Christmas time!

I can't believe Christmas is only 2 days away!  I have been very busy getting ready but right now I feel as ready as I'll ever be and excited to just enjoy the holiday with my family.  At age 3 Xander has really started getting into occasions like holidays and birthdays.  He was so excited for Halloween to come and now Christmas.  He was been telling me all month what he wants to ask Santa for.  I have had him go visit Santa twice now.  It is a special thing to see him so excited.  Wesley could care less but I'm sure he notices all the beautiful lights and the Christmas tree.  My kids didn't scream when they saw Santa, but having no reaction is kind of strange to me..

I'm feeling the holiday spirit and can't wait to give out my gifts to my family, especially the kids.  I'm so glad I have work off for the holiday..unfortunately I will not have Christmas off next year if I'm still at the same job.  I wish I had all the holidays off.  I hope everyone out there is having a good holiday and thinking about the true meaning of Christmas, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.  

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Fanciful Snowflakes Christmas

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My Gratitude post

Thanksgiving is tomorrow so I thought I would make a gratitude post to keep with the spirit of this holiday.  The top thing I have been super grateful for is my health.  I have been blessed with a healthy body and it has allowed me to do most of the things I want to in this life.  I decided that I didn't want to take my health for granted so I have been on a weight loss journey since the beginning of June.  It has been almost 6 months since that time and I have lost 40 pounds!  It is so liberating.  I think I am healthier than I have ever been in my whole life.  I workout because I love it, the only thing I had to change was to eat healthier.  I track everything that goes into my mouth every single day.  I have already decided to give myself a day off for Turkey day tomorrow.  I am around the same weight I was in high school, possibly even smaller since I fit into the smallest pair of jeans I have ever owned in my life!  Having health is a blessing.  I think taking care of your body can have blessings in many areas of our lives.  If you are taking care of yourself you will be better able to care for others.  I can now be fit and healthy for my kids so we can grow up playing together.  I feel better about myself which gives me more confidence.  I can enjoy things better and not worry about too many limitations.  If I ever do find myself sick with a minor or major illness my body will be able to handle it better.  It is a wonderful thing all the way around to take care of the body God has blessed each and every one of us with.

Me at my lowest/current weight



I am grateful for my wonderful marriage to Jeremiah.  When we started dating it was a crazy time in my life.  I was just starting out on my own and had gotten out of relationships with some guys that I should not have been dating.  I think I was just trying to figure things out but doing it in the wrong way.  Jeremiah came into my life and after a couple months of dating I knew he was meant to be my husband.  He is an awesome husband and father.  We are not perfect by any means, but I can say that we are happily married and have been together for over 8 years! 

I am grateful for the greatest thing to test and try me in this life so far...being a mother.  Those kids drive me crazy on a daily basis, but there is just something special about having little children in my home.  They are a lot of work!  I probably burn more calories taking care of them than my workouts at the gym some days.  I live for those special moments though.  There are those moments when Xander will say or do something and just make me laugh, or he will give me a hug.  Some days I need that hug more then he does.  Wesley will just blow me away with his cuteness.  We are going through a rough time with him right now, most likely teething, but he has been such a sweet little addition to our family.  I love those kids and I hope Jerry and I are giving them a good childhood and they can grow up to be good people.   

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There are many other things I am grateful for.  I know I could name hundreds of smaller things to be grateful for on a daily basis, like warm water, having transportation, having money to pay the bills, being able to eat when I am hungry, having a job that lets me stay at home with my kids every other week.  I am grateful for chocolate, and that I can still enjoy it daily and still lose weight!  Another huge thing to be grateful for would be that I am a member of the LDS church.  I believe in this church and I know it helps me become a better person.  I feel like I would be lost without my faith in my life.  I'm not strong enough to face the challenges of this life without being able to look to my faith and have Heavenly father always waiting to answer my prayers and guide me. 
  Having gratitude is something we all should think about on a daily basis, but it's good to have a holiday to remind us about this concept.  I will be enjoying good food tomorrow, but most of all being able to spend time with family.  My brother is engaged again, but this time to a great person and I'm super excited to welcome Kristen into our family in January.  I"m grateful that my brother found a good person to be his companion.  I am grateful for my family that I grew up with and that we all get to be together tomorrow to celebrate the holiday.  Christmas is right around the corner!  Happy Thanksgiving! 



 

A whole random update of everything...

