loving life...

life with our children!

2011-04-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

Almost all of these pictures were taken by Taylor or Max. Sometimes with our supervision and sometimes without! ;-)

Okay, I took these two (above and below)

Valentines' Day 2011

2011-04-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

For Valentines Day this year, we snuck into Tom's office and gave him a 'heart attack' and put up a bunch of hearts with things we love about him written on each one. We also took him some treats. We have the best dad (husband) ever and always have fun doing stuff like this so he knows we love him!

Max was being a bit grumpy...

Winter 2011--

2011-04-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

I actually have attempted to post to by blog; but for some reason it wasn't letting me upload anything so I got a bit impatient with it. I decided today to just try uploading one or two photos at a time and it worked! So, here's a LOT of catching up and I have a LOT more catching up to do. I am wanting to officially make my blog private though...so I'll wait a few days in case anyone wants to pass on your email so I can send you an invite. That is if anyone even checks my blog since it's been SO long since I've added anything! I do plan to do better though because I want to do a better job at recording our lives and our memories. We'll see how it goes! Here are some of our favorite pictures from the last 2 or 3 months:

Taylor took this picture of Cam (above)

I got these hats and scarves for the kids at Children's Place for 85 cents! Just trying to make my Grandma proud! ;-)

If you look closely, you can see Cam's little (big) toe sticking out of her pjs! ;-)

Max's playgroup: He's had such a great time getting together with these two boys this year. We've rotated homes each week (until lately, because we've all been sick over and over again!). This is what the boys did when I said, 'okay, put your arms around eachother!' (they're so cute!)

Preschool: We've done a preschool co-op this year with a few other moms who I'm good friends with. I've REALLY enjoyed getting to do this! I love when it's at our home. It's so fun to get to learn with them and do science experiments and play games and role plays. It's been so fun! I love that when it's at our home Max gets to participate too. It's also saved us hundreds of dollars (actually almost one thousand dollars!). So, it's totally been worth it and I look forward to hopefully doing this with each of our kids! I've also been using the book 'Teach your child to read with 100 easy lessons' with Taylor mostly. It's been AWESOME!!! I definitely recommend it! I love how simple it is and structured it is. Totally my style and I've enjoyed watching Taylor learn so quickly and easily! I got it on Amazon for 10 dollars...also, definitely worth it! ;-)

we used this sheet as a parachute. We tried putting torn up peices of tissue on it so that it would resemble snow when we shot it up into the air....yeah, actually, it just made a HUGE mess! But, we had fun playing with it!

Our Special Visitors!

2011-04-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

In the middle of January, my best friend Wendy from OSU (and baby Tenley) came to visit. She flew in on her 30th birthday so we had to do a lot of celebrating the weekend she was here. I had so much fun with her and her sweet baby girl Tenley! We decided that we need to start having these girls' weekends/trips more regularly! We also decided to start saving money so we can go visit her sister in France in a couple of years.

I think it's great that we have three potential setups between our kids: Taylor and Ty, Max and Tenley (pictured above--he he!) or Tag and Cambria! The only thing is that Wendy and I both married men with the last name of Jensen; so that might make it a little interesting... ;-)

I love ya Wendy! So glad you visited and so grateful for your friendship! :-)

More summer memories 2010

2010-11-28T08:52:00.000-08:00

The middle of July...

2010-11-24T09:26:00.000-08:00

We had very special visitors the middle of July...Tom's big brother Pete, our sister in law Tammy, and our three adorable, sweet nieces Katrina, Bekkah and Olivia. We had a great time with them and were so grateful they got to come and be with us! The first night they were with us, Katrina (she's 8) sang a cute song about Grandmothers. After her little performance, Taylor decided she had to perform too...so the next few pictures are of her singing and dancing and Max holding her hand dancing (there's a video at the bottom of this enourmous post ;-). While they were visiting, Taylor had her 4th birthday on July 15th; so she had a super special birthday and celebrated with her cousins!

A fun day in Denver (catching up from this summer)

2010-11-21T08:48:00.000-08:00

We decided we'd take a vacation day and have a fun, family day in Denver so we took the kids to the Children's Museum, Casa Bonita and the Butterfly museum. It's always so much fun to do special things with them and watch them have fun!

taking a little break (Cam's napping).

I know the above pic is a little blurry, but it's Taylor's picture of a butterfly. It was so cute, she'd take a picture of a butterfly and then turn the camera around so the butterfly could see the picture of itself! We were getting a big kick out of her!

Taylor is wearing her 'butterfly dress' for the occasion. and this is Max's favorite hat...his "monster hat". It's my favorite too! I actually paid full price (something I NEVER do--it was only $5 though) because I thought it was pretty stinkin' cute! ;-)

holding Rosie the spider again...this is our second time visiting her and last time Taylor and Max both held her...this time neither did! funny kids! ;-)

yes, a little late posting these pics (she's actually 7 1/2 months) but oh well!

It's Moving Day!

2010-08-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

I really have a bazillion other things to do, but we won't have internet for a few days and I just had to get the pics of Taylor and Max being oh, so affectionate up for you (these pics just crack Tom and I up!). It's been a whirlwind of a summer though with a lot of ups and downs. This move was pretty unexpected; but it will be good. Here are some pics of the house from the day I first looked at it. The landlord was there working on it. Since that day, brand new carpet and kitchen and bath floors were put in, which is a big reason why we decided to move into this house. we are SO excited for this backyard! It will be our first official fenced-in backyard!

and yes, we're an affectionate family :0)

oh, they are going to love this picture when they are older! ;-)

kiddos!

2010-08-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

Miss Cambri!

2010-08-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

Once again, my friend Sarah delivered some great photos...I'm a little late in posting these. This is Cam at two weeks old. Better late than never though, right?

Potty Humor

2010-08-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

We're in the wonderful process of potty training Maxwell...oh, the joy! We're pretty non-aggresive in our approach. I'd rather just fork over $13.79 for our big box of size 4 target brand diapers than have poop and pee on the floor and have fights over going to the potty. With Taylor, once she was ready and we got her a brand new pack of princess underwear; it seemed like we didn't have to do any training at all...it really was wonderful!

A few months ago I was on the phone and I went to check on Taylor and Max. They were in the bathroom and Taylor had Max on the little potty and had a slew of books lined up for him on the floor and had all his pullups lined up on the floor next to the books. I chuckled, walked away and came back in a few minutes later to see that the books and pullups had been picked up and Taylor was on the big potty, Max was on the little potty and they were having a nice little conversation with each other (I love it when they do that--it's too cute and funny!). On my third visit to check on them (just a few minutes later) Max was standing up, and Taylor was standing on a stepstool getting ready to clean out the 'bowl' of the little potty because Max had peed and POOPED in his potty for the first time ever! Needless to say, they both got a special treat and I was super impressed with both of them!

She's still working on him...GO Taylor!

Why is it?

2010-08-03T14:29:00.001-07:00

Why do you gain weight when you start working out?!?

This is a great article!!! Perfectly stated and explained...the moral of the story is to never, never, never give up!

It seems like I'm always having ladies feel frustrated because of this issue. I think the most important thing is to continue strengthening, stretching and working your body so as you get older you get

stronger and healthier! Rather than the typical...vice versa.

