He cruises on all the furniture, walls, and even walks behinds me while holding onto my legs.
- He does the whole finger grab walk (holds my fingers while he walks)
- He sings when I sing.
- He is drinking formula out of a cup - I'm hoping to have him weaned very soon!
- He still sleeps like a newborn, I wish I could figure it out. I'm just guessing that my kids don't like to sleep, since Lily did the same thing
- He has started eating some big boy food like chicken nuggets, cheese, and crackers.
- He is learning how to say "All done." But doesn't say many other words.

I can't believe that he's going to be 1 next month! My baby is growing up!
-

So long 2010

The new year has come, and now I'm just barely getting to write about it. Wasn't 2010 just a fabulous year! Last year I wrote:

Some goals I have for 2010 are:
1. Get this baby outta me! :) Hopefully without a c-section.
2. Hopefully lose a majority of the baby weight, if not all of it.
3. Move to Tennessee! Get a better paying, and better benefited job for Brian.
4. Keep going to school as long as I'm in Utah.
5. Try to afford preschool for Lily.

I have to say that I've done quite well! I had my beautiful baby boy without a c-section, check! I lost all the baby weight! Yup, 32 pounds, lost, check! WOOO! We didn't get to move to Tennessee. But Brian did get a better paying and better benefited job, check! I'm still going to school and doing quite wonderfully, check! Lily got to go to preschool which has been the best thing for her, check! Way to go me for setting some realistic goals.

So 2010 was a fantastic year.

My hopes and dreams for 2011
1. Move to Knoxville, Tennessee this year. We are currently attempting to clean the house up to get it ready to be put on the market in February. The market isn't looking too good, but if God wants us to move, He can definitely make it happen.
2. Get into a bigger house. We are so growing out of this one.
3. Get Brian into another good company that really takes care of him. Maybe even get a job out of the truck driving business.
4. Keep going to school. I can transfer to University of Tennessee if we do move this year.
5. Get Benny to sleep through the night. I'm so tired, enough said.
6. Get Lily into kindergarten, see her start to really succeed in school. Hopefully start teaching her how to read!
7. I really want to start painting again. I miss it so bad and I feel this desire in the back of my head, trying to get me to start again.
8. Keep being healthy! I want to keep running and eating well. I would love to be at my long-term goal weight by the end of the year. Only 17 pounds to go!
9. I would love to hope and dream for my own car. We've been a 1 car family for 3 years now. It's been affordable but hard on me to be stuck at home while Brian's working. If we're able to do it, I would love it, but I can probably go one more year if it means moving this year instead.
10. Start the process of being completely debt free. I don't think we can do it this year especially if we move, but I'm hoping in the next 2 years to be debt free!

Happy new year everyone!

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow!"

Christmas Celebration Day 9 - Last Day

The last day of the trip was bittersweet. I was very sad to be leaving and was going to miss my family so much. But part of me, the extremely tired part was happy to be going home because I was exhausted. On this last day, we drove into Johnson City and met everyone at the Cracker Barrel for lunch. My Grandma and Rhonda were there as well as my other uncle and aunt, Brad and Tammie and their son Corion. It was really nice to see everyone one last time before we left. I love my family.
Here are the last pictures of our fun time: