Charlie's first Christmas!

The weeks leading up to Christmas were pretty insane, it felt like we were never home! Larin got his promotion up in Idaho at training which was a BIG accomplishment so WAY TO GO BABY! They don't look alike at all do they?
Afterward was his Battalion's Christmas party and SANTA was there, it was waaayyy exciting. We were watching Spencer and Madelyn and Spencer got a hold of the camera so there were pictures of the carpet and people's butts and Spencer's face! Spencer enjoyed seeing Santa more than Charlie and definitely more than Maddi who wrapped herself around me as soon as Santa came and screamed if he got too close!Not a bad picture from Spencer!Spencer asking Santa for a paddle, yeah Santa looked at me very confused!A picture from Spencer's escapade with the camera, there were 10 like this one!It was like Charlie is used to seeing a big fat man in a red with a big beard, he's so nonchalant.Charlie got ahold of a candy cane and was pretty pleased!

So Christmas Eve morning we had Christmas at our house so we could have our first family Christmas with just us three! It's not like Charlie had any idea what was going on anyways, he just knew it was exciting! The wee one made away like a bandit with plenty of toys and a new fish tank which he can sit and stare at for minutes, which is a long time for a baby!His BIG fish tankWaiting on Daddy to come open presents!UMmm...why is everyone so excited??He is in love with his Step n' Ride
We then packed up and headed up to Idaho to have Christmas with family where Charlie got even more spoiled and got much needed clothes since that kid is growing like a weed. Grandpa helping him open his presents!
He is already in 12 month clothes and isn't even 9 months yet, he's also VERY sturdy, not super chubby(except his cheeks!). Go ahead pick him up if you don't believe me, or carry him around for a day and feel the burn in your arms! Charlie loved playing with his cousins, especially R.J. since they are close to the same size, R.J. was excited to have someone to pick on but Charlie thought it was all fun. I love this one because it looks like they are having some kind of conversation!It was a fun weekend but it was certainly nice to come home after!

Thanksgiving vacay!

For Thanksgiving we went up to Idaho Falls of course and had a great time seeing everyone! This picture is actually before we left at our house, Charlie was "helping" with the laundry.
Charlie isn't much of an eater which is hard to believe when looking at those adorable rolls but he seems to have finally gotten over the texture of foods and was eating tons at Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan. We stripped him down to his diaper and threw some whipped cream and let him at it. At first he wouldn't put it in his mouth he would just squish it, of course I give him food and he doesn't put it in his mouth but any garbage he finds on the floor he eats it right away!
I put him on this little push car because we got him one like it for Christmas(don't tell!) and I wanted to see if he liked it, he did! R.J. thought it was fun to push him around for a few minutes and then pushed him off, maybe he got too heavy.


Larin and I got to go out with friends sans the wee one which was great. We went bowling and first round I got a whopping 24, with Larin bowling a frame for me so I think it was really 17. This made me come to the realization Wii bowling is completely unrealistic and should not be taken seriously because I can whoop some butt on that thing. We also got together and did karaoke. Did I mention I would rather be forced to do an interpretive dance of my life experiences half naked than sing do karaoke, well I would just don't hold me to it. One thing Larin forgot to mention was that EVERYONE else there had singing experience, yeah, well I figured it out. In the end I had fun so I guess I will survive the embarrassment. We all came home with wonderful colds, what a fun souvenir, kids are good for that.
So my diet...hmmm... okay I have not been working out, I have however increased my physical activity by taking Charlie on walks and what not, I will try harder I promise! Tsk tsk, I know but I have been eating waaaayyyy better, minus a few weak moments during the holiday( stupid ice cream and pie, grr). But I have lost some!!
Weight:148 Lost-8 lbs!
Waist: 30 Lost- 2.5 ins!
Hips: 38 Lost- 2.5 ins!
Legs: 23.5 Lost- 1.5 ins!
Arms: 11.5 Lost- 0.5 ins!
It just doesn't seem real, I feel smaller just not by that much, maybe I was super bloated when I did the first measurements!! So Nutrisystem, eh, I'll give it a 7 out of 10. Pros- I lost weight, I wasn't hungry- in fact I was too full sometimes, and it took the guesswork of what to eat when. Cons- Cost of course, it isn't cheap and you still have to buy a lot of fruits and veggies to go with it, taste, some of the entrees were good some not so much and not having dinner as a family. I'm just finishing it up and hoping that I have learned the right way to eat. I figure if I actually start working out it will hopefully even all out! So I still want to lose 8 more pounds, at first I wanted to be 135 but I think that is unrealistic considering I haven't weighed that since I was 15 and my body has changed due to the human being I grew in it so 140 sounds good to me. And I'm also hoping to tone up my lower half, gravity ain't giving me any freebies here. I think I can I think I can I think I can....