Also, if you read the entire article; then you read the part about the importance of what you're putting into your mouth...food is such an important part of human life; it's what gives us fuel and energy (or the lack thereof), it's often how we celebrate and it can literally heal us!

Need some inspiration to eat healthier? Check out one of my favorite books:

50 Secrets of the World's Longest Living People

TO GOOD HEALTH!

2010-06-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

"Camping" (in a cabin) at the Boy Scout camp:

Getting ready for our first "camping" trip: backpacks packed and all excited!

We had dinner at Pizza Hut in Woodland Hills and then headed to the Boy Scout camp, spent some time with our friends and then got the kiddos ready for bed...aren't they cuties? (don't let them fool you though!)After a couple of hours of trying to get them to sleep in those nice, comfortable beds pictured above, we resolved to the option below (this was around 11 p.m.--and their normal bedtime is around 7!)...so here they are watching Princess and the Frog...

they were still watching at midnight! Finally fell asleep close to 12:30...a couple hours later Max is in our bed, 3 hours after that Taylor was in our bed. We've decided on our next "camping" trip we all need to just go to bed as a family (in one big family bed) because we're going to wind up that way anyway! ;-) At least it gave me a chance to cuddle with my big kiddos, but I was so TIRED that next day!

and so were they! If you look closely at Taylor, you can see the results of her sneaking my makeup bag into the back seat with her and having free range with my make up for a whole twenty minutes before I realized what was going on...when we got home I put her right into the bath tub and there was literally a ring around the tub from the colored (make up dyed) bathwater!

catching a fly with super dad! check out the video below for exclusive footage! ;-)

Cambri and Cinderella:

These photos are a bit out of order...but are mostly from the weekend with my dad. My parents are moving back to Seattle so he stopped and stayed with us for a couple of days so we decided to bless Cam while he was here.

(back to Cinderella real quick...this kind princess is pictured below cleaning out our babies "toe jam" ;-) It's a little obsession of Taylor's to clean out her own toes, so I crack up when I see her take the chance to do it for her little sister as well!

back to Cambria's blessing day...this picture below is one of my favorites...it perfectly captures how easy it is to get nice photos with kiddos! ;-)

a little better...

Cambria at 2 months on her blessing day...

'love this little sweet babe!

June 5th we went to our friends' daughter's ballet recital downtown. It was pretty fun!

a booger pickin'

good time!

big, beautiful smiles from Cambri!

This hail storm occured about 15 minutes before my last workout of my first bootcamp of the summer! It was crazy! But, then it cleared up and we had a super fun closing session workout!

This is what happens when you're bad at blogging...

2010-06-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

grinding wheat...Max is very good at covering his ears.

reading and playing....Mother's Day 2010

cuddling in mom and dad's bed.

after Taylor's first dance recital.

with her baby ballerinas class. I love her class and teacher. It's perfect (and laid back) for their young age group. I'll try to get a video or two posted of her dance.

my favorite past time for the last 11 weeks and 1 day....cuddling with my Cambri! ahh! pure bliss!

been busy with my baby and bootcamps!

2010-06-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not having posted anything in so long! I have plenty of pictures (as usual) to put up and will hopefully this week (maybe even tomorrow). One of the biggest things that has kept me lacking spare time is getting things set up for my small business this year and prepping and putting on my first bootcamp of the year which just ended Friday night. It's a been balancing act because I don't want to be so busy that I'm not being a mom first and foremost especially with a new babe in the house...my kids are much more important to me than anything else (well, except their daddio ;-). Anyway, the first bootcamp went great. I had nine amazing ladies and we formed a very close, supportive group (which I love) and I'm planning to extend the workouts to every Wednesday evening at least through September. My next session

is a Healthy Pregnancy session...I'm excited for it and it'll be early in the a.m. which is my favorite!

You can visit my site here

last week of April...

2010-05-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

Tom's mom came to visit during the last week of April. We had lots of fun with her! This is where I teach Pilates...I took Cambria there to meet some of the amazing women I get to have in my class. They're so super sweet! I also got to go back to teaching last week...I love it so much!

watching Alice in Wonderland...

My friend made this beautiful quilt for Cambria! The time has gone by so fast and she is growing so quickly. I'm trying so hard to take the time this time to just sit and cuddle with her. I so love having her in our family and home...she's such a sweet baby girl!

Max in his monster hat at the park...

April 12th-25th

2010-05-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

My photographer friend Sarah attempted to take pictures of Cambria on two separate occasions and both times she was wide awake, so the last time she left her white sheet on our couch so I could get some shots of her once she fell asleep. I thought they turned out pretty sweet. She's just two weeks old in these.

this was the big booger Tom pulled out of her nose and as boys tend to get a kick out of things like this, he had to take a picture of it! ;-)

Celebrating Tom's birthday:funny thing about the picture above...Taylor is wearing a "pee pee tee pee" instead of her actual party hat...they are shaped the same! We had these out just in case Cambria was a boy and she's been wearing them as hats since! ;-)

and here she has it on her party hat!

First two weeks of Cambria's life...

2010-05-09T16:03:00.000-07:00

We went to Carino's for my birthday; on Mondays they have their family platters for half price...the shrimp scampi pasta is SO good!

with Grandma and Grandpa...

I found these little cowboy boots for Max at Walmart for $3! He LOVES them so I got a back up pair!

Grandpa and Cambria

introducing Cambria!

2010-04-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry, it has taken me so long to get pictures up...we've had some small issues the last few days with getting Cambria to eat enough and gain weight. I think I've spent about 2/3 of my waking hours (at least) trying to work on this with feeding, pumping, trying to wake her up to feed, etc. I've been to the doctor's each day this week and the hospital yesterday for blood work...thankfully, today she gained two ounces! I was so thrilled for that! We go back to the doctor Friday so hopefully, she'll keep gaining.

We've also been dealing with being sick. A week before Cambria's birth, I started getting sick with a bad cold. During the next few days the kids got sick, on Friday and Saturday I was completely wiped out from it, my mom and Tom started getting symptoms but were taking lots of vitamin C and were trying to keep it at bay. Monday morning, I called my doctor to make an appointment b/c I was worried about being sick and having the baby that week. I also called the pediatrician and they both thought since we (the kids and I) were feeling better and it had been a week that we should be okay. Unfortunately, it's been a long-lived, really bad cold. My mom officially came down with it the day we went into the hospital so she spent three nights in a local hotel when we came back home to keep her sick germs away and we've kept Cambria separated from the kids(b/c we don't want her to get sick). Hopefully, with nursing, lots of hand sanitizer and keeping her in our room away from everyone who's been sick (except Tom and I) she'll be okay, but we're doing lots of praying!

Anyway, with all that, it's been hard to find time to post anything...so, here it finally is! The day before Cambria was born I wanted to do something fun and special with the kids so Taylor and I went to my doctor's appointment in the morning and then we had breakfast together at Mimi's. Then, we went home and picked up my mom and Max and went to the zoo for a few hours. It was great. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day.

