Top 10 Reasons Moms have Trouble Losing Weight

10. If the kids eat every 2 hours, why can't we?
9. Grocery shopping is the only kind of shopping we get to do.
8. The kitchen is always only 10 steps away.
7. We watch Food Network all day.
6. Mealtime is the one time we don't feel guilty for sitting down and resting.
5. As much as we don't want it to be, eating is a form of stress relief.
4. Giada eats pasta all day and she's a size 0.
3. It sure seems like we'll use it up before it gets stored in our thighs.
2. It's a whole lot more fun to cook than it is to clean.
1. Um...that's all I can think of. Anybody have one to add? I'm plump out of ideas (yes, there is a pun intended)!

Video of Sadie - This is for you, Kimmy!

Appreciating the Little Things in Life

This past year has brought a lot of new changes and I discovered there were a lot of things I was taking for granted, such as:

Sleeping through the night ~ being easily mobile ~ getting and staying clean all day ~ dates with Ben ~ reading a good book ~ eating any food I wanted! ~ sleeping past 5 AM ~ only having 3 loads of laundry a week ~ adult conversation ~ having Kimmy close by ~ getting, more so, staying pregnant ~ going to the beach during the Summer ~ eating out ~ A memory; "Momnesia" has really thrown me for a loop ~ wearing glasses (Sadie pulls them off my face) ~ good health ~ the patience and sacrifices of my parents ~ a stable ward ~ stress-free plane rides ~ having Ben's undivided attention during non-football season ~

To learn from this experience, I am trying to look for all the good things around me now and I'm trying to NOT take them for granted. This is what I've come up with so far:

Sadie still being so cute and little ~ not having to say bye to Ben at the end of the day, like we had to do when we were in college ~ getting up early enough to watch the sunrise ~ Sadie being immobile ~ Sadie's fun personality that keeps us laughing ALL the time ~ knowing Kimmy still comes home for Christmas and summers ~ a husband that helps with night feedings, chores, cooking, lesson preparation, and whatever else is stressing me out on a given day ~ having all of our sibilngs active in church ~ not having to drive kids to school yet ~ great friends ~ Ben's good job ~ having a mom that is a good cook ~ a nice, cute home that fits us and is safe enough to go walking in ~ how happy Sadie gets in the morning when she sees me (I'm sure it won't be like that when she's a teenager) ~ a really nice, supportive mother-in-law who is easy to talk to ~ BYU's good football season (I've definately learned NOT to take that for granted) ~ Sadie letting other people hold her ~ not working ~ having a sister-in-law who is a photographer ~ Sadie's two nice, long naps every day ~ not having a dog (hint, hint Mom) ~ our current good health ~ the family that lives close by ~ a college education ~ having my dad as a seminary teacher and him always giving me lesson ideas ~ having time in the morning to exercise ~ the Canadians being up in Canada and not making the roads extra crowded ~ being protected from every hurricane ~ feeling happy and safe when I wake up in the morning

Well, I'm sure I could keep going, but that's a pretty good list. I'm going to try really hard to be grateful this week for all of the wonderful things I have in my life. This was actually a pretty fun activity, too!

My Child Finally Eats Baby Food...

...but only in the bathtub. She LOVES her baths and I decided one day after she had made a mess in the family room that I should just try feeding her while in the tub - that way I could skip the clean-up step, too. So, just moments after she had refused to eat while in her high chair, she magically started opening her mouth and actually eating the food. It's been a week and a half since our little discovery and she's been eating dinner every night in the bathtub but refuses to eat the baby food any where else. This child is such a mystery to me, but I figure we'll just go with what works. I hope she's not going to need food therapy when she's older. Can't you just see her eating a bowl of cereal in the shower every morning?!?! I really thought that once she accepted the baby food once that it wouldn't be a problem to transition to eating in other, more normal places. But no luck yet. At least she's eating and after three and a half months of her refusing food I am just happy to make any progress.

Alicia's first and last quilt EVER!

Back in March I decided it would be a nice graduation gift to make Kimmy a quilt for her dorm room. I figured she would see it and think of us everyday and it would be a lot of fun to make. After 25 hours of cutting fabric and 15 hours of sewing I am rethinking ever taking on another such project. I recruited almost every member of the family to help me work on it. My mother-in-law helped me figure out what and how much to buy, Christy helped me cut, Sarah and my mom helped me sew, even my dad helped with the cutting of the fringe at the end! I decided in the end that it would have cost a lot less money, been better quality, and saved a lot of time if I had just bought one instead. You live and learn! Hopefully Kimmy will enjoy the quilt and treat it nicely since it will be the only one I'll ever make. By the way, the picture of my mom and I was taken at 12:30 am on the day Kimmy was flying out. That may have been a little too much procrastination...sorry mom.