Ten on Tuesday

1. I got out of the habit of doing a Ten on Tuesday post here when I started doing Ten-Pin Tuesdays on my craft blog, and that needs to change, so here we are.

2. Mason turned 1 at the end of August!  And then the day before he hit 13 months he started to crawl on his knees instead of pushing with a foot and pulling with his hands.  Go figure. 

3. We finally ordered that new jogging stroller, and we've done two long runs with it so far.  The 4-miler was a wake-up call that pushing a jogging stroller changes the game significantly, so we were pretty happy just to finish our 5 miles this past weekend.

4. Lincoln has started saying that he wants to do things "all day."  For instance, "I want to watch Spider-man all day" or "I want to eat little pop-tarts all day."

5. As I cut Mason's chicken nuggets at dinner last night, he looked up at me and sweetly said, "yay-yoo."  Which I'm pretty sure translates to "thank you."

6. Tyler and I want the family to be the Avengers for Halloween, so we introduced Lincoln to some of the superhero cartoons, and we've created a monster!  He's officially obsessed. 

 

7. Mason LOVES the bath.

8. I'm almost caught up on my Project Life album, and I've posted the first 20 weeks of the year on my craft blog.

9. We visited my parents in Boston last month!  Pictures might be posted one day.

10. Lincoln loves taking pictures.  He took these shots (and MANY more) before church a few weeks ago.

Wastin' Away ;)

As some of you may have heard, Kelli and I have been doing Weight Watchers this year.   I have decided to enter Weight Watchers' Celebrate Success Contest.  Preparing my submission helped me realize how much progress I have made.  This was helpful because, sometimes, it feels like my progress has been very slow.  I thought I would brag a little and share the 400 word essay and the before and after pictures.  Please forgive the indulgence (and the shameless plugs I included in an effort to win the contest).  

First the essay:

I have struggled with my weight/health since high school.  Each year, I would say to myself that "This will be the year!"  But, every year, I failed to deliver.   

At the beginning 2012, I had reached my heaviest ever (pushing 265 pounds).  I had high blood pressure and my HDL cholesterol levels were too low.  I was on medication for both problems.  I was severely out of shape.  I got winded easily.  Just the thought of running could do it.  My knees and my back hurt.  It was  increasingly difficult to keep up with my two little boys.  With heart disease in my family, I was afraid that I would not live to see them grow up.   

Then, I saw some pictures my sister took during my son's third birthday party at the end of January (my before pictures).  I hated the way I looked and how heavy I had become.  This was it.  Something had to be done.  I told my wife that I was going to try Weight Watchers.  She was still trying to lose some baby weight after the birth of our second son and decided to do it with me.  On February 7, we signed up together.   

Weight Watchers proved the key to the door that would finally lead me to success.  Just following its guidelines for better eating, I immediately began to see results and became excited about the process.  In addition to my wife, my mother and sister joined Weight Watchers, as did a co-worker and her husband.  We encourage each other in our process and journey.  A group of friends from church also got together in a friendly get healthy competition.  

Since starting, I have also taken up running...me.  

Now, less than seven months into my journey, I am down more than 40 pounds to the lowest I have been since college, and am on track to meet my goal of weighing less than 200 pounds by my birthday this December.  My blood pressure is down to normal levels and my HDL is good.  I am off all medications.  I run three miles a day, several days a week.  I will be running my first 5K in October and my first 10K in November and my wife and I are training for a half-marathon next spring.  I am happier, healthier, and I like myself more.  Finally, this was the year...thanks to Weight Watchers.  

Now, the before picture (taken at Lincoln's birthday at the end of January) - at 265-ish pounds:

Now, for the (temporary) after picture taken today, August 29, 2012 - at 218 pounds:

I still have a way to go, but am pleased with the progress I've made thus far.  Many thanks to Kelli, my family and friends for their encouragement.

Whatever on Wednesday

1.  Mason loves the camera.  Gets very excited when it's pointed at him.

 

2.  We were planning to fly to Boston over the long Memorial Day weekend to visit my parents, but the day before we were supposed to leave, Mason spiked a fever that turned out to be the result of an ear infection.  Even if I was willing to risk getting lynched for flying with a screaming infant, I wasn't willing to put him in that much pain.  But, on the bright side, we've tentatively rescheduled our trip for Labor Day weekend.  (This may or may not be the first my parents are hearing about that.)

 

 

3.  Lincoln rarely takes naps on the weekend, so I was not surprised when I went in to check on him on Saturday and he wasn't in his bed.  I was suprised, however, when I finally located him here:

 

 

4.  We had a pool party on Friday night, and this kid is fearless.  It's a good thing we're starting swimming lessons next week.

 

 

5.  I hunted down a monster truck book on Amazon that has a list of the Monster Jam cars.  Don't ask.  Lincoln's obsessed.  My efforts were worth it when he had to bring the book to Gramma and Papa's and then show it to his cousins.  My SIL dubbed these three The Three Muskateers, and it's pretty accurate.  It's fun to watch them play together.

 

 

6.  Seriously, though.  How cute is this?

 

 

7.  I don't even know where he learned to eat fruit that way - we always cut his apples.  But he actually finished most of that peach.

 

 

8.  In other news (sorry, no more pictures), Tyler has a new calling!  Elder's Quorum President.  He's still getting his feet wet, but I know he'll do a great job.

