I'm not one of those girls...

I'm not one of those girls who walks out of the hospital after giving birth in her regular jeans. In fact, I barely walked out in my sweats. "Who cares", I thought, "if I gained some extra weight. It will all melt off magically once I start nursing, right?" *Cricket chirps* "RIGHT? Please someone tell me it will come off and I can fit into my regular clothes again???" Sadly, this was not the case. True, a lot of it did come off in a few months due to water weight and yes, nursing. But there were those pesky inches that kept me in my maternity clothes and buying bigger sizes than ever. I know a lot of ladies lose the weight in a matter of a few months. Like I said...I'm not one of those girls.

But I'm happy to report that about a bazillion salads and countless stairs climbed, I am at pre-pregnancy weight and pre-pregnancy clothes. I'm not going to kid myself and say I'm not bragging or being proud, cause gosh-dangit, I am! And I expect all the comments on this post to be flowery words of congratulations and much praise. I'd like to thank the academy, South Beach Diet, Richie, for doing much of the diet with me and watching Miles while I went to the gym, and loving me at post and pre pregnancy weight, The Biggest Loser, for getting me pumped up to go to the gym and all the little people. I won't forget you. And remember, if I can do it, anyone can do it.

BUT...(Of course there is a but, albeit a somewhat smaller butt) my lovely, large, bigger-than-average head son caused my ribs and my hips to spread out significantly. Therefore, I am still on my quest to keep losing weight. I would LOVE to hear how you guys have lost your weight. (Pregnancy related or not) to keep me motivated and give me some fresh perspective and ideas.
Happy Gym-ing!

Heeeere's Santa!

Miles met Santa at our ward party last night.
This isn't so bad....

Wait...who is the guy with the fuzz holding me?

Dad!!!! Help!

Gingerbread Ornaments

We had some people from our ward over on Monday for FHE and we made Gingerbread Ornaments! They are easy to make and make your tree smell delicious. We forgot to take pictures of our friends when they were here, so I guess you get these amazing and way flattering pictures of Richie and I. Here's the recipe for the ornaments if you're interested:

10T applesauce
4 oz cinnamon
about 1 t elmers glue

Mix it to the consistency of Play-dough and roll it out like Sugar Cookies to about 1/4-1/8 inch thick. Dust the surface and rolling pin with cinnamon, not flour. Cut out whatever shapes you want and put a piece of paper clip where you'll want to hang your ornament from. Bake at 200 for about 20 minutes, sometimes longer. Then you can decorate them with puff paint or whatever you can think of, and loop some yarn through them! Ta-Da! So easy.




Life is pretty normal up here. Miles is learning to walk and both of his front teeth have broken through. He's starting to climb on things now! yikes. He's also found the toilet flusher and toilet paper to be lots of fun. I babysit this cute little girl a few hours a week and to keep us busy, we like to build forts out in the office area with all the uhaul boxes. What would I do without all those resources? It's pretty fun.

Good Tidings of Great Joy

The other night, we made some "gingerbread houses" with our friends the Christensens. The girls definitely had more fun with it than the boys, but I guess that's expected right? Can't you just see their excitement?? We had 1 cottage, 1 government housing complex and 1 stunningly accurate replica of Stonehenge, lovingly re-named grahamhenge. Who says you have to make a house? :)


I also thought I'd post a Christmas video here to get in the spirit. I haven't posted a "Mormon Message" in a while, so I figure this is overdue. This version of "Silent Night" is one of my all-time favorites. The spirit seems to be present immediately when they sing. Being a parent, even for a short amount of time, has taught and re-taught me some very important lessons, and one of those is a fresh perspective on Christmas and Heavenly Father's role in that sacred night. I'm so grateful for the 'good tidings of great joy' for which we celebrate this season.

This Thanksgiving we.......

Went to the Garners in Bluffdale


Ran a 5k to raise money for the food bank on Thanksgiving morning


Played the piano, fed the neighbors animals and Miles fell on his face, and passed around the flu, because families share. :) Hope everyone eventually feels better!


Richie played frisbee golf to his heart's content and I started a new craft project of Miles' stocking.


My favorite part about this Thanksgiving was that I've been a part of Richie's family for enough time now that even smells in their house bring back memories! I know that probably sounds weird to some people, but it is what it is.

Thankful Update

Well, today I'm grateful that Richie watched Miles today during Relief Society so that I could actually listen to a lesson. I'm also grateful that there's only 3 more days until we see some family! Today it snowed pretty hard, and you know what? I'm grateful for that too. I'm ready now, it doesn't seem premature and it's beautiful.
Here's our "Thankful 4 tree". It has lots more leaves on it this time! We still have a lot to put on it though because there is a lot to be grateful for.


We went over to the Christensen's for dinner tonight and I made a turkey cake! So I can at least say I've baked a turkey this year. :) No, it's not a hand with a face. I meant it to look more turkey-ish, but I ran out of motivation half-way through. We also had turkey pancakes this morning! (Just pancakes with apple slices fanned out to look like feathers) I just feel like Thanksgiving has crept up on me! Where has November gone?

Being Temperate in All Things

Today I am grateful for enrichment temple night, visiting teachers and the conference edition of the Ensign. I remembered one of my favorite talks from a few weeks ago, and couldn't wait to read it again. It came up in my morning reading today, and I thought I'd share some excerpts and thoughts, if you don't mind.

"Being Temperate In All Things" Elder Kent D. Watson

What is temperance exactly?

*"Being temperate is to use moderation in all things or to exercise self-control."
*"Being temperate means to carefully examine our expectations and desires, to be diligent and patient in seeking righteous goals."
*"...a temperate soul-one who is humble and full of love-is also a person of increased spiritual strength. With increased spiritual strength, we are able to develop self-mastery and to live with moderation. We learn to control, or temper, our anger, vanity, and pride. With increased spiritual strength, we can protect ourselves from the dangerous excesses and destructive addictions of today's world."

How Can I Be Temperate In All Things?


* I can show maturity with our finances by saving for tomorrow, rather than buying something I want today.
*I can be in control of my body and choose only good things to put in it, rather than eating that 15th cookie. :)
*I can pray to have a change of heart to be more full of charity and then exercise that desire often and without expecting something in return.

What Are the Blessings of Being Temperate?

* "Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this worlds, and being temperate in all things. Peace of mind comes from strengthened faith in Jesus Christ. Happiness comes from being diligent in keeping covenants made at baptism and in the holy temples of the Lord."

Definitely worth a second read.

No News is Good News, right?

I know it's only been 5 or so days since I've blogged, but it feels like forever. Could I be addicted? Not important. There just hasn't been a whole lot of stuff going on here lately, so be prepared to read nothing extraordinary in this post.

The other night for date night, we went to the new food court at BYU-Idaho. It's incredible! The food is alright, but the facility is amazing! Richie and I were feeling jipped that we finished school before they finished all the remodeling, so we went. This is Richie and Miles Enjoying a burger, fries, and graham crackers.


This is Miles showing off his D.I. high fashion. And no, neither Richie nor I are of Asian decent. I don't know where Miles got those extreme smiley eyes.


I babysit for a friend of mine for a couple hours a week while she finishes school. Miles loves playing with this cute little girl. And today, he made a new friend! I started babysitting for another friend of mine who has to go back to work, so her daughter will be spending a lot of time over here in the future. She's a doll! Miles got along great with her as well.

