Good Day

Well this week started off pretty crummily after being told on Monday by my college counselor that I have to take another dreaded math class, then finding out that I have to take it BEFORE I apply to the nursing program in September, then discovering the only one available during the summer that I could take is the on-line one which is half full already, and then getting the latest possible registration date to sign up for classes so all I can do is hope and pray that there is still a slot left for me by May 6th. Despite all that, this week started to turn around and today ended up being the best day ever. Here's why:

First my dad called to tell me he and my mom were FINALLY back from Europe! It seemed like they had been for a month at least and I missed being able to just give them a call whenever I felt like i. They had gotten stuck over there for an extra week from the volcano eruption. Finding a way back home after that turned into a real pain in the ASH for them. Sorry I couldn't resist. 

After talking to him and getting excited about a future family vacation to Couer d'alene next summer, then my friend Victoria came over with her two kids to play, talk and eat lunch together. 

Here her daughter Samantha was pushing Sawyer in his swing. 

Then after Matt got home from work I find out he was planning on booking a hotel for when we go to the San Diego zoo May 15th to celebrate our 4th anniversary. I LOVE hotels! I don't care what anyone says about them, they are still my favorite thing. Don't even tell me about them not washing the bedsheets I'll just plug my ears and yell la, la, la, la to tune you out. Hotels = fun vacation. Even if it's only for one night away.  Not only that but we were able to use Delta miles to book a night at a fancy schmancy hotel in downtown San Diego for....guess how much?! 8 bucks! This day just kept getting better and better.

The next highlight is that we are going next Wednesday to the screening of the Babies movies I just posted about earlier. Can't wait! 

And finally just top the day off right, today was 31 cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins. 

A very delicious end to a great day. 

If every day could be as good as today I think I just might be able to survive learning about the quadratic equation and other such numerical nonsense again. 

Babies

I can't wait to watch this movie. Babies are the same all over the world!


Watch the Babies trailer on #Fandango

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Shape Up

My dad sent me these pictures a few weeks ago from when we hiked Mt. Borah in 2003 with a bunch of the "cheesy cousins". I was 19 and was in the best shape of my life, physically anyway. Granted I had just gone through a bad break up and lost about 20 lbs subsequently and was also going to the gym twice a day. This time for shaping up neither having my heart broken or being a gym rat are options, thankfully. So my jogging stroller is going to be my new b.f.f and I'm determined to make running my passion. I've always had an infatuation with it, or the idea of it anyway. Now after doing my first 5k I'm determined to fall head over heels in love with running, but hopefully not the asphalt while I do so. 

Look at that view! (The bottom picture not the top one, you cheeky bum looker)

Pops and I after getting past chicken out ridge, which I totally would have chickened out on if he hadn't been there to help me through it. 

Funny side note about that particular day: I had borrowed hiking boots from my little brother Bryson. Climbed and climbed and climbed up that steep mountain in them. On the way back down my legs were like jello. Once we got back to the truck and were taking off our shoes, but dad picked one of the boots up and was shocked at how heavy it was. No wonder my legs were shot, he said, I had been wearing steel-toed boots all day!

Stand Up Comedian

I should have known that once this begins,

it's time to lower the crib.

Looks pretty proud of his stand up act.

The first video is of the little munchkin standing. The second is another that cracks me up. If you listen to him closely, it really sounds like he's saying "I did it" when I ask him about his new accomplishment. What a funny dude.

Please disregard the crazy baaa-ing lady. Don't know where she came from.

Gator Run

 Ran the Gator Run 5k this morning in Simi.

We met my friend Monica there who was running the 10k and snapped a photo with the gator before the race.  

Our pre race photo. I dressed Sawyer in his lizard get up just to keep him warm, but everyone thought he was dressed as a gator and he ended up stealing the whole show!

Just getting started. 

My #1 fan Matt took our picture from the sidelines.  My mother in law came to see me race too so it turned into a really fun Sunday morning. (minus the smelly sweat cloud hovering around the whole park)

3 miles later.....

Silly me ran right past the finish line! I guess I secretly wanted to continue on and run the 10k. Matt was trying to wave me to go to the left so my time would be recorded, but I didn't see him. I finished in 36:20 so averaged a 12 min mile. I wasn't really worried about my time so much as I just wanted to be able to run the whole thing without stopping to walk. And I did! 

Sad Sawyer because we didn't officially "end" the race which means we didn't get our picture taken crossing the finish line. I wonder if because my number wasn't recorded as ever finishing the race, if they think I'm still out there trudging along! Or maybe they'll think I got lost. 

Yay for our first 5k!

Next up....10k for me and eventually half marathon! Lucky for I've got oodles of family and cousins who have completed both halfsies and full marathons that I can look to for inspiration!