So the day before...
Our zoo is really neat and I think the best part is getting to feed the giraffes crackers. These seem like the happiest animals on the planet b/c they get to eat anytime they want! that's Max's little hand feeding one of the giraffes.

see the little baby monkey on his mama? So sweet! There were actually two babies.

The night before...

being a little goofy with Tom.
Ready to POP!

The big day!

I always am so happy to get the big insulated hospital mug for ice cold water; with Max they handed it over right away...this time I had to ask for it and this mauve cup that reminds me of my dad working ER shifts years and years ago was what I got! :( I got sweet Cambria too so it's okay!

The hospital had us come in around 6:15, so we got there and they got me ready and then put a pill called sidotec (sp?) into my cervix (sorry if this is too graphic for anyone ;-). At noon the doctor came and broke my water...wow! that is such a weird sensation! I started getting pretty intense contractions quickly, so around two p.m. I got an epidural and then they gave me pitocin. I felt so much more this time around, so much pressure as the baby moved down, I started shaking like crazy, they called the doctor and she literally ran through the parking lot and hall to get there in time. Tom said I pushed through 4 or 5 contractions and she was born. It was much more intense and I felt so much more than I did with the other two deliveries.

This was just after getting the epidural...

and not long after at 4:05 p.m. Cambria entered our lives....

sorry, the picture above may be disgusting to everyone...yep, that's the placenta. The doctor showed it all to us and explained the different parts. It was really interesting. I'm a pretty queasy person, but it really is amazing how this whole baby growing, birthing process works!

with the doctor right after delivery.

Cambria Adelyn...she is the sweetest little baby! We feel so blessed by her already!

with her sweet daddy...

getting her first sponge bath...

laying under a heat lamp to keep her nice and warm after her bath. We thought it was so nice that she never left our room once while we were in the hospital.

all clean, dry and warm...

nurse Tammy: She was the same nurse I had with Max and we just loved her then, so I felt so grateful to get her again. And, she was amazing again. She's very competent and sweet. She said she wasn't going to give me a catheter when I got my epidural and wanted to be as non-invasive as possible so I could bounce back quickly. I was amazed at how much better I felt afterwards. During the delivery she was so encouraging and comforting. I just love this incredible nurse! and I just love this incredible baby girl! She has lots of dark hair (like her dad!).

more pictures of Cambria coming soon!

Max is two!!!

2010-04-03T18:18:00.000-07:00

Max just turned two a couple of weeks ago! Before posting new baby Cambria pics, I wanted to make sure I got up pics of Max's special day...since he turns two only once! He's such a sweet boy and we are so glad he's a part of our family....here he is just a few days old: He turned two on a Wednesday, so the Friday after his birthday, we had a fun little party for him with some of our great friends here who have a kiddo Max's age. Here are some pics from the party:

the kids playing in Taylor's bedroom

Max's cake...I'd been planning to make him a truck cake for weeks because he's CRAZY about trucks! The cake was sort of a mess (looked a bit like puppy dogs) but it was a fun, family effort! I would never have been able to make a cake like this, if it weren't for my very talented friend Callie who taught me and gave me some expert tips. Callie makes and sells cakes...check out her website www.coloradocakebox.com to see some incredible cakes and get inspired! I stole the table deco idea from her too...thanks Callie! ;-)

the littles:

the biggies:

the cool parents we get to have as friends:

Max handing out his party favors:

opening fun presents:

on Max's birthday (a Wednesday) we went out as a family to Applebee's...they have 99 cent kids' meals on Wednesdays so we thought it'b be a fun way to celebrate. It was! They came and sang to Max and gave him a sundae. He loved it. I love this pic of these two cute boys!

after dinner we went to our favorite local grocery store to get cupcakes...the ponies below cost a penny to ride!

opening presents at home...

I got these stickers for the party favors and Max saw them and sat there for about 5 minutes looking at them...it was so funny! It's the simplest things that they love!

a card and check from great Grandma!

a gift from Grandpa, Grandma J. and cousins.

some of his cousins made this map of Grandpa/ma's home for his new cars to drive on...

he LOVES books...

this was a easter basket we saw at Hobby Lobby...so cute!

I got this off of craigslist for 3 bucks! I'm excited to take our kids to the park so they can ride around on the basketball court...

we saw these at the grocery store and had to get them b/c they looked so much like the rainbow cakes my Grandma in Georgia always got us that are so amazingly good. These unfortunately weren't the same, but brought back great memories!

this little guy has melted my heart since the day he was born! I love my Maxwell!

so tired:

Happy Birthday sweet boy! You are so loved!

the kiddos...

2010-03-24T19:41:00.001-07:00

My super talented photographer friend Sarah took these a couple of weeks ago. I thought she did such an amazing job! I am so appreciative! I wanted to get some "2 year old" pics of Max and some pics of the kids together since they've been this little pair of "best friends" for the last two years. Sarah did such a great job of capturing their little personalities!

I love these pics of the two of them together! They definitely have their moments where they scream at eachother and Taylor has done a fabulous job teaching Max how to hit! But, they also are so sweet with eachother; Taylor is such a sweet, protective big sister and I just love when we're riding in the car and they're sitting behind me just talking and laughing and singing together. I feel like such a blessed mom!

the maternity pics...

2010-03-24T03:41:00.000-07:00

36 weeks: I felt so apprehensive about taking these pics and being so pregnant; but I love my freind Sarah! She made me feel comfortable, had lots of creative ideas and I thought she did so great! Thanks Sarah! You're amazing and such a great friend!!!

If you click on the picture, it should show you a larger version and you can see the baby's little profile in the ultrasound pic...try not to look very close at the big, bare belly behind it though! ;-)

March 13th St. Patty's Run...

2010-03-24T03:17:00.000-07:00

everyday life lately...

2010-03-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

When I make the kiddos cheese crackers, Taylor insists they eat at her little table...one of those days where clothes were on the back burner!

before heading off to church

this picture (above) makes Tom and I laugh and laugh!

for some reason these pictures turned sideways and upside down when I uploaded them...oh well!

Max has hit the posing stage...he says "cheese!" and then says, "can I see?" after each picture...a few hours ago he put on about 10 different mardi gras necklaces and had me take about 25 pictures of him wearing them! He's a funny boy!

bedtime...

Max has a huge fascination for trucks! (note the pajamas...his favorite!) This is a soft, firetruck easter basket we saw at Hobby Lobby and it's actually one of his birthday presents (his birthday is this week) but he got to play with it for a couple of days before we hid it in our closet while he was sleeping. I'm excited to give it back to him...he loves it!

Tom got in some trouble for crawling into the crib (I'm afraid he'll brake it! ;-) but the kids thought it was fun and we got some cute pics in the process.

A Princess Gathering...

2010-03-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

At the end of February, Taylor and I threw a little princess party for her and some of her friends. I like parties, so I think she's following in my example and had been talking about being so excited for her birthday party (which isn't until July) so we thought it'd be fun to have a fun little party for her and her friends before the baby comes along. they were all SO cute! It was so fun to watch them all be so excited and get dolled up and treated extra special! they made fun little princess hats...modeling their cute hats...

they played 'pin the kiss on the frog' ;-) thankfully, I recently had been to a bridal shower where we had to pin the flower on the dress so it gave me this idea and it was so cute and funny!

