Grandma's Update

Since my mom can't be here for the Holidays, here are a few pictures to help her feel like she is here.
Bonus Olie Piggy. And yes, she is watching TV.

Bonus Tato Creation: Horse

Olie's 1st Birthday!

I can't believe my baby is one already! We had her party a little early so all her relatives could be there before they left town for Christmas. We had a lot of fun. We had cupcakes, ice cream, bruschetta, muddy buddies and mini crescent dogs. Yum! I can tell the end of the year is definitely going to be difficult on the "diet" front.



Olie was very excited about all her presents (and Tato even more so I think ; ) and she loved having her cousins there. But the funniest thing was how she reacted to the cupcake. She didn't care at all. She had to be spoon fed by Grandma. What a lazy baby. ; )



After we put the kids to bed the adults stayed up and played a fun game called Creationary (it's not a Bible game, I swear). Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us.

Thanksgiving

I didn't get the camera out much on Thanksgiving because we were too busy having fun and eating way too much, but this is what the girls did on the way home. Thanks Nate and Jill for a great meal and lots of fun games! The girls had so much fun they wore themselves out!

May the Force be With You - Halloween Edition

I figured it was high time I got our Halloween pictures up. I have a remarkably talented husband and he made all of our costumes this year (except mine which I "made" ie: ordered off the internet). Even though we didn't win best costume for Tato at our wards Trunk-or-Treat, we did get a lot of comments from people who were excited about it. Lots of closet Star Wars nerds out there . . .

The person who can guess who we each are wins a prize! The ability to continue to view our blog!!! I didn't say it was a good prize . . .

Mark Your Calanders

On November 17th it's National Unfriend Day, or NUD as it were. Mark Your Calanders . . .

http://www.hulu.com/watch/190605/jimmy-kimmel-live-william-shatner-on-unfriend-day

Ok so I know it's a joke but seriously . . .

"Remember five years ago when no one was on Facebook and you didn't know what the guy you took high school Biology with was having for lunch? Remember how that was fine?"

Catch Up

It has been two months since I've blogged, mostly out of laziness, but the longer I wait the more catch up I have to do so I guess I better do it now. Aunt Jill gave the girls these super cute Aerosmith shirts.
I gave Olie a cute little pixie cut on her 9 month birthday.
Olie is eating solids even though she still only has two teeth.
Terry took me on a date to paint pottery. It was so fun, except I'm not very artistic so my design isn't exactly earth shattering. Terry's is awesome though.
The biggest thing we've actually been up to is Terry and I have finally been losing weight. We fell into the "two income/no kids trap" awhile ago and now we are digging ourselves out. I call it that because you have lots of extra money but no time/desire to cook so you eat out everyday. I realize people with even an ounce of self control can have two incomes, no kids, and still look good/healthy but hey, that wasn't us.

We started 9 weeks ago on our journey and Terry has lost 20 pounds and I have lost 10. (Hey, women lose weight slower . . . I swear . . .) We decided to take it slow since every time we go whole hog we eventually just give up. We like food too much. So this time no foods are off limits. And we are not aloud to feel bad if we mess up once or twice a week.

Here is what we are doing if anyone is interested. I work out about 5 times a week. I do various Tae Bo Videos ranging from 8 minutes to 30 minutes. I can do them right after the girls go to bed and they are actually kind of fun. Terry works out 2-3 times a week depending on his work schedule, however he often has a very physical job.

As far as food goes, we are just counting calories. I can only eat 1750 Calories a day to lose 1 pound a week. That isn't including working out. So I usually eat anywhere from 1800-2000 Calories a day and work out most days. So far it's been pretty consistent. Overall I've lost about a pound a week. I know if I cut calories further (which most dieters do) I could lose it even faster, but I decided I need 1800 if I am going to still enjoy food.

Some of the other things we've done are: cut soda completely (Terry now drinks a diet coke once or twice a week to curb his soda craving, I've cut it completely because I don't get soda cravings)

Start slow, if you get the double cheeseburger, start getting the regular cheeseburger, or even better get the grilled chicken sandwich.

Water, water, water. Juice and other beverages have a ton of calories. I do still drink 1-2 tiny glasses of milk a day though (I can't live without my milk).

Switched down in milk. We were drinking 2 percent, now we drink 1 percent. I know it's not a huge difference but every little bit helps.

Ok this is getting long winded. The main thing is, find out how many calories a day you need and then stick to it. Most people need anywhere from 1800 - 2500 to sustain their weight. You'd be surprised how easy it is to reach 3000 a day without even blinking. So start looking stuff up if you think you need to lose weight.



Bonus Olie Videos

Cute Things

The other day Tato grabbed the car keys off of the desk, shoved the Mr. Potato Head glasses on her face and said, "Bye Mommy, Bye Daddy. See you later." Ah, they grow up so fast . . . Then she said, "Wait, I need Olie. Come on Olie." LOL. I get the biggest kick out of these girls.

Tato is constantly asking me to put Olie on her lap, and Olie loves it. They really are best friends. Gosh I hope that lasts.

Tato Turned Two!

Tato had a blast for her second Birthday because she loves it when her aunts and uncles and cousins come and see her!
Her favorite things to do as a little 2 year old are read.
Color.
And be cheesy!

