Ian, Kristen, Serra & Alex

I Heart Pinterest

2012-02-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

So... there's this new site that I've discovered [thanks, Paige!] and I.Love.It! Basically, you can "pin" ideas- recipes, crafts, outfits, projects, pictures, goods, sayings- and you can categorize your pins for yourself and others to see. People can then repin or like your pins. It's given me lots of ideas- and given me a better way to organize all of my previously bookmarked webpages! I've noticed that a lot of people use it as a sort of "wishing" site- they pin a million things but will never do any of it. Because of that, I've purposely made a "Completed" category so I don't do the same! So far I have already accomplished 2 things- with a 3rd in the works. I'm SUPER excited about all of the other things I have pinned that I'll hopefully accomplish this year- if you want to know more you'll have to join Pinterest and follow my pins! :)

2012 So Far - Wordless

2012-02-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

Christmas!!!

2012-01-07T21:09:00.006-07:00

I held a Jingle Bell Jog- just a 1 miler around our neighborhood. Here we are all decked out ready to run!

This is us in our Christmas PJs from "the Elf" on Christmas Eve.

Mom & Dad's stockings. :)

Our Christmas tree- with all the presents [it always ends up being more than we plan]!

Serra not believing her eyes when she sees what Santa brought her [even though she made sure to tell every Santa she saw- and anyone else who would listen that she wanted a Barbie castle]!

Alex playing with his toy from Santa.

Alex was much more excited that he not only got candy from Santa, but Mommy & Daddy were going to open it for him and let him eat it BEFORE breakfast!

Serra got a new dry erase writing tablet- and the first thing she wrote was her name!

Ian's sister, Lorie, got married on the 30th and so we drove down for the wedding in LA.

[I designed the cake- I was given a picture of the ribbon style she wanted and a huge pile of ribbons and this is what I came up with!]

Serra fractured her right elbow and was in a splint and sling for the wedding pictures... AWESOME!!! Now she has a red cast- too bad we didn't have it for the wedding as it would have actually matched!

December Minus Christmas

2012-01-07T17:54:00.006-07:00

Alex is our crazy meat-lover... above he's enjoying a burger and below he's helping Daddy grill some steaks!

Above, we went to Chick-fil-A to ride the free cow train ride... apparently we were the only ones aware of the promo! Below, Serra is all decked out for her preschool Christmas party.

We went to see about 5 different Santas- the one at Harmon's was probably the best.

We also went to the Festival of Trees and Serra had LOTS of fun... she got a candy cane tattoo...

AND her nails painted...

AND helped us find a superhero display to show Alex...

AND managed to find a Christmas tree display with all of the Disney princesses on it!

We attempted to make gingerbread houses this year- this is as far as mine got:

Ian did a little better...

Alex's was made and then quickly demolished.

Serra's was probably the best- and the most enjoyed. :)

Merry Christmas to All

2011-12-23T23:44:00.002-07:00

One of Serra's favorite phrases right now is, "Merry Christmas to all!" and she uses it as a sort of goodbye to people when we leave- instead of just "Merry Christmas!" It's really cute- but the cutest thing, I think, is when she sings "Mr. Grinch" which I have yet to get on tape. But anywho... I just wanted to take a minute to post some pictures we took with our Christmas tree- and to wish all of our loved ones a VERY merry Christmas- wherever you are! We love you, wish for you to enjoy your holidays, and hope to see you sometime next year!

November!

2011-12-13T21:50:00.005-07:00

Now that it's halfway through December, I'm finally blogging about November- I promise I won't be this late for December's pictures!

Serra and Alex loved the train in the South Towne Center Mall- it's now Serra's favorite mall [they also have a carousel that we rode].

We went on a "date" with just Serra and were lucky enough to plan our date on a night that there were FREE carriage rides at the Riverwoods Shopping Center- Serra got to be a princess!

The kids and I have an annual membership at the Living Planet Aquarium- Serra took this picture of me by a penguin picture.

Here is Serra and Alex by penguin photos their size.

Early in November it snowed and the kids just HAD to put on their full winter gear- for about 1/2 inch of snow! :)

Enjoying Thanksgiving dinner.

The food!

Serra and Alex patiently waiting for their feast! [these pictures were a little out of order...]

On Thanksgiving morning the kids ran their first races- they're wearing their finishers medals [and they both look SO thrilled!]

And here we are all bundled up for Mommy & Daddy's Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 5k- it was super fun!

HALLOWEEN - The Day

2011-11-10T14:39:00.003-07:00

Halloween day was a busy one. First, Serra had a preschool Halloween party. She finally got to wear her REAL costume that Mommy stayed up until 1am the night before finishing: Tinkerbell!

Alex is still wondering what all the excitement is about.

Here is Serra's preschool class reciting some poems and performing some songs for all the moms.

Then we went trick-or-treating at the mall, had some dinner at one of my new favorite restaurants: Sweet Tomatoes, and finally we went trick-or-treating old-school style... door to door!

After all the Halloween activities were over, both kids got a LOAD of candy!

HALLOWEEN - Activities Before

2011-11-10T14:21:00.005-07:00

We started off our Halloween celebrations on Friday with Count Spatula's Scary Face Pancakes for FREE at IHOP. Alex's is more of a Picasso-look and Serra's looks EXACTLY like the picture they provided [no deviations from that girl!]

Then Friday afternoon we went to a trunk or treat at a local car dealership and off to the Halloween party at the community center. They had trick or treating along their track and a bunch of kids games in the gym. The only picture Serra wanted was one with her and Snow White... but she wouldn't look at the camera... Serra was Aurora this day.
Saturday morning was started a LOT earlier by me... I ran my second half marathon- the Provo Halloween Half Marathon. I will NOT be doing this race ever again- it was the funnest running, but the worst organization ever! But here are some pictures of me before the race, during and after.

Then we went to the Central Utah Gardens for a pumpkin walk- they had a walkway filled with carved and decorated pumpkins from their pumpkin contest. Here we all are.
And we had to get a picture of Cinderella with her pumpkin carriage from the pumpkin walk!

HALLOWEEN - CornBelly's

2011-11-10T14:13:00.003-07:00

There is a cool place in Lehi called Thanksgiving Point that always has different things going on. One of the things they are most known for is CornBelly's- their corn maze and Halloween activities. This is actually the first year we have gone- because it was free through my dentist's office! But here are some pictures of the kids having so much fun that I'm convinced we'll be going every year that we're here!

October Fun

2011-11-10T14:00:00.004-07:00

I got a bunch of kids costumes for really cheap at a yard sale- here's Serra trying on a Darth Vader mask. Too bad that costume was too big for this year!

Alex is always making this face- I'm glad I finally caught it on camera. Fish Face!

Serra was SO excited that she helped make the pizzas for dinner.

I ran in another 5k- the Murray Moonlight Run where we decked out with glow-in-the-dark paint and flashing lights, etc. and ran in the pitch black. It was LOTS of fun!

Guess who sits at a big boy table now? Yup- I just put the highchair you see in the background in storage in the garage a couple of days ago!

I think it's funny that they're both playing with their fingers and their mouths while watching a movie- neither of them were eating...

Here's Serra with her preschool class on their first field trip- to the fire station. Serra is the ONLY one NOT wearing her hat. At least she sat there for the picture!
Here's poor Alex with his cast on. A couple of weeks ago he fell somehow and partially dislocated his elbow [nursemaid's elbow] and broke his wrist [buckle fracture]. Luckily he's not in pain anymore now that he has a cast! We get it taken off on Monday!!!

Lastly, here are the kids playing in their first "fort" with Daddy. We need to work on the fort-building a little bit, but they enjoyed it!

September In a Flash

2011-10-13T19:33:00.004-06:00

We ran a 5k with my sister & her husband- they're first! And I pushed the kids this time so Ian could push himself and I could stay back with my sister, who was pushing her son also. The front wheel of my stroller popped out after maybe a 1/2 mile, but with some help we got it back on and finished around the 45 minute mark. I am so proud of Paige and hope we can do it again next summer- and beat our time!

I ran my first half marathon- downhill the entire way- through Mt. Nebo/Payson canyon. It was beautiful and I finished in about 2 1/2 hours with inadequate training, so I was very pleased. I had lost some of my motivation for running and just was too lazy to do the full training. I paid for it in pain after this half marathon, but it was SO worth it! And one of my best friends, Abby Hansen, ran it with me- but about 30 minutes faster...

Serra started preschool and LOVES it. This is her in her preschool's T-shirt [they wear them on field trips, etc.] on her first day. Miss Jeanna has preschool in her basement and there are 13 other kids in Serra's class. She goes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday but wishes it were every day- well worth the money!

This is just a fun photo of the kids when we went to an expo- they for whatever reason had this really huge rocking chair... still kind of confused by that.

Ian and I also went on a date [thanks to my aforementioned friend, Abby, who watched the kids!]

We went to see Weird Al Yankovic in concert at the Utah State Fair- it was SO fun!

And for just a couple of weeks the kids went to The Little Gym for some gymnastics classes. They really loved them and they learned a lot, but it's REALLY pricey and something we couldn't keep up long-term. Here is a picture of each of them struttin' their stuff!

September went by so quickly, if it weren't for my planner I wouldn't remember what happened! I can't believe fall- and the holidays- are here so quickly! I'm really excited for Halloween this year- it will be a lot of fun with the kids since they're both at different fun stages. I also have another half marathon that I'm inadequately trained for... apparently becoming a regular thing with me... And hopefully I keep up the blog a little better this month!

George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park

2011-10-13T19:01:00.002-06:00

We had a LOT of fun at the dinosaur park in Ogden this summer- here's proof!

Alex ahem "12 Month" Pictures

2011-10-11T22:46:00.003-06:00

Ian's uncle, Sergio, has a photography business and Ian's helped him a lot with his website in trade for occasional pictures. We had him do some 12 month pictures of Serra and I wanted him to do some of Alex. But, time got away from us so they weren't taken until he was 15 months. But oh well- they still turned out darling and that's all that matters! I LOVE THIS BOY!!!

Serra's 4th Birthday Party

2011-10-11T22:38:00.004-06:00

Here's pictures from Serra's birthday party- she was dressed as Rapunzel and we had a princess themed party- with a princess pinata, a photo prop, a castle cake, and we watched Rapunzel in our new movie room!

The Rest of August

2011-10-11T22:13:00.007-06:00

I'm way behind... so get ready for some mad blogging in the next day or two! Here's my attempt to demonstrate the rest of what happened in August!

Trying to get a family picture in the photo booth at the Outer Limits Fun Zone in Pocatello [I cheated, this is actually from July].

Serra LOVES her vanity- part of the furniture we got from Ian's grandmother's estate and now that we're in our "big" house we have room for it to be out of storage!

Alex has discovered Serra's dress-up stuff... we're going to be making some new, more "boy-ish" additions at Christmas. :)

We have our "movie room" back and were able to set up our popcorn machine for the first time- needless to say, we have unsalted, unbuttered air-popped popcorn at least once a week and it's a new fave.
A mask given out at a local parade- Alex doesn't like things that cover his face much.

Serra dressed as "Belle" and hugging her cousin, Scott.

The back-end of some pjs I bought while we were in Big Bear, CA for Serra's birthday. She loves the moose on her bum!

Such a darling boy- but always comes a little TOO close to the camera.

The kids walking/running around- in typical fashion of Alex following directly behind Serra.

August is $2 Tuesdays at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi and they had a new exhibit this year called Trilobite Treasures where you dig up your own fossils. Here's Serra with all her digging gear.

Put to work!

The fossils we've found... really, they're just random rocks Alex decided to put in the bucket. Thanks for helping, bud.

Alex and all his digging gear. His glasses really were supposed to be upside down- they fit on littler heads better that way apparently...

After digging for fossils, we went to the dinosaur museum to see some much bigger, much cooler fossils that professionals dug up.

Alex and a huge dino-foot.

Serra comparing her foot to the huge foot.

Alex touching a T-Rex claw.

