2012 goals

Because I was on bedrest at the beginning of the year, I tried not to even let myself think about my New Year Resolutions, but now that baby Kaimyn is here, I really need to put my thoughts somewhere while the motivation is still here... I gained a total of 11 pounds during this last pregnancy, 8 lb and 14 oz of it were my baby!! so i obviously am back to my pre-pregnancy weight already... but i still have a LONG way to go.. I intend to be back to my PRE-pregnancy weight... the weight i was before getting pregnant the FIRST time... and that will take a little while!!

Not only do I need to lose weight, but I also need to reconstruct my life in general... Before I got pregnant, I really wanted to go back to work.. I was over the "house mom" job, wanting more of a social life and tasks other than folding laundry and cleaning... With 5 children to take care of, it feels like I would be taking the "easy way out" pawning them off on someone else so I can have a social life.. but there are times that I would rather work 40 hours a week JUST to pay a maid, cook, and nanny! haha

However, after being on bedrest for the Majority of my pregnancy (accepting help from lots of wonderful friends in the meantime), I now want nothing more than to BE that stay at home mom right now...

to maintain a stress free and happy home,
to end each day with at least a clean kitchen and living room,
to have a well balanced meal prepared for my husband when he gets home from work,
to become more active and find things I enjoy outdoors,
to get ready at the beginning of the day, so I am not embarrassed when I see people
to balance my family's finances and save lots of money,
to teach my children that they don't have to rely on video games and tv for entertainment,
to have FUN and take more pictures with my family

When I think about all of these things, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by them and think there can't possibly be enough time in the day... but I know that the reason I haven't accomplished them already is because i have NEVER been good at following a schedule. so, at the end of every day, there is a list of unfinished tasks.. if i can finally learn how to stick to my schedule, i think these things can all get accomplished this year.. i don't have a plan in place quite yet, but i have every intention of posting it when i do :)

any tips you guys have would be greatly appreciated :)

30 day challenge

This looks fun, so i thought I would give it a try! I saw it on a friend's post as I was attempting to catch up on the 1000+ unread blog entries.. i think i need to do a purge of the blogs i rarely read.. (which is pretty much all of them right now, because the task seems so daunting!) It is supposed to be completed within 30 days, but i'm giving myself until the end of the year.. maybe then it will actually get accomplished! haha. Feel free to copy me, because obviously thats what i did!

day 1- recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
day 2- the meaning behind your blog name
day 3- a picture of you and your friends
day 4- a habit that you wish you didn’t have
day 5- a picture of somewhere you've been to
day 6- favorite super hero and why
day 7- a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
day 8- short term goals for this month and why
day 9- something you're proud of in the past few days
day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad
day 11- another picture of you and your friends
day 12- how you found out about blogger and why you have one
day 13- a letter to someone
day 14- a picture of you and your family
day 15- put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play
day 16- another picture of yourself
day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have
day 19- nicknames you have and why you have them
day 20- someone you love
day 21- a picture of something that makes you happy
day 22- what makes you different from everyone else
day 23- something you crave for a lot
day 24- your last five facebook status'
day 25- what I would find in your bag
day 26- what do you think about your friends
day 27- why are you doing this 30 day challenge
day 28- a picture of you from last year and now, how have you changed since then?
day 29- in this past month, what have you learned
day 30- your favorite song

Baby #5!!!

You may have already heard, but incase you haven't... my husband and I are expecting AGAIN! No, it wasn't planned... and yes, Logan was "supposed" to be our last.. but sometimes God has different plans for us.

I have had pregnancy symptoms for months now... but with Logan still so small, I didn't dare to take a pregnancy test! (He doesn't have any teeth yet, he started crawling a week ago, and he can say "dadda" and mumble baby words..)SO when he could FINALLY crawl, I decided it was time to find out what I secretly already knew.. I have never seen a "positive" reading appear that fast. Ever. SO, then it was time to find a way to tell my husband... We had a talk a few weeks ago, and I jokingly told him if i WAS pregnant, I wouldn't tell him for about 5 months so he wouldn't have to worry as long.. (Mostly because of finances... our doctor bills from the LAST pregnancy aren't paid off yet.. and lets face it-having babies are Expensive) So I planned on at LEAST waiting until Father's day.. But when I came out of the bathroom, I couldn't stop smiling.. He kept asking what I was smiling about, and I lied..

