Articles of Faith

For the last few months the kids have been working very hard learning The Articles of Faith. For those of you who aren't members of our church, the Articles of Faith are thirteen statements of our beliefs. We started teaching them the kids in order to prepare Kyler for Baptism. In our church kids are old enough to be baptized when they turn eight. Kyler will be 8 in a little over a year, so with 13 Articles of Faith to learn, we thought we should get started. I didn't really expect Tayden and Ady to learn them as well, but we taught them to all the kids, one each month. Ady and Tayden learned the first one so easily that we decided to reward the kids each time we all get one memorized. So far they have learned the first four and we almost have the fifth one down. Some of the rewards they have earned are a new movie (Ratatouille), going to Chuck E Cheese, getting a new game, etc. Last month we recorded them saying the first three, but the videos were saved on Dave's computer so this is the first chance I have had to post them. Enjoy :)

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7784343046994299607]

It took so long for that one to upload that I decided to just post that one for now.

More later.

Shrinking!

As many of you know, I have been very overweight for the past few (6) years. After I had Tayden I was put on a couple different medications that made me gain A LOT of weight. That coupled with having 3 kids in 4 years caused a big fat me.

Well finally I have been able to start losing big time. After I had Ady I was able to lose a few pounds right away (and I had only gained 10 during the pregnancy with her, so it was a good start) But I never can lose much weight while I am nursing, so no matter what I did I couldn't lose anymore after that. She nursed a long time, but when she finally stopped I started to see the weight steadily fall off.

Since I stopped nursing her about a year and half ago I have lost over 30 pounds, the majority of that in the last 6 months. But it wasn't until I pulled my winter clothes out last month that I really felt the results. All of my long pants and jeans were way too big and I couldn't even wear them with a belt! I was thrilled. I had a tote in the attic with some old pants that had gotten too small, but that I really didn't want to let go of. I was so excited that they fit now! When I see pictures of me recently I don't hate them as much.

Now for the best part! When I went to buy new jeans (which I had to pay full price for since its jean season) I just grabbed some that were one size smaller and bought them without trying them on. When I got home to try them on they were too big!! And not just a little too big, like really too big. I was really surprised! So I took them back and was able to buy pants 2 sizes smaller than I had previously been wearing!! Needless to say I have been wearing that pair of pants everywhere. I was also able to buy some shirts that were one size smaller. :)

So in order to keep myself motivated I decided to post my results here and keep a running total of pounds lost. Please realize this is hard for me. I never wanted to admit to anyone I used to know how fat I had gotten. I avoided showing pictures of myself to anyone or having pictures taken of me for that matter. But lately I decided that I don't want my kids to know that I don't like who I am, so I am trying to force myself to be honest and happy with who I am. I even hung pictures up in the house of me with the kids that were taken recently. I want them to know that I am not ashamed of me.

So there you have it.

So far I have lost a total of 40 pounds and 2 pants sizes (probably around 5 inches). As I lose it I will update my total on the fat tracker link on the right side of the main page. So please come back and be my cheerleader! I need all the help I can get.

School Pictures

The boys got their school pictures back a few weeks ago and they are not great.  Kyler's is almost identical to last years with the same cheesy fake grin.  Both boys have their eyebrows raised oddly like the photographer suggested to them that that might be a good idea.  I am surprised that Tayden's is so bad since he usually does a really good job smiling for pictures.  I think next year I won't buy school pictures.  It is too much of an unknown.  I cant be there to tell them to smile right or see and approve the picture before I am stuck with $30 worth of cheesy grins.

So here they are. Please post a comment to let me know what you think.  Are they as bad as I think they are?

Kyler

 Tayden

I took Ady to get her picture taken at about the same time so I would have nice portraits of her too.  Hers turned out excellent.  She looks so grown up.

I spent a little more than I had planned to on Ady's pictures, but I wasn't expecting them to be so great.  I couldn't pass them up. Doesn't she look so old?

Bigger

On the way from church yesterday, Ady was looking very sad in the back seat. I asked her what was wrong and she told me

"I wish I was like you and Daddy."

"You are sweety. You are just like me and Daddy," I replied.

"No!. I want to be JUST like you and Daddy!"

"You are honey."

"No I'm not! I want to be big like you and Daddy!"

"You are a big girl Ady! And did you know that you are getting bigger everyday?"

"Not big enough. I want to be bigger"

So I decided to try to change the subject and tell her how wonderful she is and how much I love her. She wouldn't let me. She pouted all the way home. When we got inside we told Daddy and the boys about our conversation. (They had beat us home. Dave has meetings before church so we drive separately.) Dave took the same approach I had and told her how big she is and what a good girl she is and we love her. That wasn't what she wanted, but she was pouting less. She reasserted her desire.

"I want to be BIGGER!"

So Kyler said "I will help you!" and picked her up. I thought that would be a disaster and she would scream, but it was perfect! She laughed and cheered and was so happy to be "bigger".

She let him pick her up and carry her around for a long time. They were both giggling and having so much fun. It is so nice when the kids get along! So often she just screams at Kyler and he pesters her. Tayden and Ady usually get along, but sometimes she gets mad at the boys so quickly. They play more rough than she wants to.

It was a refreshing change. There wasn't much fighting at all yesterday. I love to see the kids getting along so well and having fun together. Its the reason I wanted to have them close together in age. I never had that sibling comradery and I always longed for it. As an adult my sister and I finally have some of it, but as kids we didn't. As the kids get older I am seeing it more and more.

I hope it will continue and that they can always be Best Friends.