Natalie photo tagged me. The rules are that you are that you can't tidy up before taking the photos, as painful as the thought is. I didn't tidy up, and you will see that it is apparent on several of the pictures. Hope you enjoy what a true mess my house is on Mondays!
My Closet

Favorite Shoes

Laundry Room (the one thing I got done today, laundry)

My Bathroom (it's always a mess, I just accept it)


My Favorite Room (My bedroom)

The kitchen Sink (technically you can't see the sink ;) You can tell the kids had mac and cheese for lunch.

The Fridge

What my kids are doing right now...



Self Portrait

Feel free to be tagged if you so desire!

We're Back!

We just got back from a short trip to Oregon and we had so much fun. I drove up with my dad and the kiddos Wednesday-14 1/2 hr drive! We were able to spend Wednesday through Thursday with my dad and grandpa and then we drove to Portland to pick up Nick from the airport. We headed over to Lisa and Steve's house (Nick's sister and her husband) and we had so much fun! The kids spent the evening throwing balls to Pepper (their adorable dog) and we got to enjoy the sun laying in their hammock in the back. We also got to go to the Oregon Health and Science University (where Lisa work's) and ride the aerial tram over the city (http://www.portlandtram.org/?WT_featured=spotlight&WT_rank=spotlight). The kids LOVED it! We also got to play at some great parks while we were there. We took pictures at one of the parks but of course we forgot our camera when we were on the tram. The view of Portland was awesome and it was dark, which made it even better. Saturday afternoon we headed back to McMinnville and celebrated my Grandpa's 96th birthday with some family and friends. My Grandpa is an amazing man and I am so glad I was able to attend his special birthday. He kept telling us when he'd wake up that he thought he was a goner for sure, but then he was still around in the morning =). It's been almost a year since my Grandma (his wife) passed away and since they spent 75 years of their lives together (they were married when she was 15 and he was 20)-he really misses her!
After the party we headed back to Portland and enjoyed some Thai food with Lisa and Steve, went to another park, then watched "Aliens in the Attic" with the kids. We headed back to Utah, another fun 11 1/2 hour drive! I'm glad to be home, but I sure miss Oregon and our family already! I think I've convinced Nick to spend more time there =).
Nick is officially on spring break from school, so we'll get to spend some time this week doing home projects. One major project is starting a garden-we'll see how that goes!
I've lost a total of 62.2 pounds and am in another maintenance phase now. Only 37.8 pounds to go until I hit the 100 lb goal mark! My actual goal is to lose 120-130 lbs, but my reward of going on the cruise (which I've already paid for) is official after 100 lbs. are gone.
Andrew just has 2 more months of preschool and then he's out for the summer. He's already registered for kindergarten and is really excited for big boy school. He's reading words, spelling, and learning math right now. We're really proud of him!
Madelyn is talking a ton and learning to count, differentiate colors, and letters. She's really excited to start preschool. We keep telling her that she can't go until she is potty trained but she doesn't seem to get the connection yet. She loves to dance and we try and bribe her with dance lessons for potty training but she hasn't given in yet.
Luke is 10 months now and stands up and walks around everything. He's taken a couple steps on his own and stands without holding on to things, but doesn't quite feel confident enough to go further than that.
I'll post pictures soon.

Overdue Update

Sometimes I can't believe how busy life is. It's been months since I've updated this thing.
So, here's what we've been up to...
Nick is still working on his Masters and started working for L-3 Communication Systems the end of November. He finally has a project at work and things are going well with school. We're excited that they pay 100% of his tuition, which means we've already paid for his Master's degree-it only cost us $3535.64. Crazy, I know. His grades have been fabulous too, 2 A-'s and the rest A's. He has also been enjoying every other Friday off and we get to go the gym as a family, which is fabulous since the daycare is FREE! There's nothing more motivating than working out with Nick. =)

I've been busy with running the kids everywhere, all the time. I've recently lost about 35 pounds and I'm working maintaining it before I go for another 35. My goal is to loose 100 lbs by my birthday this summer. I already booked a cruise as a reward! We're planning on trying again for baby #4 after said cruise.
Me in my new glasses, I love em!

We have a little bit of painting left in the basement, then we get to put in the flooring and buy new furniture-and then we're done with it! I can't wait to organize/decorate our house from top to bottom. We'll have an additional 1000 sq ft to use!
Here are some of the treats I've made for my brother, he got to come home after Boot Camp for a little Christmas break.