I knew I couldn't last a week, but I wanted to tell him in a cute way.. So I went to Pizza Hut and had them write "Baby #5" with olives.. I put a picture of the pregnancy test below the pizza and told him dinner was ready. He stared at the pizza for what seemed like forever, and when I gave him a hint, he started saying "No, No, No" over and over.. He calmed down a little, then got the same freaked-out smile I had.. Then I said, "See, THATS why I had to tell you... so we both can look like that!"


I feel like I have gone from one end of the spectrum to the other. As I mentioned in an older post, since I was 17 years old I was told I was infertile... and when I was 20 the doctor recommended having my ovaries removed.. so I KNOW what that feels like.... and NOW, lets just say I can also relate to those who feel like their diaper changing days will never end!

But to be completely honest, I love my children so much... so I know this is gonna work out! I might not have an immaculate house (lets face it, I already don't!) and I might have days where I don't want to get out of bed.. but this is just a small part of the picture... and eventually, it will be great to have them so close together...

Maddi and Logan are 21 months apart, and Logan and the new baby will be around 17 months apart.. so I will definitely have my hands full!

I have a feeling there won't be many "pregnancy pictures" of me this time around, but these are the most recent pictures I have, so you can get an idea of exactly how "little" my babies are!

Some of my favorites...

I was looking through my pictures on the computer, and I found a bunch that I forgot I had.. here are a few of my favorites..

I fell in love with my Milkman... literally...

People have asked how Stewart and I met, and it is a complicated story.. I usually don't want to (or have time to) get into it, but tonight I have a few moments to myself and feel like writing something.. so here it is, for anyone interested..

My aunt got me a job at Smith's Food and Drug when I was 17 years old.. I worked as a bagger at first, then later moved to Customer Service and the Fuel Center. Stewart worked Graveyard shift stocking shelves, so I didn't know him very well. He was married at the time and had 2 kids.. so he was obviously off limits. We were somewhere between acquaintances and friends.. chatting occasionally about meaningless things, and sometimes talking about his family. I do remember one night, he came in with electrical tape wrapped around his hand.. He had cut it pretty badly with glass right before he came to work. I told him it would get infected if it wasn't taken care of properly, and I ended up being the one to bandage it.. (Kinda cool now, cuz years later-he still has that scar, and I have the memory of nursing him back to health:)


I dated one of his friends, and went to a few barbecues at Stewart's house. Morgan was barely a year old, and Gabriel was 2 at the time. While it definitely wasn't "Love at first sight" with us, I always thought highly of him, and you might even say I had a crush on him... but I would never have acted on those feelings. One thing I will admit though, is that I didn't think things were going to work out with his first marriage. I wasn't anticipating failure, but a small part of me questioned whether he was really happy or not. I moved away a few times, but every time I came back to town I would casually ask how things were going with him and his wife... Each time he would say "Good" or "Okay" or something. Then one day inside Subway, I got an answer I wasn't expecting... (By this point he had moved to the Dairy department, and worked a semi-normal schedule)

I remember the day clearly... He came in with his friend Mike after they got back from the lake.. and when I asked the usual question, Mike said, "Didn't you hear? They are getting a divorce.." I truly felt bad for him, but instantly I saw a "Newly Available" sign above his head... I didn't act on anything, as I was planning on moving to Provo soon anyway. BUT in the meantime I made a lot of unnecessary trips to the Dairy Section, just to say hi :)

I dated a few people during this time, and when one relationship ended, I decided to make a trip to Vernal for the weekend.. I went on a date with one guy on Friday night, but it didn't really go great.. The next day, I was in Smith's, and my friend Ashley (who knew how much I liked Stewart-in fact, a lot of the girls at the store liked him..) asked if I had talked to him yet. I told her I didn't see him back there, but it wasn't a big deal. I left the store, and she called me on my cell. She told me he was in the back room, and she would stall until I got there, so I HAD to go back.. I told her I would, and turned around and headed back to the store..

When I got there, I was really embarrassed because I thought she told him about our conversation, but she assured me she hadn't.. We talked for several minutes, and he asked me on a date that night... I was leaving the next day, but decided it would be fun.

