Cabo

As you can tell, we're back from Cabo and missing the sunshine. It snowed off and on today here in Rexburg, and the once-visible grass now has a light dusting of the cold white stuff. Thankfully, my skin is holding on to it's sunkissed glow and I'm still feeling my vitamin D boost from the week. Although it got a little chaotic at times with the 3 boys and houseful of people, it was a much needed vacation. Our Idaho winter has been long and cold, and we're REALLY looking forward to springtime! My mom will be making me a picture CD of all the pictures we took during our South of the Border vacay, but here's a little sneak peek for what's to come:

This is Gabe's first pool experience. He absolutely LOVED it!

This was our last night at the house, and I was soaking in as much pool time as possible. Gabe even enjoyed the hot tub!

As soon as I get more pictures, I'll post them. Gabe is now an international traveler AND a crawler! He just up and crawled the day before we left, which was a total shock to me. He'd been rolling around like crazy up until the night we got to Utah, and when he was sitting on the carpet and saw something he wanted to play with, he just started crawling! He sometimes forgets that he's mobile and will get upset if I walk away while he's on the floor (which I think has to do in part with his recent separation anxiety), but he sure is fast once he starts moving! We've already moved a lot of our stuff down to Utah, which has helped us with baby-proofing our house until we move next month. Why must babies grow up so fast?! I don't know if I'm ready for this!

*T

The Biggest Losers

Ok friends, I've been juggling back and forth as to whether or not I should post this, but I need some help. What I'm about to share is very personal, but I think the only people who care about or even read this blog are close friends and family, so I trust you not to be judgemental :)

Back in November, my dad challenged us to become healthier. Between my post-baby weight and being overweight to begin with, my challenge was to lose 45 pounds. Ross experienced some 'sympathetic weight gain' while I was pregnant, and he gained weight during the summer because he was always on the road, so his goal was to lose 47 pounds. My dad provided us with Nutrisystem food, and we have from November 15th until March 13th to not only lose the weight, but to also do a 10K in less than 60 minutes and do a set number of situps and pushups without stopping. I've lost about 27 pounds so far, and Ross is down 32 pounds. We feel great and we're stronger than we have been in a long time, but we're down to the wire. We've actually stopped the Nutrisystem diet because of the higher fat content of the food, and we're cooking our own food. I'm trying to keep my calories below 1400 a day and my fat to 15 grams a day. Luckily, the trainer I'm working with (or rather, the trainer who's killing me 3 times a week) at World Gym introduced me to livestrong.com, and I LOVE this website. I can enter the foods I eat during the day, and it helps to calculate my daily calories, fat, protein, sodium, sugars, etc. It also calculates the calories burned during the day with different exercises. I can burn 340 calories a day just by lugging around my chunk of a baby boy! Anyway, this is where I need your help. Ross and I need ideas for high protein, low fat/low calorie meals and snacks. There's this great place in Idaho Falls called Winco, and we had an entire cart full of tons of fresh produce, whole wheat goodness, chicken breasts, tilapia fillets, and anything else we could get our hands on that was healthy and yummy. Oh yeah, and we got it all for $180:) I don't know what I'll do without Winco! Well friends, this is me BEGGING you to share your recipes. PLEASE. We need ideas! We are in love with our George Foreman grill... all we do is slap on a frozen chicken breast or tilapia fillet with a couple spices and BAM! Healthy, delicious goodness! But seriously, I can be a little more creative than that. Please friends. PLEASE. Our prize for losing the weight and hitting our goals is also very personal, but I will tell you that it will change our lives. We are already making better choices, and we would love for you to help us out by sharing your healthy recipes. We are so grateful for those of you who've supported us in this endeavor. We're working hard to obtain these goals, and I PROMISE to post pictures when we get there! We're gonna look awesome!

Thanks friends.

*T

Daddy Post

I have heard that some people have had trouble looking at the video below. If you go on my Facebook page you can see it in better quality.



follow this link

*Ross

Daddy Post

I should do this more often. I gave Gabriel a bath today after he threw up AGAIN! Well he was happy to be in the water. It is amazing to see how much he has grown and matured even over these past couple weeks. He is starting to do this funny cock his head to the side thing which is hilarious. And he is discovering new consonants and ways to make noise. He is getting so curious grabbing at things and starring inquisitively. And of course, as you can see, he loves bath time.



*Ross

pictures!

Now that I'm working for my dad, I've acquired a new laptop that allows me to actually update my blog! Wondrous! We had a lot going on over the holidays, so I wanted to make a quick picture post. Gabe is growing up so fast, and it seems like he's changing from day to day. He loves to mimick us, and he's a champ at saying "mama" and "dada". We're not sure if he knows what they mean, but he seems to repeat "mama" over and over again when he's fussy and wants to be held. Who knows?!