Taylor twirling her friend Robyn...

even little Sydney did it!

dancing to the Wiggles.

I love this picture of my wonderful photographer friend Sarah...she's Sydney and Robyn's mom. Her pictures were so much better than mine, so maybe I'll post some when I get them from her. they all got to blow out a candle on their cookie cupcakes.

their treat bags...containing a princess pen, a candy necklace, a fruit leather (my trademark treat ;-) and bubbles...

Prince Maxwell!

January and February 2010...

2010-03-15T13:08:00.001-07:00

Getting to know you...

2010-01-30T07:46:00.000-08:00

Here's a little post to encourage some posting...copy and paste the questions below. Then, fill in your own answers and pick a handful or two of your friends that live furthest away to do the same...

1.) What are some things you usually do everyday? get up, pee (I'm pregnant :), make the bed, brush teeth, wash hands, eat bran flakes, shower, get dressed, put on makeup (b/c I feel like I desperately need it!), workout (I need that too!), clean, cook, read, play with kids, change diapers, go on drives with the kids (go out somewhere--like grocery shopping, park, mall or target), pray, clean more (pick up legos, cars and kids' books about 2-3 times everyday), do dishes at least once everyday, have dinner as a family, put the kids to bed, spend time with Tom hopefully, etc.

2.) What would be your dream vacation? Tom and I are hoping to celebrate our tenth anniversary by taking a trip to Italy...but, I'd also just love to be at a beach preferably in Hawaii with my whole family about right now!

3.) What is your favorite meal to cook? (feel free to share the recipe if you'd like) I love italian food so I love to make my own healthier version of pasta with cream sauce and lots of grilled veggies...recipe? (I sort of throw this together) to make the sauce you put in 1-2 tbsp. of olive oil and a large clove or two of garlic in a sauce pan and heat on medium heat for about a minute. Then add about 4 ounces of cream cheese and blend (a silicone whisk is a great tool for this) until smooth, add about 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, keep stirring so that it continues to be smooth, add 1/4 cup parmesean cheese if you have it, some garlic powder, garlic salt and italian seasonings (add a little at a time until you get a taste that you like). Sometimes I like to add lots of fresh basil if I have it to make it a pesto cream sauce...Let the sauce simmer and stir every couple of minutes while you grill veggies and prepare the pasta...I love to slice and grill onions, mushrooms (we are BIG mushroom fans in our house!), yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, red bell peppers and anything else I may have on hand at the time and we (Tom and I) love Barilla whole wheat angel hair pasta....just thinking of this makes me want to make this really soon!

4.) What should you be doing more of? right now I am supposed to be studying for a fitness certification I have coming up in just about 10 days!!! I should be spending more Q.T. time with my family...I always feel like there's never enough of that and that moments shouldn't be taken for granted...I always feel like I need to do better at this!

5.) Any OCD habits you can't kick? (or maybe you don't want to) (Oh, this could be a funny question for some people!) I feel like I can't go to bed with dirty dishes, and the dishes have to be divided into their own section in the dishwasher...if there are spoons and forks in the same compartment in the silverware holder (obviously placed there by someone else)-I have to fix it! the bed HAS to be made, when I mop the floors it has to be done twice and if I see a person leaving the bathroom without washing their hands, I can't get it off my mind for a couple hours...yeah, yeah, I know! CRAZY thinking! Oh, yeah, when I cook; I wash my hands constantly...if I crack eggs I wash my hands after each egg, I have big issues with raw meat and fish...

6.) Have any unfinished projects? I have three hats (one for each kiddo including the one who hasn't been born yet) that I've crocheted almost to completion, but I've forgotten how to 'finish' them, so they're all in their separate bag attached to the loom waiting for me to go to my friend's so she can show me how to finish them...one nursing cover...and a couple photobooks on Shutterfly that I need to finish...I have a feeling if we lived in a house, this list would be much bigger...

7.) What are your hobbies and interests? (anything you like to do in your sparetime?) I love to go on dates with Tom, spend time with my family, hike, Pilates, Yoga, lately I've been doing lots of aerobics, read, cook, run 5ks and other races (when I'm not so pregnant), crafts-make jewelry, cards, sew (even though I am REALLY bad and slow at it!), learn/read about health and fitness,

8.) What are your three favorite movies and who are your favorite actors/actresses? funny thing...I fall asleep during about 90% of the movies we watch...I get bored really quickly and would usually rather be sleeping! I really like You've Got Mail, the Road Home...I can't think of another favorite right now...maybe Sliding Doors? I love Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Bill Cosby, Meg Ryan, Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Peltrow, Jennifer Aniston. I love good movies with english accents! Netflix is sending us Love Happens today...hopefully it's good!

Spread the interview and pick a few friends: Okay, I'll be checking your blogs soon to see if you've done this so please don't let me down! Here are some friends (that blog) that live furthest away: Julie, Sue, Laurel, Addie, Wendy, Tawsha, Steph, Sarah, Emily, Rikki, Coty, Brooktynn, Megan, Holli and Misti--it's hard to just pick a few! I didn't pick any CO friends b/c it said just who lives far away...but, I hope you'll do it too!

I.will.not.waddle...a little update on the pregnancy...

2010-01-20T11:07:00.000-08:00

Does anyone else feel like Humpty Dumpty when you're pregnant?! That's who I compare myself to each time! It's really not that pleasant of a feeling to feel comparable to Humpty Dumpty either! I am holding the baby higher so I just feel like a big, round, egg shaped blob with two legs (one of which is covered in varicose veins) sticking out "trying" not to waddle around! ;-)

I officially have 10 weeks left! I'm just over 29 weeks, but the doctor and I have decided to induce me again (unless I start naturally on my own which would be preferable) but with complications that I've had since Taylor, we both like to try to ensure that she (my doctor) is present when I deliver. So, we haven't officially picked the day but it will probably either be March 30th or 31st...10 weeks away! I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel! ;-) My nausea has come back...not as bad as the beginning but enough to just want to go to bed at 8 p.m. every night. It's interesting with this pregnancy, I could feel the baby so early (like around 15 weeks) and now it feels like he/she is doing disco dancing several times a day! Sometimes I feel like I'm bruised on the inside of my belly from all the hopping around!

I'm still teaching my Pilates classes and am hoping to be able to as long as I can. I had one lady ask me a few months ago if the class was going to turn into a prenatal class; so I am trying hard to show her and everyone it's no prenatal class and still make it just as challenging as before. There are a few things I skip and just talk everyone through, but I enjoy still getting to teach. I'm also working out at home and at the gym on the treadmill. I really want to run a half marathon this year (the year I turn 30) so I'm trying to keep my body in as good of shape as I can...working out doesn't seem to prevent my rapid weight gain though (like I wish it would)...that's still seems to occur on a daily and sometimes 4 times a day basis! ;-) I'm REALLY just hoping NOT to weigh as much as Tom does by the end of this pregnancy...but, it's looking likely! I guess at least he's not a football lineman! ;-)

We're excited to not know the gender of this baby...we have no idea what it will be, but not knowing causes us to spend a LOT of time thinking and discussing what to name the baby (well, every time I ask Tom what names he likes he says things like: Harold) We have a couple girl names we will probably choose between so that's easier (which means this baby's probably a boy right?) so I've spent hours trying to think about boy names! Any suggestions? And, please don't say you like the name Harold! ;-)

Not knowing what we're having is also a bit more time consuming then if we knew....we spent about 5 hours Monday going through Max's and Taylor's clothes and rearranging them by sizes and pulling out newborn stuff so we'd have an idea of what we have...we did this ultimately because I was coming home from Old Navy and Target with things "on sale" for either "the boy-or the girl" and since I have up to 90 days to return it; well I'll just take back things for the gender we don't end up having! Sounds logical to me, but, I think Tom wanted us to go through all of our baby stuff so I'd know exactly what we had and quit bringing home more! Don't tell him, but I saw a cute sleeper on sale for $1.50 yesterday and bought it! Oops! ;-)

signing off for now,

Humpty Dumpty

Christmas and New Years' 2009!