Our first date S.U.C.K.E.D... in fact, if it had been anyone else, I might not have gone on another one... Would you like to know what it consisted of?? HALO. And an extra player... Yeah, I spent the majority of my first "date" watching him and his friend play Halo for a few hours. When I finally said I was going to leave, he turned off the game and asked if I wanted to watch a movie, and I agreed to it..

We have literally talked EVERY day since then. I made a LOT of 3 hour trips back and forth (basically every day off I had). He came to visit me in the city, and thats when I decided he was a keeper. Plus, I loved his kids to DEATH and it was so hard watching him raise them by himself.. After nearly 3 months of weekly travel, I finally decided it was worth moving home for. And guess what.. It was. :) 4 years and 5 weeks later (1,496 days to be exact) he is still my best friend..

Maddi's Lingo

I have been trying to work with Madilynn on her Alphabet, Numbers, Colors, etc... and I wanted to write down what she says before she grows out of it... She is so exhaustingly adorable :) I just love her! (She turned 2 on November 7th.. even though sometimes I feel like I'm dealing with a teenager! ha)
Here she is talking on her cell phone with 3D Glasses on lol




Alphabet-I try to teach her the alphabet song All the time, and sometimes she cries, sometimes she just keeps saying E, and sometimes this is our conversation..
Me: Maddi can you say A?
Her: No.
Me: B?
Her: No.
Me: C?
Her: No. etc... Eventually she rolls her eyes at me (or starts crying) and I give up...

Counting-Maddi, lets count to 10! 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10....
Her: 8?? 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. (apparently 8 is her favorite number..)

Colors-Here is one that I can actually get her participation with... These are the colors, and then how SHE says them.. I love her little speech impediment :)

Blue: Bew
Black: Bat
Yellow: We-wow
Red: Wed
Green: Jean
Pink: Beent
Orange: Onj
Purple: Pubbow (sometimes she says Bubbow.. so when she wants her purple cup, it sounds like Bubble Butt :)

Other fun things she says:

Gabriel: Way Wo
Morgan: Mor Din
Logan: Odin or Wo Win

Elephant: Eppodent
Duck: Dudth (like width)
Spoon: Schoon
Okay: O Hay
"Mom, div me tiss"
"Here dow Brubba" (Here you go Brother)
"Mom I hold you" (when she wants me to pick her up)
Maddi, can you say "I'm 2?" "No, I not 2 mom."(then she rolls her eyes..)

Another fun thing she always says is "Oh, Sorry Mom.." then chuckles.. for almost everything I tell her to do..

There is so much more, but I can't think of it at the moment.. I hope at least Someone out there thinks it's as cute as me.. but if not, at least I can remember it for later :)

Breast truly IS Best! :)

This morning, I had what Oprah would call an Aha! moment(which is, by definition-a defining moment where you gain real wisdom - wisdom you can use to change your life.)

I Finally scheduled a postpartum checkup a few days ago, 2 weeks past the "six week checkup". I have been somewhat hesitant-assuming that I would only receive affirmation that I haven't been eating right, exercising enough, or something equally frustrating. I had every intention to tell my doctor I was willing to stop nursing so he could put me on weightloss pills...

I made it to my doctors appointment, toddler at my heels and newborn carseat in arms... preparing for the usual High Blood Pressure reading (I was told I had "White Coat Hypertension" during my pregnancy) and worried about a certain "test"(which was negative, by the way! lol). The nurse was as surprised as I was that my blood pressure gave a normal reading, and I nervously stepped on the scale.

Without revealing the exact number, I will say this. I have lost a whopping 32 pounds since having my adorable baby boy (even though I only gained 11 pounds during the pregnancy)! Now, don't get me wrong, in order to meet my ultimate goal I still have a long way to go... but this was Definitely more than I could have hoped for! I can honestly say I didn't think I had lost more than 5 pounds or so... I still feel very unattractive, with a "flat tire" stomache and love handles... but at least the tire is FLAT!! and I owe most of it to breastfeeding! lol.. After seeing how much I can lose without putting much effort into it, I am so much more motivated to start paying attention to what I'm eating now.