Thanksgiving

Two posts in one day, whuppah!  (That's my Chandler-like whip crack) I'm on a roll.
Anyway....

During the month of November, I usually (...meaning the last 2 years) keep a daily log on either my blog and/or facebook of the things I'm thankful for.  I really enjoyed doing that and will probably continue again in the future, but this year I decided to do something different.



Well, a few weeks ago I had an amazing opportunity to go to Time Out For Women with some of my sisters...

(Shout out to my beautiful sisters...
Heeeeyyyy!
And continuing on...)




It was  a wonderful, rejuvenating weekend that reminded me how much I love the Spirit in my life.

As I was thinking about that weekend and the (then) upcoming month of November I realized (in a round-about way) that one of the best ways I can show my thankfulness is by drawing nearer to God. 
Basically everything I'm thankful for, stems from God, the creator of all things.  So, I feel like doing things that help me to feel his Spirit more abundantly in my life would be a great way to show God that I love Him and show my gratitude to Him.

So, my new challenge this month was to do something everyday that is spiritually uplifting. 
I have loved this new challenge!  There are lots of things I can do including listening to gospel music (right now, my favorite being Jessie Clark Funk, You Know Better Than I), reading scriptures, and reading the Ensign.

Along with that, Danica and I have taken on the challenge to say a prayer together everyday that only gives thanks.  We usually say it each morning and I have Danica think of the things she's thankful for, and that's what we say.  (I had to explain blessings, and Thanksgiving, and giving thanks before this started and she still gets words mixed up... it's cute) 
And let me tell you, the things that she says she's thankful for (or, as she says, blessed for) are so precious and cute!

This is definitely something I'll make a tradition and should continue on doing.

Halloween

Halloween.... Halloween.... Lots of fun on Halloween!
(Someone please tell me they know what that's from... I feel like Kelly or Katie should know.  I totally hear a creeeepy voice singing it)

We actually had 5 shindigs (I guess I'm counting trick-or-treating as a shindig) to go to this year to celebrate Halloween, but with sick kids we were able to just do two.

First we went to Tyler's work party.  They always invite the employees' families to come and go trick-or-treating.  They also had a haunted house this year.  Tyler helped put that together and scare people walking through. It was pretty sweet.  It was too scary for Danica.
Later that night we went trick-or-treating and Danica was much more enthused about going around the neighborhood.  We all went (Talmage lounged in the stroller) and had fun together, seeing lots of neighbors out too.  When we got back there was a non-stop flow of trick-or-treaters and we ran out of candy.

Danica is super cool and wanted me to keep snapping pictures of all her poses.

 

Talmage, on the other hand, was really hard to capture
He kept walking or crawling away.

It may appear the Tyler does not fit in to our Disney theme, but he's actually dressed as Walt Disney (jk, jk)

Update - Workout/Diet - Calorie Shifting

If you care...

I'm not sure if people care, but in case you do, I added a little feed to my Oh Dani Girl blog over to the right.  Now you can see when I update that blog.  (Or, of course, you can add that blog to your own blog feed)

I've done a little bit with the blog and Etsy shop as of late, so check them both out if you'd like.
I also have some other things in the works right now too. :)

First Sale

So remember when I mentioned I started a little side business and then didn't do much with it? 
That's ok. I figured you didn't. 

But, that is what I did (well to say I didn't do much with it isn't entirely true. I probably announced the boutique too early because I then spent a long amount of time doing a bunch of organizing... trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to make, what materials go into making each item, then what exactly it would cost to make each item, and finally putting all that info into a big white binder....after that I slacked off).

Anywho... I was contacted and made our very first sale!
I posted about it HERE

Calorie Shifting - Here we go again

Happy October everyone!  I'm so excited for the upcoming seasons!
Has it really been almost 2 months since I last posted.  Is it just me that has been slacking?  I feel like everyone Facebooks more...

Anyway, I've been trying for the last little bit to try to find a diet plans that works for me.  I'm sure I'm not the only one, but it's actually been a little emotional for me because I'm tired of this post pregnancy body, but I can't seem to stick to any of the "diets" I try. (I say "diets" because I'm trying to find a diet that is actually more of a life change rather than a quick diet) 
I'm not sure what my deal is exactly... Though, in a nutshell, I do know that I've been super tired lately and then in-turn lack motivation.