Father and Son

Matt's been putting a video together of his dad's memorial service. He did a really good job, but I'm sure it was emotional for him to go through all the photos of his dad. He came across this one and it is by far the sweetest picture I've ever seen.

They were all just probably going for a walk and Matt's mom Carol or whoever was behind them snapped a photo of these two best buddies holding hands.

It's my favorite.

On the Move

This toy (yes, I do believe it's a girl toy, but he'll never know) showed Sawyer that he had arms he needed to move if he wanted to get anywhere. He would get up on all fours, but couldn't quite figure out what to do next. That is until we were given this butterfly toy that flutters it's wings, makes noise and moves so he had to get those arms going if he wanted to catch it. This video is for visual purposes only, not audio because the sound this toy makes has got to be the most annoying noise on the face of this earth. Turn that volume down.

Busy Sunday

Yesterday was so beautiful out! 

We started off the day by going to church early at 9:00 instead of our normal service at 11:00. We thought that since it was earlier the baby cry room we sit in with Sawyer would have less parents and babies.  Wrong. There were twice as many! The whole room was packed. I should have known because Sawyer was the reason I was awake at 6 a.m. that morning. I'm sure a lot of the other people were there due to the same circumstances. 

After church we got a our little twit dog Moxie a collar with a tag engraved with our address and phone number. On Friday in the middle of the afternoon I got a message on my cell phone from "Lost Pets of America" telling me that my dog Moxie had been found. I didn't even know she was lost! I had seen her about two hours earlier in the backyard. During those two hours she had gotten out and went roaming around the neighborhood. Luckily she 's microchipped which is why we got the call, but now at least our address is dangling around her neck so can be returned if she decides to get lost again. 

It felt like it was in the 80's later in the day so Sawyer went for another dip in his pool, swung in the swing, and played in his pack n'play out on the patio.

We had a BBQ for dinner and a bunch of people came over. There was so much good food, too much good food. Grilled steaks, roasted butternut squash, spinach salad, fried raviolis, and a ridiculous about of desserts afterwards. It was fun relaxing with everyone in the nice weather. Makes me excited for summer!

Nudie Sawyer. 

Don't worry, the rest of us at the BBQ were fully dressed. 

Strawberry Swing

Put a swing in Grandma Faye's backyard on the patio. 

I think it was a hit.

Sweet Cherie

Friday night my friend Dia came into town and her, Christine and I got to hang out.  Dia is bestfriend's with Christine who is Matt's cousin. I met both girls when we all worked together at the Olive Garden in SLC. 

Christine set Matt and I up in 2005. We were married in 2006. Dia got married in 2007 and we both found out were expecting our first babies last year. 

I was able to see her at her baby shower in California last September and we got this photo taken a few weeks before Sawyer made his debut.

Her daughter Cherie was born about three months later.  It was so much fun introducing the two babies. 

Sawyer was a little too friendly and kept wanting to maul cute little Cherie. 

She was so adorable with her dainty feminine features and the way she clasped her hands together. 

She seems so teensy in comparison. I'd forgotten that Sawyer used to be that size not too long ago. 

All of us (minus snoozing Sawyer at that point) getting ready to head out to dinner. 

 We had a lot of fun catching up. It was nice to talk to Dia about mommyhood too since we seem to have the same parenting style. Luckily our server at dinner didn't mind that we had to occupy a whole six person booth with all our baby paraphernalia even though there were only 3 adults present!

Wish Granted

Sawyer is getting his first tooth. He's a drooling machine. Wallets, blankets, the remote, my keys, you name it, it's in his mouth getting mauled by his gums. Wouldn't be such a big deal, I mean a little drool never hurt anyone. You just give a little shake to whatever item of yours he was salivating over and it's good as new. Where the problem lies is that his gums are really hurting him, which translates to wanting to be held 24/7. What a baby!

Can't complain though because wasn't I just saying a few weeks ago that he never lets me hold him anymore? Lesson learned. Be careful what you wish for.

Time Flies.

From little soybean brought home from the hospital. 

And a dog who didn't know what to think of this new bundle. 

To curious, busybody little boy six months later. 

And a dog who is getting used to having her hair pulled by his little fingers. 

In Porter Ranch....

There's a new sheriff in town. 

Down by the bay, where the water melons grow, back to my home, I dare not go, for if I do, my mother will say....Did you ever see a whale with a polka dotted tail? down by the bay!

