Weight loss check-in

I don't think I have updated on how I started a new diet plan to help me jumpstart my journey. Mom and I decided to try Herbalife. We were both pretty hesitant to start it, but I am so glad we did. We met with a lady who explained it all to us and made us samples of the shakes and things that we would be eating if we went with the program. I must say that the shakes are DELICIOUS! I really like them and there are so many different ones to make that I don't get bored with any of them. I change them up all the time. The focus of the diet is to increase your protein intake A LOT, and watch your calories. So we were given a calorie goal and a protein goal. I am doing two shakes a day and a dinner. I also do two snacks a day as well. The protein is really filling me up and I am not searching the kitchen for things to eat. I have been on the diet for a week and a half now and have lost 4.8 pounds! I can't believe it!!!

I have also started doing the elliptical machine in our basement at least 3 times a week. I am hoping to do this more often as I go along. I have also allowed myself some cheat meals and that seems to help me feel like I am able to keep with this! I also have tried doing just one shake a day on the weekends and allow myself to eat wisely the rest of the day.

Let's hope I can keep this up-because I am feeling good about what I have lost so far and want to keep it going!

Growing up...

I'm not really sure when Laekan decided he was going to start changing and growing up so fast, but someone can let him know that he can slow down and take a break whenever he would like! Justin and I can't believe how much has changed in the last week with this little guy. After our eventful Monday-it was like he decided he was going to show me who was boss! Yikes, I needed a heads up for that.

Tuesday morning he decided that he was done with us feeding him his baby food. I'm not sure if it is the baby food or us actually feeding him, but after trying all week I have decided it is the baby food! He will let me feed him regular table food that we are eating with a spoon or a fork, but after about 2 minutes of the baby food(which I am shoveling in at a rapid speed) he is DONE. Hitting the bowl and spoon and arching his back in his high chair-he is over it! So this has led us to remembering the first things we fed Taegan and start the self-feeding steps. I wasn't ready for this...he is too big already:( However, he is loving the new food. He ate an entire pancake this morning, cereal bar for lunch, slice of cheese, cheerios, some baby food and some fruit for dinner. This kid isn't looking back at baby food.

Around Monday or Tuesday he decided he was going to start pulling up on everything and anything. He has even mastered climbing the first stair(and then falling back off). He really thinks he is big stuff when he stands and just laughs and laughs while he stands holding onto things. He isn't steady enough to even think about cruising the furniture yet-but we aren't far off I'm afraid.

Friday he decided he was finally going to give in and figure out the sippy cup...and like it! Right now he is getting a splash of juice with water in it and today actually drank unassisted from it. Huge steps.

And finally tonight we graduated him from the bath chair to just sitting on the mat in the bathtub with Taegan...he was a bit unsure at first, but took to it right away!

Standing like a big boy helping Mom unload the dishwasher.

Check us out...this is fun!

I am SO big.


Where is time going?!?

A no good, very bad day...

The story I am going to tell today I am sharing for two reasons: I want to remember all the details and I want to be able to document all of the ups and downs of our lives. With that said here is what happened to us this morning...

I woke up this morning early before the kids, got my workout in, started taking down decorations from St. Patrick's Day, and got the Easter stuff out and ready for when Taegan woke up. She woke up and was ready to help! We got started and then Laekan woke up. I got him fed and he was drinking his bottle while Taegan and I were doing the decorations. While we were working I asked her if she wanted to go feed the ducks before the rain moved in. She was SUPER excited and so we stopped what we were doing and got our things ready. We had an extra loaf of bread, put on our shoes, grabbed Laekan and headed out! She could not wait to get there.

As we were driving there I was telling her that Daddy had just seen a black bear on his way to work this morning and it happened to be at the same intersection that we were headed to. Usually we feed ducks at the pond at the cemetary off of 6th and Gage. This morning as we were driving by I noticed that across the street from that, at the pond in front of Stormont Vail West, there were a ton of ducks and no one feeding them! So I turned around and that was our spot for the morning! We got out of the car, put Laekan in the stroller, got our bread and we were off! There were some hills and the ground wasn't flat at all-so I left Laekan up top in the stroller and Taegan and I headed down closer to the water. She was tearing and throwing pieces and I was too. We were looking back at Laekan and talking to him and he was laughing and smiling at us.

The clouds started moving in and I was tearing and throwing like a crazy lady so we could get it done! Taegan was laughing and having a blast when we started feeling a few sprinkles. I told her we wouldn't melt and she said of course we wouldn't. I handed her the last slice of bread, felt more sprinkles, mentioned that the storm was moving in and the wind was picking up, turned to look back at Laekan and then it happened....

The wind had pushed the stroller just enough and Laekan was barreling down the hill at a fast speed in the stroller!!!! I could tell I was too far away to catch him in time-he was headed face first strapped into his stroller for the pond. I had to jump in and get him. We hit the water at the same time and I pulled him immediately from the water. The water wasn't deep(up to my mid thigh) and I sat the stroller up, got him unstrapped, and climbed out of the water. During this whole time Taegan had lost all control of herself and was screaming and jumping up and down. She was scared out of her mind and had NO idea what to do. She ended up seeing a maintenance man in a van right up by us and started yelling at him to help us. I have no idea why or how she knew to do this, but it saved us all!!

