Here we go

Teething. I noticed Luke's first tooth creeping in a little over a week ago. He's been so good though. Nothing like I expected a teething baby to act. No fevers. Not at all grouchy but maybe just a little more clingy with me. But seriously he's been a dream as usual. Until yesterday. Poor baby! I could just tell he was not himself. His tooth is still just below the skin and I also noticed tooth number two coming right next to it. He was extra extra clingy and very fussy. And to top it off he would not take a good nap. He normally doesn't give me too much trouble going down for his nap but yesterday he wouldn't sleep unless he was in my arms and even that wouldn't last longer than 20 minutes. The second I laid him down he'd wake up instantly and start to cry. There was nothing more I could but but hold him and give him Tylenol. I feel so helpless! So here's my question to you experienced moms out there. Are there any good teething secrets out there? I can't imagine what teething must be like. There are so many things that babies go through that seems like it would be so overwhelming and confusing. It's probably a good thing they don't remember any of it!

I've Been Told

That I need to update my blog :) And I do.
Well let me just catch you all up on the whole weight loss plan. (Thanks for all the great advise and encouragement by the way) I've actually been doing Weight Watchers for almost 3 weeks (3 week mark on Monday)and I've lost 7 lbs so far! Yay! I'm loving it. I'm the type of person who gets pretty excited to eat and that's what I miss when I diet but WW lets me keep that excitement and still lose the weight. I'm pretty excited about that! My friend Heidi is doing it too so we help keep each other on track and motivated. Exercising hasn't been quite as easy. But I'm gonna be forced to get motivated here real soon cause Trent and I signed up for a marathon in September! Ah!!! Me?...A marathon!? That's just silly! But it's true. We signed up with Justin and Audra, my BIL and SIL. They've done it before and made it sound so fun and suckered us into signing up with them this year.:) I've never in my life wanted to run a marathon but this one isn't just running. It's running, biking, canoeing(sp?) and some other things. I'm a little nervous but actually excited too. I'll be good for me to have a deadline to get fit. (I'm gettin pumped Audra!!!)So there you have it. That's my get fit plan. I'll keep you updated on how it's going.
Luke is 6 months old! What?! When did I give him permission to grow up so fast? Seriously folks this is not fair. It's a good thing he's at such a fun age!!! Oh man. I think 6 months might be my favorite so far. He's so adorable. He's such a fun and happy baby too. I love that he likes to snuggle and that he's so bright and inquisitive. He's growing fast and learning so much. I swear he's gonna take off crawling and day now. Not so sure how I feel about that. Actually ya I do. Not too excited. Baby proofing, here we come.
Trent's doing great. He's been working so hard on getting our back yard done. When we bought the house it was just dirt in the backyard so we've literally had to start from scratch. It's coming along though. My brothers have come over a couple times to help which has been nice cause I get to bring water instead of dig :) Not that I'm not willing.
Just a quick recap on my first Mothers Day...
It was really wonderful! Trent got up with Luke in the morning so I could sleep in and got him ready for church. They (by they of course I mean Trent) also got me a couple Willow Tree statues that are beautiful. I love them! After church we went and saw Trent's mom and dad and gave Joanna her gift then it was off to my mom's to have an awesome dinner prepared by my Dad, and to hear from my brother whose serving his mission in Alaska. It was so great to hear from him! When we spoke to him last Mothers Day he helped tell my family that we were expecting :)That was a great day!!! So fun. No surprises this time. He is doing great though. He'll be home before we know it. It was a bit surreal celebrating Mothers Day as a new mom. I have found so much joy in this great role and responsibility. I truly couldn't be happier doing anything else. Of course it comes with its difficult times but those difficult times make the sweet moments even sweeter.

