Family Chirstmas Pictures 2011

Last Saturday we met with our photographer to get our annual Christmas pictures. We got them done around this same time last year, but this time it was about 20 degrees warmer and A LOT less windy!! Here are a few of my favs:

Photos by Ashley Bruner

kabphotographyforyou@gmail.com

Weighing it all out: way overdue update

A little over a year ago I started blogging about my journey to loose my very unwanted baby weight. I did really well in the beginning and was very motivated. At the time, I was running with a friend of mine to try and jump start my weight loss. I stayed with it for about three months or so until my friend started having foot problems and couldn't run and I just quit. I stayed about the same weight for the next three or four months. By the time this spring rolled around, I was tired of making excuses and  started really watching what I was eating. Funny thing was, as soon as I started my new diet plan, I got sick and lost about six pounds in two weeks. Some from the diet and some from being sick. Even though I was very conscious about what I ate, and I still am for the most part, I became stagnant again. The last time I updated was back in March and I weighed 153lbs at the time. I have pretty much stayed the same since then. I started walking again over the summer and had kept it up until we moved. Moving just throws everything off. Especially when it is an unexpected move like ours was. By the time fall got here, I decided I was going to do the Couch 2 5K running plan. I have several friends who have done it and loved it and I really wanted to be able to run. I knew if I could just do it and get myself running I could loose the rest of my baby weight plus some. For various reasons I kept putting it off and telling myself, "I'll start next week."  Finally, after we came back from our anniversary weekend trip in October, I started the following Tuesday.I am now on week four and I have run every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday since then, with the exception of this past Thursday and Saturday. I was able to complete week four, day one on Tuesday, not knowing yet that I was sick, so I will do week four over again this week. When I started C25K four weeks ago, I was 152lbs. So far I have lost two pounds, but I know that once I start running longer and walking less, I will loose more. I have also been reading a series "21 Days to a More Disciplined Life" on a blog called Moneysavingmom. Yesterday's post was about persevering when you want to give up. Since I was sick this week and not able to complete week four, this post came at the perfect time. I did not really want to quit running, I was more discouraged from being sick. I am really proud of myself for sticking to this plan for four weeks now and was really disappointed when I could not run on Thursday and Saturday.
At this point, I am very motivated to keep going and finish C25K and continue running after I've completed it. Hopefully my next update will not be six months from now.

Toy Chest

Every year our church does this ministry called Toy Chest. Members from the church donate gifts and/or money and they use the money to go out and buy all kinds of gifts. Bikes, computers, game systems, dolls, etc. This ministry is only for seminary families and it is such a wonderful way for the church to reach out to seminary students and their families. Each family is allowed to buy three gifts or spend $7, per child I think, which ever comes first. You can also get one bike and enter for raffle items. The best part is that the gifts are only a few dollars, depending on what you get. If you win a raffle prize you only pay $10, regardless of what the gift is. They do put the gifts into age categories to make sure that families get gifts that are age appropriate for their kids. Cary and I did this for Connor last year and we only got one big gift for $7. It was a really nice toy kitchen and he LOVED it and still does! This year, Cary had to go by himself. I have had a really nasty cold this week and was not able to go. :(  However, my husband is a hero. He got the best gifts for our boy for this age. He is going to be so excited!!

Connor loves things with buttons! Cary saw this Leap Frog Text and Learn that is going be so perfect for Connor. He only paid $2 for it!!

 The second gift we got was this wagon. We have been wanting to get him one for a while now and we knew Toy Chest would be the perfect opportunity. Cary paid $5 for this.

I saved the best part for last. I couldn't believe it when Cary told me, but we won a raffle prize this year!!! It will take a little practice for Connor to be able to use it, but I know he will love it once he figures it out!! It is a Dodge Charger police car!!

Part of me still can't believe it, but I am so excited for my little boy this year!! Especially now that he is old enough to have some idea about what Christmas is and what it means. What a huge blessing Toy Chest is and I am so thankful to be part of church family that is so generous.