Lately Sawyer has been inconsolable in the car and the only way I can get him to quiet down is by singing at the top of my lungs. It doesn't sound pretty, but it works. Depending on how long I have to sing for I'll start with "Baby Baluga" (only I don't know all the words so I'm making the majority of it up), and work my way down the list of all the other ones I know so "Down by the Bay"  ends up being belted out eventually. Then I try to get creative and come up with new things found down by the bay like "Did you ever see a Sawyer sitting in a drawer?" only to be disappointed that they don't rhyme as well as I think they do. Well, today we really went down by the "bay" to walk around and see what we could see. There was:

A man riding a bicycle and sporting a shiny gold hard hat that matched his shiny gold tooth which he proudly displayed. 

A tiny dog strutting along with little doggie sunglasses on. 

A big elderly man zipping around on a teensy Razor scooter like nobody's business. 

Sawyer was amazed at what his little peepers beheld. 

We walked and walked and walked until we realized we had gone over 4 miles in one direction. Then we turned around and walked and walked and walked back. 

Being by the ocean + walking + people watching + spending the day with my little fam = 

a great Saturday and a happy me. 

Birthday Bash

Friday night we went to our first children's birthday party. My friend Liz's daughter Phoebe was turning 3 and the party was at Chuck E. Cheese. It set some pretty high standards for what a kids birthday bash should be like! There were tons of coins for everyone to play as many arcade games as you could handle, balloons, a cute cupcake tower that Liz made, party favors, presents and people galore. I'm just glad Sawyer is too young to remember so he doesn't expect as much for his 1st birthday or his second, third, fourth, etc. Sorry kid. But you're only getting a cake, a pinch to grow an inch, and a special bday spankin!

How do boys always know what to do with a steering wheel? He grabbed on immediately and started twisting and turning it like he was in the Nascar.

Sawyer, meet Chucky. No not the scary doll. Chuck E. who is equally as frightening. Especially the creepster mechanical one on stage whose googely crazy eyes blink and move around.

Introducing him to his first gun. He was so excited he nearly poked my eye out.

And look at all the tickets Daddy won for you! Oh wait, they aren't for you. Matt ended up winning 300+ tickets, but I think you can only buy a pencil top eraser with that many. Matt decided to give them to Liz's older daughter Kaylee who was trying to collect 1000 tickets. You should have seen the look of joy on her face when he handed over the bundle to her.

It was a fun night spent at a place we both hadn't been in years and years. My cousin Leisy who went there recently blogged that all Chuck E. Cheese's smell the same. I would have to agree. We decided it's a smell that's a combination of greasy pizza, metallic toys, and sweaty kids running around.

A Moment of Weakness

Just finished week number #3 with no sugar, well except for the minor mishap here or there, but for the most part I did fairly well. I was refusing sugar A LOT during those weeks when normally I would indulge so it just goes to show how much of it I was eating before! I used to think that I only ate dessert on special occasions, well if that were true I must have thought every DAY was a special occasion!

Anyway on Thursday I had a physical done just to know where my health was at after having Sawyer. My HDL (the good cholesterol which should be 46 or greater) was insanely high at 91 which is almost double the norm. I'd like to thank all the wonderful avocados who helped me achieve that. My LDL (the bad one which you want to be under 130) was only 88. And my Triglycerides which should be under 150 were at 60. Our doctor kept going on and on about how great those numbers were, it made me want to attach my labs to the fridge like a good report card!

I thought for sure I would be anemic since in that past I have been and tend to pass out a lot. Which seems to be the norm in my family. If we don't feel well, you can bet your bottom dollar we'll be hitting the floor. For me it also happens for a number of other reasons. If my friend Melissa is reading this (which I know you are) remember when I would pass out EVERY time I donated plasma? And you would yell at the workers to get me some juice when you saw my face starting to go white. Aw, thanks amigo. But surprisingly this time my iron levels were fine and my fuzziness when I stand has more to do with my low blood pressure than low iron. Good to know.

I asked the doc too what he recommended was an okay amount of weight to lose a week while nursing. I got down to my pre-pregnancy weight in record timing after having Sawyer which I can only attribute to breastfeeding since I really didn't lift a finger during that time. Now I'm a little under and would like to keep seeing the scale plummet down, down, down. On top of the advice he gave me he also said that the body burns so many calories making milk that I can expect to keep losing lb's just from nursing alone. Alright, in that case Sawyer is not getting weaned until he's 5 years old or I weigh 120, whichever comes first!

When we got home that night Matt's grandma had brought him a chocolate chip calzone from Claim Jumpers for dessert. We dug in. Yes, you read correctly. I said "we". Apparently I had forgotten I wasn't consuming sugar, or maybe it was the fact that I was still soaring from hearing my cholesterol was superb, or perhaps because I knew now that could easily attain my weight loss goals. Whatever it was that fueled me into plunging my fingers into the gooey chocolate filled center of that calzone, the whipped cream, and the vanilla icecream on top, I think I may have went overboard.

Just a little.

Or a lot.