Vacation 2013

Well, we weren't certain if we were going to be able to take our trip we had planned since January to Palm Springs. We were so sick before leaving, Brooklyn couldn't even hold water down. But we went 24 hours with out anyone throwing up. So...we drove down to Seattle and headed out early Sunday morning.
We had the BEST trip to Palm Springs. It was JUST what we needed!
The house we rented from VRBO was great. JUST what we thought.
I was going to bring my work out shoes, but had been so sick, I just wanted to rest while I was there, and we did just that.
I hadn't eaten for almost a week before going, and was So excited for food to sound good again and eat again. So I did just that. :-D 

Here's our arrival picture - we weren't all 100% yet, but so happy to be there!

 

 Then here's the picture of us all leaving, tan, refreshed, and relaxed.

 Taylor bug LOVED the swing! What a sweet picture!

 Paulette lives in Ventura Ca 6 months of the year now with her new husband, and she was there, and made the 3 hour drive over to see us. So sweet! And always great to see her.

 

 It so happened that the dates we planned, our friends Brian, Wendy and Aubrey were in Palm Springs for our first 2 days there, so we had a few dinners together and hung out, it was great.

Then below, our friend Denica was in PS too - so we met up and had dinner one night. We had a life mariachi band that played, etc. It was a great evening!

 

I had to capture this for our blog because Brooklyn completely wrote her first "B" ever!! No help at all with us! We were so proud!

 

Here is the 4 of us in the pool during "adult time" one day when the girls were napping. It worked out nice, because during the hottest hours of the day, the girls would both be down for a nap, so we got uninterrupted adult time in the pool!

 

Then we went to the street fair that's every Thursday. Fun times.

 

 

My 30th Birthdy was the day we flew back. I woke up to the house we were staying at decorated like this. Brooklyn loves birthdays, she was excited! Can't believe I'm 30.

 Scott and I got to go out on a date night for my bday. We went and got an appetizer and a dessert at a resort in town, then walked the town that night and just enjoyed some time together.

 

 OUR POOL

 

Our final day there - it was 104 degrees. Hot hot hot, and I loved it. I feel great being 30. I'm in the middle of life right now. Raising a family, growing and learning more as a person and what I want my life to look like. Happy to be where I'm at. Very blessed.

 

And this is posted because how stinkin cute is this? We took so many photos, maybe I'll post randomly. We had a great great time!

Weightloss Journey

Well, most of you know I have been trying to get into my PRE BROOKLYN jeans for quite some time now. I only had a year after Brooklyn before getting pregnant again, and this time I would like a little more time in between. I love the age space of the girls, but just for when I'm planning to have another baby, it just works out that I'll have a little more time ;-)
Anyway, I have been working pretty hard and eating really well since pretty much last summer, but really made some drastic changes in September.  I started doing Advocare which really helped. Basically all clean eating, no dairy, no sugar, no alcohol (not an issue for me), no oils, and nothing processed.  All lean meats, veggies, fruits, and healthy fats. Then you take their supplements and vitimins...it really has worked for me, and i feel great on it.

I am happy to say, that since September, I have lost 27 lbs to date. Update*** 30 lbs. I got super sick and am now down 30 lbs! Not the way I wanted I lose though :/

Before I had brooklyn I ranged between 6 lbs, and I am a the top of the 6 lb range, but I'm happy.
However, the last 9 lbs basically came off from being sick. But...they're gone, so that's what matters right?
So here is a picture that Scott took before in July so I don't know what my weight was - but I'm sure from July-September I had lost a little more weight naturally after having a baby...but this is the only "before" picture I really had.  So this was July - probably 2-3 months after having Taylor:

 And this was last week - 27 lbs lighter. I feel pretty good, now I want to hit the weights and really build muscle and work on shape. Muscle is important and being sick I feel like I have lost some tone. Anyway, wanted to document this. :-D
I fit into my pre Brooklyn jeans. This has been 3 years in the making so it's a really really big deal to me! :-D

It's not a good picture, but here I am in my pre Brooklyn jeans that I have been waiting to get into! :-) No buldges or love handles or tightness. Feels good. I just want to work hard to really tone up now. Scott and I are going to do a 12 week program at the gym this summer. I'm really excited!

Thankful for my Mom

I was so thankful to have my mom here for the past 2 days. She came and cleaned, and played with the girls while I was so sick. She cooked for us, and cleaned the windows and floors and kitchen and house, and all our laundry from being sick, etc.
Thanks Mom for coming and all you did!

 Snuggles with Grandmama on the couch!

 Mom playing doctor - checking her in on the computer, of course.