Connor-2 years (three months late)

Is it really true? Is my little baby now a big two year old?? YES! He is an amazing, adventurous, loving-every-minute two year old! As you saw in my previous post, our summer was crazy. I had originally planned on having a party for him the weekend before we left for vacation, but that fell through. Our spring was just about as busy as our summer. Cary was duel-managing two stores, while trying to finish up the spring semester, we went to NY on spring break to see my brother and his new baby girl, and my mom and step-dad came over in May for Mother's Day weekend. After all of that we just wanted a break, which we haven't really gotten.....yet!! More to come on that later!

A two year old Connor:
-He is talking up a storm! He is repeating everything he hears. It is great for accountability though. He heard me say "Oh crap!" one day and of course he said it too. It's not the worst word he could say, but that doesn't mean he should say it.
-I must brag on my boy for a minute and give reason #682 of why we love Dr. Dirk Hamp at Growing Child. We had a really good two year old appointment. He was 28lbs. and 34in. tall. As always, Dr. Dirk said he was growing and doing just fine. Right before we left he said, "Some names you see on your schedule and you just know it's going to be a good visit."
-Connor is eating pretty well these days. Most of the time he will eat what we eat, but sometimes, his picky side comes out and he refuses. His faves are almost all fruits, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese (any kind, even goat), pasta, yogurt, salad, salsa, and much more.
-He LOVES bath time!! My son actually requests to take baths! For his birthday, my sisters got him those bathtub colors and he loves them.
-His favorite toys are his two soccer balls, his toy laptop we got his for his birthday, his Cars chair, another birthday present.
-He still loves to watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. He also loves The Weather Channel, History Channel, and TLC. I watch TWC every morning while I drink my coffee and now Connor requests it. So funny how they love the things we love.
-He is still testing his boundaries every day, but we hardly ever have to put him in time out anymore.

 He has tons of energy and we have so much fun with him!
















Pictures taken by Ashley Bruner  kabphotographyforyou@gmail.com

Finally.....

Wow! It has been three months, almost to the day, since the last time I blogged. We had an INSANE summer! Let me sum up a bit.
June 16- Leave for vacation and find out we have to out of our house by Aug.1
June 27- Return from vacay and IMMEDIATELY begin looking for a new place.
July 6- After almost two weeks of searching, and driving around (every day), we found a new home!
July 21-Spent the previous two weeks packing, packing, and packing some more and moved in on one of the hottest days of the summer!!
July 28- My mom came for a four day visit. We spent the whole week before this just trying to get unpacked and get our guest room ready for her.
Aug 2-6 -Cary and I both got sick this week. Thankfully, Connor did not get it.
Aug. 8- I was still sick and we spent all morning going around to different medical offices for me to get blood work, CT scan, chest x-ray. Not a fun day and I spent the rest of that week trying to recover.

So needless to say, we had a pretty jam packed summer! Once I was finally feeling better, I spent the rest of August trying to finish getting my house in order. We had put some things in temporary spots just so we could have the guest room clean and ready for my mom, so I had some arranging and rearranging to do.
So herein lies my first update in over three months. More to follow!!!

Weekly Shopping Trip-CVS and Walmart

I made a quick trip to CVS and Walmart last night to get a few good deals.

CVS

Total before savings: $40.42
Total spent: $15.31
Total saved: $25.11

Here's what I got:
-2 pks. Huggies diapers
-1 tub Huggies wipes
-1 Pantene shampoo
-1 Pantene conditioner
-1 tube Colgate toothpaste


Walmart

Total before savings: $16.42
Total spent: $2.71
Total saved: $13.71

Here's what I got:
-14 (20ct.) pks. Carefree liners
-1 box Nexcare band aids

Thankful Thursdays

About two months ago I posted a blog about being thankful for all the things that Cary does for us. I wanted it to be a once a month post, but I just didn't get to it.

-I'm thankful for Cary's leadership in our household.
-I'm thankful for Cary's encouragement during my weight loss journey
-I'm thankful for Cary's willingness to serve others.
-I'm thankful for the way he loves us so deeply.