MIA

the last 2 weeks have been pretty chaotic with family, church, travel, and just life in general! thus, i have been too tired or didn't have time to blog. my parents came for the weekend, and then we went back to visit with them while ryan went on a business trip. we had our primary presentation *which was so awesome!*, we had get-togethers, we had birthday parties, we went on a trip to ryans grandparents, we had halloween parties, not to mention, the other daily activities, like attempt to clean, feed the boys, and feed this munckin : )

my fitness schedule suffered pretty bad over those 2 weeks as well. over a 14 day period, i got 3.5 workouts in. i felt pretty nasty by the end of it. i dont classify myself as being addicted to exercise, but i sure do enjoy a good workout. i didnt even have time to log those workouts, but they were pretty lousy and so not really worth documenting. but for my own purposes, i did do weights and a few work out videos.

today was a new day though! i went to the gym and pushed myself when i felt like giving up. and it felt good. so this sunday, i will have my fitness recap for this coming week.

surprisingly though, i lost 1 pound over those 2 weeks. i definately need to eat better. that is my main problem i think. too many parties/get-togethers with too many sweets = bad timing for weight loss/toning up. ill take what i can though.
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mackenzie is 10 weeks old now! how crazy is that? she has slept through every night for the past 2 weeks, except last night. so ive been feeling pretty good! she is just getting cuter and cuter every day! aaaaaaaand chubbier and chubbier! i love her little rolls. but seriously... they are not so little anymore. i adore chunky babies, so im happy to have little mackenzie packin on the pounds! she had her 2 month check up last week and she is 12 lbs 8 oz. she was 7.3 when she was born so she is getting closer to doubling her birth weight! she is tall and chunky and just as healthy and perfect as can be! she is smiling like crazy, and you can tell she already loves tucker and cole so much! i cant wait till she can play with them.

cole also had his 2 year old check up at the same visit. his portion of is visit wasn't so pleasant. im so glad my mom came to help. he escaped the room like twice i think, and then screamed and threw fits a majority of the time. BUT we found out he is as healthy as a horse and the doctor could not believe how muscular he was. he just laughed to himself when he saw cole's calves. that kid is a haus man! he seriously always has food in his mouth, and is climbing, running, jumping, throwing anything and everything. he is so very active! we had his birthday party while my parents were here for mackenzie's blessing at church. ill have some pictures for a later post once i get them from my mother in law. speaking of which, i got my camera today! so i will be able to post more pictures for family/friends/whoever else! cole is also getting 4 teeth, his 4 canines, so he is acting a bit like a canine himself. he has been pretty grumpy and irrational over a lot of things, mostly random. and his fits are ca-razy!! but i know what a sweetheart he is, so im just blaming it on his teeth. cole will sit and "read" books for SUCH long periods of time. im so blessed to have 2 kids that LOVE books so much. cole is a little tender heart. he will just come up to me, or really anyone, and just start softly stroking their face or arm. today, mackenzie was laying on a blanket on the floor by me while i was doing the dishes. i walked away for a minute and found cole sitting by her with a pile of books holding her hand and looking at a book. such a sweet moment!

as you can tell, he was not happy to be at the doctors office : ) and the shots sure didn't make it any better.

playing nice! : ) cole loves his new car holder/road that my friend carolee made for him for his birthday

tucker is getting smarter and smarter every day. he LOVES practicing his alphabet. his new thing is to practice his letters, numbers and shapes on an educational dry erase board i got from hobby lobby. he just traces over and over again, and then writes random letters he is good at writing, then asks me what word it spells. he is such a good helper with me and i just love love love hearing him talk to cole. ill pretend like im not paying attention when they are playing, and tucker will be talking to cole in a sing-songy voice using please's and thank you's explaining why cole shouldn't slam a dumptruck into tuckers eye. he is a great brother. and hes a great fighter. the boys are still pretty crazy, always picking fights with each other, but they usually end up calming down and playing nice together. tuckers new thing is making a machine gun noise with his mouth. it is a discovery i kind of wish he wouldn't have made. he made the noise by accident, so now he is CONSTANTLY doing it. he i will point his finger "gun" at cole and make the noise and then cole will just start flipping out screaming and throwing a tantrum because tucker is "shooting" him. but, someday, i know cole will figure it out too, and they can "shoot" each other. gotta love those boys. tucker was a pirate for halloween and he loved it! cole was a cowboy, and mackenzie was a candy corn ballerina type thingy my mom got her. they looked so cute! more on halloween to come!

