Disneyland 2012

Our Disneyland trip this year was fun – and stressful – and full of great memories.  We surprised the girls on Sunday morning with the news that we were leaving a day early.  We played at the beach Sunday afternoon and headed to the hotel that evening.  We spent the next 4 days at Disneyland and on Friday we headed to Newport Beach to go on a whale watching tour.

Some highlights (according to me) of our trip:

-Whitney’s tooth falling out in the Expedition Sunday morning while she was eating a yogurt parfait from McDonalds….

-Going on Pirates of Caribbean and having Gracie practically sitting on my lap because the ride still scared her – she plugged her ears the whole time.  We went 2 more times and she finally unplugged her ears and decided it was fun and not scary

-Every time Olivia would start to throw a fit or have a meltdown I would tell her that we were going to go and get on the “beep beep bus” and head back to the hotel – she would instantly give me a strained smile so we could stay at Disneyland

-Olivia kept calling our hotel “the museum”

-Going on the carousel and pretending to race our horses.  We would give them a smack on their backside – the ride operator came over the intercom and asked that we “not hit the horses”.  I wasn’t the least bit embarrassed – I think Gracie was though.

-Going to all of the shows at Disneyland and California Adventure – the girls had such a great time and it gave us a chance to get off our feet.

-Taking Olivia on Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain & Big Thunder Mountain.  She was such a good sport with the bigger rides – she would just sit there slightly trembling and then when it was over she would say “Mom, I liked that ride!”

-Watching the girls faces while we were at the parade in Disneyland – they were priceless!  It was a great ending to our trip there.

-We all had waffle cones we were eating on the curb while we waited for the parade to start and Jeremy’s was dripping out the bottom – rolling down his shirt and onto his shorts.  Olivia fell asleep 3 times while she was eating hers.

-Going to Newport Beach to take a whale watching tour and not seeing a dang thing.  The water was really choppy because a storm was coming in and I think 3 of the 5 of us were two minutes away from barfing before the boat finally docked.

-Renting a surrey on Newport Beach for 2 hours.  Then actually pedaling and finding out that Jeremy’s legs wouldn’t fit under the steering wheel.  We looked like we were in a clown car…..we returned the surrey after 15 minutes.

This is such a mom thing to say, but my favorite parts of our trip were all of the things that happened between the rides.  Waiting in line, walking to the next ride, sitting on the shuttle, etc. – those were the times that memories were made for me and my family.  I hope the girls remember all of the fun parts of the trip and skip past the cranky, stressed out, fighting parts – because those parts definitely happened too.  But that is part of being a family – luckily for us the good times far outweigh the bad.

100 Pounds Gone!

WOW!!!! I woke up on Friday, May 18^th and my scale read 197.2 – for those of you who know me and followed my other blog This Is Me Now – you know that those numbers meant that I have lost 100 pounds.  I have literally been working toward this goal for almost 3 years (I think that it’s been 2 years, 11 months and 2 weeks). 

I haven’t been blogging about my weight/weight loss efforts for almost a year now and I think that it was simply because I was afraid to really share how I was doing – it can be a bit overwhelming to let people into something so personal.  But I’m ready to start “sharing” again because I honestly believe that if I can do it anyone can.  I struggled with my weight for many years, but I now know that I struggled with my weight because I struggled with not valuing myself –  freeing my body of 100 pounds has been liberating to say the least….but loving myself has honestly been like lifting 500 pounds off of my shoulders.  I struggled with my self-worth long before I started gaining weight.  I was just super active in college with volleyball.  I didn’t start getting heavy until the end of 2000/beginning of 2001 while we were living in Albuquerque.  And from that point on I was gaining 10-30 pounds a year until the summer of 2009.  When we moved from Albuquerque to South Jordan I was 220 pounds – I was 185 when we moved there in January 2000.  Ironically, I had gained my “dieters mentality” while we were living in Albuquerque – it was the first time I had tried to diet and when I failed at it I gained back the weight I’d lost and added another 35 pounds.  I have tried many, many different diets…and I would have success and then “mess up” and then I’d give up and start the cycle all over again.  It was an absolute disaster. 

I will share specifics of some of my dieting adventures in future blogs.  I can already tell this is getting a bit long.  So let me cut to the chase of what finally clicked for me……..

At the end of May 2009 we moved from St. Anthony, ID (still miss that place) to Prescott Valley, AZ.  I will go into this in great detail in the next one or two blogs, but I just wanted to share a couple of things that truly changed my life at that time.

1. I joined the YMCA.  They provided childcare for my 3 girls and I was able to go and spend some time clearing my head and taking care of a body that I had mistreated and neglected for many, many years.

2. I made some quick changes to my eating.  It wasn’t drastic or “dietee”.  I stopped drinking regular soda and stuck with diet.  I joined Livestrong.com for free, set up my profile and figured out how many calories I would get to eat each day to lose 2 pounds a day.  From there I just started making small, manageable changes to how and what I was eating every couple of weeks.  Just by doing these things I lost my first 55 pounds.

3. MOST IMPORTANT:  I acknowledged that there wasn’t going to be a quick fix or magic pill that would make me change.  Instead of hating my body and being at odds with it, I listed all of things it had done for me – no matter how much I weighed – with my body I had carried twins full term and they were beautiful, healthy and sweet (I weighed 270 at the end of that pregnancy) I hadn’t had any complications with my delivery; I had also carried my beautiful Olivia full term AND been able to work as a waitress during that pregnancy (I weighed 295 at the end of that pregnancy).  Looking at my body it a loving, compassionate way changed my perspective.  It changed the way I saw myself.  Once I started seeing ME (and being honest with myself about my eating, etc) it was like I was finally seeing myself through the eyes of the people who loved me the most and my Creator.  I was telling Jeremy the other day that I felt just as happy in this picture:

When I had only lost my first 10 pounds and we took the kids to Slide Rock in Sedona, as I did in this picture:

When I was getting ready for date night with the hubs 100 pounds lighter.