2010-01-14T19:24:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Christmas vacation! I just felt so abundantly blessed to get to be with my little family and to have a nice home, and meals and gifts for my kids and husband! Tom got two weeks off of work, which was so nice, went by so fast and was very needed because he'd had meetings every evening for the longest time! Anyway, we definitely had a lot of fun together....I know I put up way too many pictures on all of my posts...sorry! I'm just a picture taker and I'm afraid it'll just get worse when the next kiddo is here! ;-)notice the passenger in the backseat...this is on our way to Zio's for lunch for our Christmas eve Italian food tradition.Taylor and her beloved friend "Puppy" who often accompanies us out and about...Taylor's photography skills...she's pretty good! ;-) the fam on Christmas eve...Taylor and Tom made these cookies...they made about 100 cookies so I made them take them to some of our neighbors to get rid of most of them! ;-)

Tom and the kiddos bundled up to deliver cookies to our neighbors... our tree and present on Christmas eve...I have to say that Tom got the kids these HUGE candy bars and the candy canes filled with kisses...who ate them? We did...not the kids! After the kids had like 5 pieces of candy on Christmas and went C R A Z Y!!! I hid all their candy and I plan on giving them even less next year...our poor kids, but I'm just not a fan of kids hyped up on candy!!!

our lovebird stockings...Tom's stocking growing up was always full of chocolate, candy and more candy and mine was filled with toiletries and presents and some candy...so our first year we were married Tom filled my stocking with candy (and nothing else--I was a little sad) and I filled his with hair gel (which I think he still has!), shampoo, etc. and a minimal amount of candy (and he felt totally jipped!). So, now his stocking is always loaded with treats (including a giant candy bar) and mine had haircare and bracelets and hardly ANY candy! ;-) letters to and from Santa on Christmas morning...we ate breakfast (biscuits and gravy--a once or twice a year for us southern tradition) before we opened any presents...

We didn't want to spend much so most of the presents for our kids I purchased off of craigslist and I got a couple things from our sister in law (thanks Colleen!!!). We "tried" to keep it minimal!!! We will have to try even harder next year! But, it was really so fun to watch the kids be so excited about having Santa come and opening their presents.

We got this little crib from my sister in law...I don't think it has gone 5 minutes without a "baby" sleeping in it since!

Taylor asked Max for a dress for Christmas so he and I got this one from the Children's Place for $4! She was so excited about her dress from her little brother...she wanted to make him a blanket for his present so she picked out a navy blue fleece with cars on it and her and Tom tied it and wrapped it.

I got this matchbox car set off of craigslist...I LOVE craigslist! I got the blocks off it too and probably saved at least 50 bucks.

downtown trip to the "miniature city":

this place is amazing! It's just this big miniature city...we went on the Tuesday morning after Christmas so we had the place to ourselves.

walking around...Taylor has to push Max all the time lately and when people are coming she stops about 50 feet away and "waits" for them to pass! ;-) so funny!

Taylor's photography skills again!

Children's Museum...Wed. December 30th:

this place was SO much fun!!! We had a BOGO free coupon so it cost us 13 bucks and the kids played and played for 3 hours. We loved it!

isn't this the cutest place?! It was incredible!

Max doing laundry!

fishing...

New Years' eve...we set family goals (I'm a little obsessed with goal setting! ;-), played games and drank "frappes" (sprite and sorbet--a tradition). The kids got to stay up till 9!

3rd trimester!!!

2009-12-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

Well, it says on fitpregnancy.com that I'm finally in my third trimester of this pregnancy and I couldn't be happier about it!!! This pregnancy has been a longer and harder one for me (well, probably Tom too! ;-). But, we have just about three more months now! (Which actually still feels like a LONG way to go! :) It's so fun to feel the baby move around (like crazy!) and we're so excited to find out if he/she is a boy or girl! Sometimes I think it's a girl because I have been so moody and emotional (you know the typical girl wackiness) and I barely have to shave my legs...but, because I think it's going to be a girl, then I think it's going to be a boy...does that make sense? If I think the baby will be one or the other, it'll be the opposite of what I think....yep, pretty much we have no clue what the baby is and it's so fun to get to be surprised! Taylor is excited too...she always comes up and says, "awe, what a cute baby!" and rubs my belly! Speaking of what Taylor says, she's so funny! Lately, she's been dressing up as Mary and when we 'accidentally' call her Taylor when she's dressed up, she corrects us and says, "You have to say Mary"! She catches it perfectly every time (she also dresses up as Cinderella and we have to call her Cinderella then). She also asked me the other day and has asked Tom a few times since, "How many times do I have to tell you?!". Ahhh, parenthood is getting back at us! ;-) Max just started saying 'Cinderella' yesterday in his own little blabbery way and it is SO stinkin' cute!

Well, those of you who live far away, be glad you are far away right now...hurricane Mel (terminology borrowed from our friends Rachele and Dan) is in season! Three more months to go! ;-)

family visit!

2009-12-27T19:20:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, the weekend before Christmas, Tom's mom and dad, two brothers (one sister in law) and sister came to visit! We had such a great time with them and love having family come visit! We went to Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs and Old Colorado City and then took them to our church Christmas party...which was themed after "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and Tom was actually the grinch! We are so grateful to them for making the trip to come and visit!

these are from the church Christmas party:

Taylor and her Aunt Ellen...they have crazy "Who" hair...

Tom's faces crack me up!

Max and Grandpa

Taylor giving Max a big hug...

These next few pics are of Taylor and Maxwell in nursery together (at our church). Today was actually their last day together. Next week Taylor will move into an older class and Max will stay in nursery). I happened to have my camera lastd week and slipped in to get some pictures of them. Taylor has been such a sweet sister to Max; she always holds his hand and walks him there and watches out for them and during their song time (pictured below) she always makes sure he's sitting next to her. They're such sweet kids!

this is when Max finally realized I was behind him...

playing instruments during the songtime...

with family again playing games last Sunday night:

December Days...