Ok I know this is getting long but I have to share this story real quick. A little while back my Aunt Dawn was here visiting and my mom, my aunt and I were all talking about my sweet grandma. This woman is extraordinary. We were talking about the things that remind us of her and the little things of hers that mean something to us. I mentioned her sugar bowl. My grandma has this cute little blue and white sugar bowl that will forever remind me of her. So this Mothers Day I decided to get my mom her own sugar bowl. I was so excited to give it to her. I gave her her gift and she gave me mine. We opened them and just started laughing. We both gave each other sugar bowls! It was so sweet. Except my mom called my cousin Erin, who is oh so talented, and had her write a beautiful poem to go with it. It was a precious moment to go with a precious Mothers Day.

Yes this is Luke sucking on a pickle. I thought I'd just let him lick it thinking he'd maybe just make a funny face but He LOVED it!


Happy in Grandpa's chair

Luke and I on Mothers Day


This is what he looks like after his food is all gone. Such a sad moment. Don't worry buddy, I feel the same way when my food's all gone too.

Overwhelmed!

**This is all kinda personal (and embarrassing) but I need help!**
Right after Trent and I got married I put on about 25lbs in 2 months! My eating habits hadn't changed. I just got married to my best friend, had a super fun awesome wedding day, and went on a beautiful honeymoon. That said I wasn't stressed. The only thing that I did change was going on birth control (sorry if this is TMI for anyone). I started it a month before we got married and by the time we got married i had quickly gained about 7lbs. After the honeymoone I really started to notice the weight. I went off the pill as soon as I made the connection but it was too late. The damage was done. I gained 30lbs in 3 months!!! I was so devastated. I heard of gaining weight the first year of marriage but this was ridiculous! I have been trying for almost 3 years to lose the weight but I just couldn't do it!!! I lost the baby weight but still have all the pre-baby weight that I wanted to get rid of in the first place to lose! For a while it was because I couldn't commit and now it's because I feel so overwhelmed with the idea of trying to lose the weight. I want to SOOOOO bad! I hate getting dressed in the morning and I hate wearing a bating suits. I hate mirrors and seeing myself in pictures and I hate that I hate all those things! I'm not trying to sound vain. I just want to feel comfortable in my own skin again. I am so so ready to fully commit finally. I just don't know where to begin. It's daunting. I feel like I have such a long road ahead of me. I'm not even asking to be at the weight I was before the pill (that'd be a bonus). Right now I just want to lose about 15-20 and then go from there. So here's where you come in...
I NEED YOUR ADVISE!!!! Do any of you have tips? A diet that you know will work? Ways to stay on track? ANYTHING!?
I also want to invite any of you to do this with me who feel the same way I do. Trent is going to be my workout buddy and I think that will help a ton! But the more the merrier! I hear it's easier to lose weight if you have a support system to help you. I'll help you if you help me :) And, now I've made public my plan. You all know about what I'm trying to do and so that puts added pressure on me to keep it up!!! I'll keep you posted on my progress along the way. Wish me luck!!!

Our New Abode

As I write this I am sitting comfortably on my couch in my living room in our new home! That's right, Trent and I are responsible for a house and It's wonderful (and terrifying).

To say this has been a long experience would be an understatement. We had been searching for a home for a year. That's right, a year. Countless offers and frustrations later we are finally homeowners. Anyone who says this is a buyers market is probably right, but the thing they forget to tell you is that it's a buyers market at the banks discretion. You no longer have any say in whether or not you want a home. The banks hold all the power and tell you if you're worthy of their home (even if you're perfectly qualified and can afford the home) and they're so polite about it. They wait months to tell you and sometimes they don't bother to tell you anything at all. Depends on whether or not they feel like it. What sweethearts. Thanks Obama for bailing out the banks! Now they don't have to respond to anyone. They're in no hurry. They already have their money. Another one of his wonderful "Changes". Yay!!

Anyway, enough of that. I could go on forever! We really are so grateful to be here. There have been so many who have worked incredibly hard on our behalf and to them we are so so thankful! Trent's Dad is one such individual. He has spent countless hours and taken those hours out of his already swamped schedule to help us. We couldn't have done it without him. Trent's brother Justin helped us search for homes for a while too and we're grateful to him also.