Serra brushing fake fossils in the play area. It was a very fun day- we got 1 real fossil from our own dig and they each got to choose a toy from the dinosaur museum gift shop. Can't wait for next year's $2 Tuesdays!

Big Bear

2011-08-17T08:30:00.007-06:00

Ian's mother's family had a family reunion at Big Bear [my mother's family had one earlier this summer in Kamas, Utah, but apparently I didn't take any pictures... :( ]

Here are some photos of the whole crew.

While there, we went somewhere that I have remembered since my early childhood, but had no idea where it was actually located- Alpine Slide!

Serra and I on the ski lift- not a bad picture considering I took it myself!

Geared up and ready to go the first time!

Later in the day, Aunt Christina went with Serra- she was a good sport and even "helped" Serra make it to the finish line. :)

We also went shopping in the little downtown part of Big Bear.
Serra just HAD to get a candy necklace from the candy store- she ate it while we walked the rest of the shopping trip.

And when I saw these chairs, I just had to get a picture- SO FUN!

It was a great trip, we made lots of memories. However, I am glad to finally not be moving or vacationing- this should be the conclusion to all our trips this year [unless we make an unplanned one at the holidays for kicks and giggles] YAY!

Disneyland!

2011-08-17T07:55:00.010-06:00

We were going to be in Southern California for a few days for a family reunion on Ian's side, so we decided that while we were so close we should go to the most magical place on earth- DISNEYLAND! And it WAS magical!

Greeting us right at the front gate was Mickey Mouse- Alex was intrigued by his giant nose [after the picture he grabbed it] and Serra was a little reserved because she still hadn't figured out where we were yet.

Serra saw the huge castle and immediately chanted "my blue castle" anytime she could see it [which was a lot that day].

The first characters we found after she realized this was a pretty cool place, she was SO excited that it was Woody & Jessie that she didn't even pose for a picture- she wanted hugs!

Serra's favorite ride was the Winnie the Pooh ride, so we got a picture of all the fam with Pooh right outside the ride- and we rode it 2 times [although Serra would have had us ride it 10... Mommy can only handle so much though]

Alex was very intrigued with the carousel. :)

Serra was a little more reserved- if she had claws, they would be stuck into the bar to help her hold on!

Such a cutie!

Serra got an umbrella with her name put on it [since we spell her name differently, it's impossible to find anything with her name on it- unless you specifically have it done!]

And now to Serra's favorite part of the day... PRINCESSES! First there was Ariel.

Then BELLE [she shouted that when she saw her]!

And then... "who are you?" Yeah... awesome, right? Luckily Serra was willing to pose with the unknown princess anyway. Looks like we need to watch Princess and the Frog again...

And Serra's ABSOLUTE FAVORITE [I mean, she's dressed like her and naturally looks like her with her blond hair, green eyes, and facial structure...] R A P U N Z E L!!!!!! Rapunzel was pretty cool- it had an hour wait, but that's because you go in her house and she talks to you for a few minutes and poses for several pictures. I guess it's because she's new to the park, but Serra was loving the 1-on-1 time.

And this was Daddy's favorite part. :)

Here are the kiddos at home sportin' their Disneyland hats [Serra got hers at her first Disneyland visit when she was Alex's age].

And, of course, we had their names embroidered on them for keepsakes. What a fun trip- totally worth the time, money, and stress!

My Kids Are SO Cute!

2011-07-22T22:11:00.005-06:00

4th of July & Visiting Paige

2011-07-22T21:42:00.011-06:00

I'm blogging about something during the actual month it occurred! Barely...

Serra was a little scared by the fireworks at first.

Then she decided they were really fun. [Notice, Alex has pretty much the same expression- a "that's interesting, but I've seen better" look!]

Serra LOVED holding a "firework" in her own hand!

We didn't trust Alex with a sparkler this year, so we silly-stringed him instead!

We also went down to Utah for a week to visit my sister, Paige, after having her first baby- a boy named Scott Randall Harley. And he is SUCH a doll!
Serra LOVED holding baby Scott- I decided to risk taking a picture of all 3 of them together and it was worth it! Alex was constantly trying to get to Scott while we were there- luckily during the 3 seconds I was taking the photo he chose to play with Scott's leg instead of his face!

I took some pictures of Paige and her family while we were there. When Serra saw all the stuff set up, she knew what was going on and really wanted a picture of her and Alex. It actually turned out pretty cute considering I didn't dress them for one or anything!

Paige wanted a nursing cover like the one above- but it costs like $45. So I made her TWO for about $20 instead:

And lastly, while I was there, I had a new fridge delivered- I LOVE it! I can't wait to move back and actually use it! :)

Active Lifestyle

2011-07-15T19:56:00.008-06:00

I've been trying to keep a more active lifestyle. I'm not on a diet- I'm not doing a "program". I just want to be healthy- so I eat what I think is the best fuel for my body in order for it to be its healthiest. I strive to participate in activities that encourage my body to learn and grow and be fit.

So for a date last month, Ian and I went rock climbing- the first time for both of us. After figuring out exactly what shoe size we should be, figuring out which hand holds worked best for us, and learning how to belay and spot each other- we were on our way. And it was one of our favorite dates- we're hoping to go again sometime soon!

I also ran- and completed- my marathon. Up until then I'd only ever done 5ks. And marathons are VERY different- not just because they are nearly 9 times longer. The before, during, after- the people- the run itself is all very different. I went with 2 dear sisters-in-law of mine, and I will be eternally indebted to them for even thinking of inviting me- it has completely changed my life! I didn't have a GREAT time, but I wasn't last to finish either- I wasn't aiming for a certain time, I was aiming just to finish. And I have a heavy medal to prove it!

The first 10 miles were a breeze- I felt like I could run for forever. The next 10 were a killer because of a lot of hills and my sciatica kicked in, making it difficult to run more than a 1/2 mile at a time. The last 6 miles I walked pretty much all but maybe .5 miles- I was in intense pain, I was tired, I was fatigued. Everything in my body was begging for me to quit- but my mind was made up, I was going to finish. I kept repeating my mental mantras I practiced in my marathon training- "I am a marathoner. I can do this. I'll crawl if I have to- I am going to finish. I am a marathoner!"

Upon reaching the finish line, I literally collapsed into my sister-in-law's arms and was rushed to the medics. I was freaking out because I couldn't feel my entire right leg- something that hasn't happened since I was first diagnosed with sciatica 9 years ago [and shortly after that first incident I fainted from the pain- waking up in an ambulance. So, needless to say, I didn't want a repeat of that event!] But after sitting for a few minutes I regained feeling in my leg- just had tingling in my toes. So they strapped a bag of ice to my butt [where most of my sciatic nerve was still on fire] and I limped away with the help of my sisters-in-law.

So I've learned the limits on my body- I gained some new friends along the way- I proved to myself and everyone else that I can do anything if I set my mind to it- and I've changed my entire life around! I love running and have already signed up to do a half marathon at the end of October. If you had asked me just 1 year ago if I liked running or was even willing to give it a try, I would have either laughed or glared at you [just ask Ian how much I've changed!] And I couldn't be happier!

My Baby is One!

2011-07-15T15:13:00.005-06:00

I took Alex to get his pictures taken and then we celebrated by taking him to Chili's for mac 'n cheese and a free brownie a la mode. He LOVED it!

The next day we had his birthday "party" with cake & ice cream.

"All done!"

The party-goers: Aunt Christina, Uncle Brandon, Mommy, Alex & Serra [Daddy's taking the picture].

And what's a first birthday without a "birthday suit" picture? :)

I can't believe you're ONE already, Alex! This year has been full of stress, sorrow, worry, laughter, fun, and love because of you- I'm looking forward to the next one!

For those of you who haven't met Alex yet, he's my happy boy. He is ALWAYS happy and smiling and getting into things. He wants to figure out everything and loves to try and do anything he sees anyone else doing. He's currently learning to walk and it's SO fun seeing him smile, laugh and bounce with joy after just a few successful steps!

Catching Up

2011-07-15T08:56:00.015-06:00

I'm going to be posting several things today to catch up- so here's the first one with just some fun pictures to show some of the random things we've been up to the last 2 months.

Such a proper princess- even on a slide!

Serra and Alex with their buddies Kyle & Kaden.

Mr. T. I mean, Alex.

A typical silly Serra face...

Want to get rid of your dandelions? Invite my daughter over... Serra LOVES to pick flower bouquets for herself.

This picture cracks me up because I have a similar one of Serra eating my toothbrush & sitting in the sink at about the same age!

Serra roller skating- it lasted about as long as this picture. She decided she wanted to walk or be carried or play arcade games instead of standing on wheels.

We got our own arcade game- and Serra was having a blast testing it out with her Uncle Brandon.

Our local fire department had a fun day where we could see all the fire trucks and eat popcorn & cake. Here they are with an "old school" fire engine.

We're super excited about going to Disneyland in a few weeks- Serra is going to love it because she always HAS to give a big hug to anyone dressed in a huge fluffy costume!

Serra has noticed that she's not a big fan of Daddy going to work and begs him to stay home all the time. And now, recently, she plays "going to work" and tells me goodbye, walking out of her room with her "lunch" and when I go to find her she's like this- "at work"!

Alex LOVES to climb- this is the best picture I've managed to get, but he usually stands completely on the oven door so he can reach the top stuff.

More Pics :)

2011-05-21T23:26:00.013-06:00

Happy 29th birthday to me!

Silly Serra! We pulled out summer clothes and Serra got her hands on one of the stickers from her new outfits.

We went to McKee's pet store- they have a free petting zoo too! Serra had a lot of fun with her local best buddy- Kyle.

We go to swim class twice a month at my gym. Ian was sick today, so he stayed out of the pool and took pictures. Here's Serra's new swimsuit- she was VERY excited to wear it for the first time today.

Since Daddy wasn't swimming, Alex got to play with his "girlfriend" the teacher- he LOVES her and insists on her holding him even over me!

And Serra's favorite part is still jumping into the pool [which she did before class started AND before I was in the pool... so she got to sit at the bottom of the pool for a few seconds until someone else snatched her and brought her back up for air. Lesson learned.]

PICTURES!

2011-05-16T14:48:00.014-06:00

Version 1.0 & 2.0 :)

Serra in her new Cinderella dress- and she loves to play with her hair while checking herself out in a mirror.

Me & Serra

Me & Alex- trying to help him pose for the picture below.

This is the stance we find Alex in all the time- he'll crawl and then go to this temporary "sitting" position before continuing to crawl again.

Me & the kids.

All of us in the local paper- doing the fun run 5k on Mother's Day.

In the World of Serra, when one finds oneself outdoors, one must locate a stick- the bigger the better. Here's Serra with her stick of the day- not a bad choice.

Alex playing with the toy house outside.

Alex playing with his Aunt Christina. We went up to Rexburg [possibly the last time before they move] and it was so nice we went on a picnic!

In the center you'll see Serra hanging from the monkey bars & Ian supporting her. Right before this picture, Serra was standing at the edge of the monkey bars shouting for Daddy to come help her and he was ignoring her so he could eat some more food. Well, she decided enough was enough and grabbed a bar- needless to say, Ian didn't ignore her anymore when she was dangling a few feet off the ground!

Me pushing Alex in a swing the first time & getting him to laugh. [See his FOUR teeth?]

Alex chilling in the swing.

Alex & Serra swinging [with Ian behind taking turns pushing them].

Happy Birthday to ME!

2011-05-16T11:11:00.002-06:00

Today embarks on the last year of my 20s! Nothing extremely special happening, but I'm fine with that. We'll have cake & ice cream. We're going to go shopping for a new swimsuit for me- we have a lot of summer plans that require one and I don't have one that fits anymore! And the rest of the day Ian's at work and I'm at home with the kids like a typical day. Mother's Day wasn't anything extraordinary either, but it was perfect for me. Ian took care of the kids so I could get some baking done, some cleaning, and some running. It was all I wanted!

