Four Months Old

Wow - Lillie turned four months old this week. She is getting so big!

Happy, happy girl!

Look who likes Lillie now! He actually laid by her!

Mother like Daughter - Loves her chocolate cereal!

Don't mind the mess - we are still moving in...

Cute hat her aunt made for her

What we remember at four months:

-You love to play with your toys
-You can scoot around on your back and try to do crawling motions when you are on your stomach, but haven't quite figured out how to move.
-She learned to spit and loves to do it (Coincidentally she started doing this after spending the day with grandma Ann, hmm...)
-She can roll from back to front and vice versa - you only do it occasionally
-Still a great sleeper - sleeps about 8 hours straight a night
-Loves the babysitter's kids - no one can get her to laugh like they can.

Home Sweet Home

Our house is done and we are all moved! It is great to be in our new house!


One day we will have a million houses surrounding us - so I wanted to get pictures to remember how great it was to be all alone.

The 20-pound Change

Warning!
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Scary Picture Below
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Proceed at your own risk
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36.2 pounds more to go, but here the change from losing 20 lbs in less than 2 months! I know I still have quite a bit more to go, but I couldn't be happier with the results so far!

Worse than labor...

My day started out normal, but I got the great experience of having a root canal! I called the dentist this morning after months of pain and they sent me to an endodontist where I received my fortunate experience of the root canal. I thought I was only their for a consultation to see if I really needed a root canal. (Which we all knew after two different dentist opinions and a couple of fillings later, but I was in denial) and all of sudden he has the Novocaine ready for my mouth. Then 30 seconds later they put the rubber thing in my mouth that feels like you are suffocating - I have never come so close to having a panic attack in my life - I was more scared than having the baby.

Well I was able to breathe it out and I was actually able to drink cold water tonight - which was worth all the panic!

On a happier note - we had a great Thanksgiving! It was SO relaxing to have a four-day weekend. We watched Christmas specials and just spent time with Lillie and family all weekend! On Thanksgiving we spent the day at my mom's house with my grandmas, Craig's, Patti's and Alan's Family. It was great and I went way over my calorie limit for the day (which was worth it then, but I am paying for it now)

Happy Thanksgiving - Josh said we needed traditions so w can remember holidays - All I could come up with is dressing nice on Holidays - so here we are all dressed up for the occasion (This is what we wear to work, so it is actually easier than dressing down)

It wouldn't be a party with my family without card games!Someone else had too much to eat and passed out during Thanksgiving

We should be closing in less than a week! Here is picture of our kitchen so far. They still have to put in carpet and and do all the finish work and hopefully fix all the holes in the walls they made today (it looked like someone forgot to wire something so they had to run new wires)

As far as the weight loss...um, I overdid it on Thanksgiving and I have nothing new to report...hopefully by this weekend. However, I did pack up all my maternity clothes because they no longer fit and I fit back into to my previous clothes (They don't look the same, but they fit...)

Let the eating begin...

We had our first Thanksgiving on Sunday with Josh's family. It was great to get together with his family before left for New Mexico to spend the holiday with Josh's brother. Rachael cooked us steak and chicken cordon bleu for dinner!

Tirzah & Alex

My weekly updates will be done a little earlier this week because I want to be able to enjoy what I am eating and I do not plan on weighing in on Saturday and I had a great weigh-in this morning - I have lost 17.8 pounds!! I am truly amazed that I have lost this much so fast. It has been a couple days over a month, but I am well on my way to make my Christmas goal (if I do not screw things up today). I still am not eating candy, desseret, chips or soda during Thanksgiving, but plan on enjoying the rest of the meal! The kickboxing class is kicking my butt some days and it pushes me so much harder than work out by myself because I have guy yelling at me to keep going.

As far as the construction update goes - they will have all the paint and cabinets in this weekend.
The poor guys were working on Thanksgiving! They said they do not celebrate it and I know some of the guys at my work also work on Thanksgiving because it is not one of their native holidays.

