The Challenge

I just completed an 8-week 'getting healthy' challenge.  The outline is found here.  There were 7 of us that took part in this challenge which entailed drinking lots of water, eating lots of fruits and veggies, no sugar 6 days a week, exercise 5 days a week, etc, etc.  We earned points for everything and also for our weight loss. 

  It was a great motivator for me!  I've been working out consistently for years now but my dieting goes up and down depending on how motivated I am.  It was really hard only eating sugar once a week.  I'll admit there were a few weeks that I ate treats twice.  But really it was so great to not have something sweet all the time.  I was to the point where I needed it every single day.  But this taught me that those cravings go away quickly.  I really looked forward to Sundays where I would make a really yummy treat and make it special.  I think David's coworkers enjoyed them on Monday since I had to get them out of the house on my non-treat days! :)  Of course there were times it was really hard and I wanted a little treat but for the most part I felt great.  We all know sugar doesn't make us feel good but it's hard to say no.  Knowing that 6 other people were saying no to sugar and not eating after 9 p.m. made it really easy for me to as well!

The results:  I lost 10 pounds and ran a 5k!  I have not been able to run a consecutive 3 miles since I was in college.  It feels so good to be able to do that again.  I trained with my good friend Alison and we ran in a race on St. Patrick's Day morning.  Now, it was this organization's first time hosting a 5k so there were some course misunderstandings.  Because of that I actually ran about 3.45 instead of 3.2.  I felt like I was going to die!  The only real frustrating part about that is that I had a certain time in mind and since I ran longer I didn't make my time.  My goal was under 40 minutes.  When I'd been training in my neighborhood I'd done it in about 38 minutes so I was anxious to see if I'd make it faster than that in the race.  Anyway, since I ran longer, I finished at 40 minutes.  Oh well, I know I would have met my goal! :)

Gold Diggers

Well we had to have some St. Patrick's fun around here!  We brainstormed how we could catch a leprechaun.  

We got some shiny gold paper (they love things that are shiny and gold!)  And made a sign for the front door.

Then we made a shiny little trail that led to some gold placed carefully in our trap!

In the morning we saw the trap was tripped and the gold was gone!

But luckily our little leprechaun left us some shamrock clues that led to our own gold treasure!

The girls also made these shamrock necklaces...

While Anna got tangled in the yarn. 

Two Eyed Anna

A couple of weeks ago Anna had surgery to open up her tear ducts.  They have been clogged since birth.  Normally they open on their own by 6 months (Natalie's did) but Anna's did not so she required surgery.  I'll be honest, I was dreading it even though everyone told me it was so routine and no big deal.  But just knowing my baby was going to be put to sleep and have something jabbed into her eye made me a bit nervous.  However, it all turned out ok.  She was out of my sight for maybe 15 minutes, that's all.  The facility and staff were amazing, it was a great first experience in the surgery center. 

She rode around in this car for about a half hour while we were waiting for the surgeon.  Every time we stopped, she would whine and wiggle for us to keep going.  Behind her there was a huge mural full of pets.  Anna is a bit obsessed with dogs right now so that was perfect.

The Dr. came in and marked both her eyes so he could make sure to unclog each one.

Afterward she was really hungry so we filled her up quickly with bananas and crackers then she ate more when we got home.  Her eyes were bleeding on and off most of the day.  

And the really bad news is that we think she's going to have to get a tube put in that left eye.  It is still clogged and is tearing and goopy.  Poor girl, we'll find out soon what the next step is.

Snowbirds Part 3

Grandma and Grandpa Taylor came down for a visit during Spring break.  We kept busy playing, going to the movies, eating out, and playing some more.  They are buying a house here in AZ and we are going to be renting it from them.  More on that later, but it kept us busy while they were here and is the reason I haven't been posting as much.  There's been a lot going on!

The girls love to climb all over them.  You can see Natalie is lifting up her shirt so grandpa can scratch her back.  They love having their backs scratched while listening to one of Grandpa's famous stories.  When I was little he created a whole bedtime story series about 'Sir George' who was so strong he even had muscles on his eyelashes! 

Grandma bought the girls' Easter dresses and made them show them off--too cute!  We had a great time, come again soon! 

Snowbirds part 2

My sister left Sunday morning and then David's mom flew in that afternoon!  We were so happy to see her and spend the week with her.  David's stepdad, Ralph, stayed at his brother's house across the valley then came to our house toward the end of the week.  We had great fun trying out new stores, David and I had a temple date, we had a preschool field trip, and David and Ralph golfed.  We also just relaxed. A big reason they come here is for the sun so they made sure to get plenty of sun time!

We played at the park a few times of course!

Our farm/dairy field trip was so much fun!

Benjamin got a little fresh with Anna in the stroller...

No, I did not hold the chicken, neither did Natalie.  Grandma is the brave one. 

We persuaded grandpa Ralph to try out the wiggle car-awesome!

Miss Anna content as can be

One morning we played beauty parlor.  I had Barb dye my hair.  I have never done that before other than highlights when we got married!  However, I've acquired some white hairs from bearing children and I was tired of David sifting through my hair to tug them out.  So we went dark reddish brown and it hardly looks any different--but the white hairs are gone!  After that we had grandma trim Natalie's hair so all the straggles are gone.  She looks mighty cute and enjoyed the attention.

Come back grandma, we miss you!!

Snowbirds

We tend to have most of our visitors come in the winter months.  They like to come escape the snow and dreary grayness of everyday life.  Our first set of visitors was Debbie's family.  They came down from Utah for a weekend.  We had a great time playing, laughing, shopping, and of course eating.  My beautiful, talented, amazing niece was nice enough to watch the kids so David and I could go on a date with my sister and her husband.  Thanks Elise!  It was great to be able to enjoy adult conversation without constantly placating the kids!

We pretty much had 2 days and we tried to make the most of it!  We packed a lunch and went to a park, went to the girl's soccer games, hung out at San Tan Mall, and had my brother-in-law's sister's family and my cousin Tara's family over for dinner.  SO fun!

 BIG news!  Cyrena finally learned how to pump on the swings.  This was a major development and we couldn't be more proud.

Great Grandpa Gerstner

February has flown by and been incredibly busy.  We got word early in the morning on February 7 that David's granddad had passed away.  Losing a grandparent is a very bittersweet experience.  We drove up to Salt Lake for the funeral and were able to see many family members we hadn't seen in quite awhile.  It was a sweet reunion even with my sick, sleep deprived kiddos. 

We will definitely miss great-grandpa, he was quite the character and we loved visiting him. We're comforted knowing that he has continued on, is pain free, and is making friends by the minute.  David's grandmother is a saint and such a sweet example to us of unconditional love. 

I didn't even notice while I was taking these pictures that grandpa's portrait is in the background, how fitting.