Bumpsky's Back!

So I just wanted to announce that I'm back in the under 200 club!!!! My official weight as of this morning was 197 WOOT! Feeling great and I'm so happy that I restrain myself on those nights when I'm dying for ice cream. 197 is one pound under what I weighed when I got pregnant with Ruth, so YAY. I just have to keep all this work up and focus on those amazing Banana Republic jeans that I'm dying to fit into again. Of course I am having a psychological battle over this number because I keep thinking, maybe it's just water weight, blah, blah, blah. But a pair of capri's I bought about 3 weeks ago that just barely fit in the waist I now can pull off without un-buttoning!!!! So I really have lost more weight. And if it weren't completely inappropriate I would have posted a picture of me with my pants half way off my bum to demonstrate how less fat I am!

Girly Girl

I have forgotten the joy of having painted fingernails. Today I tried to paint Ruth's fingers for the second time. The first time ended with me removing what small amount of polish I had managed to get on her fingers. This time she sat pretty still while I gave her pretty pink nails...and of course we did her toes too. She loved pointing to her fingers while I oohed and ahhed over her nails. She has started to love getting dolled up. She loves to pick out clippies to put into her hair and now she loves painted fingernails! She's always loved going shopping and looking at new clothes, so it looks like I have a girly girl on my hands! Notice the pink nails below. This is her blowing a kiss.

And this is my kung-fu master, hi-ya! Watch out for his fists of fury!!!

What Does It Mean?!?

I Used to think I took joy in the simple things...

Bet Ya Didn't Know

Vacuuming burns more calories per minute than pilates! I learned that while entering my exercise times into Fit Watch today. So, think about it.

Weight Loss Plans

I've been feeling really great about all the exercise I've been doing and eating all the veggies that I do...but I also feel like I've been over-eating on occasion. Like last night I made lasagna (not that that is really part of my diet rules but we had the stuff and it sounded good...and broccoli is perfect with it) and I had two huge pieces. And the other night I made sliders out of ground turkey on whole wheat rolls -they were super good- and I ate too many of those as well. So I'm going to continue eating tons of veggies and only whole wheat products as well as exercising at least 30 minutes a day, but I've also discovered a new helpful tool! It's called fitwatch.com and it's FREE to use. You can track all the food you eat, they help you figure out how many calories you should be eating (based on your basal metabolic rate and the amount of exercise you typically do) to help you lose weight. They also track your body fat percentage and you make short term and long term goals about how much fat and weight you want to lose. I really like that I can record all the food that I eat and that it keeps track of the calories I've eaten. I think this tool will really help me be more aware of what I put in my mouth and help me know if I'm staying on track with my weight loss goals! Yay for the internet!

Tummy time

Kisses from Will. Ruth is upset because I was impeding her ability to read her book.

I discovered why Ruth has had a runny nose and diaper rash for so long...she got MORE teeth, another set of molars.

Ruth being soft with Will...she thinks his name is soft because we're constantly telling her to be soft with him, haha.

Tummy time, dang he's cute! I think he was trying to look around me to see something outside the window! (look for Ruth in the background)

My Kids

Happy Independence Day!
Her hair is so straight! Ruth has always really liked books but she has recently become inseparable from them. Everywhere we go she has to bring a book. When we go on walks she brings a book. Whenever we get in the car she has to have a book...and she usually likes to bring it into whatever store we're going into as well.

Mommy's firecracker. He's gotten really good at holding his head up and using his legs to stand up on my lap. He can stand for longer and longer periods at a time. It's really funny to watch him practice his standing because you can see how much he puts into it; his eyes focus on a single spot, his fists clench and his arms shake with the exertion.

Ms. Toned Arm 2010. Ruth has enjoyed doing squats along with me this last week as I've been doing my exercise videos.

Mommy's Firecracker against a light background. Speaking of light it just cracks me up how light his eyebrows and eyelashes are...especially since his hair is such a dark brown.