July . . .

So June was dull. Nothing happened in June. Nothing blog-worthy anyway. But July, oh boy. It is already the 21st of July and I have finally just today had a moment to sit down, watch some tv, browse the internet, do some laundry and of course blog. The month has flown by, but that is because we were having fun! That being said it does feel good to just lounge around the house again . . .

To see what we've been up to read on.

Oh and if you need us, this is what we will be doing for the next few days. . .

Olie's Blessing!

Sunday the 18th was a very special day for us. Not only was it Olie's 7 month B-day, but it was also her blessing. And even more special was that her daddy got to perform his first ordinance as a priesthood holder. It was a great day and it was also wonderful to have so much family there at the time of her blessing too.

Here she is with her grandparents. I think she is so cute in this picture.

Olie is such a fun baby. Her favorites are pulling hair, drooling, smiling and squash (the veggie not the game). She is such an angel baby.

July 5th - 17th: Family Fun, Reunions and Temple!

My sister was in town for our big family reunion on the 16th so we spent the whole week of the 6th through the 13th crafting, playing pounce (or nertz, whatever you want to call it), and playing Rock Band on the X-box. We were just hanging out so I never really thought to get my camera out. But It was a very busy week and I was hardly home long enough to even do a single batch of laundry.
On the 14th, Terry and I were endowed and on the 15th we were sealed to each other and to our two little girls for time and all eternity. We had waited a long time for this day to come and I just have to say that it was one of the most wonderful things to ever happen to me. As we were driving home from being sealed I asked Terry if he was happy. He said "of course." And then from the back seat in Tato's little voice, "Olie? You happy?" I just couldn't help myself and doubled over in laughter. After the sealing Terry took the family paintballing. It was way too hot, but only a few people seemed to mind. It sounds like they had a lot of fun with that.

On the 16th we had our family reunion and it was a lot of fun. We had a talent show. I played a song called Chocolate Fudge on the piano and Terry made a pinata. We were going to have Tato sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star but she wasn't feeling well and plus she gets really shy, so it didn't happen. Most people sang, some people showcased art, Marshall played the guitar, and there were a few other various talents. After that we had a BBQ at Nate and Jill's house. Oh my goodness there was so much food. After we ate Jill ambushed us with water balloons (she told me about it ahead of time so I could sneak inside since I was holding a young baby, which I thought was thoughtful of her). Then the kids all took a swing at the pinata (which Terry made to look like Darth Maul from Star Wars) and as the candy flew everywhere I funnily enough saw Sophie fleeing the scene with her arms bursting with candy. She is vicious that one, lol! So the sad part is I didn't have my camera for any of this. So if anyone in the family wants to email me pics, or blog their pics so I can steal them, that would be great.

On the 17th we went to the Robinson reunion and saw some cousins we hadn't seen in a very very long time. It was pretty neat to see them, but I wish more of them had been there.

Anyways, it was a super busy week. Now I need a vacation after all of the activities of this week!

July 1st -4th: Camping

For the 4th of July Terry's parents took our little family camping. Tato seems to love everything about camping. Of course our "camping" is pretty plush. Terry and I even had a funny little conversation as we were falling asleep one night.

Terry: Thanks for roughing it with me.

Alice: Ha ha, this isn't roughing it.

Terry: What? I can't hear you over the air conditioning.


Anyways, here is Olie and . . . well what's that I see out the window.
Oh hey look, a deer. It walked right up past our camper.
Olie camping.
Tato picking flowers. Or trying to rather. She couldn't get any because she didn't understand they were attached to the ground. She couldn't figure out why they were so heavy. : )


And, at long last, I got to ride the bikes. After two years of being pregnant and missing out, I finally got to ride up the mountain and feel the wind in my hair again. Sooooo fun! Thanks for all the fun you guys!

General Updatiness

I can't believe how much Tato has grown since my last post. It's astounding to me! She is starting to talk in a few simple sentences and that is fun so far. Tonight she said the funniest thing . . . well it was funny to me because you just have to understand how much this girl loves her sleep (takes after me ; ). She usually goes right to bed with no arguments whatsoever at 8pm. Sometimes very rarely I hear her singing to her baby for a few minutes, then she's out like a light. But tonight, a full hour after putting her in bed I suddenly hear, "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!." I walked in there and asked her what she needed. In her sweetest little voice, "Mommy, I wanna get up." LOLOLOL! I was trying so hard not to laugh. *sigh* I love that girl. I told her it was night time so she needed to go to sleep and she was fine with it. It was too funny.

Olie is getting bigger too. She is eating rice cereal now and to my dismay, she has discovered spitting.Anyways, these girls love each other soooo much! I hope they are best friends forever!


Movie Review: Ok, so it's not technically a review, just a recommendation. Terry's mom babysat for us while we went out to see a movie the other night, and I just have to say it was the cutest show I have seen in a looooooong time. I highly recommend going to see How to Train Your Dragon. It's probably a little scary for younger than 8 . . . or 6, heck I don't know what is scary for kids. It's definitely fun for adults though. With all the garbage coming out these days, this was a breath of fresh air. I laughed, I cried . . . which is more than I can say for the season finale of Lost (ok, there was a little laughter there . . . ; )