This blog really is designed to be a place to keep friends and family updated on our lives and I feel I'm past due on making an update.  I have been busy as usual.  For a few years of my life I was doing school full-time while working a full-time job.  I thought my life could never get busier than that, but I was completely wrong!!  I'm still working full-time and a college graduate, but once you add some young kids in the mix you are busier then ever.  Xander and Wesley are only 1 and 3 and depend on me for everything.  I have been told that I will miss these days, but at this point I look forward to the day when they can get their own food and bathe and dress themselves.  After everything I do, there really is no time to be bored, that never happens anymore.  If a parent with a young child says they are bored..then they are not really taking care of that child!!  Jerry and I do love our kids very much and I know they have made our lives so much richer.

 Xander posing for the camera!

 Xander as Plex the robot, he finally settled on a costume.  

  Wesley took off walking about 3 weeks after his first birthday and he is now a pro.  He is very happy and healthy.  He loves his big brother very much.  He likes to do everything Xander does, which is a good and a bad thing!  He has more teeth and was really moody while they were coming through.  His recent milestones are that he can drink from a straw and he can spoon feed himself.  He is very messy, but I am amazed that he is already learning these things.  I feel like my baby doesn't want to be a baby anymore.  He doesn't say very many words yet, just some basics, like uh-oh, up, dada.  I keep trying to get him to say mama but he is taking his time.  I hope he doesn't have speech delays like his brother.  I'm trying not to worry about it too much yet.
  Xander is talking a lot more now.  I understand most of what comes out of his mouth.  He has a big personality and is happy most of the time.  He is mostly cranky when you try to get him up from a nap and he just doesn't want to be awake.  He loves his little brother, but he still doesn't know how to behave around him. This can get very frustrating because I am constantly playing referee.  He pushes him over, hits him with toys and is just too aggressive.  We take away toys and do time outs.  I just hope that this gets better.  I can't get anything done unless I have some way to keep them separated.  Xander is at least halfway potty trained.  Just recently he has finally started going to the bathroom on his own.  Before we had to constantly make him sit on the potty several times during the day, now I think he is finally understanding when he needs to go.  I absolutely hate potty training.  I dread potty training Wesley and just hope it will be better with the second child.  I'm open to any good potty training book suggestions!!
  I am still following the program on Sparkpeople.com faithfully everyday.  I track everything I eat and every exercise I do on my phone and the computer.  I don't know that I can ever give it up.  In part of the program they say that eventually you can cut back to tracking food only every few days, but I can't imagine not tracking I'm so used to it now.  I'm staying consistent and having an average weight loss of 1.5lbs per week. There are weeks where I lose a lot, weeks where I lose very little and weeks where I don't lose, but I'm still losing and so happy to be healthier.  Since June I am 34lbs lighter and loving it.  I love that I can fit in smaller clothes and that when I exercise I feel stronger and more energized.  I think I have reached a new fitness level because of running.  I need to sign up for more 5k's and possibly a 10k if I feel brave enough.  I found an interesting cardiovascular effect to all my running, my resting heart rate has dropped from the 70's to below 50.  My heart beats really slow when I'm not exercising.  I have done research and learned that an athletes heart becomes more efficient at pumping blood and will slow down, so now I have the heart of an athlete!  I'm excited to continue this journey and see where it takes me.  I'm not going for a whole bunch of muscle but I would like to looked toned and have visible muscle definition.  I'm getting there!
  Now that we have great benefits at our jobs and a little more money to go around, Jerry and I are going to have some medical procedures done on ourselves.  Jerry has had a dream of getting his teeth straightened and he will be going to an orthodontist to see how they can help him.  My dream is to get my poor vision corrected.  In January I'm going to get PRK done to correct my eyesight.  There is not 100% guarantee that I will have perfect vision, but I have decided that any correction is better then what I have right now.  I would love to wake up in the morning and just be able to see without feeling around for my glasses.  I hope our dreams will be fulfilled in the next few months!
  Halloween is still one of our favorite holidays.  It is a month of going to corn mazes and haunted houses and a month of decorating our house.  Last year Jerry created a demonic centipede.  This year he made a scorpion.  We had to find a huge  pumpkin and haul it home.  I'm very curious how much it weighed, but I guess we will never know.  He cut it in half to create his creature.  I will post more pictures after the holiday is over.