Yesterday I had another long run to complete and it was really hard because I've missed some long runs lately- yesterday's was 16 miles! Ian was great taking care of the kids so I could focus on running for a little over 3 hours. It felt so good to get it done. The marathon training is going well. I don't know if I'll ever do another marathon though- I don't like the strict routine with so many miles to get done on such-and-such a day. And while I realize that I CAN do long distances, I prefer the shorter ones. I think I'd like to try increasing my speed for 5ks and see how well I do at that. But I am still looking forward to this marathon- it will be a lot of fun and something to remember!

Ian and I also set May aside to experiment with our diets. We were going to do the whole month completely vegan, but it was a lot harder than I thought. Since Ian works all day he needs breakfast and lunch options that are quick & easy and don't require any cooking or assembling. Unfortunately, ALL food that is processed and packaged like that include eggs or milk in some form. So because options were just too low, we decided to do vegan for half the month and just vegetarian for the other half. We took our blood pressure & weighed ourselves before the month started and at the end of our vegan point- we'll also do it after the vegetarian and after we go back to our "regular" diets. It's actually pretty amazing what we accomplished just in 2 weeks. Ian lowered his systolic blood pressure by 6 points and his diastolic by 1. His resting heart rate went down by 20!!! And he even lost 2.5 pounds! My systolic went down by 10 points, my diastolic actually went up by 1 and I lost 3.5 pounds! I don't know my resting heart rate yet because when we measured it at the Walmart blood pressure machine it said it was 90- but I had just finished running 16 miles 30 minutes before and so it was still high. But I'm sure my resting heart rate went down too. I knew that eating animal products have a major toll on your heart/blood, but it was amazing to see the effects of just 2 weeks of not consuming any animal products. Vegan is still just too hard for me, but I will continue to be a vegetarian. I keep trying small bites of eggs, chicken, etc. and they just don't taste good anymore- they've lost their appeal. And I feel so much healthier without them that I really can't justify eating them!

Anyway, I have a bunch of pictures to post, but I haven't put them on my computer yet. Sometime later today or tomorrow I'll do it and post them all on here- I have a lot of cute ones! :)

April Fun Times

2011-04-28T12:25:00.019-06:00

At the beginning of the month we went to Ian's youngest brother's college graduation at BYU-I. Congrats, Brandon!

Serra "carried" her baby in her jacket because she saw Ian carrying Alex that way when we were outside walking in the snow [Alex didn't have his own jacket at the time].

Everyone celebrated Ian's 31st birthday after Brandon's graduation- Serra helped blow out the candles.

Alex has yet to figure out the point of puzzles...

Both of our kids LOVE bath time. [And don't worry that's bath crayon on the wall, not real crayon. :) ]

Serra and Alex sharing some Cheerios while watching a movie on Serra's princess couch.

The Barbie furniture Serra and I painted- and yes, I let her do most of the painting [she just needed some guidance to prevent having a 1/4-inch thick blob on the seat of the chair!]

We went to Utah and saw my sister- and I threw a baby shower for her [in case you couldn't tell, she's holding some baby boy clothes up to her preggo belly!]

We also had a yard sale- Serra and Alex liked sitting in the boxes while we cleaned up after.

AND we had an Easter egg hunt with my Aunt & Uncle in Orem- Alex loved the eggs.

Serra was thrilled with having so much candy that she had to empty her bucket several times into a grocery bag- here's her spoils!

Happy Easter- bunny ears for both of them [not sure why they were both naked... I slept in a little bit and this is how they were "dressed" when I woke up to do Easter baskets.]

Alex discovered that he LOVES chocolate- here he is eating some Easter chocolate.

And both of our kids LOVE smoothies- here they are drinking GREEN smoothies [half spinach, half fruits].

Ian was warming up for a run and Serra decided that she needed to stretch too. :)

And, finally, here is Serra- I mean, Rapunzel. Whenever she watches Tangled she has to get her blanket and wrap it like this to resemble Rapunzel's long hair. I thought it was rather clever- even if it did take me about an hour to figure out what she was doing!

Morning Mantra & Insights

2011-04-12T21:44:00.002-06:00

So I'm training for a marathon and using the book The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer as a guide and it's been EXTREMELY helpful so far. The last couple of weeks it's been focusing on the mental aspects of endurance running- thinking positive, etc. And this week it had me make up a positive paragraph to say each morning and throughout the day EVERY day. Our brains are amazing... when we talk ourselves down we are really putting ourselves down. If you say, "I'm not good with names" you really won't be good with names- your brain listens to what you say [both aloud and internally] and like a computer it follows what you "program" it to do! So here's a taste of my morning mantra as of right now:

I am a marathoner. I run four days a week and never miss a training run. I am beautiful. I am healthy. I love my husband. I love my children. I love running and never quit on a run. I am a marathoner.

I'm going to put it to the test and see if it works for me- you should do it too and tell me how it goes! You can do it with anything- and whenever you hear yourself saying something negative about yourself, change it to a positive [instead of "I can't..." try "I can..." or "I choose not to..."

Also this week I had some realizations- I ran my first 10 miler and afterward I felt like I could continue running if I had reason to. I have more energy and more mental strength than I ever would have thought! And because I only do my long runs at 5mph, it took me 2 hours to run it- or 120 minutes. Well, my treadmill dash only has 4 digits... so I learned that even though the calories will wrap from 999 to 001 the time will NOT wrap from 99:59 to 00:01- it just stops! Also... when I am standing and bend over to touch my toes for stretching my thighs don't touch at all anymore- not even at the top! They still touch a little at the top when I'm standing normal, but I figure one step at a time. :)

And finally, I realize that some of you may be wondering about my mantra and why I need to positively reinforce myself in some of those things. I'll hit on one of those today- "I love my children." Those of you without children can never fully comprehend how hard it is to believe that sometimes. I've realized that being a parent is the most peculiar relationship. I can't speak for the entire world, but at least for our Western/American culture, we typically shun anything or anyone that has a majority of cons attached. We keep mental lists [and sometimes physical lists] of pros vs. cons and if the cons outweigh the pros, we typically leave, quit, or whatever. It is only in parenthood that we do the exact opposite.

[Those of you who aren't parents yet, get ready for your mind to be blown away with brutal honesty...] Children are LOADED with cons. Having children, being responsible for children, is LOADED with cons. There are so many negatives to children- and only very few positives. Those times they are asleep and you can think clearly because they are no longer screaming constantly and you realize you really DID want a baby... Those times they reach for you and say "mama"... Those times they say, without prompting, "I love you"... Those times they do something completely on their own that makes you burst with pride. But those moments are few and far between! So I find it interesting that if it was a boyfriend, a friend, sometimes even a sibling or other family member, we would shun them or at least interact with them less because it wasn't "worth it" since there are more negatives than positives. But when you've created that other person- when you have that deep of a connection to them- it doesn't matter that some days are nothing but negatives and other days you are lucky to get 1 or maybe even 2 positives- you still love them and you still want them in your life.

I remember my parents telling me I wouldn't understand how much they loved me until I had kids of my own. I thought they were silly- I loved my parents VERY deeply and I thought I couldn't love anyone more. But the love I have for my children can hardly be contained inside my body- it literally tries to burst out of me. I finally know- REALLY KNOW- how my much my parents loved me.

Alex's Other 9 Month Pictures

2011-04-05T15:44:00.004-06:00

Here are the other collages I ordered and just picked up about a week ago. He takes too many good pictures!

And these are the 2 pictures I sent out to different family members [had to wait to post them on here until everybody got them in the mail!] We LOVE our Alex!

Happy April!

2011-04-01T14:37:00.008-06:00

Today I've recommitted myself to a lot of things. I'm going to eat better- while I think I've been eating REALLY well [better than most people], I've still been having a lot of sweets. I have a VERY sweet tooth and it's hard for me to restrict myself. But it's for the better- and I'll probably lose these last 10 pounds if I do! I have been eating vegetarian for a couple of months now and LOVING it. I seriously don't even miss meat 1 bit! This was the easiest diet change I've ever made- I've never been a huge fan of meat to begin with. The only issue I face with it is finding the vegetarian items on menus when we go out [most restaurants have at least 1 or 2 options... but when I add in my other diet changes- wanting to be vegan if possible, "clean" eating, and no sugar- it makes it even more difficult.] With all of my lifestyle changes- both diet and exercise- I have really begun to enjoy life a lot more. People have been asking me, "what DO you eat?", or "don't you want to enjoy life? you can't possibly be happy not being able to eat... [fill in the blank]". But I feel better- I look better- I'm able to do more- and I feel like I am able to eat more because all kinds of windows have been opened to me. I had no idea there were so many varieties of produce and whole grains! Trust me, I'm NOT starving!

I've also rededicated myself to using my time wisely. No more sitting in front of the computer all day [wait... what am I doing right now? Haha- I promise I've spent MAYBE 40 minutes so far today and I used to literally sit here for hours by now!] No more having a movie running constantly for Serra. I'm going to spend quality time with Serra- reading, playing, drawing, teaching her craft skills [we painted some Barbie furniture today that's drying downstairs right now]. I'm going to give more attention to Alex- holding him not just when he's crying, making sure he's getting better nutrition [sounds crazy, but I swear all we give him is grains- baby snacks, cereal, etc.- and the occasional vegetable in baby food format]. I'm going to spend any free time I have that's not already consumed with making meals, shopping, or running on doing some crafts, reading books for entertainment or learning, or spending time doing something with my husband. Luckily a lot of the TV shows that I regularly watch are going to be ending their season soon [and some of them I'm going to drop for forever after this season], so that will be able to taper off quickly too.

Sounds like a lot to tackle, but I've been thinking about a lot of it lately and have been planning for lots of this for a while. I KNOW I can do it- it's just the actual act of doing it now! I'm already a lot happier today and I can tell Serra & Alex are too. I can't believe what a bum I've been- here I am training for a marathon, nobody would think to call me a lazy bum, and yet I have been! So much of my life has been wasted just sitting around waiting for the next thing to happen- waiting for Ian to come home, waiting for it to be time for Alex's nap, waiting until it's time to make dinner. Instead of waiting, I'm going to be DOING something- here's hoping it lasts!

And of course, I have to add some pictures. :)

Alex has THE biggest "big toe" I have ever seen on a child- and he's always curling his other toes and sticking his "big toe" up which makes it worse!

Muskateer Serra- complete with horse, hat, cape and sword. Thanks, Aunt Amy [& Meredith family] ***Correction: Apparently the thanks should be going to Aunt Lorie! Sorry- I forget who gives what!*** for giving Serra the Barbie Muskateer movie- she more than a little LOVES it! And thanks Aunt Brittany [& Miner family] for the adorable cape- it works perfectly for her Muskateer ensemble- although I doubt you envisioned that!

Butterfly Serra [although it's really a fairy costume, she calls it a butterfly one.] Whenever Serra uses the potty she gets to choose a dress to wear and I was sick of her ALWAYS wearing her Snow White dress, so this was her 2nd pick- complete with heels!

And of course a cute picture of Alex. Now that he's eating "real" food it's a LOT messier!

Marathon Training & Cutie Pies

2011-03-20T16:58:00.004-06:00

I'm amazed at how much I've changed just in a couple months of training for my marathon [it's June 25th- just 14 weeks away now!] I've changed physically- picture to follow. I've lost some weight, my legs are toned more than they've ever been, and I've pretty much completely rid myself of my sciatica! I feel great, energized, enthusiastic- at least after I get a run in I do. :) I've also changed emotionally/mentally- I've gained confidence in myself, I've learned to appreciate my body the way it is and the wonderful things it can accomplish, I've learned to mentally push myself beyond boundaries. It's been a wonderful experience. I still don't know if I'll continue to do marathons or just shorter races after this- I guess we'll see! But for now, I'm excited about THIS marathon and the results I've received already from training- can't wait to see what happens in the next 14 weeks!