9.  Lincoln's started claiming that inanimate objects or people not present are talking.  And sometimes he does the voice.  He gets this from Tyler.  Here's an example:  Mom, can I take that coin inside?  It's saying (switches to high pitch), "Mommy, please take me inside!"

10.  We've started the big push to have Mason sleep in the boys' room.  He's been in the pack 'n play in the office since he left the bassinet in our room.  We wanted to get him sleeping through the night.  But we've given up on that.  We also wanted Lincoln to start going to sleep before 10, but we've given up on that as well.  So now we get to listen to them giggle between 8 and 9 and go in and hush them several times.  Confession: I love to hear them laugh together, so I'm not too broken up about it.  Yet.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Lincoln:  Daddy, can I play your leap pad?  (Lincoln has a leap pad, so that's what he calls our iPads)
Tyler:  What did mom say?
Lincoln: I just, I just want to play your leap pad.
Tyler:  Well, what did mommy say?
Lincoln:  I just, I just can’t tell you... I just [his shoulders fall and he slumps forward] can’t tell you she said no...

***

Me:  Lincoln, what do you want to have for breakfast?
Lincoln: Can I have cookies?
Me: No, you can’t have cookies for breakfast.
Lincoln: But they’re for eating!

***

Lincoln (needing to blow his nose):  I got to blow my nose!
Me:  OK.  Can you think of a way that you could ask nicely?
Lincoln (sadly shaking his head):  I can’t.

***

(Background - Lincoln has a really bad diaper rash right now.  So we’ve been trying to cut some things out of his diet.  So sometimes we don’t give him things because it might “make his bum hurt more.”)

Lincoln: I want jelly beans.  I want those jelly beans.
Me:  No, not right now.
Lincoln: But I want them.
Me:  I know, but not right now.  You can have some later.
Lincoln:  But I need them.  My bum says I need them.

***

Lincoln (on our bed this morning):  Want to watch me jump?
Me:  Sure, but just ONE time.
Lincoln:  No.  It need to be TEN times.
Me:  Um, maybe just TWO times.
Lincoln:  No, FIVE time.
Me:  I think THREE times.  Because you're THREE years old.  (This logic has worked really well in the past.)
Lincoln:  But, I just turned FOUR.  (He didn't.  So, apparently it doesn't work anymore...)

Ten on Tuesday - April 24

1.  Get out and VOTE.

2.  While you're there, go ahead and vote for Chris Messervy.

3.  In other news, Lincoln got to ride a horse for the first time this week!  He loved it!

 

4. Mason has been getting pretty enthusiastic about giving kisses lately.  Baby slobber is good for your skin, right?

  

5.  When Lincoln saw Mason "wrastling" with Dad, he wanted to join in.

 

6.  Sometimes Mason’s babbles sound like words.  Yesterday morning it sounded for all the world like he looked over at Tyler and said, “Hey!”

7.  A week or two ago, Lincoln was out in the backyard while I was making dinner, and when I went out to check on him, he walked up to me, crossed his arms, and announced: “I don’t like this backyard.”  

8.  So on Wednesday, we ordered a swingset. 

9.  Lincoln was such a big helper putting it together.

10.  And then he couldn't wait to try out that slide.

Ten on Tuesday - April 17

1.  This is catch-up for about 3 weeks because I missed my deadline the last two weeks. 

2.  We wanted a smaller diaper bag that would still go over the shoulder, so we got Tyler a Diaper Dude diaper bag. 

 

3.  Mason has super-allergies, apparently.  I didn't know you can get a low-grade fever with allergies, but apparently you can.  Add that to teething, and we had an unhappy baby 2 weeks ago.  He's doing better now, but we can't take him outside.

4.  Mason is a super smiley baby, and he has an infectious giggle.  Tyler cracks me up when he makes Mason giggle, which makes Lincoln giggle.  And listening to my boys giggle of course makes me giggle.  Watch this.  You'll laugh, too.

5.  We're in the process of cutting the cable.  I could go cold-turkey and be pretty content, but Tyler is a news junkie, so we're getting a digital antenna and Hulu Plus (we already have Amazon Prime).  Any other suggestions?  (We nixed Netflix in favor of Amazon Prime.)

6.  Lincoln cracks us up with how he talks to us the same way we talk to him.  Makes sense, of course, but it's so cute to hear a 3-year-old discipline and encourage.  The latest example:

Lincoln requested a sandwich for dinner the other night, and when I handed it to him, he said, “No, mom. It needs peanut butter.”  I told him it had peanut butter, and he started to open the sandwich saying, “Let me check.” Then, “Oh, it DOES have peanut butter!  Good job, mom!”


7.  We've decided to run the Firecracker 5k on July 4th.  It's along the greenway at 8 am.  I'm already bracing myself for the heat!


8.  If you're local, go check out Yogurt Mountain.  It's in Jones Valley, a few doors down from Roosters.  And it's delicious.  I already need some more of that red velvet cupcake frozen yogurt.  And probably the cake batter as well.

9.  The Easter Bunny brought Mason a tablet.  I kid you not, they make them for 3m+ now.  So Mason has his bright starts tablet, Lincoln has his LeapPad, and Tyler and I have iPads.  Guess which one Lincoln likes best?

10.  I think we have 30-day food storage in our future.  This site makes it seem very do-able.