Resolutions Update

It's been almost a month now, and it's time for a little update, here are my resolutions and how I'm coming on them!

Strong Mind:

• Some sort of teacher education training/class/book. Not started, but I'm thinking about getting my pe endorsement, I LOVE doing pe.
  
• Read 1 book a month DONE, I read Al Capone Does My Shirts...a great kid's novel. I love getting suggestions from the kids I'm subbing for! Children's novels are perfect for me because I get obsessed with books and can't put them down, so if they're too long it's not good news for everything else in my life:)
  
• Read to the boys daily Maybe not every day, but most...although it's mostly to Noah, I need to get better about reading to Jacob, he's just so into putting everything in his mouth!
  

Strong Body:

• Lose my last few pounds (15) by March 8th (my b-day) and maintain for the rest of my life! heehee I've lost 6 pounds so far, right on track!
  
• Work out 5 days a week to keep healthy bones, muscles, organs to be able to live long and thrive! I feel like this is my weakest area, which is weird, because normally I LOVE working out and have great workouts, but this hasn't been the case on a regular basis. I need to improve.
  
• Focus on eating healthy in order to preserve my health long term I have been rockin this one, there are always healthy meal options ready in the freezer for my family and I--even if they don't always get chosen over McDonalds by Andrew, atleast they are there for him.
  

Strong Spirit:

• Fall in LOVE with Jesus! I want Him to be my best friend and for me to fully rely and trust in Him! I want to be here, but I can't say that I am yet...I need to really working on this relationship
  
• Take on some sort of leadership role at church...maybe something in children's ministry? We went to visit the jr. high group and are looking at geting involved there.
  
• Spend time daily praying for my children and family. No, I have not done this, and I think I'm going to edit this to be praying weekly to make it more realistic for me.
  
• Allow God to change my heart to have a cheerful and giving heart towards my family Please change me God! I still need a new heart!
  

Strong Relationships:

• Build relationships with new friends from church/family friends We've been spending lots of time with different friends and been enjoying it, but I'm still craving that deep, close relationship...not to scare anyone away:)
  
• Spend time investing in other people's lives...giving on myself and teaching my children to give as well. We've made several meals for other families and trying to bless others, but I still have a long way to go here!
  
• Spend time weekly investing in Andrew and our relationship We have gone on several date nights, but haven't gotten to spend some good time together because when he's home, I'm gone, and when I'm home, he's gone. I want some good quality time together just to be.
  

Here's just a few more random ones:

• Have Noah fully potty-trained by January 31st. Yay! He's doing great! He tends to save his poops for nap/night time when he has a diaper on...but that will come, he's only 2 1/2! He hasn't had an accident for ever!
  
• Teach the boys the importance of being active daily and nourishing their healthy bodies While we do encourage this, we still do allow little treats every now and then, but that's what it's all about! Noah's still been getting out and getting exercise, but not every day like I would like.
  
• Pay cash for a new car This is looking very good! We're thinking within the next month we'll have accomplished this!
  
• Save enough money to buy all our new furniture and decorate our new home with cash Well...we have bought a lot of new furniture, and put it on our american express. BUT...we are paying it 100% off this month (our first statement, does that count?) Dave would not be happy...but we are starting financial peace next with our church.
  
• Put pictures in all my scrapbook pages. Well...ah, no. I did put pictures on four pages, but I've scrapped way more then that without pictures since then...hmmm... I need to get better about this!
  
• Finish nursing to make it a whole year (April 1st) I think I'm on my way! It's been 10 months now!
  
• Do something bigger then just our family...something to help others in the world Any ideas? I really do want to do something still, but don't have any ideas...

Well, that's my update, not a horrible start, but still a lot of room for improvement, especially in my spiritual side of things...you can pray for me!

Bittersweet

I was a little sad this morning when getting ready for work. I pulled a pair of nice J Crew dress pants out of my closet I had gotten for Christmas from Andrew's Aunt Karen, excited to wear them for the first time! They were  a little tight at Christmas when I tried them on, so knew they would fit great now! Well, I put them on and was sad to see this will probably be the only time I'll get to wear them and many other new, beautiful pieces in my closet because they are falling off! Andrew pointed out that this was a good thing because it meant I was losing weight, and yes, it is, I need to be excited about that, but I have so many pieces I won't even get to wear! And that makes me sad...but I guess now you know what to get me for my birthday, Andrew! A new wardrobe! 

