The Birthday - Part 1

Graham's 30th birthday is February 5th. However, as the Young Mens President at our church (like a youth pastor) he is also a scout leader & will be attending some training for that role the weekend after his birthday - therefore, THIS weekend has been designated "birthday weekend"

This evening was installment #1 - Graham has been wanting a professional massage for some time. I think it started when I went a gratuitous number of times for pregnancy massage while pregnant with Averie. He has been very patient. I figured 30 years was long enough! LOL

He had never been & was not totally comfortable going by himself... I was more than happy to oblige & "keep him company". Couples massage, here we come!!

So we went to one of my FAVORITE places on the PLANET (no, seriously.)...

If you can't read that, it is The Wild Orange Spa
It is seriously like heaven on earth.
I could live there.
Dead serious.
:)

We indulged in a 1 hour pampering session that was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! Followed by some yummy dinner.

The only down side is I think he will be perfectly comfortable going on his own now... if I let him *evil laugh*

Now I am very ready for the best night's sleep I have likely had in a LONG time.

Happy birthday to me... er, I mean... Graham!!

The Brynlea Adventures

And Down Will Come Baby...

We have had a repeat in history.

This is Evan when he was 10 months old...


While visiting Grandma & Grandad, we had a "malfunction" with their high chair. We had the same one at home & the tray was really secure (with a bar that came down between his legs) so we could just sort of plop him in it & not worry about strapping him in.

Grandma & Grandad's apparently wasn't as secure as our's. I plopped him in it & walked a few feet away to grab his food, when I heard what sounded like the tray falling to the ground... turned around & he had fallen face-down onto the underside of the tray. I still don't know exactly how he got the cut. As you can see, he was no worse for wear... I felt AWFUL!!

You would THINK I had learned my lesson...

THIS is a picture of Brynlea from today...
She is 10 months old...


She was in OUR high chair (which is still very secure) - however, she has her strange contortionist skills (see: THIS post) which she has only honed & perfected since I did that post. She is a very "bendy one". While I was only a few feet away, grabbing her breakfast, she actually managed to do a back bend OVER the side of the tray until she got her foot up & pushed off the tray to LAUNCH herself over the side of the tray & onto the ground! Because of her amazing back-bend abilities, she actually landed on her tummy - it is one of the VERY few times (okay, probably the ONLY time) since we have lived here, that I have been grateful for my carpeted dining room (yes. That is what I said... carpeted... yuck).
I again have no idea how she got the cut.

Needless to say, our days of not using the straps in our high chair are done.

***********************************************************************************
Bye Bye Baby

On the happier side of things, Brynlea has started waving "bye-bye".
I ALWAYS look forward to this stage for two main reasons...
1 - it is SO darn cute!!
2 - it means I can start teaching sign language.

We have taught each of our babies to sign in varying degrees. I have had one very early talker (who also waved bye-bye at 6mths & had about 10 signs by a year old - then started talking) & I have had one VERY late talker. I don't believe the signing influenced the speech in either direction. It simply made me more able to communicate with my very young children.

We mostly do "essential" words - the ones that are most likely to induce tantrums (ie: bottle, soother, drink, all done, gentle, please... etc) - I LOVE IT!!! I can hardly wait for the time my children reach the stage where they can start to communicate with me.

Don't get me wrong, I generally know by Brynlea's cries whether she is tired, hungry, wants a bottle, etc.
What I enjoy is her being able to TELL me instead of crying.

As each child has caught on they usually have a couple of favorite things that we end up needing a sign for... swings, ball, baby, cookie... all these things they are able to point out & you really start to see how observant they are. They can spot their favorite things from GREAT distances & amongst many other objects. I find it fascinating.