2009-12-27T19:05:00.000-08:00

setting up the Christmas tree (we like to do it right after Thanksgiving so we can enjoy it longer). We thought about getting a big tree this year, but our space is smaller so we just used the little tree we've had since we first got married. It's funny because even with this small tree, all the ornaments seemed to wind up on the top half (actually probably top third) of the tree b/c the kids kept getting into them...so we think our small tree is quite practical that way! ;-)Max loves to put on all of our shoes...Taylor's seemed to work best because they're big enough to slip on, but not so big he falls over all the time. Here he is in her princess shoes sitting in his rocking chair...I got this chair this summer at a garage sale for $3 and he just loves it! watching Tinkerbell one night...My friend Sarah and I volunteer as leaders for this adorable bunch of girls...they are ages 8-11 and we get together with them a couple times a month and do fun activites. Here we are at our Christmas party...it was so fun!
Max getting tipsy on brownie batter! ;-)

Thanksgiving in Arkansas!

2009-12-27T17:08:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, November 16, I left our home early in the morning to drive 15 hours to my parents home in Arkansas with the kids. The kids were SO great that day! We made several stops to take some breaks and were going to stop for the night after driving several hours, but they were so good that I just kept going and we got to my parents close to midnight. Tom flew in after work on Friday night and I was VERY happy to go get him at the airport...we got to stay at my parents' until the Saturday after Thanksgiving and had such a great time with them! The kids had a blast and we loved having grandparents to watch them overnight so we could get away for a little bit. Here's many, many pics from our trip: Taylor got to help Grandma cook almost everyday...she also loved getting to go grocery shopping with her. Here they're making whole wheat bread...yum!

playing at the park in my parents' neighborhood...

Christmas pajamas from Grandma...they've worn these tons since Thanksgiving!

Tom took this pic in my parents' front yard...

We got to go on an overnight date to Hot Springs. I actually surprised Tom with it...he just thought we were going on a date for a few hours, but I packed a bag for us and planned it out. It was so nice...grandparents are SO wonderful to have! We spent a few hours walking around downtown. They have this 'bathhouse row' with all these old bathhouses and one had been turned into a visitors' center/ museum and it was really interesting to see what the bathhouses were like!

this is where they would sit (with their heads sticking out) for the steam portion of their bath.

a bathtub...there were at least a 100 of these in just this one bathhouse. Can you see how grimy it is?

this was the gym...I was so fascinated by this and all the things they used to use to workout!

this is a rehabilitation center in Hot Springs...it was gigantic!

our breakfast the next morning at the bed and breakfast we stayed at...

the B & B, the 1890 Williams' house Inn

this was the outside of our room which was in the old carriage house where the carriages used to be parked...cool, eh?

on the front porch of the B & B

my parents bought this sailboat for $600 (my dad is very into sailing) and they wanted to take us out on it...it was a gorgeous day and a lot of fun. We bundled the kids up though (figured it'd be windy on the boat) and the poor things couldn't move an inch b/c of all their layers and life jackets.

We got a lot of laughs from our poor 'beached whaled' kids!

my dad's sweet potatoes...can you tell that he used the big marshmallows? ;-)

and my mom's delicious blueberry pie...

playing the hammer dulcimer

Taylor got into Grandma's markers and drew all over the walls, hardwood floors and her little brother! Thankfully it all washed up really well (the above picture is her cleaning her mess)...little stinker! ;-)

on our trip back we stopped overnight at a hotel in Kansas...it had this fun pool with a huge water slide. Max's outfit cracks me up b/c we only brought a swim diaper for him.

they went down the water slide lots and had so much fun! It was a long drive home but it was such a fun trip and so nice to have a week and a half with my parents and sister!

The first half of November...

2009-12-04T09:40:00.000-08:00

November was a really great month...the only problem with it is that it seemed to last two days long! Where did it go!?! This whole year has actually flown by...I guess that's why it's important to make each day count! I got to go see Wicked with a couple girlfriends. It was super fun and such an amazing show! If you ever get a chance to see it, go see it! You'll be so glad you did! Art museum date: I found $50 gift certificates on sale for $10 to this fancy-shmancy restaurant at the art museum downtown. The food was so pretty....I love that! and the dressing on my salad (a roasted bell pepper vinaigrette) was incredible. There was a live jazz band playing (love that too).

One of Tom's volunteers gave us tickets to see the Air Force vs. Army game. It was a beautiful day and so much fun...I think that's one of the most fun things to do on a fall Saturday afternoon is to go to a college football game.

a bunch of Tom's coworkers (and one other spouse)....

We got this scarf at the dollar store for Taylor. Cute, eh?

Max in downward dog....

Halloween weekend 2009

2009-12-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

We had a great Halloween weekend this year. On Friday night, we went to our church party and I convinced Tom to dress up (see below pic) so he was a shower curtain and I was a lady who just got out of the shower. Taylor and Max were cuties. Taylor was all about dressing up as Snow White. Max, on the other hand hated when we smeared makeup on his face so he could look like he had a beard (he was supposed to be a dwarf) but lots of people thought he was a monk, OB onekanobe (sp?), or a homeless kid. It was pretty funny! Saturday, we went out to Mimi's for dinner and then took the kids to a really nice historic neighborhood downtown for trick or treating. They LOVED it! It was so fun to take them and watch them realize the effects of what they were doing (knocking on doors and getting treats for it!).

snow hearts...

2009-11-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

The Wednesday and Thursday before Halloween last week we had a big snow storm...Tom's such a sweet dad, after dinner one of the days he spent about 20-25 minutes bundling up the kids (note Taylor's tie around her coat b/c the zipper broke and Max's gloves ;-) and was all excited to take them outside to play...well, it was so cold they were outside for about 4 whole minutes and then they hurried inside.

When the storm first started, I looked out the window to watch the snow and saw this....

just from someone pulling in and pulling out! Pretty neat, huh? It only lasted about 30 minutes, then the snow got too deep...I'm glad I got a picture!

Max's first haircut

2009-11-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

Max's hair started growing really fast a couple of months ago and he started looking pretty shaggy and....he was started to grow a mullet!!! So, I gave him a trim...didn't know exactly how to do it and there's some places where it's a big choppy; but anything is better than a mullet isn't it?

Okay, I have a story about mullets. When I was 13ish we moved from St. Louis suburbs to a tiny town called Greenfield, Missouri. I was in deep infatuation with the majority of the actors in the movie Newsies. The daughter of the realtor out in Greenfield was the same age and class as me; so before we moved I had talked to her on the phone a couple of times and asked her about the town...I also asked if any of the boys there had longer hair (like chin length like some of the boys in Newsies). She told me enthusiastically that they all did, so I got pretty excited about this move! When we got there though, I realized that they all did have long hair! In the back! It was mullet city!!! ;-)

Before...After....

Cracker Barrell and Coffin races...

2009-11-06T06:35:00.000-08:00

The Saturday before Halloween, Manitou Springs, CO (a very quaint little town nearby) has their annual Emma Crawford coffin races. We brought along my good friend Rachele who's husband had to work that morning and her little girl Emily. It was a beautiful fall day and we had a fun time! If we live here next year, I really want to enter this race! It just looks too fun!

the best Halloween costumes!!!

2009-11-06T06:16:00.000-08:00

You've got to take a minute to check out my "little" brother Ben and his son Brian's Halloween costume...it's probably even more fun and hilarious if you know my quieter, computer wiz brother, but still I think it's a pretty ingenious set of costumes and definitely worth taking a peek! Oh, and little Brian is just over 3 months and was born several weeks early...he's a little heart stealer for ya!