I just realized I probably should have posted this on our weight loss blog, but I haven't posted on here for a while so I needed something! 

A Slow Morning

We started off with a slow morning this morning. Both boys woke up early, so we put them back to bed until 8:00. Then I got up with them and let Andrew sleep in. Of course there was a little dusting of snow on the ground, so Noah wanted to go play in it. He went out and ran around on the deck, and Jacob wanted to so bad, but there just wasn't enough snow to make it worth getting him in all his snow stuff. So poor Jacob was stuck by the window watching his lucky brother out playing.
I had a full 15 hour day of volleyball yesterday, but my team moved up to 7th in the whole region! That's amazing as it's most of their first year playing! We played our last game for 2nd in the region, but my poor girls had just played four games that went to three, that's a whole four hours of volleyball without one break, so they just had nothing left to give me. They did great and I'm so proud of them, though a little tired from our long day yesterday.

Well, both my boys are already ready for church, I guess it's my turn! Have a great week everyone!

Laundry

I'm not sure what's gotten into me lately. I guess I can't say that, because that would imply that there was a time when things were different, but things seem to be especially bad lately with that growing mountain of laundry in our room. I'm actually pretty good about doing the laundry, something I don't mind at all! It's just the folding and the putting away that are killing me. I just got done putting 5, yes 5 loads of laundry away. It really doesn't take that long...especially if I would just do it when I pull it out of the dryer (which would save the re-dry to get all the wrinkles out:). Can anyone relate or is it just me?

I guess the only good thing is that we wear more of a variety of our clothes because we must rely on what's clean. This is actually helpful at times, because I definitely have my favorites for the boys, but they have SO many nice clothes! We have been so blessed to never really have to buy anything for them because they get the nicest hand-me-downs from an amazing family! They have a boy who is a year older then Noah, and a mom with AMAZING/expensive taste...which works for me! Those of you who know me know one of my flaws is labels on clothes...gap, nordstrom...don't they deserve the best? Now, if I was the one buying their clothes, they would living in Target clothes, but hey, don't judge my boys designer jeans, because I don't buy them! It does make me mad sometimes though when they have more designer labels then I do...

Oh, and here is a link to homemade laundry soap Heather gave me, it works out to about a penny a load...I may just have to try it sometime. http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm

We Have...

I was making a protein shake with Noah right before church today (for Andrew after his workout) and we were out of bananas. I said, "Oh man, we're out of bananas!" Noah said, "We have milk, we have kiwi, we have chicken, we have soup, we have peanut butter, we have candy (from Grammy he got in the mail:), we have oranges..." and just kept saying all the things we do have. What a sweet reminder to be grateful with what we do have instead of bummed about what we don't:) Even if a vanilla peanut butter banana protein shake would have been better with a banana.

Catch Up

It has been a busy week of working for both of us, Andrew starting back to school for the last time (yay!), and buying way too much furniture (thank you Costco). It's crazy how fast life goes. I feel a little out of control right now, but my goal for today is to get organized. We have been going from one thing to the next and our house is showing it. My parents are out of town this weekend and Andrew is working. Jacob is sleeping and Noah is infatuated with a new train I just bought him that is battery operated, so it's time I go be productive. We had some friends over last night and I still haven't cleaned anything up...sorry Mom!

Jared stopped by before he left town for school in Minnesota. I'm so glad he got to see the boys since it's been an while, and I'm sure will be a while again! Good luck Jared!

My Goofy-Looking Boys

Jacob deserves a post...he's been crawling up a storm, and really starting to have a personality. He'll spontaneously laugh at something he thinks is funny, and is in love with Noah. He follows Noah where ever he goes, all around the house. He is so fun now! Here's a video of him...warning, both boys look very goofy-looking. We didn't go out of the house today, we had a friend over:)

The Gruffalo

Hannah gave Noah "The Gruffalo" for Christmas and he loves reading it. He has pretty much the whole thing memorized. The Gruffalo is like the European Eric Carl books Hannah assures us.

Friends

I have been struggling lately...I want a friend. Not just a friend, friend, we have "friends," but I want a family that we really can be close friends with! Here's my wish list...someone very close by (within walking distance), a family who loves the Lord, a family with children the same ages as mine, someone who goes to our church, someone who likes to be active and do fun things, someone who Andrew clicks with too, someone I can call at any time of day (and as many times as I need to) about anything and just basically all-around fun people to do life with! Oh, but not a really "needy" friend, if that makes sense.