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random factoids:
*i am determined i am going to learn how to sew
*today i finished a book for the first time in years! its about motherhood and its called "i didn't plan to be a witch" by linda eyre. and i loved it!
*im going to start a new book tomorrow about running. i dont remember what its called, maybe running for women, by kara goucher? i got it from the library and im pretty pumped to read it.
*i want to change my hair.

*im going to time out for women with 2 of my friends from church this weekend (and mackenzie)!!! its going to be great!

the keys on our keyboard are starting to stick, so if i happen to spell something wrong....or i dont have proper punctuation, grammar, or usage...i just want you to know, its the keyboard :)

8 lovely weeks

Miss Mackenzie Leigh is 8 weeks now!!!

can you believe it? this little beaut is following in her big brothers footsteps and just growing up on me. i love her to pieces. i thought that having a girl would be different, and i would have a harder time bonding with her. i was so wrong. this sweet little girl is just perfect. she had a rough day today, but it was definately out of the norm. she is always SO happy and easy going. just eats, sleeps, poops, smiles, and looks around at the chaos occuring around her (tuck and cole...ehhh and me :). she has been smiling since she was 3 and a half weeks old! she is just a happy baby if ive ever seen one! she is holding her head up really well too! she usually sleeps through the night, sometimes she wakes up once, but every once in a while she wakes up twice (last night). it has been the sweetest experience to have a little girl in our family now. tucker and cole just adore her! they are always wanting to help me take care of her, hold her, and possibly squeeze her eyeballs out. seriously... cole scares me sometimes. he gets that look in his eyes and makes a face like how i used to feel with our hamsters. you can tell he just wants to give her the biggest hug. ahhh. we all just love her sooo so much. the boys have been fighting with each other more after mackenzie was born, but i can't contribute that just to her being here. i think its a boy thing, and i think its the ages of the boys. just gettin' rowdy. and i just love seeing ryan with her. you can tell he loves his little girl. this 8 weeks sure have been memorable!
we LOVE you mackenzie leigh!

walnut gathering

so these pictures are 2 weeks old, but i couldn't resist a post dedicated to that day. in between general conference sessions (lds.org), we went to ryans grandmas house to pick walnuts. however, it is more of a gathering than a picking motion. : )

it was a beautiful day!!

the boys loved it

mackenzie slept for the first half. once she woke up, i carried her around in my baby bjorn. look at those cheeks

this was the first time for the kids and i to pick walnuts. ryan used to do it as a kid, so he was excited to share this experience with us. you gather walnuts, take them to a gas station or a walnut station of sorts, and they hull the walnuts, then weigh them, and pay you according to the weight.



isn't ryan good lookin'? dag'gum!!

love these boys!

we filled up about half of the back of ryans truck

once we got to the gas station, ryan shoveled the walnuts out of the back into the hulling machine.

the machine was pretty loud, so i it scared cole a little bit. but they loved watching it all happen. and here is a look into the storage part of the gas station. the green bags on the left are the hulled, bagged walnuts.

ryan wanted to do this with the boys do they could do some work and make money. he wanted them to see that working hard brings results, and in this case, some benjamins. just kidding, i wish! so he explained that the boys will be able to pay tithing (10%) to the church, and then split the remainder and put half in their piggy banks for saving, and buy a toy and/or a treat with the other half. they made $23!!! here's tucker with the receipt for the money they made, $20, and a pack of gum he bought.

cole bought some starburts with part of his money! : ) mackenzie and i hung out in the car while they went in to buy their treat.

it was so fun to get out in the country and to enjoy the beautiful world Heavenly Father has blessed us with. It was a wonderful memory to make with the kids, and athough i dont think cole completely understood the money making part, i think tucker learned a little bit about hard work and its pay off. i love those tiny faces!!!