"Lean on me brother, when you need a hand. We all need somebody to lean on."

It must have been really windy while Ruth was out running...or her mother just didn't get around to combing her hair yet. She's been really funny at nap time recently. When I tell her it's time to take a nap she begins gathering things. The other day she got two books, a toy car and her little fox that we call the homba. Once she had all this stuff I put her in bed and she napped happily for 3 hours.

Ruth has become really cute with Will this last week. She thinks that when he wiggles he's dancing and that when he flails around he's trying to tickle her. So she's started to play little games with him and laugh when he does funny things. This gives me hope that they'll eventually be friends!

We're not doing anything this weekend to celebrate the 4th because Brad has to work like a crazy man. He's getting a new computer system installed so everyone has to get trained, plus he fired someone recently and thus is trying to completely train a new employee. So he's been covering lots of shifts for his employees, etc. etc. (For example: today he went to work from 8-12. Came home. Went back to work from 1-5. Came home. Goes back to work from 10 pm until NOON on Monday.)

Sore Muscles

So I worked out yesterday for the first time postpartum...yikes. I did a video called "Boot Camp Training." It involved different styles of push ups, ab work outs mixed in with cardio stuff. By the end of the day my arms started to hurt but this morning I woke up and thought i was going to die! My arms kill and so do my abs. Today I did a video called "Dance Off the Inches." The thing I like about both of these is that it makes working out fun...because I hate to run. I've actually been thinking about going down to the basement to do the dance video again because I liked it so much! So yay for step two in my weight loss plan. I also have a walking buddy, Shirlaine. We're going to go walking occasionally with our double strollers. Hooray, huzzah!

Butterfly and Argentina

So the USA got kicked out of the World Cup today by Ghana. Very sad. But now I can openly cheer for Argentina who I've liked since the beginning! Go Argentina Go!!!


Today after the disappointing soccer game Brad found a butterfly outside. Ruth was totally freaked out by it.

The Last Week

The last week was pretty crazy. Joe, Meg and Brynn stopped by on their way back from their trip to Utah. We were so happy to see them. We had a great couple days being outside, playing at several parks, throwing a frisbee around and picnic-ing...and yes, we brought the doggie along for all the fun.

Brad, Ruth and the dog

My sassy girl

Megan with Ruth and Brynn on the steepest child's slide I've ever seen

They ended up leaving early because I got a fever and had to go to the doctor. I had a weird list of symptoms so it took a long time and several tests and exams to figure out what was wrong with me. After they had done so they needed to get me a shot of the antibiotics I needed to start. I got the shot in the leg and was told to walk around the room to get the medicine moving through my body. As soon as I stood up I got super dizzy and my I couldn't hear anything...like I was underwater. I told the nurse what was happening and she took my blood pressure right away. It took her several tries to be able to get it. She said that my blood pressure had plummeted. Anyways, that was kinda freaky.

Oh, the one good thing that came out of going to the doctor was that I had to get weighed! With my big old sweats and sneakers on I weighed 205...which is 15 pounds less than what I was after having Will!!! So I'm down 15 pounds and have 45 more to go. 45 pounds seems like such a more do-able number than 60...woo-hoo!

Father's Day was uneventful, we went to church, took the dog for a walk and skyped with my parents.

World Cup Anyone?

I am a self-proclaimed "non-sport" person, especially when it comes to watching sports on TV. But four years ago, just after marrying my man, I was introduced to what the rest of the world knows as the FIFA World Cup. This is an amazing event that only happens every four years where the best players from around the world compete for the ultimate soccer trophy. And now I am addicted. The England V USA game today was awesome. But I feel very, bad for Green, England's goalie.

This poor guy let the USA's ball through today. He totally had it (it was practically kicked right to him) and he let it go and it rolled into the goal. Basically, everyone in England hates his guts now.