 Grandmama's turn. :-D This was moments before Brooklyn got sick :-(

 Taylors (and Brooklyn's) Birthday gift from Grandma and Grumpa, and mommy and daddy! A new kitchen set. The one we had is one we got a year or so ago from the good will for $8. It worked and was well played with, but we will give it to another family who will want it. And the girls will get much use out of this one. :-D

Here's the girls waving good-bye to Grandmama as she left yesterday.
Thanks again for coming mom. I couldn't have done it with out you!

Tubbs went missing

So, as if we hadn't had enough going on, Monday, Taylor had year 1 year check up. She was sick, so thankfully the doc got to look at her. Anyway, I was helping my mom get the girls in the car and I told my mom to leave the door open because I didn't have the keys, but she didn't want Tubbs to get out. But we didn't see him get out.
Well...I went to lay down, and when I was sleeping on those pain meds, it was almost as if I was in a coma...I could kind of hear things going on, but I was SOOOOOOO out of it. I couldn't respond much. I remember thinking "I'm not sure Tubbs is in the house" and I heard him bark and scratch on a door somewhere, but I honestly couldn't move. So....I slept.
2 hours went by, my mom came home with the girls and we looked for Tubbs. I knew he was gone. We called his name out side, looked everywhere in the house, but I knew he was outside somewhere.
We drove around, each of us seperately. No one saw him.

My mom ran into some kids, and she asked if they had seen a big dog. They said yes, and mentioned his scar on his leg from his surgery a few years ago. They said a guy came up the them and said "oh you found my dog" and took him. We were SO worried that Tubbs was stollen and that we wouldn't find him again!!! I happened to mention on FB that he was lost and my friend from COLORADO posted a Craigslist post about Tubbs!! Here's the picture!

So Scott went to the  Humane Society. We couldn't get him until the next day. It was such a chaotic day. Poor boy. Someone turned him in, and we are So thankful!

Whirlwind few days

Well we have had quite the events the past 5 days. I got sick the beginning of April, with a really bad head cold, that ended up with some jaw/tooth pain. I should have seen a doc. But I didn't. It got better - but not 100%.
Then, Friday, I got a really bad headache, and neck ache like I have never had. Thought it would go away in the morning, but it was worse. I was MISERABLE. My whole body hurt, my organs hurt, my joints hurt. I was miserable. I had Scott take me to the walk in clinic. I was convinced I had some sinus infection still that maybe wore my body down and now I came down with something else. They are hesitant to give antibiotics, and I understand why. I NEVER call the doc, I never get meds, but I was desperate. I laugh when they ask who my primary is because I never see her. Anyway, she gave me some nose spray and some antibiotics to fill if I wanted to...with a vacation coming up, I filled them.
I slept for the afternoon but never improved. I got worse. My mom encouraged me to go to the ER. I just didn't feel right. They did some extensive tests, found some infection still in my sinuses and ran other tests. Good news is that my vitals, blood work etc are all great. The doc said, while he knows I feel terrible, I'm very healthy which is great. They put me on an IV and gave me some pain meds. I then began to throw up. :-( But we left there planning to wait a week to see what would happen. He thought I had some kind of a virus on top of my sinus infection and it completely wore my body down...which seems like it's exactly what I had.
I continue to sleep for 5 hours a day the next 2 days. SO thankful Scott was home Sunday and my mom came Monday. I was EXHAUSTED!!! I haven't slept that much since probably having mono in high school.

Then, in the middle of all of this - our sweet Taylor was going to turn 1 on Sunday - April 28. We were all set up for her Pink and Yellow - Pink Lemonade Party!!

I was so so sad to have to cancel it - but we had to because I was so sick...thankfully we did, because that day - ON her birthday, Taylor started throwin up and had a fever. Poor girl. She woke up seeming fine, we took some video singing her happy bday, and then took some pictures with her ballooons. We had to celebrate somehow. We were going to do a little cake, but by the end of the night, she was too sick :-(
Here are some pictures of her in the morning before she started feeling too sick:

Sweet girl! Here are some things she's doing now:
She says Tubbs - Tuh
Mama, Dada
Thank you - Dah Duuu
She's crawling still everywhere, and scaling everything SO close to walking.
She's standing on her own with out even knowing it now
Pointing at things
Laughs alot
Smiles all the time
mumbles stuff, i'm sure she knows what she's saying

She's abover 95% for height
and 75% for weight
She eats tons of food (infact when she was sick we knew she was sick because she wouldn't eat)

Tay-bug, you are going to be a feisty one! I just know it. You're strong, determined, and just a joy to be around and to our family. We love you SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!!

 This was her sick face all day :-(

Thankfully my mom came on Monday to take care of us. I would have been beside myself. I'll blog about that in my next post.
Then Taylor started to feel better on Monday, which was good, just wasn't her normal self. Tuesday, she seemed better, then in the afternoon, BK got sick and threw up all over our couch, poor girl. Thank GOODNESS for our microfiber couches that honestly wash right off. One of our couches the cushion covers unzip and go right in the wash. We love them.