Well, today I started a new diet plan that I'm excited to jump into!  One that I think I'll do much better at sticking with. 
I am one to do a lot of research and get really organized before I start something (or buy something). And after recently starting a diet and then ending it before you could say... well just about anything, I asked for advice on Facebook.   I had a really hard time with the fact that I quit so soon (I had such a hard time eating so much chicken and eggs... which is basically all you eat along with a ton of veggies... I was fine with those) On Facebook, I asked if other people had trouble with the food and what they did.  That diet program (which was based from a book) has a separate recipe book that was suggested to me by a friend of a friend.  As I was looking into the recipe book online, I randomly came across some info on Calorie Shifting (or calorie zig-zagging).

HOW I UNDERSTAND CALORIE SHIFTING ~
So the idea of calorie shifting is that you don't count calories in a way that every day you stick to 1400 calories (or whatever your limit is). When eating the same amount of calories each day, your body gets used to how many calories it needs to burn and adjusts to burning that many only.  If you eat 1000 calories every day your body will get used to burning just 1000 calories and eventually sort of plateaus. I guess it takes your body a few days to recognize adjustments so if you keep changing up your calorie intake, you confuse your body with how many calories it needs to burn and it goes into fat burning mode... so they say.  (This is similar to muscle confusion, if you're familiar with that)

HOW TO DO IT~
So, as I can tell, there is no set plan on how to do it.  Basically you have a caloric goal (say 1400). So your weekly calorie average is that caloric goal, but your daily caloric intake is different. You can easily make up your own plan by taking what your daily calorie goal is, eating that once a week, and then eating, say 300 higher and 300 lower for 3 days a week each. Just work it out so your average is still the same as if you'd eaten the same number of calories every day.  (Some people eat 500 lower and higher)

So eating...
1100 calories on Sunday
1700 calories on Monday
1100 calories on Tuesday
1400 calories on Wednesday
1700 calories on Thursday
1100 calories on Friday
1700 calories on Saturday

Equals 9800 calories for the week
But averages out to 1400 a day

I found out that about 1900 calories is how many calories my body needs to eat and burn in order to keep my current weight.  But because I don't want to keep my current weight, I need to consume fewer calories total.  Does that make sense?... I don't explain things very well sometimes.

I decided to make my caloric average 1400 calories.  1900 - 1400 = 500.  So, I'd be 500 calories fewer a day with taking 1400 calories/day (on average).  If I burn another 250 calories a day with exercise, I'll be burning 750 calories a day on average.   

Side note: Did you know that 1 pound of fat is equal to 3500? (I always thought it was 2500!) So for every 3500 calories you burn you lose a pound of fat.

So, burning 750 calories a day x 7 days a week = 5250 calories burned in a week. 
That is equal to 1 1/2lbs lost a week. 

I knew, when picking out a weekly menu, I needed to start slow and easy for me.  (Don't judge).  I wanted to pick out foods that I already eat or that would be super easy to do.  I know as I get more used to this diet plan and routine I'll introduce more recipes and less pre-made meals.  I just don't want to overwhelm myself again and quit... I know I'm pathetic.  We'll see how this works.

Below are examples of the charts and calendar I made up to help me stay organized.  They are going on my refridgerator.  (I also downloaded the free app Lose It, and I love it... look it up (Thanks Nicki!))

To help me stay motivated I asked Tyler if I could do a weekly reward system.  So, if I stick to my calories and eat right for a week I earn $10, if I burn at least 250 calories a day with exercise I earn $5... so each week I can earn a total of $15 (that's what works for me).  I'm going to be putting this money in a container of some sort and hopefully save it for when I need to buy new clothes when I reach my goal weight..  Although, if I desire, I can take out money whenever.

I made this calendar to help me keep track and earn my rewards.  I picked a few exercises that I can do daily and I wrote down how many calories it burns in how many minutes... those are listed at the bottom.  (I used http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc to figure them out... there are a ton more options)  There is a colored bullet representing an exercise and as I do them, I'll mark them off on the calendar with a coordinating marker (like the example below)  I'll put an "x" in the box next to the colors, if I burned at least 250 calories that day and I'll put an "x" in the box next to the calories, if I ate that many calories that day.  Depending on whether or not I reach my goal each week, I will write $0, $5, or $15 in the "GOAL" box on the right.

These are the menus for each of my 1100, 1400, and 1700 calorie days.  I decided to keep to the same basic menu... all my 1100's are the same and all my 1700's are the same; just to make it easier.  I do have different prepared meals picked out for each day and different yogurts and such, though.

