Settler's Park

We went to Settler's Park last week and boy was it COLD! It wasn't only the low temps, but the wind packed a punch too. We lasted about 10 minutes because it was so cold. Everett's little cheeks were so red! I cannot wait for warmer temps :)

The Joys of Motherhood

I often ask myself if a time will come when I stop worrying about Everett. Every single day, since before he was born, I worry about something. Before he was born I worried about how he was developing. Were my kettle bell swings jostling him around too much? Did he hate bouncing up and down while I jumped rope? This obsessive worrying didn't stop after he was born.... it just shifted direction. Is he getting enough breastmilk? If I give him a bottle/pacifier is he going to get the dreaded "nipple confusion"??? The worrying DOES.....NOT.....STOP! He is almost 16 months old and now I worry if he isn't hitting his milestones on time. Look, I know they figure out milestones based on an average of kids. An average..... So, I get that not every kid is going to hit those milestones at the same time. But, it doesn't make me worry any less.

For instance, Everett can now only say 1 word. That's right, ONLY 1 word. "Da-Da" (Go figure that he would say the word of the parent who doesn't worry as much about everything.) So what's a worrying mom to do? I'll tell you what I have been doing. I have been reading EVERYTHING I can about speech and language delays. Not to freak myself out, but to be prepared in case this isn't just a "late talker." I'm not as worried about Everett's ability to understand language. In fact, he can follow complex commands. "Everett, where's your blankie? Everett can you put your shoes on?" All of those things Everett can understand without me having to do any additional gestures. It's the lack of sound coming out of his mouth that has me worried. Just this morning he needed help climbing into a cardboard box and instead of yelling at me for help, he came up to me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to the box to show me what he wanted. I KNOW my kid understands what I am saying, but until words start spilling out of his mouth I will continue to do what I do best...... worry. So when will this worrying stop?? I can venture a guess that it WILL NEVER STOP! All you can do is prepare your child for the outside world....... the best you can.

Monkeys Ride for Free

Sock Monkeys get free rides on fire trucks at our house! Everett pushed this monkey around all morning! When the monkey would tumble off of the truck Everett would cry until I helped him get the monkey back where he belonged.

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh My!

Everett took his first trip to the zoo today! It was a bit overcast, but it really wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be. Ben and I didn't know what to expect from Zoo Boise, but I was pleasantly surprised. We saw giraffes, lions, tigers, penguins, etc..... you get the picture. Everett even got to feed some goats. (actually, I fed the goats) The best part about going to the zoo in January?? NO CROWDS! Apparently only the "Die Hard Zoo Enthusiasts" trek out to see the animals in the winter. The worst part?? I feel SOOO bad for all of the warm weather animals being stuck at Zoo Boise in the winter. Major BUMMER! We will definitely be back......

Photo Ops

I am a lucky lady. For Christmas this year Santa (AKA Ben) surprised me with a brand new camera! We had been looking for a new one because I have gotten so tired at looking at the grainy pics our current digital cameras produce. I just don't want to look back at our pictures in 20 years and be upset with the quality. So anyway, I have been trying to practice my "photo taking" skills and here are a few samples......

Drool Machine

Boise CrossFit

Pump Panel

2012

It's officially 2012! Our New Year's Resolutions??

Less of these moments........

More of these moments.......

Happy New Year!

Finally a DIET that WORKS!

Ha, ha! Just kidding..... I haven't actually found a diet that works. For those of you that don't know, I gained about 43 pounds throughout my pregnancy. That is the equivalent of a grade school child I was lugging around! I'm not normally a scale watcher, but when you are pregnant you are forced to endure weekly weigh-ins. Everybody says it's normal and healthy to gain weight while you are pregnant. DUH! I get that. But that didn't make it any easier to watch the scale continue to go up even though I was working out practically every day and watching what I ate. (technically, I was just watching food go into my mouth, but I wasn't "eating for two") Anyway, I remember leaving the hospital after having Everett and I felt SKINNY! In hindsight, I wasn't anywhere near skinny. But I did look thinner and I probably dropped a quick 15 pounds of baby and water weight.

Fast forward to today: I am officially 5 pounds away from my driver's license weight! WHOA! This is huge because I haven't actually weighed that much since I was a freshman in high school. Right this second I am 15 pounds LIGHTER than when I got pregnant. It's a miracle :) Okay, it's not a miracle..... it's more like a combination of things. Mainly CrossFit, breastfeeding, and eating clean. Ben and I are on week 2 of our Paleo challenge. I found this great quick explanation for anybody that's interested. I will admit that it has been hard to give up dairy and sugar, but my body seems to be responding positively.

The bottom line is this: Diets don't work! Changing your LIFESTYLE does :)