Way to Go TC!

So TC has gained some weight since we got married and he decided that he wanted to get serious about losing some weight. His motivation came at the perfect time as well since they are doing a "Biggest Loser" competition at his work. Anyway, TC has been on this diet based on a book called "Eat to Live" for the past 4 weeks and he has lost a bit over 18 pounds! He also has started exercising more. I am proud of him for his dedication! He was in 1st place in the whole company as well though last week a girl pulled ahead of him (the week he only lost 1 pound because he splurged for his birthday!) Plus they determine the leader based on body percentage weight loss not on total pounds lost. However we think he may have gained his lead back this week since he lost 4 pounds but they will not announce who is the current leader until Tuesday. Anyway, and then I have lost 6 pounds since the beginning of January and I have 9 more to go to hit my pre WEDDING weight. That is my goal. TC thinks that I may be putting too much pressure on myself to want to be as thin as I was almost 6 years ago and before having two kids. But I think I can do it. I got down to 4 pounds above my pre wedding weight a couple months before I had Clark. Though my wedding dress was a size 2...maybe I will never see that day again! No I should stop it, Positive thoughts! I have to work my trash off though to stay in shape. It is kind of depressing. In high school I could eat whatever I want and would not gain a pound. Those days are gone! Fast metabolism is such a fair weather friend! Once you start aging it leaves you in the dust!

Girls' Nights

So I love getting out and having a girls' night once in awhile. I sometimes feel a bit guilty leaving my hard working husband at home with the kids (me feel guilty? Imagine that!) but he is always so good about it. I come home feeling rejuvenated and more validated as a woman and a mother. On Wednesday night I went out with some friends in my ward to Texas Roadhouse. LOVE that place! Seriously their rolls are amazing! And the prime rib? DELICIOUS!! Anyway, we got to the restaurant about 8:00 p.m. and we did not leave until 10:45! We all just chatted away. It was a very nice break. I would highly recommend them. Of course I brought my camera but forgot to take a picture of our fun!

Clark's Surgery Day

So Clark got his ear tubes put in today and everything went very well. We were in and out of there in about 2 and a half hours just like when Savanna got her ear tubes put in. Clark has been acting totally normal all day just like Savanna. He was pretty out of it for like the first half hour but then after breakfast he perked right up. He did take about a 3 hour nap but that was it and was up crawling and playing around like normal. He has not been fussy at all either, tired, or lethargic. Our sweet little kids are so good to us! Actually we presume that he is probably feeling better because he no longer has all that fluid and junk in his ears. The doctor told us he took out "glue like" fluid from his ear. Gross! Poor little guy! The great thing about ear tubes too is they are so quick. Seriously the actual procedure only takes like 5 minutes and he was only asleep for about 10 t0 15 minutes. Although I knew mostly what to expect from going through it with Savanna not too long ago I was still nervous. The hardest part is when they have to take them away from you to do the procedure. We talked to the anesthesiologist and then he walked us down the hall and he had to take him to the operating room. My eyes always get teary eyed at that point! However, it was over quickly and it is a relief to be done with it. Hopefully he will have as much success as Savanna who has not had an ear infection since she has gotten tubes. Anyway, I remembered my camera this time unlike when Savanna got her tubes so here are a few pictures of our cute little guy! What a trooper!

Visit from Uncle James

So TC's brother, James, came back from his mission to South Africa in February and he came and stayed with us for a week and just left this past Thursday. Savanna loved having him around and getting to know him. We played a lot of games, watched some American Idol, visited with family and talked a lot. It was good to be able to see James after such a long time. Of course it will not be too long before we see him again since he is coming to build a computer with TC and then heading up to school in Idaho next month. Anyway, here are some pictures of Savanna bonding with her uncle.

Watching some Rainbow Brite (Seriously we got Rainbow Brite from Net Flix. It was made in 1985. It is weird having Savanna watch things that were popular when I was a kid. I was bored after about 45 minutes of it and did the dishes and got the computer. but James and TC sat through the whole thing!)

Playing at Chick-fil-a (Savanna was scared to go on the playground by herself at first but after James went down with her a couple times she was totally fine.)

Savanna Update- almost 3 and a quarter years old

Savanna is getting more adorable every day and she cracks us up with the funny things she says! Many people told me that the threes are harder than the twos but so far that has not been the case with Savanna. She has been very cooperative and loves to help. She still is obsessed with playing Memory, loves Primary, gym class and going to birthday parties. Recently her new thing is looking through pictures. She especially loves looking at TC's and I's wedding pictures. Well here are some pictures of Savanna from this past month! What a fun little girl she is.