Spike

Spike Marty Stephenson (2003?-2011)

Spike passed away peacefully on September 28th 2011 after battling feline kidney disease.  He was a sweet cat who loved his family.  He would come to you if you whistled and he liked to give his humans cat baths.  His birth is unknown because he was adopted in the spring of 2004 by his human family. He was said to have been homeless in the beginning of his life and given the name Marty when he was discovered at a Wal-Mart.  He was a playful, loving and social kitty in the years that he was at his best.  He is survived by his big fur-sister Cordelia and little fur-brother Jasper, his human family: Jeremiah, Elisa, Xander and Wesley.  Pets come and go, be we always carry part of them in our hearts when we have to say good bye.  We will miss you little Spikey.

No heaven will not ever Heaven be, unless my cats are there to welcome me.Anonymous.  
Of all God's creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the leash.
That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with a cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.
Mark Twain

My weight loss journey

I was going to wait and write this post when I finally reached my weight loss goal, but I'll just post it now since I'm so close!  I know some people have a whole blog dedicated to weight loss, but I'm just going to post a little about it on my family blog since I don't want to make a whole blog just about losing weight.

 I'll start with a little background.  When I was younger and growing up I always felt big and awkward.  I grew faster then everybody else my age when I was in elementary school.  Kids would tease me and say that I got held back, or I would get called names, like Stork legs.  By the time I slowed down and people caught up to me I reached a height of 5ft 7in.  I like being a taller female, in fact I wish was even a couple inches taller!  I have fought with my weight for most of my life too.  I was overweight for a few years as a teenager.  One day I weighed myself and was really unhappy with what I saw.  From that moment on I was determined to get physically active and stay that way for the rest of my life, and I have to this day.  Once I started exercising the weight just came off and I was to a normal weight in just a couple months.  Despite being a normal weight I still felt bad.  A lot of my friends were just skinny and I was jealous.  I stayed at a healthy weight until I got married.  I blame myself, but I also blame my weight gain post wedding on the birth control pills I was taking.  I put on weight and I could not get it off no matter how much I exercised.  Before getting pregnant I was at my highest weight and just thought that was where I would be stuck. I had two kids in 3 years and I did lose the pregnancy weight within the first few months for both my kids.
  About a month after having Wesley I discovered an app on my new smart phone that would let me keep track of everything I was eating.  It was through a program called Spark People.  I started using the food journal for a couple months but never got totally serious about that or the program.  I was also nursing my baby and I know you don't want to cut out too much food if you want to make that work.  Finally when 2011 rolled around I was getting more frustrated about my weight.  I decided to read The Spark.  It is a book from the SparkPeople.com program.  I reached my aha moment while reading the book.  I had to realize a couple things.  The most important one, and my main motivator is to tell myself that I am worth it and I deserve to be at the best health I can possibly be.  The second realization was that diets really don't work, eating better works!  I do not believe in diets.  I honestly never tried a diet in my life because I knew I wouldn't be able to stick with it.  Now I have found a program I can stick with.  I finally believe I can do this and I can get to a healthy weight and stay there as long as I stay diligent.  I learned that exercise alone is not going to help lose weight.  If I exercise a lot, then go home and eat bad, I'm going to keep the weight on.  I might have muscle, but it will be hiding under fat!
   I am doing a few things to help me lose weight.  I set new goals for myself all the time and make them simple enough to follow through.  I make small changes to my diet that I can follow to eat healthier.  My biggest challenge in the beginning was getting my full servings of fruits and veggies everyday, and right now I do get at least 5 or more on most days.  I don't deny myself anything.  If I want my chocolate, my cookies or my ice cream I have them.  I just only have one portion size though and I make sure it fits in my daily calorie range.  I workout just about every single day and I love it.  I have always loved working out.  My motivating goal is to get at least 10 minutes everyday and I do!  10 minutes is a piece of cake for anyone to follow.  I am challenging myself in many ways with exercise.  I try to run at least 5 miles or more every single week.  I strength train 2-3 times a week.  I do aerobics classes that I enjoy and I always look forward to them.  I am not punishing or depriving myself in any way.  I am rarely ever hungry because when I do eat, I make sure the calories are meaningful instead of empty.  If you get enough protein and fiber you will not be hungry until your next meal or snack.  The most important thing is that I am doing something for myself that I can live with my whole life.  I really enjoy what I am doing.
  I am so close to my goal..As of this morning I am 2lbs away from being in the healthy weight category!  I am 7lbs from my goal, which was to weigh what I did in high school.  After I hit my goal I"m going to keep going, but I will only lose enough weight that it is healthy for me.  After all is said and done, I will focus on maintenance and I know I can always make goals to get fitter and healthier.  There is never an end to getting fitter, you can always do more!  The beginning of June was when I finally figured things out and really started the Spark People program.  Since June I have dropped about 28lbs!  If I can lose weight with this program anyone can!  It is free and all they do is give you the tools, knowledge and support you need to get healthier.  If anyone needs a workout buddy I would be more than happy to help.

