What Sophie Thinks of Santa

We had a really fun Christmas Breakfast at our church today. Sophie ate almost an entire pancake practically before we could sit down. She loves breakfast food, it is her favorite thing and she is very consistent about eating it (everything else is a struggle and she is one picky toddler). We saw a little program and sang some christmas songs, and then...

Santa! I had an idea of how our visit with Santa would go, and I was right. Just like last-year. Despite Sophie being so "distraught" she was still able to pick out and hold a sucker.

I knew this would happen too. I ended up holding her, while sitting on Santa's lap, while Sophie contemplated grabbing another sucker. We couldn't get a picture with everyone looking.

My mom's work is having a visit with Santa next week, so lets hope it goes better. I'll be at work, but maybe that will be a good thing because Sophie's Grandma has a way with her - she's like a Sophie whisperer!

In other news: School suddenly feels completely overwhelming. Probably because I really hate the class I'm working on now (a research class). I have finished a mandatory WGU class (2 credits), Professional Roles in Nursing (3 credits), and Contemporary nursing issues (4 credits) all in the month of November. I hope that I can keep up the pace despite the stress of the holiday's, financial crap going on right now, my new job and full-time hours, and the normal 'duties' a woman has.

I have been working out really great this week, and except for one day this week I have been under my calories, which is good. I really want to lose 20 more pounds. While my BMI would still be 'overweight' that is my goal and I will feel great if I can get there and maintain for life!

My Christmas shopping and wrapping has been done since about September. It's been nice not to have to stress about that. I just have to throw together a few things for neighbor gifts and wa-la!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Thanksgiving

Well this month is coming to an end. It feels long, and short at the same time. I have finished 9 credit hours just this month and have 14 to go for my BSN. It's been great to work at my own pace (quickly) and I really like my program. I have tried to be really diligent with eating right and try to work out often. I do feel really stressed out about a few things though, but I'm trying hard to stay a float. I have great support and a wonderful hubby who has been helping out so much more at home so I can work on school.

Sophie is getting so big! She has the cutest smile and I love having days off with her. She is such a busy body though and has so much energy. It's hard when I have things I need to get done with school and all she wants to do is play - I feel guilty that I have to turn the TV on and try to distract her so I can get stuff done. I can't wait to be done with my BSN and not have to go to school, EVER again. Sophie is getting so tall. I haven't measured her but she doesn't fit length-wise in her 2T clothes. She is still a skinny gal. She is a horrible eater - she is so picky. I can count on one hand how many things she'll eat. We keep offering and hopefully she'll grow out of that. Feeding a toddler is so stressful sometimes! We have tried to do fun things each week as a family but we've been lacking. This seemed like a busy month!

I picked up some budgeted hours in the ER, on shift a week which will make me full time. I will work two shifts on Peds and one shift in the ER each week. I am so glad to be 'back' in the ER and loved it so much as a tech. I know that it will be really different but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to apply. I am looking forward to training, which starts the second week of December. Peds busy season will be starting in January (RSV season), so I know my life is going to get about ten-times more hectic.

For Thanksgiving Kale and I had a day off, so we decided to make the most of it and go see his family that lives in Rock Springs. We left Wednesday evening and stayed at his Grandma's house. She got Sophie a little surprise - some really fun building blocks and a cute little Zhu-Zhu pet (Sophie LOVES that thing). We hung out there for most of Thanksgiving morning. It is always so much fun to visit. We wish we could make it up there more. Sophie was a good girl considering the house wasn't really 'baby-proof.' She had a few little meltdowns and missed her nap but did good overall. Kale was having some major vertigo (dizziness) thought and couldn't do anything but lay still with his eyes closed. It made the day hard because Sophie required full attention and I had a paper I had to work on. We went to Kale's Uncle and Aunt's house for Thanksgiving dinner. They have a dog, Oscar, who barked full blast at Sophie. Sophie really loves dogs usually but I think all the commotion from everyone and the barking really got to her and she had a hard time. It was getting to difficult to coop her up in one room, since this home also wasn't baby-proof, so we went back to Kale's grandparents to visit before leaving.

Mama's girl!

Luckily we had the iPad which is always something we rely on to help Keep Sophie busy and entertained no matter where we are!

Kale's Grandma told me her dream was to get a family picture. I didn't even plan on it happening, but surprisingly enough EVERYONE was there, including Kale's Uncle from Denver. I am still shocked it worked out so well and am glad we got one, even if it was impromptu and no one matched :)

Kale has really great Grandparent and we are so lucky we get to visit. They love Sophie so much and it's so fun to hang out with them and hear stories about their lives.