We have met some cool people in our church lifegroup, but no one else has kids, so that's hard. So there it is...if you would like to fill this position, or know of anyone who can, please let me know.

Random

Here is a random post since it's been a while. Here are my two boys in their matching sweat shirts that my grandma Jean made for them for Christmas. So cute, thanks Grandma Jean! You gotta love those iron ons and hand made gifts! How cute is Jacob's little hand on his brother? He really is in love with Noah. Noah is in the bad habit of taking his stool and climbing into Jacob's crib, which Jacob LOVES!!! Us, not so much. Can you say spanking?

Noah has been in music class for a few months and seems to really like it. Though he and all the other kids (except for Felix who Noah knocked in the head) never seem to actually sing in class, Noah sings the songs all the time on his own! When they get to play different instruments, Noah without fail chooses the sticks. Which we have at home. Yeah.
This is Noah and his friend Cade, who we are having over again tomorrow because they just had too much fun. Noah is actually playing with his friends and having full on conversations. So cute. They are so funny to see playing together. Noah has gotten to an age I am really enjoying. Oh, and he can play games now which is fun too.

Success!

Well, it's been a little over a week, and I think we can officially say that Noah is potty-trained! He has done such a great job of telling us when he has to go. Though we've had three or four accidents, at one point we had a four day streak accident free and he even told his teacher at church that he had to go, quite a breakthrough if you ask me! He is still wearing a diaper at nap time and night time, though he's stayed dry through all his naps (minus a few poops we think he's saving up for then;) Good job Noah! We are very proud of you! I know the picture's a little much, but look how proud he is! He kept saying, "I go big poo poo!" I got the picture idea from Jon and Kate plus 8...too funny. He's gonna love it later on.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad is 54! And a very young 54, in fact, his Wii Fit age is 46, something he's very proud of. And he's in such good shape! He keeps losing weight and being very consistant with his eating and excercising. We even went for a run the other day and I noticed a huge difference in his running ability! Way to go dad, keep it up! We are so thankful for all of his wisdom, love, and just being a great friend and support as we go through life. It seems like he always has some sort of Godly wisdom right when we need it and we have really appreciated that. We also have such a great example in how he lives his life with integrity and how he treats others. Thanks for being you, Dad!
In other news, we had to say good-bye to Hannah this morning, and we already miss her! We had fun playing Settlers yesterday, just the three sisters. It will be a long 7 more months, but will be so fun to have you back again Hannah! Have fun and enjoy every moment of your grand adventures...and try not to miss me too much, ok?
Believe it or not, those faces are not staged, it was something Nicole said...can't remember now, but so funny then! Oh, and speaking of Nicole, she's lost 15 pounds this month! I started making meals for her and freezing a bunch of stuff, and she's been working out twice a day! Way to go Nicole, we are so proud and excited for what's to come, 2009 is going to be a huge (or shall I say small) year for you!

Potty Training

It's the new year, so that means time to start on my goals! Noah came as a first priority with his potty training. He was ready several months ago, but we were not. I can't lie, diapers are just convenient! This is our third day of going at it and we've only had 3 accidents, and he hates them! He doesn't like to be wet, so that's good! He's been going when we ask, but today he's told me three times already when he's had to go and gone! Tell me these are not the cutest bun buns.
Jacob has been crawling all over the place and pulling himself up on just about everything...it's crazy! Noah didn't even start crawling 'til 10 months, and Jacob's only 9! He flashes this guilty smile quite often:
This is right after I was helping Noah go to the bathroom, I came out to find him in the trash chewing on the HobNob wrapper...He is always such a smiley, happy, sweet boy! We are so thankful for him and can't wait to see the little man he grows up to be.

This picture is of "my two boys" as Noah calls them! Playing on their new train table! Thanks Grammy! We are going to glue it down soon because somebody keeps wrecking it...

Our New Blog

Health is important to both Andrew and I, so he decided we should start a blog to help to keep us accountable to our goals. If you want to help keep us on track for our goals, feel free to check us out! Or leave us a comment and you can join us!

http://boriaslimdown.blogspot.com/