A lot of days I feel like I can't get much done with my two kids around and with them being so young, so this plan is a good stepping stone for me, at this point..  When I feel more comfortable with this minimal routine I'll add more challenging/time consuming exercises and different foods.

Today is the first day, and so far so good, haha. :)

Baby (rain) Shower

A couple weeks ago I was able to throw a baby shower for my good friend Nicki!  It's always fun chatting with her and I had fun planning the shower.  I can't wait to meet little Hudson!!
 

   Here are pictures from that day

We had fruit pizzas and the "sauce" was a whipped cream - cream cheese mixture! 
It was really yummy!

It says:
Hudson
Jordan Gilbert
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face

                                  The favors say:
                                      thanks for
                                    dropping by!
                         Oh what a rain that will be
        (so that is why its lemon drops and gum drops)

Look at me me me, I'm three three three!

Although Dani turns 3 on August 2nd, we decided to have a birthday party for her about a week ago because my parents were in town.  She told us she wanted a pirate themed party... so that's what we did. Tyler and I had a lot of fun making decorations, food, and creating this party for her.

I made the vest, shirt, and tutu, and the rest of the outfit was bought from haloheaven.com

Shortly after this picture, Dani didn't want to wear the vest or the tutu anymore... and didn't the rest of the party

Here are the decorations in the front room:

Decor on the wall (above Dani in the top pic)

Tyler made an awesome and huge treasure map

 

 

 

 

(you couldn't actually see the thermostat as well as you can in this pic... ha!)

Decoration/food in the kitchen:

 

(this was above the food table)   

Squids

Every time I read "Shark Bait" I couldn't help but say, "Shark Bait, ooh ha ha"

(Cyber high-five if you can tell me what movie that's from)

 

 

 

It was a lot of making little pirate outfits for the kids

 

 

 

My wonderful parents!!  It was so great to have them here for a week

 All the nieces and nephews that are here in Utah (there are 4 more in CA)

Job Perks

I'm feeling super-mondo sick today with a dumb little cold.
I complained about it on facebook, saying "Dude, moms need Sick Days."

While downing some Day-Quil this morning, I was thinking about how I wish Tyler was here; not because I'd rather be sleeping right now (although I would love that), but because I just want his company.  It also got me thinking about all the nice perks that Tyler's job gives him (specifically PTO). 

It made me realize how much I love the perks of being a mother. If being a mother was a job, I guess you could say I work for my kids... that they would be my employers. Yes, sometimes I have a very bossy two year old "boss," but my kids give me lots of wonderful perks as well.  I began to list them in my head...

• Free artwork
• Free comedy shows - although, now when Dani says she wants to tell me a joke she just whispers in my ear "I love you"
• Lots of affection
• No need to pay for a gym membership (ok, that's not entirely true... I still need major help in that department, but you should try holding Talmage for more than 4 seconds and then tell me that's not a workout)
• Free entertainment - oh, the entertainment!!
• I could sing all day and no one gets sick of it... in fact, they smile and I believe they actually enjoy it. (Especially if I remember the songs from Busytown Mysteries)
• Lots of smiles
• Always feeling wanted (although sometimes this is hard, I do enjoy being the one to calm a crying baby or watch their faces light up when they see me or hold them on my lap)
• A colorful wardrobe - spit up and spilled juice make any outfit so much more colorful
• Seeing holidays through a child's eyes 
• A great excuse to get up and dance crazy... or just be crazy (and no one looks at me strange)
• A great excuse to sit and play with legos
• Making fancy meals means using a cookie cutter to create new sandwich shapes or making a "sushi" sandwich
• Free wake up calls... yeah
• My own personal cheerleader... even when I go to the bathroom.  Now who gets that with their job??
• Getting to squeeze and kiss and hug and tickle baby rolls whenever I want
• Receiving tons of cuddles when they are sick


Of course there are tons more. 
Between mine and Tyler's daily routines, I think I've got the better end of the deal. 
Sorry you have to go to work today Tyler! (Yabba dabba dooo, iiiiiit's Friday!!)

Real Salt Lake

Tyler works at Xango and Xango sponsers Real Salt Lake.  At the end of April, Tyler (and some of his coworkers) scored some free tickets to a soccer game.  We all sat in the front row!  It was totally awesome and they won!  It was a lot of fun chillin with just Tyler and no kiddos. 
Here are some pictures.

                         We've been to a couple games and                 See... front row!
                          this band is always playing in the
                        stands.  What crazy fans!... But they
                      totally make the game more enjoyable

Half a year

Talmage is 6 months old now (as of June 4th).  It's so crazy for me to think about because time sure has flown, but at the same time the beginning of December seems like forever ago!