R-E-S-P-E-C-T....

So this isn't my update on my blog, that will come once the Christmas Tree is up and I will also be getting the measuring tape out to see how much poundage I have lost, this is just something I felt like sharing with everyone. My sister Katie and I were lucky enough to have a very nice mom who watched our children for us so we could get a MUCH needed break and go to the movies. It was nice to sit through a show without hearing 'mamamamama!' or change a diaper and it made us realize how long it has been since we've gone out since we were giggling at EVERYTHING. We went and saw New Moon and spent time making fun of Jacob's extremely small nipples and laughing at the overacting but had fun. During the movie someone who came with us, I will not mention her name because she will be embarrassed, was yelled at by the person behind us to STOP TEXTING. And instead of stopping she rolled her eyes and continued and I thought that was very rude, where she thought the lady yelling at her was rude. Okay, I may ruffle some feathers here but come on people!!!! I understand where she was coming from, I understand a quick 'Hey I'm at the movies, talk at you later' text or an emergency, but we paid $9.50 and having the person in front of you on their phone the entire time is pretty annoying, maybe it's because my mommy and daddy aren't paying for my ticket I don't know. Texting, facebooking, tweeting, it can wait I PROMISE YOU! If you must text you have legs walk into the hallway leading out where you can still see the movie or sit in the back row, it's not that hard. I turn off my phone completely, hey in the "olden" days if you weren't at home you weren't available, ahhh those were simpler times. So if you absolutely believe that if you don't forward that picture of a frog humping a duck to every Tom, Dick and Harry in your phone or else some little girl who died of a serious case of the hiccups will come and remove your right lung while you sleep then you won't be offended if I use the back of your chair for soccer practice.

Cute little man and official start date.

So to start off I have a few pictures of Charlie doing his new stuff. He leans back all the way in his jumper and thinks he is hilarious, he seriously does this for minutes at a time.
And then his excited, 'this is awesome' face, the other day I saw Larin making this face at him so I know where he learned it. He also screams while doing this like "YEAH!!!". I often wonder where in the world I found this little one!
So I got the Nutrisystem stuff and was a little disappointed about how much extra food you have to buy to go with the food you already bought since you pay a bit for it but since I'm only doing it this month I'll live. I chose to only do this system for a month because the dietitian I saw (for my 'imaginary' diabetes that has disappeared) says that it takes a month for the body to stop craving your usual foods and get used to the smaller more spaced out portions. I figure having the Nutrisystem to help that first tough month will be good. So my before pic is a little outdated but I didn't feel the need to take a new one, that's just mean:) But here's the starting stats, I'm a little ashamed but it can only get better!
Weight:156lbs.- Yikes only five pounds away from my full term pregnancy weight!
Waist:32.5 in.
Hips:41 in.
Legs:25 in.
Arms:14.5 in.
Bust: Ha, like I'd tell you that one anyway!
I'll post the new(hopefully a bit smaller) stats in two weeks and admit my exercise, no lies!!

Starting weight loss...

So I decided to start blogging about my new hardship, I am trying to get my pre-baby body back!! I ordered Nutrisystem and will be working out hopefully five days a week. I figure if I had to report to someone then I would try harder. My body image has always been skewed so while you may think I look just fine I see what I used to be and am sad about it, Larin says he doesn't notice or care but I do! Embarrassingly enough only two of my pants actually fit so I am doing this for my self-esteem and overall health. I will be reporting back every two weeks and don't worry I will still do normal Charlie updates! So next blog will be once I receive the Nutrisystem and will have the dreaded before picture, starting weight and measurements! Wish me luck!