Daddy took a picture of his sick girlies. :-(

 It's 12 on Wednesday and no one has puked today so far...so that's good news, but we're all not 100% still. We are hoping to celebrate Taylor's 1st birthday on friday, then we leave for Seattle on Saturday to fly out to palm springs on Sunday for a week! Here's to hoping we're all well!!

Baby Teslee and Easter

March 7th, was an amazing night. My friend Amber went into labor and she let me be in the delivery room. It was so incredible to see sweet Telsee be born.
We got a call at about 12:45 in the morning (she had been having contractions for about 2 days, but they kicked up around 11pm that night. So I rushed to her house, and we drove to the hospital. They put her in trioge and she was only dilated to a 4. They weren't sure if they were going to keep her. Hallee came very quickly so Amber knew this baby would come. They kept her in trioge for about 20 min and decided they would keep her. She got moved to a room and kept telling the nurses that something was happening. So they tried to check her - but her water sack was in the way, so they were going to break her water to check her. Well...just then her water broke (more like exploded) and then 8 min later Teslee was there. By the time she got in to her own room, Teslee was there about 25 min later. It was wild fast. :-D She was born at 2:55 am. It was such an incredible honor to be in the room and watch her be born. Amazing. And Amber has babies fast so that too was a cool experience to watch.

Here I am holding her in the wee hours of the morning.  She was 7lbs 2 oz.  

Amber right after having Teslee. So sweet. She was amazing.

I can't remember if I posted this picture or not, but I love it. This was when we were taking BK to dance. Taylor loves her little blankie from her Great Grandpa. So precious.

Here are the girls in their Easter dresses for Church. We went to Saturday night church and it was way better. Evening is a good time for them, so I was glad we went in the evening. We were headed to my moms for Easter, so it was nice to wake up and not have to rush to get them dressed and ready for church etc. They are so sweet. I think I'll put red shoes and red bows for the 4th of July.

We showed up at my moms on Easter and she had 2 "Celebration Baskets" for the girls. With bubbles, and cards, and 1 peice of Candy (so they don't get too much sugar) and some other toys. We really stress the importance of Easter (Resurrection Sunday) in our home. It's not about a bunny, infact we don't even mention the Easter Bunny. At least with Christmas - St. Nick was a real person, who was generous and it's a good teaching lesson for the kids. Santa and Jesus partner in our house for gifts. But easter, I have no idea how a bunny plays in. So we don't even mention it. But we celebrate Jesus resurrection with a little gift basket. And we hide eggs.

It was SO wam over Easter Weekend this year!!! We were in dresses and playing out on my parents deck. The girls enjoyed playing with water, and we chatted outside. It was so beautiful.

Mom hid some eggs in her yard, and I didn't want them filled with a bunch of candy, so I told her to put some raisins, and maybe some pennies in them, that she would think money was fun....well....it was hilarious. She would shake them and if they had something in them, she put them back. It was so funny! She didn't want the ones with money or food. She weanted the empty ones - OR if they had chocolate. I think my mom had 2 or 3 that had candy. HOW DO THEY LEARN this stuff!! :-D It was pretty cute. She wanted nothing to do with the money ones. So funny!

 

 We also got to Skype with my Grandpa, the girls great grandpa. It was nice. He gets us a bit confused and I don't think can keep the girls straight, or who they belong to, but it was nice to see him. He's 92 years old and lives in California.

Beaches, dance and sisters

 Just doing a little update while Scott has Brooklyn grocery shopping, and Taylor and I are just hanging out. We are really adjusting to living in Ferndale and we love it. We have the ocean just about 10 min away from us. It's great. And has been beautiful. Brooklyn loves to collect rocks (my dad would be so happy because I loved to collect rocks with him too) and she loves looking for crabs with her daddy. It's so fun.

Brooklyn has started dance and she loves it. She puts on her "Make up" before class. It's so sweet. Taylor and I watch her as she twirls around. She will be in her first recital in June. I can't wait :-D Her and Hallee do class together. It's so sweet.

Walking on the beach with Taylor. She loves being outdoors. I can't wait for this summer.

We dedicated Taylor on March 24th. My kids are always great sleepers, and are pretty routine. The dedication was at 4pm so we knew we'd get some good naps in before the evening. Well...Taylor didn't sleep at ALL that day. She is the king of girl...from BIRTH...that if something is going on, she wants to be awake and participate. So we had my family and Scott's family over, so Tay wanted to stay away. It was so frustrating. So of COURSE - just like BK - during the prayer part, Taylor was crying and squirming. She doesn't fall asleep in our arms. She wants to lay down and be left alone. Silly girl. It was a bit stressful.
The verse we chose for her is 3 John verse 4.  ^"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." We chose this because her middle name is JOY, and as parents, this is true for us. We want to know our children are walking in the truth of Jesus.  I was thankful God gave me this verse.

