Happy Birthday Kierstin

Happy 9th Birthday Kierstin!!!

It's crazy that when I first met you, you looked like this....

And now look at you!!  Growing up so fast!

Can't wait to celebrate with the family tonight!!  

NINE YEARS OLD!!  WOW!!

Swim Lessons for D

Delaney just finished two weeks of swim lessons.  It was a parent and toddler class.  Daddy took the class with her because putting my swim suit on in front of a crowd of people is not really my cup of tea.  Although it was so hot outside that I sometimes wished I had my suit so I could get in.

  Daddy had a hard time keeping her in the pool.  She'd climb out and run over to the stairs to walk back into the pool.  She loved doing that.  She also despised getting dunked under the water.  It got to the point that when she knew it was coming she'd scream and throw a fit.  She also didn't want to listen to the teacher at all.  Even getting her to blow bubbles in the water was a challenge.  This girl loves the pool, but wants to do things at her own pace.  She's the most strong willed, independent and sassy two year old I have ever met.  She challenges us every single day.  It's exhausting!!

The first half of the class was spent in the big pool working on skills like jumping into her Daddy's arms from the side of the pool, blowing bubbles, floating on her back, kicking her legs, and putting her head in the water, etc.  The second half of the class was spent in the baby pool to play.  The pictures below are of her playing.  Rob's glad this class is over.  He was so frustrated with her 99% of the time.  We even missed two classes because she was sick one day and Jordan was sick the other.  Maybe next year will be better?  I sure hope so!

Friday Photo Dump

My loves

Curiousity

The Queen

Mommy and her girls

My extremely long kid asleep on Grandma's couch

Please Daddy can I have some candy?

My sick baby

Tried and LOVED sweet potatoes!

Doing Bubby's hair

Sister Love

Hollywood Studios

Tired of vacation posts yet?  Oh well, I'm not done yet.  So get over it.  On June 1st we went to Hollywood Studios.  This park is my favorite, but the rain sort of ruined the day for us.

I'm so glad that we took this group picture!  It's the only one we took of all of us together.  This was before the rain came.  It rained A LOT that day.  Like buckets upon buckets of rain.  This was also before Harper's diaper explosion that got all over her outfit and stroller.  First thing in the morning!  Lucky me.

 We went to see Disney Jr. Live that morning.  Delaney loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins so I knew we couldn't pass this one up. 

 Kierstin insisted on wearing her Princess Jasmine costume.

 We visited the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.  The kids could have played here for hours.

 Delaney slid down a giant leaf.  Just a side note.  This girls hair got so curly while we were in Orlando.  I wish it did that in AZ!  But I do not miss the humidity.

Jordan and Kierstin rode on a giant ant.

Sadly I did not take my camera out the rest of the day because I didn't want it to get wet!

Is This Thing On?

I changed my settings so that anyone can leave a comment.  So come on people.  Leave me some comments!  I'm tired of feeling like I'm talking to myself here.

Please and thank you.  I would love to know who's reading...

And because no post is complete without a picture.

Inspired

I've been debating on whether or not I want to put this out there.  Most women do not like to discuss what they weigh, let alone post it on a blog for the world to read.  But I've been inspired by Mama Laughlin and her courage to let it all hang out (so to speak).  So here it goes..

I've struggled with  my weight since I graduated from high school.  I was a dancer from the time I was 3 years old until I was 19.  I was also a cheerleader in high school, so I was very active growing up.  Then it happened.  I quit being active, got married and ate whatever I wanted to.  Then not sure how to properly lose weight, the scale continued to rise.  My heaviest at the age of 21, pregnant with my 1st child, was 214 lbs.  I'm only 5'4" so that number is horrific.  Between WW and JC I managed to get down to a healthy 135 lbs by the time I was 24.  I've struggled through the years with yo-yo dieting.  Up and down, up and down.  I will not blame genetics, but it doesn't help that I'm not one of those girls that can eat whatever she wants and not gain a pound.  To maintain a healthy weight it means I have to work hard at it.  I'm now 33 years old and have had 2 more children.  I'm determined to get this weight off and keep it off for good.