We left for home that night. Sophie fell asleep about 30 minutes from home, which never happens. It's a long drive (2 1/2 hrs one way) but she did really good both times. We were glad to be home, unloaded the car and cleaned up, and went to bed! We both worked the next day so we didn't do any black-friday stuff. We don't really 'NEED' anything anyway. Luckily Kale was feeling better. I worked all weekend and had stressful patients. For a brief moment during my weekend my confidence in my ability was shattered and I just didn't want to be a nurse again. Don't worry though, I feel better and am glad to be a nurse and have a great job that lets my schedule be flexible.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

The Month of October

October was such a fun month! I had a great schedule at work, my sweet baby turned two, and there was a lot of fun things we did. Here is a little recap and updated about our lives:

Earlier in the month my mom's work had a party at a pumpkin patch. It was a lot of fun. We had to wait in a long line, but we finally got to go on a way fun hayride. Sophie loved when we started to go and loved the tractor. We were sitting right in the front so we had a great view. We got to the pumpkin patch, and it wasn't as fun anymore. She didn't appreciate getting off the hayride and the dirt/mud was bugging her. She is funny because she loves to pat things. She pats my salt shakers, her Daddy's head, and particular to this story - pumpkins! We had pizza after the hayride back, and we were excited to take back our pumpkins.

Sophie is point to the pizza tent. She loves pizza. I can't think of anything else in the whole wide world she likes more than a big slice of pepperoni!

My mom is a great Grandma and Sophie is so lucky to have her. She helps babysit Sophie since our daycare fiasco. Sophie loves her, sometimes I wonder if she loves her more than she loves me :)

Another fun Halloween activity we did was going to Willard Bay. I've lived here my whole life but haven't ever heard about the Christmas light show they have there. I saw a flyer in a coupon magazine about a Halloween light show. It sounded fun but I didn't think more of it. We were going to go to Black Island Farms because I've heard how much fun it is there, but when the day came, Kale got home later than normal from work and it was FREEZING! I didn't want to pay all the money to go stand in the cold and the dark and not be able to enjoy it. We improvised and I remembered about the Willard Bay activity. It was a lot closer to us, so we got all dressed in our sweaters and blankets, and headed up there. Of course it was FREEZING! My car read somewhere around 34 degrees, eek! I was worried Sophie wouldn't have fun, but she loved it. I had her in my Boba right up against me. I found this awesome toddler pants at the DI with padding in them for warmth, so we dressed her in several layers, a jacket, a hat, and had a huge triple layer fleece blanket. It was still cold. I wore flip flops of course, and my feet were fine, my my hands were freezing. The lights were awesome! I should have thought to take my camera. Kale snapped this with his iPhone. It's not the greatest picture but depicts the efforts I made to keep my baby warm. I had her bundled up like nothing else, only her little face showed! She was quiet and still and I loved being able to cuddle her. We went on the hayride through the lights about 4 times. That's all she wanted to do. We did go through the kiddie-hay bale maze and then decided we were cold enough and they were almost ready to close. They had a lot more fun activities and I can't wait to try it out next year! It was right on the beach of Willard bay. What a fun time we had!

Earlier in the month we went to Lagoon with Kale's parents and nieces. Sophie hasn't been for a while and it showed! Usually she just LOVES Lagoon and I can't ever get her off the rides without a breakdown, but tonight she would cry when I'd put her on one. Until it started that is... then she would love it, but as soon as it stopped she would cry again. It must have just been one of those days for her. I bet it didn't help that it was dark and she had to sit by cousins she only sees once a month or so.

I had my Beco baby carrier which I love because I can slip her in and out of it and not have to pack a purse, stroller, or anything else. I am such an advocate for (proper) baby wearing. If you know of anyone that wants more information, here is a great site with all the types of baby carrying: BABYWEARING BLOG I see so many crummy baby carriers out there and wish I could just inform everyone of other, much more comfortable options!

Sophie loved when we got a snack and was snarffing the fries and trying to sip from people's soda. It's so bad and I promised myself I wouldn't let her have soda pop, but sometimes it's just not worth the fight. She loves it, of course.

Luckily it was a good, fairly warm night and we had a lot of fun. We didn't get to do any Frightmares stuff which was a bummer because honestly I've never been! Maybe next year though. We always get season passes and use them plenty. It's a lot of fun to be able to go, especially since we can take frontrunner there so our trip is virtually free!

Well I talked already about how awesome my mom is. She is a fabulous lady and definitely one of a kind. Now to brag about my Dad. Boy do I LOVE my dad. He is such a gentle giant and such a great Dad. I have so many fun memories of growing up and doing things that he loves like camping, fishing, and horseback riding. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful father. This month he had the opportunity to go on a big hunt. He did really well and got this 210 mule deer! (He's huge so it makes the animal look small, but this thing is huge). I am so proud of him and so happy he got a deer. Keep your eye out because he is going to be on the COVER of Trophy Hunter Magazine! Way to go Dad, you are awesome!