I also think Evan & I would not have gotten along nearly as well as we did over his prolonged lack of talking had he not had a way to express his needs. He actually started to create his OWN signs for things that interested him (ie: he used to cover one eye with his hand & say "ARRR" for pirate!! I couldn't believe he came up with that one! - Mostly because of Wiggles/Captain Feathersword)

When Averie was less than a year old, she woke up one night with a fever. As soon as I walked in the room she started to blow rapidly through pursed lips, like she was blowing bubbles - this is the sign for "hot". I was amazed she was able to tell me what was wrong!
I gave her some tylenol & a bottle - snuggled for a bit then put her in her back in bed. As I began to leave she started to urgently cry - I turned around & she did the sign for "baby". I got her little rag doll & gave it to her & she contentedly rolled over & went to sleep. I was dumbfounded!! I would never have imagined before that a child that young would even care about having a doll in bed. I was also struck by the fact that without sign language, I would NEVER have figured out her simple request & she likely would have just cried herself to sleep after much frustration on both our parts.

My good friend Alana's daughter Madison is actually who inspired me to research about baby sign. She is 9 months older than Averie & I noticed one day that because everyone growled when they showed her a teddy bear, she had started to growl every time she saw one. It had become her "word" for Bear. I wondered if she would be able to learn other "words" that would be more useful in Mommy's world :) So we got a book & tried it - she proceeded to learn probably more than 30 signs before she learned to talk. A lot of them she would use in conjunction with words for a long time even after she started speaking (Averie did this as well).

Now... I am getting off my soapbox.

With no further adeiu, here is my sweet girl waving "Bye Bye"...

One step forward... or is it back??

So today was "Weigh In" day with the support group my sisters & I have created as we all try & achieve some weight loss goals. I have been gradually increasing my activity level each week in an attempt to avoid the loss of momentum that can happen if you do too much too quickly.

This week I did 30 minutes of cardio on my elliptical trainer every evening. The most I have had so far. It was hard. I battled with my "inner dialogue" every time about quitting... but I pushed through it & met my goals.

I have been good with my eating - making sure I am getting enough, not skipping meals, having healthy foods & snacks...

My weigh in this morning was down 0.8 of ONE POUND. Not even an entire pound!!

And is the exact same amount I lost last week even though I worked out not even half as much!

I know all the logical reasons why this could have happened. I am expecting my "monthly visit" (any moment now, actually)... I didn't drink enough water... my metabolism is readjusting itself... I'm gaining muscle & haven't taken measurements yet so I may have lost inches....

None of that matters right now.

If only I could express how much failing at this AGAIN terrifies me!!

I cannot lose this battle AGAIN!!

So, I am not giving up... an 8th of a pound lost is better than one gained...

But I don't have to like it.

Back on the wagon

This is me.

It was taken during a headshot shoot I did of a very good friend of mine who was/is an amateur wrestler. He somehow managed to turn the lens on me. I am wearing his ball cap & making a very goofy face... but I am grateful. It is the only picture of me that I have from a time when I was running 4 days a week & eating well & felt stronger than I had for most of my life.

I love my family. But we are not a particularly active bunch. I have struggled with trying to learn how to be a healthy & active person. There have been moments in my life that I think I "get it" (hence, the picture above) but I am also an emotional eater (especially stress) & not long after this picture was taken, I met my husband. Being "woo-ed" was not good for my waistline either :)

My husband & I had a brief courtship (4 months dating - 4 months engaged) but by the time we got married, I think I gained almost 20lbs (stress...

not from him, but planning a wedding in 4 months - Yikes! Not to mention HE suddenly took up the time I used to spend working out & we were eating out a LOT - that's what you do when you're dating - well, it's what we did anyway)

- then I had my brief & ONLY experience with the birth control pill... I gained 40lbs in 3 months!! I got stretch marks I gained weight so fast!! I quickly went off the pill & have since gone up & down with my pregnancies (I lose weight when I am pregnant - as much as 30-35lbs) then gain it back in the first year after the baby is born. It is SOOOO frustrating!!

So I fell off the wagon (with a giant THUD) over Christmas - but the new year has given me renewed hope & energy.