Andrew is in preschool at Hunter High and loves it. He loves the fact that he goes to his daddy's old school. He also goes to tumbling class during the week and loves that too. I should get some pictures of him doing his moves. It's pretty funny watching him, especially compared to all the little itsy bitsy girls in his class.

Madelyn is keeping me busy at all times. She just learned how to buckle her own belts in her car seat, which is actually really nice for me! She tells me things like, "I'm so proud of you mama" and "I have a good idea!" She is always making us laugh with the things she says. I was at the eye doctor last week because my glasses broke and needed new ones. The receptionist gave the kids suckers and an old lady walking by said to Madelyn and Andrew, "I didn't get a sucker, how come I didn't get one?" Andrew just shrugged his shoulders, but Madelyn said empathetically-while holding her sucker up, " you can have a suck on mine." Everyone in the whole office cracked up.

Luke is doing really well too. He's walking around furniture, getting into everything, and is happy all the time. He loves his daddy and squeals every time Nick comes home. Everyone always comments about how happy his is. He has 3 teeth now-2 bottom and one fang =), which he is very happy about. He loves eating big boy food and play biting us. We're hoping that we're lucky and the next baby will be just like Luke in temperament.
Well, I guess that sums up the last couple months.

Halloween Pictures

It's a go!

So we had our first work out today. Good times. We also did measurements and weigh ins. Not good times for me =). Our goal is to go to July and reward ourselves along the way. I can't wait for my rewards! Each Tuesday is our weigh in day, so I guess that'll be my day to record what I've lost. We're doing really reasonable goals of 1-2 lbs a week and hoping that slow and steady wins the race. Wish us luck!

The Biggest Loser Beginning

So I was really inspired by the Biggest Loser last night, as I am each season. This time, I felt the need to start a group. So what I want to do is get everyone together (even through email or skype) and we can go through what motivates us and think of incentives and things that will keep us going. I have a million exercise videos, some equipment, and I'm willing to invest and get more things too. I'm also willing to have whomever wants to come to my house to work out, come and we'll let the kids play, while we sweat off the pounds. We're also close to finishing the basement, so if there's enough people, then we'll get that done sooner than later so we can workout in the basement, where it's nice and cool. I have rooms upstairs that the kids can destroy while we work out, or if people prefer we can work out later when husbands are home and kids are in bed (8:30 pm for us). I want to put together recipes, menus, because I have a ton, and charts that are easy to make sure we're getting the foods we need (i.e. check off servings of fruit, veggies, etc that we've had). Whatever you want, I'm willing to put in the time! I want to make this easy and keep everyone motivated.
Some ideas for incentives that I have (please give me your input):
Everyone put money into the pot and after so many months, whoever loses the most (based on percentage weight lost, of course) gets the pot.
Or we could do milestones, where once a person gets to certain milestones they will win prizes...
I was thinking of weekly weigh ins. I also have my tv hooked to a computer so we can do several different exercises, anything to spice things up!
Please give me input and ideas and we can get this thing off the ground!

Madelyn is 2

My Madelyn monster is 2 already! A week ago today, she turned 2. I can't believe it! The day after her birthday we got to see the doctor for her 2 yr. appt. and her are her stats...
Weight 28 pounds (68th percentile), height 36 1/4 inches (96th percentile).
A story to share about Madelyn...
We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house with Nick's family and once you get to the sealing rooms, a couple took us in the sealing room and talked about the significance of being a forever family and as they were talking Madelyn ran round and round in circles around the alter, taunting the other kids to chase her. We tried to take her out of the room, so we wouldn't ruin the experience for the others there, but the couple talking told us to let her stay. Anytime we'd try to catch her or ask her to stop, she would scream. It's pretty hard to embarrass me, but I was thoroughly embarrassed!
What she's up to...
She's talking like crazy and saying 4 word sentences for the most part. She's always surprising us with the words she knows too. Right now we're learning colors and starting to work on our ABC's. Currently the two colors she gets right every time are pink and orange. She now loves being an older sister and adores Luke. Everything he does is SO funny to her. She is always saying "please", "thank you", and "you're welcome." She and Andrew are taking advantage of the lasting warm weather and jump on the trampoline every chance they get. It's so nice for me to be able to have them outside so I can get stuff done around here. I love how they play together and most of the time get along. We love our Madelyn and couldn't imagine life without her!
Here are some pictures from this summer. Enjoy.