So Ogden has a lack of things to do with little kids that don't cost an arm and a leg (like the treehouse). We have a dinosaur park pass but Sophie is just a bit too small for that. We have gone to the nature center a few times, swimming during the summer, attempted a movie, and done other free things like hiking. Sometimes I wish we had more opportunities like salt lake does (Think natural history museum, discovery gateway, zoo, act). Well I had a coupon and went with my bestie to this really fun bounce house in Ogden that is fairly new. It looked fun, I wish I weighed under 150 lbs so I could go on those things! Apparently we didn't get the memo that if you are under 3 it is the most terrifying place to be. Both Sophie and Emery had complete meltdowns when we tried to put them on or in any of the bounce houses. I thought it was quite comical. Good thing it only cost us $3. By the end of the time, Sophie finally warmed up to one of the places just a little. Emery was quite content roaming the area with her snacks, and didn't appreciate out repeated attempts to put her in the bounce houses.

I plan on taking Sophie there again because I know if she would give it a chance she would like it. It's pretty loud and the bounce houses are huge. Plus I think being 'unstable' on her feet really scares her. It would be good if it was busier so she can see other kids play. There were like a total of 4 people there since we went during the day.

Our Ward had a trunk or treat the Friday before Halloween. It was fun. I worked and got out late so I had to head straight there, so apparently I was a nurse as my costume. My husband didn't dress up, and I was not in the mood to dress Sophie up since we had no impressive ideas and she hates wearing the hood on her piggy costume. I did have a light up Halloween shirt so that should count for something. We had crockpot soups and chili's and it was delicious. The only thing Sophie would eat were these little cornbread muffins. What a cute idea, I am going to have to make some. They were teeny and cute and I think she liked the portability of them. She spent the dinner running up and down the isles, patting and petting all the pumpkins, trying to climb the hay bale decorations, and attempting to stir people's drinks with her spoon. We played some games. Sophie loved the beanbag throw game. Her sweet little babysitter, Erica, who is FABULOUS with her was there. We just love her, she is the best babysitter! Sophie loves her!

Afterwards we went out and went trunk or treating. Sophie wasn't sure what was going on but finally found out that if she looked cute and held out her little pumpkin bag she would get a treat. Then she was on board and just living it up! It was so much fun. My favorite part of the nights as the apple lady. She said "We have the healthy treat, apples" and held out the bowl of apples. It was dark, but Sophs reached in, picked up the apple, examined it and turned it around, then threw it over her shoulder and stormed to the next bowl of 'real' treats. It was hilarious, I still just laugh out loud thinking about it. Luckily the lady thought it was pretty funny too! That little stinker... she just loves sugar. I blame her Daddy since he could live off soda pop, candy, and pizza...

I always feel so rushed and busy in life and sometimes I just want to do something that I actually WANT to do. I had the opportunity this month to work on a lot of little projects I have been bookmarking. I made some Christmas gifts for family, and some things to list on Etsy.com. I love Etsy, it is the best place to get hair bows and little handmade things for Sophie. Also, I have found some REALLY cool things in the vintage section to decorate my house. I got some awesome old books for my mantle, some antique kitchen tools for my front room, and I just LOVE to browse the site. I listed some hair bows and crayon rolls that I was able to make. It was fun to just be able to craft. I have a sewing machine that I just haven't been very comfortable with the troubleshooting parts of sewing, but I'm getting the hang of it. 7th grade Home-Ec is all coming back to me now! Ha. I had Mrs. Taylor and boy could she be mean, but luckily my cross-stitch and serging skills were up to par and she loved me.

So when I found out I was pregnant, I became 'on the look out' for baby things out and about in my travels. It was really great to slowly build my supply of baby items. I had a complete set of my cloth diapers, tons of hand me down and new clothes, and lots and lots of toys! When I was doing a DI run, I found these awesome mega blocks for 5 bucks! There is a huge bag full and then a large mega-block wagon full. Recently I rotated through my toy stash, since Sophie gets bored of the same old toys easily, and she has loved these. She is quite the builder. Kale loves it too. He's like a little kid! He helps to 'stabilize' her creations and helps her build towers and things. It's so cute. I have the best husband, he is such a good Daddy.

This week was a busy week for me. I started school again. I know, what was I thinking!? Unfortunately here a bachelors degree in nursing is nothing all too special. It has no pay increase and really no immediate results. Long term we would need it if my hospital tries to obtain magnet status or if I was interested in a teaching or managerial position (which I'm not). I have been putting it off due to cost of school and time. I always wanted to be able to spend time with my babies when they were little and work on that while they were at school or something. Well, if you don't know this about me, I love a challenge and get bored easily when things are slow in my life. This prompted me in August to look into a BSN program. Despite getting my original two degrees from Weber State, I knew I didn't want to continue any schooling there. I looked at all online programs: there was on from Dixie and one from a University in Idaho. Unfortunately most of those were super competitive and seemed a little lengthy. I have always always been skeptical of the education you get from an online-based school or some of these outrageously expensive schools like Steven's Henager or Phoenix. I ran across Western Governors University and really liked it. The cost was great, and the best part about it is that you can work at your own individual pace. That is a plus for me because I do school marathons. I work really hard on things for hours and hours on end for a few weeks, then when life gets busy I school down a bit until I can pick up again. Some students have been successful enough to get their BSN in 6 months because of this ability. It is fully accredited just like a BYU or Weber State program, and my work does a tuition reimbursement for it. That sealed the deal for me. I applied, got in, and was able to start Nov 1. Once you are accepted you can start the very next month, which is great. I have loved it so far and am pretty much done with 4 credit units of my 23 total that I need in this first week. I aim to complete at least two more classes this month, and then slow down my pace a bit but finish by April. I hope that I can be successful but no big deal if not. If I finish by April, my final tuition cost is only $3700. That is another big incentive.