I have found new support in my sisters who are taking the same journey along with me.

I have found new resources (if you have never heard of www.sparkpeople.com it is an AMAZING resource!! Tracks your nutrition & fitness based on goals you enter - ALL FOR FREE!!)

I have new hope & faith in myself & in TAKING time for me each day to try to achieve this.

I am going to lose 50lbs by August. I am down 2lbs so far & have been slowly easing my way into more & more activity. I am feeling better already.

Here's to swimsuit shopping for this summer!!

My Favorite Things

Just had to share this...



Sing it, Hilary!

LOL - LOVE IT!!

Help!!

Okay, all of my friends, family, fellow bloggers, blog stalkers alike....

I need you desperately.

My favorite person in the ENTIRE world (I know - cheesy, but it's true) is about to turn 30.

This is what happens to you when you're girlfriend is a photographer :)

In just a short couple of weeks the love of my life will have a rather large event in HIS life & I am COMPLETELY dry on ideas about what to do!!

I need all of your fresh awesome ideas to help me come up with something...

I know there is the obvious...throw a party. A couple of problems with that...

* see THIS post. We severely lack room for such an endeavor.
* My hubby also doesn't always do well in crowds (unlike myself - the textbook LEO - the more attention, the better) - he can get a little overwhelmed in a situation like that especially where he is the center of attention and I do want this to be about what HE likes.

While I can probably scrape together a modest amount of cash for the occasion, we also can't splurge too badly - so this hinders my ideas as well.

I have thought about getting away just the 2 of us - no idea where we would go.

SO - I open the floor to any & ALL of you...

I hope to see my comment box FULL of fantastic ideas from all you!

Thanks in advance for rescuing me from all this stress!!

(if by some miracle you happen to read this, Graham... do NOT read my comments!!)

She's Officially Reading!

Averie has been on the very cusp of reading for some time now - she was fairly limited to 3 letter words for sounding out, but she has started to catch on to other "reading rules" (ie. silent E, blends like th, st, fl, etc) thanks in most part to our Leapfrog videos (SO awesome!).

She got some phonics books from Nannie & Grandpa this Christmas and that seems to have been what she needed. She came to me on Sunday night wanting to read them. I was feeding Brynlea so I was encouraging her to try. To my astonishment, with very little help from me at all, she read the WHOLE book.

I am SO proud.

Tuppence a Bag...

One of my kids' favorite things to do with Nannie & Grandpa is go feed the birds at the Bird Sanctuary near their home.

On New Years day we were finally able to venture out there to have "Christmas" with them & celebrate Nannie's birthday. Grandpa & Daddy took the kids over to feed the birds.

From the video you will see that they apparently REALLY needed it! Such fun!

You are about to do a lot of reading...

I have officially caught up.

You may be here a while...

Keep reading as there are 7 new posts here...

Boy, I won't be doing THAT again!

Meeting a new member of the family!

I was surprised this year buy a few last minute photography bookings. December is usually quite slow, but with families getting together, it's not surprising it occurs that a picture should be taken :) So, now I am trying to wrap up the editing on those.

Then right after New Years we got to enjoy a family gathering of our own. We got packed up & headed to my parents place to meet the new addition to the family - my nephew, Rowan.

What a little sweetheart!! I, of course, brought my equipment - what good is being a photographer if you can't take great pictures of your favorite people?! :)

Rowan was to be blessed at church (we don't baptize infants, but give them a blessing), so the family all wanted to be there for that special day. Unfortunately, Auntie Chelsea was restarting her semester & couldn't make it - but for the first time in a long time (maybe ever?), we managed to get a GOOD portrait of all the grandkids on my parents side TOGETHER!

Miraculous!!

Then we did the newborn shoot of Rowan. I haven't managed to edit the whole shoot yet, but here are a few:

A fabulous way to end a great holiday season!

Now you are caught up... hopefully, I will be able to post a little more frequently! This was CRAZY!