It wouldn't be post without a picture of Lillie - She is able to sit up in the little exerciser and she is even doing her own boxing moves!

Lillie has found her voice...

At 3:00 am I woke up to a very pleasant sound, yet at a very inconvenient time. Lillie was giggling in her bed. I decided to roll over and hope she would go to sleep. Then the happy squeal/scream started every 20 seconds. At this point I had to see what was going on. I went in her room and she was just playing with her blankets. The screaming continued and then started back up in the morning. Nikki said she spent half the day working on her squeals. I do not think there will be quiet any more : )

Why we hate moving...

Enough said...and most of the boxes are in the closet and shed. I can't wait to be all packed and unpacked - hopefully the next couple of weeks will go by quickly!

And of course - our 80's chick!

Here is a better picture of our house a couple days ago - All the drywall is in and they are prepped to do the stucco and texture this week. Hopefully they will be done as planned in the next two weeks.

Weight update: I am down 13.2 pounds. (I weighed in a little lighter early on in the week, but had a higher reading today which I am going with because I need a jumpstart with Thanksgiving). Still no candy, soda, chips, or desserts - 4 weeks now!

3 Months Old Today

Lillie is 3 months old today. Someone asked me if Motherhood had drastically changed my life - to be honest Lillie just fits in our family and it seems like she has always been there and should be with us. I do not remember how it was before and I love the way our life is now. The most noticeable changes are that I have to wake up an hour earlier to get her fed, dressed and packed for the day and having someone to consider before myself. We also have much more planning if we want to go somewhere and Josh and I have to work as a team making sure Lillie's needs are met. While it can be stressful some days, I know that Lillie will go to sleep sometime and I will be able to get what is needed done.

3 Months Old

Here is what we remember and love about Lillie at three months:

Josh -
-Laughs and smiles when she sees me
-She can scoot herself

Jamie
- She loves to laugh, even when she is crying she will be laughing at the same time.
- She loves to go to bed. Tonight I could not get anything to make her happy until I put her in her crib and she settled right down to go to sleep.
- She can roll herself over if you put her arm in the right place
- She is trying to crawl, but gets frustrated and puts her head down and does just the kicking motions
- She is independent and doesn't really like to be held unless you are feeding her or she can't see what you are doing.
- She still loves to have here diaper changed, but hates when you put shirts on her.
- She likes the bath (might love, but it is hard to tell because she is concentrating on the water so much she doesn't quite look like she is enjoying it, but never cries) but she kicks and splashes and laughs when mommy screams because she was just soaked.
- She loves to grab things especially the drapes next to her changing table and my hands.

Helping Momma with the dishes

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

Since it is the time of the year for Thanksgiving-

I AM THANKFUL FOR...

1. Heavenly Father's love for us and the knowledge of his gospel - Including in this the scriptures, prayer, and the temple. I do not know where I would be without the gospel and all that Heavenly Father has done for us. It is a great thing to know why we are here and what happens after life.
2. My amazing husband - He is sick today and this reminds me how much he does do or at least how much I boss him around when he is well. Hurry up and get better - Toby needs a bath, I need the car seat installed and the sink fixed : )
3. Beautiful Lillie - I do not think there is a better baby in the world. She constantly is smiling and happy. We love having her around and are excited to teach her everything. She brings us such great happiness.
4. All our family - I do not know what we would do if our family did not live so close and if they were not so amazing. Especially my parents, who are so helpful. We love our family and they are truly our best friends.
5. My health and body - I am so grateful that I am healthy and able to do what I want and need to do. I am glad that I am mostly free from addictions (We are working on the candy and overeating) and have a clear mind.
6. Education - I am grateful that I had the opportunity to get my masters degree and everything I learned and all the people I met while obtaining it.
7. Friends - I am glad that we have friends and all the great times we have shared with them.
8. Living in America and Freedom - I am glad that I live in a country that allows freedom to worship and have all the other items I am grateful for.
9. Toby - Who could not love such a cute, cuddly and loyal dog? I am not sure what we would do without him. When is he gone with Josh and I open the door to come home it does not seem like home without him.
10. Work - Sometimes I would rather be other places than at work I am grateful that I have a flexible job and one that I like doing.
11. Nikki - She is our babysitter and we are so grateful that we found her and the care she provides for Lillie. She is great.