I should be studying or doing course work now, but instead I took the time to blog :)

I am looking forward to the holidays. It is snowing now and all the leaves are falling off my trees. I love the business of the holidays and the opportunity to spend a lot of time with family. It's always a good excuse to remember how grateful we should all be for what we have!

Dinosaur Park Spooktacular Halloween Party

Yesterday we went to the Dinosaur Park Spooktacular Halloween Event. It was pretty fun. Sophie is afraid of all the dinosaur sounds and the growling though, that was pretty funny! We had a little pig vest so she was a 'piggy' for her costume. The weather was perfect!

They had a Costume Parade with all the kiddos and then a little spook trail. It was fun to walk around but anytime there was any sounds of growling or honking, Sophie wanted to be held. She loved the playground though!

My brother is moving out of our old house so we are looking for renters. It is very cute, in a great location, and a great price. There are two bedrooms, one bathroom, and all the appliances including washer and dryer are included in the rent. There is a pool on site, covered parking, and a storage shed. Please help us find a great renter!

Updates: Daycare experience, Couples Retreat

Well let's talk about October 7th. That day was one of the hardest days I have ever had as a mother. I knew it would be rough, but wasn't sure what to expect I guess. It was Sophie's first day of daycare. We have been looking on and off for a long time (over a year) and I have looked at several daycares and just haven't felt right about it. My mom babysits when we work but sometimes I feel like we are relying on her too much and thought that Sophie could use the social experience of doing daycare once a week. Since I work every other weekend and Kale is home then, really we just need someone about 6 week-days per month. We were accepted into the daycare at my work after being on the waiting list for a while but it is SOOOO expensive! So I ran across a daycare out here right near our house. It is out of a lady's home. Her and another gal run the daycare and it seemed really great. It was clean and updated, in the basement of her hours, and they seemed like they really knew what they were doing! All the kids there were normal-looking kids, ha. The price was fair and it was great to be just minutes away from our house. We decided we would take her there once a week and my mom could babysit the day we needed once every other week.

I worked, so Kale got Sophie up and got her dressed, fed her, and headed to the daycare. I had gotten everything ready and laid out clothes and breakfast. He had been feeling anxious and emotional about it and was super worried about how it would go, especially the 'drop-off.' The plan was that Kale would go in with Sophie and start to play and get her distracted so she felt comfortable then sneak out. That usually works for us with nursery. We expected for her to be sad and cry but were hoping it would be busy and fun and she would make it through the day. That plan was crushed. The lady, we'll call her T, said that despite Kale's concerns, 'it's the best way to do it' and grabbed Sophie from Kale and told him he should leave. Of course, her personality is to cry and be scared. She still has some major stranger danger. Kale said she was just grabbing for him and trying to squirm and that she was hysterical. He had to leave and head to work. Being at work was hard for both of us. I finally couldn't take it anymore and had to call for an update. Luckily I talked to the apparently nicer, younger lady, we'll call her K. K said that you were pretty fussy even still and that you were having a hard time but that it would be ok. At the time I could hear you crying in the background. Another nurse came in early for me, as I had planned for there being a possibility you wouldn't last. I tried to think rational and decided to run an errand hoping that would give you more time to acclimate and I hoped things would be better. I was feeling anxious and sick to my stomach the entire time I ran errands and pretty much sped home after to get you.

I walked in to a young teen downstairs in the daycare with all the kids. She said to wait right there and I heard her go get K. K came down and said Sophie was sleeping on the couch. I looked down at her on the couch and she had wet, swollen eyes. They were red and her eyelashes were soaked and clumped together. I could see the tears pooled in your eyes while she was laying there asleep even, and there was dried snot all around her nose and mouth. I was devastated. She said that she pretty much cried all day. She said Sophie wouldn't let any kids get around her and when they would she would start crying again and it would take 15 minutes + to calm back down. She said that she wouldn't eat or drink a thing. They finally got her to take a few pieces of bread that T had to 'hand feed' her.. She said T held her most of the day and Sophs finally fell asleep on T's lap. That makes me feel sad because T seems like she is all business and I hate imagining her being passive aggressive with an attitude like "well I'll show you" or something to Sophie. Maybe she was kind and loving, I'll never know, I just have the feeling that she probably isn't... K said that they tried putting her down for a nap because she seemed so exhausted but that Sophie wouldn't even lay down, even with the bottle that they forbad you to have initially. (Sometimes Sophie has a bottle for comfort and they said no but I packed one anyway). They said she finally fell asleep on the couch so they just left her there and that you had been asleep about 45 minutes. I picked you up and you woke up and hugged me and laid on my shoulder. I apologized to K because I knew it must have been hard for them too. She said the only time Sophie stopped crying was when they put her in the highchair alone in the kitchen.