Losing weight has been a physical manifestation of my inner change.  Start small – make changes you can see yourself doing for a really long time – and love yourself in the process. 

I can only share what has worked for me – I am not a trainer or a nutritionist – just a girl who found a way to change her body and change her life.

Until next time.

Happy Mudders Day

In preschool Olivia made me a picture and a cute little jar full of things our family can do together for Mother's Day.  She brought my gift home the Thursday before and told me I needed to open it for my "Happy Mothers Day".  So I did, and it was the cutest thing....She was so proud of it. 

So I put this little picture and jar on my nightstand and Friday after we got back from the gym Olivia brings me out her backpack and says..."I have a Mothers Day present for you" and pulls out.....the jar and the picture.  And I acted like I'd never seen them before and she was so excited.  She did this 3 more times before it was actually Mothers Day - once she actually put her hands up to her mouth and said "surprise!".  On Sunday morning she gets up and runs out to the family room and sits on my lap, gives me a big hug and kiss and tells me "Happy Mothers Day" and proceeds to give the same greeting to Gracie, Whitney and Jeremy.   It was the funniest thing.  Olivia gave me her gift first and it was.......a picture and a jar.The twins brought out their gifts that they had made at school and they were so sweet - had one of those poems about their handprints and it made me cry - then they both started crying because they told me they don't want to grow up - they want to be with me always.  And Jeremy bought me the perfect card (he has a secret talent for always finding the best ones) and a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure. Yes!!!  And then, because it was Mothers Day the kids got up in sacrament meeting and sang "Mother I love you", only Olivia sings it "Mudder I love you" and I hope that she keeps singing it that way for a little while longer - all 3 girls are growing up too fast.

Best "Mudders Day" ever!

Here We Go

I have been inspired to start blogging again - I look at my daughters and realize how fast time flies....how many of the things we are doing right now might not seem that important, but being able to look back at them a year or 10 years from now will be important.

The last time I blogged I talked about myself. I AM one of my favorite subjects, but I might hold off on my all-about-me post until later.

Now, onto the girls. Gracie and Whitney will be finishing the 2nd grade in another month. I cannot believe how quickly the school year has gone - this year of school has not been all it was cracked up to be. The girls requested different teachers and they got them. The teachers they started out with are now not their current teachers (but both girls are still in different classes).

First Day of School

I didn't realize that the "drama" that comes along with being a girl started so very early. They are both doing well in their classes - both have their own B.F.F.'s along with each other and both have requested to be in the SAME class next year. Jeremy has reminded me REPEATEDLY that he thought it was a dumb idea in the first place to have them in separate classes and "Maybe next time you will just listen to me...." I tune out after the beginning of that statement because he says it so often. It is hard being the lone wolf in a house full of chicks.

Gracie & Mr. Jacobson (he transferred in January and we dearly miss him!)

Whitney, Tricia and Gracie

The twins were baptized on February 4th. It was one of the best days of my life. I couldn't help but reflect on the sweetness of their spirits and all of the amazing experiences I'd had because I have the privelege of being their mother. And everyone is right - they do grow up too fast. They are now counting the years until they get to be in YW and do baptisms for others. Then they ask me how old will I be when they are 12, and then I tell them that we don't need to worry about that right now (38!).

Gracie and Whitney played basketball this past winter. They were on a great team, learned a lot, had fun and won the championship. They each scored a basket this season which was a big stinkin' deal - I'm convinced that their athleticism will not truly kick in until they are around 14 (which I reminded Jeremy of REPEATEDLY during each game). They are taking the summer off from basketball and will be on a city swim team which they are really excited about.

This has been a big year for Olivia too. She is almost finished with her first year of preschool and has had so much fun. She is such a funny little girl. She is full of kisses and hugs for me each morning and she always asks me what we are doing that day. "Mom, we going to the gym today?", "Mom, I going to preschool?", "Mom, we going to Target? I need to look at the toys."

First Day of Preschool

Just being herself

If Olivia could live on chocolate milk, peanut butter sandwiches, corn dogs and gogurt she would be a happy girl. At least 2 or 3 times a week she will ask for a corn dog for breakfast and then gives me a sigh when I tell her we don't have corn dogs for breakfast.

She went into Sunbeams at the beginning of the year and she loves it. She will come home and tell us all about the things Jesus created. The week they learned about the Holy Ghost was a memorable one for me. I was taking Olivia to co-op and it was at a house I hadn't been to before. I was reading the street signs out loud and kind of having a running commentary about where we should turn, etc.
Olivia: Mom, I knew that we were supposed to turn here!"

Me: You did? How did you know that?

Olivia: The Holy Ghost told me. He tells me what to do and that Jesus loves me.

Seriously melted my heart.

We are heading to Disneyland in a couple of weeks and at least once or twice a day Olivia will ask us what our favorite ride at Disneyland is and then proceed to tell us her favorite ride (she was 2 the last time we went & her memories are closely related to the pictures from our trip) - she has been doing this for the past 2 months. I think she might pass out from the excitement when we actually get there.

Disneyland 2010