60 Minutes a DAY!

A few months ago, I was awake in the middle of the night. I was either taking care of my new baby or just awake because for some reason my brain likes to wake me up in the 'wee small hours of the morning'. When I'm awake in the middle of the night I will sometimes try to find something interesting on TV and on this night I found a an interesting recording of a BYU Education Week session about weight loss and maintenance. I think the person who was speaking was a nutritionist and she spoke about several different studies but what stuck out to me then, and what I still remember was  specifically about people who are successful at maintaining their weight loss. She explained that while the majority of people do cut calories in order to lose weight, not everyone maintains a low calorie diet after they've lost weight BUT that something like 90% of people who successfully maintain their weight exercise for 60 minutes per day at least 5 days per week. I found that to be really interesting and I felt kind of grateful to have heard it because it gave me an idea of what I would need to do to maintain my weight once I reached my goal weight.

I decided to see if I could find more information about the studies that speaker had spoken about and so today I did an Internet search  for "Study about maintaining weight loss" and the first result was for the National Weight Control Registry. I was pretty sure this was one of the groups/studies that she had sited and the section titled National Weight Control Registry findings pretty much confirmed that for me.

I wanted to share this because it gave me hope. I hear a lot, from lots of different sources, that it's really hard to maintain weight loss, but the people who are part of this registry have done it! And if they can do it, so can I, I just have to do what they've done. I'm currently working out 5-6 days per week and 5 of those days easily hit 50-60 minutes each. I really enjoy it and I'm figuring if I can just continue to do some form of exercise that I enjoy then I can totally keep the 60 minutes per day, 5-6 days a week, for the rest of my life. I can do this! And so can you.

Little Miss E, 3 Months times 3

E doesn't rhyme with 9 Months, but 9 months old she is!

 She also had a Well Child Check today (and as you can tell from the pictures) she is Practically Perfect in Every Way! Her skin is clearing quite nicely, she can roll, sit up and scoot/shimmy on her bum. She is even starting to rock back and forth on her hands and knees. She just cut her 3rd tooth- top left front- and the second top tooth will be cutting soon. She sleeps amazingly well and plays well with others!

 She has a 50th percentile head. She is 29 inches tall, which puts her in the 92nd percentile for height and she weighs 19 # 13 oz, which puts her in the 70th percentile for weight. 

The baby's infant car seat will accommodate a child who weighs up to 30 pounds and is 30 inches tall. Well, she's no where near the weight limit, but at 29 inches tall the doctor said "So, it's time to start looking into getting a new car seat" and I was able to say "Already done!" and now, I guess, I will install it tomorrow.

Both the boys turned forward facing in their car seats at a year old. But baby E enjoys watching her brothers so much that I decided to let her stay rear facing until she's two, or maybe longer. In this seat she can ride rear facing until she is 36 inches tall and or 35 pounds, I'm guessing it will be her height that forces her to turn around. If I had had this car seat for the boys, and if I had let them meet the height/weight limit before flipping them around, they would have turned forward facing right around their 2nd birthdays. At 9 months J was 29 inches tall- just like E. B was 30 inches tall at 9 months. So I guess we will see if she continues to keep up with her brothers in the height department.

The First day of the First Grade

 Have you ever discovered that you were a superhero?

J has!

Even though he's a superhero, he's still my very first baby and I am having a very hard time believing that he is in the 1st grade! But today he was up bright and early and ready to go to school. If he had had it his way he would have been down at the bus stop an hour early......luckily I convinced him that he needed to eat a good breakfast and get dressed.

 I did let him go to the bus 5 minutes early, if this had been a video you'd be able to hear B say "there's the BUS!" and J call to all the people behind him in line, motioning that they should all come forward and get ready to start the next phase of their lives.

 And with that, they were off!

 Seven hours later, a happy little first grader got off the bus. I asked him if he had had fun, he said that he had because they had played a game. I asked him if he liked Kindergarten or first grade better. He said Kindergarten because when you are in Kindergarten you get SNACKS before recess.

It was rainy today, and so not only were there no snacks before recess but they also didn't get to go outside for recess. I have a feeling, that between lunch at school and a few days of recess on the big kid playground,  the joys of Kindergarten will be nothing but a sweet memory for this big kid!

There will be changes for me this year too. I signed up to be J's Room Mother. Still not quite sure what it entails, BUT I did it. J's teacher named Miss Earl. This is her first class. Technically she is an intern, she will graduate with her teaching degree in December. She has 23 students which is, I think, about 2/3 (or maybe 3/4) the size of the typical 1st grade class at our school. I noticed that no one was listed as the room mother on the volunteer sign up sheet at back to school night, and so I volunteered. I'm sure I'll share more about my adventures in room mothering just as soon as they start.

Family Pictures 2014

 The Lehi Railroad House was built in 1872. We moved to Lehi in 2006 and started building this sweet family!

 This isn't a picture we will print and hang on the wall but I still love it.

 This picture is proof that B can levitate. 

(or at least jump at the perfect time to look like he can levitate)

 So we figured we'd try to help him fly.

 These boys love their little sister and she loves them!

 Another silly picture, to help keep the kids happy and cooperative, we'd do silly things, like stick out our tongues. Baby E did not approve and she refused to participate.

 Brothers!

 My love, my best friend, My Ken and me.

It was Ken's idea to have the family wear superman shirts, I wasn't so sure about it at first but I will admit- it worked out GREAT!

B had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!

 The day before B's 4th birthday we had our family celebration at Grandma Turners house. B was in heaven!