Great Updates!

This is what I woke up to this morning - A happy Lillie just talking away in her bed. She has slept through the night for the past three nights! It is actually a little sad because I miss our late night feedings because it was another chance to hold our little girl. She will be three months next week. I can not believe where the time has gone!

Remember how last Saturday this was a piece of concrete? Well this week they framed the entire house, put in all electric, plumbing, air systems, windows, and doors! Crazy how they did it so quick. It will probably be only two weeks or less until they are done.

Views from the loft - it was dark and these are the only pictures I could take.
Last update, but definitely not least - I have lost 11.2 pounds! I only have 11.4 pounds to lose before Christmas. I took some more before/after pictures at the 10 pound mark and it is amazing the difference. Still Scary, but better : )

Construction and Weight Update

The builder said it will be about 3 weeks until our house is finished. They have the foundation set and will start framing on Monday. We the construction site tonight and are excited for it to be done!

Weight Loss Update: I am down 6.8 pounds - only 15.8 more to go before Christmas to make my first goal. I have made it two weeks without candy, desserts, or soda and will continue until I make my final weight goal! (Today was probably the hardest day so far - we went to Costco and I had to stop so many urges to buy all my favorites there - sorry Josh for being so grouchy). I did however get to buy all sorts of flavors of sugar-free gum to chew when I get cravings for candy. I would recommend chewing to anyone who wants to avoid candy. Some of my favorites are the citris/strawberry trident layers, trident or orbit cinnamon, trident tropical punch,and raspberry or wintergreen ice cubes (not sure if those are sugar-free).

And what would a post be without an update our little girl? She now recognizes and grabs things with her hands. She loves to grab the animals on her play mat. Not sure if I have written about the play mat before or not, but I love this thing and I wish we would have gotten on sooner. I thought they were for older babies, but she has loved it since she was about 7 weeks old and would have loved it sooner. She will play on this for at least an hour at a time.

Condo for Rent

We are going to be renting our Condo - in memory of our great place here are some things I have loved about living here:
1. You only have to take a 10 steps to get to anywhere in your house and you can vacuum the entire house using only one plug.
2. We love, love our ward. We will miss everyone very much.
3. Location, location, location - It is so close to everything
4. It was fun to learn how to fix everything up

Why I am excited to move to our new house:
1. Space - no more tripping over Toby or Lillie's toys.
2. Multiple bathrooms/sinks - no more fighting Josh for the bathroom sink
3. Permanence - We plan on this being our home for quite some time and it nice to know we can make friends and neither of us could move at any time.
4. Location - It will be nice to live closer to Josh's work and we are next to the Meadows shopping center which has everything!

Here is the posting for our Condo - let anyone know that is looking for place in December/January!

Orem Condo for Rent

Cardio Kick Boxing and your Lillie update

Yesterday a girl from work invited me to go to a cardio kick boxing class. Since I am trying to lose weight I decided this would be a nice mix to the weight loss workouts. Tonight was my first night and I LOVED the class! It was a Royal Martial Art School in Lindon and the instructor was great. I would recommend it to anyone.

Who doesn't love baby pictures? Here is an update of what is going on with our precious little girl!

Lillie has found her mouth - This is the first time she put something besides her hand or clothes into her mouth - oh no - here comes the disinfecting!

Anything sweeter than a sleeping baby? Lillie goes down at about 9-10 at night, and then wakes up between 3-5 in the morning to have a bottle and then sleeps until I wake her up to take her to daycare.

Sleeping on our bed - yes we know no pillows, but she looked too cozy to disturb.