I took Sophie home and gave you a big hug and kiss. I felt so bad to see her sweet face so sad. Her diaper was soaked and her lip was bleeding inside so I don't know if she got bumped or just bit her lip. Her little eyes were red and bloodshot and almost swollen to shut. It makes me feel horrible to even re-live how I felt. Sophie was so glad to be home that day.

Earlier in the year I got a groupon for the CLAS Ropes Course Couple Retreat. We redeemed that this month. It was a lot of fun. It was Sophie's first time with a babysitter from our neighborhood and since she had quite an ordeal the day before at daycare, we were super worried. The babysitter came over and we were able to sneak out. We headed to Provo. We got there and were excited for all the fun activities.

Our group got to do this big swing. It was fun. I almost didn't do it because I am terrified, more than a normal phobia, of heights. I agreed to do it but only went up halfway. It was still fun and I was glad I went on it. Kale loved it. He was trying to flip but couldn't quite make it over.

Next our group tried this other activity that you have to walk on a tightrope and use each other to balance and see how far you get. I thought we'd get far since we have long arms, ha, but we didn't do that great. That was probably my favorite activity of the day and I really wished we could have had more time to try it. Next was rock climbing. It was a 40 foot wall. It was scary looking. Kale didn't really have a desire to try it but I talked him into it. He did really good and almost got to the top.

Next it was my turn. SOOO scary! I hate heights and I have huge feet so I wasn't sure I could balance my entire body on some little rock thingy.

I went up about 10-15 feet and then I was stuck and my ankles were hurting so I was done, ha. At least I tried and it was fun.

It was such a fun day, I really loved it. We did a zip line and Kale did something called a leap of faith where you jump off a platform and aim for this ring. He got the ring, yay, way to go Kale! We had Costa Vida and there was a guest speaker but we headed home because it was such a long drive. Sophie did great with the babysitter. She is super nice, kind of quiet, but really mature and great with kids. She said Sophie didn't even cry and slept really well. We were relieved she did ok.

We took Sophie to nursery the next day and she was terrified. I feel like we have taken like ten steps backwards. We talked a lot about things and decided that for right now daycare wasn't the best idea. I called them on Monday and they said "we can't have a child who isn't going to adjust" when I told them we didn't want to continue bringing her anymore. It kind of bugged me. Oh well.

That next week Sophie was super fussy. She was getting her molars and then I think she is just a bit traumatized about everything! It was a hard week. Luckily I had a lot of time off that week so we could just hang out. I love hanging out with Sophie, she is such a sweet girl and I love her so much!

Pumpkin Patch

My mom's work was having an activity at a pumpkin patch place in Layton. It was a lot of fun! The line was long when we got there but moved fast because they had about three or four tractors taking groups on the hayride to the pumpkin patch. Sophie was hungry so she was kind of grumpy while we were waiting in line but we did lots to distract her and pretty soon it was our turn!

We got situated on the trailer/hay and Sophie was so sad and crying. I think the loud tractor and all the people around scared her. As soon as the tractor got going though, she was having a blast and she LOVED it! She kept saying Wee! The tractor kept going through mud puddles because of the rain today so I was worried it was going to splash us since we were closest to the tire. It was quite an adventure. It was a fun ride to the pumpkins though.

We picked our pumpkins. We found the cutest little baby pumpkin for Sophie. It's perfect, I love it!

The tractor gave us a ride back to the start. We got in line for pizza. Sophie was sure hungry, she ate three entire slices of pizza! I was dying laughing at her. That girl loves her some pizza!

Yay for Fall!

Sophie's Birthday!

What a fun day! We woke up around 8 and Kale made waffles, one of Sophie's Favorites! We ate and hung around. Kale got a haircut, and then I went to run some errands (cake, balloons). My Mom brought the goat and kittens over first. Her friend from work had them and was so nice to have them over for the party. The goat was adorable. His name was LeBron and he was pretty friendly. He was really nervous I think and had a lot to say at first. Sophie loved hearing him baa and petting him.

There were four little kittens. Man they are so cute! They are just little fur-balls. Two were kind of mean and would hiss at you when you'd go to pet them.