We're so happy to be in our home. We're living in a great neighborhood in a great ward in Maricopa (it's about 25 min outside Phoenix). We really love it out here and it's nice because Trent's commute is only about 25 min right now. I'll post pictures soon.

(Two more posts below)

Spring Break in Rocky Point

Woo Whoo Spring Break! Par-Tay!! Ok so maybe those partying days are way way behind us but we did go to Rocky Point, Mexico for Spring Break this March and it was so much fun. We went with Trent's brother Jeff, his wife Leza and their two cute kids Addison and Xander. Trent's been going there at least once a year for most his life and I joined the fun right after we got engaged. Let me tell you though, it's a completely new experience going with a baby. Normally we would wake up get in our swim suits and head straight to the beach and only come back to the house to eat and sleep. This time however we probably spent about 5 or 6 hours total on the beach the whole 5 days we were there. It was still a lot of fun but a different kind of fun. It was Luke's first time at the beach and he didn't seem to care too much. He liked putting his toes in the sand but other that I think he'd be just as happy indoors.


A trip to RP wouldn't be complete without a trip to the fish market to barter for souvenirs. This time I was spoiled though by my husband. Every year we go I want to buy a matching pitcher and glasses set and a brightly colored clay vase. They just remind me of Mexico and I think they're pretty. Well my requests were finally granted and I walked away with not only the pitcher and glasses and clay vase but a platter to match and two Mexican blankets! I was a happy girl. We had a new dining experience while we were there too that I think has become a new tradition. It's a little fish shop behind the fish market where the owner fries up any fresh fish or shrimp you want for a great price to eat in tacos, in homemade tortillas of course. I'm drooling just thinking about it! It was literally behind the fish market so we were eating near the water and the view but also near all the other lovelies of a back ally. Authentic. All part of the experience though. Our little family had a great time this year and are looking forward to next year already.







At the "resturant" behind the fish market

See, Luke had a little fun at the beach.

Trent and I have a picture very similar to this one that we took when we were engaged. Now here we are again married with our chunky baby.

Luke with cousin Xander in their matching suits. Too cute!

Joy

* This post was supposed to be first*

So much to write about! First of all, can I just talk about our cute little Lukie Boy? He's always had a lot of character and personality, even from the day he was born, but as he gets older the more of it he allows us to see. He's been so much fun! He's learned to roll over and is very proud of his new achievement! Every time he does it he looks at us like "Check me out!". He seems to have found his voice too. So fun! He likes to talk to himself sometimes in the morning before I get him from his crib. I'll let him chatter to his toys for a while till I can't help but go get him to join in the conversation. Which brings me to his next big accomplishment! We're sleeping through the night *hallelujah*. I feel like a human again. I was getting up with him 3 to 4 times a night and needless to say I was pretty much a grouchy zombie. My poor husband took the brunt of my crankiness. He was such a dream though and let me be cranky to him and was always great to take Luke so I could have a break when he came home from work. Love him! All three of us are thrilled that Lucas sleeps through the night. How did we do it? The good ol' let him cry it out method. It was torture!!! But lucky for me there were only two nights of crying and he didn't seem to be even the slightest bit angry at me in the morning. He's such a sweeite. I'm so glad he's a snugly boy. He loves to be cuddled and I'm more then happy to let the laundry pile up and the dishes sit in the sink to oblige him. I love being a mommy! The best word I can think of to describe this experience is Joy.

Going Private

It's time. I've decided to take my family blog private. I really didn't like the idea of all the crazies out there being able to know about my little family. Friends and family please leave me your email so I can include you if you'd like to follow us. Now, I'm not above blog stalking...I spend many an hour doing it myself. I can do it because I'm not crazy and if you're not a crazy person and like to stalk my blog feel free to leave your email as well! (I can't imagine I have a ton of followers.) I plan to make the change at the end of next week so please let me know by then. I have lots of fun pictures and big and fun events to write about so please stay tuned :)