Seasons are changing...

The seasons are changing quickly or I'm letting too much time go between posts.  My last post was about fall, it's currently snowing outside so winter is here!

Two weeks ago I started a diet game with several of the women in my neighborhood.  I've posted about my experience during this game on a different blog I keep.  If anyone is interested they can check it out here.

I'm not sure I've mentioned it on the blog yet but James has been working up in North Dakota for the last 6 or so weeks.  We all miss him very much and we are really excited that he is coming home on the 16th and staying for 2 weeks (he'll be here for my birthday and Thanksgiving).  Its crazy up in North Dakota right now.  James is staying in Williston, ND and there are jobs everywhere.  Its hard for me to believe because you can't find a job here in Southern Utah at all but up there everyone is hiring and getting a job is pretty darn easy.  The thing that isn't easy up there is finding a place to live.  Luckily James found a job that includes a place to stay.  We've put our house up for sale and we aren't really sure yet if we want to move our family up there or stay here and have James go back and forth for work.  Its really crazy that we've shown our house probably 15 times already but no offers, I'm not sure if I'm happy about that or not.  I really don't want to move from Cedar City but I also don't want James to be away from us so much.

Well, just wanted to update everyone on us.  Stay tuned to see if we end up in North Dakota or not :)

Why I love Fall

I was driving home from Walmart earlier today and I realized that there several things I love about Fall. I thought I'd share them with everyone.

1) The very best thing about Fall is the changing of the leaves on the trees. I grew up in Southern California and never realized how beautiful Fall was until I moved to Utah. When I lived in Utah County one of my favorite things to do during the month of September or October was to drive the Alpine Loop. If you drove it at the exact right time you would see such amazing colors. Something like this picture.

I miss living in Northern Utah purely for this drive. Iron County has some amazing canyons but I've never found the colors like the ones you will see when you drive the Alpine Loop.

2) My favorite holiday is at the end of Fall. Thanksgiving has to be the best holiday we celebrate here in the United States. I love Thanksgiving because you get to eat amazing food but you don't have to spend tons of money buying everyone in your family gifts (I hate trying to find the perfect gift for everyone in my family).

3) Fall flavors...pumpkin, apple, butternut squash...YUM! Today I had a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks....mmmhmmmm. Some of my favorite things are pumpkin flavored...pie, ice cream, coffee, muffins, cupcakes, pancakes, protein shakes (yes, pumpkin pie protein shakes are yummy). That reminds me...I wanted to make pumpkin muffins the other day and was out of pumpkin, time to go to the store.

4) Cooler weather is another reason I love Fall. By the time September rolls around I am really ready for the cooler days and nights of Autumn. Last week was a crazy weather week for us here in Cedar City. On Monday it was 80, by Wednesday it was 50 and Thursday morning we woke up to a light dusting of snow on the lawns. Weather like that is a little too drastic for me...but nonetheless I love it!

5) Its a fun time of year. With back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving...and my birthday, Fall is just a fun time for our family.

Well there you have it...the many reasons I love Fall. I hope you enjoy this time of year as much as I do!

A wedding, a hospital visit and a new way of life...

Yes, it has been over a month since my last post. That month went by so fast, I can't even believe it. I did, however, get my pictures hung, pantry cleaned out, some exercising in and I've started to eat better (which I'll explain here in a little bit).

So, what have we been up to this last month you ask? Well let me tell you! First let me give you a little background information. For my birthday this last year James bought me a Nook (you know the electronic book from Barnes and Noble). I love my Nook and I use it even more now that I have Connor because its easy to use when I'm nursing him. Also, because of Connor, I have been trying to lose my pregnancy

weight. So I was looking through the online bookstore to find a new book to read when I came across the book