This last picture I love. Taylor loves her sister. Loves watching everything Brooklyn does. It's so sweet. So I captured this photo of Tay looking up to her big sister as they were playing on the guest room bed. I hope and pray that they grow up to be so close. That they tell each other everything and support each other and are there for eachother. I'm so thankful to have 2 girls to be sisters. What a special bond. I love them both so much.

Hawaii...

Ok, another quick post about something pretty cool.
Our real estate agent had a "Thank you" party for all of her clients and friends that have supported her over the year. She rented out an improve theater, we had apps, and a private performance and some give-aways. One of them was a TRIP TO HAWAII!! I was really hoping for that. We ended up missing the raffle by 2 numbers. :-D
So the next day, she called me and thanked me for coming and told me she was bummed we didn't win the trip. I said, it's a raffle, it happens. She then said she wanted to extend the same for us since we have referred so many people to her. I was like..."uh, no! Thank you but you DO NOT need to do that!!" She insisted, and hoped we would take her up on that offer....Soooooooooooooooo we're GOING TO MAUI in the fall!! JUST ME AND SCOTT. We're so excited, we'll miss the girls for sure, but we're excited to take a trip just us and only have our schedules to follow. :-D
SO so so so thrilled.

Los Angeles

Ok, I have to get this posted so I don't forget. In February, I planned a trip with my 2 best friends, Lauren and Melissa. We wanted a girls weekend, away from kids, and to do a fun trip. I got us tickets to the ELLEN show. I watch Ellen every day. I realize her lifestyle is one that I don't agree with or believe in, but she's a great person and does really great things for people and her show makes me happy. I really really like her :-D
I was at work when I got a call from the show saying we have seats in the audience for Feb 7th. I was SO excited.
I don't like flying, but when we got on the plane, Lauren's Pastor - Judah Smith - was on the flight, so I knew we were safe, ha ha ha! It wasn't easy leaving my babies, but I survived. ;-)
We flew in Wednesday evening, had dinner with Melissa and her Boyfriend, Pedro. Then stayed up late talking, then woke up the next morning to get ready for the show. It was GORGEOUS out!

 Here is Melissa's pool and a lemon tree in the morning, so gorgeous. She lives in a little pool house of someones house. It's so cute.

 We painted our nails, did our hair and make up and picked out outfits for the show. It was a really fun girly morning.

 Me and Melissa, We have been friends since Junior high. Love her.

We bought some Ellen water while we were waiting.

Also - while we were waiting, a producer came up to us and asked us a few questions then told us to go to this one spot and they would talk with us later. So about 50 of us met outside and stood in the parking lot. They asked us questions and told most everyone to go back to their seat, but kept about 10 of us. We went into this really small portable type room and they got our name and info and talked to us about playing a game and if we'd want to play etc. We were SO excited. So we knew ONE or a few of us would be chosen for something. We had to pretend we won, and jump up and down, etc. It was pretty funny!

So then they sat us first and Melissa was right on the edge, then me, then Lauren. We were SO close!! I was so so so excited to be in the studio. It's just like on TV, but strange to see it in person.

We didn't see Ellen until she came out for the show. I was very surprised how the show ran like it was live, but it wasn't. They film about a day ahead. So it ran just like you would see on TV. During commercials we danced, etc. But she didn't dance with the audience which i was bummed about!! Because they did a Grammy Game, because it was the weekend before the Grammy's. I was SO nervous when they were going to read a name because I was SO sweaty - from dancing and nerves and excitement. So she called a name, and it was Shalayna Hawkins. This other girl we met. She was great and got to play a game with LL COOL J!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad I didn't get called, I would have been such a sweaty mess lol!!! It was fun to see her play though and she got to GO to the Grammy's, how awesome!

This is a picture that my friend Sarah snapped of us on TV. We were on it alot! Ha ha ha. By the end of the show we won't a $150 Calvin Klein Giftcard, and a $100 visa gift card. It was awesome. We had a great great time. I was already getting sick before flying out, so after the show I got super sick. The whole next day I felt awful. We walked around for a little bit, but it was rainy, and I felt terrible. I spent that night in bed. :-( Our last day there. Then we flew out in the morning, and of course again it was gorgeous.

Lauren and I piced some lemons from Melissa's tree before we left.

Here is me with my swag from the show. I had to get an Ellen shirt. :-)

I LOVE PALM TREES!