I also had to include some pictures of my two cutie pies- here's Serra sitting in the EXACT position I've seen Ian sit in when he's at his computer chair and talking to me. And I mean E-X-A-C-T.

Silly, Alex, those aren't REAL food!

And it's so rare that I get a good picture of Serra's REAL smile- it's always a forced, silly thing. So while you can't really see it in this picture either, it's the closest I've gotten in a while to proof that Serra has a BEAUTIFUL natural smile!

To Mana

2011-03-11T23:29:00.002-07:00

Mana- I can't believe the ONLY way I have contact with you is when you comment on my blog- send me your email or something! Didn't I use to have you as a friend on Facebook? I tried searching for you and it thinks you don't exist- are you off Facebook? I also can't believe I have no idea WHERE in Japan you are... please tell me you and your family are okay! [If you don't respond to this, I might have to fly out to Japan and hunt you down... although not even knowing what city to start in could make that a very long trip...] :)

Promised Picture- and more!

2011-03-07T21:38:00.007-07:00

So, I'll start with some pictures from the end of last month- Serra LOVED playing Aunt Paige's piano- so cute!

Alex LOVED crawling all over me while I was trying to take a picture of Serra playing the piano...

Here's another angle of Serra playing piano- she's even singing along!

Ian had to call technical support about his computer- Serra was on her "phone" complaining about it too. :)

Ian loves this stage- you can put a baby up against a wall and because they press their backs against the wall you can make it look like they're standing on their own!

Here's Alex REALLY standing on his own- that's right, he's pulling up on EVERYTHING now. Any day we expect to see him walking...

And finally, the promised picture of Ian's new wedding ring- and you can see my "new" wedding ring too. [His is tungsten carbide with a brushed center stripe]

9 Month Pictures

2011-03-04T12:56:00.006-07:00

Here are some of them- a little teaser [sorry for the bad quality, my scanner is on the fritz]. I'll post the others in a couple of weeks when I get them!

Freaked Out

2011-02-21T13:45:00.002-07:00

So... I was going through all my saved emails and deleting ones from things that are expired, orders I've already received, etc. When I decided to look at my marathon emails- and good thing too! Turns out I somehow got signed up for-and paid for- the WRONG marathon! I signed up for the Seattle Marathon in November when I wanted the one in June! So after a total melt-down and several emails/phone calls it looks like my money will be refunded- and I was able to sign up for the correct marathon. PHEW! Good thing... seeing as I'm already in training and was planning on running with 2 sisters-in-law!

In good news... I took Alex to get some SUPER cute pictures taken of him in that basketball "uniform" I made for him- I'll post the pictures when I pick them up and scan them [they won't be ready for a couple of weeks].

We also found an awesome deal for a new wedding ring for Ian. He replaced my "fake" ring a couple of years ago- it was about time I replaced his "cheap" ring! So now he has a nice tungsten ring that just needs a little tweak in sizing- then I'll get some pictures of it too.

And, finally, we also just got back from a trip to Utah this last week. The kids and I had a lot of fun catching up with some friends & family and look forward to our next trip in April. We miss being so close to so many people we love, but it's also nice when we get back home and can just relax by ourselves!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T22:25:00.009-07:00

Alex's Valentines- a train that spins or spits out balls and a piano!

Serra's Valentines- Serra is showing off a pink flower ring on her finger- and she got a caterpillar, a book, a movie, scissors, a miniature Snow White, and a balloon [not shown].

Ian's Valentines- a funny evolution shirt & Charlie Brown shirt I made, a computer game, a basketball court notepad, and a voucher to get a new wedding ring.

My Valentines- a jewelry box, some jewelry, a Chinese serving set, and tulips.

Our Valentine's dinner- the soup was pinker in real life [with a heart shaped piece of Manchego cheese], and we have pink "bubbly" [Marionberry Martinelli], and heart-shaped breads.

Here's a cute picture of Serra when she fell asleep on the floor in the computer room- apparently she was tired.

You can see Alex's 2 teeth!

He crawls everywhere- and just discovered how fun it is to crawl through the tunnel!

Is Anyone Reading This?...

2011-02-08T12:46:00.002-07:00

Feeling a little frustrated with the whole blogging thing- wondering if I should just give it up. The only reason I haven't before now is because it's pretty much all I have going in the way of a journal. People tell me that they read my blog, but I have so many posts with 0 comments that I wonder if they really are... Am I just posting things that are so boring nobody has anything to say about it? Or is everyone just reading and then keeping their thoughts to themselves? The only time I had more than 2 or 3 comments is when things are falling apart. Which makes me wonder if I should have more things fall apart- or pretend they do? :) No, I don't want that. But it does make me wonder- why is it we're only there for the people we care about when things are bad? Why can't we show our love when things are good? [And I'm just as guilty of this as anybody.]

So... because of these recent insights- and because it's obviously the month of LOVE... I'm going to make it a goal to tell someone how much I appreciate and love them every week [I'm only doing once a week because I'm hoping to keep it as a lifetime goal]. So if you get a phone call or email from me expressing my sentiments don't think I've gone insane or am going to die. :)

And if you're reading this- whoever you are- please leave a comment, even if it's only "I read this". It tells me I'm important enough for you to take a moment out of your day to see what's going on in my life. It tells me you love me and care about me. And even though things are going well for me right now, I could always use support!

January

2011-01-24T13:47:00.010-07:00

Didn't you know this is how you're supposed to sit in a chair?

Alex is the master at scooting backwards- right until he's under Serra's bed and can't go anymore! [Just today he figured out how to crawl- and forward!]

Alex sitting up- such a big boy!

Silly Serra hiding under our futon.

Our Christmas PJs- didn't get a picture at Christmas time. And no, I have no idea what Serra is doing to her face.

Playing in the huge pile of snow by our house.

Alex in his new crib [Serra's old crib]. So much room!

A basketball jersey I made to match some basketball shorts I bought Alex for his 9 months pictures [Serra's 9 month pictures I made her a tutu, so we figured we'd stick with the "sports" theme].

New Year's Wishes

2011-01-14T10:45:00.002-07:00

I decided instead of calling them resolutions, I'd call them "wishes"- then it's not so much of a let down if they don't come to pass. And then I can make some for others! :)

Some of my New Year's wishes are to finish losing the last 20 pounds I need to lose, spending more 1-on-1 time with Serra, going on more official dates with Ian, and sometime this year I plan on getting away from the kids for 1 whole day. I don't know when- or how- or who's going to watch them, but it NEEDS to happen! The only time I've been away from Serra for more than a few hours is when she came up to Idaho to visit Ian last year and I stayed at a friends house instead [and during my hospital stay while having Alex]. Ian was obviously away from her whenever we were visiting Utah. But the real kicker is that Ian and I have never been TOGETHER AND AWAY from the kids for more than a few hours. Sad, I know. But we have to wait until Alex is old enough to be weaned- and not waking up constantly all night, because no one will want to babysit him!

This last year I had 3 friends and family members go through a divorce. Nearly being part of this statistic gives me a lot of opinions on the subject. But as for these divorces, I happen to agree with 1 of them- another I'm indifferent because I don't know the whole story and don't pretend to- and the 3rd I was dead-set against, but my opinion obviously wasn't taken into consideration [nor was one of the party's involved!] What's sad to me is that the people who truly should go through this catastrophe sometimes take too long... and those who shouldn't jump the gun and move out after 1 heinous fight [and let's be honest, what married couple doesn't have fights- sometimes BIG ones?] Anyway, my wish for the ones wronged is to find better, lasting love this year- or whatever support they feel like they can accept at this time. And to those doing the wronging, I wish that they can feel the emptiness and loneliness they have created and learn from it so as not to do it again!

It's also "baby time" apparently because of the people I know, these are pregnant: 1 sister, 2 sisters-in-law, 5+ cousins, and somewhere between 5 & 10 friends [depending on who's delivered that I haven't heard of yet, and those I'm speculating on]. For these I wish that this New Year brings them a healthy baby- with no complications! I know how rough pregnancy, labor, and newborns can be- hopefully those expecting a little one will be happy with their addition, even when it's tough and they don't feel like it.

My New Year's wish for Serra is that she'll continue to learn and to improve her behavior [she turns 4 this year]. She truly is a sponge and absorbs anything you tell her- or anything she happens to see or hear you do!

My New Year's wish for Alex is that he'll continue to grow and become more independent. He wants to play with Serra so much, and they do to an extent. But that will increase when he can crawl and walk- and I know he'll be so much happier for it.

Did any of you make New Year's "Wishes"? What are they?

Over the Holidays

2011-01-06T08:21:00.027-07:00

Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Alex opening his first present- he used his mouth a lot.

One of my presents- very quickly being stolen by Serra.

Serra stealing another of my presents...

Serra with her Christmas presents we opened before our trip.

Alex excited that he found a gift bag within his reach!

Ian with some movies.

Serra looking at her Monsters vs. Aliens movie- she was VERY excited to get this movie [she picked it out at the store- she LOVES monsters!]

Serra happy about her new Barbie.

Alex looking at the Christmas lights on my sister's Christmas tree.

Alex playing with some ribbon on a present.

The kids with Great Grandma & Grandpa Johnson. [my mother's parents]

Our stockings after Santa came.

The MacGregor family Christmas tree- hard to fit presents for 18 people!

Serra LOVED her cash register from Santa- she had to scan every present that came within 5 feet of her- even others'!

Alex with his stocking- and Aunt Lorie.

Ian pranked his brother-in-law with a "foot" in his stocking instead of his treats from Santa.

Ian with some more movies.

I got some fruit in my stocking- I LOVE pears!

Alex with his Great Grandma Christiansen. [Ian's mother's mother]

The MacGregor kids playing a tribute song for their Grandma & Grandpa MacGregor [we held an at-home belated funeral service since their grandmother passed just this year.]

Serra playing basketball- and this picture shows her splint from fracturing her elbow right before Christmas.

Look how LONG he is!

The bowling alley had it's "I" burnt out- we liked how it ended up looking at night. We'll have to show Serra this picture when she's older.

I took Serra to Build-A-Bear for the first time. Needless to say, she was VERY excited about the bear she just made.

Serra on New Year's Eve. Such a cute, big girl!

Huge Savings

2010-12-11T07:12:00.002-07:00

I think this comic goes really well with this time of year. Isn't it so true that we get so caught up in the money we've "saved" by shopping deals that we forget that we haven't actually saved a penny? What would happen if you actually took the money you would have spent and set it in your savings account? I think you really would be surprised by the money you saved! But instead, we keep those "savings" in our spending pool and never see it. This is something that I think as a culture we need to work hard to change. If you're a big penny-pincher or bargain shopper, you should try this- just for 1 month. Take the difference from what you WOULD have paid and what you DID pay and put it in your savings. If you were going to buy the item at full price anyway, you won't miss the extra money. Then when you find a great deal, instead of thinking you now have more money to blow somewhere else, you can think that you just put some money away- and depending on the rate of your savings, that money is going to make you some money!

Appendicitis

2010-12-03T22:28:00.003-07:00

Ian had another stomach ache episode and went to the doctor. He ordered a CT on his abdomen and the results came back: Ian has appendicitis! So I met him at the hospital and we waited, he was prepped for surgery, we waited, he was operated on and I waited, he went to post-op and I waited. And finally 7 hours later he was put in an overnight room to recover where I could see him. He's doing great- anxious to get home. But he needed more morphine than they anticipated and the surgery was started so late in the day that the doctor said to be safe he wanted him to stay overnight.

So thank you to those of you sending well-wishes our way! And thank you to my sister who took some time at the beginning on the phone talking to me and researching some info for me to keep me sane. And a BIG thank you to Joan for taking both of my kids for 4 1/2 hours during this whole thing! I finally picked the kids up at 9:30 and got them both to sleep by 10. A late night for everyone, but Serra had a blast playing with friends, Alex was happy as long as someone was feeding him or holding him, Ian was knocked out or medicated for most of it, and I was stress-ball but at least I didn't have to take care of anyone and could just veg in the waiting room watching cable [which, by the way, has reminded me why we don't pay for TV...] So now I'm going to wind down and go to bed myself! We'll pick Ian up from the hospital sometime tomorrow morning and then start to baby the invalid. :)

Another funny thing is that we finally had a real date planned- which of course has been postponed. AND we were going to go up to Rexburg tomorrow to visit Ian's brother. AND Ian has a work trip next week. The doctor says Ian will be able to do anything he wants- but he has to feel up to it. So we'll see how long it takes for him to recover!