"Skinny Bitch," whose tagline is "A no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous." How could I NOT read it? I wanted to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous. Lucky for me, my Nook lets me download a sample of the book for free, so I did. I read the first 2 chapters, which were on how bad soda, coffee, alcohol and refined sugar are for your body. The women who wrote the book give it to you straight, they don't sugar-coat anything and they use a little foul language, which actually made me laugh. So after reading the sample and laughing out loud a couple of times I thought, "What the heck, I'm gonna buy it." Little did I know how this book would put me on a new way of life, I didn't have a clue what the rest of the book would be about, or I never would've read it. Since reading this book I have decided to not eat meat anymore. The graphic images the book paints of the way animals are raised for human consumption made it impossible for me to look at meat without it turning my stomach. The book explains how these animals are pretty much stacked on top of each other, unable to roam free in the pastures, treated inhumanly, injected with all kinds of steroids and hormones to get them to grow bigger and faster, and then slaughtered in the most unclean, nasty environments I never dreamed possible, all for the sake of MONEY. The bigger and faster they grow the more money the ranchers make. Even if I could look past all of this, the book makes a strong point of explaining that what you are eating is a dead, decaying carcass of animal. Again...turned my stomach! It's been a month since I've read the book and I haven't eaten any chicken or beef, I did eat some salmon the other night but that's it. I can't say that I feel any better because for the first couple of weeks all I did was trade out meat for junk food. And when I realized that wasn't going to work I bought another book, "Appetite for Reduction." It's a vegan cookbook.

What I loved most about this specific cookbook compared to the other 100 I looked through was, (1) the recipes are designed for the cook who doesn't have hours of time each day to prepare meals. Most of the meals come together in about 30 minutes, which is perfect for me with a 4 month old, (2) the recipes don't require a bunch of ingredients I've never heard of, and (3) most of the meals are around 300 calories or less, which is perfect since I'm trying to lose the last little bit of pregnancy weight. Now I haven't actually cooked anything out of it yet (LOL) but I will tonight and I'm pretty excited about it. So I'll keep you posted on how the recipes taste. Maybe I'll even take some pictures and share a few of the recipes with you! :)

In other news...

On September 6 Connor and I stayed the night in the hospital. He developed croup and the doctors were concerned with his breathing. Everything turned out fine, it was a really long night in the hospital and I ended up in tears a few times (mostly when they were trying to get an IV in him and stuck him 4 different times before finding a vein) but he was released the next day around 3pm. He still has a bit of a cough but he is a happy little boy for the most part. His sleeping patterns could use some work, especially at night, but I'm sure we'll both make it through. He is getting so big! Tomorrow he will be 4 months old, ALREADY!

On September 10 Sabelle got married to Chad. I was lucky enough to make their wedding cake for them. After stressing more then once that I wouldn't get it done in time, (because of a hospital stay that lasted 24

hours when I should've been baking the cakes) it turned out beautifully. Luckily for me, (but not our bank account) James didn't have to work that week and was able to help me with taking care of Connor and then actually helping me decorate the cake Saturday morning. The wedding was beautiful and the bride was stunning. I don't have any pictures of the wedding to post yet because I spent 90% of the wedding walking around the church with Connor who cried for 85% of the wedding. He was NOT a happy camper. I did get a picture of the cake (of course!) and that was it.

Well, for now (since Connor is awake and demanding my attention) that's our update. We had a ton of other things happen during the month that I'll have to post about at a later date :)

Trying to get motivated!

I have a list in my head of things that I need to find motivation for. This blog is one of them, along with eating right, exercising, hanging tons of family pictures up that are just stacked on my desk, cleaning out my pantry, finishing the bedding for the boys' bedroom, etc, etc, etc. I think I will update this blog and hang my pictures today. Perhaps I'll get to the pantry tomorrow which might motivate me to start eating better once I can actually find stuff! And if I could just find a spare 45 minutes a day without a toddler or infant wanting my attention at the same time I might actually get some exercise in!

So speaking of infants, Connor is almost three months old now (on the 19th). If you have read my previous post you will see that I did NOT get this blog updated before giving birth, I warned you that I was a slacker!

Here are some adorable pictures of our new little guy. He is pretty much a twin of his older brother Asher. He was born May 19th at 7:20am via c-section. He weighed 6lbs 13oz (the smallest of the 3 kids I gave birth to) and was 18.5 inches long. Now that he is almost 3 months old he is weighing over 14lbs. He has some tummy issues, the doctors think he has acid reflux. Poor little guy. But other than that he is doing wonderful, growing big and strong and developing his own personality.

In other family news...Bailey has moved back to Utah! I'm so excited about that. He is starting the 8th grade this year at Canyon View Middle School. Hard to believe he is 13 years old now...a TEENAGER! YIKES! I think he is most looking forward to the winter so he can learn to snowboard this year.