Sophie went down for a nap. I was worried she wouldn't nap because she was so excited about the animals but she did. We finished getting everything ready and Sophie got up just in time for a bath and to wear her outfit. I am not a sew-er at all. I know basic stuff. I tried making a pillow case dress but it was huge on her. I tried to troubleshoot and quickly fix it, and it basically ruined it, so I had to re-cut everything smaller and start over. It was quite the ordeal. I have been working on it all week and it was finally ok and she looked super cute in it. I can't believe she is two, she is such a blessing in our lives and I just LOVE her so much!

The horse, Pedro, came over and we saddled him up. He was really pre-occupied with the cows in the next field and kept whinnying at them. The kids thought that was pretty cool. Sophie didn't' want to ride him but loved to pet him.

We had chips, hot dogs, and water/squeeze its! I had a lady on etsy design our invitation and water bottle wraps to match. MMM, it was so much fun!

My Dad is so cute. We just pawned off a kitten to him. I was glad he came. He is such a hard worker and always has lots of other projects going on so I know it was a big deal to skip out on his Saturday work to come help at the party and bring the horse. He is the best Dad and Grandpa!

I made some favor bags: kitty, piggy, cow, rooster, and horse!

We tried to go all-out with the animals. We had animal balloons, animal decorations, plates, water bottle wrappers, and favors! It was fun planning it all out.

Well we fell in love with this kitten that Kale named Gus. He is such a cute little fur-ball. We decided we wanted to have him stay at our house for a little bit so we can decide if he'll be a good fit for our family. He is super cute and so nice. I have allergies so I am unsure of if it will bother me. The great thing about it is that if we need to, we can just take him back up to the barn where he was born and throw him out there with his siblings/mama. My sister, Kylie and her husband Preston are also keeping another kitty.

The kittens were a big hit. Probably one of the favorites! We had a Grandpa Ferret and some baby chicks, too.

Sophie's little friend, Anna, loved riding the horse! Leila was a good helper and rode with the smaller kiddos to help hold onto them while we gave horse rides. She is a natural!

Preston, the cook, did a fabulous job!

Their kitty, Larry, named by Kale. Kale loves giving animals weird names that are people names. I am not a supporter, I love funny animal names.

So LeBron wasn't too friendly overall. He wanted attention but wasn't going to hold still and be clobbered. Poor sweet Anna was trying to pet him and then all the sudden he put his head down and rammed into her! We were all laughing because he knocked her down. Poor girl!

Sophie doesn't' like singing lately. Even if we try to sing her favorite songs she gets mad at us for some weird reason. So of course, the cake and singing "Happy Birthday" didn't go over well. One of my friends said "It's her party and she'll cry if she wants too!"

After cake, we opened presents. Sophie got super distracted after opening the first one though! Ha!

It was such a great party, thanks to all the family and friends that came. We are so lucky to have such great friends and family and it meant so much! I love my Sophie so much, I can't believe she is already two years old! She seems so big!

Today she had her 2 year check-up. She is 38% in weight (11.6kg) (up from 19% yay!!!) and 88% in height (35.25 in). She got one shot and the flu mist. She is a happy healthy girl and we are so happy she is in our lives! Happy Birthday to my Sweet Sophie Girl!

Busy Busy Busy

I have working hard on getting ready for Sophie's party. She will be turning two on Saturday. I can't believe it's been two years already, I just love Sophie so much. I have been working on lots of things. We are having a barnyard theme because Sophie is so into animals lately. We have quite a few animals that will be attending. I have made a few things too: the favor bags and I even attempted a little dress out of this cute fabric. I haven't tried it on yet so hopefully it fits (I am a novice sew-er). It has been stressful these last few days because I still feel like there are so many things I need to work on and get done before. My yard is a mess. Luckily my house is fairly clean.

This month I have been precepting a nursing student (basically like a mini clinical teacher). She has been so sweet and I have loved working with her. She was due to have her first baby Oct 7. He had other things in mind and on Tuesday she asked me "how much bleeding is normal?" I put her in a wheelchair and down to L&D she went. Poor girl, I would hate being caught off guard like that. She lives in Logan but thankfully her husband was in Ogden so he got there quickly. She had her baby that morning, just ten hours short of finishing her precepting rotation!

Sophie starts a new little daycare next Friday. We have her going every Friday. The place is great, the teachers seem wonderful, and the price is right. My mom has been babysitting when we work for the most part, but I am hoping that having Sophie go to the daycare once a week will help her social skills and feeling comfortable with other people. I think it will be hard at first, and I am glad I don't have to be the one to drop her off (that's Kale's job). I think it will be hard because she is only going once a week so I think it will take some time for her to adjust. I hope all goes well, but if not we'll go back to spending Friday's with her Grandma!