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heres a onesie i decorated recently! i bought it all from hobby lobby- the zebra onesie and the iron on heart and jewel appliques. it was fun to do, but somewhat depressing at the same time because i realize the little gems arent going to stay on very long. but since this picture, ive washed it and she has worn it again without any losses!

mackenzie i getting so big! i can't believe it. look at that smile! i feel so deprived of not being able to take pictures of her and the boys.we took our camera to best buy on friday, and to our surprise, we forgot ryan had bought a 2 year protection plan for the camera. so its getting fixed!! yay! im so glad ryan realizes he is married to a clutz and plans ahead : )

sunday fitness recap 3

this week, my fitness schedule looked like this:

• monday-2 miles run, 5 miles bike


• tuesday-3 miles walk, 1 mile run, 15 minutes weights


• wednesday-rest day


• thursday-2 miles walk, 2 miles bike, weights for 30 min., 1 mile run


• friday-4 miles, running outside


• saturday- rest day


• sunday-rest day

pounds to go until prepregnancy weight: 8 pounds

pounds lost this week: 1

my friend carolee goes running once a week (fridays) at 6 in the morning with some of her friends from church. she invited me to come with them, so i finally went this past friday. i didnt think i could get myself to do it, but i woke up at 530 friday morning to go to the bathroom. then i noticed a lot of lights on in the house, only to find tucker awake and dressed and ready (shoes and baseball hat included) hiding under a blanket by ryan's side of the bed. ryan had been out of town for a week, so he was planning on taking friday off for work to spend time with us. he told tucker we were going to go fishing, so tucker was just a WEE bit too excited. after i got him back in bed, i was wide awake. my mental process went something like this.. "i should go running with them since im already awake...wait, im awake at 530 in the morning...its time to go back to sleep...ill be happier if i sleep more... ill be happier if i workout before ryan wakes up though, because he wont want me to go to the gym on his day off...i wonder if i can feed mackenzie before i go... alright, i can do this, i can do this." so i hurried, threw on my running capris and a long-sleeved tshirt, grabbed some animal crackers, and ran out the door. i was so proud of myself that a. i went in the dark and in the cold, b. that i went WHEN it was still dark! if anyone knows me... im a sleeper. i need my sleep. but it was totally worth it. i had fun with carolee! the other 2 girls were way ahead of us, and carolee probably would have been up with them, had i not been there. im still pretty dang slow at this point when it comes to long distances. i am in better shape though then after i had tucker. i remember not being able to run a mile straight for a long time after tucker, and on friday, we ran 4! so im pretty excited about that. not to mention, it was great to run outside! i haven't ran outside since last fall. its been too long crisp, fresh, nonrecycled, nonsweaty smelling air... too long. : )

sunday fitness recap 2

camera is still broken : ( i just can't get myself over to the store to get it checked out. i know im going to kick myself in the pants for not getting in done sooner, but, life is a little more chaotic with 3 kiddos. i can't just go somewhere at the drop of a hat. it takes like 3 hours to get ready to go anywhere with the kids. thats a bit exaggerated, but you get the point.

so here are a few pictures i love that we took with the webcam lately

i love her precious little hair pulled back in that clip! so cute.

heres my little roly poly! she sure is gettin chubby and i absolutely LOVE IT! she is so squishy. she might take over the nickname we gave cole when he was a baby. we called him squishy, but she sure is on her way to being crowned squishy II.

so my fitness schedule this week looked like this:

• monday- 2 miles walk, 2 miles run


• tuesday-rest day


• wednesday-the firm dvd (51 minutes cross training)


• thursday-2 miles walk (my knee was hurting), 20 minutes weights, 1.83 miles on bike (i wanted to bike longer, but they paged me down to the kids zone to pick up my sad little mackenzie-she was famished ; )


• friday-rest day (right knee still hurting)


• saturday-1 mile walk, 4 miles run.


