November 8, 2011

Halloween

Halloween festivities began with Jace's joy school halloween party and Makenna's halloween lunch at school.  Of course there are no pictures.  The school does a storybook parade so the kids have to wear a costume from a book and bring the book.  She decided to wear her tiger costume since we had a tiger book and she looked pretty darn cute... haha wish I had my camera!  

Saturday was our ward trunk or treat.  It was a lot of fun.  I have to say that the dance was kind of lame compared to the Ventana halloween party, but oh well!


best picture I got of our bee...  I had big plans of having a photo shoot which never happened!

with my little bee

Halloween night was really fun because the kids were so excited this year!  We went around the block and the kids got TONS of candy!  Every house gave them handfuls!


this picture cracks me up because the kids were so stinking excited and were so over the photo shoot!

 the back of her costume...  yes I made it.  It ended up being the most annoying costume ever because the tutu kept getting all crazy and the ribbon...  BLEH.  I learned my lesson!  It was cute for a minute though!

 sorting- a halloween tradition

holy candy!

Cami just chillin!

October 31, 2011

healthy eating

Since buying my blendtec a couple months ago, I have been experimenting with smoothie recipes... this is my favorite mostly because it is sweet without adding sugar or juice, and because I always have these ingredients on hand!   The kids down these in no time!

1 sweet apple, all but the seeds
1 banana (if frozen add a little water)
1/2 c. plain yogurt (not vanilla- there is tons of sugar in it!)
5 frozen strawberries
5 frozen peaches
3-4 cubes ice
1/2-1 c. spinach (optional)
5 baby carrots (optional)

Blend and enjoy!  Don't be afraid of the spinach and carrots!  I now prefer my smoothies with it.  Oh and you can leave the yogurt out if you don't have any- sometimes I don't :)

On the subject of healthy eating, I think I have finally had my HAAAAHHHH (imagine angels singing) moment that food is fuel.  When I had gestational diabetes and was eating healthy I felt SO good!  I had lots of energy and my body digested the food better (ahem tmi).  Of course, as soon as the baby was born I went wild eating whatever I wanted!!  I definitely have noticed a HUGE difference in the way I feel, and my body is starting to pack the weight back on right where I don't want it!!  (ie love handles!)  So this is what I'm going to try to eat and what works for me-

Breakfast:
whole wheat pancakes, crepes, or waffles w/ pure maple syrup
plain oatmeal w/ maple or honey
whole wheat english muffin egg sandwich
protein shake
toast with peanut butter

AM snack:
nuts
fruit (small serving in AM)
veggies
cheese
healthy granola bar
yogurt
string cheese
toast/peanut butter

lunch:
sandwich on WW
wrap on WW
salad
leftovers

PM snack:
any snack above
smoothies

dinner: whatevs but make sure to have lots of veggies

snack: see above

One thing I learned from GD is that our bodies can't process sugar as well in the AM so I try to stay away from a lot of sugar/fruit/smoothies at that time of day.  I put the least amount of syrup on my breakfasts as I can stand.  Also I really try to stay away from all sweet drinks like soda and juice because they have TONS of sugar ( i would rather get my sugar from other sources like chocolate!)

Ok so hopefully writing all this down will give me the added motivation.  Anyone with me?!!

October 21, 2011

Switchfoot

I was determined to make it to the Switchfoot concert last night which is a little hard with a newborn baby!  She's been sleeping great though so I thought I'd try!  Stacy came with me and it was the BOMB as usual.  They are so good live and their lyrics are amazing.  We were standing right next to the huge Base speakers which was really funny.  My body took a while to get back to normal after the concert!  Maybe I'm a little old to be down in the pit at a rock concert, but I don't care!


This is your life
Are you who you want to be?

 da boyz

This is the point of the night when my ears were ringing- hence the look on my face
BTW Cami slept for 7 hours last night for the 3rd time this week.  yay!

Well it's official... on Tuesday we had to say goodbye to grandma and grandpa Lee as they left on their mission to Jo Juh (as grandpa calls it).  It was a sad day.  Jace didn't quite understand until we told him he would be 5 when they came back...  then he was pretty sad about it.  I don't think either of the kids will really understand until time passes.  They are so used to seeing their grandma and grandpa often!  We are so happy for them though, and know they will be awesome missionaries!  We are hoping to visit them sometime which will be fun!
here's a pic from the blessing
 I'm a little sad that this is the best we could get!  Oh well!
saying goodbye to Cami
The hardest thing about them leaving is for Cami to not know grandma and grandpa till she's 2
the traditional running after grandma and grandpa's car!  We will miss you guys!

pumpkin patch

Makenna went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch, so we decided to tag along.  It was interesting pushing my stroller through the corn maze, but all in all it was really fun!
It was such a beautiful day  
,
Makenna with her best bud Kyle

Cami and I were there too!

October 12, 2011

3 kids

(more pictures below!)
I'm on my own now!  So far it's been 10 days and so far so good!  I'll admit the first couple days were strange- I had a couple weird moments during the day where I just felt so emotional and blue.  Luckily for me that feeling usually just lasts for a couple hours, but I still hate it!  I really feel bad for people that are diagnosed with depression because that would be SO hard to deal with.  

The kids have been SO good and sweet for me.  For a couple months before Cami was born, Jace was going through a bad stage of having a meltdown when he didn't want to do things I asked him or when he wanted something and I said no.  I came up with an idea of giving him a candy corn every time he said "okay mom," and it has worked like a charm!  If treats work for dogs, why not kids?!  Yes, it is not the best thing to give him, but he's doing SO much better so I don't care!!  Jace has been so sweet with Cami and has not shown any signs of jealousy.  I think he was at a great age to add a sibling.

Both kids still ask all day to hold Cami and are in heaven when they get to!  So far we have been through 3 sicknesses with the kids since she was born, but she's been lucky to not get any of them.  Poor Kenna wasn't allowed to hold/touch/kiss her for 5 days straight.  I hate GERMS!!  

Scott has been so cute with Cami.  I have definitely never seen him enjoy the newborn stage as much as this time.  He's always stealing her from me and lovin on her all the time.  

Cami is the sweetest baby known to man.  She smiles so much it is amazing.  She is definitely a happy baby.  Sometimes when she sleeps she will laugh in her sleep!  It is so crazy- they are real laughs!  She has the craziest hair; the middle comes forward and looks like a mowhalk, and the back sticks straight up.  It's starting to get lighter so I think she might be a blondie.  Right now her poor eyes have clogged ducts so they're all crusty and she's got some cute baby acne and dry skin- poor thing!  At her 2 week check-up she already weighed 9 lbs. 8 oz.  She is definitely a chubb and filling out her 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers pretty well.  She already seems so big to me it is sad!  Cami loves to be held upright and cuddle on your chest- she is such a cuddly baby.  She is a little twitcher.  A couple times in her sleep her whole body was twitching really bad and every time I burp her she twitches- it's so funny and thank goodness it's normal, just a little weird!  She is an amazing sleeper.  She gives me a nice 6 hour stretch at night, and then I nurse her in bed so I can nap and she goes right back to sleep, so I'm really not losing much sleep.  It's lovely!  I don't think I could ask for a better baby.

 holding her head up

She loves to suck on her arm when she gets the chance- she came out of the womb sucking on her arm and both arms had dry scabs from when she was in the womb!  OH, and notice the hair!!  See what I mean now?! 

 My smiley girl- she loves her brother

 special bond

(notice the hickey from sucking on her arm!) 





Camryn has brought such a special spirit to our house; just having her around makes me want to be so much better.  I am really enjoying every day and second with her.  I have loved to watch her learn about the world around her and learn how her little body works.  Having her curled up on me... mmm I love it!  Each child I've had has filled some kind of need I didn't even know I had.  I truly feel that Cami has such a happy and special spirit, and that has filled this need I had of stepping back and enjoying life a little more.  I'm sure as she gets older she will continue to bless my life in ways I didn't expect.  Having children brings me so much joy!

October 3, 2011

This is my sister Jaclyn

She is studying abroad in Jerusalem and I am jealous.

Because I love this picture...

My cute sister Kara held Cami like this for hours and hours on end this weekend!  I loved having her here!

Balloon Fiesta!

I was so excited my family was able to be here for the Balloon Fiesta!  I've been trying to get them to come since we moved here!  It was AWESOME!!  I think they had 300-something balloons that went up that morning!  amazing!



 hard to believe this is a hot air balloon!

 Cute Aunt Kara

 dubbed my favorite balloon this year


Cami's first balloon fiesta!  notice the balloon jammies...

Camryn's blessing

On Friday we had the opportunity of giving Camryn a name and blessing at our home.  It was very special because my dad and sister Kara were able to come and my in-laws were able to come right before they were checking in to the MTC for their mission.  We felt very blessed to have them all here and to be able to do it in our home.  The men standing in the circle were Scott, my dad, my father in law, Brian, and our friend Dave who stood in for the bishopric.  Following the blessing we had a chance to bear testimonies to each other.  It was a very special experience- one that I will never forget.
 

 



 the kids are going to miss their grandpa!





My mom made these for Makenna and I was able to use them again for Cami.