 He was showered with love and gifts perfect for him, books, fire trucks, punching bags, sticker books, train tracks. He was a happy happy boy. THEN he got to eat as much frosting as he wanted.

 The next day he got to have a birthday party. He invited 4 of his friends from the neighborhood- Cousin Craig and Jared also got to come to the party. Craig actually slept over on Sunday night so that he would be there for the party on Monday morning. We borrowed a bounce house from a neighbor. There was a thunderstorm on Monday morning but not having the bounce house was not an option, SO I moved just enough furniture from the front room to make enough space for the bounce house. The kids LOVED IT!

 We love our little B. He is so very sweet and tender. He brings joy to my life every day. One of the things I love about him is that he thinks that he's sneaky, he will crouch down and sneak around the house. I'm sure in his mind if he's crouching then we can't see him. He's got spunk, that little B.

 Last year, while the Turner family was together at Bear Lake, B took it upon himself to make sure the family understood that we should NOT cross the tracks. It's just not safe, because a train might hit you. Two or three weeks ago I took B to the Historic Train Station here in Lehi. I was hoping to get some family pictures taken, and given that my boys LOVE TRAINS I thought taking the pictures at the train station would be fun. B told me that day that he would not cross the tracks or sit on the tracks, ever. Well, as you can see, we got the pictures taken and after only a short time there at the station, B finally started to believe us that these particular tracks are not used very often anymore.

 Today B had his 4 year old Well Child Check. He is 42 & 3/4 inches tall (3 & 1/2 feet) and 44 pounds. He's a solid kid. Lots of muscle and just enough baby fluff to make him super fun to cuddle with.  Our Pediatrician was very impressed by how well B is able to express himself. He can be a little chatterbox at times- especially if you mention trains.

I let them eat cake!

I like cake. If cake had no calories, I would eat it constantly. I bet there is cake in heaven.

So, for B's birthday he wanted a "train cake", and I knew that by "train cake" he meant Thomas. 

I also know my boy and I know that he doesn't actually eat cake very often. 99% of the time he eats the frosting off the cake and then leaves the sad, naked piece of cake alone, on the table. OH THE SHAME!

Knowing that he wouldn't want to eat the cake I made the command decision that he would have no input into the flavor of the cake. So this beautiful Thomas cake was LEMONY! Thomas's face was actually a 6 in inch paper plate, frosted with strawberry frosting ( the cupcakes for his party were frosted with this grey strawberry frosting) and after he blew out his candles I removed the plate and presented it with all it's frosting goodness to the birthday boy. He ate about 1/3rd maybe 1/2 of it, and then he was done. Happy and done. 

 Back in March, I made a DELICIOUS Chocolate Mint Pirate Cake. Chocolate Mint for me, Pirate for J. Sorry Ken, maybe I'll let you choose the birthday cake flavor next year :)

 I was quite pleased with how the pirate ship turned out. It wasn't too hard to make. Two 9x13 cakes, I'd never taken a rectangular cake out of the pan before- only round cakes, and so I was a little leery of how that whole process would go. But I think it was actually easier to get the rectangular cake out of the pan! Then I froze the cakes. Cut the appropriate corners off and a little bit out of the center of the top cake, I then popped that center piece up on the back and TA DA!  (once it's frosted) It's a ship! A delicious, delicious ship........Maybe the baby needs a chocolate mint birthday cake. 

And with that last comment, I realize that I'm going to be making another birthday cake this year! AAAAHHHH We now have a November Birthday! So I guess you'll see that post then :)

If you Give a Boy a Camera

If you give a boy a camera..........He'll want to take some pictures with it.

He'll take a picture of his bedroom.....

 Then he'll see his sister, he'll take a picture of her too. 

 He'll remember that he really likes taking pictures of his sister and he'll take SEVEN more!

Then he'll get tired. He'll lay down. He'll take some pictures of the ceiling.

 When his sister tries to take the camera away from him, he'll take some more pictures of her.

 As he's trying to get the camera away from his sister, he'll see the door mat, it's orange, he likes things that are orange. He'll take a picture of it. 

That will tire him out again, he'll lay back down and take some more pictures of the ceiling. 

 Laying on the floor will make him feel like contemplating life, the universe and everything. While he's not paying attention, his sister will try to attack him again.

 He'll take a picture of the corner of the table

 and then some more pictures of the ceiling.

 and then some more pictures of the baby.

 He'll go find his Mommy, because he remembered

she's making pizza. He likes pizza.

 Seeing the Pizza will remind him that he's thirsty. He'll get a cup, it's orange, he likes things that are orange.

He'll take a picture of it.

 After he finishes his drink, he'll remember that he has a brother. He'll go outside to find him. He'll document his journey with some more picture.

 His brother is playing with some friends.

 The friends have front steps just like ours! He'll take a picture of them. 

 The boys will get thirsty, they'll need some water.

 The water will get spilled. No one will try to clean it up. He'll take a picture of it.

 He'll see a car.

 And then he'll see his feet.

 Wait, is that a bush? He'll take six pictures of it.

 He'll start walking home. He'll document his journey.

It's a long journey. He see's his Dad! 

 He'll take a picture.

 When Dad see's him taking a picture, he'll ask for the camera back.

And chances are, when Dad asks the boy to give him the camera, he'll probably take one last picture with it.

As you can see, Little B got a hold of our camera yesterday. He had the camera for 10 minutes. His first picture was taken at 4:04 PM and the last picture was taken at 4:14. He took 85 pictures. I love that boy. He turns 4 in a couple of days- So be ready to see lots of fun Birthday Pictures (mostly taken by Ken or Me, but who knows, we might just give that cute little kid the camera and let him document his own birthday)