Eating Clean

2010-11-27T23:54:00.011-07:00

On Labor Day, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet with Lisa Boucher, a personal trainer and nutrition consultant in Utah. I had heard about her through several of my friends when I was living in Lehi, but I never had the opportunity to meet with her because we were supposed to be moving up to Idaho and then we finally did move! Luckily, my best friend, Abby, convinced me to see her even though I had just recently had Alex and only begun another weight loss journey. And it was even a holiday, but Lisa was more than willing to meet with me and she spent an hour teaching me a whole new outlook on nutrition that has completely changed my life.

It's called eating clean- it's not a diet to start and stop doing just to lose weight. It's a lifestyle change to continue for the rest of your life. It's been hard, but definitely worth it. I have seen and felt lots of changes- not only in losing weight, but in having more energy, feeling better overall and improving my health all around. Clean eating in a nutshell is eating only natural things- no processing, no additives, no hormones. Every week I learn something new about a food that I used to eat and how it has been part of the cause in my weight gain. Most people would disagree because I have been lucky enough to carry my weight well, but in all measurements considered by my trainer and doctor I was barely inside the lines of obesity. Learning that made me wake up to the problem that I have been avoiding for years. I gained this weight during my first year of marriage- 7 years ago! And since I have been eating clean I am currently at a weight I haven't seen since that first year of marriage. I am a little out of my healthy weight range- a goal I plan on accomplishing by the new year!

Anyway, I had made the goal that this Thanksgiving would be COMPLETELY clean for me. I usually have days where I am at least mostly clean, but it was important to me to have a day as special as this- and a day that is focused on food- devoted to my new lifestyle. It was easier than I thought- here's what we ate:Natural Turkey Breast- no dark meat, no skin, low fat, no added hormones- this was probably the JUICIEST turkey I've ever had!

Whole Wheat Bread Stuffing- I've never made my own stuffing so this was an adventure. This recipe was a bit of a risk for me because one of the ingredients was dried apricots. I was worried about how much that would change the taste, but it was fantastic! It definitely wasn't your "normal" stuffing, but I liked this sweet version even more I think.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes- this recipe was a bit bland and we ended up making clean mashed russet potatoes for dinner later.

Clean Vegetable Gravy- unfortunately, this recipe was a disaster. Something I've learned about eating clean is that some things are harder to find a cleaner version of. Gravy happens to be one of those things. I have a decent clean gravy recipe, but I wanted to try something new and we regretted it- the seasonings in this gravy were horrible! But, at least we had some clean gravy for our Thanksgiving meal- next year it'll be better.

Depending on the brand/ingredients, pickles are clean! So we had a "relish tray" with sweet & dill pickles. In the back is Ian's canned jellied cranberry sauce. I wanted to make a clean cranberry sauce, but Ian really wanted his nostalgic version. So I kept it for him and didn't eat any myself.

Whole Wheat Rolls- mmmm. These were excellent leftover used for mini sandwiches!

Serra had a mini Martinelli's, Ian had Egg Nog and Ian and I shared a peach flavored Martinelli- which surprisingly has no artificial ingredients!

And, finally, what is Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? But THIS pie is completely clean! I made a whole wheat pie crust- and a natural pumpkin pie filling. Ian said it was a little different in texture, but as far as taste it must have been good because 1 1/2 of my 2 pies is already gone!

And I had to include a cute picture of my little rugrat. Alex is sitting up- kind of, sometimes. THIS is why I'm learning about proper nutrition. THIS is why I'm losing any excess weight that I possibly can. THIS is why I want to be healthy- my kids are my life! I love Serra & Alex more than I could have ever imagined- and I want to be the best that I can be. Because the best "me" is the least of what my kids deserve.

Thanksgiving & More

2010-11-27T23:27:00.010-07:00

Serra was a BIG helper preparing the Thanksgiving feast. Here she is putting the potatoes in a pot after Ian chopped them.

And here she is helping to stir the gravy. Such a big girl!

Alex was NOT a big help... he was cranky pretty much the entire time. :(

Here's a pic of our Thanksgiving feast [I'll post more details about it in a little bit.] We had a very good Thanksgiving- it was a quiet day with just us 4, but it was one of our favorites.

It's been a while since I blogged, so here are some older photos to catch you all up.
This is a picture of when Alex was so dehydrated that he was completely lifeless- he kept throwing up and we were so worried that we took him to the ER. Serra was so concerned she wanted to lay on the bed with him and hold his hand. She is such a great big sister- I love this picture because you can see her love & concern for Alex. But I also hate this picture because it reminds me of how horrible Alex looked- he looks like he's dead, or like a doll- it's so sad.

Here is Serra in her Halloween outfit [Snow White] at a Halloween party thrown by our local Allstate office.

Silly Serra hung her baby doll between the counters at Subway in Rexburg. :)

Serra got her new "big girl bed"! It's a full- and she chose her sheet & blanket [not your typical choices by a 3 year old... but she loves them]

And lastly this is what WAS hanging above our door- until Ian decided it was too dangerous & knocked them down.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T22:04:00.007-06:00

New Furniture!

2010-10-20T20:36:00.005-06:00

Ian's grandmother passed away after battling cancer for nearly a year- she had brain tumors. We were so glad that we took the time to drive out to see her on the 4th of July. I had only seen her one other time in my life [when Ian's grandfather was dying]. It was a lot of fun to spend time with her and get to know her- she was a spunky lady with great personality. With her passing, Ian's parents were found with the task of clearing out her estate and getting rid of her furniture. They sent out an email letting everyone know what was available and we just had to jump on the chance- several of the items were things we were currently saving up for! So while we wish the circumstances were better, we're glad that we were able to get such a great deal- and I'm sure Gramma Mac is glad some of her stuff will be going to good use! So, here are some pictures of the things we put in our townhouse [the rest is being stored in our garage until we get a house... whenever that is!]

Ian is using his Grandpa's huge corner desk for his computers.

We have a nice, HUGE dining table- this is it at it's smallest [it has TWO leaves to add in!]

And this is our new California King bed [and nightstands from our new full bed set that's in the garage- the nightstands with the king set wouldn't fit in our tiny room with our HUGE bed!] Still working on finding some bedding- since taking this picture I found some gold satin sheets and we have just the red blanket on top, but you get the idea. :)

I had to add a couple of really cute/funny pictures of Serra this time- above she is in her carseat on the way home from the store. We had just bought some Cheerios which she really wanted- apparently so badly that she refused to let go of the box when she got tired and fell asleep right on the box!

Yes, this is Alex's walker that I just posted a cute picture of him in... Serra loves to sit in it when he's taking a nap- and seeing as she's so light, I can't really tell her she's too big for it b/c she's under the required weight limit! [She's since learned how to put her legs in so she ends up kneeling on the floor.]

Troublemakers & Negligent Parenting

2010-10-18T16:34:00.005-06:00

So... we have this horrible set of 2 year old twins living three doors down. The main reason they are horrible has more to do with nurture than nature... they have the MOST negligent parents I have EVER met! Nearly every day these 2 can be found wandering the neighborhood- or parking lot- or street- with NO ONE watching them. Remember, I said they are TWO YEARS OLD! The father will be at work and the mother will be inside- with all doors & windows closed- doing who knows what. So, naturally, they get into a lot of trouble [but I'm sure they have nature to thank for some of that- they obviously have the dispositions to be trouble makers, it's just magnified by the lack of nurturing influence to make them otherwise.]

Anyway, there are 3 parking spots right outside our front door and for whatever reason we were using 2 one day [and Ian's brother was using the 3rd]. I look outside and see the negligent father messing with our car- our brand new Nissan Cube. Of course, I immediately zero in to see what he is doing when he moves to my brother-in-law's car and starts to pick up dozens of little red rocks off the hood of their car- rocks that are supposed to be on the ground as part of the landscaping. Then I look at our 2 year old Kia Rio and see dozens of these same rocks on it! Knowing I have a temper, I call to Ian to have him go out & talk to the guy about it- his twins were out on their own with no one watching them and had enough time to throw rocks onto all THREE of our cars! So, now we have about 100 little white scuffs on the hood of both of our cars. GRRRRRR!!!

Since I'm talking about cars, I figured I'd show off pictures of Serra & Alex in their new car seats I talked about last time- they both LOVE them!

Sorry

2010-10-11T13:08:00.009-06:00

Sorry... it's been a while. I had so many things to post, I just didn't! So, I decided instead of back-dating and adding 3+ posts, I would just add 1 big post with everything in it.

First of all, September was sewing month and I had all these great plans to finish some projects- and start new ones. Well, I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but here's what I DID accomplish.
Yup, in 30 days I did one 30-minute project! I made one of these black curtains for the kids' room, but the hall window was still bringing light into their room during naptime. So, this month I finally managed to make a second curtain.

However, to not be so hard on myself, I did get other crafts done- just not sewing. I finished Alex's baby crafts- here are pictures to show you how his match Serra's.

Also, before I forget, October is Rollerskating Month [Serra and I will be taking advantage of this at our local roller rink this month] and Car Care Month.

Last month was filled with all kinds of fun- and this month will be too. I signed up for a parenting class which has been very enjoyable for me. We get free dinner and then Serra gets to go play at their free day care while I learn about their "nurturing parenting program". I think the things I've been learning have been helping us a lot too- Serra isn't quite as much of a handful [and surprisingly it was ME that needed to change to make that happen!] I also signed up for a free program called "Baby Steps" where Serra gets to play with their free daycare while I just chat with other moms and earn points for free baby stuff- I've used most of my points on free diapers for Alex. Woohoo! Serra's new dance class also started again- she was really enjoying it for the first couple of weeks, but it has since become something she'd rather not do. Since I already paid for October, I'll keep trying to bring her this month, but if she continues to not enjoy it- we're done! I don't want to force her into anything, but to be honest I think she loves dance she just doesn't love having to dance the way her teacher tells her to at the exact time her teacher tells her to. :) And lastly, for September, we got some new car seats! I went to a car seat inspection and for just $15 each was able to buy brand new car seats [that's a spanking deal for those of you who don't know...] So Serra has a car seat that will convert into a booster seat when she's big enough. And Alex has a convertible car seat that will turn around when he's old enough. They both love their new car seats- and I love that they don't have any history of wetting accidents or throwing up!

This month will probably be a lot like last month- only with Halloween activities added at the end. Looking forward to it and yet at the same time not so much- hopefully it isn't cold and rainy! [Oh, and in case I don't blog that day, the 24th is Sweetest Day- something we celebrated in Ohio but a lot of other people haven't heard of it. It's kind of like another Valentine's Day only it doesn't have to be for lovers- friends celebrate Sweetest Day too.] And, of course, I had to include a couple of pictures of Alex- he's getting so big!

Yes, this is him in his walker- and he can already make it move both backward & forward! He's WAY too advanced for his age in a lot of things- however, he isn't even slightly interested in rolling over [just rolling from side to side]. Eventually he'll knock it down, I'm sure- I just can't believe how much he's growing and changing! It seemed so much more gradual with Serra...

Serra Bling

2010-09-21T20:53:00.001-06:00

Our 5k

2010-09-11T20:49:00.000-06:00

We ran another 5k- this time, we really did run. Okay, fine- maybe it was more of a jog. But I didn't stop to walk a single time. And it was uphill for most of it [it's called the Rolling Hills Classic 5k to give you an idea...] I also beat my previous time by 10 minutes! We're done with 5ks for this year- but next year we'll give it another go and see if we can do even better. Here are some pictures from our race.