Birthday month!

The Cars cake had black frosting!

Back when I found out I would be having another July baby I thought it would be cool having my two kids share a birthday month. Now I'm thinking that it's just a little bit stressful, but we made it through. It was fun but I need a break from birthdays!

Xander was supposed to have his party on July 9th, a few days before his real one. However he got sick the night before with croup right in the middle of summer! Luckily I was able to reschedule for his actual birthday on the 13th. We just went to Boondocks and ate lots of pizza and cake. I can't believe it's already been 3 years since we brought home a late pre-term 5lb baby. He is now healthy, happy and well over 30lbs. My kids both have their yearly checkups next week and I'll have to post some stats if I can.

The final party was for baby Wesley on the 22nd. He is supposedly a toddler now but he is so tiny and sweet that he still seems very much like a baby to me. He still weighs close to what he did at 6 months. I don't know why he is so much smaller than his brother but he is still very healthy. I was hoping he would be walking by his 1st birthday, but he's not there yet. He is super close though. He walks with his toys and his newest trick is standing up on his own in the middle of the room. He just stands up and doesn't know what to do after that. He'll be walking soon enough, I'm sure it will be in the next couple weeks.

We had a Dino party for Wesley at our house. We invited close friends and family and ate lots of food. I wanted a barbecue but that's a little hard with no grill. We just ordered sandwiches instead. Both kids are spoiled now. If I ever have time I'm going to donate some old toys and clothes that my kids don't need or use. Wesley should be able to use a lot of Xander's old clothes, but with him being smaller, I have been having to buy him new outfits to fit the summer season. Wesley only wears 12 month size right now. Xander can even fit in clothes he wore a year ago. We built up a lot of clothes and toys in just 3 years!

I always like to include stats so here they are:

Wesley 12 months: 19.2lbs 29.5 inches

Xander 36 months: 34.6lbs 38inches

They are growing like crazy!

Just some reminiscing

Where was I one year ago? I believe I was about 37 weeks pregnant, swollen and just begging my baby to come out! His big brother made his debut 3 weeks early,so why shouldn't the second baby do the same? This baby had other plans, he wanted to stay close to his mama for a little while longer. He ended up coming on July 22nd at 8:26pm, one day before he was due. He has filled our home with joy and even true peace at times. It brings tears to my eyes that it has already been a year with this sweet little guy. I was completely in love with him before we even left the hospital and have been smitten ever since. It's so crazy how things change. It's weird to me that I wasn't always a mom, and that I wasn't always a mother of two. It feels like these two kids have been a part of my life forever. Maybe they have in some way. If we have a third child, I'm sure I will feel like they have always been here too.

These kids change so much in just a short time. My older child, Alexander has had issues with his ears and sinuses since birth. His hearing does work, but all the fluid build up helped prevent him from hearing properly. He has been speech delayed and barely communicating a year ago. Now he jabbers to me in small sentences all day and repeats everything he hears. He is a smart kid too. None of that childproofing stuff works on him. He is imaginative, and does pretend play all the time. He is my emotional child as well. He can go from being really whiny, to super happy. He is rough and likes to wrestle. I know that is a "boy thing" but he seems to get that from me as well because I like to do those things. I'm sure he will catch up with other kids and I hope he goes where he wants to go in life. I look forward to having a blast with him, maybe teaching him some things I love and doing them with him.

My sweet baby Wesley is my cuddler and a total mommy's boy at least for now. When he was born I was shocked in the hospital that he almost never cried. He just laid there and slept peacefully. When he was awake he would just look around and take everything in. He is less emotional than his brother, just more laid-back. He does like to smile and laugh and play. He doesn't complain too much. He is doing great with his milestones. He is a champion crawler and will be walking very soon. I was hoping it would be by his first birthday, but it might not be for another little while. Xander didn't master walking until he was 14 months. I can't believe it has already been a year. 2 years ago I was getting ready to celebrate Xander's 1st birthday.