What's Up

I have neglected to write about all the amazing things Brad has done to our house. Here is photo evidence of one of his projects:

BEFORE: this is a picture we took one of the first times we saw the house, notice the weird closet in the back corner. (we also removed the wallpaper border and painted the walls white.)

AFTER: the closet now goes all the way to the ceiling and has awesome shelves and new trim. I got to pick the paint color. The big shelf that has diapers sitting on it is now used as a changing table for the kiddos it's the perfect height so I don't have to bend over at all. (Thanks to Brian for the idea and Nate for getting the ball rolling!)

Brad also has done a lot of plumbing work so we could get water and ice from our fridge and so that our basement wouldn't flood every time we did laundry or took a shower. He has also replaced all the switches and plugs so that instead of being tan they're white as well as installed ceiling fans in our room and in the living room. And most recently he has sawed off several branches of the tree in front that were threatening the well-being of our roof. That's all I can think of for now.

Here are some pics of what's been up.

Will chilling in the swing, he is getting very chubby!

Ruth and Boudicca playing in the backyard.

Ruth is now sleeping in her big girl bed!

The diet is going well, and I am continually pleased with how well Ruth has taken to new foods, especially veggies. Last night she gobbled up her cooked carrots and whole wheat pasta! As far as new foods that I've made and really liked they include: sauteed zucchini, steamed carrots, (both of which had no butter and only a TINY bit of salt, but a good dash of pepper) and a combo of equal parts Grape Nuts and apple juice that are heated in the microwave for 45 seconds...so good!

Surprise, Surprise, Puppy Surprise

Meet Queen Boudicca. She was born on March 17th so we thought naming her after a great Celtic Queen was fitting. We weren't planning on getting a pooch today, but as we were running around town it just ending up happening. We've been talking about getting a pet for months, and we talked to her owners for an hour to learn all about her and how to take care of her. She's a pure bred black Labrador which is one of the most popular dogs to own because they're so good with kids and easy to train. She's a sweet girl and we're super glad to have her join our family. I call her Buda for short. I'm so excited that we have a dog that can grow up with our kids. She's just two months older than Will.

Updates

My parents came out from Oregon this last week to meet Will and play with us. Here are pictures from our adventures.

Bill Knopp gave us a tour into the canyon, it was gorgeous. Ruth didn't want to share the pear with the ponies. This next picture is of Brad and Ruth in the ancient saunas that people used.

Mom and dad at the top of the mountains.

Ruth playing around with Grandpa

Me and Will hiking to see a waterfall in the south hills.

Ruth enjoying the windy hilltops

Will being a stud

Many of these pictures were taken by my dad, you can see all of them at Lentsphotography.com

So today was day two of "the diet." Yesterday went well, except for the 6 Oreos I ate...they were just sitting on the kitchen table and just before dinner I finally gave in. Today was a funny day and I didn't end up following "the diet" but I still ate healthy food and didn't add butter or mayo or sugar to the stuff I ate (and boy is that hard when you're trying to eat a bowl of wheaties with no sugar). I am the happiest about Ruth's progress; she now eats SPINACH and BLUEBERRIES! I couldn't even get her to eat strawberries a week ago and now she's eating whole wheat bread too! This is huge progress for the little sweetie.

Also, she now sports pig tails. I was thrilled today when I thought of trying them out and it worked. I also cut a few bangs in front which look adorable.

At her 18 month appointment yesterday she weighed in at 22 pounds (25%) and and I don't know how long but it was in the 50%. Other than still not saying many "real" words she is ahead in development and very healthy. She has started to say "daddy" and "drink" and can say "ball." But other than those all her babbling and singing is still nonsense...and funny. The other day she was telling us jokes in the car; she would start to talk, pause, and then chuckle at herself and then do it over and over. She is very good at running, loves to be outside still, and likes to hold Will and burp him.


And the last bit of news is that we officially have a pet. His name is Jeff, see: