Has it really been this long???

I have seriously been horrible about writing on this blog. I was just looking and realized it has been over 6 months since I last wrote. A lot has happened in those 6 months too. I will just catch you all up on the most exciting things, especially because that is all I can really remember right now.

Ryan finished his year of preschool. He loved it! It was so much fun to watch him grow and mature this last year. He became a little more independent and enjoyed doing things on his own more. He also started reading a little. He is such a smart little monkey. He is excited to start Kindergarten next year and keeps asking how much longer he has until he does start. I still can't believe that he is old enough to be in school, but I know he is going to do great.

We finally got answers about Mari. They weren't exactly the answers we were hoping for, but it is nice to get answers. We found out about 2 months ago that she was in fact growth hormone deficient. On a scale of 1-10 of how much growth hormone she was producing she was at a .5. I will admit I cried like crazy the day I found out. I was so sure that everything was going to come back normal (like they always have), so to find out that it wasn't was hard on me. We had to do an MRI a few weeks later to see if there was an explanation to why she wasn't producing the hormone. We found out from that that she actually has an unusually small pituitary. The pituitary is the "Master Gland" of the body and controlls so many organs, like your thyroid and adrenal glands, and reproductive organs. We were worried that more than just her growth hormone levels were going to be affected and that things were going to be more complicated. We went to the doctor just a few weeks ago and to our surprise everything is fine, and for right now we just have to deal with doing growth hormone treatments. We should be getting started on those probably this week. It is a little crazy to think that Mari will actually be getting bigger and not be our little itty bitty anymore.

Other than all her tests and finding out the answer to the big question, she is doing great. She seriously makes us laugh like crazy. She loves to pretend to be a kitty or doggy and will often talk to us as a doggy or kitty. She loves to do whatever her big brother is doing too. Even though she hasn't grown physically yet, she is getting to be such a big girl. She talks really well and is learning so much.

Alan is doing good as well. He is still working hard. He ran his first 5K last weekend and did really well. He cut his time from when he runs in the morninings by 4 min. He has inspired me to start running too and we might even do a 5K together in a few weeks (if I can get ready by then).

I am still working at Alan's office 2 a week and still like doing it. Other than that, nothing too exciting has happened to me personally in the last 6 months. I have just been enjoying eveyone else's adventures with them.

Hopefully I can be better this year about posting more and putting up more pictures. We have an exciting summer planned with a lot of family, so we will need to get those adventures posted.

New plan of action

I totally feel like my blog is becoming my weight loss soap box, but what are you going to do? So, I have a new plan of action... again. I was on facebook last week and saw a friend from high school was in a contest for loosing the most weight. Curios, I looked at the site. The results people had were incredible! They all lost weight through a program called Live the Life. I had heard about this program a few months ago from my cousin who also had some great success. I had looked into the program and it was a little costy, but since I am now a working woman I thought I would look into it again.

I did my research and talked to my friend and cousin to see what they both really thought of it and if was an easy program to follow. They both loved it and totally recommended it. I figured I am sooooo sick of being obsessed with my weight and it sounds like this program really has it totally laid out for you all the way to doing your shopping list and meal plans for you. I think for me to loose the weight I totally need that. Plus, the fact that I am paying for it I hope will help keep motivated. It costs a good chunk of change, but honestly I don't buy stuff for myself very often, and I think it is OK to be a little selfish when it comes to my health and happiness.
This program is a 12 week program, so we will see how it goes in 3 months. Most people loose 10-20 pounds in those 3 months, so we will hope I will have that kind of success.
I am actually hopeful with this. I think for the first time I feel like I will actually reach my goal and get myself healthy and back in shape.

This time I'm for real

So a few months back I wrote this inspiring and motivated post about how I am really going to loose weight. It lasted for a few weeks, but then went down hill. I have a new plan of action that I hope really works this time.

I was looking at a friend's blog and saw that she has another friend who is also trying to loose weight and she is taking the approach of writing about it on her blog. She has weekly weigh-ins. I thought that was genius, so I am going to steal that brilliant person's idea and do the same thing. I am hoping that by doing that it will actually hold me accountable, and I will be embarrassed if for 3 weeks in a row I don't loose any weight at all.

She also wrote her trials with doing it and her approach to how she lost the weight. I thought that would be good too because then I could get support from my friends and family on the hard weeks, and I know there will be a lot with the holidays coming up.

Here is my plan of action, and if any of you have ideas out there please share.
1) I am going to weigh myself only 1 week. I have a tendency to do it every day.
2) I am going to stop eating after 8.
3) I am going to eat on smaller plates in hopes of cutting back my portion sizes.
4) I am going to do some form of physical activity every day. My goal is to work out 5 days a week, but the days that I am just sooo tired and can't get myself on the elliptical I am going to at least do toning like crunches and push-ups.
5) I am going to write down everything I eat.
6) I will write on the blog 1 week with my weight loss for the week. If nothing else it will get me to write on the blog more!
7) I will take 1 day a week off from everything! I can treat myself to one day a week of not worrying about what I am eating or how much I weigh.

That is my game plan. I really have the goal to loose 35-40 pounds by next summer. I have my 10 year reunion and figure that is great motivation to get myself back in shape.

Like I said, writing about it on here is totally for me to get my bum in gear. If you don't want to read about my weight loss journey I don't blame you, but if you want to go on this adventure with me come aboard.

I do promise I will write about other fun things too. In fact I need to post about Ryan's birthday. That will be coming soon!

Another Mari update

Last weekend we went down to Utah for another doctor's visit for Mari. This time I went down with no expectations, because whenever I do the doctor tells us we need to do more. That is exactly what happened at this appointment.

She has grown, but again not enough to take away the worry. She is 16.3 pounds and 27 in. Again, remember she is 2. She is about the size of a 1 year old. She had put on about 1 1/2 inches since her last visit back in March, but the doctor told us that it really should be double that.

So, we are back to the running more tests phase to try to rule things out. We have to do the dreaded 4-hour test to check her growth hormone and then get her checked for cystic fibrosis (I'm sure that is not spelled right). We also have to take her to a pediatric GI doctor to make sure we aren't missing anything in that area.

The doctor really put the fear in us telling us that we need to be getting her to eat more. He told us that if we don't we are going to have look into doing a feeding tube. The way he put it was that we are giving Mari the chance to eat on her own and put on the pounds herself, and if she doesn't she fired and WE will put them in her. Needless to say, I would much rather not have to go that route. I hate the thought of my baby going through something like that. We have been buttering everything and eating a lot of french fries and everything else that is not good for you (doctor's orders!).

That is the update as of now. Hopefully in a few weeks we will have some more answers once tests are done and more doctors are seen. Until then send the cookies and anything else that is full of fat our way!!!

Our Crazy Summer

I realize it has been a long time since I have posted anything. This summer got crazy. It has been fun, but crazy. Starting in July we had family here all the way through August. I love it when Alan's family comes to visit. The kids probably love it more because they really have been blessed with great Aunts and Uncles. I thought I would just give a quick run down of our craziness, and then that way I won't be judged too much for not posting anything for awhile.

I already posted about our little Mari turning 2. That was a pretty big event. At that same time Alan's brother David was in town for a few weeks. We had a lot of fun with him being here. He helped a lot with the kids and we played some mean games of Scum. We also made a day trip up to the Tetons while he was here. I am not a huge fan of the outdoors, but it really has been fun seeing my kids get so excited about seeing the animals and throwing rocks in the water. This trip we went to String Lake and Alan and the kids went swimming. Ryan was in Heaven to say the least.

I also finally painted my basement this summer. I have been wanting to get rid of the boring while walls we had down there. My dad came up and we took a Saturday and painted them blue. It ended up taking us a lot longer then we thought it would, like twice as long, but I totally love the outcome. I still need to decorate, so once that is done I will post some pictures.

A few weeks after David left Alan's sister came out to visit for about 3 weeks. It was also a lot of fun. I have to say I love Melissa. I am very lucky to have great in-laws on both sides of the family, but I have a great respect for Melissa. She is honestly so giving and has always made me feel so welcome in the family.