Today I changed 8 diapers (and counting), made a spoon into an airplane, wiped 1 nose 1 skillion times, pretended some boxes were a huge fort, crawled through the huge fort, blew gigantic bubbles and got more excited about it than the kids, colored so hard I broke a crayon, snacked on left over grahams, fishes and puffs, cuddled with 2 adorable kids, read stories (voices included), watched Baby Einstein until I couldn't take it anymore and got wet during bath time. Full day :)

"Gratitude is a Spirit filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things, which gladden our hearts with their messages of God's love. This grateful awareness heightens our sensitivity to divine direction. When we communicate gratitude, we can be filled with the Spirit and connected to those around us and the Lord. Gratitude inspires happiness and carries divine influence."
Bonnie D. Parkin

Our "Thankful Tree" is off to a good start! Today I'm grateful for the DI, as I am frequently. I went there today to find some warmer clothes for Miles and hit the jackpot! Today, I am also grateful that Richie's coming home. Let me fill you in. Yesterday, he made a mistake at work, and in order to correct it, he had to drive to Montana to deliver this guy's order. Not just over the border Montana, but almost to Canada, Montana. 8 hours one way. So within an hour or so of my finding out about this mistake, I was husbandless for the night. :( Our entire married...career...I guess, Richie and I have only been away from each other 3 times. This last one included. We don't do well being apart from each other. Luckily, my friend Angie and I decided to go see a movie and leave the kids with her husband. Thank goodness I had something to do with someone, or else I would have been going crazy at home! I'm excited to have him home, nice and safe tonight.

The Forgotten Holiday

Ever since I was little, I always felt bad for Thanksgiving because as soon as Halloween was over, people moved right on to Christmas. I like Christmas just as much as the next guy, but why can't the industry give due credit to Thanksgiving? And why do I feel such a personal responsibility to make sure Thanksgiving gets celebrated? I don't know. But I really do love this Holiday, so in an effort to keep gratitude in our hearts all month long, I made us a "Thankful 4" tree. I got the idea from a magazine, and it's not exact, but it works. I just cut a tree out of paper, then made die cuts of 4's and leaves. Whenever we think of something we're thankful for, we write it down on a leaf and stick it to the tree! Ta-da!



Another way I've found to feed my need to create is rearranging our decorations! It's free and it makes me feel like I have something new and fun. This is just some shelving that's built into the wall. I used some squash that Richie's family gave us, some of our brown placemats, leave from the park, and stuff we already had to make it look more "Thanksgiving-ish".

Here's the Halloween Post

I figure everyone will be making a similar post early this week, so here's ours! Halloween has never been one of my favorite holidays. It seemed to me, an excuse for girls to dress like ladies of the night, guys to buy cheap, tacky masks and scare children, and over-aged punks thinking they can show up at your door and expect candy. Not that I never enjoyed Halloween, but if I had a choice between it and say...Thanksgiving, I would choose Thanksgiving. This year I was finally warming up to Halloween and accepting it as not just a tacky holiday, but the ushering in of actual fall and all things cinnamon and warm. I even tried to celebrate it throughout the month and got a few awesome new decorations. Then, on Saturday, I went to IF to go grocery shopping, and I remembered why I don't like Halloween. I saw a woman, who in an attempt to cross-dress painted a beard on her face, and that was it. Weird. A mother with her son, dressed a level below "whore", and countless other half-effort costumes that reeked of adjectives like cliche, tacky, creepy and crazy.
However, our little family DID enjoy Halloween in a fun and traditional manner. We went to our ward trunk-or-treat where we showed off Miles' bat costume, that turned out so good!(I got the idea from my sister. We just bought him some black sweats and a black long sleeved shirt. He had black mittens and a beanie. I cut out ears and wings from black foam, hot glued pipe cleaners around them, put buttons in the ears and safety pinned them to his clothes. The foam was hashed by the end of the night, but it's a great, cheap costume idea with re-usable clothes!) We gave him his first taste of candy (a dumdum sucker), and he promptly threw it all up on the pavement. Then we went to our friend's house for their annual Halloween party! It was such a good time. Since it started at Miles' bedtime, we brought his pack-n-play and got to stay the whole time! Long enough to play Halloween Bingo, eat lots of sweets, make masks, and watch "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken". Such a good show!
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed your all Hallows Eve.
Next Post: Our kick-off to celebrate the forgotten holiday: Thanksgiving.