I turned on the TV the other day and saw that Regis and Kelly are having a beautiful baby contest. I figured I'd snap a few shots of my own beautiful child to see what I could come up with. This is one of my favorites.

One of my dear friends, Maria, had a voice recital/concert right before Christmas. She's in grad school in Colorado, so I haven't seen her in a year and a half. Our voice teacher joined her for a few duets, which is how we found out about the recital, so we surprised her! We had so much fun catching up, but I miss this girl so much! Love you Maria (I know you're blog-stalking me)!

She'd never met Gabe before, but he obviously loves her!

This is Hannah, me, Elise, and Gabe at a little Christmas get-together. We were laughing because the power had just gone out and we were in complete darkness. You'd never guess Ross couldn't see a thing when he took this picture!

Hannah matches the blanket on the piano, Elise and I match one another... and then Jordan is just off to the side enjoying a cup of cider. We were trying to sing carols while Hannah played the piano and Elise held a flashlight. We were laughing because Elise ended up proving that she couldn't sing and hold a flashlight at the same time... which is why I'm helping her:)

I thought I could post more than 5 pictures, but blogger isn't letting me. Can anybody give me a few tips on how to load more than 5 at a time??? I still have more pictures to share, so come back soon!

*T

paradise

Our Home Teachers came on Sunday and gave us the lesson based on Elder Uchtdorf's message "Hold On a Little Longer". During the lesson (taught by 16-year old Daniel), we were asked why it was even worth it to endure through trials. The first thing that came to my mind was a scripture found in The Book of Mormon in Alma 40:12 :

"And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow."

I then explained that, during my mission, we taught many lessons about the Plan of Salvation. This particular scripture refers to the Spirit World and those who will be rewarded with "paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace". Those of us who endure the trials and continue to live in righteousness will be received in this state of happiness. No matter how difficult our trials may become, if we just hold on a little longer, we will know the worth of enduring to the end. I then likened this to childbirth. During my pregnancy, I (like most women) endured just about every pain and heartache typical of carrying a child: nausea, heartburn, weight gain, back pain, swelling, heightened emotions, headaches, stretchmarks, and the overall discomfort of being pregnant. But, like most women, I endured through the pregnancy, labor, and delivery (involving even even more pain and discomfort), only to receive the most wonderful reward: my sweet son. My work was only beginning, but enduring the trial of it all rewarded me with one of the greatest blessings of my life. The same goes for our journey here on this earth; no matter what trials may come, if we but endure them in righteousness we will soon enough rest from our troubles, and from all care and sorrow. I know that there will be work to do once we cross through the veil, but it will be the most important work we can do. Life is a test, but we are not alone. We have help from family, friends, church leaders, and our Father in Heaven. Stay faithful, my friends. Stay strong, and you will receive your reward.

*T

Thank you, Ms. Streep

So I have this fantasy that I will one day meet Meryl Streep. In fact, I had a dream last night that she was at a book signing and I had a one-on-one conversation with her. She asked me what I do with my music degree, and when I told her I teach voice, she gave me a big hug. I literally woke up with a smile on my face! She is my absolute favorite. Yes, she lights up the big screen and is listed as the greatest actress of our time, but I love how she is a Mom. I've seen her give interview after interview and, although she has a passion for acting, she looks at it as her job. That's just what she does. Yet, when asked about her family, her demeanor changes. She becomes gentler, there's a little sparkle in her eye, and her smile is oh-so-natural. I've never seen her talk about her family in a "ho-hum" sort of way, like she sometimes does when she answers the same monotonous questions about her latest movie. You can tell that she's passionate about her family and never tires of talking about them... yet she doesn't exploit them. In fact, she had this to say about the millions of dollars given to those like Brangelina and JLo for the first pictures of their newborns:

"One thing I learned very early on is when you’re famous, you lose your right to privacy. And, if you promote your children, if you have them photographed, then they lose their rights. But, if you do not have them photographed and (do not) sell them to OK! magazine, they have the right to… privacy and citizenship."

"They (paparazzi) can follow me, take a picture, whatever they want to do. My kids, no."

Now, I'm not exactly a celebrity in any sort. But I love my child and I appreciate any mother who loves and respects their children. I appreciate Meryl Streep for her talent, her natural beauty, her passion for her work, and her love for family. I sure hope I get to meet her one day. Here's to you, Ms. Streep:)

*T