• sunday-rest day

pounds lost: 1
pounds to go until preprego weight: 9




*a personal opinion: sunday is always a rest day for me. with my religion (along with many others), we believe in keeping the Sabbath day holy. i know i am not always perfect in doing all the things that i SHOULD do on sundays, but i reserve sundays for a rest day focused on my family and myself-spiritually, mentally, physically (giving my body a chance to rest and be rejuvinated). i believe that i will be blessed physically by putting God first on the day He has asked us to give to Him. its not always easy, especially when i have weight loss in mind and i want to work off my love handles. but i know he knows my goals, and i know he will provide the blessings if i obey what He commanded us.



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its coles 2nd birthday today!!!! i cannot believe my sweet little baby is 2! time is just passing me by! since ryan is on a business trip, we post-poned coles bday party for a later date. today, we got together with some of my inlaws to have a birthday cake i made for cole. i got the recipe for the cake and icing off of melskitchen cafe. it was definately not the healthiest cake i have ever made, but it was worth the effort and calories. and i mentally justified it as being good fuel for a run tomorrow ; )

cole is such a sweetheart and i am SOOOO thankful to have him in my life, and to have the chance to be his mother. happy birthday cole!!! i love you! we all love you!

once we have the party, ill get some birthday pictures up. ive been borrowing my inlaws camera every once in a while over the past week. we got some pictures and video of tonights cake festivity for cole. he is such a ham! i love his sweet little smile. until then, heres a baby picture of my sweet little man.

love, love, love these boys!

dear life,

please slow down. im trying to soak you in, but you are going way too fast. i want my kids to stay little a little bit longer. stop making them grow up on me. well, just take your time. please. im going to miss these days so SO very much. my heart is full, but it also aches with every passing day. i am so thankful for the past and present, and i am thrilled for the future. but, i sure am going to miss those little fingers and toes, the tiny feet running rampant around the house, the high-pitched voices, and made up words. although it gets crazy, messy, and many times frustrating, my life is so full of joy. and it is because of my dear children and my amazing husband. i am grateful. thank you.

-lizzie

preschool words of the week

CRACK.me.up.

tucker has made me laugh pretty hard over the past couple of days.

"parsleeve": noun. the other day i was cooking scrambled eggs. tucker was asking me what i was putting in. i told him, salt, pepper, and parsley. he said, "oh, parsleeve... like shirt sleeve. parsleeve..."

"bowhawk": noun. today at walmart they gave samples of a new flavor of gum and a rubber bracelet. in the car tucker was playing with his bracelet. he pinched it in the middle and said it looked like a bow. "like a bowhawk mom. like when you tie your shoes. like at lisas wedding. the bowhawk" i could not stop laughing. i kept asking him to say bowhawk again and again. and it continued to make me laugh.

now for a safety question... i bought baby proofing door knobs for my bedroom door (since mackenzie sleeps in there and i dont want the boys messing with her during nap time) and then on a closet door that has stuff i dont want them to get into. i have older baby proof knobs that ive had for a while on our front, back, and garage doors, and they have never been able to open those doors. well, somehow cole has figured out how to take the new ones off. he squeezes it with both hands, and it just splits open and falls off. ever time i put it back on, he just pops it off again. so today, i thought i would try putting one of the new ones on the back door and putting an old one on the closet door (i figured the different sized knobs on the actual door might make a difference in his ability to squeeze it and thus open it up). this afternoon i was in my room taking care of mackenzie for a few minutes. i heard the boys talking for a while, but then i realized it got quiet. i couldnt hear the boys. i figured they were in playing in their closet. i looked everywhere and i couldn't find them. then i looked and the back door was open! i was wrong to think that cole couldn't open that baby proof knob on a different door! i couldn't hear them still and i panicked! i ran outside and they were all the way by the back fence. i can't even fathom what could have happened if they would have done that when i was still asleep early in the morning. i got so sick to my stomach! they did indeed get put in time-out for going outside when i wasn't with them (we have a big open shared back yard with our whole culdisac, so i always am with them when they play outside). needless to say, i put the old baby proof knob back on the back door since i know he cant open that one for sure. and therefore... my question is, should i take those knobs back as being faulty? or is my herculean child the one to blame?