She did us a huge favor as well while she was here. I was offered the opportunity to work at Alan's office for the month of August since one of their secretaries was going to be in Europe for the month. I was really worried about what I was going to do with my kids, but Melissa was so willing to take them those 3 weeks she was here. I honestly was so grateful to her for that. I had a lot of friends who took them too the days she couldn't (Shout out to Kirsten, she had them the most), but it was nice those 3 weeks to not have to worry where they would be.

I had a lot of fun working with Alan. I will continue to be there go to girl if one of the secretaries needs time off. I loved being in the office with Alan and being able to see him whenever I wanted. I will say though, that my respect for mothers that work went up through the roof. I am so thankful that I don't have to do it full time. It was great to do it for a few weeks, but I really missed my kids. I am blessed that the office is so great, and once school started I was able to bring them with me for half the day. Ryan and Mari loved it and everyone in the office seemed to enjoy having them there too.

That is the gist of our summer. We had family around and did some great playing with friends. I was a working woman for a few weeks. It has been a fun summer, but I think I am ready for things to get back on schedule and calm down a little.

Ryan and his buddy Charlie playing in the swimming pool. These 2 seriously crack me up.

Mari with Uncle David up at String Lake. I love her Cheesy smile.

The muscle men swimming in String Lake.

Mari turns 2

Last night we finally got pictures downloaded, so now we can share the pictured from Mari's Birthday. Our little girl turned 2 on July 8th. I still can't believe that she is 2. I can still remember the day she was born like it was yesterday, and now she is turning into a little girl.

We had a fun day on her birthday. We went to the library with Uncle David, who was visiting from Ohio, and then went and got some ice cream from Reed's Dairy. That night we went Ryan's T-ball game and then to Winger's that night. Mari was in heaven because she got to have her very on Iberts (root beer). That I'm sure made her birthday alone.

The next night my parents came up and we had pizza and opened presents. She was in heaven having an uncle and 2 grandpas and a grandma there to play with her. She was quite the little charmer, as usual, and made everyone laugh through out the whole night. It was a fun night for a fun little girl. We are so lucky to have her in our family.

Here she is with her cake. It was Pink, which is her favorite color. I had to make the "2" blue though, because that is Ryan's favorite color.
Sitting in her chair from Grandpa Johnston, also Pink, and her new My Little Pony.

She got a princess doll from Grandma Kris and Grandpa Oppie Oppie. She is loving princesses right now.

This is her new bike she got. It a tricycle, but we can steer it for her since she can't quite reach the petals yet. Once she is a little bigger we can take the handle out. It is awesome and she feels like such a big girl riding it.

Happy Birthday!!!

Today is Alan's 30th birthday, so I thought today would be a good day to say how lucky I am to be married to this man.

I honestly feel so lucky to have found a great man like Alan. He makes me laugh daily and does such a great job taking care of our family. He is one of the hardest working people I know, but still makes a real effort to be home at a decent hour so he can have time with the kids.

The other thing I love about Alan is he does such a great job making people feel comfortable and like he is their best friend. I remember there was a time when we were still dating and I visit taught this girl who was feeling a little left out amongst her roommates. She lived in an apartment full of gorgeous girls, so they got a lot of attention, especially from the opposite sex. One day my roommate Jodee and I decided to take her out to Jonny Carino's for dessert. Since Alan was working there at the time we requested him as our waiter. I pulled him aside and told him to make her feel special and to FLIRT with her. I was so impressed because he was so kind to her and was so sincere about it too. He complimented her and talked to her individually, but did not come across fake at all. On our way back to Rexburg this girl told me how lucky I was to have found such a great guy, and I had to totally agree.

I have to give a quick shout out to my in-laws, because they are the ones who raised and molded him to the person he is. This goes to my brother and sister-in-laws too. They are such great examples of what I hope my kids are like with each other when they are older. They have so much love and respect for each other, and most importantly they love to PLAY with each other. I know they had a hand in making Alan the person he is today as his parents did.

I know everyone says that they married their best friend, but I really did. We love to laugh and play together. He always puts my needs first. I am so lucky. Happy birthday Alan. I love you!