I feel blessed to have these sweet kids. It is tough at times but I know I wouldn't want to live my life without these two people in it and I have no regrets in becoming a mommy. Happy birthday to my two sweet children, Xander (3) July13th and Wesley (1) July 22nd.

Xander loves music

I never share videos on here so I thought I would post some. I intend to make my kids take piano lessons someday.

My Friday the 13th morning

Warning: If you are eating something, or just can't stand stories about bodily functions..then do not continue.

Xander is almost 3 years old and in his short life so far has gotten himself into plenty of messes. The situation that happened to him and me this morning has to be at the top of the list. I can't think of too many other disgusting situations than the one that happened this morning! I was downstairs taking care of Wesley when I started hearing noises from Xander's room. I knew he was awake and probably just running around his room playing until I could go get him. I opened the door to his room and was greeted by a terrible smell. I thought he just had a messy diaper and I could change it and move on with the day. I put him on the changing table and started to pull off his pajama bottoms. They were stuck to him...and they were stuck with poo. I was pretty horrified. Not only was his diaper completely full but he one leg and both feet were covered! I tried to wipe it off, but the only thing I really could do was throw Xander in the tub. Wesley is just crawling around on the floor this whole time. The only place I could put him to get him out of the way is his new playpen. He hates that thing with a passion but I wanted him to not fall down the stairs or crawl in Xander's mess. I put him in his playpen and he clung to the side screaming his head off. So I'm dealing with poo everywhere, a messy toddler and a screaming baby. I took off the bedding on Xander's bed and on my way out stepped in some poo. I cleaned everything the best I could but I wish I would have paid more attention to how my mom cleaned. Maybe she can offer me some advice.

We are working on potty training Xander but I don't think he is ready yet. Even if he is trained I know these things can still happen. I work with blood and all kinds of human body fluids for a living, but this situation was far more disgusting than anything I have dealt with in the lab. At least most everything is contained in a tube and I get to wear a lab coat and gloves. I think what I needed in this situation was gloves and a biohazard can. I'm sure there are more fun messes like this coming my way, I do have two young kids right now. It's just interesting that it had to happen on Friday the 13th.

13 is usually a lucky number for my family. My parents were married 12/13/80. Jerry and I were married 3/13/04. Xander was born 7/13/08. I found out I was pregnant with baby #2 on 11/13/09 which was a Friday the 13th as well. I am optimistic that the rest of the day will go better. Maybe something awesome will happen later today, it is date night for Jerry and me.

Disneyland!

We flew out to Disneyland on Tuesday the 26th of April. There were a few firsts for us and our kids. It was the first plane ride for either of our kids, unless you count that I flew when I was pregnant with Xander. It was Jerry and my first plane ride dealing with very young kids. It went alright, not any worse then I would expect with a 9 month old and a 2 year old. I tried to keep Wesley asleep for most of the plane ride. The best thing for Xander was letting him watch cartoons and have snacks. That is what I would recommend to any parent traveling with a toddler.

We didn't go to Disneyland our first or even second day. We spent our 2nd day in the California adventure park. I think my favorite ride was the Hollywood tower. I didn't even know what to expect when I first rode it. It is one of those rides that drops you. I love those rides. I love the Rocket at Lagoon, which has a similar principal. My brother Michael (aka Jose) and his girlfriend Kristen came along to help us out a little. I would not have gone on this trip without help. They watched the kids a few times so we could go on rides. On our third day we spent most of the day in Disneyland. It was also my brother's birthday so we ate out at Buca di Beppo. That is a very interesting Italian restaurant. On our last day we went in between both parks and tried to go to anything we hadn't experienced yet. We flew back from sunny California to cold and snowy Utah. I can't wait for it to actually be warm here in Utah!

This trip was a little tough for baby Wesley. I think it was just overwhelming and strange. He was the biggest mommy's boy. He just wanted me to hold him all day everyday. I liked it, but it makes it hard to do anything! Right now it seems like Xander is a daddy's boy (always has been) and Wesley wants his mommy more.