sista sista!

my fabulous older sister jacquie has recently started a food blog. it goes hand-in-hand with her new but retro company Everything But The Bubbly. her blog is so fun to read! she gives her homemade recipes that are fabulous, healthy (for the most part ; )) AND delicious! good combo i say! so you should meander on over to her blog and take a look!

http://www.everythingbutthebubbly.blogspot.com/

oh, and you can go look at facebook page, Everything But The Bubbly, Llc where she shows some of the other things she does other than food : )

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i am starting to panic... my camera is still broken.. still haven't taken it anywhere to get it checked out. my brother in law said it is most likely the shutter is closed and won't open up again for whatever reason. it happened to his. they told him it would be cheaper to just get a new camera. ok people... this is my 4th camera in 5 years! i do not want to buy another one! i just want it to not be broken! so... when i muster up the guts to take all 3 kiddos to best buy or somewhere else, we will hopefully get an answer, get it fixed, and get some more pictures up! : )


but the real reason im starting to panic is cole's 2nd birthday is on sunday!!! i cant believe it. i need to decide what we are going to do for his party still. it won't actually be for a few weeks (we are waiting till my parents come to town for mackenzie's baby blessing) so i will have a little bit more time to prepare.

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i went to hobby lobby last week and bought a few things to do some crafts with- canvas', shirts, iron on appliques, and a few more things. soooo once i get my camera fixed, dog gone it, ill show you what ive done! its been really fun!

*side note... i saw online today that there are 82 days(!!!!) until christmas! i freaked. time to get into holiday mode!!!

Sunday Fitness recap 1

since i can't think of a creative title at the moment for sundays whenever i go over my weekly fitness routine, im going to stick to sunday fitness recap for now : )


This week I did:

Monday-Got the ok from the Doc to exercise
Tuesday- walked 3 miles, biked 2
Wednesday-20 minutes of aerobics from "the firm", 45 minutes weight lifting
Thursday-Rest day
Friday-Rest day
Saturday-25 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes weight lifting, walked 1 mile outside
Sunday-Rest day


so i wish i would have gotten one more workout in, but I know that it was probably better that i didn't. i need to make sure i pace myself right now. it is crazy how in just 6 weeks your body can go down the tube. the 6 weeks postpartum is the devil i tell ya. just kidding. i really was so tired this time around that im glad i didnt push myself into being more active during those 6 weeks. but, i can definately feel that inactivity in my body. i feel like im 500 pounds with broken hips and lead filled feet when i try to run! i feel soo awkward and uncoordinated right now. not to mention very weak. but, it will be a fun process to put my fitness knowledge to work for myself.

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as most of you know, i am a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. it is awesome. i am proud to be a member of this church. this weekend we have our semi-annual general conference. it is when we get to hear the living prophet, apostles, and other leaders speak to us! isn't that awesome!! they give us inspirational messages that our Heavenly Father wants us to hear. the 4th session is about to begin at 3:00 pm central time. if you want to watch it too, you can get it at http://lds.org/general-conference/watch?lang=eng

with having 3 kiddos now, it is hard to get to listen and hear EVERYTHING that they are saying, so i am excited to watch all the sessions again online. general conference is so uplifting and make me want to be a better person- in every way possible.

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upcoming post-
yesterday was the first day you could sell walnuts here. we went to his grandma's house and picked enough walnuts to fill half of his truck bed. ryan would have loved to keep going, but the boys had had enough! since my camera is still broken, i borrowed my mother in law's camera to take pictures. later this week ill do a post about our walnut-picking adventure! it was so fun!