Recently I got a new calling. Let me tell you how it happened. They asked to 'meet' with me. I knew something was in the works... I just had that feeling. I met with two of the bishopric counselors and they asked me to teach in Relief Society. Initially I told them no and why: that I work every other Sunday, and that Sophie refuses to go to nursery, and that I feel like I'll be taking away from Kale being able to learn (he only goes when I go). They asked me to think about it and I did ... I know you can't really turn down a calling and that I should at least try. I told them I would take the calling and give it an honest effort. A day or two later I get a call (Tuesday) from the relief society presidency and they tell me my lesson is Sunday! Ack! Super stress mode. I spent a few hours preparing the lesson and all these things to add to it. I was worried about filling the time. So of course, the day I teach, they have announcements for almost half an hour. I barely got through half of my lesson and my time was up! I was pretty nervous but tried to not talk fast and actually look up and get input from the ladies in my ward. I teach again on the 9th and am worried about it because the lesson is so straight-forward and it's only two pages long. It's on the Gathering of Israel.

Well I am sure I will blog soon about Sophie's party... keep an eye out for some fun pictures!

Fat

It's been two months since I made the choice to really work hard at losing weight and started my bootcamp. The bootcamp was only four weeks long, but I have tried to carry on the good habits. I am definitely not working out as often and as intense at bootcamp but I try to make healthy choices and be active. I like to hike, bike, take walks around the neighborhood, and try to hit the gym after I work and when Kale is home in the evenings or on his late mornings. Working out for me is the hardest thing, and I miss being able to have the time to do that. It is just my personal opinion, but to me it's just not realistic to expect to work out for 1+ hours each day with a young family. I honestly would much rather do something together as a family or to do something when Sophie is asleep. It is very hard for me and I feel selfish when I do workout and miss out on spending time with Sophie. I looked around at different gyms and got a membership at a local gym but the hours are a bit limited so it's hard sometimes to get there. Luckily my work has a gym that employees can work out in after hours. I loved doing the bootcamp and plan on doing it again around the new year. It was the best priced and most flexible bootcamp I can find. I looked in to a lot and tried to find one closer to my house but really I just loved the Biofit bootcamp I did. The trainer was awesome, the times were the best for my schedule, and the price is very fair. The only drawback is that it was in Layton which was quite a drive for me. I wish I had a friend that lived very close that was in a similar situation and had similar goals. I know some of the ladies in my neighborhood go running, but it's at 530 am and they run like 5-10 miles. I am definitely not there! Plus I like to do circuit training/cross training.

The food part has gotten a lot easier for me. For a while I took an appetite suppressant but now I only take that once or twice a week. I really rely on an app called MyFitnessPal that helps me track all my calories and physical activity. It is so easy to use, I can scan barcodes and search a huge database for foods. Right now my caloric goal is 1560 calories per day. It can be hard to do on eating alone so I usually have to do some sort of activity. At that caloric goal for my weight I can be down about 2 lbs a week. The hard part for me is that I'm an emotional eater, especially when I am bored or stressed. I love to snack. Also, I am 'cheap' so I hate to waste food. I don't listen to my fullness, instead I eat what is left or what is put in front of me. I have tried to make smaller portions for me and only cook what we will eat or immediately separate leftovers. My husband hates anything healthy, so that is also a big challenge. He loves greasy foods, pastas and carbs, and pizza. Plus, healthy fresh food is so much more expensive!

I try not to weigh every day but sometimes it's fun to see the fluctuation. I can fluctuate about 3-4 lbs each day! It just goes to show the importance of weighing at the same time of the day wearing the same thing. Today I weighed in and am down 19 pounds from my weight 2 months ago! I am very glad. I haven't measured my inches for a while since bootcamp, but in the month I did bootcamp I lost about 15 inches overall. I haven't noticed a big difference in the way my clothes fit but Sunday I was actually able to fit into a skirt that has been too tight for a long time. It is very encouraging and I hope I can stick with it. Hopefully I can continue to lose weight. I am down 19 pounds and have 24 to go to get to my initial goal weight. I will be happy to get there, and from there would like to lose an additional 15 to be to my ideal weight.

Utah State Fair

We had such a fun day today! We missed the Weber and Davis County fair so we went to the Utah State Fair today. Sophie is so into animals lately, I hoped she would love it! We picked Kale up on our way. I was bummed because after we parked and got to the gates it was 7 and it was only open until 8. We had originally planned to be down there around 4 but then Kale picked up a shift so he worked until 6. We still had a lot of fun. We walked around for a while looking at some of the booths and checking out the rides and then we finally found the animals! We saw the pigs first. Sophie was in seventh heaven in there! I just put her down and let her roam and she loved being able to walk around to all the cages. Most of the pigs were laying but there were a few really active ones and she even got to hear some oinks! Pigs aren't very soft so the first few she pet she didn't seem like she knew what to think about them. Pretty soon though she would walk from cage to cage and pet the ones that were laying. I think when they have their face pointed at her or are trying to smell her, it made her a bit nervous. Pigs don't seem to have a great life, they just oink and waddle around and lay and there were TONS of flies on them. There was a mama with about 6 little baby piglets and they were so cute, I totally wanted one (if only they stayed small and soft).