Wesley turned 9 months old right before our trip. I can't believe it has been that long. I think I have some birthday planning to do very soon. He crawls and can pull himself to standing. He is super active. I took him to his checkup today and he lost instead of gained weight. His doctor was a little concerned so we had his blood drawn for some tests . I hope he is doing okay. He was really sick in March and lost weight then. I think he is having a hard time gaining it back because he is so active. He was 17lbs 5oz (down from 18lbs 2oz at 6months) and about 28inches tall. It is weird having a smaller baby since big brother was so chubby at the same age. Xander was 21lbs and I never worried about him starving. With Wesley, I am a little worried, but I hope it is normal. Worrying is just a part of being a parent!

Easter

I keep wanting to post, but I'm always so busy. I guess I haven't even posted since our wedding anniversary. These kids keep me so busy. It's a crazy life, but it's always amazing to watch how Xander and Wesley learn and grow. Wesley started army crawling around 7 months. He is kind of stuck on that right now, but he will get up on hands and knees and do a real crawl. He just turned 9 months old. He is pulling himself up on everything, he feeds himself finger food and he is the cutest babbler. I forgot how cute baby talk is. Wesley is just an adorable baby who is into everything now.

Xander is learning new words and will communicate with us, most the time. Sometimes he just gets cranky and will just whine when he wants something. I just hope he catches up with kids his age. It's hard worry about him all the time and hoping he will be able to talk and learn normally. He is a funny guy and he loves his baby brother. They are already buddies. Sometimes they will just giggle at each other while I am driving them somewhere. I hope they don't fight too much as they grow older.

For Easter, I was able to get work off Saturday and we took the kids to the grocery store. Smiths was having an Easter party, so I decided to check that out. Last year we took Xander to a hunt at the park. We were a few minutes late to that, and it was already over. At Smith's they just laid out candy in the aisles and separated the different age groups. Xander did really well and got way more candy then a 2 year old needs!

We are going to to pack up our two kids and fly out to Disneyland on Tuesday. I am nervous to travel with two kids. I know it will be tough, but I hope we have a fun time too. I need a vacation. Although my favorite vacation ever is going on a cruise. I hope to do that again soon. My next post will probably be about our trip and if we survived or not.

Seven years down...

I probably say it every time, but I can't believe it's already been seven years since Jerry and I got sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. We have been together for 8 years. We started dating in the winter of '03 and here we are 8 years later. We have two cute little kids, so now we are a little family. Baby Wesley came into our lives last summer and we are really enjoying having this sweet baby around. I think even Xander loves and enjoys having a baby brother around.

Thanks to my parents, Jerry and I were able to take a night away from the kids. We did a dinner and movie date and then spent the night at The Anniversary Inn. As much as we love our children it is important that we have some time together here and there, just to reconnect. Sometimes I don't even feel like we can have a conversation on most days because the kids need us so much. If we aren't all together we are usually at work. There just never seems to be enough time to all be together. We are still hoping to find a way for me to stay at home with the kids, but the future is so uncertain. I'm sure most families are like ours, just super busy. I just hope we don't miss out on the important things in life. I'm just glad we found each other so long ago and I think we make a good team!

Mommy brag post

Flipping the bird

Wesley will be 7 months old in a week, but I wanted to post about his 6 month stats I just haven't had time. At his 6 month checkup he was 18.1lbs and 26.5 inches long. I was surprised that he only gained a pound since his 4 month checkup. His pediatrician wasn't worried since he has been a very active baby. He was more active then Xander in my tummy and he started rolling at 4 months. Right now he can roll across the floor. He does the baby push ups like he is trying to crawl, but he's not quite there yet. He can also move himself around in a circle on the floor. We are still working on sitting up, but he just doesn't seem interested. If I sit him he tries to lunge onto the floor. I have started giving him cereal. I waited until after his 6 month checkup. We are not regular with eating though. I maybe give him cereal only a few times a week, not everyday. He seems very healthy and happy. He smiles and laughs and I enjoy being with him and caring for him. I'm sad he will not be this way for much longer. He's already changing way too fast! The only thing we really wish would change is that he would sleep better. He was sleeping all night at about 9 weeks old and was doing great until January. Now he is waking up too early, or just waking up several times in the night. I'll admit, Jerry does most the work in helping him, but we are both exhausted from the whole situation. I know Xander went through something similar at his age, so that's what I'm hoping we are dealing with and that it ends soon.