All dressed up as Cinderella for her friend, Elle's, birthday party

Savanna "shopping" at Petco

Playing Memory with Kristine (Sorry Kristine totally cut your head off)

Playing dress up

Clark update-11 months

So Clark turned 11 months yesterday! I can't believe in just another month he will be a year. Crazy! He is doing well though I ended up in the doctor with him this past Saturday. He has a double ear infection and a throat infection and his temperature at the doctor was 103.6! (I could tell he was warm but when I left the house his temperature was only like 99ish so it either went up a ton or their thermometer is off!) I was freaking out a bit but it went down and his fever broke yesterday morning and he seems like he is back to his happy self! He was so fussy all day Saturday. It was difficult too because I was trying to get stuff ready for TC's party. My brother's girlfriend, Kristine, came and helped and that was so nice of her! Then TC's siblings helped out as well with picking up Clark's prescription and playing with Clark upstairs during the party. Needless to say we are actually looking forward to Clark getting his tubes next Monday. The weird thing is that Clark does not even have a cold right now so we are thinking that the fluid is in ears just got infected and then infected his throat! Anyway, besides that he is doing well. He had a two week streak where he was not sick at all which was nice. Clark is moving all over the place and he has taken a couple of steps walking back and forth to TC and I but is not walking yet. He still loves to dance and will refuse to have us feed him now. He wants to self feed with everything including oatmeal. What a mess! When he is done eating too he likes to throw it all off his tray. Ugh it is frustrating! He also refuses to drink himself out of a sippy cup. He always wants us to give it to him. So we are working on that especially since I will weaning him pretty soon! Clark is also saying a lot of words still. This month he has added yum and loves to say "Hi Dad!" all the time. We love our little guy! Here are some pictures of him this past month.

Happy Birthday TC!

TC's birthday was yesterday! I think he had a good birthday weekend. I threw a surprise party for him Saturday night and he had no idea. Sunday started with breakfast in bed and we went to his cousin's house for dinner. His sister and her husband came in for the weekend as well and his brother, James, who just got back from his mission has been visiting with us since Thursday. So I hope he had a good birthday and knows how much he is loved and we appreciate him!

Surprise Party TC's brother, our friend, Chris, and TC

James, Bryan, and Aleta

Carly, Derek, and little Paisley

At TC's cousin house-Marisha and Forrest (TC's sister and her husband) Savanna was excited to give Daddy his presents

Kristine and Savanna enjoying their cake The little dogs at TC's cousin, Allie's house were a big hit

Moderation in all Things

So one of my good friend's from grad school who is now an amazing therapist gave me some great advice the other night. Since it was "free therapy" and I won't reveal any personal details I thought I would share some of her great wisdom with you. I was talking to her about how I always feel like it is hard to "balance" my life. I feel like I try so hard to be the perfect wife, the perfect mom, the perfect friend, etc, etc, and I never quite measure up. I also feel like it is so much harder to balance my time since becoming a mom. It seemed easy when I only had to take care of myself but now I'm trying to take care of 4 people including myself and it is a lot harder to balance all of that. (How do people have 5+ kids? I don't know but I commend you.) Anyway, my friend really put things into perspective to me. She explained that although we are striving for perfection that we will never reach it in this life and that is ok. She told me that to be "perfect" in one area we would be most likely neglecting other areas so therefore we should be "moderate" in all areas. She explained that to be balanced we should contribute a "moderate" effort in all the areas of our lives that are most important to us. Therefore right now a "moderate" effort is good enough not a perfect one. And who really defines perfection? Often it is ourselves and we usually set our expectations so high that they are pretty much impossible to reach. At least I know I do. Well my friend explained to me that at the end of a day or week if your house is "moderately" clean, you have spent a "moderate" amount of time exercising, have spent a "moderate or as much time possible" of quality time with your family and other loved ones and a "moderate" amount of time on your spirituality then you have been successful (again these are areas of my life that are important to me right now. You can focus on those that are most important to you). Anyway, I think I knew all these things but I just needed the extra reassurance. This conversation also got me thinking about the fact that I can't do everything I want to at once. This is good advice for me. I actually am very sequential in my life: I finished my undergraduate degree, got married, went to grad school, then had kids. I feel like when I'm trying to do too many important things at once that I get overwhelmed because I'm not giving them my best effort. I think that is often true in all of our lives. All of us know our limits and I try not to push myself past that point. I also need to remember that I will have time to do all the personal goals I have for myself. I have chosen to be a stay at home mother and this feels like the best decision for me. (Again I said for me. I know this is a very personal choice). However, I still sometimes feel a bit nostalgic for the times that I was in school or I think about how I am not currently using my education. I really do have a passion for my area of study and I miss it sometimes. However, I love being at home with my kids. But I have to remind myself that there will be times to pursue my personal goals later. I can work later, I can go back to school. Again, for some people all of these things may come at the same time. But for me I just need to remember that my kids are not going to be small forever and I should cherish it and remember that one day they will be grown and I will wonder, " Now what?" But it will not be too late to pursue what I want to do. Anyway, that was a long winded kind of soap box post. I just was thinking a lot about all of this today and felt like writing it down.