The guy came running and asked what we needed. As I was climbing out of the water I realized my phone was in the waist band of my pants-that was underwater, and that my keys were in the top of the stroller-that went head first into the water! Only by God watching over us were the keys laying on the grass as I crawled out of the pond with Laekan and that my phone was actually stuck in the bottom of my pants and WORKED!!! Amen. We got to the car, grabbed the huge blanket I have in the car, got Laekan's clothes all off, and let Taegan crawl in the car. The gentlemen that came to help had now run inside the building to get a nurse and some others to check us all out. Taegan was still a mess, Laekan was crying and had now calmed down and started making noises to me, and I was running on adrenaline!

Three minutes later I had seven nurses, doctors, and very nice people standing around our car making sure we were okay. At this point Taegan is SUPER worried about the stroller-which was still stuck in the pond and I had gotten Laekan changed into new clothes and a new diaper. I was soaked, but that was the least of my concerns. A nice guy got the stroller out, but it was DISGUSTING and I wasn't putting that in my new car:) So I left it standing by the light pole and Justin would come back and get it soon in his work van. The nurse checked Laekan's lungs and heart and said he was clear and good to go. Taegan was still super upset and scared so we headed to see Dad at work nearby to help ease her fears. This seemed to help and she calmed down.

We left Daddy and headed to Sonic to get a slush and some cheddar bites...this helps anything right?! She calmed down and has spent the day talking about it to me and with me. She has apologized many times for it happening(it wasn't her fault) and has stated that we will NOT be going to feed the ducks anytime soon. Poor thing. We are SO proud of her for what she did today and how well she has handled all of this! Me on the other hand-just starting to process it all and to say I am shook up would be accurate. I have decided not to place the blame on myself(but I could very easily) and realize that bad things happen. We are all okay and in a few years this will all be a distant memory! But today-it is a vivid memory that I am reliving over and over!

Today was a no good, very bad day!

10 months...

Laekan Harper-Another month has gone by and you are such a fun, happy little guy! I know I say this every month but it is going by too fast. I can't believe that I already have picked out what we will do for your birthday party and we are talking about weaning you off the bottle. I must say I am not ready for all these changes, but I know they mean you are growing and changing just like you are supposed to. It makes us SO happy to watch you laugh, smile, play with Taegan, and even pout. You have finally starting feeling better and have moved past the coughing and yucky nose-thank goodness. It never messed with your schedule or your sleeping, but you were very clingy. What a fun month it has been. Here is what you are up to right now:

*You are wearing 6-12 month clothes, 12 month jammies.
*I would guess you weigh around 23 pounds.
*You are wearing a size 3 diaper during the day and night.
*Same eating and sleeping schedule.
*You are eating oatmeal and fruit for breakfast and veggie for dinner. We are going to start food for lunch too.
*You eat puffs, crunchers, and cheerios for snacks when you are done eating.
*We have started giving you lots of different table foods to you and you are eating them like a vacuum.
*We actually have to cut you off from eating because you will just eat and eat!
*We are really working on the sign "more" with you. You know what it means when we do it to you and you will move your hands while I do it.
*We moved your crib all the way to the bottom because you pulled up and started chewing on the wood.
*You have an octopus you play with that has 5 balls and three spots to drop them in, you have figured out how to drop the ball in two of the spots.
*You are a master crawler-everywhere! Unfortunately that also means down the stairs:( Only 4, but that caused sister to cry and Mommy to be worried.
*We moved you to a big boy car seat, rear facing. You love it!
*You have pulled up to stand on your big cube once, and just tonight on the steps. We are in trouble...
*You got another tooth on the bottom-this makes 5.
*We have tried giving you sippy cups and you are just interested in chewing on them. Hoping to work on this more this month.
*You have no idea what to do with a straw.
*You will now say "mama" and you know that it is your Mommy
*No "dadda" this month.
*When we say bottle you know it is time to eat and go straight to your high chair.

He is looking at Daddy here-it is a like a three ring circus to take these pictures now.

He is on the move...

Trying to come give Mommy loves-or take the camera!

Sister giving him loves to try and get him to smile! Lord save him when he gets a bit bigger!!!

We love you Laekan-our "little man"!!!

Snow...really?!

One morning last week we woke up to get ready to head out early because I had a meeting and it started snowing...HUGE flakes. Taegan was so excited and I knew it wasn't going to stick or even be around long. She watched from the window inside until she couldn't stand it anymore and neither could I-so I let her run outside in it and catch the flakes in her mouth. She loved it and as you can tell from what she is wearing(no coat at all) it wasn't really snow weather!

A new hideaway...

For Valentine's Day our friend Di and her kids got our kids a pop-up tent...and it has been put to great use. It folds up real easy and I can store it behind the couch when we aren't playing with it. The kids think it is a great place to hang out and hide and play. This particular day Taegan was playing on her iPod and Laekan was watching and just starting to think about playing it himself...haha!!!
I love watching them do things together-I can't wait until they can actually play and run around together. I know I might want to take this statement back when the time actually comes! Being an only child it has been interesting watching them interact and the love they have for each other already. Sometimes Taegan is the only one that can get Laekan to laugh or smile when he is cranky...