Room Swap & Labor Day

2010-09-08T22:13:00.007-06:00

Had to start with a silly face by Alex. You can tell he's thinking, "What are you doing?"

We decided to swap our room with Serra's room. So we're in the smaller room- which looks cramped, but it's fine since all we do is sleep in there anyway!

And it made room for Serra and Alex to share and have room for all of their toys!

And here's another random picture I took of Serra & Alex's feet- I think it's super cute!

Serra wanted to take a picture with "the babies" [she put her baby doll on Alex's lap and then sat next to him for the picture].

Ian spent the Labor Day weekend with an old friend in AZ and so the kids and I went to Lehi to spend it with my sister, Paige, and her new husband Mark. Here's Paige utilizing her "magic touch" putting Alex to sleep for me.

And we had to get a picture of Serra with her Uncle "Marker"!

Goodbye August, Hello Fall!

2010-08-30T09:18:00.002-06:00

First of all, happy anniversary to my wonderful husband, Ian. I can't believe it's been 7 years! This last year has been rough, but we've had some great moments too. :) I love you!

August went by way too quickly. Alex is almost 3 months old now and Serra reached her 3rd birthday. I started some personal training sessions at a local gym and am struggling with seeing any results. Ian says he sees a difference, but so far I don't see anything. Unfortunately, I can't measure by weight yet because I'm losing fat but gaining muscle- so my weight has only gone down a few pounds. Also, I have a medical condition that makes it more difficult for me to lose weight. But I'm trying to see the future picture- that if I stick to it, I WILL eventually reach my goal!

The weather has cooled considerably already- I guess that's one difference about being so far north, fall comes sooner! It's still pleasant, but depending on the time of day I have started needing a jacket outside- in Utah I usually didn't wear a jacket at all until end of September or even October! Oh well, will have to get used to it.

Next month is Preparedness Month, Piano Month and Sewing Month. I'm going to focus on sewing because I have a lot of sewing projects I've started and not finished. Hopefully I can be motivated to use the little time I get to myself each day to work on some of those. If I'm feeling extremely ambitious, I might work on the piano too- I haven't played hardly at all the last few years. I might have to reteach myself all over again! So which one are you going to work on?

Serra & Alex

2010-08-26T07:42:00.007-06:00

Serra told me she was cute and needed her picture taken- I obliged. :)

Serra LOVES to paint pictures.

Alex wearing his first baby shoes!

Closeup of his baby shoes- so cute!

A better picture of his cute smile!

The reason why I can't get good pictures of him smiling... he gets too excited and puts his hands in the way! :)

Eye Exam Month & Make a Will Month

2010-08-22T15:46:00.002-06:00

Since it was eye exam month, I figured I should follow and get my eyes examined. Actually, I'm running out of contacts so I needed to do it anyway! And I've been wanting lasik eye surgery for years, we just haven't had the money, so I finally asked the doctor about it to see what he thought and to get a "ball park" figure of how much it would cost. Yeah, costs about as much as I thought- more than we have right now. And he tells me, "the best age to get it done is 21- to maximize the benefit of having it done". Gee, thanks doc. Seeing as I can't go back in time 7 years, I think I'll just try to save up quicker and get it done before I'm 30!

Also, it's make a will month. Ian and I actually accomplished this a couple of months ago- shortly after Alex was born. We'd been wanting to do it ever since having Serra, to make sure that our wishes would be fulfilled if we were to die concerning who would raise her, etc. Since my own father's death I have learned a lot more about the legalities of wills and trusts. My father had a trust and for many different reasons Ian and I decided we should have one too. So we finally set up a living trust and have slowly been adding all of our bank accounts and assets to the trust. In a way it's horrible to think about us dying young, not being able to raise our children- some people have looked at us like we're crazy for worrying about it at our ages. But in a much larger way, it's given us some piece of mind. We know that everything will work out the way we want- we know our kids will be well taken care of emotionally and financially because we've taken the proper steps to set everything up. And now that it's done we can set that worry aside and just enjoy our time raising our children, hoping that we did it all for nothing but piece of mind! If you don't have a will or a trust, I highly recommend looking into it. You might be surprised by how courts work without one in place if you were to die. Take care of your assets, take care of your kids- all it takes is some research time to figure out what's best for you and some money to set one up with a lawyer. Anyway, that's enough on that- I'll post something cheerier next time. :)

Paige's Wedding

2010-08-19T10:15:00.006-06:00

Paige finally posted the pictures on Facebook, so I thought I would post just the family ones on here for those of you who aren't "friends" with Paige on Facebook.

And, of course, what's a wedding without a "Serra fit"? [Yes, Paige's professional photographer took this photo... the videographer got a lot of footage on it too. Aren't toddlers wonderful?]

Random

2010-08-16T11:36:00.005-06:00

At the end of June, we traded in our van for a brand new Nissan Cube- a smaller, more efficient vehicle. We love our new car- this is the picture the dealer took when we went to pick it up [if I had known they'd be taking a picture we would have looked a little nicer!]

Alex holding his head up during "tummy time".

Serra and Alex laying on my bed playing together.

A typical view of Serra during the day- wearing no clothes and watching a movie while eating!

Paige's Wedding

2010-08-12T09:31:00.004-06:00

Still waiting for pictures of the actual wedding, but I got some pictures that my sister-in-law took of our family right before [not often we are all dressed up AND matching!]

So true...

2010-08-12T09:20:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday, Serra!

2010-08-08T19:58:00.000-06:00

I can't believe she's THREE!

Serra with the balloons we bought for our yard sale the week before her birthday- they lasted to her birthday, too!

Serra giving Alex a "squeeze"!

Serra with a Redbox movie she chose & popcorn. [The movie is Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs]

Serra with her birthday "cake" I made.

Serra and her birthday dinner- one of her favorites: pizza!

Serra and a new dress-up tiara.

Ring "bling"!

Serra VERY excited about her new musical tea set from Grandma & Grandpa and Aunts Amy & Lorie.

Trying to open her new dress-up shoes.

Wearing her new boa.

Worn out after all the partying. She fell asleep watching a movie [quite the feat for Serra... she LOVES movies!]

Expensive, but Worth it

2010-08-02T14:11:00.002-06:00

Alex is finally bought & paid for! :) The last payment went through and we have no more doctor's bills coming in! I can't even describe how exciting it is to know it's DONE!!! With Serra we had Medicaid, so I never saw any doctor's bills- they were 100% covered. [Which was an entirely different kind of exciting!] Alex was definitely expensive- it cost us $2,800.74 total! A little higher than we expected because of the C-section and other things. But without good insurance, it would have been $21,839.95! Even with the expensive delivery... and other extra expenses from diapers, wipes, clothes, etc.... Alex is DEFINITELY worth every penny- and more!

Photo Update

2010-07-26T15:14:00.006-06:00

July

2010-07-19T10:30:00.003-06:00

It's been a fun month so far. July is Picnic Month- so Serra and I have been taking advantage and picnicking nearly every weekday. It helps that here in Pocatello they have a free lunches for kids under 19 program at certain parks. We've also been going to the "real" theater [not a cheapy one] to watch kids movies for $1 on Tuesdays. And we've started going to the library story time and movies on Mondays. It's been fun bonding with Serra in our different activities.

However, Serra has also provided the majority of my stress this month. She's either getting in the last of her terrible twos or starting what I've heard people refer to as the "threatening threes"... can't wait for the "ferocious fours"! AND... she kind of fell off the potty training wagon, so we get to start that all up again. I've tried using more patience with her and it seems to be working to keep us from getting in yelling matches and making me want to spank her all the time- hopefully I can keep it up. She certainly can be a difficult child- and a hard one to contain at times!

Alex is growing more and more each day- he's not a chunk, but he's definitely bigger. Last time I weighed him myself he was 11 pounds- that was about a week ago. He cries a little more now and night time has gotten to be a little more frustrating with him wanting to be held and rocked to sleep. I didn't remember that stage starting this early with Serra, so we'll see if that's a good thing or a bad thing!

And lastly, we drove down to Utah last week to see my little sister get married. Paige and Mark looked wonderful- and so happy. I'm very happy for them and wish them the best. Serra was very sad staying at Aunt Paige's without her Aunt Paige [they'd left on their honeymoon]. But hanging out with her cousins and some friends helped out. We're home now and need to get back in the swing of things- picnics, movies & stories! :)

I don't have a lot of the wedding pictures on my camera, so I'll post them when I get them from various people- check back later! And just in case I don't post again- or forget to mention it when I do post again... July 31st is Parent's Day. I say leave your kids with a babysitter and go out on a date to celebrate, but I've heard of others spending the day being great parents and having fun with their kids... whatever floats your boat. August is Make a Will Month [more talk about this next month] and Eye Exam Month.

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-09T12:03:00.008-06:00

We took a sort of last-minute trip up to Durham, California to visit Ian's grandma. We haven't seen her since before I was pregnant with Serra, so it was nice to get together and catch up. We made a lot of great memories [I think Serra's favorite part was that Great-Grandma had a swimming pool and she made sure we let her use it each day!]

Serra & Alex with Grandpa MacGregor

Alex with Great-Grandma MacGregor

Serra showing off her "jumping" in the pool. [Great-Grandma MacGregor was NOT a fan]

Serra [and pink baby] with Great-Grandma MacGregor

Serra & Alex with Grandma MacGregor

Bath time! [yes, Alex has more of my skin tone- NOT Daddy's and Serra's.]
Silly Alex...

Life With Two Kids

2010-06-27T16:28:00.008-06:00

Everybody tells you it's different when you have two kids. Well, yeah, obviously! But you never really understand to what extent until you have them! It takes a LOT longer to get out the door. I have to remember to bring a LOT more things with me even on short errands. Anything- and I mean ANYTHING- can happen! And you get stopped by a LOT more people wanting to comment on your kids, your parenting techniques, or anything under the sun that they felt like randomly stopping you to talk about. Basically, I've decided that we're mostly going to stay home for now- I'll try to go out once a day for something for Serra, but it really is taxing! Anyway, enough complaining- here are some of my new favorite pictures. :)

What a cute family!

I put Alex on Serra's bed for a minute so I could put away her laundry and she started playing with him like one of her dolls!

It's official, Serra inherited my "baby wisps"! [This is after swimming and spending the day out in the wind and heat]

Serra is showing Alex one of his new toys- it used to be hers.

Serra in her pool- she asks to swim every day now.

Our little "buddy"!

Library Pond Party

2010-06-21T15:44:00.006-06:00

Not sure what any of it had to do with a pond... but we went to a free "party" at the library today and Serra had a blast- see for yourself!

Father's Day

2010-06-20T20:39:00.004-06:00

I really do have a wonderful husband. We've been through a lot this year, but he has been so wonderful and supportive lately that I've almost forgotten about everything before now. I love you, Ian!!!

To celebrate Father's Day, we went to a park and played tennis [something Ian and I are trying to take up together for fun]. Here are some pics of Ian with the kids and Serra with her tennis gear- so cute!

HOME

2010-06-10T16:53:00.005-06:00

Things are going great- I'm healing extremely well and have little or no pain. Alex is typically a very happy baby- we've had a couple of mysterious wailing episodes for no apparent reason, but that's not unheard of! I had a lot of problems trying to get Serra to breastfeed and ended up having to pump instead, but Alex is EASY compared to her! He feeds just fine and almost like clockwork- the only issue we have is that he has a preferred side which sometimes makes things interesting. My sister was here to help out for a few days but went home on Monday. And Ian took off a few days to help out but went back to work today. Surprisingly, I don't feel overly stressed- I was worried that I'd be spending all my time with Alex and Serra would get ignored, but she's been really good about letting me know when she needs "tent" [my attention]. My favorite thing is when I'm just sitting there feeding Alex and she comes running in and out of the room in different ways or making different noises. I get to focus on her while doing something mundane for Alex- and she gets some much needed attention. Anyway, what's a post without pictures, right? So here are some of my recent faves. :)

First picture we got of Alex with his eyes open. Unfortunately, his eyes were swollen shut for the first few days and they're still red and puffy in this picture!