Very First Halloween

Halloween Day began with us packing up and heading down to Springville to see the newest addition to the Harris clan, Samantha Marie, Sherwin and Laurie's daughter. They had a little get together to have her blessed. She is soo itty bitty and ADORABLE! Here are some pictures from that.
Sherwin and Laurie and Samantha

Sabrina holding Samantha, Katie, and Nicholas(with their two uncles trying to not be in the picture!)
Here's a closer one of the oldest Sabrina holding the youngest Samantha in her dress.We had a lunch with family and friends then headed back home to get ready for Halloween.
Here's some of Charlie in his Jack-Jack Incredible costume. I didn't realize until I put him in it that putting velcro on the i might not have been the best idea. He figured he could pull it off pretty fast so we had to safety pin it.

See he is trying to eat it here. I made Larin hold up the cape because it was soo cute!
All bundled up and ready to go!!This is everyone we went trick or treating with, friends and all their kids, we had quite a big bunch! A few witches, vampires, fairy princesses, skeletons, a chicken, a monkey, a biker and Jack-Jack.
This is my friends brother Jubal who sat outside like this holding a candy bowl and jumping up at the last minute to scare poor trick or treaters, what a meanie!Charlie in the stroller after my arms gave out from carrying him all night!It was a pretty exciting Halloween, Charlie stayed up way past his bedtime but was too cute to be mad at!!

Halloween prep...

First off I have to say how much I LOVE having holidays now that we have Charlie, you get to do all the fun stuff you did when you were a kid, it's great. I'm glad it has finally cooled off down here, I'm definitely from Idaho, I loveeee colder weather, I'm weird I know...but look how cute Charlie is in his warm p.j.s. And holding the bottle by himself, sometimes!


So Larin, Charlie and I went to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins, Charlie couldn't have been less interested as you can tell from the following pics. When we finally got him to look at the camera I wasn't looking but we had taken tons so oh well.See he isn't interested, kinda sleepy.


Here is our pumpkins before, Larin and I haven't got ours done yet but we will!

So we HAD to have Charlie involved in decorating his pumpkin, I know he's so young he won't remember but it was fun for us so whatever!!
We decided to be brave and get fingerpaint and let him go nuts!!
This is the BEFORE PIC
He was loving the gooey feeling and laughing, it was too cute!
I think he might be an artist, he was VERY serious about the painting, here he was reaching for more colors.
After the pumpkin was covered since he was having so much fun we let him decorate some paper.
And here's the AFTER pic...don't worry the paints non-toxic:)And for the final picture here is Charlie's costume, which I made all by my lonesome!! He is going to be Jack Jack from the Incredibles because he looks a lot like him! The Disney store wanted $99 for it, and I was like no freaking way, he is only going to wear it once I am not paying that much for decorated pjs come on people. So I bought a red onsie sewed on a velcro I for the incredibles and sewed on a cape, I know they don't have capes in the movie but it is pretty darn cute and he won't be flying anywhere so no worries. I think all in all it turned out good, and for about $25 bucks, it turned out great!

Living Life...

STANDING MAN!

We are just living life right now, nothing real big going on! Charlie and I were able to go up to Idaho and visit for a few days, and it got crazy trying to see everyone! Sorry sorry to those that we couldn't see. Of course I forgot the camera. Now Charlie, Larin and I have a cold and are coughing and lots of snot, it's definitely not fun here but hopefully we will get better quick. Charlie had his 6 month appointment and remembered the doctor this time, so he was NOT happy as soon as we walked into the exam room and he got really pissed off when we got to the vaccination room. No tricking this guy! He is 17.3 lbs and 27 inches tall, putting him in the 50th percentile for weight and 70th for height! No wonder my back and arms hurt at the end of the day. He has learned how to sit all by himself and can stand holding on to something if we put him there, and is trying his darndest to get around...that's all for now!Smiling and sitting by himself, he's a tough guy!
I cannot keep this kid away from cords, here I had left to grab him a bottle and came back and he had wrapped himself in the x-box control. He is also trying to take the camera away from me.