Talmage is a growing boy.  He is such a happy boy too.  He's always smiling and even smiles at strangers (Danica took longer to do that).  He LOVES his sister.  Dani can make him laugh like no one else can.  He is just captivated by her.

He started on rice cereal at about 4 months and is now eating some veggies.  He loves squash!  It seems he wont be as picky of an eater as Dani, but time will tell.

He sleeps from about 6:30 or 7:00 to 6:00 or 6:30... so about 11 1/2 hours. If we're lucky, he also sleeps about 3-4 hours a day.  He goes to sleep really well... staying asleep through the whole night had been a big problem, but he recently has started sleeping through the night.  Hallelujah!  Although that has sort of taken a break because he's teething right now.

Talmage has been extra fussy and clingy lately.  The poor kid is getting some teeth right now, but they're not the bottom front teeth, that typically come in first.  I think it's his incisors that are coming through!  That might look funny for a while.  I believe all four are thinking about making an appearance soon, but his bottom left is almost here.

He is often called a Drool Monster or The Drool King around here.  He drools so much!!  It's like he's a leaky faucet.  I believe he's been teething for a while now... we weren't sure if that was the case because it wasn't the bottom front, but it's been confirmed by his Dr. and very obvious to us now too.  That explains all the drool.

Different than being clingy, Talmage has always been a very cuddly boy.  He always nuzzles and I love it!  I hope that continues for a long time. 

Tricks...He is really good at tummy time now.  Half the time he rolls straight to his stomach though.  He's sitting up on his own really well now too.  He occasionally still needs someone or something to catch or protect his fall, but he's getting the hang of it.  He does well at picking things up and examining them... or sometimes looking at it for two seconds before sticking them straight to his mouth.  At his 6 month appointment I filled out a questionnaire of the things Talmage is doing at this point  and The Dr. said he's above average for his age.  Which makes us very happy. (Hey, I'm allowed to brag)  Talmage is holding his bottle all on his own now and that makes us really happy too.

He seems like he's starting to wave.  I want to say it's too early for that, so it's probably involuntary, but it's fun to see him do it at appropriate moments.  He's also making mama and dada sounds and I love it when I get him up from a nap or something and he's saying "mamamama" like he knows that's my name.  It also sounds like he's saying, "Hi" when we first greet him.  I'm sure he's just copying my sound, cause I say hi to him a lot.

We love having Talmage around :) Things are definitely harder and busier with two kids, but it's so much fun to see little Talmage learning new things all the time.  He's growing so fast!  It's bittersweet.

It's about time I do some updating...

I have often been thinking about posting on our blog, but then I'd always think... there's nothing to update!... So I haven't... obviously.  Well, I looked at my phone the other day and realized there were a ton of pictures on there of things we have done lately.  So yeah, we have been busy.  I have some pictures to prove it.

One thing we did lately was go to a yummy restaurant called Emmett and Ethel's.  At Emmett and Ethel's they have a couple food eating challenges.  If you know Tyler, you know he can't pass up a good food eating challenge.  (See here)

We go out to dinner about once a month with our good friends the Gilberts, so Jordan and Tyler decided to both do the Man VS Emmett challenge, while Nicki, Danica, and I watched on.  (Talmage didn't watch... he enjoyed crying instead... and I believe he must have enjoyed it because he did it basically the whole time. He had enough fun and fell asleep right before we left).


Man VS Emmett.... or Man VS 6 quarter pound beef patties, 6 slices of cheese, 6 pieces of bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayonnaise, and ketchup piled high.  There's also the "healthy" 1 lb portion of fries.  Eat it all up within 45 minutes.

Before you see a bunch of pictures of the evening, I want to show you the difference between a regular sized meal (mine) and the Emmett Challenge meal (Tyler's)

An Avacado Bacon Burger Meal... which was still a good sized meal... I couldn't finish it. 

The Man vs Emmett meal

Tyler and Jordan vs Emmett

They had to eat the burger in two sections just to get their mouths around it

Cutiepie Danica enjoying her hotdog

They had to stand up to finish their food

The last bite...

(for some reason I can't embed the video so you can

check out (my deep manly voice, blah, and) the last bite

HERE

(Talmage wasn't that whiny the whole time we were there... don't worry)

All gone!
He had to eat all the lettuce and stuff that had fallen onto his tray as well.

 He's da "Man"
(and man!... with no parenthesis)