Serra holding Alex for the last time in the hospital- he's in his going home outfit.

Our family- all at home! :)

Alex doing what he does best- sleep in whatever position he might be in!

Alexander Gene MacGregor

2010-06-04T20:55:00.007-06:00

On Wednesday morning I had an appointment with my OBGyn and he discovered that I was 5cm dilated and 75% effaced. I was told to come to the hospital if I was having 1 minute long contractions every 5 minutes for an hour. On Thursday I was experiencing constant back pain and uncomfortable pressure in my belly. I decided that we should go to the hospital to at least figure out how much farther along I was.

We get to the hospital and explain what's going on and they tell me that I'm now dilated to 6cm and they'll break my water so we'll have the baby tonight. But after some further examinations, they discovered that Alex was breech [bum down- which is a HUGE no no]. So the doctor comes in and says he's going to try an external version- where they push on your belly in hopes of turning the baby around. After several painful attempts, they realized that his bottom was too far down in my pelvis because of how much I was dilated. There were no other options- I was going to have a C-section.

I was terrified and frustrated that things had gone from good to bad so quickly, but at the same time I was in so much pain from the attempted version that I was ready to just have Alex out! I was prepped for surgery and Alex was born at 11:20pm on Thursday, June 3rd. I got to talk to him for a bit and kiss him before he was whisked away to be cleaned off and measured. I was stitched back up and sent to post-op recovery where I had a lot of interesting and frightening side effects.

Apparently I have a lot of hormones [more so than the typical pregnant woman] AND I was more sensitive to one of the anesthesia medicines used on me [oxytocin]. So I started to have some violent shaking episodes where my entire upper body would convulse and there was nothing I could do about it. I also got to a point where my eyes had drooped shut from some other medications making me sleepy and I couldn't open them when I tried to. After a while, I was given some more medication to offset the affects of the oxytocin on my body and everything went back to normal. After over an hour in post-op recovery, I was finally sent upstairs to see my baby and tell Ian what had happened.

Alexander Gene weighed in at 8lb 3oz and 20 inches long [not bad for 2 weeks early!] He is such a cute bundle of joy and hardly gives us any fuss right now. Serra loves her little brother and constantly asks to kiss alex, hug alex, and hold him. Hopefully that love stays there when she realizes he's taking some of her attention- or some of her toys! Alex cried and pinked up really quickly and has shown no signs of being premature- he's a completely healthy boy! I have been recovering so well the doctors and nurses are surprised. I used very little morphine right after the surgery and have only taken a couple of oral pain meds today- I'm just not in any pain. I was up and walking this morning without any problems- was able to take a shower a little later in the morning. So things are going well and it hasn't nearly been as bad as I thought it would be!

The hospitals here keep C-section mothers for 48 hours, so I'll be leaving either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning depending on how I'm feeling. My sister, Paige, drove up from
Lehi to help out and we've had lots of offers from friends in the area to take Serra when we need moments to just worry about Alex. Alex was having some trouble eating at first- he was just too tired to even try. But finally a couple of hours ago we got him to latch on and he seems to be getting the hang of it. Hopefully he and I can figure it out and not have the problems that I had with Serra! Well, I think that's pretty much everything- now the part everyone has been waiting for- PICTURES! :)

Alexander Gene MacGregor [Alex]

Mommy & Alex right after post-op recovery

Daddy and Alex a few hours after birth.

Serra kissing Alex during her first time seeing and holding him.

Our little family!

As a little side note- some funny things I was told. After I had given birth to Serra the doctors then had told me that I was "made for making babies". Ironically, after giving birth to Alex the doctors here said the same thing! I was also told by the surgical doctors that they were all impressed with my ab muscles- they're apparently great for a normal woman and superb for a pregnant woman- I would have never thought that about my abs, but I figure who would know better than the doctors who have actually SEEN them?

Updates

2010-06-04T20:40:00.011-06:00

Like I said last time, we went camping this last week. We went with one of Ian's coworkers and his family. It was a lot of fun- Serra especially loved playing in the tents, going on walks, and throwing/kicking/chasing balls. I wasn't as uncomfortable sleeping in a sleeping bag as I thought I would be. The weather was perfect and just overall it was a huge success! We made a lot of great memories and we hope to be able to make camping a regular family tradition. I don't know if we'll be able to go again this summer with Alex being so little- depends on what the evening weather is like at the end of the season. But next year we'll definitely be going lots!

Serra in the tent.

Ian in his new "mummy" sleeping bag.

Serra eating sausage for breakfast. [It was pretty cold at first in the morning, but the sun soon warmed us all up].

Ian making scrambled eggs for breakfast.

I also had some time on my hands to finish up a few craft projects. Here's what I made this month:

Serra's coloring bag.

I finally reupholstered the rocking chair and ottoman that Serra scribbled in black Sharpie all over a few months ago!

And a couple of bibs for Alex [the blue and white one is hard to read, it says Born in 2010- my mother in law used her embroidery machine to stitch the lettering.]

Here's a silly picture of Serra- she loves to get in Daddy's car and "drive". Can't wait til she turns 16...

And here is a pregnant picture of me- 8.5 months along [and actually in the beginning stages of labor, too!]

In Labor

2010-06-02T18:48:00.002-06:00

Now, don't get too excited- those of you who are unaware of how being in labor works, just because it's started it doesn't mean it'll be over soon- and it doesn't mean you get to sit in the hospital and wait til the doctor says you can push! This morning at my doctor's appointment I was 5 cm dilated and 75% effaced- that's halfway on dilation and obviously 3/4 of the way on effacement. So I'm getting close, but not close enough to be admitted to the hospital. So now I'm sitting here trying to figure out if I'm having contractions or not, if I should go the hospital or not. I don't want to go and get sent home, but I don't want to wait too long and have Ian deliver the baby here! Since I was induced with Serra I'm not really sure how any of this works, so I'm completely clueless and kind of losing my mind over it!

On a random side note, I have a bunch of pictures to post, but I've been uncomfortable all day and haven't felt like sitting at my computer long enough to upload them all to my computer. So it'll have to wait. But I have some more crafts to show off, and I think some pictures of Serra, and pictures from our camping trip this last weekend [I know, I'm apparently crazy for going camping this far along but it was totally worth it- I'll talk more about it when I post the pictures]. So not sure when I'll post them- either tomorrow because I'm still sitting here wondering if I'm in the final stages of labor or not- or in a couple days after delivering a baby!

Utah Trip- and other things

2010-05-21T09:11:00.006-06:00

We drove down to Utah for Ian's brother's wedding last week. Gavin & Emily were married in the Salt Lake Temple with an open house shortly after at one of Ian's aunt's homes. Here's a picture of our family right before the open house.

The next morning, a baby shower was thrown for me to take advantage of so much family being in town. [Who's the beached whale on the couch?... oh yeah, it's me- 8 months pregnant!]

We stayed in our house in Lehi with my sister Paige, so that meant we got to see her and her fiance a lot. One of Serra's favorite people in this world now is her soon to be Uncle Mark [or "Marker" as she calls him].

In other news, we got the results back from Ian's biopsy- he still has H. Pylori! So he went through another round of pills [3 different ones to take twice daily for 2 weeks]. So hopefully it's really gone this time. Other than that, they have no clue what's hurting him still. He also had to have a filling redone and his teeth pulled/rotated- I'm telling you, his body is falling apart!

We are about to start another round of potty training attempts with Serra- I'm determined to be successful this time though. We have 2 months with no vacations. One month before the baby, and then if the baby makes her relapse a bit, we'll have another month before Paige's wedding to get it solidified again. So wish us luck!

Alex is continuing to grow and he still moves so much it easily makes me feel sick, or have indigestion, etc. Four weeks left as of yesterday, but still hoping he's a little early. I think we actually have everything we need for his first few months, anything after that I'd have to pull out and organize first to see what we're missing. Not as organized as I was with Serra, but I figure it's good enough for now.

I have been doing really well- went to a therapy session on my own and was told that I'm doing just fine. I obviously have emotions to work through still, but she has every confidence that I'll work through them on my own just fine- and with Ian. I've definitely gotten to the uncomfortable stage with my pregnancy and have started counting down the days. These last few weeks I am going to try and spend getting some more crafts done before Alex comes- and getting the house all cleaned up [it's been neglected for a few months].

And, just in case I don't come on here again before June: June is Safety Month- so learn what you can to make your family safer, whether it's baby-proofing, teaching "stranger danger" or the proper way to ride a bike in your town [helmet, hand signals].

I had to edit this post because I realized I totally forgot to mention my birthday! It was a good day, would have been better if I had more energy but I'll take what I can get. I turned 28 and Ian and I commented on how "old" I'm getting. I know 28 isn't really old, but it is for us! It's not even a milestone birthday, but for whatever reason it struck us both as momentous for me to turn 28.

May Bizarre Holidays

2010-04-29T11:18:00.002-06:00

I forgot to post the bizarre holidays for next month. There were a lot and I couldn't choose just a couple, so here they are:

Good Car Care Month
Share a Story Month
Posture Month
Better Sleep Month [I'm going to be working on this one!]
Date Your Mate Month
Physical Fitness & Sports Month

and May 10th is Clean Your Room Day

Easter & April Update

2010-04-28T21:46:00.008-06:00

I'll do pictures first and update at the end... so make sure you scroll to the bottom!

Serra's Easter basket

Serra- very excited for her new Easter chick!

First time dipping eggs- she kept forgetting to use the purple thing, so we let her just use her hands.

After 1 spill, we realized she needed an apron. :)

All of our eggs- I got a kit that came with just simple dyes and stickers since Serra LOVES stickers and is too young to do tie-dye or sprinkles, etc.

A thin summer blanket I made for Alex [the green is the reverse side].

A coloring bag I made for Alex- I know he won't use it for a while, but I've been meaning to make one for him in his "colors" and I still need to find the right fabric to make one for Serra in her "colors" [baby pink, hot pink, and purple].

Okay, now for an update. Things have been going really well. Alex is growing just fine- and Serra is too for that matter! I have been having some major back pains and cramping in my abdomen which had the doctor worried for a bit. But I have an appointment on Monday again- and he'll decide if I'm doing okay or need bedrest. Hopefully not because I'm hoping to travel to Utah for Ian's brother's wedding next month!

Ian has had a bit of a crazy month, too. His birthday was at the beginning of it and apparently his body just decided to fall apart on him! He had oral surgery last week to remove a mucocele from his lip, and at his follow-up appointment yesterday the surgeon said it looked fine but he's now susceptible to having more in the future. Wonderful! Also, today, he had his EGD [a tiny camera down his throat to look at his stomach, etc.] Unfortunately, the doctor didn't see anything significant- so we're still unsure of what's causing his stomach pains. However, the good news in that is that the doctor didn't see any ulcers- so Ian can relax on his diet! Some more follow up tests are being run to see if we can still figure out what's wrong, but I'm not holding my breath. Ian slept off the drugs from the EGD for most of the day today- they had to give him a LARGE dose because he apparently has "a really bad gag reflex". :) He's still a little groggy, but doesn't remember a thing and doesn't feel any tenderness, so that's good.

As far as Ian and I, things are going great. We've been working on a lot of things together and we've finally signed up with a counselor for a new session next week- hopefully she can give us even more tips on communicating, etc. But I'm feeling a lot more hope than I have over the past few months. So now we're all just anxiously awaiting the arrival of Alex- 7 weeks left! [Here's hoping he's a little early...] :)

Paige is Engaged!!!

2010-04-21T15:42:00.003-06:00

I wanted to wait until Paige had a chance to contact everyone before posting her big news on my blog, but it's been long enough! :) She met a guy named Mark Harley and after a few weeks of dating they decided it was right to get married. The date is in July right now, but it isn't concrete yet- so we'll see. But I am so happy- and excited- for Paige and hope that everything goes smoothly with the wedding plans. And that their "happily ever after" can begin soon!