Bumbo chair - an amazing baby product. This allows her to sit up at just 2.5 months! Even though this picture does not look like it - she usually enjoys this chair and loves to be able to sit up and look at everything!

Big Bird - keeping the baby warm

Getting warm and cozy for a walk - as long as we keep moving she enjoys walking with Toby

Bath Time - Lillie is pretty content during bath time as long as daddy doesn't get soap in her eyes : )

Weight Loss Update

Weight Loss Update:

Jamie: Down 5.6 pounds
Josh: Down 6.2 pounds

Jamie had a Lillie Lamb, Lillie Lamb

Happy Halloween!
We love our little lamb!

Rachael

Kristen and Taylor

Rachel, Reagan and Lillie!

We spent Saturday visiting great Grandmas and Grandpas, Great Grandmas, Aunts and Uncles and Cousins. We are so blessed to live closely to family!

P.S. I made it through Halloween without any Candy : )

Blessings in Disguise

I received terrible news when I picked Lillie up from daycare yesterday - our current daycare provider could no longer watch Lillie because she had to go back work to provide for her family. While this was a shock, I knew it would end up a good thing. With us moving to Lehi, it was going to be a challenge to drive to Orem everyday to drop her off and knew we might find someone even better.

Well we did! We found an amazing family to watch Lillie a little more than two miles away from our new house and right by Josh's work so he can help take Lillie to daycare. We are so excited that we found this family and are excited that they are willing to share their lives to care for our daughter!

While yesterday evening started bad - we ended up in a better situation all around! We are so blessed.

Good-bye Time and Life, Hello Bisk

I have been complaining about taking the CPA exam all year - if I spent as much time studying as I do feeling guilty about not studying or stressing about the test I would have been done months ago. Well the time has come. I scheduled my last sections for the test for November 22 and the other for January 24th (Yep, that is the very last possible day I can take it without having to pay again - I can't believe 9 months went so quick.Well, Bisk, we are about to become great friends for the next month. Please help me pass the exam and make miracles happen!

PS: I made it through day three with no candy, deserts or soda. I am on my way to breaking my addiction which might not be the smartest thing with all the studying I will be getting to do : )

The Weight Loss Challenge

Josh and I weighed ourselves today and set our goals for getting healthy again! (We also took "before" pictures that are just too frightening to post.) After working full-time and going to school full-time we put on quite a bit of weight and now with no more school or pregnancy we no longer have any excuses for being overweight. Here are some of our goals:

Jamie: 47 pounds to lose, 22 by Christmas, 25 by March

Josh: 56 pounds to lose, 26 by Christmas, 30 by March

How we are going to get there:
Eating:
Jamie: Daily Caloric intake: 1600 calories. No soda, no candy

Josh: Daily Caloric intake: 1890 calories.

Exercising:


During the winter it will be harder to exercise, but here are two tools I have found to enjoy exercising indoors. Immediately after putting Lillie to bed for the night I will be doing the 30-day shred followed by cycling.

We will be updating our results each week and hopefully this will help us make progress!

Two months, back to work and a Halloween tradition...

Lillie has been in our lives for two months now! We are so lucky to have her and love her so much, but how could you not love this???Since Lillie is two months old it means it is time to go back to work, as in 8-5. I was crazy and did not end up taking more than a couple of days off work when she was born. I felt so good after labor and she was sleeping so much I needed something to do so I started back working from home.

I am actually excited to be back at the office so I can focus on work when I am working and on Lillie and family when I am home. No more trying to combine the two or going into the office at 4-5:00 am to get what I needed done there to be back before Josh left for work. After the first day back I did have a breakdown wondering if I was doing the right thing. Things have been better and we found a great family that is watching Lillie. The little girls love having her there during the day.

Two Months

One of my favorite Halloween traditions is decorating sugar cookies with my mom - I am excited for the all the upcoming Holiday traditions coming! Don't they look good? Don't worry I am going to start my lose-the-baby-weight plan soon