Other kid updates: Jadeth is living in St George when he isn't out of town working. James, Jadeth, Jared and Chad all work for the same company and they are constantly out of town working. Right now they are in Bozeman, Montana for two weeks. They are all looking for a new job! LOL Anyway, Jadeth's little girl Jade is getting big and more and more beautiful everyday. Here is a cute picture of them with Connor.

Josten is also living in St George. He is starting another semester of school, at Dixie this time. He is completely committed to working out and staying in shape. I wish I had even a little bit of the drive he has to stay fit and healthy. He loves to ride bikes and hike in Zion. He is hoping to get a motorcycle soon, I guess riding James' motorcycle got him hooked!

Jared is also living in St George with his girlfriend Kimmy. They are expecting a baby in about 6 months (I think, I actually don't know the due date). They are both pretty excited about the baby. One thing is for sure, boy or girl, that little baby is going to be adorable with such adorable parents!

Sabelle is getting married in about 3 weeks (September 10) to Chad Smith, her boyfriend of about 4 years. Right now they will be staying in St George but they both want to go to school so I'm not sure if they plan on staying in Southern Utah or if they want to try some place new and exciting.

Asher is getting so big and so smart! We celebrated his 3rd birthday in June. He loves having a little brother. He is constantly giving Connor hugs and kisses. He hates James being out of town, he is a total daddy's boy. He loves singing Mamma Mia (from the movie) and Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 and he loves stealing my Nook to play Angry Birds. He was potty trained until about 3 weeks after Connor was born. He got really sick and since then has reverted back to Pull-Ups. The doctor says that he will come back to it in his own time but its been almost two months and I'm wondering when that will happen...hopefully soon!

Update on me and James: I was suppose to finish SUU with my teaching degree this December but with the pregnancy that pushed me back. I was going to take a few classes this semester to get back in the swing of things but I'm debating that now. Not sure if I'm ready to leave Connor for a few hours a day yet. I should probably make a decision soon because classes start in a week! I haven't been baking a ton, but I do miss it. I just don't have the free time anymore with a 3 month old. One of these days I will get my online cakery up and going but for now I'm happy just spending time with my little ones!

James is working for a large company that builds metal buildings. The work is hard, physically, but I think he enjoys the challenge of it. He hates being out of town so much, but he loves that he gets to work with Jadeth and Jared. When he is home he loves taking his motorcycle out for rides and he is even more excited to do so now that his nephew Kasey just bought a bike too. But the weather will be changing soon and he'll have to park it for the winter....poor James :( LOL

One of these days I might actually change our blog background and post more pictures that I have missed over the last year of my blog absence. However I don't know when that will be. For Christmas James bought me a Passport hard drive. I was so excited to get one, I had tons of files on my computer for scrapbooking and such that was really slowing it down. I transferred all my files, including my pictures, itunes music, webiste info, recipes for my cakery, scrapbooking kits, etc to this hard drive. My computer was so happy to be free of all that "weight." Then a few months ago Asher was reaching up to the table to get a toy and pulled my hard drive down to the floor. It hasn't worked since. I took it to Best Buy and a local computer store here in Cedar City to see if they could pull the information off of it but no luck. They both told me that I would need to send it to a data recovery company to see if they could get the information off of it. I contacted a company I found online and they told me it would cost me at least $400 to get it the information, and possibly up to $1800 if it was difficult to get to. HOLY CRAP!!!! I need to get into the data recovery business because that is outrageous! Needless to say, everyday I try plugging it back into my computer praying that it will register on my computer just once so I can get my information off of it without it costing me $400!

Well there it is...an update on our family. I'll try (do or do not...there is no try!) to keep this thing updated more frequently. But please don't hold your breath!

HUH????

So how pathetic am I? Its been almost a year since I posted anything on this blog. That's just sad and wrong. I could give you tons of excuses as to why I haven't posted anything but I'll save you all the time and just say that I'm a slacker!

Well it's 4:10AM! You'd think I'd be asleep right now but nope...I'm exhausted, don't get me wrong, I'd much rather be asleep then posting to this blog. Being 9 months pregnant has not helped in the sleep department. I get these terrible leg aches which make it nearly impossible to lay still for any amount of time over 2 minutes. I took some tylenol about an hour ago, hopefully I will be going off to dreamland here in the next little while.

Just wanted to post a quick note to let everyone know we are still alive and well (barely). I'll try to get this thing updated before giving birth but I'm not making any promises because who knows, maybe I'll go into labor later today! (not likely, but a 9 month pregnant woman can hope can't she???)