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.