But you aren't 3 yet...

2010-04-12T09:41:00.003-06:00

I've had yet another realization that the clothing industry doesn't assign sizes according to my daughter's age... Serra is indeed tall for her age. I was trying to hold off switching her to 3T, I guess because I didn't want to admit she was that big- have you looked at 3T clothing? It's HUGE! And I figured it was okay that most of her 2T pants were a little short on her because it would be summer soon and shorts are supposed to be short, so no one would notice.

I was wrong. I put a few of her summer outfits on her and not only were the shorts a little shorter than they should be, her shirts were shorter- some wouldn't go over her head- and even the arm holes in some were too small for her skinny arms! So I was defeated and had to pull out the 3T tub. Serra, of course, was delighted to see all the new clothes- especially the dresses.

When I was pulling them out I kept shaking my head saying there was no way this stuff fits her- it looked like the pants were several inches longer than her 2T pants. Surely, Serra is stuck in between the two sizes! So, I pull Serra out of the pile she's raking her hands through to try a few outfits on her. And I still can't believe it, but they fit- I even put on the longest pants I could find in the bunch! They were maybe a little too long, but when she wears shoes it won't matter- and every other pair fit her perfectly.

It was kind of sad to pack up the 2Ts when it felt like she'd only been wearing them for a couple of months, but then I realized that she must have been wearing them for a while because I was getting excited seeing all the new clothes, too. So my tall 2 year old is now wearing 3T and I keep thinking, "but you aren't 3 yet!"

Happy Birthday, Ian

2010-04-10T07:23:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, Ian turned 30. Most of his day was spent working, but we tried to work in a few fun things during the day. Serra was most excited for him to open his presents, so he did that first thing in the morning. Then Ian accidentally packed only a pb&j sandwich for lunch, so we went out to eat. The evening was spent doing some critical errands and then playing games. Today, he has some friends coming over for a Magic Tournament- so the fun continues! I can't believe we've reached the 30's [I have a couple more years, but time flies].

Serra and I moved back a week ago- just in time for Easter and Ian's birthday. We're pretty much all unpacked and moved back in. Now we just have to remember what we used to do during the days when Ian's at work! It's good to be back- it's been hard, but overall I'm very glad to be here. And Serra is back to her "old self". I didn't realize just how much she'd changed because of the recent circumstances. So overall we're all a lot happier and working toward some excellent goals. :)

On a side note about Ian, he had another stomach pain attack that lasted 16 hours and the doctors are completely baffled. He's been under a barrage of tests- all coming out negative. Which is good because so far they've eliminated his H. Pylori coming back, gallstones, and cancer. At the end of the month, he's going to have an EGD [where they stick a camera down his throat to see what's going on]. Hopefully it will shed some light on what's going on and we can finally fix it!

Alex is continuing to grow and kick more every day- he's such a mover that I'm a little worried about how "active" he's going to be once he's out! But we're anxious to have him join us- Serra asks every morning if we're going to see Alex. Nope, Serra- two more months.... It's weird because the time has really flown, and yet at the same time I feel like I've been pregnant forever! But I'm sure these last 2 months will also fly by and before you know it we'll be enjoying Alex's company- at all hours of the night. :)

Busy, Busy Month!

2010-03-29T22:23:00.021-06:00

A lot of stuff happened this month, so I'm sorry that there are so many pictures, but I couldn't just leave some out!

I was making a birthday cake for the Relief Society birthday party and Serra wanted to make a cake too.

Serra walking in the snow.

I made a slightly bigger version of a blanket that I had made for baby doll before- Serra loves that they have matching blankets.

One of Serra's favorite past-times is to pretend she's taking a nap. [Daddy is better at faking than Serra is...]

I finally finished Serra's quilt- now I need to get a jump start on Alex's and finish his sooner!

I also made 5 sets of Christmas cards this month. I'm all set on Christmas cards for the next few years. :)

An outfit I made for Alex- they were both harder than they looked!

6 Months Pregnant

Serra going swimming- the one day I bring a camera and she doesn't want to do anything. In fact, she's turned around and telling me to get in the water too.

Serra blowing bubbles in the pool- something she learned from her swimming class.

We had an early Easter egg hunt this year- and Serra was a little confused at first.

But then she got the hang of it and loved picking candy up.

Serra's showing me how heavy her bag is getting.

She was so intrigued by the candy coming out of the egg, she kept closing and opening it- probably trying to figure out how to get it to make more candy.

Another one of Serra's favorite past-times: putting stickers on anything that doesn't move for at least a minute. Today's subject: Daddy's arm.

A third favorite past-time is watching movies with Aunt Paige.

We had a garage sale this last Saturday [made over $300!] and sent Serra over to play with a friend- she took a nap on their living room floor instead.

And finally, my last craft for the Craft Month- a summer pots wreath!

FYI- April is International Guitar Month, National Humor Month and Uh-Oh Month. April 28th is Kiss Your Mate Day- make sure to take advantage of that one! :)

Happy March!

2010-03-08T21:08:00.002-07:00

We have quite a few plans this month. At the end of the month, I'm going to have a garage sale- get rid of the last of the junk I've had stored here in Lehi that I don't really need. And anything left will be going to DI! Also, on April 3rd, Serra and I are planning on moving back up to Idaho. Ian and I have been making some real progress- working things out between us. It's still a long road ahead of us, but we're on the right track- thanks for all the support and prayers!

It snowed again the other day and I was actually glad because I hadn't had the chance to get pictures of Serra in the snow yet this year. So I finally got some, but I haven't put them on my computer yet- so I'll post them next time. Also, Serra had a swimming class last month that she really loved- basically a parent/toddler class to learn to get familiar and comfortable with the water. It was a lot of fun and she asks every day if we can go swimming. She is growing so tall and thin that everyone assumes she is a 3 year old when they see her- which can be annoying because they expect more out of her when they think she's older. But she is typically a very well behaved girl.

And lastly, as a side note this month is Craft Month! More specifically, it's also Crochet Month. So pull your supplies out of your closet and get some of those craft projects done- I'll try to post about some of the stuff I get done this month at the end. Hope you all have a happy March!

Potty Time!

2010-02-21T21:10:00.002-07:00

I'm SO excited I want to run outside and shout down the street- "Serra used her potty!" Out of no prompting on my own, she was sitting in her bath [which did take some prompting] and she turns to me and says, "no stinky bath". To which I quickly reply, "yes, we don't go stinky in the bath! Do you need to go stinky?" Serra says yes and I fleetingly offer for her to sit on her potty which she just happened to pull out of the closet the other day and set on the bathroom floor- I was of course thinking she'd say no. But to my surprise, not only does she say yes, but she climbs out of the tub, sits down and promptly starts to go to the bathroom! After she saw my reaction and had the fun of helping me clean out her potty she sat in the tub again and then quickly asked if she could do it again. I said yes, and get this- she did it AGAIN!!! I was so proud of her! And while all of me wants to start pushing potty training, after some thought I've come to the conclusion that I should keep it at her pace. I'll occasionally ask her if she wants to use her potty- as a reminder of how much fun she had. I'm not going to pull out the underwear and start insisting on using the potty instead of diapers. But I'm excited that this is a first big step and I'm hoping it means we're on our way to potty training finally! Hurray!

Meet Alex

2010-02-14T21:13:00.009-07:00

Here are the ultrasounds from our baby boy, Alexander [Alex for short- still working on a middle name.] Below each picture I've tried to give pointers so you can understand what's really in the picture.

Alex was not shy- anyone familiar with how to look at an ultrasound can see he's "pointing" to the top left.

Took me forever to see this one, but I finally did just today! His face is on it's side with his chin pointing right. If you look closely, you'll see a skeletal-looking face with black eye sockets, a tiny nose and frown [his two hands are right up to his face too, which makes it difficult to decipher.]

His shoulder is in the middle near the bottom with his upper arm pointing to the top left, elbow bent and lower arm pointing back down to the middle- his hand is nearly touching his shoulder.

His feet are on the far left with his leg extending all the way across the screen to the right.

His feet are on the far right side [this one is a little harder to see, too].

His profile is the easiest to see, but it was blurred a bit by movement- you can see the shape of his head and he's facing upwards [chin is on the left].

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T18:08:00.003-07:00

Ian stayed over an extra night so he could spend a little time with us on Valentine's Day. But he had to leave before I had a chance to shower- or do Serra's hair. So I'm not in the picture, and Serra looks like a mess. But at least we got a couple of pictures! Ian gave Serra a cute Valentine's outfit- unfortunately, all you can see in the picture is the shirt [the pants are light pink with dark pink and red hearts tacked all over them- super cute!] We've also been dealing with colds/coughs. Serra is finally better, but it's my turn now. Hopefully today I've hit rock bottom and can start mending tomorrow! Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!

It's a Boy!

2010-02-02T21:36:00.001-07:00

There is a lady in our ward here who works at the women's clinic that I had Serra at- and for fun she lets anyone come down when she's not busy to do an ultrasound and find out what they're baby is! So when she heard that I didn't get my ultrasound last week like I should have, she offered for me to come tonight if she wasn't busy. Well, I got the call and ran down there. She hasn't been wrong yet, I don't think [but even I agreed with her after seeing the ultrasound]- and she says it's a boy! So I'm nervous, but excited- and in a lot of ways I'm glad that I'll have 1 of each, especially with the circumstances and not knowing if I'll ever have any more. I still have my official ultrasound with the real ultrasound technician next Tuesday, but I'm confident that they'll just confirm what we found out tonight. :)

Updates

2010-01-29T14:06:00.001-07:00

Well, I had an appointment today that was supposed to be my ultrasound, but because of some scheduling conflicts it's been postponed until February 9th. :( Oh well- I'll find out eventually what I'm having! But everything else is going just fine as planned and that baby seems perfectly healthy, so that's good.

Also, next month's fun things are: Dental Month [which is funny because I already had a dentist's appointment planned], Embroidery Month and Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month. Kind of some fun stuff this time around- hope you all had a great January, and I'm looking forward to a better February!

Ian, Kristen, Serra & Alex

I Heart Pinterest

2012 So Far - Wordless

Christmas!!!

December Minus Christmas

Merry Christmas to All

November!

HALLOWEEN - The Day

HALLOWEEN - Activities Before

HALLOWEEN - CornBelly's

October Fun

September In a Flash

George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park

Alex *ahem* "12 Month" Pictures

Serra's 4th Birthday Party

The Rest of August

Big Bear

Disneyland!

My Kids Are SO Cute!

4th of July & Visiting Paige

Active Lifestyle

My Baby is One!

Catching Up

More Pics :)

PICTURES!

Happy Birthday to ME!

April Fun Times

Morning Mantra & Insights

Alex's Other 9 Month Pictures

Happy April!

Marathon Training & Cutie Pies

To Mana

Promised Picture- and more!

9 Month Pictures

Freaked Out

Happy Valentine's Day!

Is Anyone Reading This?...

January

New Year's Wishes

Over the Holidays

Huge Savings

Appendicitis

Eating Clean

Thanksgiving & More

Happy Halloween!

New Furniture!

Troublemakers & Negligent Parenting

Sorry

Serra Bling

Our 5k

Room Swap & Labor Day

Goodbye August, Hello Fall!

Serra & Alex

Eye Exam Month & Make a Will Month

Paige's Wedding

Random

Paige's Wedding

So true...

Happy Birthday, Serra!

Expensive, but Worth it

Photo Update

July

Happy Fourth of July!

Life With Two Kids

Library Pond Party

Father's Day

HOME

Alexander Gene MacGregor

Updates

In Labor

Utah Trip- and other things

May Bizarre Holidays

Easter & April Update

Paige is Engaged!!!

But you aren't 3 yet...

Happy Birthday, Ian

Busy, Busy Month!

Happy March!

Potty Time!

Meet Alex

Alex ahem "12 Month" Pictures