Click here!

Happy Birthday MOM! BIG news for your bday!

2009-11-06T05:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I had meant to get something in the mail to you earlier this week; and it never happened....sorry! So, instead we thought you might enjoy some news for your birthday....

we're expecting baby #3! (this is old news for Coloradan friends of mine--sorry! :).

Want some details?

We're due April 6th, we're 18 1/2 weeks along and yesterday we went in for our big ultrasound and found out we're having a....

surprise! Yep, we're not finding out this time, but the baby was waving to us a bunch and looked quite cute and actually resembled E.T. an awful lot! (hopefully that resemblance doesn't stick around for too long! ;-) Taylor thinks it's going to be a girl....or a boy. She's a smartie! ;-) She likes the name Maggie if it's either. Oh and last night when getting her ready for bed I found out her stuffed pink pig (who she named Maggie over a year ago) is a boy for the first time....I said, but Taylor, she's pink! and she said, 'yeah, he's a pig!'.

A few other details of this pregnancy...it started out quite miserable. I was more sick this time than any other...the boot camps and teaching Pilates was a lifesaver b/c when I was working out I felt great and it really helped me get through it decently. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better and I have more energy so our house isn't such an unorganized shipwreck anymore. I've had lots of anxiety with this pregnancy (that's always helpful) because of having several close friends go through very difficult miscarriages recently...which is one reason we've waited so long to spread the word. I am having problems with the veins in my left leg so I'm actually going in today for a veinous dopplar! sounds exciting! Other than that, things seem to be going well and we're very grateful.

Well, mom, we hope you have a wonderful birthday and many, many more to come! You are the best mom and Grandma and we love you! We're looking forward to hosting your two-three week luxury stay with us next spring when the baby comes, but feel free to come sooner if you'd like!

We look forward to your comments everyone, so we can add them to our blog book, so please comment away!

I love Children's Place...espcially the outlet!

2009-11-06T05:34:00.000-08:00

I'm a softie for cute kids' clothes, but only when they are super affordable...my greatest preference are those one in a few amazing garage sales where the clothes are adorable and in perfect condition for 50 cents to a dollar...I also very much enjoy going to the outlet mall a few towns away. I don't go that often, but if the weather's good...it is always fun adventure for the kids and I. I don't really think outlet malls are all that great but this one has a Children's Place outlet and 90% of the times I've visited, they have racks of clothes for as low as 99 cents and I always get 15% off coupons...anyway, I love it! Oh, and the quality is great!!! Gotta love durable kids' clothes! Here's Taylor and Max modeling some of our latest finds:this one of her dancing is one of my favorites! So Taylor!

all about the boot camps...running from June-October

2009-11-06T04:22:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, I finished my 7th and 8th boot camp session for this year--my first year. This year has been very fulfilling getting to design and implement my own fitness boot camps starting with two two week long sessions (an early a.m. and an evening session) in June. It's definitely been a lot of work, a lot of learning the hard way, but also so rewarding. I LOVE being able to do something active and healthy on an everyday basis and getting to be with some of the most amazing women. I also LOVE getting outside and it was the perfect times of day; either early in the morning right in time for the sun to rise or later in the evening and getting to watch the sun set. The park we were at had beautiful views of the mountains and I loved those moments where all my blessings: the beauty around me, a body that functioned, great company, great family and friends and getting to do something I loved set in. My favorite sessions were my very first...early a.m. and eight super gals, my tough girl session...again an early morning session and it was not for beginners, so we worked and played hard (a.k.a. killer freeze tag ;-), did a lot of running and advanced exercises and it actually may have been my very most favorite! and lastly the mom and baby sessions I just finished up, which were definitely different from others, but a lot of fun and great to get a group of moms and their little ones together for a refreshing start to your day! I had a couple that were more challenging and I learned some important lessons from them. With each of them I got to meet and know new and amazing ladies and loved it.

It's also great to still get to be a stay at home mom and still get to do something I feel passionate about. Next year, I look forward to more fun sessions! I'm hoping to start back up in May with a mom and me and an evening session, June having another early morning session and tough girl session and we'll see from there. We'll see what the future holds! Here's some pics I've been wanting to post so I could reserve some of the memories in our yearly blog book. That was one important lesson I learned: take more consistent pictures of each session and get a group photo each time...next year! this was on the last day of the first session...I had superwoman Jane, a student of mine from the health club I work at come and speak to the group for a few minutes. She's in her sixties and is as agile, strong, and capable as an athletic teenager. She's a great example of the importance of exercising your body regularly as you grow older...I like to say, grow older, stronger and BETTER! She's definitely done this and I always love having her in my classes.

drawing names (#s) for prizes...my first two sessions, I was able to give out some great prizes: movie tickets, hair products, bags of groceries which were all mostly donated from local businesses.

Tom brought the kiddos and took pics on the last day...

this was the last day of my first of two evening sessions. We had a nice big group and a lot of fun and some gorgeous sunsets! We did more Yoga with this session.

On this day, I had Mercedes, another student of mine come and speak to the group. She's a very cute 73 year old lady from Jamaica. I remember the first time she came to my class, she was in the back of the gym doing everything we were doing without modifications (easier methods) and with amazing agility and flexibility. I was so impressed. I still see her one or two times a week...she's raising two of her grandkids and is just so full of life and vibrancy....THIS is how to strive to be in your seventies, eighties and so on! It takes a few minutes a day and healthy food choices...but, so worth it!!!

Jeanine, from Switzerland and her three beautiful daughters...

Friday, October 9th 2009: BOO'tcamp BASH!

2009-11-02T13:35:00.000-08:00

This was such a fun evening! It was great to get together with a lot of the gals who participated in one or more of my bootcamps this year. We just had fun visiting, eating great food (we had a contest for best tasting and looking food and had different categories: salads, appetizers, sweets and health food) and playing some games...I really love these ladies and feel very blessed that I've gotten to spend so much time with them!
Callie, a master of fondant cakes, made this...it was incredible...it tasted incredible too!

This was pretty funny...they're donuts that look just like hotdogs! The picture above is Curtis, Sarah (our hosts) hub and when he picked up the 'hotdog' he said they seemed cold and soggy, but took a bite anyway (a manly thing to do) and said, 'these aren't hotdogs! They're donuts!'. Ainsley's (the gal who brought them) uncle is a baker and made them for her...they're were amazingly deceptive!
apples with almond slivers for teeth...entered into the health food category:

We had the party at my friend Sarah's (she's dressed as Pipi Longstockings)...she was the ultimate boot camper of mine and did 4 of my 8 sessions.
Danielle and Steph...cute sisters:

Alison and Sue...these gals hadn't met until this party, they both did different boot camps, but I told them they reminded me of each other (same pep, friendliness, work ethic, etc.). I had looked at their birthdates on their registration forms and they were born the same year and as they were talking they realized they're from the same neck of the woods in New England...they grew up 20 minutes from each other...pretty neat coincidence!

the prize stash:
the group of us....

Best pals...