Xander is doing great as well. He hasn't had a checkup recently but he still weighs about 33lbs which was his weight at his 2 year checkup. He is about 36 inches tall. He is making some progress with his speech. He knows a lot of words and he is always imitating us. He is finally calling me mommy which makes me happy. He says I love you, "Muv woo." He is very energetic. He loves cars, Buzz and his baby brother. Sometimes he loves Wesley too much and I always have to watch that he doesn't smother him with all the hugging. We are working really hard on potty training and making some progress. He will go #1 on the potty sometimes. I would love to have one kid out of diapers. Hopefully that day will come soon.

When I am home with them I feel super busy keeping them both happy. When I work I just have to pray that they will be kept safe and happy. I have yet to find a daycare I can be completely happy with. I wont even start to write the long list of things I have been unhappy with in all the places I have tried. These two kids are a lot of work, but I look forward to the days I can just have fun with them.

Life so far in 2011

I have been wanting to post on here forever but I have been super busy lately. I just transferred to a new job in my company so I could have better hours and because I was feeling a little burned out at my current job. I gave my boss my notice in at the end of December, but they really needed me to keep working in that lab so I finally just finished my last day yesterday. In the meantime I have been working my seven on and training for a couple days on my off week, so I have been getting lots of overtime and just being too busy. I can't wait for things to settle and fall back into some sort of routine. I'll miss my old job but sometimes it's good to change things. I have been wanting to get a little more sleep. I never felt rested especially since I had to be at work at 4am. I don't think that is good for my health to keep working a schedule like that, especially with two young children. If I didn't have children to worry about and care for then I know I could find a way to get more rest on that schedule. As it is right now, Wesley has been sleeping poorly lately, which in turn causes Jerry and me to get poor sleep. I have been running on sleep deprivation for a long time now. I would love to find a way to catch up on sleep. Honestly if somebody offered me a vacation right now without my kids in tow, I would choose one where I could just relax and sleep. That would be so nice right now! I think any parent with young kids could agree with me!

January was a month of birthdays, sort of. It was Jeremiah's 31st birthday on the 30th. Both our children have their half birthdays in January. We didn't celebrate those, but it's still significant, especially when a baby reaches 6 months. They really start to change their personality. For Jerry's birthday we left the kids with my parents and we did laser tag and a movie. I had to work on his actual birthday so we did this on a different day. It's always nice to get away and be alone. Luckily we have friends and family around to watch our kids once in a while.

We have been trying to find a way to move closer to Jerry's job and possibly even downgrade our housing situation so I can be home with the kids, but the outlook doesn't look good right now. Hopefully we will find a way. I have been praying about it, but we haven't found an option yet. We can't even refinance our home right now. This market is just really tough for families like ours. In the meantime I am grateful that we do have a beautiful home to live in and we can afford our payments. I know there are people our there who find themselves all of the sudden not being able to have the money and having to lose their house. However, if one of use lost our job or couldn't work we might be in a similar situation. All we can do right now is work on paying off debts and paying our tithing and just hoping something works out. It's still my greatest dream right now to take a few years off of work to be home with my kids. I didn't realize how important that was to me until 2008 when I had Xander. I only wish I had realized this dream sooner and things might be different today. I can only count my blessings I do have right now.

I'm looking forward to a good 2011 and trying to keep my perspectives in the right place. I know there is so much I can work on, but it's just easier to do one thing at a time.

Christmas 2010

Christmas Morning!

Wesley enjoying some lights

I have been wanting to post on here for a while about our Christmas. Things have been so hectic and busy for me so far this year that I haven't had time yet. We had a wonderful Christmas with our family and my family. I thought it would be tougher with two kids, but Wesley is such a good baby, he hardly changes my routine at all. Jerry had 10 days off from work so we spent the whole holiday together as a family. On Christmas eve we finally made it to temple square. I love going there. I pass by it often on my way to work, but never actually have time to just walk around the temple grounds. We have been to see the lights almost every year and I hope we can keep making it a tradition as long as we live close to Salt Lake. It really gets you in the proper mood for Christmas, especially with the nativity scene they have in front of the visitor's center.

On Christmas day we opened presents at our house first, then drove over to my parent's house to open the rest of our presents. Our little boys got spoiled with lots of toys and some cute clothes. I think Xander is understanding the holiday a little more. He had fun opening his presents and helping other people open presents. He must have picked this up in daycare, but when he saw something Santa related he would point and say, "Ho, Ho, Ho." It was pretty cute. He had new tubes put in back in November and I think this time around it's helping him to hear better so he can learn new words. He has a good vocabulary, but he's not saying sentences yet. He still has a long way to go. I hope he can catch up with kids his age with his language development.