Goodbye...for now...

Tomorrow I'm starting a Sugar Fast. No sugar or soda for THIRTY DAYS. UGH. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, but it's taken some time to gear myself up for it. My sweet tooth is going to be awful cranky for the next few days so I'm sorry in advance to anyone that gets in my War Path. Once I "detox" from the sugar though I'm hoping it won't be as bad!

At the start of the new year, I decided that I needed to change my eating habits and am trying to get healthier for 3 reasons:

1-Have more energy and feel better in general.
2-Lose some weight (down 3 lbs since Jan, 10 more to go for my target weight).
3-Hopefully getting healthier will help with the baby situation (aka-we've been trying for a year now).

So far I've started exercising 3x a week, switched to whole grain breads and pastas, am drinking more water, started taking some vitamin supplements and now I'm starting the sugar fast. I've decided it's much easier to change things one step at a time. That way I can focus on just ONE thing and once it becomes a habit, I add something new.

Wish me luck for tomorrow! And if anyone has any helpful tips or ideas, send them my way!! :)

FHE-Miles Style

Tonight's lesson was on Jonah and the Whale. Here's how it went down...

Mommy-Okay Carson, tonight we're going to talk about a guy named Jonah and a big whale. (Hand Carson the wooden whale to hold). Remember there was a whale in Nemo?

Carson-Bebo (Nemo)! (We talk about Nemo for a minute and how he swims)

Mommy- Okay there was a man named Jonah and Heavenly Father wanted him to go on a trip and teach some people. Carson, come sit down. (Go get Carson from the kitchen). Now Jonah....Carson, come sit with daddy....was scared...Carson put down your tools and come listen...and he tried to run away...Carson, come sit by daddy for a minute...and he got on a boat...CARSON, if you don't come back in here you'll get a time out!....and it started to rain...CARSON, I'm going to count to THREE!...and it started to rain harder...1, 2, 3!...(Put Carson in time out)...Okay, now sit on daddy's lap...

And then we just powered through the rest of the lesson while Mike held an unhappy Carson on his lap. He finally stopped crying/yelling when we got to the closing song.

At least we're attempting to have family night. The past two weeks have been like this, but our goal is to have FHE every week so hopefully Carson will get the hang of it sooner rather than later.

It's the effort that counts right?

Priceless.

I took this video a few weeks ago before getting Carson out of bed in the morning. I LOVE it. He's such a sweet, smart boy! He can't quite say his name yet though, so you'll see on the video what he calls himself...haha, too cute! Please ignore my annonying voice though.

And just for record's sake because I have a hard time remembering things, Carson counted to FOUR all by himself on his birthday last week. Good job smarty pants!! :)

$0.00

$0.00....

is the number showing on all of our credit cards right now. All 7 of them.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) x 1000

After 4 long years of trying we finally have ALL our credit cards paid off at the same time.

And we plan to keep it that way.

Maybe not the most fun way to spend our tax refund, but in the long run it's definately worth it.

And now we can focus our money other places besides wasting it on cc payments and interest.

Valentines Day

Mike and I usually don't place much importance on holidays, but this year we decided that it would be fun to celebrate Valentines day by making each other something or doing something to serve each other. My gift to Mike was a home cooked steak dinner (it was delicious by the way) and a box of tinfoil wrapped ding dongs (apparently they taste better than the ones in plastic) with reasons why I love him written on hearts and taped on top of each ding dong.

My gift from Mike is still a suprise and is coming later this week (updates coming when he gives it to me!).

After dinner we had a relaxing night playing with Carson and watching the NBA All Star Game. I think it was the best Valentines Day ever.

Happy Happy Birthday!

Carson is two years old today. Since his party went all night and he JUST went to bed (at 10:15pm), details and pictures will come tomorrow! Love you lil dude!

Just Call Me Houdini

Earlier this week I put Carson down for a late afternoon nap. I tucked him in his crib, shut his door, then went across the hall to our room to lay on the bed for a few minutes and shut my door behind me. Next thing I know, Carson bursts through the door, happy as can be yelling "Hi Mommy!!!" I couldn't help but laugh!

After careful inspection of his room, I found his escape route. First, he grabbed an empty 18gal. storage bucket that was stacked nearby and pulled it into his crib. He used it as a step stool to climb out and onto his changing table nearby (I don't know how he didn't fall). Then he climbed down the shelves and made a break for the door! He was so quiet and sneaky about it too. I was listening to the monitor in my room the whole time and no clue what he was doing! Carson is already out smarting us and he's not even 2. We're in for a LOT of trouble!! :)

i. heart. spraypaint.

From this...

To this...

Compare:

Gotta love the magic of spraypaint! Now the door handles in my bathroom match everything else in there-shower, towel bars, tp holder, etc... Why the builders made all the door handles and knobs gold when everything else is silver is beyond me.

Now onto the doorknobs in the rest of the house! :)

Addendum

After re-reading my last post I realize that it sounded VERY materialistic. Partly because I was listing things that I could find pictures of online and partly because I realize I have been focusing a little too much on those THINGS. So here is an addendum to my last post...OTHER Non-Materialistic Things we are Obsessed with:

Mike:
1. His Job-He works so hard everyday to provide for our family so that I can stay home and raise Carson.

Nina:
1. Crafts- I love doing anything crafty-sewing, painting, scrapbooking, etc...

2. Knowledge- I love to learn about anything and everything but I never stick to one topic for very long. Latest research topics: The Gospel (reading the BOM again), nutrition and potty training.

Carson:
1. Toddler Gym- Our "mom and me" class at the rec center every Wednesday. We get to do "exercises" together, play with new toys every week, and do lots of fun activities together.

2. Cheese-This kid loves string cheese. Seriously. I hear about it about 20 times a day.

THiNGS WE ARE OBSESSED WiTH:

Panasonic 50" Plasma TV

(Mike's new toy-thanks to an extra big tax return this year)

Asheron's Call Computer Game

(Mike)

Running

(Nina-great for relieving stress and losing weight)

iPhone

(Nina's toy/music player/organizer/etc...)

GeoTrax Trains

(Carson)

Toy Story

(Carson LOVES this movie...he always goes to the tv and says "Buzz...escue! (rescue)"

Netflix

(All of us...GREAT Christmas present)