The day I gave birth to Harper I weighed a hefty 199 lbs.  By 7 weeks post-partum my weight was 185 lbs.  That is the day I decided to lose the weight.  I felt gross and needed to do something about it.  I wanted to not only lose the weight again, but to keep it off forever.  I've never been this determined in my life to be fit and healthy.  This is not only for me, but for my kids as well.  I've been using an app on my phone to count calories and I'm eating roughly 1200 calories a day.  I'm also working out 4 days a week for an hour at a time.  I do 30 minutes of cardio plus 30 minutes of weight training, alternating between upper and lower body.  I joined a new gym in February and I love it there.  Never thought I'd enjoy going to the gym, but I do!

My weight today...

153 lbs

That's 32 lbs gone in 16 weeks.  A healthy 2 lb weight loss per week.  I'm still overweight for my height, but I'm getting there.  I'm losing the weight the healthy way and I feel great.

Maybe I'll get brave someday and post some fat pictures.  I'm talking the ugly fat pictures from 2000-2001 after I had Jordan.  I had zero self esteem.  I really wish I would have taken some before pictures this time around, but when I'm fat I avoid the camera like the plague.

Anyways, I plan to update every once and a while with my weightloss progress so y'all can see how I'm doing.  Maybe no one cares, but I'm going to blog about it anyways.

Practicing our serious faces.  Haha!  Love that double chin and those cheeks!  Swoon!!

Besides my pre-pregnancy clothes fitting better then they did before I got pregnant.  I've noticed my face slimming down a lot, as well as my waist.  I wish my @ss would follow suit a little more quickly.

Happy Tuesday!

The Resort

I have to talk about the resort we stayed at while on vacation.  This is a Hilton Grand Resort.  My Dad and Step-Mom really picked a great place.  It was beautiful and we had the best suite there as far as location goes.  

A view from our balcony.  You can see the storm brewing in the background.  They made everyone exit the pool because this storm was coming.

 Another view from our balcony.

 

The kids loved these pools and spent a lot of time in them.

You can see Sea World in the background.  It was directly across the street, but we didn't go there.  We didn't have time and we'll do Sea World in San Diego sometime. 

That middle top balcony is ours.  The window directly to the left of the balcony all the way to the balcony on the very right hand side was our suite.  A-MA-ZING!

 We relaxed and enjoyed eating our meals on the balcony.  Mike, Liz, Denise and my Dad are in this picture.

We also relaxed together in the living room area. 

Grandma and Grandpa brought boogie boards along for the kids to use!  They loved them. 

 Getting a lift from her Daddy.

Jordan would spend all day in the pool if we let him.

 Grandpa John and Grandma D with Harper.

There was a splashpad for the kids to run through as well as a baby pool that was perfect for Delaney. 

I have no idea why they are sitting on the coffee table.

 There was also a playground next to the pools.

Lots of special moments with our family.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to....

My Dad (aka Papa)

 (picture from the summer of 2008)

And to the father of my baby girls.

This man was meant to be a daddy to daughters.  He's so good with them.

Happy Father's Day to all the other amazing father's out there as well.  Including my step-dad and father-in-law.  Thanks for all you guys do.  My kids and I are so blessed to have you all in our lives.

Downtown Disney

While in Orlando we spent one afternoon exploring Downtown Disney.  My favorite part was the iced coffee I got from the Ghirardelli store.  It was so good.  Mmmmmm.  Here are some pictures from that day.  These were taken on May 31st.

We never pass up the Lego Store.

Delaney even picked out a Duplo Snow White Lego set.  It's adorable.  I love the girly Legos.

Harper was so content taking in the scenery.

Delaney LOVES "choo-choo's" right now.  Kierstin was kind enough to go with her.

Who can pass up an opportunity to get their picture taken with Pooh and gang?! 

This picture makes me laugh.  Everyone is doing something so random.

We had a hard time getting her to leave Tigger and Piglet.

A carousel!  Of course they had one and of course Delaney insisted on riding!

Waving to Mommy. 

Attempting to slay the Lego dragon with his new light saber.  This was indeed a fun afternoon.