2009-11-02T11:54:00.000-08:00

they evidently ate something chocolatey (Tom must have taken these) and are enjoying some milk before bedtime....

Labor Day Weekend in Park City!

2009-10-25T16:00:00.001-07:00

We had a great Labor Day Weekend. We flew out of Denver on Friday afternoon and went straight to Park City to meet my fam for dinner and a walk around downtown Park City. A lot of us met up there for my niece's baptism. It was a lot of fun to spend a few quick days together. Park City was beautiful as usual and we got to stay in a really nice resort. It was mostly just so great to spend time with family. We don't get to do it often enough. Taylor and Maxwell enjoying the plane ride there. Max LOVED looking out the window...it kept him happy and quiet the whole time!

My parents and cute niece Kimber....

at lunch after the baptism.

We let my little sis and cousin babysit all the kids while the adults went to a steakhouse downtown for dinner on Saturday night. It was a really nice dinner and a lot of fun.

two of my big brothers....

the family shot...

my dad and Grandma (his mom). She's a very fun lady to spend time with...we were so glad to get to be with her for the weekend.

with my cousin Anna Lea. We're very good friends and it was so fun to hang out with her.

with sis in law Erica and Anna Lea

Tom and I snuck away for a couple hours Sunday morning to go see the Mormon Tab Choir. It was so beautiful!

in our hotel suite...I wish I would've taken more pics. It was so nice! Dakota Lodge I think is the name...so if you're ever staying in Park City!

Taylor and Aunt Hannah while we went to the outlets for some shopping on Monday.

at lunch with Grandma and Hannah

Max just started walking right before this trip (he officially took his first steps at 17 1/2 months) so Taylor is very sweet at holding his hand and offering some support!

looking out the window on our flight home.

we flew home just as the sun was setting...it was so amazing!

One of the scariest things I've ever done...

2009-10-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

On August 2nd, I participated in the Tri for the Cure at the Cherry Creek Reservoir in Denver, Colorado. I was really excited until about 2 weeks before the event; then I started getting nervous! I barely slept the night before, we all got up around 4:30-5 in the morning and I don't know if I have ever felt so dreadfully nervous in my life! I felt like we were driving to my doom! I just kept thinking, 'in a few hours you'll feel so much better!'. I had been wanting to do a triathlon for a couple of years now, but I didn't realize it would be quite so scary! I have a fear of bike wrecks since I got in a bad one when I was a kid and I've barely ridden one since, so I think that was the part I most feared. The bike ride was actually quite exhilarating and I wasn't as close to other cyclists as I had imagined. I did keep telling myself as I would read the mile markers 'you only have 6 miles to go without wrecking' and so on and so on. I thought that I most looked forward to the 5k at the end since I would finally be on solid ground doing what I'm most used to...that ended up being the hardest part (1/2 of the 5k was up hill) but, I ended up really enjoying the whole experience (well, maybe except the nerves!). Now, that I have this one under my belt, I hope that in the future I won't get so freaked out! Tom and I are hoping to do one together next summer!
arriving at the park and feeling like I wanted to puke!

my $5 dollar garage sale bike...perhaps one reason I was a little worried! I thanked God once the bike ride was over for my bike lasting through all 11 miles!

off to my DOOM! ;-)

trekking to the race...it was a long walk.

Tom took some great pictures of the race...it was a beautiful morning! There were about 3,000 participants I think.

the transition area

this was the only pic Tom was able to get of me....I'm in the middle looking at the camera wearing the wetsuit. Someone gave me the tip that you can rent a wetsuit for $5 for the weekend....it was a great tip! The water was freezing!

this was my wave...I'm in there somewhere praying for my life! ;-)

this is a good pic of what it's like during the swim, especially in the beginning...CRAZY!

the start and finish of the bike race...

for the 5k we had to run up to this damn....UP, it was so challenging after swimming and biking and whew! Seriously, probably the hardest 5k I've ran!

looking out for Momma!

Taylor enjoyed the sprinklers...

still alive! It was actually a very inspiring event because we were raising money for the Susan G. Komen foundation and there were breast cancer survivors all over; participating and supporting. It was very touching to feel so grateful to get to participate in such a physical event...to have a life to live....I'm very grateful!

so grateful for these lives too!

the WIGGLES!

2009-10-22T19:36:00.001-07:00

For Tom and Taylor's birthday, I got us tickets to see the Wiggles in concert. We went to the matinee on Wednesday July 22nd and it was so fun! Originally, we thought we wouldn't take Max because we didn't know how he'd do, but it ended up being a whole family affair and he and Taylor and US all loved it! It was really funny and music we're all familiar with and they kept it fairly short (like 70 minutes) so it was great! I just love these kind of memories!

Steamboat Springs/Denver trip July 11-15, 2009

2009-10-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to 'attempt' to catch up...but have been busy doing lots of boot camps, so I keep putting it off! So, finally here are some pictures from the trip Tom and I got to take (sans kiddos!) back in July. It was so wonderful having some time together. We spend a LOT of time "training" for the triathlon I did a couple of weeks later...so we went jogging in downtown Denver and swimming and bikeriding every day. It was so great! I LOVE Colorado! It's the most beautiful state and we loved getting to see some different parts of it...

This is in Steamboat. There's miles of paved paths along the river...so breathtaking!

the river...

a hike we went on in the mountains to this beautiful waterfall:

Tom being goofy...

they have a hot springs/water park that's open year round. There are two big slides...it was lots of fun!

Tom talking with Abe and Ben....

Our favorite mountain pizza place...so good! Whole Wheat crusts...mmmm! I wish they had one here!

downtown Steamboat was super cute...wish I had better pics...

back in Denver...we stayed at a nice hotel right in downtown...Keith Urban's crew was staying there too!

downtown Denver....it's more incredibly quaint then I realized! I LOVED it! We jogged and just walked up and down the streets and people watched and ate desert at a cute gelato place (below) and breakfast at a little cafe...it was so great!

the gelato.

I'm a sucker for twinkling lights and hanging baskets of flowers! I was ready to move there! ;-)

after our ride at Cherry Creek Resevoir (where my tri was going to be in a couple of weeks).

July 13th...Royal Gorge Park

2009-08-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July Weekend...

2009-08-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

I forget that summers are actually SO busy for some reason! My classes that I teach have gone from 15-16 during the school year to 6 today... Everyone is out and about and for some reason, we find ourselves so busy and I find myself too busy to blog...Well, actually, I just think I don't take the time for it. Catching up can be exhausting and I have a LOT of catching up to do...on my blog and reading all my friends. Well, here's my latest attempt at catching up....a little: This is what the 4th of July was like around our neighborhood this year...

We went up to the Air Force Academy...it was chilly! So, we walked around for a while and headed home.

This is Max riding forward facing in his new car seat for the first time...he LOVES it!

We'd sworn off taking our kids to restaurants on Memorial Day, but broke down and went out to eat again...they actually did better than expected, but we aren't planning to keep taking them out much....Isn't it funny, when you become parents how you develop these little "rules" amongst yourselves, like 'Only go out to eat when it's NOT a busy time of the day...like 4 in the afternoon!'.

We finally got a bike trailer for our kids and it's been great. I think Taylor and Max look so much alike in this picture.