Next we went to see the sheep. It was stinky in there, and Sophie kept saying "cucka." (how do you even spell that word?). It was pretty funny. The sheep were bigger and moving around a lot more because most of them were eating their dinner. Sophie loved to just watch them and I think she was just mesmerized by them! By the end of the walkway she was feeling brave and we found the sweetest little sheep and it let you pet it. Sophie was loving it and just going to town patting and rubbing it's little face! So cute!

Next we saw the cows. They were just tied up to a fence - they weren't really fenced in and I didn't want to get kicked or hurt trying to pet them. We tried to pet the end one but Sophie was too intrigued by the fan that was ventilating the building than the actual cows. The next building had goats in them. This was a fun one! There were tons of goats and they were much more inquisitive and would come right over to the fence and some would step up on the railing to say hi! Sophs loved walking around and watching but most goats were a bit too forward for her to pet them. A lady had some out on a leash and she was able to pet it. It liked her and kept trying to nibble her hair. So funny!

Next up we saw a few ponies that were giving rides. We thought about paying for Sophs to ride but weren't sure if she'd like it and we were short on time since it was almost closing time. So, next we saw the chickens. Sophie really liked them but the lady said not to pet them because they would bite. You weren't happy about that restriction so we quickly left. We went to see the vegetables and there was a display of bees. You loved the pumpkins (True October Baby!) and kept patting them, trying to pick them up, and sitting on them. It was hilarious! We stopped by the bunny area, then went and got some mini fried doughnuts, then headed for home. We stopped at the California Pizza Kitchen but by then Sophs was pretty tired and grumpy so we ate quickly and headed home. It was a fun day, I love seeing Sophie and her love for animals!

Lagoon

Kale had to work today so we didn't have plans but then my friend, Dari, invited us to come to Lagoon with them. Sophs and I made an omelet, and she scarfed it down. I think eggs are one of her top three favorite foods. We got ready and headed down to Lagoon. Normally I would ride frontrunner and then the shuttle but Sophs was kinda grumpy and I didn't want to be stuck down there if she had a melt-down. She fell asleep on the way down, of course. I let her sleep for a bit then we jumped on the shuttle and met up with Dari and her family. Sophie, who normally LOVES Lagoon, cried on every ride just about, and in between rides too. I don't know what her deal was, we've been more than a handful of times this summer and last summer and she has always loved it. She was riding rides at 8 months old and never cried like today. I think that the lack of a good nap played a part in it.

The only parts she did like was when we road the carousel and when she got to play in the water. Chris and Dari went on a ride together so I took the kids: sweet Owen, Lola, and Sophs, to kiddieland. We parked everyone by the big water ball and got out to play. Sophie loved it, she is such a water bug, and she was soaking wet when we finally left!

After the water ball Lola spotted some cheetos in her diaper bag. Those were quickly eating, and some sweet lady helped us avoid a meltdown by giving us a bag of hers that she said were extra. What a nice lady, I hope some positive Karma goes her way!

On the way out, we got some cotton candy and Sophie was frantically enjoying it. She was shoveling it into her mouth, an her hands and mouth were covered in cotton candy, like a pink Santa beard! It was hilarious, apparently she really likes cotton candy! Sophie went down for a nap when we got home. She needed that nap! We had a family party that night, so I went in to wake her up so we could get ready. I love seeing babies and kids sleep (especially my own), for some reason it just make me want to giggle out-loud. She just looked so peaceful and it's kind of funny to see the way she lays and her mannerisms when she first wake up (sometimes she looks offended, poor girl)! I went in today and she was laying on her pillow with an empty bottle in her mouth. It was resting on the pillow, you weren't holding it it. Yes we still use a bottle to help Sophie get to sleep. We just put about 1-2 ounces of warm water in the bottle for her nap and bedtime and it only stays in the crib. She drinks the water fast and basically uses that thing as a pacifier. She was laying on her side and was kind of curled up and had tons of blankets around her. It was cute.

We had the party at our old house in Farr West where my Aunt now lives. Sophie was walking around the back yard like she owned the place (well I guess she still kinda does). She was snarfing down chips and trying to drink people's soda. It was hilarious to see her just be-bop around the crowd. I snapped pictures, we had dinner, and then we played some volleyball. Sophs was so attached to her Grandma. I think she was within 5 feet of her the entire night. After the game (it was pretty dark) we sat on the deck and played and visited with everyone. Surprisingly Sophie let some of my cousins hold her and my bestest cousin, Heather, was tickling her and biting up her arm and not only did Sophie tolerate a 'stranger' but she was laughing hysterically! I have some pictures that I will eventually upload but I have lost my USB cord for my camera so my pictures are forever trapped because this stupid MAC doesn't have a SD card reader built in (ghetto). I miss my HP.